Fake Bride: A Billionaire Boss Fake Marriage Romance

by Cassandra Bloom

  She stumbled forward when Betsy rushed at her from one side. She hugged Bridget and shouted something Bridget didn’t catch. She wiped tears from her cheeks. The words, “…so happy….” drifted to Bridget’s ear above the noise before Betsy raced away.

  Bridget came back to staring at Roy’s back. Aw, what the hell. She might as well bite the bullet. What’s the worst that could happen? He couldn’t exactly fuck her here in the dining room surrounded by wedding guests, could he? He was too much a gentleman to try it.

  She gathered her courage and marched up behind him. She pulled out her chair and collapsed into it. He didn’t move. He didn’t even glance over at her. He pretended he wasn’t waiting for her, that he hadn’t just given her a silent suggestion with his head, that he hadn’t licked his teeth at her in the church. What kind of maniac was he?

  She glanced over at him. His calculating gray eyes darted left to meet hers. Then he went back to staring straight in front of him. Bridget took a deep breath. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. They were just two members of the wedding party, sitting down to the wedding dinner. Right? What could be more normal than that?

  She set her bouquet on the table and leaned back in the chair to relax. That frolic in the broom closet was just a fluke. It meant nothing. It was just sex. Of course, a tycoon like him wouldn’t want it to be anything else. How could he want anything else? He didn’t know her from Adam.

  She made up her mind to break the ice and talk to him. That’s what you did at weddings, wasn’t it? Making polite conversation, he called it. She opened her mouth when Rex’s voice boomed over the crowd again. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mister and Missus Benjamin and Larissa Poppins!”

  The place erupted in wild applause. Everyone leapt to their feet and cheered the couple making their grand entrance. The noise startled Bridget out of her reverie. She jumped to her feet and clapped and cheered along with everyone else. So did Roy. Ben and Larissa took their places at the table in front of the dining room, and the waiters circulated to serve the dinner.

  Voices rose and fell all around Bridget. Roy didn’t say a word. For some reason, Maury Jensen wasn’t there, so they ate in silence. None of the other people assigned to their table appeared, either.

  The longer they sat without talking, the more Bridget relaxed. Roy must not want to continue anything outside the broom closet, either. He might want to go back there with her, but he didn’t want to have anything to do with her in real life. That’s the message he tried to give her by not talking to her now.

  She could live with that. She could get on board with having nothing more to do with him for the rest of her life. She could look forward to life returning to normal after they went home from this wedding. So she had a wild fling with a guy at a hotel in the Berkshires. This was one for the record books. File this under ‘I did something crazy once’.

  Tommy got up and gave a silly speech about the time he and Ben stole his father’s car and got arrested on the freeway. Ben turned red and Rex yanked Tommy back into his seat. Then Jason got up and started talking about….something. He rambled and gabbled. Bridget lost track of what he was saying.

  Out of nowhere, Roy’s low voice touched her ear. “I had a really good time with you just before. You’re hotter than I ever dreamed. Why don’t you come to my room tonight so I can finish the job?”

  Bridget’s head whipped around, but she managed to keep her voice low so no one could hear her. “Finish the job? Didn’t you finish the job before?”

  He didn’t smile. His eyes shot daggers into her heart. “I’ll never finish the job with you, Bridget. I could work you to kingdom come and never go soft. You were made in my dreams.”

  She turned away and concentrated on her food. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We had a quickie in the closet. Let’s leave it at that.”

  “I don’t want to leave it at that. I want to do it with you again. I want to do a lot more than that with you, too.”

  She looked up. “Like what?”

  He leaned closer. His minty breath brushed her cheek. “Like slow dancing. Like talking to you about whatever you want to talk about. Like spending some time with you. I don’t want to let you slip through my fingers.”

  She cast her eyes down at her plate. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “You said that, but I do think it’s a good idea. I think it’s a great idea. Didn’t you like dancing with me?”

  “Of course.”

  “And you liked fucking me in the closet. Don’t say you didn’t.”

  Her cheeks burned. “You know I did.”

  He lowered his voice. “Tell me how much you liked it.”

  Her lips smacked when she caught her breath. “It was the best I ever had. Don’t you know that?”

  He leaned just an inch closer. He whispered in her ear. “It could be like that again. It could be like that all night long.”

  She shook her head, but she couldn’t clear her thoughts. How did she know this would happen? She knew she would cave the very first time he put out his hand to grab her. She couldn’t resist him.

  He sat back in his seat. “That’s my cue.”

  She looked around. Everyone in the room turned around to stare at her. Roy got to his feet, and she understood. They weren’t staring at her. They were looking at Roy. He picked up his champagne flute and held it out toward Ben. His voice filled the whole room.

