In the Arms of a Stranger (2 page)

It was nearly dawn when exhaustion finally forced them to put an end to the kissing and caressing, but she found a great deal of pleasure just lying in his arms.
  It was the best night of her life and Bri was reluctant to fall asleep despite how tired she was.  It was a delicious sort of fatigue she had never experienced before and she wanted to hang onto it just a little longer.  Snuggling against the heat of his body, she relived every sensual moment since she’d found him lying naked beside her. 

In the darkness of night where the sense of touch prevailed, she
had been pleasantly surprised to discover Chad’s expensive clothes disguised an extremely muscular and well-chiseled physique.  Even his chest and shoulders seemed broader, but she supposed that was because she’d never lay with her arm draped across him as she was now.  Bri nuzzled her cheek into the coarse tufts of hair on his chest, allowing the strong beat of his heart to lull her into a dream-like state. 

She was lucky they weren’t meeting with Jake Malone until early evening because
it sure wouldn’t make much of an impression if she showed up looking like a zombie.  She and Chad could sleep in until at least noon and still have plenty of time to eat lunch, prepare for the meeting, and get dressed for dinner.  It was disappointing that Chad would have to return to Malibu with her parents in two days but after what happened tonight, surely he would make a concerted effort to fly back as often as his schedule permitted. 

Making love with Chad changed everything.
  The intimacy had created a closeness that hadn’t been there before and the troubled thoughts she’d been having earlier were finally laid to rest.  He’d stirred something deep in her heart, awakened a love so strong she didn’t think anything could ever come between them.  The fear that she was marrying him for all the wrong reasons was blissfully absent, and for the first time in months, Bri was truly happy.  With a contented sigh, she closed her eyes and finally let herself drift off to sleep.

It was the shrill ringing of the hotel phone that woke her, long before she was ready to return to the land of the living.
  Unable to bear the thought of subjecting herself to light at the moment, she reached out and groped for the phone without opening her eyes.  Groggy and not at all happy to be yanked out of such a restful sleep, Bri’s voice was little more than a hoarse croak when she answered. 

“Good morning, little girl
.  How about meeting us downstairs for breakfast?”

Brianne groaned.
  “Good Lord, Daddy, it’s only…” she eked one eye open to look at the clock, “eight-fifteen.  Why don’t you meet us for lunch instead?”

“Are you sick
?  Do you need to see a doctor?”

“No, Daddy, I’m just bone tired.
  The next few days are going to be busy and I need to catch up on some sleep.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.
  I know you probably stayed up half the night worrying about Chad.  He ran into some bad weather and for some reason the front desk couldn’t seem to connect him to the right room.  He didn’t want to wake you so he called me first thing this morning and asked me to apologize.”

Bri’s eyes popped open.
  “He called you…this morning?”  Behind her, Chad stirred in his sleep.  She lowered her voice.  “What did he say exactly?”

“He said to tell you he was sorry but there wasn’t much he could do about the planes being grounded last night.
  I know you were looking forward to spending the day with him but he probably won’t be here until around three or four this afternoon.”

Brianne’s breath froze in her lungs.
  “Wh-what did you say?”

“Now honey, don’t be mad.”

She propped herself on one elbow, acutely aware of the man sleeping in the bed behind her.  “I’m not mad,” she managed to squeak out.  “I think I just misunderstood what you said.  Chad checked in last night, right?”

“My, you are sleepy aren’t you, little girl?
  No, he can’t get a flight out of Chicago until later this morning.  He should be here late this afternoon.”

Bri squeezed her eyes shut.
 
No, no, no, Chad was here
.  He must have woken up early and called her Dad to convince him the plane had been delayed so her parents wouldn’t suspect he’d spent most of the night making love to her.  Her Dad was wrong, she adamantly told herself.  She was panicking for nothing.  She would hang up, turn on the light and find her fiancé lying behind her and then laugh herself silly for thinking she had taken a complete stranger into her bed.  With a hasty good-bye and the promise to meet them for lunch, Bri hung up the phone. 

For several minutes she remained frozen until the strain on her nerves was simply too much.
  He didn’t move when she flipped on the light, nor did he utter a single word.  All the same, she knew he was awake.  Holding her breath, Brianne shifted her weight and turned to face him.  Dark hair, eyes as black as midnight, and a cocky grin that was far from contrite greeted her startled gaze.

“Well darlin’,” he said huskily, “I’ve either just had the best damn dream of my life
, or you and I did something very, very naughty last night.” 

Brianne let out a small shriek and jerked away from him so fast she lost her balance and tumbled off the side of the bed.  There was nothing graceful about the fall or the landing as her rear end hit the floor with a resounding thump.  His dark head popped over the side, the concerned look quickly morphing into something entirely different as his eyes swept over her nude body. 

He
let out a low whistle.  “Holy mother of God, you look even better than you feel.”

