Favorite Places (A TroubleMaker Novel, #2) (3 page)

Besides, he didn’t
think standing up and showing her his reaction to her pouty lips would be
appreciated by her or by Jack, for that matter. Instead, he remained seated and
conjured up a way to force her to see him again. “Stop back tomorrow and—”

“No.” Adamantly
shaking her head, she placed a hand on her denim-clad hip and sighed. “I can’t.
I need this done today, and I’m not leaving until it’s taken care of. Isn’t
your lawyer here today?”

“Why?”

Her head stilled,
and she looked him straight in the eyes. “Is he here or not?”

“Yes, he’s here.”
Unless there was no other choice, Chase didn’t like to lie. This time, he merely
stretched the truth. “But he’s busy at the moment, and I’m late for a meeting.
If you’d like to come back,” he glanced at his watch and organized some free time
in his head, “say around five, I’ll have him take a look at these and meet you
then.”

“Hold on.” She
bent over, picked up her bag, and riffled through it until she found what she
was looking for—a bus schedule? She skimmed it and stuffed it back in her bag. “Okay.
Five. See you then.” She got up, turned, and left the room, leaving in her wake
the impression of the finest little heart-shaped ass Chase’s eyes ever had the pleasure
of observing.

Two hours later,
Jack confirmed that the absurd marriage was real. Chase was indeed married to
the all-natural beauty who’d just left his office. Jack also confirmed that Ms.
Landi’s lawyer had all the paperwork in order. He gave Chase the go-ahead to
sign the documents to get the annulment started. “Let Ms. Landi know I’ll be in
touch with her attorney.”

“Mr. Lennox,”
his assistant’s voice came through the intercom.

He pressed the talk
button. “Yes, Katie?”

“Uh, sir, I
thought you’d like to know that your five o’clock has been sitting out in the
lobby for the past two hours.”

“Ms. Landi?”

“Yes.”

“Are you telling
me she’s been out there since she left my office?”

“Yes. Would you
like me to—”

“No, don’t do
anything. I’ll take care of it.” He released the talk button, then impulsively
he pressed it again. “Katie, on second thought, please cancel my next two appointments.”

“Um, all right,
Mr. Lennox, but—”

“Thank you.”

When he stepped
off the elevator and started for the front lobby, Chase spotted her right away.
One stranded pink flip-flop lay on the floor, her foot was propped under her ass
on the seat, and her eyes were focused on the e-reader in her hands. Clearly wrapped
up in whatever she was reading, and unlike the other woman in the lobby, she
obviously hadn’t noticed his arrival. Chase cleared his throat.

Large, amber
eyes shot up at him.

Her surprise quickly
replaced with a fraudulent, tight smile. “Hello again, Mr. Lennox.”

“Call me Chase.”
He frowned, irritated by her snarky attitude and the fact that she’d been so
stubborn and persistent as to sit there the whole time. “What are you doing down
here? Our meeting isn’t for another three hours.”

“Like I told
you, I’m not leaving till I get what I came for, Mr. Lennox.” She emphasized
his surname and amplified that fake smile.

As he stood
there absorbing the situation, Chase deduced that if she’d come by bus, she had
no vehicle to get around. Did she really have nowhere to go and no way to get
there? Is that why she was sitting in his lobby, being so nasty? In truth, he had
only made her wait because he wanted to see her again. But she couldn’t know
that
.
“Did you eat lunch?”

“I’m good.” She shifted
to the left and slipped her bare foot into the deserted flip-flop on the floor.

He tilted his head
to the side. His eyes slid to the chair next to her, noting the candy bar
wrapper and the iPod. “I don’t think you are,” he said as their eyes met. “C’mon.
I’m taking you to lunch.”

She snatched the
candy wrapper and the media player and shoved them into her bag. “That isn’t
necessary, Mr.—”

“Oh, but it is,”
he swayed closer. “No wife of mine is going without a proper lunch, Jess.”

Her eyebrows
caved. “It’s
Ms. Landi
,” she veered back from him, “and since I’m not
your real wife, there’s need for you to worry about anyone’s proper anything, other
than your own, which shouldn’t be too difficult. I’m sure when it comes to
priorities, yours always come first,
Mr. Lennox
.”

