Kitabı oku: «The Tycoon Takes a Wife / His Royal Prize», sayfa 2

Two

He had to be joking.

Eloisa dug her fingers into the leather seats, seriously considering making use of that bottle of bourbon in the limo’s minibar. Except indulging in a few too many umbrella drinks had landed her in this mess in the first place.

She’d taken pains to cover her tracks. Her mother had warned her how important it was to be careful. Keep a low profile. Stay above reproach. And never, ever invite scrutiny.

Eloisa looked out the window to see where they were headed. They passed nail salons and T-shirt shops along the beachfront, nightlife in full swing on open-decked restaurant bars. The chauffeur truly seemed like he was simply driving around, not headed anywhere specific—such as Jonah’s hotel.

She simply couldn’t pay the price for being impulsive again.”We signed the divorce paperwork.”

His blue eyes narrowed.”Apparently there’s something you neglected to tell me, a secret you’ve kept mighty close to the vest.”

Eloisa bit her lip to hold back impulsive words while she gathered her thoughts and reminded herself to be grateful he hadn’t stumbled upon her more recent secret. Her empty stomach gripped with nerves. She tried to draw in calming breaths, but had to face a truth learned long ago. Only when working at the library could she relax.

Best she could tell, there weren’t any books conveniently tucked away in this superbly stocked luxury ride. Although the backseat area was packed with enough technology to provide a command central for a small army. Apparently Jonah preferred to have the world at his fingertips. Odd, but she didn’t have time for distractions right now.

“What secret?” she asked out of a long-honed habit of denial. To date, no one had pressed the point so the strategy hadn’t let her down yet.”I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

His jaw went tight with irritation.”That’s the way you want to play this? Fine.” He leaned in closer until she couldn’t miss the musky scent of him mixed with his still-familiar aftershave.”You forgot to mention your father.”

Her chest went tighter than her hands twisting in the skirt of her dress.”My dad’s a tax collector in Pensacola, Florida. Speaking of which, why aren’t you home in Hilton Head, South Carolina?”

He gripped her wrists to stop her nervous fidgeting.”Not your stepdad, your biological father.”

Apparently, Jonah wasn’t easily diverted tonight.

“I told you before about my biological father.” A shiver passed over her at even the mention of the man who’d wrecked her mother’s life, the man she lied about on a regular basis.”My mother was a single parent when I was born. My real father was a bum who wanted no part in my life.” True enough.

Her dad—no more than a sperm donor as far as she was concerned—had broken her mother’s heart then left her to raise their child alone. Her stepfather might not have been Prince Charming—wasn’t that damn ironic?—but at least he’d been there for her and her mother.

“A bum? A royal bum.” Jonah stretched a leg out in front of him, polished snakeskin loafer gleaming in the overhead lamp.”Interesting dichotomy.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and wished it was that easy to shut out the repercussions of what he’d somehow discovered. Her mother had been emphatic about personal safety. Her biological father still had enemies back in San Rinaldo. She’d been foolish to tempt fate by going to Spain in hopes of unobtrusively learning about half her heritage on the small island country nearby. Damn it all, fear was a good thing when it kept a person safe.

She steadied her breath, if not her galloping heart rate.”Would you please not say that?”

“Say what?”

“The whole royal thing.” While her stepfather frequently called Audrey his”little princess,” he—and the rest of the world—didn’t know that Eloisa was actually the one with royal blood singing through her veins, thanks to her biological father.

Nobody knew, except Eloisa, her deceased mother and a lawyer who conducted any communication with the deposed king. Eloisa’s so-called real father. A man still hunted to this day by the rebel faction that had taken over his small island kingdom of San Rinaldo off the coast of Spain.

How had Jonah found out?

He tipped her chin with one knuckle as his driver slowed for jaywalking teens.”You may have been able to fool the world for a lot of years, but I’ve figured out your secret. You’re the illegitimate daughter of deposed King Enrique Medina.”

She stiffened defensively, then forced herself to relax nonchalantly.”That’s ridiculous.” Albeit true. If he could figure it out, how much longer until her secret was revealed to others? She needed to know, hopefully find some way to plug that leak and persuade him he was wrong.

Then she would decide what to do if his claim was actually true, a notion that could have her hyperventilating if she thought about it too long.”What makes you think something so outlandish?”

“I discovered the truth when I went back to Europe recently. My brother and his wife decided to renew their wedding vows and while I was in the area, I stopped by the chapel where we got married.”

