Last Resort: Marriage

by Pamela Stone

  “Hello, Charlotte. Brody.”

  Perry’s Boston drawl dragged her back to reality. Backing away from Aaron’s seductive kiss, she touched the tip of her tongue to her lips.

  Aaron enjoyed the dazed look on Charlie’s face as her tongue slipped out to touch her kiss-softened lip. Was this the same cold resort manager he thought he knew? She didn’t appear to be in any frame of mind to deal with Thurman at the moment. “Evening, Percy.”

  “You two look cozy out here on a public beach.”

  Keeping one hand on her ass, Aaron made sure she remained plastered against him. “We were, actually. Did you need something?”

  “No.” Perry shrugged. “Just out for an evening stroll.”

  Right below Charlie’s bungalow? “Well, don’t let us break your stride.”

  Perry shot him a menacing look and headed back in the direction of the resort.

  “Jackass.” Tomorrow he’d snoop around and see if he could find out what Thurman was up to.

  Charlotte wiggled out of his arms. “He’s trying to prove our marriage is a farce.”

  “I’d say we put on a good show.” He dogged her heels as she stomped off toward the bungalow.

  She didn’t look as pleased as he’d have expected. Slamming into the bungalow, she stopped in the kitchen. “Aaron, you’re taking this sexual act too far. I’ll try to relax and be more responsive when we’re in public, but keep your hands off my butt.”

  “Why?” He considered her request. “We’re attracted to each other. What’s wrong with enjoying the game? You need sex as much as I do.”

  “I don’t need sex. I need a decoy until I can get Edward out of my hair.”

  “You’re lying.” Charlie had turned to hot molten lava on the beach, not to mention her reaction the night before. Would she ever admit she enjoyed his touch? “Want me to demonstrate?”

  If her rich-coffee eyes could shoot daggers, he’d be dead. “Stop right there. We aren’t going through this every night. Business partners don’t have sex. I’ll make up the sofa.”

  “Married couples do and I’m sleeping in our bed.” He headed for the bathroom. “You can sleep wherever you want.”

  The dark side of his personality, the one his mother had referred to as the son of the devil, was itching for a shot at seducing the ice heiress.

  Charlotte narrowed her eyes as Aaron disappeared into the bathroom. No way was she going to sleep on the sofa while he enjoyed the luxury of her king-sized bed.

  Aaron walked out, a towel knotted precariously low on his hips. The purely sexual impact slammed into her stomach. Damp hair tasseled down his forehead and she had the urge to wrap a curl around her finger. He had the kind of rugged handsomeness that made women melt. Tan, slightly stocky and biceps men like Perry would kill for.

  In frustration, she grabbed a nightgown and headed for the only room in the house that provided a measure of privacy.

  The scents of soap and aftershave permeated the steamy bathroom. She couldn’t even see her reflection in the mirror. The man was invading every nook and cranny of her space. With him living here, there wasn’t the tiniest corner of the house that she could call her own.

  By the time she reentered the bedroom, the only sign of Aaron was the damp towel crumpled on the closet floor. Where had he gone? She huffed. She wouldn’t put it past him to hook up with one of his girlfriends. Aaron Brody didn’t seem the type to go without sex for long. Or he could be smoking and drinking himself into an early grave with his obnoxious buddies. What did she care?

  Her only concern was that Edward or Perry might see him leave, or worse, run into him somewhere. Well, at least she could rule out the latter. Unlikely that either of them would be caught dead in the type of establishments her husband frequented.

  She opened her underwear drawer and meticulously folded every single feminine garment until the drawer passed her most stringent inspection. That was one part of the house she was confident Mr. Aaron Brody wouldn’t disturb.

  What did she need with a sexy womanizer complicating her life? After all, Perry had been charming, too. Aaron, Perry, her father. All they wanted from women was a good time. Brains were optional.

  AARON WALKED INTO THE Green Gecko and straddled a stool. He ignored Raul’s I-told-you-so expression and drummed his fingers on the bar. “Whiskey.”

  The bartender poured a shot and set it on the bar with a thud. “Little chilly tonight, sí?”

