The Tycoon's Make-Believe Fiancee (4 page)

Wyndi pulled back slightly, keeping her arms around his waist. “You’re okay,” she smiled up at hm. “I can see now why you claim to be doing okay,” she said, turning slightly to include Miranda in her glow of happiness. “I’m thrilled that we’ll all be family soon. And I’m very excited that we met before the wedding!”

The woman stepped out of Royston’s arms and grabbed Miranda’s hand. “So how did the two of you meet?” she asked, pulling Miranda over to one of the long sofas that was set in front of the stone fireplace. “Was he sweet and kind? Did he sweep you off of your feet?” she laughed, eager for details.

Miranda looked back at Royston, begging him for help. “Um…why don’t you explain it?”

Royston winked back at her, an evil look in his eyes as he said, “You go ahead. You tell it so much better than I do.”

Her eyes narrowed and she turned her back on the horrible man. He wanted to play games? She could play them just as well as he could. Facing Wyndi, she smiled brightly. “I work at his company, you see,” she said, taking the glass of red wine that he placed in her hand again, taking a small sip before placing it on the low coffee table right in front of her. “I was frantically trying to compile these ridiculous reports the man thinks he needs every month. I don’t know if you realize this, but your brother is a real stickler for punctuality,” Miranda said with a conspiratorial smile at Wyndi, all the while slyly looking over her shoulder at the man in question. She almost burst out laughing when he rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I was late. Well, actually, the whole team was late but my boss dumped all the reports on my desk and told me I had to deliver them.” She shuddered for effect. “So I brought them into Royston’s office, which I thought was empty but turns out, he was simply hiding. And he caught me delivering the reports late.”

“And you took one look at him and fell madly in love, right?” Wyndi clapped her hands together.

Miranda laughed and shook her head. “Not exactly.” She looked behind her once again, knew that Royston was waiting anxiously for whatever she was going to say next and she wasn’t going to let him down. “No, I actually hated him at first.”

Wyndi snorted with laughter. “That’s definitely not the reaction I remember him having on the women in high school. I was pretty young, but I recall several of them falling all over themselves to get his attention.”

Another snort, but this time it was from her husband. Wyndi looked over at the man and smiled gently. “It’s true. My big brother was a real heartbreaker.” She turned back to Miranda. “So when was the first time you realized you were in love with him?” she asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

Miranda actually laughed, unable to stop the humor. She didn’t even look up at Royston as she said, “Love him?” she teased. “I’m only marrying him for his money.”

While Wyndi laughed and her husband chuckled on the other side of the room, Miranda could actually feel Royston as he approached. She clenched her hands together, her finger rubbing nervously against the diamond on her finger. She’d thought she’d nailed the exact right mood but when she glanced up at the man, she knew that she’d made a severe miscalculation. The gleam in his eyes told her without words that she was in serious trouble.

The smile never slipped from her face as she watched him, confident that he couldn’t retaliate in front of his sister.

She was wrong!

As soon as he reached her, he grabbed both of her hands and pulled her up directly into his arms. Miranda didn’t have a chance to say a word before his mouth covered hers, kissing her in the most erotically demanding manner she’d ever experienced. She knew from the moment his hands touched hers that this was a punishment kiss, but nothing felt farther from a punishment. His lips were hot, moving over hers, demanding a response. When his teeth nipped at her lower lip, she opened her mouth and his tongue invaded. And that was the end of her amusement. There was nothing funny about this kiss. In fact, there was no way to even think, to try to avoid his hands or the press of his body against her softness.

Miranda wasn’t even aware of her hands as they crept up, wrapping around his neck, her own body pressing against his in a sudden, urgent and impossible-to-deny need to touch him and feel all of him against her. When he deepened the kiss, she was in full compliance, not sure if she could stop him, even if she wanted him to. Which she definitely didn’t.

It took several minutes before she realized that he’d lifted his head. She was still clutching his shoulders, her hands fisting his jacket as she clung to him, blinking up into his eyes as she tried to figure out what just happened.

