Auctioned to the Bad Boy CEO

by Doris O'Connor

  “Right, yes, erm, congratulations again. Have you set a date yet?” Claire asked.

  “Of course, you can expect Hannah to need some time off at the end of the month. I’ll let you know exactly how many weeks. I don’t plan on a long honeymoon, but I do want to spend some time with my new wife.” He glanced at Hannah when he said that, and the heated intensity in his dark gaze took her breath away.

  Okay then…

  Her core temperature just went up several degrees at the promise in those dark eyes. Try as she might she couldn’t find the outrage she surely ought to be feeling at his underhandedness in just announcing their engagement, yet all she felt was an odd sense of rightness.

  “Right, yes, congratulations again. Will you make an announcement?” Claire asked, and Logan raised an eyebrow in contempt. “Right, none of my business, I get it. Shall I tell the staff then, or…”

  Logan looked toward Hannah, and, somehow, she got her voice to work.

  “If it shuts up the gossip, then by all means do, though it’s really no one’s business, is it?”

  The other woman smiled, a genuine one this time, and a heavy silence fell between Logan and her, when the door snicked shut behind her.

  Hannah kept her gaze firmly rooted to the floor, not trusting herself to not erupt into hysterics of some sort. That moment had passed after all. If she was going to object to this crazy plan then she should have done so when Logan declared their engagement, not now when the proverbial horse had bolted and was running around the office holding up a banner for all to see. His trainers appeared in her vision first, and then his deep sigh ghosted across her face, as he cupped her chin and tilted her head up.

  “You could look less like a woman about to go the gallows about this.” He smiled as he said that, but the fingers on her chin trembled and tension radiated off his large frame in almost palpable waves. “Thank you for agreeing by the way.”

  Hannah wrenched her chin out of his grasp and glared up at him. Or tried to at least. It wasn’t arrogant Logan she saw, however, but a man who looked tired beyond belief. For that one brief moment, she saw beyond the mask he wore to the bone-weary, desperate man underneath.

  “You didn’t exactly leave me much choice, did you?”

  Logan shrugged and sat back down on the desk.

  “Perhaps not, but I also knew that little spitfire Hannah would have no compunction at tearing me down a strip, if she didn’t want to do this. You do want to do this, right?”

  The slight wobble in his voice made up her mind.

  “No, I don’t want to marry you. Why would I? I do want to help Rhia, however, so I will.”

  His jaw clenched in response, the only outward sign of his emotions.

  “Right, let me guess, you want a generous divorce settlement to—”

  “How fucking dare you.” Hannah shot to her feet, interrupting him, and his eyes narrowed in silent scrutiny of her.

  “Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not doing this to get at your money. I’m doing this for Rhia, because that little girl needs stability, and being shipped off to live with grandparents she’s never met isn’t going to give her that. And because I know how the system works, and I know your solicitor is right, damn it. It shouldn’t matter that you’re single, but you’ll be in a much better position to be looked on favorably if you’re married or at the very least in a stable relationship. So, yeah, I get that, and I’ll be your trophy wife, but don’t think for one goddamn minute there is any other reason for me to agree to this. I want a prenup, stating exactly what we can expect of each other, and I don’t want a penny of your money once this farce of a marriage will be over, do you hear me?”

  She got closer to him in her outrage, and gasped when he buried his hands in her hair, and kissed her. Had he been forceful she probably would have been able to resist him … maybe … but this wasn’t a rough or demanding kiss. No, this was a slow, tender onslaught on her senses, as he ran his tongue along the seam of her mouth requesting entry, varied the pressure and angle of his full, soft lips across hers, until she couldn’t help but kiss him back. He grunted his approval when she opened for him, and then everything else ceased to matter but the feel of their tongues sliding together, as Logan took the kiss deeper. Her hands fisted in his shirt, and his roamed to her ass, lifting her higher to make this whole process easier, as heat seared between them. Desire, need, lust exploded in her belly, consumed her, erasing the last remnants of doubt. No matter what happened between them in this so-called marriage she’d agreed to, they would have this, this overwhelming passion, which made Hannah act so completely out of character, yet she couldn’t bring herself to care about that. She wanted him, he wanted her, and the rest could go hang.