A bolt of surprise shot through her and she couldn’t help but think back to that night. She’d been emotionally flattened by her mother’s death and had only just returned to finish her studies in Europe. She’d shared some drinks with the guy she’d secretly had a crush on and the next thing she’d known, they were hunting for a preacher or a justice of the peace with the lights still on.

Visiting the place where they’d exchanged vows sounded sentimental. Like that day meant more to him than a drunken mistake.

She couldn’t stop herself from asking,”You went back there?”

“I was in the neighborhood,” he repeated, his jaw going tight, the first sign that the whole debacle may have upset him as much as it had her.

He’d let her go so easily, agreeing they’d made an impulsive mistake rather than asking her to crawl back in bed with him and discuss it later. A huge part of her had wanted him to sweep away rational concerns. But no. He’d let her leave, just as her father never claimed her mother.

Or her.

She tore her eyes away from the tempting curve of his mouth, a mouth that had brought such intense pleasure when he’d explored every patch of her skin later that night after their”I do.” Except they’d exchanged vows in Spanish, which had seemed romantic at the time. Between her hiccups.”Everyone knows King Enrique doesn’t live in San Rinaldo anymore. Nobody knows where he and his sons fled after they left. There are only rumors.”

“Rumors that he’s in Argentina.” Jonah lounged back in the seat, seemingly lazy and relaxed, except for the coiled muscles she could see bunched under his black jacket.

She knew well he came by those muscles honestly. Her first memory of him was burned in her brain, the day she’d joined the restoration team on a graduate internship to assist with research. Jonah had been studying blueprints with another man on the construction site. She’d mistakenly thought Jonah worked on the crew, from his casual clothes and mud-stained boots. The guy was actually a couple of credits away from his PhD. He wasn’t just an architect, he was a bit of an artist in his own right.

That had enticed her.

Only later, too late for her own good, had she discovered who he was. A Landis, a member of a financial and political dynasty.

Eloisa looked away from his too-perceptive eyes and swept her hem back over her knees.”I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

Lying came so easily after this long.

“It also appears that neither you nor your mother has been to Argentina, but that’s not my point.” His eyes drilled into her until she looked back at him.”I don’t give a damn where your royal papa lives. I’m only concerned with the fact that you lied to me, which gummed up the works for our divorce.”

“Okay, then.” She met his gaze defiantly.”If what you say is true, maybe it means the marriage is void, too, so we don’t need a divorce.”

He shook his head.”No such luck. I checked. Believe me. We are totally and completely husband and wife.”

Jonah slid his fingers down the length of her hair until his hand cupped her hip. His hand rested warm and familiar and tempting against her until she could swear she felt his calluses through her dress. She struggled not to squirm—or sway closer.

She clasped his wrist and set his hand back on his knee.”File abandonment charges. Or I will. I don’t care as long as this is taken care of quickly and quietly. No one here knows about my, uh, impetuosity.”

“Don’t you want to discuss who gets the china and who gets the monogrammed towels?”

Argh! She tapped on the window.”Driver? Driver?” She kept rapping until the window parted.”Take me back now, please.”

The chauffeur glanced at Jonah who nodded curtly.

His autocratic demeanor made her want to scream out her frustration but she wouldn’t cause a scene. Why did this man alone have the power to make her blood boil? She was a master of calm. Everyone said so, from the stodgiest of library board members to her sixth grade track coach who never had managed to coax her to full speed.

She waited until the window closed before turning to him again.”You can have every last bit of the nothing I own if you’ll please just stop this madness now. Arguing isn’t going to solve anything. I’ll have my lawyer look into the divorce issue.”

That was as close as she would come to admitting he’d stumbled on the truth. She certainly couldn’t outright confirm it without seeing what proof he had and hopefully have time to take it to her attorney. Too many lives were at stake. There were still people out there tied to the group that tried to assassinate Enrique Medina, had in fact succeeded in killing his wife, the mother of his three legitimate heirs.

Enrique had been a widower when he met her mother in Florida, and still they hadn’t gotten married. Her mom vowed she hadn’t wanted any part of the royal lifestyle, but her jaw had always quivered when she said it. Right now Eloisa sympathized with her mother more than she could have ever imagined. Relationships were damn complicated—and painful.

Thank goodness the limo approached the paddleboat again because she didn’t know how much more of this she could take tonight. The car stopped smoothly alongside the dock.

“Jonah, if that’s all you have to say, I need to return to the party. My attorney will be in touch with you first thing next week.”

Eloisa reached for the door.

His hand fell to rest on top of hers, his body pressing intimately against her as he stretched past.

“Hold on a minute. Do you really think I’m letting you out of my sight again that easily? Last time I did that, you ditched before lunch. I’m not wasting another year looking for you if you decide to bolt.”

