Irresistibly Dashing

by Victoria Arabpour Pinder

  She dropped her hands to her sides. “This really isn’t fair that you know me so well now.”

  "And?"

  Sarah exhaled. “And she didn’t care.” She then walked with him toward the shoes and the door. “She said I was lying.”

  He picked up her usual black flats but then realized she might not want them with her white outfit. “You never lie.”

  She shook her head at the shoes, so he deposited them as she selected instead a pair of white sandals. “Beau… I hate that you see all this in me.”

  They slipped their shoes on. “Sarah, I’m not here to hurt you. You’re my wife.”

  She grabbed her pocketbook and adjusted her shirt to keep it straight. “Many men have wives and that doesn’t stop the hurt they cause.”

  He reached for the door and motioned for her to head out. They passed security but entered the elevator alone. “Many is too general. Sarah, it’s just me. Hopefully in time you see that you can trust me.”

  “Three months ago I’d have never believed that possible.” Once the elevator doors closed she brushed her hand against his arm and said, “Beau, you know more about me than my parents or my sister, or Aaron.”

  Admission was a good thing. He asked, “Aaron?”

  Her eyes flared. “The man my sister married.”

  Aaron. Beau had her parent's phone number, as well as their address in Missouri, where he'd sent Jensen's body. It wouldn’t be hard now to search out this guy. “You never told me his name.”

  Her gaze narrowed as the doors opened. “You never asked.”

  In the lobby, he kept a protective hand on her back though there was no visible danger. He led her to the waiting limo outside as he said, “I’ll get his profile for you.”

  She slipped into the back seat. “Don’t bother.”

  He followed her inside and the guards closed the doors. He ensured the partition was up so they were alone. “One day you might want to forgive your sister or your parents. It’s best to make informed decisions based on facts.”

  A smile grew on her face and the skin around her eyes wrinkled, ready to laugh. “Now that’s the Beau I wanted as my friend.”

  Yet he was actually her husband and wouldn’t mind keeping the position. He raised his eyebrow. “Wanted, as in past tense?”

  A frown graced her face and she sighed. “You said we couldn’t be friends.”

  No other woman had ever been half as interesting for him as she was and he doubted he’d find someone else that both infuriated him and tugged at his heart strings. Beau leaned closer and noticed his own hands had goosebumps from her being near. “Not when I want you as my wife in truth.”

  She pouted out her lips like she wanted to be kissed, but then she said, “I just have a hard time imagining your life would ever truly mesh with mine. I wasn’t very nice to you.”

  And if she hadn’t criticized everything he ever did, he might have ignored her and stayed behind his screen as he worked to prove his and his family’s innocence, compiling all the data to search for clues. “Maybe that part of you being prickly is over, and we can just move forward to building that trust you clearly need.”

  She didn’t pull away. Her eyes fluttered shut. He didn’t move a muscle as she pressed her lips on his.

  Beau wrapped his arms around her, possessing her entirely. Her kiss only proved what his heart knew. She was his.

  As the kiss ended and he let her go she rested her forehead on his and asked, “And what is it that you need, Beau?”

  “Need?” He repeated the question because in truth he wasn’t sure what he wanted or needed other than closure. The threat against his family was finished now that Arman and Natasha were dead--he'd like to keep his Sarah and the life they’d forged from that mess forever.

  She pulled back and met his gaze. “I know you have anything you ever desire at the tip of your fingers, but there must be something you need from me.”

  And if he told her that he just needed her, she wouldn't believe him. Beau searched for words that she might believe that would help him win her heart and trust. He took a moment and finally chose his words carefully. “I need you to… I need you to continue pointing out my privilege. I need your belief that I can do better.”

  “What?”

  Right. He clasped his hands together. “The other day when you told me to feed hungry children and stock a food bank… I did both.”

  She fixed her hair like somehow it was messy when it fell perfectly without effort. “How? When?”

  What he did wasn’t to be shared or talked about because it didn’t matter, but at least they were heading toward the airport. “I hadn’t thought about charity or anyone else but my own dinner choices. You accused me of being spoiled for wanting lamb chops.”

  She laughed. “I never had lamb so to me that’s a luxury.”

  Lamb was a warm meat that he often preferred to beef or chicken, but then he’d always had chefs, even when he’d gone to college. The family chef dropped off his favorites whenever he called for food. “What did you eat growing up?”

  “I had a lot of cereal,” she said with a huff. “Or whatever I scrounged up for myself."

  Seriously her family treated her more like a leper that they couldn’t wait to get rid of, but not feeding her twisted his gut. “That’s not healthy.”

  She shrugged like it was an obvious observation, and not her first choice. “No one said my diet was good. I swear, part of being in your home and family was going through a major detox for the first month.”

  Beau thought back to how Sarah made his father laugh all the time when his mother was in treatment, even when all she did was criticize Beau. It might be too heavy to bring up, so he winked and said, “Well, that explains some of your sourness.”

  Her mouth opened but she was being overdramatic about it as she asked, “What?”

  He loved that for once she was in a genuinely good mood. “I never met someone on a diet cleanse in a happy state.”