  By the time Logan eventually broke their kiss with a soft bite to her bottom lip, they were both breathing heavily. Hannah blinked as reality set back in, surprised that the windows of the office hadn’t steamed up with the heat they’d created between them.

  “Fuck, I want you.” Logan’s guttural response made her insides clench in need, even as he gently pushed her back into the chair, and then rounded the desk with the bow-legged walk of a cowboy. Amusement bubbled up inside of her, mixed in with pride that she was responsible for his current state. The long, hard imprint of his arousal tested the buttons of his jeans, and Logan winced as he sat down and adjusted himself. He looked across at her with a wry grin.

  “Some things are best left to our wedding night, though, wouldn’t you agree?”

  He smirked at her sharp intake of breath, and Hannah wiggled on her chair.

  “We don’t have to wait? I mean…”

  The heat in his gaze seared her like a physical caress.

  “No, we don’t, but I find anticipation makes the eventual consummation so much sweeter. Besides, you’ll be my wife. That makes things different, and I think your time would be better spent getting to know Rhia, don’t you?”

  Hannah’s heart gave a lurch at those words. It almost sounded like the real thing, but he didn’t mean that. He just wanted to present a united front to make this whole thing look real, as confirmed by his next words. “You’ll also need to meet my mother, and Claudia. I know she doesn’t respond, but she needs to know you’ll be helping me to take care of her little girl.” His voice thickened with emotion, and Hannah nodded.

  “Of course, your mother?”

  Logan sighed. “Is alive and well, if rather fragile, and confined to her nursing home. She forgets things easily these days, which is a blessing in disguise in lots of respects.” His jaw clenched, and Hannah fancied she could hear his teeth grind together. “She doesn’t know the whole story. All she does know is that Claudia had an accident, which means I’m looking after Rhia.”

  “I see.” Hannah took a deep breath and fought the instinct to reach out to him. “Doesn’t she ask after … you know … your brother?”

  Logan’s short humorless laugh sent chills down her spine.

  “There are advantages to his being my identical twin. I simply let her believe I’m him, when she confuses us, which happens more and more these days.” He smiled grimly at Hannah’s sharp intake of breath.

  “That must be…”

  “Fucked up?” Logan asked. “Sure, but it beats having to explain to her that one of her sons is in prison for beating his wife.” He stared into the distance and then smiled. “She’ll love you by the way. Mum is always on at me to settle down and to find myself a nice girl.” He mimicked quotation marks around those two words. “Too bad nice girls never held much interest for me—until now.”

  “Because this nice girl is a means to an end, right?” Hannah said, hating the slight wobble in her voice. What the hell was that about? She knew what she was agreeing to. This was a business deal for him with added sexual benefits. He made that perfectly clear, and that’s all she wanted, wasn’t it?

  “Yes.”

  Hannah couldn’t help her jerk in response, and Logan sighed.

  “Wou
ld you rather I lied?”

  “Of course not, we both know what this is.”

  Chapter Seven

  Knowing what this engagement was and actually living with it were two very different things, as Hannah discovered in the next four weeks of frantic activity. Logan had been true to his word. He hadn’t touched her in any sexual way, the result of which being that Hannah was slowly climbing the walls of sexual frustration, not least, because it seemed wrong to avail herself of her little purple friend.

  While Logan would never know what she got up to in the privacy of her bedroom, it seemed disloyal somehow, which should have been a ridiculous notion. Besides, she wanted him, not some plastic dildo. The more time she spent in his company, the more she wanted him, and not just sexually. A dangerous road to go down, for sure, but she couldn’t help but like this Logan.

  While she knew his attentiveness to her in public was an act, designed to make folks believe they were indeed love’s young dream, it would be all too easy to be swept away by the fantasy. Not helped one iota by the expensive, yet understated diamond ring Logan had put on her finger, three days after that conversation in the office.

