“For her.” But not for me. She’d made herself very clear on that.
“What?” She looked up at him, her face revealing her confusion. “You’re reading me all wrong. I love children—I’ve made taking care of them my business.”
“Just business,” he repeated.
“I can’t explain it properly.”
“Try.” He needed her to help him understand what was going on in her mind—especially if he really was reading her all wrong, as she said.
She tore her glance away from what must have been a fascinating informational plaque and stared into his eyes, nearly causing him to lose his train of thought.
Such beautiful blue eyes.
Eyes he could get lost in forever.
What was he thinking again? Oh yeah. He cleared his throat. “I have an idea,” he said. “Something I hope will work for you…and me.”
Lauren gasped. “Whatever it is you’re thinking of saying right now, please don’t. Don’t say it.”
She turned and walked several steps away, to yet another informational plaque, this one about one of the types of plants growing in the climate-controlled habitat, based on the two-inch-high title over the text. Why was she walking away?
“Lauren—” he started, holding Callie in the crook of his elbow and grasping Lauren’s hand as she looked away.
“Don’t say it. We were having such a nice day.”
…
Lauren couldn’t bear to look Mack in the eyes, not when she knew he was trying to let her out of their deal. But she didn’t want to be let out of their deal.
Of course, the only reason they’d married each other was for the sake of the baby. And if he thought she didn’t want to help him raise Callie, then it made sense he’d insist on her leaving so he could find a suitable wife.
Tears filled her eyes at the thought of Mack with another woman. Why? It’s not like he was truly hers. It’s not like he owed her something, not if she ceased to be his official wife.
“I imagine it would be best for you to find another wife,” she said, as much as it hurt her soul to say the words.
“What?” he gasped, his eyes widening.
“The will stipulated that either I would take Callie if I was married, or you could take Callie if you were married. We don’t actually need to be married to each other. We only did that to keep her with us.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m letting you know I get it, Mack. I get it. And I understand if you want to find another wife if you think this isn’t working out. After all, we don’t know when Joe and Marisol will return. It could be a while. So…”
Callie rubbed her chubby fist against her lips, finding her thumb. The colorful, crowded atmosphere of the indoor jungle habitat seemed to be distracting her, if not overwhelming her. She didn’t appear to understand that they were calmly and quietly—at least on the surface—discussing terminating their marriage.
“So you’re telling me you want out?” Mack’s face was devoid of expression.
She couldn’t read him at all. How strange to look at the handsome face she’d come to know almost as well as her own and be unable to discern what emotion lay beneath the surface.
Lauren yanked her arm away from him. “No, you were telling me that you want out.”
“Do you really want me to find another wife? Find another woman to raise Callie with?”
She looked at the baby in his arms. How could she live with herself if she abandoned her niece?
And how could she live knowing Mack was married to another woman?
It would be hard. But she’d never abandon Callie. She’d just have to find some way to stay in her life…even if Mack kicked her out of his.
A low whimper escaped her lips at the thought of never seeing Mack again. Of him in another woman’s arms every night. Would she never get the chance to sleep with him again?
“I don’t want that, no,” she whispered finally. “But if that’s what you need to do, I understand.”
“I see what this is about,” he said. “Leaving you to find someone else to marry until Joe and Marisol return was not my big plan. You’re jumping to conclusions.”
Hope bloomed inside her and she stamped it down before her emotions got carried away. She didn’t even trust herself to talk; she could barely hold back the tears threatening to flow down her cheeks as it was.
“I don’t want to marry anyone else,” he said. “You’re the only woman I know who has as much of a vested interest in Callie as I do. I suppose it doesn’t matter if you don’t feel comfortable filling Marisol’s shoes as Callie’s mother, because you’re her aunt. It makes sense for you to raise Callie as her aunt, just as you are.”
“And it doesn’t matter that I can never be a real mom, because…this marriage isn’t real anyway. It’s temporary.”
Mack paused. “Right.”
Well, he couldn’t get much clearer than that. Now she needed to make sure she remembered this wasn’t going to last. Her dreams that he might want to stay with her—they were just that, dreams.
“So it’s settled,” Mack said, his voice low and husky with emotion. “We’ll stay married, and we’ll take care of her until they return.”
“Yes.” She took his hand in hers, reveling in how large it was, how warm.
He helped her buckle Callie back into her stroller, and the baby closed her eyes almost immediately, as if all she’d been waiting for was a place to lay her head so she could nap.
Mack squeezed Lauren’s hand and smiled at her.
So what if he didn’t love her? Her dream of marrying a man who would love her was just that—a dream. This was her reality, and it was quite wonderful. A beautiful niece to raise, a successful business, and a husband who was damn hot and affectionate, even if his feelings for her didn’t run deeper than lust.
Even if she had to leave when her brother returned, and go back to her quiet apartment. The memories she was creating now with Callie and Mack would enable her to fill some of her lonesome evenings. Funny, before all this had happened, she’d never thought of her evenings as lonesome.
Now, strolling outside to visit the rest of the zoo with her hand still enveloped in his, she couldn’t imagine how much it would hurt to come home to an empty house.
