He rested one hand on the wheel, and the other stretched along the back of her seat. He laughed. This chick was a hell of a ride. “You’ve got a temper don’t you, Red?” He toyed with a loose curl. “Fine, be yourself. But only answer the questions they ask. Don’t elaborate. And for the record, you’ve got a long way to go before you’re as foulmouthed as me.” He chucked her under the chin. “But keep practicing. You’ll get there.”
She gave him a dirty look disguised as an adoring smile.
The minute he exited the truck the ravenous crowd went crazy.
Zings of excitement pinged through Scarlett’s body. Not Yay, we’re going on a cruise excited. More like I’m about to do something naughty excited. Totally inappropriate, but she raised her face to the sun and savored the sensations pulsing through her bloodstream.
Gavin gave her a strange look. “Are you alright?”
“Never better.” She laughed. If she was the star of this circus, she might as well enjoy it.
“Okay. Here we go. Remember, I’m right beside you.” They made their way toward the reporters.
“Gavin, introduce us to your wife!”
“This way Scarlett and Gavin, give us a smile.”
“Scarlett, is it true you’re pregnant? Was it a shotgun wedding?”
“Congratulations, you two.”
“Why’d you run, Scarlett?”
Her bravado failed her when they stopped in front of the crowd. She fought the urge to hide behind Gavin. Instead, she smiled like this was an everyday occurrence. The questions flew at her like mosquitoes on a summer evening.
Gavin whistled loud and shrill. “Quiet down.” Scarlett was stunned when they all obeyed. Wow. You Tarzan. Me Jane. Oh gosh, she was losing it.
“We’ll take a few questions.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She welcomed his strong arm and warm man scent. He pointed to a guy in a camo vest and a safari hat. “You first.”
“How does it feel to be married, Gav?”
“Great, couldn’t be happier.” He drew her closer. She leaned into him willingly.
“Scarlett, how do you feel about all of this?” shouted a short man with a bad comb-over. Then again, was there ever a good comb-over?
“Sort of overwhelmed, but very happy.” Her arm slid around Gavin’s waist. She held onto his shirt for dear life.
A woman with a high bun and white sunglasses yelled, “Tell us how you two met. How long have you known each other?”
“We met last Saturday night in Vegas. We caught an elevator together.” He kissed her temple, and tingles exploded from the top of her head down the length of her body. He pointed to a young guy with his baseball cap on backwards. “You’re—”
“So basically, you knew each other seven days before you got married?” The woman in the sunglasses interrupted. “You don’t think that’s kind of fast? Sounds like the same old Gavin, reckless as ever. The Delinquent, in all his glory.” All the other reporters laughed.
The muscles in Gavin’s back went rigid. Scarlett knew calling him reckless was the worst thing the woman could do. The calculating gleam in the reporter’s eye let Scarlett know she’d done it on purpose. Hot and raw anger blazed through her. How about some common courtesy?
She peeked up at her husband’s handsome face. He’d pulled on his bulletproof rocker mask. The only tell of his distress was a muscle pulsing in his jaw. She got it then. Unreliable and unpredictable, that’s how these people saw him. How they would portray him in their rags and TV shows. This was why he’d offered to pay her to stay married. It didn’t matter that her acceptance of the money had nothing to do with his problem. He’d paid for her help. She owed him, didn’t she?
Her heart rate kicked up while her hands poured sweat. They were maligning him, and she couldn’t sit back and let it happen. Unfortunately, there’d be a price to pay. If she redeemed his reputation, she’d put another nail in her own. But right was right, and it wasn’t in her nature to let someone suffer if she could help.
Well, crap. Luanne always said she cared too much about what other people thought.
Well, Luanne, I’m about to make you very happy.