  “Sí,” he agreed, surveying the packed room.

  Johnny was at a table attempting to pick up a blonde who’d wandered into their local little web. As she giggled off in the direction of the ladies’ room, he sauntered over and took a seat next to Aaron. “Details, my friend. How was the honeymoon?”

  Raul held up a hand and tried to silence Johnny. Aaron shrugged. “I told you guys I had no intention of bedding the ice heiress.”

  “Oh? So why the scowl?” Johnny asked.

  Rosa sidled up behind Johnny and took the next stool. “The woman doesn’t know how to take care of a man. You’re going to have to teach her.”

  “Me?” Aaron smirked. “I tend to gravitate toward warmer climates.”

  She shook her head. “There are women who are born knowing how to enjoy men and women who aren’t.”

  Aaron eased past Johnny and slipped his arm around Rosa. At least he could let his hair down with his friends. “So stop talking, darlin’, and give me a demonstration.”

  “If I found myself married to a man with your skills, I wouldn’t kick him out of bed.” She raised one pencil-thin eyebrow and rubbed her heavy breasts against his chest.

  Rosa would no more sleep with him than Charlie would, but her flirting helped soothe his wounded ego. It had been a long time since he’d known a woman as detached as his wife. “So you’d marry me and chain me to the bed?”

  She tossed her head back and led him toward the dance floor. “Marriage, never. But if you played your cards right, I might consider the bed and chains.”

  When the dance ended, Raul handed him another whiskey. “So seriously, what’s it like married to the hotel tycoon?”

  “We have nothing in common. She wants to eat at that new place on Big Pine Key. Looks overpriced and stuffy. I probably couldn’t even pronounce what’s on the menu.” Or read it. Aaron lit a cigarette and wished they’d change the subject.

  Looking him up and down, Rosa narrowed her eyes. “You plan to wear that?”

  “Not planning to go.”

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Aaron, you’re a handsome man. Show that lonely wife of yours a good time. Come by the shop and I’ll dress you up.”

  “No way. I’m not coming in there and risk having my wife know I need someone to dress me.” He took a drag of his cigarette. God, it was stifling. Even with the open front of the bar and ancient ceiling fans, the salty breeze didn’t offer much relief.

  Raul leaned across the bar. “So you dress the part.”

  Johnny slapped him on the shoulder. “Besides, might get you into her bed.”

  “I don’t want in her freakin’ bed! I just want to fix the Free Wind.”

  Rosa squeezed his arm and he didn’t miss her winking at Raul. Once a couple had been married, they seemed to develop some secret code. Not likely that he and Charlie would be together long enough to develop any sort of domestic lingo.

  WHEN CHARLOTTE ARRIVED AT the office at six-thirty, a large tour rushing to make an early morning flight had the checkout desk jammed. She made sure the bus was ready to take them to the airport and stepped behind the counter to help hurry the line along.

  She’d woken this morning to find one hairy leg draped across hers and a hand cupping her breast. Aaron must have crawled into bed in the wee hours of the morning. Ignoring her body’s reaction to the warmth of Aaron’s breath on her neck, she’d eased out of bed. She was probably the only woman on the island who had slept with Aaron Brody and not slept with him.

  As she tried to concentrate on assisting another cus
tomer, she listened to the tour director’s complaint about the buffet breakfast not being ready at six o’clock as promised.

  To her amazement, Perry strolled in and took the woman’s hand. “Ms. Carmichael, I’m so sorry for the mix-up. We’ve deducted twenty percent from last night’s lodging and complimentary donuts and coffee are on the van. We hope you won’t hold this against us on your next visit to the island.”

  Ms. Carmichael glared at Charlotte and took Perry’s hand. “I do appreciate your effort, Mr. Thurman.”

  Narrowing her eyes at Perry, Charlotte headed to her office. She had to find someone to cover for the absent morning chef before the next wave of guests woke up.

  Perry followed her into her office. “I called the lunch chef to fill in.”

  “Thanks.” She let the receiver drop back into the cradle. “How did you know?”

  “When I got here an hour ago, the guests were in chaos.”

