She nodded, but she couldn’t answer. He conducted her down to the dining room to meet his family. The closer they got, the closer she migrated toward him for protection. She grazed his arm and huddled close to his side. She didn’t want to let him out of her sight.
She stopped in shock at the dining room door. The enormous hall stretched into the distance, and people packed the room from wall to wall. Tables piled with food lined the walls, and people wandered back and forth. They loaded up their plates and found seats at tables scattered through the halls.
A hubbub of talk rippled out of that room. Everywhere Alyssa looked, men, women, and children sat with their heads together. Everyone in that hall knew or was related to everyone else. She was the only stranger.
Chapter 4
Mason towed Alyssa into the sea of bodies. One person after another rushed toward him. They embraced him with tears in their eyes. They gabbled in Spanish and English. Alyssa couldn’t understand them over the noise even when they spoke English.
Mason motioned toward her, but no one paid any attention to her. He broke away from the conversation to shout into her ear. “Get yourself something to eat and find a table. I’ll find you later.”
In an instant, he vanished into the crowd. Okay. Get yourself something to eat and find a table. She could handle that. At least no one was trying to talk to her.
She filled a plate with roast chicken and steak and stir-fry. Finding a free seat at one of the tables presented a whole new challenge. Eventually, she spotted an empty seat. Four other people sat at the table, and they all talked to each other. Here goes nothing. She couldn’t remain invisible forever.
She sat down and ate a forkful of chicken. For a few blessed moments, the others continued their conversation in rapid Spanish. Half the people she saw around here could be regular Americans. The other half looked Mexican.
The woman to her left aimed her hawk eyes at Alyssa. Her straight black hair hung to her shoulders with the bangs pinned back, but she spoke English with no accent. “Hi there. What relation are you to the family?”
Alyssa swallowed hard. “I’m Alyssa Channing. I’m Ma….I’m Miguel’s wife.”
The woman couldn’t be more surprised if Alyssa slapped her across the face. “Miguel’s wife! Really? You don’t know how long we’ve all waited to meet you.”
Alyssa mumbled into her plate. “Here I am. It’s wonderful to meet his family, too…at last.”
The woman stuck out her hand. “I’m Tina. My full name is Christina, but everybody calls me Tina. I’m Miguel’s older sister. We’ve heard so much about you all these years. When did you get in?”
Alyssa blushed. This woman’s attention embarrassed her. “Thank you. Yes, we just got in today. Yes, it’s beautiful. I love it. We went for a walk on the beach earlier. That’s all I’ve seen of the place.”
Tina pressed her arm. “I’ll show you all around. There’s so much to do here, and it’s all paid for. Miguel paid for the whole resort for this reunion. It was all his idea.”
Alyssa pricked up her ears. So he planned the whole thing, did he? Why would he do that if he knew he’d have to find a pretend wife? How many prospective pretend wives did he interview before he came up with the idea of asking her?
A creeping sensation infected Alyssa’s heart. What if he came up with this whole elaborate event, just for a reasonable pretext to ask her out? What if he wanted to get her alone in a luxury hotel room, and he paid for this family reunion to do it?
That was ridiculous, wasn’t it? Who in their right mind would do a wild thing like that? Certainly not Mason Harwick, the most notorious playboy on the block. He wouldn’t go to so much trouble to ask a girl out when he could have any woman he shot his winning smile at.
Alyssa became aware of Tina talking to her. “Tell me all about your place in Manhattan. I travel to New York for work every six months or so, and I’ve asked Miguel if I could come to visit. He always finds some way to be too busy to let me see his place. He always insists we go out for lunch or something.”
Alyssa thought fast. “I can understand that. He’s always busy. Most of the time, he’s too busy to take me out to lunch.”
Tina shook her head. “You shouldn’t put up with it. You deserve better. These Mexican men think the world revolves around them and their precious projects.”
Alyssa couldn’t help but smile. “He’s all right most of the time. He’s just driven. You know how it is.”