  They’d been due to attend a charity ball, the first of many she was to attend with him over the month of their engagement, and he’d pulled that ring out of his jacket pocket, as they pulled up outside the grand stately mansion this particular event was being held at.

  “Here, you need to start looking the part, especially as you’ll have the dubious pleasure of meeting Rhia’s grandparents tonight. They usually ignore me, but, under the circumstances, they’ll be sure to want to meet you, if only to hurl insults your way.”

  He’d thrust that little velvet box at her almost carelessly, as though it didn’t mean anything, and she might have believed him, had it not been for the white knuckled hold he’d had on the seat of the limo.

  She was starting to read him pretty well, and that was not only a tell for his temper, it also showed his emotions, emotions which he tried to hide from the world at large. Only with Rhia and his mother—that had been another emotionally charged meeting—did he ever let his guard truly down. The frail old woman had welcomed Hannah with open arms, and she smiled recalling that meeting now.

  “Come here and let me take a look at you, my dear. My, you’re a sight for sore eyes. Never thought I’d see the day that boy of mine would settle down. Not like Rick. Where is Rick? Logan, is he here, too? It’s been ages since I’ve seen him.”

  “He’s just outside, Mum. He’ll be here in a minute. Let me go get him, while you chat to Hannah.” He’d dropped a kiss on his mother’s hand and disappeared. When he’d re-entered the room, he’d ruffled up his hair, and taken off his jacket, and there had been quite a swagger in his walk as he’d approached the old woman.

  “Mama, there you are. Damn that brother of mine for hiding you away. See you met his bird. Cute, isn’t she? If I wasn’t happily married…”

  Hannah had to swallow hard to keep her composure as Logan had pretended to be a brother he despised to save his mother pain, and when they’d eventually gotten out of there, and Rick had disappeared she hadn’t known what to say to Logan.

  “That was… I don’t even know what to say to that.”

  Logan had shrugged, and smiled.

  “It’s no big deal. It keeps her happy, and that’s all that counts. Don’t sweat the small stuff, Hannah.”

  But it had been a big deal, just like the engagement ring had been. Hannah held it up to the light, and smiled at her sister’s soft exclamation behind her as she entered the room.

  “Wow, you look stunning. That sex pot husband to be of yours will not know what’s hit him when he sees you walk down the aisle like that.”

  Sarah, looking utterly radiant in her soft purple bridesmaid’s dress, smiled at her, while little Rhia, dressed in matching colors and holding a basket of rose petals jumped up and down, an act which dislodged several of them.

  “Careful there, sweetheart, you won’t have any left to scatter at this rate. Doesn’t Hannah look pretty?”

  Rhia cocked her head to one side, and made a big show of studying Hannah, which made the grown-ups in the room, including the wedding planner, who’d been responsible for getting Hannah ready this morning, laugh out loud.

  The middle-aged, kindly woman had been another surprise which Hannah had not seen coming, though perhaps she ought to have done. Logan was so much more than he first appeared, after all. When he announced that they were to be married at the end of the month, she had expected nothing more than a quick registry office wedding, and instead she found herself here at Duchray Castle—a freaking castle—could he have made this any more perfect?—on the morning of her wedding in the most stunning surroundings, about to become Mrs. Logan Bryce.

  If she didn’t think it would make her look like a lunatic, she’d have pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming all this.

  Even the contrary Scottish weather was behaving itself. While they’d woken up to a fine drizzle, or a dreich morning as the locals called it, the sun had broken through the clouds, and it promised to stay dry for the ceremony. Hannah could see them setting up chairs on the lawn by the lake, where she was going to take her vows in just under an hour.

  “Mama Hannah looks velly pletty.” The slight speech impediment that came out when Rhia was nervous or excited made Hannah smile through her tears, and she turned away to compose herself. The make-up artist would kill her if she ruined her work, and she didn’t want Rhia to think she’d done anything wrong. While the little girl called Logan Daddy Logan all the time, this was the first time she’d bestowed such an honor on Hannah.

