The Billionaire Bachelor (Billionaire Bad Boys Book 1) (13 page)

“Ha.” Merina sipped her champagne. “My dad isn’t convinced. And my mom is not happy.”

Mark and Jolie may have experienced their own whirlwind love story, but theirs was rooted in everlasting love. The engagement started on State Street in Chicago around Christmas. Near the ice rink, snow falling, Jolie’s tears of joy freezing to her face as Mark knelt before her, ring offered and snow seeping into his dress pants. Merina’s mother liked to tell the tale of how she and Mark checked into a high-end hotel in a crappy compact car and handed their duffel bags over to the valet. They didn’t belong in this world then, but they’d carved out room for themselves. Her parents saw Chicago as a place they made their own.

“Neither is Bob,” Reese said of the friendlier board member Merina was introduced to earlier. “My father will smooth that over.” He said this with his voice dropped and his face close to her ear. Goose bumps sprang to life on her arms and legs in response.

Nearly everything about him caused an answering physical reaction.

Tag approached with an easygoing swagger, golden hair rolling over the shoulders of his royal blue button-down almost to the middle of his arms.

“You remember my brother, Tarzan,” Reese said.

Tag chuckled good-naturedly, much in the way he approached life. “Congratulations. Though, my brother is an idiot, so I suppose I should be offering condolences.” He winked. “Maybe I’ll offer those in a few months.”

Six months to be exact.

But she didn’t say that. Instead she said, “When do I get to meet the elusive Eli Crane?”

“Eli is serving overseas for another few years,” Reese said. “He’s not one to come home often.”

“Eli is in the army?” Her voice sounded hollow. Reese hadn’t mentioned his brother was in another country. Shouldn’t that have been on his short list of things to tell her? Thank goodness she didn’t mention that to the media.

“Marines,” Tag corrected. “It’s who he is.” He looked around the room as if assessing. “He doesn’t have a lot of tolerance for this world.”

“You mean tolerance for Chicago?” Merina asked.

“Tolerance for the hotel business.” One of Tag’s eyebrows hitched, then dropped. “Eli’s sense of duty overwhelms everything else.”

“He’s the best of all of us,” Reese said, and she could tell he meant it. “He gets that streak of dedication from our father.”

“Have Big Crane show you his tats sometime,” Tag told her, then clapped Reese on the back. “Brother. I’m off. I have a date.”

“Should’ve brought her.” Reese’s tone was teasing. Tag smiled in challenge.

“Never. Don’t want to give ’em the wrong idea.” Tag nodded at Merina. “Sis. See you around.”

Sis.
Merina blinked as Tag turned, tall and broad and, yes, like Tarzan but with a much better vocabulary.

“He doesn’t linger with his dates either, I take it,” she said to Reese.

He didn’t answer, which was an answer in itself.

“Everyone,” Reese announced.

He hadn’t lifted his voice much, but the crowd stopped and turned to him the moment he spoke. Reese had a commanding nature. He was someone who drew attention. His palm covered her lower back and warmth transferred from his hand to her skin.

“I’ll leave you the run of the house,” he told their guests. “Tilly and Magda will get you anything you need. Now, if you’ll excuse us, my wife and I have a moonlight cruise to take in.”

Low murmurs came from the crowd.

“A cruise?” she asked.

“On my yacht. Your bags are already packed and on board,” Reese said. “Told you the honeymoon was a surprise. You may want to change out of your gown first. I’m losing the tux.”

They headed out of the room, Reese accepting handshakes and Merina narrowly avoiding a cheek kiss from Dice. Then they walked upstairs hand-in-hand, winding around hallways until Reese came to a stop in front of a door. Her basic necessities had been moved in yesterday, and unloaded into his room.
Their shared room.

The door they stood outside of now.

He opened the door, revealing the room she’d seen yesterday when she was putting her clothes and her shoes in one of the closets. Hers was the gargantuan one on the right side of the room, Reese’s on the left. She’d fit her dresser, a mirror, and an entire wall of shoes in there. It was almost too much. But then, wasn’t this all?