“No. I—”
“Babe,” Scarlett cut in. “If you don’t mind I’d like to answer this one.” She stepped in front of him to shield her husband from the sharks. “I’m the reason we got married so quickly. Gavin wanted to take some time to make sure we were doing the right thing and to involve our family and friends. But…well…I just couldn’t wait.” She gave Gavin a quick smile over her shoulder. He responded by wrapping both of his arms around her waist and pulling her back to his body.
His body was a live wire sending currents of electricity all the way to her toes. Even her bones buzzed. She rested her arms on top of his, gripping him for support. “When you meet the right person you know it. We knew we were meant to be together the moment those elevator doors closed. Isn’t that right, Gavin?” She turned in his arms to look directly into his eyes.
Big mistake.
His gaze cast a sensual net, snaring her. She was willing prey, and her words didn’t feel like a lie.
He smiled down at her. “That’s right, doll.”
“If anyone’s reckless it’s me, not Gavin.”
That, for sure, was a piece of truth.
The reporters hung on every word. She looked back at them and grinned. “Who can blame me? Look at him.” Their audience snickered. “He’s talented, charismatic and gorgeous. I’m a very lucky woman.”
She should step away from him, but she couldn’t. It felt too good to be wrapped in his arms. “Do you have anything to add, sweetie?” Her heart faltered. The fire blazing in his gray gaze told her he was as affected by their contact.
“Um…” For a moment he stared at her like he’d forgotten what they were talking about. “No.” His voice was like rough sex on satin sheets.
This man lit all her fuses, and he did it with a blow torch. Without her permission, her arms snaked around his neck. A small smile lifted her lips when he moaned at their contact, belly to belly. Rising to the balls of her feet, she sucked on his full bottom lip.
Surprise at her actions registered somewhere in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t resist. Didn’t want to.
He crushed her to him as his lips parted and he took control. She opened to him. He licked into her mouth. Her knees buckled, but he caught her, tightening his hold around her waist. She moaned and fought the urge to crawl up his body.
The flash of cameras was like a lightning storm, the shout of the photographers a distant thunder. Lost in the sensual kiss, she barely noticed either one.
A blow to the head would have been less disorienting than the feel of Scarlett’s soft tongue moving against Gavin’s body. The sweet invasion jumbled his senses. He couldn’t pull her close enough or kiss her hard enough to satisfy his hunger.
She moaned deep in her throat, and when she did, every kiss, every touch, every carnal moment from their night in Vegas came rushing back to him. The memories originated in his brain, but like wild geese fleeing winter, they quickly migrated south.
He’d attributed the passion of that night to the liquor. But standing there, stone-cold sober in the Texas sun, with a mosquito buzzing by his ear, and a trace of manure floating on the breeze, he knew it was more than alcohol. So much more. It was bone deep attraction. Desire and need. There was something else, too. He grasped for the word, but it escaped him.
He reluctantly pulled back from the kiss and looked at Scarlett’s swollen lips and flushed cheeks. Desire swirled around them, and she blinked up at him. Neither spoke. They barely breathed. Soft as a feather, she traced her fingers down his face.
His hands were headed down to the promised land of her ass when someone shouted a question. He had to rein it in. Having sex in public had to be as bad as a quickie marriage to a virtual stranger. Right?
Clearing his throat, he stepped back, but only far enough to turn her to face their audience
. He kept his arm around her, not ready to let her go. “Alright guys, that’s it, thanks for your good wishes.”
Disorientation and a raging hard-on made him move slowly. Had a kiss ever felt like that? Not just no, but hell no.
It was amazing. Terrifying.
He didn’t know if he wanted to lay her on the ground and finish what they’d started, or jump in Floyd’s truck and drive as fast as he could away from Texas.
Thankfully, he got them back to the vehicle. They didn’t speak or look at each other.
When he slid behind the wheel, Scarlet scooted across the seat and settled herself next to him. She leaned into him and gave the reporters one last wave. He turned the truck around and headed back to the house. Even though a part of him wanted to bolt, he couldn’t help himself. He slid his hand over to her thigh and rested it on her warm, sweet flesh. She felt so damn good.