  “Doesn’t she just.” Sarah’s voice sounded choked, as though her sister, too, had to fight to keep hold of her emotions. “Well, we have grown up things to discuss, so go with Margaret and make sure everything is ready downstairs, will you?”

  “Yes, I could do with some help.” Margaret agreed, and Rhia whooped in delight, before the click of the door signaled their departure. Sarah wrapped her arms around Hannah from behind in a bear hug, which made holding in the tears even more difficult.

  “Don’t you dare cry. You’ll make me start, and the we’ll look a right mess.” Sarah’s murmured admonishment had the desired effect, and Hannah laughed. Sarah released her, snatched a tissue from the box by the mirror and dabbed at Hannah’s eyes.

  “There’s that’s better, no harm done, but jeez, could she be any cuter?”

  Hannah sniffed and nodded.

  “I know she amazes me, but a lot of that is down to her favorite teacher, you know. I wonder who that might be?”

  Sarah laughed and shook her head.

  “As, she’s a sweetheart, who makes it easy. You’d never guess what she’s been through, and that bossy fiancé of yours is so good with her.”

  Hannah didn’t trust her voice work, so she simply nodded.

  “You know, I was dubious about this wedding, but this…” Sarah opened her arms and twirled around the room. “You’re getting married in a castle for flip’s sake. Just like we always dreamed we would, when we were little, you know, when our knights came to rescue us.” Sarah frowned, no doubt remembering why she wanted a knight to rescue her, and Hannah pulled her back into a hug.

  “That was a long time ago. And you know, I have to say it, Logan is no knight.” She let her sister go and smirked at her reflection in the full mirror. “And I sure as hell am no damsel in distress.”

  “Maybe not, but you’ve got to admit the venue is awesome. Did you tell him it had always been your dream to get married in a castle?” Sarah asked.

  Startled at the question, Hannah turned back round to look at her sister.

  “No, I assumed he’d asked you. After all, you always had your heads together whispering about wedding plans, or so it seemed.”

  Sarah sniggered and tapped her nose. “Never you mind what we were whispering about, but no, I didn’t tell him. This was all Logan’s ide
a. All I did know is that he wanted it to be somewhere different and special.” Sarah pursed her lips, and Hannah could almost see the wheels turning in her sister’s head. Ever since she’d told Sarah about this wedding and the reasons behind it, Sarah had insisted that there must be more to it than that, but then her sister was a hopeless romantic. Hannah, however, was a realist, and while her heart might have leapt in joy when she realized where they were getting married, it was all for show. To make them look real in the eyes of the authorities, that was all this was. Nothing more and nothing less.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Oh nothing.” Sarah grinned. “I know you keep saying this is all for show yadda, yadda, yadda, but I’ve seen the way he watches you. That man is just about ready to eat you alive with his eyes most of the time, and you…” Again, with the pursed lips, which were starting to irritate the ever-loving heck out her.

  “I what? Spit it out, already, I know you’re dying to. And if Logan gives that impression it’s only because he’s horny. We haven’t had sex since we got engaged so … oh what now?” She frowned at Sarah’s knowing smirk.

  “I bet that wasn’t your idea, was it? And it sure explains why you’re so ready to bite my head off. How can you even keep your hands off that hunk?”

  “Sarah!” Hannah didn’t quite pull off her outraged hiss, if Sarah’s growing amusement was anything to go by, and she knew her own cheeks were flaming. Damn her propensity to blush at the drop of a hat.

  “What?” Sarah shrugged one lace covered shoulder and grinned. “Just because I’m engaged doesn’t mean I can’t look and appreciate another man’s fine physique, and your future husband is packing in all the right places. I bet he knows how to use it all, too, right?”

  Hannah simply shook her head at her incorrigible sister, and Sarah giggled.

  “Seriously, though, think about it. And this whole non-sex thing until you’re married? Really, does he strike you as a man who would willingly forego that for any lengths of time? He wanted this wedding to be special, and there’s only one reason for that, if you ask me.”