“Hey, now that
wasn’t very nice.” She was direct, and he liked it, though he wasn’t about to
tell her that. “You’re right though. What I want always comes first, but I don’t
make it a habit to want something that I can’t have,” he bent in a bit closer
,
“
Jess
.”

Her face turned
bright red, and her mouth opened but then snapped closed.

“But don’t go
passing judgment on me too quickly, sweetheart. You don’t even know me. Besides
you don’t want to go tarnishing my impression of you, do you? I thought I was
married to a nice girl.” He was fully aware that he was pissing her off, but he
couldn’t stop himself. She was adorable angry, and he secretly wanted to see
that little pout of hers again.

“We’re not
really married! And you’re not fooling anyone with your charming smiles. I-I know
all about your kind, Mr. Lennox. Just sign the damn paperwork so I can be on my
way.”

“My kind?” Chase
loathed being compared to anyone or anything. He managed a forced smile as he reached
out and grabbed her elbow. “Get your things together. I’m taking you to a nice
restaurant to have a decent meal and some nice conversation, and you, Ms.
Landi, are going to be very
nice
while we’re doing it.”

She tried to
yank her arm away and shot him a vicious look. “I’m not going anywhere with—”

“No?” He glared
down at her. “If you don’t come with me, I’m not signing anything. Till death
do us part,
honey
.” He smirked, daring her to challenge him.

Defeat wafted across
her face, leaving track marks in her scowl. “You bast—”

“Now, now, Jess.” He grinned, pleased that he had won this
round. “Nice, dear. Remember, we’re striving for nice.”

To think she was
attracted to someone like him, an arrogant tyrant!
Jessina glared at
Chase Lennox from across the table. Okay, maybe she had attacked him, but she needed
to show him her armor. Prove to him she was prepared for all those sexy little
smiles he kept throwing her way. He wasn’t fooling her. She’d seen his empire.
One doesn’t acquire that kind of power and wealth by being a nice guy.

But twenty
minutes into lunch, she had to admit that she was actually relaxed around him.
Even somewhat enjoying herself. He’d pulled her into a kaleidoscope, him being
the focus, as everything else around them disappeared.

He set his glass
back on the table, his eyes never leaving hers. “Why were you there that day, at
the airport?”

Jessina smoothed
out the wrinkles on the napkin on her lap. She wanted to tell him it was none
of his business, but something about him compelled her to answer. “I was
returning from New York.” She glanced around the restaurant for a moment, her
gaze landing back on his patient, fixed stare. Whether she liked him or not,
the guy was nice to look at. “My aunt recently passed away. I was there for the
funeral and ended up staying for the week to help my cousin, Shelby, settle her
affairs.”

“My condolences.”

Jessina searched
him and was inclined to believe the empathy in his decree was real. “We were…prepared.”
She shrugged. “She’d been diagnosed a few months earlier with the terminal
illness. She asked all ten of us, all her nieces and nephews, to come and see
her, so she could say goodbye and explain what she expected of us. She didn’t
have any children of her own, so she sort of propelled her pent-up maternal
love and nurturing onto us.” She smiled. “Aunt Lulu made each one of us feel
special, like we were her favorite.”

“Sounds like you
really admired her,” he said with a gentle smile, a warm gesture that relaxed
her further.

“Yeah, I did. When
I was younger, she’d always come to town for a visit with her wild red hair, sparkly
nails, bright pink lipstick, and five-inch heels. I always told my friends,
‘That’s just my crazy aunt from New York City.” She paused to reminisce. “She
was the total opposite of my mother, her sister. I thought my mother was going
to have a coronary when she found out Aunt Lulu planned to be cremated, not to
mention, she’d asked each of us to take some of her ashes and spread them wherever
we wanted. She wanted to be with each of us in some way, to be part of our
favorite places.”

“Interesting. It
sounds like she was a very eccentric woman.” His smile turned up a little more.

“Funny you’d say
that. I always thought she was more crazy than eccentric, but you’re right. She
was rich and a little on the unusual side, so society generally considered her
an eccentric.”