“Ohmygosh.” Her small hands squeezed his arm. “That was unbelievable.”
“Yeah.” How had this prissy woman knocked him on his ass with one kiss, and made him chase halfway across the country to get to her? He was a rocker, for Christ’s sake. Women were a dime a dozen. And they chased him, not the other way around.
“It was insane, petrifying, thrilling, and every other word you could put an exclamation mark after.” She fanned her face. “I thought I would faint dead away. I can’t believe people have to deal with that every day.”
What? I’m about to crash and burn over here and she’s all worked up over the reporters?
“It can be pretty bad,” His half-hearted response made her look at him.
“Are you alright?” He could feel her studying him. “You’re mad because I answered that last question. I should have let you handle it. But I thought it would be better for me to defend you, rather than you defend yourself.”
“Yeah. Good thinking.” No. He wasn’t alright. He was pissed. Performing for the crowd had her flustered. Not that incredible kiss.
“Well, what’s the matter?”
He ran his hand across his mouth, trying to wipe away the taste and feel of her. Like that was possible. A snarl of emotions surged through him. This chick had him so tied up in knots, he couldn’t think, which put him at a disadvantage.
He only knew one way to level the playing field—attack. “The next time we have to kiss, don’t stick your tongue down my throat. You getting off isn’t part of this deal.” He was a dick. So what else was new?
Scarlett recoiled as if she’d been slapped. “Oh…okay.” She looked like a whipped puppy as she slid back to the passenger side of the truck.
His anger calmed his libido, but it didn’t improve his driving. He cringed when he hit another pothole. He braced himself for his wife to bitch at him, but she mutely stared out the window.
His conscience twitched. Interesting. He didn’t know he still had one. As a welcome back gift to his scruples, he made a small concession. “Listen, Scarlett, I’m tired, and this whole situation has made me jumpy as hell. You’re going to have to forget I said that.”
Embarrassment and indignation swirled around Scarlett’s brain like water circling a drain. That had been the best kiss of her whole life.
Not good. Not even great.
Fireworks on the Fourth of July, spectacular.
The kind of kiss that leads to ripped clothes, pulled hair, and hickeys in indiscreet places. But she didn’t have any of those things. No. All she had was a gaping hole in her pride and a massive bruise on her heart.
She was the queen of fools. Seriously, if there were an idiot parade she’d be riding on the float. Scooching as far away from him as possible, she wrapped her arms around her middle and stared out the window. What was his problem? She hadn’t pinned him down and forced him to kiss her. He’d participated too.
It takes two to tango, bucko.
As apologies went, that one stunk. So what if he was tired and jumpy? That didn’t give him the right to speak to her that way. It wasn’t like she was at her best, either. Though, unlike him, she’d remained civil. She’d given him iced tea for cryin’ out loud. A tiny voice whispered that she’d given him her mouth, her tongue, and her body too. But she shut that hussy up in a hurry.
She desperately searched for her happy place but only found new and inventive ways to maim him. Maybe she and Honey could get adjoining prison cells. Because there was a very good chance she was going to kill Gavin Bain in his sleep.
Chapter 8
Scarlett propped her feet on her coffee table and took a break from writing. She knew bloodthirsty musings over her real life had bled into her creative life when Fiona the Fairy picked up a tree branch and beat the ever living crap out of a tattooed, musical troll. Carousel did want Fiona to be edgier. A homicidal fairy was probably not what they were talking about. But it was satisfying to write.
With the laptop balanced on her lap, she massaged the ache in her temples that radiated to her neck.
That kiss.
She’d initiated it. What was wrong with her? She’d acted like she didn’t have a lick of sense.
Just doin’ what I was paid to do.
It was a lie. Thankfully, she didn’t have to admit the truth because her cell rang.
“Hello, Luanne.”
“Can you talk?”