“Still going to try and convince my sister that you’re marrying me for my money?” he growled to her, his hands sliding up her back, pressing her against him even more firmly.

Miranda couldn’t speak, could only shake her head. She licked her lips, still clinging to him and trying to get her knees to stiffen enough to hold her weight. “Um…probably not,” she whispered back. She vaguely heard someone laugh behind her but still couldn’t focus on anything other than the man holding her in his arms.

He smacked her bottom, just hard enough to get her attention. “Behave,” he grumbled.

He moved back, but didn’t release her. Royston kept his arm around her waist as he turned back to his sister. “So tell me what you’ve been doing,” he urged, sitting down on the sofa across from Wyndi, pulling Miranda right down next to him.

Miranda didn’t hear a single word for possibly the next five minutes, but it might have been a full hour. She was still trying to deal with the double impact of that kiss along with sitting next to this extremely large, overly muscular man. The heat emanating from the side of his body was intense and she tried to wiggle away from him as inconspicuously as possible, but he just shifted so that they were once again touching along the entire length of her side.

“Dinner is ready,” someone said from behind them.

Royston turned and nodded to what Miranda suspected might be his housekeeper but she’d already disappeared by the time Royston stood up and pulled her along beside him, his hand holding hers as he walked her to the dining room table.

He pulled out one of the seats and Miranda practically sighed with relief as she slid into the chair because she would finally get a bit of relief from sitting plastered against him. He even sat down next to her at the large, round table so she didn’t even need to look at him. She picked up her water glass and took a long sip, feeling the cooling power of the cold liquid seep into her body gratefully.

The housekeeper reappeared and placed a steaming plate in front of each of them. Miranda smiled her thanks to the kind looking woman who once again disappeared into what was most likely the kitchen.

As soon as Miranda picked up her fork and turned to Wyndi, the two couldn’t stop talking. Miranda was amazed that someone so lofty could be so easy to talk to. She enjoyed laughing and sharing with the woman who was shockingly beautiful. But when Miranda caught the kind woman smothering a yawn, she stopped and shook her head. “You’re exhausted,” Miranda announced. And then turned in surprise to Royston and Wyndi’s husband. “I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “We’ve been dominating the conversation and this was your time to catch up with your sister!”

Both men chuckled and Royston shook his head. “I learned a lot from your conversation,” he said softly, catching her hand and squeezing it gently. “But you’re right. Wyndi needs to get some rest.”

Tamar was already standing up, taking Wyndi’s hand in his and pulling her gently to her feet. “We’ll come back,” he promised when he caught his wife’s anxious expression at the idea of leaving her newly discovered brother.

Royston instantly came up with the perfect solution. “I have a house about an hour outside of London. Will you come stay with me this weekend?” he asked of his sister.

Wyndi’s eyes instantly cleared but she looked up to her husband before answering. “Do you have anything pressing this weekend?” she asked.

Royston saw the look in her eyes and relaxed. She truly loved her husband, he thought. He still wasn’t sure if he approved of the man, but the fact that he was treating her so well spoke volumes for his character. He still wanted to see how they interacted together for more than just a couple of hours.

Tamar lifted his hand to gently caress her neck. “Nothing at all.”

Wyndi turned to Miranda. “Are you sure you don’t mind giving up your private time with your fiancé? I know how excited I was to be with this old guy when we first met.”

Miranda quickly shook her head. “No! A quiet weekend is just what the two of you need to get to know each other better!” she replied quickly, relieved that he would be out of town and she wouldn’t have to be with him as well. She was still so confused after that kiss.

Unfortunately, she didn’t anticipate what was to come next.

“We’d love to have you stay with us,” Royston said, putting his arm around her waist.

Miranda looked up at the man, then back at his sister, trying to remember that she was in love with the big guy. It was extremely hard to remember anything with his arm around her though!

“Would you like us to drive you home?” Tamar asked Miranda, an odd look in his eyes.

Miranda was just about to say yes, desperate to get away from the man she was supposed to hate but was finding that she didn’t feel that way about him at all. At least not when he had his arm around her like this!