  An uneasy feeling niggled at Charlotte. The Perry she knew in college had never signed up for a class if it started before 10:00 a.m.

  AT ELEVEN FORTY-FIVE Charlotte walked out of the resort with no idea where she was headed. She never took lunch, but if that arrogant jerk said, “If you’d just…” one more time she was going to stuff him down the laundry chute.

  Perry had infiltrated every aspect of her hotel and she couldn’t even fire him. How could he have charmed his way into Edward’s good graces without that shrewd old man seeing through him?

  Easy. She’d given him a glowing recommendation. Perry’s booming career with Harrington Resorts was entirely her fault. Chill bumps ran down her arms at her own naïveté.

  She glanced up and realized she was approaching Aaron’s boat. Seeing him step off the Free Wind and give Rosa a hug jarred her out of her musings. Her Rosa? The same Rosa who ran the resort boutique? The lady he’d danced with at least twice at the wedding reception?

  Unable to stop herself, she followed them down the narrow street, trying to keep enough distance so she wouldn’t be noticed. She paused in front of a bright turquoise souvenir shop. A faded wooden sidewalk sign squeaked in the breeze and touted pictures of seashells, sunglasses and flip-flops. Assorted tropical T-shirts hung on a rack by the door.

  Rosa was at least ten years older than Aaron. He stopped abruptly at the next shop and grinned at the display in the window before Rosa tugged him away. Charlotte dodged a bicyclist and waited until they ambled on. She raised an eyebrow at the red thong bikini-clad mannequin in the window.

  The sound of clanking dishes and laughter filtered out of an open-air bar as she passed. Smoke hung heavy in the dim cave of a room, even though there was no wall on the sidewalk side of the bar. The light tropical breeze seemed to trap the smoke in rather than air it out. The wooden sign swinging overhead labeled it The Green Gecko. Rickety wooden stairs clung to the side of the clapboard building leading to an apartment perched over the top of the bar.

  Rosa and Aaron entered a small shop. Charlotte remained outside, squinting to see through the salt-filmed glass. Rosa sorted through a rack of slacks and handed a pair to him along with a black shirt. He disappeared behind a curtain only to reappear wearing the outfit. Rosa ran her hands down the front of the shirt.

  What was going on here? Why was he buying clothes? Was Rosa just helping him shop or was there more?

  “Hmm?” Perry taunted from over her left shoulder.

  She wanted to crawl in a hole and die. No! She wanted Perry to crawl in a hole and die. “He’s shopping,” she replied, grappling for a plausible explanation.

  “Shopping? While his new wife waits on the sidewalk?” Perry noted her peeved expression. “Makes perfect sense.”

  “I’m meeting Aaron for lunch.” Damn, how was this going to look?

  “Take all the time you need. Edward and I have things covered.” Perry smirked and strolled off down the street, hands in his pockets, whistling some stupid, perky tune she half recalled from nursery school.

  Slinging her purse over her shoulder, she stomped back toward work. She couldn’t take much more of this nonsense. If she didn’t figure out how to get rid of Perry 007 Thurman, this whole plan was going to crumble like a sandcastle at high tide.

  By the time she walked back to the resort, Edward was poking around the front desk making the staff nervous. Given his reputation for being blunt, callous and unforgiving, all he had to do was show his face and people freaked out. He seemed to revel in their discomfort, claiming it separated the boys from the men.

  “Hi, Edward. Buy me lunch.”

  He shook his head. “I’ve eaten. Do you put these clerks through the training curriculum before scheduling them on the desk? That girl’s messed up the customer’s check-in twice and she isn’t done yet. Does she understand English? I’ll have Perry to schedule them for a refresher course.”

  Perry? Taking his arm, she led him toward the dining room. “You’re making her nervous. Join me while I have a salad.”

  Charlotte kept him occupied at the table long enough to give her front desk employees time to calm down. The waitress handled her job with professional courtesy. Too bad all her employees couldn’t have the woman’s self-assurance.

  AARON STROLLED INTO CHARLOTTE’S office around three o’clock, hands in his pockets and staring at his sneakers.

  She tilted her head and tried to figure out his mood. Did it have something to do with his shopping spree?

