The Tycoon's Temporary Bride: Book Four (2 page)

Having no job, and no people to visit, she’d
learned to spread out her outdoor excursions over several days,
just to have a reason to leave her apartment, and keep herself from
going crazy. It had been hard during the cold long winter months.
Sometimes she didn’t know which was worse—sitting in her apartment
reading, or watching TV and snow fall through her window, or
braving the freezing temperatures and trekking through snow banks
to do her laundry and groceries. On milder days, she’d walk six
blocks to the public library, curl up in front of a warm fire, and
read. A few times, she’d even fallen asleep in one of the oversized
comfortable chairs, only to wake up to face the long walk back and
the destitution and isolation of her apartment.

Tashi prayed that something would change
before winter came around again. She didn’t think she could survive
another six months of cold in this lonely town. She’d thought of
leaving, but that promise from the FBI agent to find her and
explain everything had kept her grounded. She didn’t want to miss
him when and if he ever came looking for her.

An hour later, Tashi placed some money next
to her empty plate on the table and grabbed her bags from the
floor. As she stood up and spun around, she collided, head-on with
a solid wall of hard muscle. She immediately felt strong arms close
around her.

“Whoa…”

Was that thunder? Was this an earthquake?

Tashi stiffened as a flicker of fear rushed
through her. Her face was pressed tightly against a hard expanse of
human flesh that smelled so good. A man was holding her. A strange
man.

You’re a witness. They’ll be looking for
you. Don’t trust anyone
.

She panicked, her heart thundering as she
fought against him. “No! No! Let me go!”

“Hey, take it easy. I was only trying to
catch you before you fell flat on your pretty little face.”

The man abruptly released her. Then he bent
down and retrieved her bags that had fallen to the floor. He
straightened up and handed them to her.

So it wasn’t thunder. Tashi tilted her head
back to gaze into a pair of the bluest, most intimate eyes she had
ever seen.

Her heart did a double take and something hot
sizzled through her stomach. More adrenaline rushed through her as
she took a good look at him—from his waist-length wavy black hair
to the tips of his black leather shoes. He wore designer jeans and
a gray shirt. Or maybe they wore his tall, hard, sexy frame.

The food stains on the front of his shirt
caused Tashi to look behind him where he’d parked a baby stroller.
A little girl, who looked about two years old, was fast asleep
inside it. Tashi took a long, deep breath as her panic subdued. He
couldn’t be one of the mob’s men. He didn’t look the type. They
wouldn’t be running around after her with a baby in tow. And how
would they have found her, anyway?

“I’m—I’m sorry,” she stuttered. “I really
should look where I’m going.”

“Don’t apologize,” he said in a deep,
rumbling voice. “I’m the one who sneaked up on you. I hope I didn’t
hurt you.” He gave her body a bold raking gaze, then his soft blue
eyes came back to her face, and that something hot sizzled through
the core of Tashi’s body again. It was nothing like she’d
experienced before.

Their eyes locked for tense moments as if
they were both waiting for the other to make the next move.

“No. I’m fine.” Tashi licked her lips that
had suddenly become parched. She tugged her eyes from his, only to
stare at his wide and generous mouth with lips that reminded her of
blooming rosebuds. They were so pink and succulent.

She studied his face. It was passionate,
beautiful, and irresistible, down to the narrow, hollow grove
etched into the taut skin under his straight nose. His features
were sculptured so perfectly, so symmetrically, that he was almost
too beautiful for a man.
Italian
?
Greek?
Tashi took
another look at the adorable baby-girl sleeping in the
carriage.

He’s married!
Not that it really
mattered. She wasn’t looking for a husband. Heck, she wasn’t even
looking for a man. Well, she was, but she didn’t know who that man
was. She didn’t know if he was supposed to be black or white, old
or young, rich or poor… All she knew was that he should be single
and his name began with an
A
. She didn’t even know if the
A
stood for a first or last name.

“I—I have to go,” she said in an awkward,
tremulous voice.