Color flamed in her cheeks as she scrambled to her feet and pushed him back so she could climb back into bed and at least have the sheet to cover herself with.
  Misconstruing her eagerness to rejoin him, the stranger in her bed quickly seized the opportunity to trap her beneath him.  Opening her mouth to protest, Bri was silenced when his mouth crushed down on hers.  Memories of those passionate kisses came flooding back to her, and for a few glorious moments she lost herself in the familiar taste of him before sanity finally returned.  Tearing her mouth away from him, she shoved against his chest, her face a mask of indignant fury.

“Get off of me,” she gritted.
 

With an amused chuckle, he lifted his weight from her and rolled onto his back as Brianne struggled into a sitting position.
  Careful to keep the sheet tucked up under her arms, she gave him a wilting glare.   

“Who are you?
  No, don’t answer that, I don’t want to know.  How did you get into my room?”

He arched a brow.
  “
Your
room?”

“Yes,
my
room,” she snapped.  “I have a good mind to call the police and have you arrested!”

He
sat up slowly, his eyes narrowing.  “Hold on, honey, I was given the cardkey to this room at the front desk and assured my fiancé was waiting for me.  And if you’re even thinking about crying rape, I can assure you they would take one look at you and know you were lying through your pearly white teeth.”

Brianne gaped at him.
  “What do you mean, why wouldn’t they believe me?”

“Oh
, you look tousled, that’s for sure, but you hardly look as if you put up any sort of a struggle.  Maybe you have a touch of amnesia or something because you seem to have forgotten just how willing you were last night…all three times, I might point out.”

Bri’s haughty demeanor instantly
transformed into a case of pure mortification.  “I…I thought you were my fiancé.  He was supposed to be here last night but his plane was delayed.”

Jake nodded his understanding.
  After all, hadn’t he believed she was Brandy when he climbed into bed?  “Look, obviously the front desk made a mistake.  I thought you were my girlfriend and you thought I was your fiancé, it’s as simple as that.”

“But we cheated on them!
  I don’t know how forgiving your girlfriend is, but Chad will call the wedding off without a moment’s hesitation.”

“It’s not as if we meant to,” he reasoned.
  The shattered look on her face tugged at his heart and without thinking, Jake wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close to his side.  “Listen, no one needs to know about this.  Brandy, that’s my girlfriend, will believe I didn’t get in until this morning.  And from what I overheard when you were on the phone, it doesn’t sound like your fiancé is even here yet, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Then there’s no problem.  What happened last night was regrettable.”  Jake shook his head.  “No, I’m not going to lie.  Last night was amazing.  Unfortunately, it was also a mistake that can’t be undone.  It doesn’t, however, have to ruin your engagement to this Chad fellow.”

“You don’t understand,” Bri said miserably.
  “Chad and I…well, we’ve never…you know.”

“I don’t mean to sound crude, but it’s not as if he could tell we had sex last night.”

“That’s the problem.  He
will
be able to tell because he knows that I haven’t…that I never…before you, that is."

Jake’s face lost all expression.
  “That’s not possible,” he stammered, “you were so hot, so…so unvirginlike!”

Brianne blushed from her toes to the top of her head.
  “I was only following your lead, and that’s not the issue anyway.  How can I marry Chad now?  He’ll certainly figure out I’m not a virgin once we get married and sleep together.  He’ll think I deliberately lied to him.”

“I think you
 lost me there, sweetheart.  If you and Chad were waiting to have sex until you got married, what made you think I was him last night?”

She pulled away from him, even more embarrassed than before.
  “I kind of…begged him to do it.”

Jake’s look was incredulous.
  “Oh honey, this man of yours must not have his head screwed on straight if you were the one doing the begging.”

“I guess it doesn’t really matter now anyway, does it?
  He wanted a wife who was…” she gave a dejected shrug, “and now I’m not.”

It tore at his heart to see her look so sad
.  He had a difficult time regretting anything about their night together, although he
did
feel sorry it was causing her such pain.  Jake believed he was her first, not simply because she told him so, but because he remembered being surprised by how tight she was.  Reaching out, he held a lock of her auburn hair between his fingers, recalling how silky it had felt splayed across his chest. 

“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he said softly.

Brianne’s eyes met his.  “You didn’t.  If…if things were different, I wouldn’t have any regrets that my first time was with you.”

Her words hit him
square in the chest, effortlessly knocking down a few of those bricks he’d so carefully stacked around his heart.  Nothing in the world could have kept him from kissing her at that moment.  Desire pooled in his loins the second his lips touch hers, and to his immense relief she didn’t pull away from him.  Her hands pressed against his chest then slowly crept up to twine around his neck as he lowered her back down onto the mattress.  Call it male ego, but something deep inside wanted her to know exactly who she was giving herself to so willingly this time.  Prying the sheet from between them, Jake’s body quivered when bare flesh met bare flesh.

It was wrong on so many levels and Bri knew it.
  She was engaged to Chad, she didn’t even know this man’s name, and once he left her room she would never see him again.  Last night she hadn’t been aware that what she was doing was wrong, but she knew full well what she was doing now and there would be no excuse for it later. 

But she wanted him, wanted him more than she
had ever wanted anything in her life and nothing on God’s green earth was going to stop her from making love to him one last time.  She drew in a shaky breath when he nudged against her inner thighs but when he suddenly stopped, Bri opened her eyes and gazed up at him questioningly.