“The honeymoon is on your yacht.” She’d walked in ahead of him and turned to find him undoing his cuff links.

“I figured a night away from the house would give us some much needed privacy.”

“Privacy to make it look like…” Her cheeks grew warm.

He dipped his chin. “Then we’ll return to work and life goes back to normal.”

Normal. After spending a few days on a cramped boat with the man who made her entire body react like she’d been submerged into a vat of effervescence? She doubted she’d be able to find normal with a map.

“The bonus is on the boat—it’ll just be us.” He tugged at his bow tie and she froze, anxious to finally see the man out of his tie. “So you won’t have to do anything for show.”

“No crew?” She had to clear her throat to get the question out when he untied the length of black silk.

“Captain, first mate, and deckhand at your service.” Reese left the bow tie dangling and lost the jacket, tossing it haphazardly onto the massive bed. Four fat posts and piles of gold and black bedding stood at the end of the room. Would they share that bed? She assumed they’d have to. The house staff would be suspicious if they didn’t.

He crooked a finger for her to come to him.

“What?” It took everything in her not to take a step backward.

“What, what? Come here so I can unzip you.”

Oh. Okay, she was being ridiculous. Crane wasn’t trying to seduce her. Not even in this luxurious den of sin. That’s how she saw it, with its dark wood flooring and rich cedar closets. A bed they could do cartwheels on, Reese’s obvious kissing abilities…Yeah, it hadn’t taken long for her mind to cannonball into the gutter.

She sashayed—because there was no other way to walk in her floor-length lace-and-satin gown—and turned, having no need to hold her hair up since it was pinned at her nape. Warm fingers brushed there now as he undid the delicate pearl button at the top, then ran his fingers down her bare back before sliding the zipper down. He took his time, pausing at each inch. Her heart thudded as Reese sucked in a deep breath.

“You’re truly exquisite, Merina.” His low, gravel-laden voice matched her lust-filled thoughts. Being kissed by him was distracting to the nth degree, but being undressed by him? Unparalleled.

“Thank you,” she managed.

With the flat of one hand, he touched her shoulder, leaning so close, she could feel the brush of his shirt and the heat radiating off his body. “May I?”

“Crane…”

“The word you’re looking for is
yes
.” Those words were murmured against the shell of her ear before he closed his lips over the edge of her lobe.

He was a drug. Her eyes fell closed as she gave herself over to the sensation of Reese’s broad palms sliding over the bared skin of her back. His fingers tucked beneath the thin flower-laced straps of the dress, then molded her shoulders, pulling those straps down.

“You’re so soft.” His voice was filled with wonder. He placed another kiss to her neck.

She didn’t know what to do with her hands. They were currently pressed to the front of her gown when what she wanted to do was strip herself bare and turn to accept Reese’s mouth on every part of her. But she couldn’t do that. Selling part of her soul for the Van Heusen didn’t include her body.

Snapping out of her trance, she turned abruptly and found Reese’s eyes full of lust and his pants tenting impressively.

She wanted to tell him this wasn’t part of the deal. That she wasn’t going to consummate their fake marriage, but her mouth was dry and her mind busy imagining what his bare chest looked and tasted like, so no words came out. She simply stood, holding her dress to her breasts, where his eyes currently rested.

“No matter what happens, Merina, make me a promise.” He looked scary serious, which she didn’t like.

“No promises.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Just one.”

As much as she wanted to turn and run to her closet, she didn’t.

“Someday,” he said, lifting a finger and drawing it over the swell of her right breast, “promise you’ll show me that tattoo. It’s been driving me crazy since you stormed into my office soaked to the bone and I saw a hint of color through your shirt.”

“My…tattoo?” Last thing she expected him to say. It infused this interaction between them with even more tension.

He reached for his top button. “When you’re ready.”

Before she could satisfy her own curiosity about whether he had chest hair or not, he turned his back and strode into his closet on the opposite side of the room.

She huffed, left with no other choice but to finish the job he’d started and shimmy out of her clothes to change for their yacht honeymoon.