  “I’ve known Ben for four years now. I’ve been his boss. I’ve been his mentor, and now, I’m honored to say, I’ve been his friend. We’ve faced triumph and tragedy. We’ve fought and bled and failed together. We’ve worked side by side in the trenches every day for four years, and I am here to say, categorically and positively, I have never seen Ben happier than he is today. Every since he met Larissa, he’s gotten happier and more confident. He’s become steady and certain. He’s a man after my own heart, and we have you to thank for that, Larissa. I never knew a woman could make a man that happy, or that a woman could do a man so much good until I saw what you did to him. It made me envy him, and I don’t generally envy people. I have what I want, and when I want something, I can get it without much trouble. When Ben met Larissa and I saw what that love did to him, I realized there was something in this world I wanted that I couldn’t have, and I wanted it bad. It made me look around at my life, and I realized my life was poor and lonely compared to Ben’s. He had this big happy, loving family. He had the woman of his dreams. He had all that and a brilliant career besides. What did I have? Nothing. I had the career, but that meant nothing compared to his happiness and his confidence and his steady certainty. Damn, I wished I had that. I stand here today in awe of you guys. You’re an inspiration to everyone around you, and I look forward to the honor of being your friend for a long, long time to come.”

  Through his whole speech, Ben and Larissa squeezed each other’s hands. Larissa sniffed back tears, and even Ben’s eyes misted over.

  Roy raised his glass one more time and sat down. The dining room rocked with thunderous applause. The music started, and Ben and Larissa moved into the middle of the floor for their dance. Bridget swallowed the lump in her throat. She murmured to Roy. “Did you mean all that?”

  “Do you think I would lie to your brother on his wedding day?”

  She stared at her hands in her lap. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”

  “I do.”

  “I hope you weren’t talking about me.”

  “Why do you hope that?”

  “Because I’m not going to be that woman. I’m not going to be the woman who does for you what Larissa did for Ben.”

  He turned to look at her with a very different expression in his eyes. That glittering rapacious hunger no longer drilled into her. He was just a man.

  He looked for a moment. Then he turned back to his food. He didn’t say anything.

  Chapter 9

  Bridget left the dining room when the dance music started thumping agai
n. After the cake and the speeches, Ben and Larissa ran off to their limo. They rode away to their honeymoon, while Tommy and Sheila and all the young people and even some of the oldsters busted a move on the dance floor. No one could hear themselves think, much less speak.

  Bridget’s dress started to chafe. She had to change. She headed for her room, but she paused at the door to watch the sun go down over the garden. She hadn’t seen Roy since his speech. He got up to refill his champagne glass and didn’t come back to their table.

  Bridget waited for him for more than half an hour. What the deuce did she have to wait for him for? Didn’t she tell him their quickie in the closet was nothing more than that? She told him, and that’s what it was. She didn’t have to wait for him. She didn’t even want to see him.

  The music changed from the raucous racket, and high-pitched guitar strained through the still air. A voice made her spin around. “May I have this dance?”

  She found herself looking at Roy. “What’s the point of that? Why do you keep chasing after me when I already told you I didn’t want to take this any further?”

  He shrugged. “I’m not chasing you. I just asked you to dance. That’s all.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you sure that’s all it is?”

  He held up his hand. “Scout’s honor.”

  She snorted. “You were never a Boy Scout. I’m sure of that.”

  He only smiled and held out his hand. She glared at him. Why did he have to be so infuriatingly persistent? The song was half over. If she was going to do this, she better do it now. “I don’t think this is a good idea. You better forget about me.”

  “I’m not thinking about you. You’re just the only woman here I can dance with. That’s all I’m saying. I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment the way you seem to think I am.”

  He still held out his hand in front of her. Should she take it? Should she find shelter in his arms one more time? Her resolve weakened, but just as she started to lift her hand to take his, the music changed again. It started singing YMCA. Roy let his hand drop. She’d missed her chance. Her heart sank into her shoes. Now he would walk away, and he would never ask her to dance again. Her bright idea bit her in the ass.

  He didn’t walk away, though. He raised his voice above the music. “Come to my room.”

  Her head shot up. “What for?”

  He didn’t answer. He inclined his head toward the lobby and walked away. She stared at him. What did he mean by that? Go to his room? She would have to be daffy to do that. She just said no. She turned down his offer to dance. She wouldn’t find anything she wanted back in his room.

  He didn’t look back. He ducked behind a potted plant, and the hotel swallowed him up. Would she ever see him again? All the guests would leave for their homes tomorrow morning. She might see Roy with Ben sometimes, but she would never get another opportunity to spend any time with him. She would never get another experience like she got in the closet.

  Her body ached for more of that. Did she really want to look back on this experience with nothing but the broom closet to show for it? She threw caution to the wind and hurried after him.

  She found him waited in front of the elevator. She stopped to confront him when the elevator doors opened with a ping. He didn’t hesitate. He took her hand and escorted her in.

  The doors closed, but he didn’t let go of her hand. He didn’t speak or try to kiss her or do any of the millions of things she thought he might do. He stood still while they rode up into the hotel.

  The doors whooshed open, and they stepped out into the hall. Bridget snapped alert. She pulled her hand out of his. “I better not do this. You go ahead. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He rounded on her with that calm, clear expression in his face. No smoldering sex machine here. “You won’t see me in the morning, Bridget. If you say no, you’ll never see me again. I can promise you that.”

  She stared at him. “You’ll still be working with Ben.”