He chuckled, a
low masculine sound. The corner of his eyes crinkled, and a half-moon dimpled
into his left cheek, enhancing his distinguished appearance. After a long
silence, during which she stared at him, admiring his unique lines, he finally
broke the quiet. “So, Jessina, I’m curious. Where’s
your
favorite place?
Where’d you put your beloved Aunt Lulu?”

Did she dare
tell him? Why not? Maybe it wound inject some humility and knock that smug
I-always-get-what-I-want look off his face. “Well, one-tenth of her is
currently scattered all over the parking lot of the McCarran International airport.”

The upward curve
of his mouth collapsed. “Wait…” His eyebrows crept together with quick
understanding. “Don’t tell me—”

“Yep. I held
Aunt Lulu during the flight and carried her through the airport and the trolley
ride, but I let her go in the parking lot.”

“That was an urn
in your hand? I made you drop your aunt?”

“Yes,” she
nodded. “And you stepped on her too,” she said, desperately trying to stifle
her snicker but still unable to resist the jab.

His strict, serious
expression cracked and crumbled like the façade of some ancient, majestic
building.

Humility achieved.

Jessina almost
smiled at her accomplishment but sobered when he reached across the table, and thick,
strong fingers curled around her hand. They were warm, the weight of his touch
soft and comforting but firm at the same time. He gave her a gentle squeeze. “Jess,
I have no idea what to say in this kind of situation, but I am truly, truly
sorry.” His intense gaze stronger than ever.   

She swallowed hard from
the tender touch and the sincerity in his words. “No, no. It’s fine. Really!” She
choked out a nervous laugh and took the opportunity to try to pull her hand
away, but the oppressive, hot man, with all of his beautiful lines and strong fingers,
wouldn’t let her go. Her smile froze, and again she nervously giggled. As crazy
as it was, she was turned on by the mere touch of his flesh, like some shy
schoolgirl bumping into the high school quarterback.

“The whole ordeal was crazy. You thinking that I stole your
luggage, and chasing after me like some kind of madman. Now we’re married
because our bags are lookalikes. Believe me when I tell you that Aunt Lulu is
no doubt looking down at us and laughing her ass off. One of the many things I
loved about her was her great sense of humor. Really, don’t worry about it. If
you knew her, you’d be laughing too.” There. That should shake his guilt
complex and make him remove his warm hand from hers.

Fat chance
.
All it really did was make things worse. His thumb did this extremely slow
slide over her skin. She felt it all the way to her core, the heat producer of
her desires. Her thighs clamped together to keep the hotness in, and the napkin
crinkled in her lap.

“Ah…” Jessina swallowed hard, twice. “My Aunt Lulu…” Her next
thought escaped her as his thumb made its way up her wrist.

 His eyes delved deeper
into her, and all the makings of a moan formed in her chest.

 Oh
my God!

What the hell
was the man doing to her? She couldn’t moan right there in the middle of the
damn restaurant just because he touched her wrist and looked at her with those
eyes
. God, those freaking eyes!
As badly as she wanted to keep from
moaning, the sound sure as hell threatened to move up and out her throat.

Back off hormones, and
I swear I’ll take care of you myself later.

Two strong fingers landed on the underside of her wrist. They
pressed into her flesh, the spot where he could feel the mad thrashing of her
pulse. “You were saying?” His eyes darkened. “Your Aunt Lulu?” he cued with a
wicked smile.

Oh boy!
She’d succeeded in lightening up his façade all right. He’d gone from guilt-induced
to sex-induced, and he was too damn good at it.  “Um…” She snatched her hand away
from his, and he let her go. “Aunt Lulu is actually why I’m here. Jon, my
lawyer was finalizing my inheritance from Aunt Lulu when he discovered the
marriage records. He’s known me all my life, so he knew I wouldn’t have run off
and eloped without telling anyone. He investigated it before he brought it to my
attention. He was going to call you, but I didn’t think it was something you
should hear about over the phone. Jon was supposed to come with me today, but
Tanya, his wife, went into labor last night, so—”