He opened his mouth as if he were about to
say something, but instead, he gave her a sensuous stare that made
her heart turn over in response. Close Encounter of the Magnetic
Kind, Tashi thought on a raspy breath as she hurried away. What a
man! God, she didn’t realize they made them like that. His appeal
was extremely unsettling. She’d never been this affected by a man
before. It was scary and exciting at the same time.

When she reached the sidewalk, Tashi looked
back at the café to find him standing at the wall of glass in the
front, looking at her. He smiled, and waved. She smiled, and waved
back. His smile turned to a charming grin and it was then that
Tashi felt as if she’d seen him before. It was the second time
today that she’d run into slightly familiar faces.

For some reason, she didn’t feel threatened
by the man who was now watching her, especially when Miss Felicia,
one of the owners of the café, came up and hugged him before
bending over to pay attention to the child sleeping in the
stroller. She was probably his mother-in-law, Tashi thought, since
Miss Felicia was black, the man was white, and the baby had
olive-toned skin, an indication that she was biracial or
multiracial.

No, Tashi thought walking away, this man
wasn’t after her. Nevertheless, she decided not to head home, just
in case he was tempted to follow her. She crossed the street and
entered the supermarket. She’d do her laundry tomorrow. She didn’t
have her list, so it took longer than expected to get her shopping
done.

With two bags filled with groceries, and two
filled with additions to her new wardrobe, she exited the automatic
sliding doors of the supermarket and froze. The tall handsome man
was standing near the entrance, talking on his cell, his back to
her. He must have heard her gasp, because he turned around and
immediately ended his conversation. His dark shades obscured his
eyes, hiding his expression from her. For all she knew, he could
have been talking to the men who were after her, letting his boss
know that he’d found her.

Real fear gripped Tashi this time. Scottie
had been charming and sweet, just like this man, but according to
the FBI agent, he’d been hired to befriend her and trap her.

Her bags slid from her hands. She heard glass
crunching, and then red liquid leaked around her sandals.
Blood
.
Blood splattered on the windshield, on the
dashboard, and ran down the back of his fat neck, staining the
collar of his white shirt.

Tashi’s heart thundered and her stomach
clenched tightly.
Dear God. No.
She started to run, but
didn’t get far. Her eyes closed in defeat as he caught her and spun
her around. “How did you find me?”

“Who are you running from? Why are you so
paranoid?”

She opened her eyes and stared at him. He’d
removed his shades and his blue eyes pierced through her as if he
were trying to read her soul. “Why are you following me?”

“I’m not following you. I swear I’m not
following you. I wouldn’t do that. Stalking is illegal in this
town.” He smiled, and the afternoon sun illuminated his soft blue
eyes. “I came to the market to get some pull-ups for Tiffany. Her
mother didn’t pack enough this morning.”

Tashi’s breath came out hard and rapid. Of
course. He wasn’t one of them. He was married. He had a little
girl.

She felt so weak. She was so tired. Tired of
hiding. Tired of the unknown. She just wanted a life. She wanted to
feel safe and secure, just for one moment. Tashi gave in to the
overwhelming emotions that had been building up for fifteen months.
She was only human, after all. She fell weakly against the strong,
hard chest. The hot tears ran in torrents down her cheeks,
dampening his shirt. She felt his arms close around her. His
fingers tangled in her hair as he pressed her face into his
chest.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he whispered gently in a
deep voice as he held her, his hands soothing and comforting as he
caressed her back and shoulders. “It’s gonna be okay...”

They stood holding onto each other in the
parking lot with curious people watching and the warm July sun
beating down on them.

After a while, he put his hand under her chin
and lifted her face to his. “It’s gonna be okay,” he reiterated,
gazing into her eyes. He backtracked a few steps with her, bent
down, picked up her backpack and shopping bags, and handed them to
her. “Your groceries are ruined.” He bent down and began to scoop
up as much as he could of the mess of food from the ground.

Tashi slid one strap of her backpack over her
arm and bent down to help him. As they carried the soggy paper bags
with ruined groceries over to the trashcan and deposited them
inside, Tashi felt an unexpected warmth from his tenderness. His
genuine concern for her—a stranger—was touching.

“If you come inside with me, I’ll replace
your groceries,” he said.