  Her eyes flashed with humor. “Don’t make me laugh.”

  And he hadn’t even been funny, but her smile was rare and made him feel like he'd won a contest. “But I like you better when you do.”

  Her face contorted into a frown just as fast as the smile had appeared. “I wish you didn’t like me at all.”

  Perhaps it wasn’t wise and he provoked a tiger by pulling on its tail, but he wanted the good mood back. As the limo arrived at the airport, he decided to test the waters so he pulled her onto his lap. She didn’t fight him and he planted a kiss on her fast.

  Her hands wrapped around his neck and he deepened the kiss. In time he’d win her over, but for now he’d be satisfied with this because she tasted sweet yet tart as a strawberry.

  Beau worked on his laptop to create a spreadsheet itinerary, and study a dossier on people he intended to meet in Hoskell, while Sarah relaxed with her e-reader and indulged in a book during the flight.

  The e-books she now owned were much wilder than what her parents had allowed for her at the library, the world at her fingertips rich with stories.

  She sighed as she finished reading and glanced over at Beau. The man in the book loved the heroine, deeply.

  Beau had said he loved her. She hadn't heard those words since her grandparents had died, so long that it seemed a distant dream. Sarah hadn’t expected to hear them again, especially not from the "evil" man she’d married.

  But then Beau was the opposite of what she'd been told about him in every way. He wasn’t some bad boy with no soul. He was intelligent, innocent, and one of the richest men on the planet. Somehow her punishment had turned out to be her salvation.

  However love just seemed so… far-fetched.

  Her gaze went up and down his strong back that was hotter than the guy's in the book. His skin was clear and no long beard grew on his face. Sure, he had his five o’clock shadow he’d shave off later, but that just highlighted his olive-toned skin that practically glowed. And those dimples of his…
clearly his smile caught every female’s attention. There was no way she was the only one, even if she was his only wife.

  The thought hit her hard. She’d mumbled her vows mostly to jump from the fire at her feet and assumed that where she landed would be worse. Beau was nothing but… sweet and kind and honest and hard-working. He was everything a sexy hot guy was not supposed to be, and why a secret thrill raced through her.

  But she couldn’t believe in love, right?

  He packed away his computer and she realized that the plane's engine was slowing to a stop.

  How had they landed and she didn't even notice?

  She tucked her reader away in her pocketbook and rose from the couch she’d been lying on. Sarah tied a white scarf with pink and blue polka-dots, like she was heading to church in the 1950s, under her hair. “How are we in Hoskell already?”

  He slung his laptop bag over his shoulder and motioned for her to walk with him toward the door. “It’s the middle of the night here. Just remember, we’re sharing a room for a few hours.”

  Her heart raced. She’d thought about that, at every steamy scene in the book. She also remembered every news report she’d read about the Middle East and swallowed her pride. “Yes, I know. I don’t want you to leave me alone here.”

  They stepped out and the air smelled like normal air. It was different than Miami, less palm trees, for one thing, but at the same time, there was a fresh cool breeze that brushed against her skin.

  Beau asked, “Hmm, why?”

  They walked out on the small tarmac and headed toward a burly man with a beard as she whispered, afraid someone might be watching, “I’ve never… the stories about the Middle East make it sound like a scary place.”

  He stepped a little closer to her and they stayed in sync. “Not everything on TV is reality. But I’ve never been here either so the truth is… I don’t want to leave your side. Maybe on the way back we can go somewhere you want to see?”

  Her mind raced. She’d never had a passport or thought she’d need one. She’d never flown on a plane until the day she married Beau Bentley and he'd whisked her from DC to Miami on a private jet. Now she tried to think where in the world was close. “Like Rome? We flew over it on the way.”

  He held the hangar door entrance open for her and repeated, “Rome?”

  They went inside and saw the small office with a long counter and signs in a language she couldn’t read. He signed travel entrance papers for customs at a desk.

  “Yes. Or Athens. I was allowed to read classics and I’d like to see how all roads lead to Rome, or the Parthenon.”

  As he finished the papers, he handed them to an official who checked their passports. Beau didn’t seem to care about the men as he kept up the conversation. Her hair on her arms was sky high, but the staff were invisible to him. “Done. Now remember we can’t hold hands, but you’ll stick to my side.”

  And she’d do whatever she could to protect the only… good person in her life. She glanced at him and then pressed her lips together. His bag seemed light. “Where is your other computer?”

  The officials handed him back the papers and Beau didn't keep her passport, but gave it to her to hold. “Which other computer?”

  As she hadn’t held her passport to begin with, she wasn’t sure why she had it now, so she put it in her pocketbook. “The packed luggage that your staff is bringing or did you leave it on the plane.”

  “I have my laptop here, and another with the staff.” He winked at her like he usually did. “I like being organized.”

  Tonight they would share a chamber without walls between them. Though she was tired, she wasn't sure she’d sleep at all. Beau’s nearness set her off course, but she needed him close by, so she nodded and stuck to his side like paper to glue. “And I like… that you are honest and follow lists and plans. It’s comforting.”