“I didn’t run. I came home to Pensacola.” She tried to inch free but he clasped her hands in his.”This is where you can find me.”

Where he could have found her anytime over the past twelve months if he’d cared at all. In the first few weeks she’d waited, hoped, then the panic set in as she’d wrestled with contacting him.

Now, they had no reason to talk.

“I’m here now.” His thumb stroked the inside of her wrist.”And we’re going to fix this mess face-to-face rather than trusting the system again.”

“No!” Already her skin tingled with awareness so much more intense than when he’d cupped her hip—and she’d been mighty aware.

Damn her traitorous body.

”Yes,” he said, reaching past and throwing open the door.

He was letting her go after all? But hadn’t he just said they were going to confront things face-to-face?

However, who was she to waste time questioning the reason he’d changed his mind? She rushed out of the limousine and turned at the last second to say goodbye to Jonah. Why was her gut clenching at the notion of never seeing him again?

She pivoted on her heel only to slam into his chest. Apparently he’d stepped out of the vehicle as well. Distant voices from her sister’s party drifted on the wind, something she could barely register since his sun-bronzed face lowered toward hers.

Before she could breathe, much less protest, his mouth covered hers. His eyes stayed open, which she realized must mean hers were open, too. Just like a year ago, she stared at his eyes, the kind of blue poets wrote about. His wild and fresh nature scent was the same sort evoked by a literary walk through Thoreau’s Walden.

And just that fast, her lashes fluttered closed. She savored the taste of him on her lips, her tongue again. Her hands slid up to splay on his chest, hard muscles rippling under her fingers.

Then unease niggled at the back of her brain, a sense of unrest. Something was off about this kiss. She remembered what it was like to be kissed by Jonah, and as nerve tingling as it felt to be pressed against him, to inhale the scent of him, this wasn’t right.

She tried to gather her thoughts enough to think rationally rather than just languish in sensation. His broad hand moved along her waist, lightly, rhythmically.

Totally in control.

Where everyone could see.

He was putting on a display for the partyers on the boat, damn him. Indignation, anger and a hint of hurt smoked through her veins, chasing away desire. She started to pull back then reconsidered. The damage was already done. Everyone at the party had seen them kiss. They would assume the worst. She might as well take advantage of the opportunity to surprise Jonah for a change. And yes, even to extract a little revenge for how he’d staged this whole encounter tonight to knock her off balance rather than simply notifying her through their attorneys.

Eloisa slid her arms around his waist, not that anyone could see behind him. But what she was about to do wasn’t for public viewing anyway.

It was all for Jonah.

Eloisa grabbed his butt.

Jonah blinked in surprise, her hand damn near searing through his pants. He started to pull away … then sensation steamrolled over him. This kiss wasn’t going the way he’d planned. He certainly hadn’t expected her to take control of the game he’d started.

Now that she had? Time to turn the tables again.

Gasps of surprise drifting on the wind from the boat, he cupped her neck and stroked his tongue along the seam of her lips, just once, but enough, if the hitch in her breathing was anything to judge by. Her body turned fluid as she pressed closer to him. Her hands skimmed up along his spine to his shoulders. Then she speared her fingers through his hair, sending his pulse spiking and placing his self-control on shaky ground.

Without question, he wanted to take this encounter further, but not here. Not in public. And he knew if they moved to the limo, reason would pull her away again. So with more than a little regret, he ended the kiss. He’d made his point anyway.

Jonah eased away from her, still keeping his hands looped behind her back in case she decided to bolt—or slap him.”We’ll finish this later, princess, when we don’t have an audience.”

When he could take this to the natural finish his body demanded. And when she was totally consenting rather than merely acting on impulse. The kiss may have started as a staged way to make her family aware of their connection, but halfway in, he’d realized his instincts were dead-on.

He couldn’t walk away without one last time in her bed.

Her lips pursed tight as if holding back a retort, but her hands shook as she slid them from behind him to rest on his chest. He watched over her shoulder as a small group left the boat and started toward them on the boardwalk. A trio led the pack. Thanks to photos from an investigator, Jonah IDed the three right away. Her stepfather, Harry Taylor. Her half sister, Audrey Taylor. And Audrey’s fiancé, Joey.

Eloisa leaned closer and whispered through tight teeth.”You are so going to pay for doing this.”

“Shhh.” He dropped a quick kiss on her forehead, liking the taste of his revenge so far. His appetite for it—for her—only increased the longer he spent by her side.”We don’t want them to hear us fighting, do we, dear?”

Jonah slipped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her by his side, her soft curves pressed enticingly against him.