  “Yes, I’ll still be working with Ben, but you won’t see me. I’ll make sure of it. Ben will continue to benefit from our acquaintance, but I won’t bother you.”

  “You’re not bothering me.”

  “No. I’m asking you to come to my room for the night. I’m asking you to spend one last night with me. You want it and I want it. This could be our last and only night together. That’s all I’m asking, but if you keep saying no, I’ll accept it. I won’t ask again.”

  She stood rooted to the spot. She wanted it and he wanted it. Of-course she wanted it. She wanted more of that wild, orgasmic sex she had in the closet, only this time in the comfort of his hotel room. She wanted his body and his hands and his mouth. This could be their last and only night together. Those words burned a hole in her soul. How could she turn her back on that? She wasn’t marrying him.

  She met his eyes, but he didn’t wait for her to answer. He put out his hand the way he offered to dance with her. “Come on. Come with me.”

  They were dancing—nothing more. They moved around each other and came apart. They went off to dance with someone else, and neither held on tight enough to get hurt.

  This time, she put out her hand and let him grasp it. She followed him down the hall and into his room. He closed the door behind him.

  Bridget strode into the room and gazed out the windows at the land rolling beyond the resort. The setting sun bathed the scene in soft pastel light. Her eyes softened at the sight. In less than twelve hours, she would return to her old life, her old self, her old routine. Nothing would remain of this weekend interlude.

  Out of nowhere, soft jazz music filled the air. She looked over her shoulder to see Roy bent over the radio. He adjusted the knobs, and the delicate strains cast their spell over the room. He came up behind her and took her hand. “Come on.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “We didn’t get our dance downstairs, so we’re having it here.”

  She looked around. “You want to dance…here? I thought you wanted to…”

  He cocked his head. “You thought what? I didn’t bring you here to rip you to pieces. I told you I want to spend the night with you. I want to have a nice time with you.”

  She couldn’t answer. She could only melt into his arms. The gentle music relaxed her tensions, and they swayed together in front of the window. One tune blended into the other, but neither pulled away. They kept dancing, locked in an eternal embrace.

  Chapter 10

  Bridget picked up her dress and let it fall on her bare lap. “I never want to see this thing again as long as I live.”

  Roy folded his arm under his head and leaned back on the pillow. “You ought to have it framed. You look great in it.”

  She snorted. “I guess I have to put it on. I have to wear it back to my room so I can pack up and go.”

  He grabbed her wrist. “Don’t go. Stay here with me for a couple of days.”

  Her eyes popped open. “A couple of days? Come on. You said we would have this night together and walk away. Now you’re saying make it a couple of days. What’s next—happily ever after?”

  “Would it be so bad if it was? I don’t want to leave just yet—I mean, I don’t want to leave if there’s a chance I can spend some more time with you.”

  “I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want to keep doing this. I want to go home to my own life. If I stayed here, my whole life would collapse into turmoil.”

  “Are you saying it would collapse into turmoil if you stayed here, or if you had anything more to do with me?”

  “Both. I don’t want to have anything more to do with you. I told you that. I want to go back to the way my life was before I met you.”

  He swung his legs over the bed and set them on the floor. “Way to throw a bucket of cold water on a guy. We just spent a passionate night together, and now you’re saying you don’t want to have anything more to do with me.”

  “Well, crikey, what did you think I was going to say? You di
dn’t think I would fall at your feet and beg you to run away with me, did you? We had a great time. I’ll admit that. You’re a rock star in bed. You know that. That doesn’t mean I want to commit or anything.”

  “I never said anything about committing. I said spend a few days here with me. What could be wrong with that? I care about you and you care about me. We have great sex and we like dancing. We could have a good time together, you and me.”

  “I don’t care about you like that. You’re my brother’s mentor, and he considers you his best friend. That’s it. We had a wild weekend together at my brother’s wedding. End of story. I’ve got a life and a job and a plan back home. I don’t want to throw that away over anybody. No offense against you. It’s just my life comes first.”

  He turned around to face her. “Are you really going to sit there and tell me you don’t care about me?”

  “You make it sound like jumping you at a wedding is some kind of prelude to a long-term relationship. I don’t want that. It’s nothing against you. I don’t want it with anybody. I don’t want anybody coming between me and my life.”

  He grabbed his pants. He stood up into them and buttoned them below his washboard abs. “You’re lying, Bridget. You care about me just as much as I care about you. I know you do.”

  She stared at him. What could you do with a guy like this? He was off his rocker. “What do you mean by ‘care about you’? You don’t honestly think there could be anything between us, do you? You banged me at a destination wedding. You’re a frickin’ billionaire businessman. What could you possibly want to care about me for? I’m nothing to you. I’m a good time and a wild weekend. Nothing else.”

  He yanked his shirt off the chair back. “I don’t believe you. I don’t believe you don’t care about me. You want me to think this was all about sex for you, that you don’t want anything more with me than a wild weekend? Okay. You said it, so I have to take your word for it. Just so we’re clear, though, I’m not buying it.”

  “Why won’t you believe me? Why would I lie about it? If I really cared about you, why would I go to all this trouble to kick you in the guts?”