Tina glared at no one in particular. “I’ll say he’s driven. He’s too good for his own family these days.” Alyssa let the discussion drift away from her. “That’s too bad. What do you do for work?”
“I have my own business, too,” Tina replied. “Miguel isn’t the only one who made something of his life. I have my own company. I import goods from China and sell them at stores in Mexico and the States, but I live in Guadalajara.”
Alyssa’s eyes widened. “Have you lived in Mexico long?”
Tina’s head spun around. “All my life. You should know that.”
“Miguel told me he moved to the States when he was seven years old. I always assumed…..”
“He left his family behind,” Tina snapped. “Nothing was every good enough for him, so he ran away. This is the first time he’s come home in twenty-five years, and this isn’t exactly his home, is it? He would never set foot in his hometown. Never! It’s too dirty and low for him.”
Alyssa bent over her plate to hide her embarrassment. What did this have to do with her? Tina acted like Mason’s decision to leave Mexico was her fault. Maybe they all thought he left Mexico to be with her. This could blow up in her face in a thousand ways.
Alyssa got out of answering by taking another bite of her chicken. Tina shot her fiery gaze at Alyssa’s profile. “You still haven’t told me about your place in Manhattan.’
Alyssa knew nothing about Mason’s private life or where he lived, so she made something up. “We have a house in the Roaring Forties.”
Tina stared at her. Then she pursed her lips, shook her head, and stabbed her fork into her steak. “I should have known he would keep something like that hidden. He told me he had a rooftop apartment in Tribeca. He never told me about any house in the Forties.”
Alyssa kicked herself. This conversation was not going her way at all. Was Tina trying to trap her? How could she, when she didn’t know Alyssa wasn’t Mason’s real wife? “Oh, yeah, that. He keeps that for when he wants to work on big projects without distraction.”
Alyssa made a mental note to tell Mason all this malarkey she cooked up so he could go along with it. For all she knew, she was making a much bigger problem for him to solve later.
Tina locked her beady black eyes on Alyssa’s face. She didn’t believe a word Alyssa said. Before Tina could ask another devastating question, though, Mason appeared. He rested his hand behind Alyssa’s neck and rubbed. “Hello, Tina.”
She glared at him. “Hello there, Miguel. I was just having a delightful conversation with your wife here.”
“It’s great to see you two getting along, but I’ll have to interrupt. Come with me, darling. I want to introduce you to my parents.”
Alyssa couldn’t wait to get away from that table, but she remained calm until the crowd swallowed them up. Then she slapped her hand against her forehead. “Holy Christ! What a disaster!”
He faced her. “What’s the matter?”
She waved back in the direction they came. “Your sister! I swear she knows you’re not married. She asked me a bunch of questions about where we live, and I didn’t know so I said we had a house in the Roaring Forties. She said you had an apartment in Tribeca. She knows! I swear she knows. She didn’t believe a word I said.”
He regarded her a moment before he nodded and turned away. “Well, never mind. It doesn’t matter if she does know.”
“Well, what am I supposed to say if she or somebody else asks me something? I should have interviewed you before we left New York. I shoul
d have found out every cotton-pickin’ detail of your personal life so I could produce a convincing character.”
His mouth twisted in a grin. “Keep your shorts on. It’s not that big a deal. Just play along. If one person wants to ruin this thing, let them. Tina’s been jealous of me for decades, and now she’ll do anything to bring me down. Ignore her, and she’ll go away.”
Alyssa stiffened. Tina—go away? Not likely, and Alyssa didn’t like her chances if she ever met Tina again. That woman would never give up. She would shake that bone until she found out the truth. Then what would happen?
Chapter 5
Alyssa fell back against the hotel room door with a shaky sigh. “Thank goodness that’s over.”
Mason chuckled. “You did great. I knew you’d be perfect for this.”
As he predicted, his parents’ lack of English made meeting their long-lost daughter-in-law uneventful in the extreme. Once Mason told them Alyssa was his wife, they never questioned. They couldn’t.