  He led her out the door onto the well-lit area of a parking lot for cars and people clapped. She couldn’t see anyone as her view was of black tar but the clapping grew louder as they headed out farther onto the street. Beau didn’t seem to notice them either. “How?”

  Beau guided her toward what she now recognized… a crowd had gathered and snapped pictures like they were rock stars or something. Her heart raced as she wished she could grab his arm, but she fought the impulse and said, “Because surprises are never good, and I generally do better when I know what’s coming next.”

  He motioned toward one of his staff who held up one finger. Beau briefly patted her on the back which made her hair stand on end though it was a fast touch that shouldn’t matter. “One day I hope you trust me.”

  Trust. That wasn’t her usual style. Suspicion and wariness were more her thing. She hardly knew what the word really meant, but she hugged her waist until she saw the white limo that came toward them. “I can’t promise. I don’t even know if I trust myself these days.”

  He showed off his dimples. “Don’t be scared with me, Sarah.”

  The limo arrived and she ignored how fast her heart raced as she finally asked, “I… Who are the men with the signs?”

  He motioned for her to get inside first. Her heart galloped as he joined her and the driver closed the door. Beau tapped on her knee and pointed for her to look through the tinted windows toward one of the signs. “The signs read welcome and the people are clapping because they are happy to finally see a Bentley. One man said I look like my father.”

  Her skin warmed from his closeness. She ached to touch him, but she didn’t want to go to jail over an accidental brush of the knees. Maybe she exaggerated but she held absolutely still just in case. “Your father must have been handsome back in the day.”

  At last the driver started moving forward. Cheers surrounded the limo. Beau settled back into his seat. “Guess they support my father.”

  Once they were on a main road and away from the crowd she too settled back and ignored the tension in her body. “I never thought I’d get used to limos. I had the junkiest car no one wanted to go near.”

  Beau placed his laptop bag beside him. “We’ll be at the palace soon.”

  A snort escaped her without her intention. She massaged her temples as he stared at her, waiting for an explanation. “That’s a strange sentence--something I’d expect in a movie. Not real life. Not my life.”

  He leaned toward her and her body warmed as he glanced out her window to the palace. “I only ever heard about the place from my father’s descriptions.”

  They were barely a breath apart where they could be touching, and this heightened her awareness of him. She licked her lips and babbled, “Well, the olive trees make the place look… dark green.”

  He nodded as if she made sense. “This must be the palace.”

  The vehicle turned the corner and she saw an enormous white palace with blue glitter sparkling from the walls.

  The moon made the huge building that rivaled the palace in cartoon movies illuminate like magic. She brought her nose to the window and realized the blue sparkles were actually real and embedded in the building material. As they neared, she didn’t ask about the wonder but tried for normal conversation. “So close to the airport?”

  “Complaining?” They drove onto a wide driveway that made Buckingham’s seem small though she’d only seen Buckingham on TV so her frame of reference was probably wrong.

  She reached out as the car stopped and pressed her hand on his knee. “Absolutely not.”

  The thought that she’d just done something illegal made her jerk her hand back. He winked at her and said, “It’s a private airport, to be honest, and belongs to the castle property.”

  The driver opened the door. Servants were lined near the entrance outside, all dressed in black. She scooted out. “Well, you could have just said that.”

  He walked beside her as they entered the house. “I didn’t think about it.”

  A man motioned with his hands for them to join him and without a word Beau followed yet stayed beside her.


  Normally she expected there to be introductions so she asked, “How come the staff is silent?”

  Beau shrugged. “They are probably tired. It’s three o’clock in the morning.”

  Hmm. That explanation made no sense, but they were directed toward a bedroom. She asked before the servant that delivered them left, “So this is our room?”

  Beau nodded like he was an authority and then motioned for the servant to leave as he said to her, “Yes. We have to be up and dressed for an eleven o’clock meeting with officials to set up the formal signing and put my father on the ballot. We will also deal with the police concerning Mariam.”

  She stared at the door and waited to hear it close entirely before she took off her scarf. “Why so late?”

  Beau stared at the door as well and then walked over and closed it again himself. “First, we use the official channels to put my father on the ballot. Then we deal with the authorities for arresting my aunt. If I don’t like the answers at eleven, we go to the news about my aunt and leave. I want her arrested and put in jail.”

  Her heart beat fast as she envisioned someone coming in the middle of the night to hurt or kill Beau, not that she said that. “Then we better sleep, though I’m honestly worried. The staff just staring at us and then no one speaking… yeah, that was a scene I don’t want repeated.”

  “My father briefed me that no one is allowed to address us, and on the first night to curb my American impulses and stay silent. He said to gather the staff after breakfast in the morning and do formal introductions then.” Beau unbuttoned his cuffs. “So I did.”

  Sarah had insisted on being with Beau in Hoskell to ensure he was safe. She had no plan for how except to jump in front of anything bad that might happen and be ready for… whatever. He should have shared his father’s plans with her, but instead of arguing she sat on the edge of the bed and massaged a cramp in her leg from sitting on the plane for so long.

  He unfastened his tie and dropped it on a nearby dresser. “I’ll need a few minutes to get the couch ready.”