W
ith one last wave to friends and family, amidst polite clapping, and thankfully for her hair absolutely no rice throwing, she and Reese made their way to the dock at the back of his house. A boat that looked more like a mansion floated regally in the moonlight, a fancy cursive name on the side.

“Luna,” she read. “Like
moon
?” Her hand was hooked on Reese’s arm, and she had no trouble navigating now that she wore a comfortable white summer dress. He’d changed into trousers and an oxford button-down. He’d left the top two buttons undone, giving her a peek of his chest hair. That had fried her brain for a few precious seconds.

“Named after my mother.”

“Oh.” His raw openness took her by surprise. “It’s a pretty name.”

Reese was quiet save for their footfalls on the wooden dock. He helped her board
Luna
and she couldn’t help thinking she’d left one mansion and climbed onto another. Pristine white and black and gold—Reese’s dominant color scheme she was seeing—on the outside and more of the same inside. She entered a lush living room that gave way to an expansive kitchen. A corridor to the left featured more rooms.

“Master and attached bath at the back,” he said as he closed the door behind them. “The other has a desk and computer and a smaller bed.”

Wow. The massive space had shrunk by half with his heat blanketing her back.

“I don’t mind the smaller bed,” she said.

“You’re in the master,” he stated, edging by her for the kitchen. He opened a cabinet and came out with a bottle of liquor. “No one can see in these windows.” He gestured around the room at the tinted glass. “There are room-darkening blinds in the bedrooms to keep the sun out if you want to sleep in. No matter what we do, we have complete privacy when we’re on the water.”

No matter what they did. Didn’t that just introduce multiple inappropriate thoughts?

“Your things are already in the master suite,” he said, pouring a few inches of the liquor into a glass. “Scotch?”

“Seriously, I can take the smaller room.”

He drank, pressing his lips together as he swallowed. Her gaze lingered at the strong column of his neck for a few beats. He looked like he belonged in this opulence, even in his casually unbuttoned shirt, sleeves pushed over his elbows.

“I don’t sleep much,” he said.

“Something we have in common.” The second it was out of her mouth, she realized insomnia wasn’t the only thing they had in common.
Green Eggs and Ham
was another. And scotch. “I prefer Glenlivet,” she said, tipping her head to the bottle of Macallan scotch on the counter.

His eyebrows rose in blatant surprise. Yes, it seemed they had more in common than just the physical. A factor that threw both of them for a bit of a loop.

“Mind if I use the bathroom first? My mascara is starting to feel like flypaper.”

“Help yourself. I’ll steer us out and anchor, then I have some work to do.”

She nodded and turned to the corridor.

“Merina?”

She looked back at the delicious man in the kitchen and wondered why she hadn’t yet crossed the living room to taste the scotch on his lips.

“Penelope suggested we take in the sunrise on the deck. For potential photographers.”

“Oh. Yes, good idea.” Sunrise with Reese Crane on his yacht. Was she dreaming?

“I’ll wake you.”

His warm promise followed her all the way into her bedroom.

Morning came, and for all the sleep she’d gotten, she may as well have stayed awake the entire night. She’d watched out the bedroom window at the waves left in the wake of
Luna
, while thinking through the day. She was married. Reese Crane’s wife. Her diamond ring had glittered in the moonlight that made its way through the windows, making her consider what the future would be like. What life would look like when she divorced and went back home to live with her parents.

Wait, no.

She didn’t have to move back in with them. She could move out into that apartment like she wanted. She’d make a clean, guilt-free break, and she’d have plenty of money saved, given she wasn’t paying rent any longer.

She’d finally fallen asleep for a few hours and woke to a light tap on her door.

“Merina, five minutes. Did you get the text?”

“I’ll be right out,” she told Reese. Her raspy morning voice wasn’t anywhere near as sexy as his. She reread the text in her phone and sighed. Penelope had sent instructions in the middle of the night.
Minimal makeup, respectable but sexy pajamas, coffee optional but would add a nice touch.