Mason tossed the room key onto a table by the door and peeled off his polo shirt. He stood in the open balcony door and let the wind blow in his face. He turned around and walked toward Alyssa. “I’m going to take a shower. You can relax now. We won’t see anybody until morning.”
He strolled past her and disappeared into the bathroom. She couldn’t help but study his bare chest and shoulders as he walked by. The muscle behind his forearm curved into this wrist, where the bone cut sideways into his hand. Why did he have to be so blamed attractive?
The shower buzzed behind the bathroom door. Alyssa ventured to the veranda door. The moon shone over the ocean, and the breeze cooled everything after the heat of the day. One day gone. Only thirteen left to go, and she would be free.
Maybe he was right. Maybe she should spend most if not all her time enjoying the resort’s many distractions. She made her appearance at the reunion. She didn’t have to do it again. As long as people saw her and Mason together, as long as he remained satisfied that she did her part, she could do what she wanted.
She resolved to ask him about it. If he told her to go play shuffleboard, she would do it. She would do anything to avoid another scene like the one with Tina. That woman gave her the heeby-geebies.
The shower stopped and the door opened. Mason came out with a towel wrapped around his waist. Beads steamed on his skin, and his damp hair hung over his eyes. Alyssa gulped and forced herself to turn away. She couldn’t stare at him, much as she wanted to. Damn, he was hot! And now she had to spend the night in the same hotel room with him.
She turned her back to him, but her heart thundered in her brain. Her body buzzed all over with excitement. Could he possibly be interested in her? What was she thinking? He was a troll. He was a skank. He was the male equivalent of a tramp, so that must make him a gigolo.
In her mind, she sang I’m just a gigolo, and Everybody knows. She dissolved into giggles. His voice cracked behind her. “What’s so funny?”
She turned around, but she dared not look at him. “Nothing. Nothing at all. I just thought of something funny.”
When she caught sight of him again out of the corner of her eye, he had his pants and a T-shirt on. Thank heaven for that. She could talk to him now.
She threw herself down on the couch with another heavy sigh.
He eyed her from a standing position. “I meant what I said before. You did great out there. Thanks.”
“Thank you for saying so. I’m glad you’re happy with it. I’m worried about Tina, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to blow the lid off our whole story.”
“Don’t think twice about her. Even if she tries to pull a fast one, she’ll never convince my parents, and that’s all that really matters. Let her do her worst.”
“How did you two get so hostile toward each other?”
“She never liked me. She never liked me wanting to make something of myself. She always said I didn’t care about the family, that all I cared about was money.”
“She says you ran away from home.”
“That’s right.”
“She also says she visited you in New York.”
“She’s the only one who has. She’s the only one who comes over to the States, so she’s sort of like an ambassador for my parents to make sure I’m still alive and haven’t sold my soul to the devil.”
Alyssa shook her head. “It must be hard to have your family belittle your success like that.”
He jerked his head sideways. “I don’t care. I did it for me, not for them.”
Yeah. He said that, but Alyssa could tell it stung. He wanted them to congratulate him, to praise him for his resourcefulness, for his determination to make something of his life. They never would. They would always think he sold his soul to the devil for a handful of silver.
She studied him for perhaps the millionth time since they signed the contract papers. What could make a seven-year-old boy leave his whole family behind, his country, on the outside chance he could hit the big time?
Mason never left anything to chance. He slaved his ass off, and he didn’t quit until he accomplished the dream he set out to accomplish. No one could take that away from him.
He spun around fast and took two rapid steps toward her. He caught up her hand. “Come on. We’re getting out of this dive.”
He dragged her toward the door. “Hey! What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you out for a drink.”
“A drink! I don’t drink, and neither do you.”
He threw the door open and hustled her into the hall. “We’re in the most expensive resort in Baja, and I’m taking my beloved wife out for a drink. I would take you out to dinner if you hadn’t already eaten. Stop struggling. You’re coming with me.”
