by Lucy Monroe
He moved his hand, but when she opened her mouth to answer, his was there. Hot lips devoured her own until she was clinging like ivy to his powerful build.
He pulled back and peeled her away from him. “Hold that thought, baby. Hold it real tight.”
Stupefied from desire, she just watched him walk away. She didn’t move again until several minutes after she heard the front door close.
Boy, that man could kiss.
***
Carter went to meet his brothers at the Dark Herring after leaving Daisy’s house. Colton had flown in that morning so he could be there for the wedding and he and Rand said they wanted to celebrate Carter’s upcoming marriage with him.
The other men were already sitting at a small table in the back when he got inside the bar. Colton had a coffee in front of him. Carter had been surprised to discover his younger brother didn’t drink. At all. Rand, on the other hand, was sipping on whiskey. Carter ordered a Screwdriver from the bar before sitting down to join them.
“You look mussed,” Rand said, his mouth curved knowingly.
Carter finger combed his hair, realizing he had done nothing to tame it after the incendiary kiss he’d shared with Daisy. “I went by to see my fiancée.”
He liked the way that sounded, but he was going to like the word wife even better.
Colton didn’t smile. The big man hardly ever did, from what Carter could see. His younger brother wasn’t dour, not really. Sober probably described him best. Sober and conservative. He and Rand were almost total opposites and yet, since meeting, they’d gotten along like...well, like long, lost brothers.
“So, you’re not merely marrying the woman to fulfill Hoyt’s stupid will?” Colton asked, sounding suspicious.
“Wanting her doesn’t mean loving her,” Rand pointed out.
Carter hadn’t been expecting this, but maybe he should have. Neither of his brothers were the shy type and he didn’t think it would sit well with them if they thought he was getting married for their sakes or even for his mother’s.
“I want to marry Daisy,” he reassured them.
“Why now?” Rand asked.
“What do you mean why now?”
“You came home from New York after a four year absence and all of a sudden you’re engaged to marry one of your employees, a woman you’ve never dated and haven’t seen in four years. I have a hard time believing it doesn’t have anything to do with Hoyt’s will.”
“And if it does?”
His older brother’s eyes narrowed. “If that’s the case, it’s a stupid thing to do.”
“Marrying Daisy is not stupid.”
“It is if you’re doing it just to keep Sloane Electronics. The will is so screwy, any good lawyer worth his retainer could break it.”
“Not without a lot of media fanfare,” Carter pointed out.
Colton shifted his linebacker sized shoulders. “So, you are getting married because of it.”
“It plays a part,” Carter admitted, “in the timing anyway, but marrying Daisy isn’t all about the will.”
“Do you love her?” Colton asked, sounding curious, but not condemning.
“I want her. Obsessively.” Would his brothers understand that kind of desire?
He’d never felt it before Daisy and he doubted another woman in the world existed that he would react to with such strong libidinous tendencies.
Rand considered him and Carter felt like he was being probed for secrets. “Phoebe told me you left because you were sexually attracted to another woman. Was that Daisy?”
He saw no reason to deny it. “Yes.”
“You’ve wanted her four years?” Colton asked, having heard the story of Carter and Phoebe’s aborted engagement from Phoebe the first time they met.
She said family shouldn’t have secrets from each other.
Carter nodded. “And I’m going to have her.”
“Is it true you’re paying her to marry you?” Rand sounded just like anyone’s older brother interrogating him about doing something he didn’t agree with.
It was odd, but Carter found it didn’t irritate him.
“How did you hear about that?”
“Your banker is also my banker.”
And confidentiality was not what it was cracked up to be in a small town like New Hope. “He damn well better not have told anyone else.”
Carter didn’t want Daisy embarrassed.
“I told him that. I don’t think it will be a problem. He doesn’t want to lose the business of both Alexander Computers and Sloane Electronics.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what gives with the money?” Rand asked, proving he wasn’t easily sidetracked.
“I don’t want her feeling trapped in the marriage if she wants out later.”
Both of his brothers nodded and he knew they understood his reasoning.
“Is she marrying you for the money?” Colton asked.
“You’re pretty damn blunt.”
Colton almost smiled. “It’s a family trait from what I can tell.”
“The answer is that I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I have to tell you, at this point I also don’t care.” Which wasn’t strictly true, but close enough. “If I don’t make love to her soon, my balls are going to turn blue and fall off.”
Both his brothers laughed. It was the first time he’d seen his younger brother do so, but Colton got serious again pretty fast. “Is she holding out for marriage?”
“No. I’m the one that’s insisting on waiting for the wedding night.”
“She’s special then.” Rand sounded satisfied by the thought.
“Yes, she is.” Daisy Jackson was very special and soon she would be his.
He couldn’t wait.
CHAPTER SIX
Carter stood at the front of the small church, impatient for Daisy to walk down the aisle. Although the guest list was small, he’d insisted on observing as many traditions as possible. He wanted Daisy to feel married, not like a woman who was being paid to go to bed with him.