Romantic,
Merina thought with a sarcastic chuff.

Penelope hoped a reporter with a long lens would snap a picture and put it online, or heck, maybe even sell it to the
Trib
, preferably with a complimentary headline. Merina had no idea if John Q. Public had bought hers and Reese’s relationship, but even if they didn’t buy it
today
, they would eventually. She wasn’t going anywhere until the board put him in charge and she saw the Van Heusen in her name.

“Really going to have to rough it until then,” she said with a laugh. She pushed herself out of bed, which required some doing since it was roughly the size of a small country. She was trying not to think beyond the next few days lest she become completely overwhelmed.

On a typical Sunday morning she would grab a latte from Starbucks and head over to the VH to oversee brunch and catch up on what she didn’t get finished from the past week.

This morning was that morning’s polar opposite.

She pulled on a pair of comfy cotton pants. She’d slept in her panties and a silky cami she’d found in her luggage—an entire new wardrobe she hadn’t chosen, yet fit her style so precisely, it gave her pause. Penelope’s doing? The wedding planner’s? Or had it been Reese himself? The idea of him choosing her comfortable yet sensual wardrobe was enticing…

Shoving aside the distracting thought, she pulled a long-sleeved shirt perfect for the chilly morning over her cami and finger-combed her hair. Obeying Penelope’s orders about makeup, she splashed water on her face and dusted on a little powder. Just as she did, another light rap came at the door.

Reese was on the other side in sweatpants and a sweatshirt—both gray—his hair slightly rumpled, his face in need of a trim, and looking more devastating than she thought possible. “Ready?”

“Um…” Words. She couldn’t call up enough to string into a sentence, so she went with a slightly coherent reply. “Yeah. Yes.”

With a nod, he reached past her and snagged the fluffy comforter from the bed, rolling it into a big ball. Then he took her hand—cold—in his—insanely warm—and said, “Let’s go see that sunrise.”

Emerging from the softly lit cabin of the boat to the dark, frigid wind on the deck made her suck air through her teeth. She considered dashing back to bed—after she snatched that heavenly blanket from Reese’s arms—but seeing as this was their first appearance as a married couple, fleeing his presence the morning after wouldn’t be well received. Still, she couldn’t help voicing a complaint.

“Oh my God! It’s freezing out here,” she said, her teeth chattering.

“Worth it, I promise.” Wind kicked his hair. He looked almost rugged with the overgrown stubble and those casual clothes. Like him, but a homier him. She’d never really thought of Reese Crane as “homey.”

“When was the last time you took in a sunrise on a yacht?” he asked, shaking out the blanket.

“Never. You?”

“The morning after I proposed to you.” His mouth quirked and she had no idea if he was joking or not.

“Really?”

“Really. Took the boat out and sat on the water until morning.” He spread the blanket over a bench facing the water and sat.

“Were you having second thoughts?” She’d had about a million.

“Come get warm,” he said instead of answering her. He held the blanket out like a cape and obeying his request, she sat next to him. He rerouted her, lifting her onto his lap, then closed the blanket over her. She snuggled into his heat, moving until she was comfortable.

He grunted when she bumped his—
ahem
—man part a little too aggressively.

“Sorry.” This time, her wiggle was met with his palms closing over her waist. He turned her to the side where her hip met several inches of steel.

“Hold still,” he said, his voice just as hard. “Before you kill me.”

She bit back a smile. Not because him being turned on was funny, but because she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had that effect on a man.

“Laugh it up,” he encouraged, one hand moving up her leg.

“It’s not you. I just…this is…weird.”

“It’s a human reaction,” he said simply.

She gazed at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Was this how he categorized the one-night-only dates he was so well known for? As “human reactions”? She almost asked but he interrupted her thoughts.

“We’re supposed to look in love,” he said drily. “Consider this my effort to help that along.”

She let herself giggle, startled at how easy it was to sit on Reese Crane’s lap and laugh. It was as if she’d fallen into an episode of the
Twilight Zone
.