  “I thought we might try that new restaurant tonight, if you’re game?” he suggested.

  “You’re asking me to dinner?” The puzzle pieces fell into place. If she weren’t so clueless about reading people, she might have fit them together sooner. When she’d asked him to dinner last night, he hadn’t had anything to wear.

  He shrugged. “Sure, why not? Need to keep up the pretense.”

  “I’ll make reservations for eight o’clock, if that works for you?”

  “Yeah, that’s fine. Gotta go. They’re pulling the boat out and putting it in dry dock this afternoon.”

  The day had been a disaster, but after Aaron left, she couldn’t keep from smiling. He was making an effort. Dinner might be a good start. A little cooperation could go a long way toward making this nightmare bearable.

  When Edward stuck his head in, it was already past five. “I just got a call from a Transworld tour director. He has a group in town at another resort. He’s not satisfied with the accommodations and is eager to discuss future business.”

  She read his mind. There went dinner with Aaron.

  “I told him Perry would be happy to discuss it over dinner. Just wanted you to be aware.”

  Perry? “No need for Perry. I’ll take the tour director to dinner.”

  “Didn’t want to interfere with your evening.”

  “Not a problem.” Grimacing, she tried to squelch her disappointment. She told herself it wasn’t so much that she was looking forward to spending an evening with Aaron, but rather that she hated the idea of spending it with a boring tour director.

  Edward flashed a grin. “I’ll add one more to the reservation. Seven-thirty. I’m sure you and Perry can handle things.”

  Charlotte called the Conch Fritter Restaurant, cancelled the reservation, and then rang the bungalow. No answer.

  She ran home to freshen up and change before dinner. She’d stop by the dock on the way and let Aaron know about the change in plans.

  When she opened the bungalow door, she found Aaron dripping wet, a fluffy pink towel slung low around his hips. Any other man would have the decency to not look so sinfully masculine wrapped in pastel pink.

  “Hi.”

  Charlotte rubbed her forehead and tried not to watch the droplet of water trickle down his chest, circle his navel, and absorb into the snug towel. “Bad news. We have to postpone dinner. I’ve got to entertain a tour director tonight.”

  He didn’t respond for a minute, simply stood there.

  “No big deal. I’ll catch dinner with the guys.”

>   As good of an actor as he was, he could have pretended to be at least a little upset.

  AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, the tour director didn’t know when to shut up, and Perry added to the situation by leading the conversation from one boring topic to the next. They talked about every golf course on the face of the earth, hole by hole. Charlotte was tired and ready to call it a night, but the men rambled on like long-lost buddies. Perry had the guy eating out of his hand.

  She and Perry finally saw the tour director into a cab and walked back into the lobby. He slipped his arm around her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. “We make a good team, you and I. Imagine what we could do running Harrington’s.”

  Before she realized his intention, he leaned down and covered her mouth with his. “Nice evening, Charlotte. Like old times.”

  She jerked away, but he grabbed for her arm.

  Aaron stepped out of the shadows and grasped Perry’s lapels. “Touch my wife again and I’ll feed your skinny ass to the sharks.”

  Chapter Six

  Charlotte grabbed her purse, flipped off the light switch, and locked her office door behind them. “What’s with the jealous act? Don’t you think you overreacted just a bit?”

  “Overreacted?” Aaron led the way to the bungalow. “You break a date with me to spend the evening with Thurman and don’t think I should act jealous? What kind of husband would I be?”

  “Oh, come on, Aaron.”

  His jaw clenched, poised for an argument. “So I should stand around and just watch him kiss my wife? You are paying me to act like a husband.”

  She stomped across the grounds and up the walk of her bungalow. “For a hundred thousand dollars I expect you to act civil. I didn’t overreact when I saw you and Rosa shopping together today, now did I?” Oops.

  He tilted his head. “You were spying on me?”

  “I wasn’t spying. I just happened to be walking by that little shop.” She dug her key out of her purse and jammed it into the bungalow’s lock.

  “You don’t just happen to do anything. Every move you make is a calculated tactic. You were checking up on me.”