But they still had some time together. She’d make the most of it.
“Hey Mack,” she said softly as they walked together down the paved pathways in the zoo.
He looked at her with his eyebrow raised, as if to say “what now?”
She hesitated for the briefest of moments. “If we’re going to stay married, you may as well sleep in your own bed.”
“My bed is in your room,” he said.
“I know.” Heat flushed up to her face and she knew she was blushing.
“If I’m in the same bed as you, I won’t be able to keep from ravishing you. No more trying to be platonic.”
She took a deep breath. “I know.”
He leaned down and claimed her lips with his, his masculinity and the sheer size of his body overwhelming her senses. “Then tonight, you’re mine.”
Chapter Nine
In the kitchen, Lauren poured herself a glass of wine from a half-full bottle of Chardonnay chilling in the fridge. Mack might want a glass too, but she’d wait until he finished checking his emails to ask him.
The wine tasted perfect—much better than the inexpensive stuff she used to buy at the grocery store. Mack certainly knew his way around a wine list, that was for sure. It was a bit weird how she hadn’t had to go to the grocery store once since she moved in. She’d always shopped at least weekly. But Mack’s housekeeper took care of it for him—for them.
It was yet another task he’d hired people to handle. Not that he couldn’t do it himself, she knew—but he’d once told her that time was an asset, and he had to use his time for the highest purpose.
Since, instead of grocery shopping, he could be working and potentially making more money doing
that, it made sense for him to delegate the task. She’d have to get used to the whole way of life, she supposed. A spilled drop of wine beaded on the cherrywood floor, and she bent over to wipe it up with a napkin.
She sensed Mack’s presence behind her, but he spoke before she could even stand.
“Don’t move,” he said, his voice filled with sensual promise. “I want to keep looking at you just like that.”
Oh my. Her face felt warm and she blushed, as usual. How could she not, bent over with her bottom in the air? She started to stand, but he stopped her, stepping up behind her and pressing his groin to her buttocks.
The hard ridge of his arousal was apparent even through both their layers of clothing. He placed his large hand flat on her back, slowly pushing her back down, so she was once more fully bent over, her fingertips grazing the shiny wood floor boards.
His erection pressed thickly against her and she wiggled her hips a bit, enjoying the low groan of torment Mack made. He combed his fingers through her hair and wrapped it around his fist, restraining her from going anywhere.
Not that she wanted to be anywhere else. There wasn’t enough money in the world to convince her to move away from Mack at that moment. She wanted everything he had to give her, every sensual pleasure, every touch.
With tortuous slowness, he unzipped her fly, pulling her pants down around her thighs. She attempted to help him pull them down more, but he stopped her with a gentle tug on her hair. Desire coursed through her at his take-charge behavior.
And now, her pants around her thighs kept her legs bound together, her panties exposed.
“Beautiful,” he murmured, and pulled her panties down as well. He ran his hand across her bottom, surprising her with a light swat.
A well of passion filled her. “I need you,” she gasped. “Please, take me.”
Mack growled in response, and she could hear him unzipping his pants and pulling off his belt behind her. He hovered at her core, tantalizingly close. She ground her hips against him, urging him to fill her.
With a low groan, he slid inside her, stretching her deliciously. He kept her hair wrapped around his fist, pulling her head up as he took her from behind, hitting the spot deep inside that made her melt around him.
He pounded into her hard and fast, and before she knew it she’d slid to the floor and he lay on top of her back, covering her like a blanket of muscle. His body tensed and she knew he was close to his climax.
“Come, baby, come,” she panted, her cheek pressed to the cool floor.
“Wait,” he gasped, and rolled her over so she lay on her back, looking up at him.
Those eyes of his…would she ever forget how beautiful they were? Would she miss those amazing brown eyes when they’d gone their separate ways?
“I want to see your face,” he whispered. “Such a beautiful face.”
Her heart clenched with a rush of affection. If he kept this up, she’d never be able to keep from getting attached to him. He slowly slid in and out, moving with her as one.
Her orgasm wracked her body, her nipples tight in her bra. Oh my God, they hadn’t even bothered to get undressed. She gasped at the white hot passion that had led them to a quickie on the kitchen floor.
He thrust into her, his shaft sliding across her sensitive bud, making her cry out with pleasure. Mack pulsed inside her, his muscles tensing, and groaned as he climaxed, collapsing on top of her. She welcomed the warm weight of him.
He lay with his forehead touching the floor by her shoulder. She could feel his heartbeat slowly returning to a normal pace.
“Sorry about that,” he said. “I couldn’t help myself.”
“Don’t apologize,” she laughed. “It was a new experience for me. I’ve never had sex fully clothed before, on a kitchen floor.”
He laughed and helped her up. “Next time I promise to slow down enough to give you time to strip first.”
She kissed him, overcome with the desire to show him how she felt. Not that she knew how she felt, other than confused. Which meant actions would have to speak louder than her words for now.
“You’re not at all the cold business-only man I thought you were,” she said. “You’ve got a heart in there.”