Rand and Phoebe were there, making eyes at each other and smiling like idiots. Colton was his best man. That had been Rand’s idea. Carter thought it was a good one. His mother sat in the front of the church, pretending none of the others were there. She’d deigned to speak with Daisy’s parents earlier, but only to cover the most basic social niceties.
Appearances again.
He really didn’t care. As long as she maintained a courteous demeanor with his wife and her family, his mother could continue to live in her frozen world of social pretense. But he’d made it clear to her that if she did anything to make Daisy unhappy, Carter would cut her right out of his life. He didn’t think she’d miss him, but it would hurt her pride to have a public rift between them.
He had no doubt she’d play nice.
The organ music started, swelling to fill the small church.
Daisy’s sister came down the aisle first, smiling to beat the band. She was very happy for her older sibling and had told Carter as much.
He forgot all about Bella and her approval because Daisy was there. Framed in the entryway, she looked so sexy, his cock stood up and saluted. Her dress did an incredible job of outlining her curves, while appearing old fashioned with its antique lace and full skirt. The neckline put enticing cleavage on display that would have made him drool if his mouth wasn’t so dry. Her make love to me while I’m wearing them spiked heels made her calves look long and enticing.
Oh, man, he was going to embarrass himself in front of the minister and their guests. He tried reciting stock prices in his head as she walked down the aisle toward him, but lost focus for anything but her when her pretty brown eyes met his.
She looked nervous and a little scared.
He didn’t want her scared. Or nervous. Regardless of the reasons for it, this marriage was going to be good.
The passion was going to be fantastic.
He caught her pretty brown eyes with his own and put h
is hand out to draw her to him. Someone made a choking sound that sounded like a stifled laugh, but he ignored it.
Daisy didn’t seem to notice either. Ignoring the minister and his earlier advice for her to stop and face him when she reached the front of the church, she walked right up to Carter and put her hand in his.
It was so small, reminding him that it was his job to protect her. It was also cold.
He squeezed it. “It’s going to be all right.”
She smiled and laced her fingers with his, holding on tight. “I know.”
Her voice only shook a little.
They turned to face the minister together.
***
Daisy’s nerves got worse as the reception wore on. Carter was acting like a man that couldn’t wait to get his bride to bed. Which she should have expected, but it overwhelmed her just the same. Right now, they were dancing so close she could feel his erection pressing against her belly. Physical evidence of what she was expected to deal with when they were alone.
Sex. Hot and consuming.
The closer the time came for them to leave, the more doubts she had about her ability to satisfy such blatant sexual urgency.
What if the passionate kisses they’d shared were a one-off thing? What if she was a dud when it came to actually having intercourse?
She might disappoint Carter like she had her first husband. Carter was so much more experienced than she was and probably used to a partner who knew what she was doing, knew how to make it good for him. Daisy was a sexual novice and that wasn’t the only place they differed.
Carter owned a multi-national company, bought his suits from an exclusive tailor in London and had grown up rubbing elbows with the rich and famous. She’d been in the work force since graduating from high school, wore clothes she’d found on sale at local department stores and got a rash merely thinking about meeting someone famous.
Daisy couldn’t get rid of the feeling Carter had come back to New Hope with the intention of renewing a relationship with Phoebe in order to fulfill his father’s nutty will. Phoebe had hooked up with Rand and Carter had been forced to go to Plan B. Or was she Plan C? No way would she have been his first choice. If it weren’t for the sex thing, he would never have looked twice at her.
For some inexplicable reason, he wanted her, but if she messed that up, where would that leave her? Married to a guy regretting his choice even more than Jack had.
Carter should have married a woman like Phoebe Alexander.
Just looking at her sister-in-law smiling and dancing with her husband, Rand, made Daisy’s teeth ache. Phoebe was everything she wasn’t. Well educated and beautiful in a regal, society princess sort of way and nice. She was also much nicer than any woman so at home in high-society had a right to be. She’d congratulated Daisy and welcomed her to the family and she’d meant it.
Daisy was sure Carter’s mother didn’t, even if she had made an attempt to be gracious. She’d air-kissed the space beside Daisy’s cheek and told her they must do lunch at the country club. Daisy had never even been inside the place and had no burning desire to do so.
Carter’s lips trailed a path down Daisy’s neck and she shivered. Heaven help her, she was going to explode from the combination of excitement and fear coursing through her before they ever made it out of the elegant reception hall Carter’s mother had insisted on renting for the occasion.
“Are you about ready to leave?”
The feel of Carter’s breath against her neck was every bit as tantalizing as his kisses had been. “R-ready?”
“Yes ready. I know I am.” The subtle increase of pressure of his body against hers left no doubt exactly what he meant.
“We don’t want to offend anyone by leaving too early.”
“Don’t worry, baby. They’ll understand.”
He pulled back from her and looked down, his blue eyes sending a message that both enthralled and alarmed her. “Let’s go.”
