James placed his hand on hers, making her jolt as he said, “I’m not your brother, Ms. Hawke. A month-long marriage and my job to protect you go together. I’ll marry you, and we’ll set the date and time for the divorce on our honeymoon.”
Business. That was all this was. She had to think those words to stay sane, because the way the words ‘marry you’ played in her heart like a stringed bow playing a love song on repeat wasn’t good. “You didn’t ask what the pay will be.”
“I owe Gabe. Protecting you might be payback.”
Owe Gabe? Her brother typically only associated with billionaires who thought money was the only way out of a situation, and James Clancy wore jeans that had seen better days and a threadbare t-shirt. She unbuttoned the top button of her blouse while she imagined his lips on her exposed neck. This wasn’t good. She played with her necklace again. “What did he do for you that you’re not asking for payment?”
“He didn’t let me go back to prison. Now if that’s all, Scarlett, it seems I need to shave before we say I do.”
“Don’t. I like scruffy-looking. Gives you an edge.” She watched him walk to the door and check it out. Then he held out his arm for her, like he wanted her to follow him. She stood up. “And I’m sorry I was rude earlier. I thought it would send you away.”
“Takes more than words to send me packing.”
Unsure what else to do, she picked up her folder and joined him. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
He winked at her. “This might be my only wedding, ever. So humor me: wear white.”
“Of course.”
Today they’d be married and tonight they’d fly to Grand Bohemia. That was the plan, but with James, she couldn’t imagine the plan staying on track. Desire shook her on the inside and knocked her right off course.
CHAPTER 2
“Wear this one.” Scarlett brushed against him as he buttoned up his shirt under the light tuxedo that made him look like a waiter. Her rounded backside wasn’t typical of the stick figures he seemed to surround himself with lately. Scarlett was slim, but James had a feeling her curves would feel perfect under his calloused hands. She was easily the most attractive woman he’d seen in years.
He stared at himself, remembering the form-fitting black tuxedo he’d tried on earlier, and for a moment had a vision of being a spy who gambled in Monte Carlo. Not that this mission was anything like what he saw in the movies. He glanced at Scarlett, who unwrapped the bowtie that went with the waiter outfit.
He made the face he always used to show his mother that he disapproved. “It’s gray. I prefer black.”
She stood beside him and crossed her arms, her blue eyes sparkling with energy and emotion. “Your blue eyes pop more with the grey.”
His pale blue eyes were nothing compared to her deep blue wells of hidden depths. He unbuttoned the vest. If today was going to be his wedding day, then he might as well enjoy it. This was the only wedding he’d ever have, after all. “I still prefer black, Scarlett.”
She shrugged and watched him undress down to his black boxer briefs. Despite her feigned indifference, every time he let her see his body, the raw hunger in her eyes gave her away. She turned her head to pretend she hadn’t noticed him. “Fine. Luckily the store owner is a friend of mine.”
“You mean a business acquaintance.” He doubted Scarlett had friends. She was rather high maintenance, just like her brother said, but she was also more vulnerable than she let people believe. Her white and blue suit must have been made just for her and probably cost more than most people made in a year. That was obvious from how it hugged every hot curve.
Whatever was causing her to get married in a hurry likely had nothing to do with the threat against her family, but he needed to know all the angles in order to protect her.
“Both.” She shrugged and walked out of the dressing room toward the cash register while he tugged on his pants. The last thing he needed was for her to pay.
He pulled his blue t-shirt over his head and slipped his shoes on while she handed over her credit card.
Clearly she thought she was paying for him.
The bombshell blonde returned just as he finished dressing. “Now that you have your wedding suit and a few business ones for our trip, it’s time to go. Here’s to our date with disaster.”
If he argued with her, she’d ask questions about his life that he’d refuse to answer. It was better to let her think he had no money. “Why are we getting married, exactly?”
“Does it matter?”
She picked up his bags from the cashier on the way out, giving him time to step out first and glance around the buildings. Any rooftop assassin wouldn’t get enough cover with the low buildings. As she exited the store, he took the bags from her and led her to the waiting town car before helping her inside. The next stop on their list of errands was the courthouse.
“Yes. I’m here to protect you.”
“Don’t use that tone.”
He hadn’t yelled. His eyes narrowed. “What tone?”
“The tone that makes me think about you and your sexy shoulders protecting me.” He could feel a smile growing on his face, and he was sure his dimples would show. Scarlett’s classic beauty had a fragility to it that made her seem more than the spoiled rich girl that she let the world see. The driver didn’t say a word while they were driving, but James kept his voice low anyhow. “It’s my job, Scarlett. Now, why do you need to get married?”
For a fraction of a second, she seemed petrified. Then she loosened her lips but kept her hands on her waist like she was hugging herself. “Everyone assumes I know nothing and that I’m daddy’s little girl with a credit card. I majored in chemistry, but it didn’t change anyone’s opinions, including investors. My makeup brand had over a million dollars in gross sales last year, but people still see the image of Scarlett Hawke and not me.”