“That’s better,” he said, his hand coming to rest on her thigh.

She’d brushed her teeth before she came out and was pleased to pick up the hint of mint on his breath as well. They were being so careful. So very careful. And now they were being tasked with indulging. Something Reese was skilled at, but she hadn’t given in to much in her life.

So, go for it.

“Thick hair.” She pushed her fingers through the strands the way she’d wanted to since he’d appeared outside her bedroom door. Wavy, dark brown, but in the coming daylight, she could see the flecks of gold. “No gray yet,” she observed. “Surprising since your father has a head full.”

Unwavering navy eyes stayed on her. So this was what it was like to have his full attention. Since he hadn’t stopped her, she gave in to another whim and ran her fingers down his jaw and over scruff that was soft to the touch. Against her breast, she felt his heart pound.

She dipped her fingers into the collar of his sweatshirt, holding his gaze. His nostrils flared and his jaw tightened. The steel beneath the blanket bobbed against her hip.

“Chest hair,” she whispered, exploring carefully. “I like that.”

“Do you.” He tightened his arms around her.

It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway. The sun peeked over the water, casting golden light over his face, but neither of them looked away from each other to take in the morning making its grand entrance. Reese’s hand came out from under the blanket and cupped her neck, pulling her mouth close to his.

“So fucking soft,” he whispered against his lips. “I’ve never felt skin so smooth.”

“Not ever?” Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. They were so close she could almost taste him.

“Never.”

She gave in, erasing the scant space between them, telling herself kissing him was for the benefit of the camera. On contact, Reese crushed her against him, and that’s when she knew.

They weren’t pretending. This kiss was
real
.

Merina speared one hand up through the back of his hair, her arms still linked around his neck. She needed him as close as possible. His tongue delved into her mouth and she accepted, kissing him as passionately. They made out for long minutes, so long that by the time they separated, she was out of breath. Sunlight had washed over the deck, heating the boat, though they’d done a pretty decent job of heating it themselves.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, his eyes hooded and his lips pursed.

“Honey.” She stroked his face. “You look…flushed.”

He didn’t smile at her teasing. In fact, his face went harder than the insistent erection pulsing against her backside.

“That should do it,” he growled.

“Do what?”

“Give the photographers what they need.” He moved her hand from his face and kissed her palm, but it was a flat kiss, his expression equally so. He shifted out from under her and stood.

She didn’t like this “business as usual” guy. She liked rumpled, sexy, kissing guy. She liked couldn’t-control-himself guy.

“I’m going to grab a quick shower.” A twitch of his lips didn’t give way to a real smile before he vanished belowdecks.

Picturing him in the shower without anything on sent a flood of warmth to her belly. Reese had lost control with her and he didn’t like it. She pressed her fingertips to her lips to smother a smile.

She liked it.

Too much.

Reese rested his fingertips on the blotter of his desk, nostrils flared, his mind a tangle of silken skin and sex and hot kisses that stole the breath from his very lungs.

Only two of which he’d sampled this past weekend.

He’d spent a total of two days aboard
Luna
, but after the sunrise that accompanied his dick-rise, he’d spent a lot of time avoiding his wife. He’d returned to the deck with coffee for each of them, his body under its best behavior.

He couldn’t afford to let go of his control. There was too much at stake. Crane Hotels. CEO. His legacy. The position he was born and bred and groomed to take. He wouldn’t lose it over an attraction of convenience.

She’s more than convenient and you know it.

Merina was a long game: lasting months, not one night. The attraction between them was as volatile and unstoppable as a brush fire in California’s dry season.
Dangerous
.

He frowned.

As of this morning, he could take solace in the fact that their ruse did its job. A gossip column in the local paper had offered up photos of spring in Chicago. A section called “Love Is in the Air” featuring budding trees and flowers and a photo of Reese and Merina’s sunrise kiss.

The shot was from too far back to see much more than their faces pressed together aboard
Luna
. But the headline was key and what had Penelope phoning him first thing this morning to punch the air in triumph.

REESE’S ROCKET UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!