She rolled her eyes at Luanne’s conspiratorial whisper. “Yes. Gavin’s gone to the barn to help Brody with chores.”
“Really?” Incredulity shot through the phone and stabbed her in the ear.
“Yep. He’d rather shovel horse poop than be in the same room as me. And, let me tell ya, the feeling is entirely mutual.”
Liar.
“What the hell’s going on?” Luanne demanded.
Scarlett considered what to say, but only for a moment. She needed to tell Luanne. “You have to swear you won’t say a word about this to anyone.”
“Okay.”
“Swear.”
“Alright, I swear on the collective souls of NSYNC.”
A smile spread across Scarlett’s face, and her tension ratcheted down somewhat. They’d been swearing on the collective souls of NSYNC since they were twelve years old. She gave Luanne the rundown on her father, Poppy Sims, and Gavin’s buy-off.
“Poppy Sims is a manipulative bitch.”
“You have no idea.” Scarlett had learned that lesson in the absolute worst way.
Scarlett, have you lost weight?
Probably, Poppy, all I’ve eaten for a month is Ramen Noodles. Being a broke college student sucks.
Hey, I’m going to a party tonight. There’ll be tons of food. You can dress up and have a some fun.
Really, Poppy?
Sure. A friend of mine was supposed to go, but she got sick. Here’s the address. When you get there, tell them your name is Heaven Leigh.
Why?
Oh, it’s just something fun we’re all doing.
Okay.
Heaven Leigh? Really? How gullible can one girl be? Heavenly is the last word she’d use to describe that night.
“At least Gavin knows the money’s going to a good cause,” Luanne said.
“Huh?”
“I said, at least your husband knows you’re using the money to help your family.”
“No, he doesn’t. I didn’t tell him. As far as he knows, I’m a greedy gold-digger, and that’s the way I want it. This is a family matter. And Gavin’s not family.” She was counting on the contempt she saw in his glare every time the money was mentioned to serve as a perfect barrier between them. Even so, disappointment kneaded her heart.
“You could have asked me for my help.”
“Honestly, it never occurred to me to ask. This is better. Once it’s paid to the bank, we won’t owe anyone.” She was surprised Luanne offered. Her best friend didn’t like to draw anyone’s attention to her family money. Everyone in Blister County knew the Prices had more money than God. But Scarlett knew that everything Luanne had came at a steep price, thanks to her father.
“How are you gonna explain it to Floyd?”
“He doesn’t really have any idea how much I make on my book sales. I’ll tell him I’ve saved up. He doesn’t have the cash, and this is my home too. He’ll hate it, but he’ll take it. Besides I’m going to pay it off then tell him, so even if he wanted to stop me it’ll be too late.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out. I hope it doesn’t come back to bite you in the ass.”
Me too. “It’ll be fine.”
“Soooo, Renegade Bride, how was the sex?”
Scarlett’s headache squeezed tighter. That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? She wished she had an answer. “Don’t call me that.”
Luanne laughed. “It’s a ridiculous name, but oh so funny. Now quit stalling and give me a play by play of your first time.”
Her first time. The sadness and regret she’d held at bay trampled her. She’d held on to her virginity for twenty-five years, guarding it like the Crown Jewels. A giggle bubbled at the thought of her hymen and Queen Elizabeth together. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had opportunities to lose it. But, anytime she’d been tempted, she remembered a devastated seven-year-old girl watching her foolish, sexually irresponsible mom drive away with a man she’d just met at the Stop-N-Save. Nothing killed desire like childhood mama-trauma.
Her first response was to lie to Luanne. She always told the truth, no matter what the consequence. Now she was about to lie to her best friend. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. “Lou, it was—”
The door opened, and a sweaty rock star stood on the threshold.
“Do not come in here,” Scarlett shouted.
“Why the hell not?” He braced his hands on the door jamb and glared at her.
“Luanne, I’ll call you back.” She pointed at Gavin. “Stop.”
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