“I’ve got that covered,” Royston said, glaring at his brother-in-law, knowing exactly what the other man was trying to do.

Tamar just chuckled and took his wife’s hand. “I’ll ensure that your sister gets some rest then,” he promised.

“I’ll leave directions to the house with your assistant,” Royston promised. A moment later, Miranda was standing in Royston’s elegant foyer without any other protection. She looked up at him, nervous and trying to step out of his arms.

“Well, that was a very nice evening,” she said, trying to look away from his dark eyes. “Your sister is wonderful.”

Royston didn’t smile. He was remembering the kiss they’d shared only a couple of hours ago and thinking about how she’d reacted. He liked the way she felt, the way she kissed him back. And he especially liked the dazed look in her eyes afterwards. He wanted to do that to her again. And again!

He took a casual step towards her but his intent obvious in his eyes.

Miranda panicked, not sure if she would be able to hold him off. Not completely sure if she really wanted to. “Hold it right there,” she gasped, relieved when he stopped his forward momentum. “I’m not your real fiancée,” she reminded him. “You need to drive me home right now.”

Royston saw the look in her eyes and thought about pressing the issue. Then he remembered how late it was, the fact that she hadn’t gotten much sleep the previous night because of the reports she’d done earlier in the day, and how he’d have her all to himself over the weekend. “Fine,” he replied back, in a good mood all of a sudden. He also remembered the fact that he’d get to kiss her goodnight as soon as he got her to her apartment. “Let’s get you home to bed.”

Miranda couldn’t believe he was giving in so easily. And what was even more confusing, she was actually hurt by it. But what was she supposed to do about it? She’d just told him she wouldn’t sleep with him…well, not in so many words…and he was agreeing with her.

She shook her head as she pulled her coat on over her shoulders. The man was a complete mystery, she told herself. And her reactions to him were completely illogical.

She shivered when he put a hand to the small of her back, leading her out of his penthouse. He didn’t take her to the limousine though, but instead, the elevator doors opened up to a parking garage. There, he opened the door to a powerful looking, black Mercedes. “You drive?” she asked, surprised but relieved that he would have his hands on the steering wheel instead of on her.

“Of course I drive,” he chuckled, closing the door when she was settled into the passenger seat. He drove through the quiet streets of London, his shoulders tipped slightly towards her as he asked her questions during the ride.

“Why this third degree?” she asked when they were close to her building.

“I need to know about you if we’re going to get through this weekend,” he explained, not telling her that he was simply interested in who she was as a person.

Miranda agreed that he had a good point so she answered more of his questions. It wasn’t until they were standing in her doorway that she realized that she would need to know about his past as well. “You know…” she was about to tell him that exact thing, but his mouth covered hers and he pulled her against his hard body. She gasped with the first contact, but didn’t pull away. She couldn’t. It wasn’t that his hands were hard against her body because her own hands were gripping the lapels of his coat as well. It was that she simply couldn’t pull away. Didn’t want to. She couldn’t stop herself from needing closer contact with him. It was as if her mind decided that she wasn’t in need of common sense, that it wasn’t going to listen to the evidence that this man was not good for her. Her body needed him, she craved him in a way she’d never before experienced. It was strange and overwhelming, but as his tongue demanded entry to her mouth, she complied simply because she couldn’t do anything else but welcome his domination of her mind and her body.

She whimpered when he pulled away, her body not getting enough of his touch or his kiss. “Tell your boss that you’re getting off work tomorrow at noon,” he told her, his voice husky and she looked up, terrified since she saw the same feelings reflected in his eyes that she was feeling now.

“I can’t,” was her automatic response.

His eyes hardened. “Miranda, if you don’t, I’ll simply pick you up and carry you out of the office.”

She was horrified at the idea. “You can’t do that!”

His hand slid upwards and she grabbed his wrist, stopping him from moving anywhere too intimate. He smiled, wondering what it was going to be like when he had her alone and she was rested. Would she be this obstinate? He certainly hoped so. He liked countering her arguments simply by kissing her. He anticipated doing quite a bit more once he had her alone.