He’d studied biomedical engineering, when he finally went to college, but if the girls in the chemistry department had been like Scarlett, he’d have changed his career plans. Either way that didn’t have anything to do with now. The driver turned onto Biscayne, which meant they were a few minutes away from this wedding. “How does getting married help that?”
“It shows that I’m willing to be stable, as well as a businesswoman. I’m in talks for a conglomerate to come in with a lot of money, and I need to show that I’m in their best interest.”
“Okay.” She’d grown up rich.
“I hope I can get premium placement at Nordstrom by the beginning of the next fiscal year.”
“Good luck.” She must not have known how an uncle he never met had died and left him in charge of Clancy Industries, an empire that included shipping to every major department store in the country. But he’d been focusing his attention on applied sciences, and he wasn’t advertising he was the heir to anything, to anyone, including his about-to-be wife.
“So why did you agree to protect me? Don’t give me that line about owing my brother again.”
She made a motion for them to stop at a store. The driver searched for a place to park while James gazed at the surrounding buildings. The police station was across the street, and there were a few palm trees, but nothing major where someone could shoot from a distance.
“I do owe him.”
They were stopping at the bridal boutique on Miracle Mile, so she must be picking up her wedding dress. This time she waited for his signal, and then they rushed inside. Within seconds, she went to the register and paid for what he assumed was a dress in a garment bag.
Once they were done, he escorted her back to the car, handed the dress to the driver and helped her inside. As he scooted in, she asked, “How did Gabe save you from prison?”
Gabe had known him before his entire world changed. For Scarlett, right now, it was better that they make this deal without her knowing who he was. “I spent most of my teenage years in a detention center, and then I joined the military. After training, I was placed in my first unit, and whe
n the theft of military secrets put my entire unit in danger, the MP’s arrested me. They assumed it was me because I’d been in trouble my whole life.”
“And my brother bailed you out?”
The driver began to drive them to their final destination. He turned off Biscayne two minutes later, and onto a side street. “Your brother not only bailed me out, he figured out I was set up and asked for my help to find who stole the plans.”
“And then there was the explosion that left my brother burned?”
In the desert, his team—Colt, Belle, Gabe, Harrison and Conner—were the closest thing he’d had to a family in years. The day Gabe was burned, they’d been attacked by some ninja assassin straight out of a movie. He was young, but he had tried to kill all of us, and nearly succeeded in Gabe’s case. At the last second, the boy changed his mind and stopped, so James helped Gabe. But none of this was for Scarlett’s ears. “I was there, but he almost died because I wasn’t fast enough.”
“Did you leave him to die?”
“No.” If Scarlett knew he’d almost lost her brother, she might not trust him now.
The car stopped and his pulse quickened—they’d arrived at the courthouse. “We pulled him out, but we were there because I wanted revenge.”
“My brother is fine, and you’re working in security. I would say he owes you his life.”
“Gabe doesn’t owe me anything.”
He checked the surroundings and saw no signs of any place for a long distance shot on the way to the door. Security would be tight inside. He helped Scarlett out, and she dropped his arm, went to the back, met the driver who gave her the garment bag and headed inside. The driver shook his head and returned to the car.
A policewoman was stationed near the ladies room that Scarlett intended to go to.
“Go get dressed.” She pointed toward the men’s room for him.
“Right.” Time to change for his own wedding. He spoke to the guard about Scarlett, waited a minute, then finally headed into the men’s room to put on his tux.
Two minutes later, he was dressed and waiting.
The clock ticked and minutes rolled by. Anything might have happened, and he had no idea if there were windows inside the ladies room for an assassin to get to her. The men’s room didn’t have any, but that didn’t mean anything. He was about to knock on the door when she finally emerged.
She wore a form-fitting, silky-smooth dress that hugged her in all the right places, making his hands ache to touch and feel her. She handed the driver her bags and then took James’ arm. “Are you ready for this or should I find someone else?”
He led her toward the line to get a marriage certificate. “Getting married at a courthouse and going to a conference for a honeymoon is what I always wanted out of life.”
“I’m sure.” In front of them was a young couple, the girl in a simple knee-length dress and the boy in a suit that was too big for him. Neither seemed like assassins to him. Scarlett reached into her pocketbook. “Wait. I need you to sign this.”
“What is it?” He opened it and glanced at the document. It said they would both continue to keep whatever assets they possessed before this date, and that any profits their own assets earned were separate property, not subject to division in case of divorce.
“A prenup in case of—”
“Say no more.” He waved his hand, picked up a nearby pen from the cashier’s counter, and signed it. “Here you go.”
“Can we discuss payment?”
“Your brother paid me. To me this is the same job.” The last thing he needed was more money. He handed the marriage license application Scarlett had already filled out to the cashier. The lady motioned for them to go to window fourteen, so they followed the young couple and waited for their turn. James motioned toward the black plastic chairs.
Scarlett lifted her nose and refused to sit.
“Did you have a wife or girlfriend that might think different?” she asked.
“No, I’m free of commitments.” The young couple was called into the office. They were now next.