“You don’t have to do that.” She could have
salvaged most of the items and washed off the spaghetti sauce once
she got home, but she was too tired to bother. “It’s my fault for
being paranoid.”

“Why do you take on so much blame?’ he asked.
“In the café, you blamed yourself and now… I snuck up on you there,
and I scared you just now. It’s not all your fault, you know.”

A heaviness settled in Tashi’s stomach. But
it was.
If I hadn’t been so naïve that nice FBI agent would be
alive today, and that driver too—even though he was a bad man.
It was her fault.

“At least let me reimburse you.” He pulled
his wallet from his back pocket.

“No. It wasn’t that much. I’m fine.” She
hoped her camera was fine. It was expensive and she didn’t want to
have to replace it. At least her phone was tucked safely inside the
pocket of her dress. She would die if it was ever lost, damaged, or
stolen.

The man’s eyes continued to bore into hers as
he replaced his wallet. “Are you in some kind of trouble?” His
voice was deep and rich, and it made her feel safe.

Tashi needed that voice at night as she lay
in bed trembling and frightened, whispering that everything would
be all right. She needed that voice to bring her out of the
nightmares that continually plagued her sleep. She swallowed and
shook her head, then pressed her hands against her temples. “No.
I’m just tired. It’s been a long day.”

“It’s only noon,” he pointed out in a patient
tone.

She tried to smile, but the corners of her
mouth just trembled. “Where’s your little girl—Tif—Tiffany, right?”
she asked, noticing what she supposed was green dried baby food in
the tresses of his long black hair. She envied the woman who had
this gentle, loving man to comfort and protect her. She wished she
had someone like him to lean on. To trust.

“She’s with her grandmother,” he answered,
offering her a smile that made her knees weak, not from fear or
heartache this time, but attraction. “Come back to the café with
me. Have a smoothie and some apple pie. It’ll calm your nerves,
make you feel better. I promise.”

Tashi shook her head. “The apple pie is
delicious. I usually have it for desert.”
Usually
, she
thought in wonder. She hadn’t ordered it today, and if she had, she
would still have been sitting at her table when this stranger
walked in. She would not have stood up and bumped into him. “I just
ate and I’m really full.”

“Maybe another time then?” he asked, on a
warm smile.

“I’m sorry for crying all over you,” Tashi
said, willing herself not to fall victim to his charm. The
lingering smell of green beans and applesauce on his shirt made him
even more irresistible. He was somebody’s dad—the one thing she
never had growing up.

“Why did you cry all over me?”

She hesitated before responding. “It’s just
that, when I saw you standing there talking on the phone, and then
when you turned around, I panicked. I thought you were—” She
stopped, and dropped her gaze.

“You thought I was someone else. The person
you are running away from?”

“I’m not running from anyone.” Tashi’s
defenses instantly returned. She didn’t know this man. He was nice,
but he had his own family to take care of. If she were his wife,
she wouldn’t appreciate him paying so much attention to another
woman—especially one who in spite of the mental brakes she was
trying to apply found herself highly attracted to him. She stepped
back and glanced up at him. “I have to go.” She hooked the other
strap of her backpack over her shoulder.

“Where? Where do you have to go?” he asked,
the beginning of a new smile tipping the corners of his sexy
mouth.

“Bye.” She turned and walked away, clutching
her two garment bags in her hand.

“I’m Adam. Do you live around here?” he
called after her.

Tashi stopped in her tracks.
Adam
.
His name was Adam
.
His name began with an
A…

Her mind rewound fifteen months to the night
in New York and the split second just before the first round of
shots blasted around her: “
When you get to Granite Falls, look
for A—
” and just before that,
“I’ll send word to my friend.
He is to give you the protection of his name and family by making
you his temporary bride.
”

Tashi did not dare turn around. It was too
good to be true. He couldn’t be
that friend
. The agent
hadn’t said anything about him having a child, and she was certain
that if Adam was already married, the agent would not have asked
that he marry her. What if he’d gotten married in the fifteen
months she’d been wasting away in this town? Well, if he was
that man
, he could still give her protection, just not as
his wife. “Yes,” she said in a voice squeaky with hope. “I live
around here.”