“Of course I do,” he said, sounding surprised. “I love Joe like he’s family. Hell, we practically are family—we’ve been inseparable since college. I’d do anything to help him, especially in a crazy situation like this.”
“If the police caught Scorino, then why haven’t we heard from Joe and Marisol?”
Mack paused. “I don’t know. Maybe they don’t know yet?”
“What if—what if they really are missing, and not in hiding? Or what if they got into trouble and they’re out there somewhere, floating around the ocean with no one even looking for them anymore?”
“The land and sea search parties found nothing at all,” he reminded her, as if she needed reminding. “That seems to me like proof they went into hiding. Otherwise they’d have found something.”
“That’s right—they found nothing. No yacht, no bodies. What if instead of going into hiding, they got swept away or kidnapped by pirates or—”
“Lauren,” he interrupted. “Kidnapped by pirates? You’re grasping.”
“They have pirates out there,” she said. God, she sounded like she was crazy, she could hear it in her own voice. “Like those Somalia pirates, right?”
“I know you can’t wait to get back to your regular life,” he said softly.
Lauren picked up her wineglass from the granite island in the center of the kitchen and took an unladylike swig, as if drinking an extra large sip of Chardonnay would give her liquid courage.
“It’s not that,” she said. “I want to know for certain where they are. They don’t need to be in hiding anymore, and it’s making me nervous that we haven’t heard anything.”
“Scorino was arrested yesterday,” he said. “We didn’t even find out about it until this morning. Maybe they’re on their way back now.”
She sighed. “You’re right. I’m probably worried for nothing. I just—”
“I know,” he interrupted. “You’re ready to go home. To leave.”
No. I never want to leave. But their relationship was temporary, and it seemed like Mack wanted to remind her of that every time they got even a little closer. Or a lot closer. She looked at the cherrywood floor and blushed, remembering what they’d just done.
“I knew it,” he muttered, apparently misreading her silence for consent. “I have to…I have work to do. Good night.”
He walked back out of the kitchen as if they hadn’t just made love so passionately on the floor. What happened? Why did Mack always assume she’d be the one to leave?
After all, he was the one who always reminded her they’d only gotten married for Callie’s sake. He’d never shown any interest in marrying anyone at all, much less her, before Joe had disappeared and he’d had no choice in the matter.
None of it matters. As long as she played her cards close to her chest, she could still live out her fantasy of being married to Mack for the little time they had left. Joe and Marisol would be returning any day now, and her dream would come to an end.
Mack wouldn’t change his stripes so quickly. A man with no intention of settling down and having a family, a man who, according to her brother, had never trusted a woman after his mother left his dad, would never be able to be her real husband.
And if Mack did decide he wanted a family, after all, once again Lauren would be the wrong choice for him. She was screwed either way, and the outcome, no matter how hard she wished it, would always end with her alone.
She straightened her clothes, still in disarray from their unexpected coupling, and peeked her head out of the kitchen. The door to his office was still open.
“Mack?” she called softly.
“Yes.”
“Are you still sleeping in my—our—room tonight?”
Silence. Then, “Yes.”
&n
bsp; …
Lauren focused on living her dream to the fullest every day, juggling work and raising Callie. In the evening, she and Callie always rushed to greet Mack in the foyer the second they heard his footsteps coming off the elevator. Well, Lauren rushed, holding the baby against her chest, since Callie couldn’t walk yet. The sound of her husband’s shoes tapping across the hardwood practically initiated a Pavlovian response in Lauren. Her heart raced with gleeful anticipation, and she ran to him. On the nights she had to work late, Mack greeted her the same way, and she loved it. It was in those shared moments that she truly felt as if she had a family. Big hugs, little kisses, and plenty of laughter.
Later, with the baby in her crib, and after a glass of wine and a late dinner (courtesy of the housekeeper), Mack would lead Lauren into their bedroom. It was her dream come true—every night, wrapped in Mack’s strong arms.
The roses were doing better, too, under her constant vigilance. Mack had even started asking about her plant, wanting to make sure it had everything it needed to thrive. He was amazing. As much as she never wanted the fantasy to end, it had been weeks with no word from Joe and Marisol.
What if something really had gone terribly wrong?
She stood up from the breakfast table and grabbed the coffee pot. “Refill?” she asked Mack.
He smiled up at her from his chair. “Thanks. Gonna need the caffeine after the way you kept me up last night.”
“You started it,” she grinned, topping off his mug.
Mack winked at her and dug back into his cereal.
I have a husband. Still felt weird to think about.
What if this family, the family she’d spent her entire adult life convincing herself that she didn’t want because she knew, deep down, she’d never have it—what if this was permanent?
She’d never expected to have a child, not after her car accident. And yet here she was, with Callie to take care of. A baby to love. All of the time and energy she’d put into building her career so she wouldn’t have time to date, much less get married, and yet here she was, married. To the one man she’d always desired and thought she could never have.
The Tycoon's Convenient Bride... and Baby (Entangled Indulgence) Page 9