She stopped struggling, but she hung back against his hand. “What’s the big idea?”
Once he got far enough away from the room that she couldn’t go back, he slowed down. He didn’t let go of her hand, though. “Consider this part of your contract. We’re husband and wife on a luxury vacation in Mexico. What would we be doing? We’d be going out for a drink after dinner, and that’s what we’re doing. I’m not sitting around the hotel room staring at you all evening long when we have better things to do.”
She couldn’t argue with that. He led her to a bar off the lobby. Low lights surrounded a bunch of tables, each with a tea light candle burning in the center. Mason sighed. “This is perfect.”
He selected a table in the far back corner where no one could see them. He pulled out the chair, and scooted it in when she sat down. He bent over her from behind and nuzzled into her ear. “You look incredible tonight, darling. What would you like? No, let me guess. You like Bloody Marys, don’t you?”
Before she could respond, he vanished. He ordered at the bar and came back with a Bloody Mary for her and a Pina Colada for himself. He reclined in his seat and cast a satisfied glance around the bar. He sipped his drink and smiled at Alyssa. He pretended not to notice her glaring at him.
“Why did you have to do that?”
He cocked his head. “Do what, darling?”
“Kiss me like that,” she snapped. “You didn’t have to do it, and you don’t have to keep calling me darling. I’m not your wife.”
He tsked between his teeth and shook his head. “You’re not playing the game. You’re my wife. What would I be doing to my beloved wife? Wouldn’t I be kissing her and whispering in her ear? Wouldn’t I be holding her chair for her and calling her ‘darling’?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re taking this husband and wife act a little too far.”
“Nothing is too far for my wife. Only the five-star treatment will do.”
She changed the subject. He drove her mad with all this wife stuff. “You didn’t by any chance create this whole scenario to get me to come to Cabo with you, did you?”
His eyes flew open, and he gasped in mock dismay. “Why, Alyssa! What are you accusing me of?”
“T
ina says you organized this whole reunion. She says you paid for the resort and everything. Why would you do that if you knew you’d have to come up with a fake wife?”
He didn’t even try to hide his smile. “Did it ever occur to you I might want to see my family?”
“I find that hard to believe. It seems like you could save yourself a lot of money by not organizing a reunion in the first place.”
“Maybe. Not everything is about money, though.”
“Why did you invite me to do this job? You could have gotten anyone to do it.”
“Not anyone. Not just anyone would do. I had to find someone who would make a convincing wife. I had to find someone my family would believe I actually wanted to be married to.”
Alyssa fixed her eyes on him. “Are you saying you actually want to be married to me? No, wait. Don’t answer that. You don’t want to be married to anybody. You want to play the field. You want a different woman in your bed every night, just like Shaharazad. Right? Of course. This is all some elaborate game to you, just like everything else.”
He waited until she finished. “By the way, Alyssa, Shaharazad didn’t have a different woman in her bed every night. She was a woman. It was the king, or the sheik, or whatever he was, that had a different woman in his bed every night.”
Smoke billowed out of Alyssa’s ears. “Are you trying to make me mad? Are you trying to be as exasperating as you possibly can? Is this your idea of play-acting the way you would treat your beloved wife? I can just believe you would be that asinine.”
He took another sip of his drink. “Asinine. I never thought of it that way. That’s an interesting word for it.”
She turned away and sucked her straw. She wouldn’t talk to him again, no matter what he did. If he wanted to play the dick-head husband, she would play the vindictive, resentful wife. She could play that to a T.
“I didn’t organize this reunion to get you to come with me,” he told her. “I planned this reunion long before I met you, and I did it even knowing hiring a fake wife would cost me. I did it because I wanted to see my family and because I wanted to put my parents’ minds at rest seeing me with the wife I’ve never had. That’s the only reason I did it.”
Fake Bride: A Billionaire Boss Fake Marriage Romance Page 3