“I must be crazy for asking,” he said with a shake of his head, “but are you sure you want to do this?”
 

A soft smile curved her lips.
  “I suppose I should lie and say I’m not sure…or at least pretend to be appalled by my own behavior, but that would be a lie in itself.”  She sifted her fingers through his hair and pulled his head down until his lips hovered just above hers.  “I want you,” she whispered, “I want you.”  Then with her eyes wide open, she took him inside her body once more.

 
                                                                ***

Jake shut the bathroom door, effectively drowning out Brandy’s obnoxious whining.
  She’d been going nonstop from the moment he walked in and it took every ounce of self restraint not to turn around and beg his mystery woman to take him back into her welcoming arms.  Except she’d made it perfectly clear there could never be a repeat of what happened between them. 

She told him that under no circumstances was he to acknowledge he
had ever seen her before if by chance their paths crossed again, and like a fool he agreed.  But no matter how much she wanted to deny it, what they’d shared had been more than just sex and there was no way in hell he was going to just let her walk out of his life forever.

Jake stepped beneath the hot spray of water, grudgingly washing
her soft feminine scent from his skin.  He could still see those sea blue eyes gazing up at him, her breath coming out in ragged gasps as he moved in and out of her, and he was once again hit with the same rush of emotion he’d felt when she whispered that she wanted him.  He’d tried to get her name when he went down to the lobby, but the woman at the front desk informed him the names of their guests were kept in the strictest of confidence.  He even considered leaving a message and asking her to call him, but knew she would never do it.

At least he knew from her conversation with her Dad that she
would be here for a few more days.  It would give him time to find out who she was.  Just what he intended to do after that, Jake didn’t know, but he was relentless when he went after something he wanted, and he wanted this woman.  He was free for most of the day and could do a little investigating but would be tied up with meetings for the following two days so whatever he was going to do, it had better be soon. 

After toweling himself off, Jake pulled on one of the hotel bathrobes and made his way to the bedroom where he dressed as quickly as he could.
  The last thing he wanted was for Brandy to come sauntering in to find him naked and expect him to love up on her.  Just the thought of sharing the same bed with her after the experience he’d had last night made his stomach churn. 

Brandy wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed
, but she knew better than to stay mad at her meal ticket for too long and he didn’t want to be around when she decided to turn on the sex kitten act.  He would have to get rid of her and soon, but right now was not the time to pick an argument with her.  He found her sulking on a lounge chair in front of the picture window in the living room. 

 
“I have to go out,” he said curtly.  “I’ll try to be back in a few hours.”

Brandy got up and crossed the room, sticking out her lip in a mock pout.
  “But you just got here!”

He planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
  “Sorry, but duty calls.  I’ll make it up to you later.”

Appeased by the prospect of getting another piece of expensive jewelry, she gave up the pretense of being angry and walked him to the door.
  “You’ll be back in time for lunch, won’t you?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Jake was out the door, closing it soundly behind him before she could say another word, although he was sure she was cursing up a storm inside the suite.  Hunger drove him to the restaurant first.  He didn’t expect to find her there, but kept a sharp eye peeled for his auburn haired beauty all the same.  Positioning himself near the back where he could keep watch on the entrance as well as the entire restaurant, Jake ordered breakfast then mentally worked on a plan to find her.

The Amangani Resort was one of the finest hotels in the United States
.  The Deluxe Suites where she was staying cost a good nine hundred dollars a night, which meant she was either a very wealthy woman or she worked for an extremely financially sound company.  Or, he thought with a frown, her fiancé was footing the bill. 

Just looking at her, anyone could tell she was comfortable around money and though Jake’s company kept him living in a fairly grand style, he certainly couldn’t afford to dish out nine hundred dollars a night like Carrington Cosmetics was doing for him and the Public Relations Director he was meeting with tonight.
  Of course, he knew very little about her, but instinct told him that she wasn’t the type to go after a man simply for the things he could buy her.  Even if she
was
that type of woman, Jake was just sap enough to empty out his entire bank account if he that’s what it took to please her.

 
                                                               ***

Brianne wheedled her way out of lunch with her parents by saying she had a headache and was going to take a few aspirin and sleep it off.
  In truth, she knew the minute her father saw her he would realize something was wrong and she needed the time to pull herself together.  Ironically, the woman who had fearlessly sailed through life up to this point was now terrified to face the consequences of what she had done. 

She wasn’t the type not to own up to her mistakes, she never had been.
  The problem was she couldn’t honestly say it
had
been a mistake.  Her dark haired lover had done more than steal her virginity; Bri was fairly certain he’d stolen a good chunk of her heart as well.  Why else would she have to keep reminding herself that she was engaged?

She couldn’t stop thinking about him.
  No matter how hard she tried, she could still feel his hands stroking her, touching her in ways that made her insides quiver and her mind turn to jelly.  And she had shamelessly stalled taking a shower for nearly two hours because their mingled scents clung to her skin and she’d wanted to bask in the sensuous feel of it for as long as she could.