She stiffened.”You can’t be planning to tell them … uh …”

“About your father?”

Her brown eyes flashed with warring anger and fear.”About your theories. About you and me.”

“My lips are sealed, princess.”

“Stop calling me that,” she said through gritted teeth as the footsteps thunked louder and closer.

“You and I both know it’s true. There’s no more denying it. The only question is, how far will you go to keep me quiet?”

She gasped.”You can’t mean—”

“Too late to talk, Eloisa dear.” He squeezed her lightly as the group closed in, her family leading.”Trust me or not.”

The older man in the lead fanned a hand over his wind-blown blond hair, whisper thin along the top. His daughter—the bride to be—was an even paler version of her father. Even her hair seemed bleached white by the sun, yet she didn’t sport even a hint of a tan. Her fiancé hovered behind, fists shoved in his pockets. He shuffled from foot to foot as if impatient to be anywhere but here. A small crowd gathered behind them while others watched from the deck railing.

Jonah extended his hand to Eloisa’s stepfather.”Sorry I’m late, sir. I’m Eloisa’s date for tonight’s shindig. I’m Jonah Landis.”

She wouldn’t be able to dismiss him as easily this time.

Harry Taylor’s eyes widened.”Landis? As in the Landises from Hilton Head, South Carolina?”

”Yes, sir, that would be my family.”

“Uh, Harry Taylor, here. Eloisa’s father.”

The guy all but had dollar signs flashing in his pupils like some cartoon character.

Jonah stifled the irritation for Eloisa’s sake. He appreciated the advantages his family’s money had brought him, but he preferred to make his own way in the world.

Meanwhile, though, Jonah knew how to deal with money suck-ups like this. He’d been on guard against them since the sandbox. Even kids figured out fast whose dad had the biggest portfolio.

A photographer stepped from the back of the pack, lifting the lens to his eyes. Eloisa tucked behind his shoulder as flashes spiked through the night.

Smiling widely, Harry shuffled aside to clear the way for the photographer to get a better angle. The old guy all but offered to hold the photographer’s camera bag.

Audrey elbowed her yawning fiancé, hooking arms with him and stepping closer.”When did you and Eloisa meet, Mr. Landis? I’m sure our guest—the editor of the local events section of our illustrious paper—will want plenty of deets for her column.”

“Call me Jonah.” He could feel Eloisa’s heart beat faster against him.

He could claim her easily here, but then their separation would be out in the open as well. He intended to be much closer to her.”I met Eloisa during her study-abroad program last year. I found her impossible to forget and here I am.”

Every word of that was true.

Eloisa’s sigh of relief shuddered against him.

Audrey loosened her death grip on her fiancé's arm long enough to sidle beside her sister for the next round of pictures.”Aren’t you full of surprises?”

“Not by choice.” Eloisa smiled tightly.”Besides, this is your night. I wouldn’t want to do anything to detract from that.”

Her stepsister winked, eying Jonah up and down.”Hey, if he were my date, I’d be lapping up all the media attention.”

What the hell kind of family was this?

Jonah pulled Eloisa closer to his side, sending a clear”back-off” signal to Audrey. She simply smiled in return, tossing her hair over her shoulders playfully. Her fiancé seemed oblivious, poor bastard.

Eloisa buried her face against Jonah’s shoulder and he started to reassure her—until he realized she wasn’t upset or even seeking him out. She was just hiding from the clicking camera.

The photographer snap, snap, snapped away, the flashes damn near blinding in the dark night.

Audrey reached for her sister.”Come on. Just smile for the camera. You’ve been hiding out here all night and I could use some fun and interesting pictures to add to my wedding album.”

Eloisa thumbed off the band from her ponytail. Her hair slid free in a silken sheet that flowed over her shoulders and down her back. She’d never seemed vain to him, but then most women he knew primped for the camera. Even his three sisters-in-law were known to slick on lipstick before a news conference.

Except as he watched her more closely he realized she used the hair as a curtain. The guy might be getting his photos—to deny them would have caused a scene with Audrey—but there wasn’t going to be a clear image of Eloisa’s face.

Realization trickled through of a larger problem between them than even he had anticipated. He knew she wanted to keep her royal heritage a secret. That was obvious enough and he respected her right to live as she pleased. But until this moment he hadn’t understood just how far she would go to protect her anonymity. A damned inconvenient problem.

Because as a Landis, he could always count on being stuck in the spotlight. Just by being with her, he’d cast her into the media’s unrelenting glare.

He’d wanted revenge, but didn’t need to unveil her secret to repay her for her betrayal. He had other, far more enticing ways of excising her from his mind.