It didn’t take very long to say goodbye because the guest list was so small, but even so, by the time they made it to his black Jaguar, she was a wreck.
He unlocked the passenger door and helped her inside.
“No limo?” she asked. Everything else about the wedding had been so traditional.
“I don’t like other people driving me.”
She remembered. “Not even limo drivers?”
He waited to answer until he’d gotten inside and started the car. “Not even trained chauffeurs.”
“Well, that’s something to be grateful for.” She couldn’t imagine a life of being carted from one place to another by a paid driver and no way was she giving up her Xterra.
He looked at her briefly before turning back to the road. “How so?”
“I’m not used to having people around me paid to do stuff I usually do. You know, like a housekeeper, or chauffeur or anything.” He hadn’t said anything about hiring any kind of domestic staff and she was hoping it would stay that way.
She’d been really relieved when he suggested he move into her house. He said he really liked the way she’d done it up and that made her feel good. She also liked knowing he didn’t expect her to jump into a whole different lifestyle all at once.
Thinking along those lines, another question popped out. “Do I have to join the country club?”
“Is this about you fitting in, Daisy? Because I have to tell you, the only person you have to worry about fitting with in this marriage is me. And we’re going to fit like we were made for each other.”
“We aren’t going to spend our whole life in the bedroom, Carter!”
He flicked her a serious glance. “I wasn’t just talking about bed. I don’t care if you join the country club. I’m not interested in keeping up appearances. That kind of life brought a lot of pain to my parents and I don’t want it. Daisy, I like being with you and I’m not interested in you becoming someone else to try to fit into what you think our marriage should be.”
His tone was almost severe, like this was a major issue for him. It was for her too, actually.
“I’m glad. I like being with you too, but I don’t think I’ll ever have much in common with your mother.”
“I don’t have much in common with her either. I love her, but honey, you married me, not her.”
That sounded good, but she still had doubts.
“Phoebe looked beautiful.” It was a blatant fishing expedition, but she had too many jumbled thoughts fighting for supremacy in her mind to be subtle.
“Not as beautiful as the bride.”
Daisy looked down at her bridal gown, trying to ignore the almost scandalous amount of cleavage on display. “It is a pretty dress.”
“The woman inside is gorgeous.”
“You don’t have to flatter me, Carter. I know what I look like.”
“Yeah, my favorite wet dream.”
She gasped. “I can’t believe you said that.”
His laughter filled the car. “You are so naïve about some things, honey. I can promise you that you were the only woman in that reception hall that got my least attention today.”
“That’s because you’re on edge about sex. You’ve abstained too long maybe.”
“Nothing like six years.”
“Yes... Well...” She cleared her throat, not knowing how to answer that.
She was already feeling the worry about that six year drought and the lack of practical application she had to bring to the wedding night of all wedding nights he had planned.
“I’m pretty smart, you know?”
“You’re very intelligent. Your supervisor thinks you’re the best thing that ever happened to her department. She was really resistant to the idea of you moving out of it.”
“Why would I move out of my department?”
“I didn’t know how comfortable the wife of the owner of the company would feel working for one of my middle managers.”
“I love my job and I’m not giving it up. That’s not part of the deal,
Carter.”
He spared her a quick glance. “You’re a rich woman now, Daisy. I’ll take care of you. You don’t have to work.”
That’s what he thought. “I will repeat: I like my job. I’m not quitting.”
He laid his hand on her thigh and squeezed. “Don’t get upset about it. If you want to keep working, you keep working.”
It was all she could do to remember what they were talking about with his fingers now fondling her leg. They were way too close to the apex of her thighs for any sort of peace of mind.
“I can’t wait to get you out of this dress, honey.”
“About that...”
“About what?”
“This whole sex thing.”
“Sex thing?” He choked the words out around laughter and she groaned.
“Yes. Anyway, you know I don’t have a lot of experience, but I’m smart, Carter.”
“We’ve agreed on that point, but I’m not sure where you’re going with it.”
“If I don’t get things right the first time, I can learn how,” she said, exposing her deepest fear.
If he would just be patient, she knew she could learn to make love the way that he needed and expected.
The Jag swerved into the far right lane, then off the road, coming to an abrupt halt that sent Daisy pitching forward against her seatbelt.
Carter turned his body to face her, his expression incredibly intense. “I am not paying you to go to bed with me and I don’t need you performing like a paid lady of the night in my bed. Got it?”
“I didn’t mean—“
But he cut her off. “I want to make love to you until you can’t walk, but there isn’t a right way or a wrong way for us to go about making that happen. I do not want you trying to please me like some kind of sex client.”
She couldn’t walk right now if her life had depended on it, so he’d already achieved his goal without even touching her. Her legs had turned to jelly at the fury in his voice, the frustration emanating off him in waves and the sensual threat in his voice.
“I’m not a prostitute and I don’t see you as a sex client.” Whatever that was.
His teeth ground together. “Then what’s all this crap about learning how to perform the way I like it?”