Scarlett suddenly took both his hands in hers, and the jolt he felt when their fingers touched overwhelmed him. No girl was this sweet, not to him. “James, if I don’t say this later: thank you.”
Thanks weren’t what he wanted. Her lips on his while he stripped her of clothes would be better, but he owed her brother respect. He let her hands go. “Let’s get this over with.”
The young couple emerged a few minutes later. Any second it would be his turn. He stared at the number fourteen, trying to will everything to go faster, until someone bumped into him. Looking up, he was surprised to see Sienna Stewart, in a black skirt suit and button-down shirt. He hadn’t seen her since she’d helped him straighten out his inheritance, though he technically paid her weekly to be Clancy Industries’ internal counsel. She took off her glasses. “James! Congratulations, I’m in shock you’re here. When we dated those few times, you said you weren’t ever getting married. Glad to see you found the one.”
“Hello, thanks. We’re both happy.”
“Well, if you need me for anything, let me know.” She then took off and continued talking to some other man, who must be a lawyer.
Scarlett tugged on his arm and he turned back toward a face that could launch those thousand ships in the Iliad. Her eyes were wide. “You run into ex’s all the time, wherever you go?”
“I don’t.”
“Who was she? She didn’t exactly say hi to me.”
When he’d found out he had an inheritance that required work, he’d needed a lawyer’s advice. After that, he hired her to stay on full time and watch out for the company’s interests. He unbuttoned his tux jacket as the clerk motioned she was ready for them. “Sienna is an attorney. We shared a few meals last year.”
“Let me guess, you didn’t call in the morning.”
He guided her toward the door. “Relationships aren’t my thing.”
“Well then, let’s get inside and change that for a month.”
“After a month, you’ll be happy to be rid of me.”
“If you say so.”
As he entered the room after her, James reminded himself that the beautiful and sexy woman in front of him was off limits. Scarlett was the sister of a friend, and he’d need to keep his distance while on a tropical resort with her. This job had to remain platonic, even if Scarlett set his temperature ablaze.
CHAPTER 3
The second Scarlett’s private plane landed, she turned toward her new husband, who had been working on his laptop since they took off, and gazed at him. They were legally married, though the distance between them felt like the Grand Canyon and the silence hadn’t helped. James was in his blue jeans and t-shirt again, while she’d changed into a white button-down shirt, black business suit, and matching sandals to show off her French pedicure. Even their clothing made the cultural differences between them obvious.
Either way, she’d pull this off and everyone would believe they were married. She’d get her contract, prove herself, and everything would be perfect. She stood up and brushed her hands down her dress to ensure she had no wrinkles. “James, let me introduce you, and don’t worry about anything.”
He closed his laptop and slipped it into a bag. “Scarlett, I’m here to protect you.”
“I know. I’m leaving you in charge of keeping me safe.” She’d married a man her brother clearly thought highly of, and while he wasn’t her first choice, it was the choice she’d made. James’ blue jeans and t-shirts were good for the short term, and perhaps one day her fantasies about a bad boy might come true. Most of the stuff she thought about James was mostly of her own making.
“Kind of you.”
She picked up her pocketbook and fluffed her hair, ready to dazzle whoever she might need to help her company succeed. Then she took a step toward the door. “Let’s go.”
“Wait.” He reached out and gently grabbed her shoulder. She turned toward him, and a moment la
ter his hard lips were on hers.
In his arms, she melted like the ice caps on a warm summer day, and she never wanted the moment to end. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders with only one thought in her mind: this was what being his would be like. He kissed better than she ever dreamed any man might. As he pulled away, he rubbed her cheek with his finger. She was lost at sea for another second, but slowly her mind returned. “Why did you do that?”
He winked and let her go. “No one would buy we’re married if I hadn’t.”
“Oh. Okay.” She hugged her pocketbook to her waist, as her thoughts weren’t up to being witty with a comeback. She blinked once, fixed her skirt, took a moment, and turned to go.
He came beside her and held out his hand. “Just hold my hand.”
“Always.” Had she just said that? Really? She lowered her head as they walked into the sunny airport next to the blue waters of the island. He led her toward the hangar, where their car was waiting. A minute later, they were on their way to the hotel.
Her pulse seemed to center on his hand the entire ride.
Truthfully, even her boyfriends hadn’t made her feel this possessed. How James held her had made her feel special, and struck chords deep inside her. The car pulled into the nearby hotel and terror seized her entire body, making her stiff and unable to move.
For a second, she released her hand and clutched her pocketbook while James exited and checked the perimeter.
Once she’d remastered the art of breathing, she checked her makeup and scooted toward the door. Before exiting, she fluffed her hair again and offered her hand. James took it. As he held the door open for her, Scarlett could already see the president of Leviathan Inc. in the lobby. He would be a good potential investor if her first choice fell through. She smiled and directed them toward him. “Tom, lovely to see you. James, this is Tom Braddock.”
Braddock paid her no attention and shook James’ hand with a huge smile on his face. As the seconds wore on, she pressed her other hand on James’ shoulder to get his attention.
Tropical Tryst: 25 All New and Exclusive Sexy Reads Page 11