Red Hot Lovers: 18 Contemporary Romance Books of Love, Passion, and Sexy Heroes by Your Favorite Top-Selling Authors

by Milly Taiden

  Evan shot him a quizzical look.

  “Can you imagine the expense of finding a backup competitor now? Starting all over?”

  No, he couldn’t. In fact, the thought left him cold. He didn’t want another competitor—he wanted Bella. He wanted to win this competition and he wanted Bella for his wife.

  No other woman would do.

  Evan watched her approach.

  He wanted Bella? He wanted to spend a whole year with one woman? He waited for the surge of claustrophobia the thought should bring, but it didn’t come. Bella was beautiful, kind, smart… real. She wasn’t plastic, like all the California girls were—too beautiful, too grasping—and she wasn’t like his mother, either, always demanding he stay close, always preventing him from doing what he wanted to do. Bella was independent. Best of all, she didn’t want anything from him. The women he usually dated wanted to control all of his cash and they wanted to control him, too.

  Still, he’d been plenty claustrophobic in that tent last night, so he hadn’t done some mental turnaround in the last twelve hours. He was still Evan, and he doubted anything could make him comfortable with a long-term relationship—even Bella.

  Best to keep her at arm’s length.

  Jake kept the point score announcement ceremony short and simple, while Bella shivered in the blanket the first aid worker wrapped around her shoulders. All too soon, it was time to move on.

  Evan followed the crew toward the SUVs, knowing something had changed today—something in his heart—and he was going to have a hell of a time changing it back again.

  ***

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Bella was grateful they didn’t have to hike to the next challenge. As she rode in the backseat of one of the SUVs next to Evan, the dull ache from the raw spot at the back of her ankle couldn’t compare to the pervasive tiredness in the rest of her body. Evan seemed subdued as well, but maybe watching your opponent nearly die would do that to you. Back at the river, the show’s physician had checked her out thoroughly and declared her fit to continue. She wasn’t sure she agreed with his diagnosis. More than anything she wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

  She must have slept a little, for the next thing she knew the SUV came to a stop and a bustle began all around her. Evan opened the door and climbed out, and Bella forced herself to wake up and survey the activity. They had pulled up near a square wooden structure with a green metal roof. The camera crew was busy getting its gear together and Madelyn came into view, as polished as usual, barking orders at everyone.

  “All right, sleepy time is over,” she said, ducking her head in through the open door of the SUV. “Chop-chop, let’s go.”

  “Where are we?” She climbed out of the vehicle as Madelyn pulled back. “Oh,” she added as she spotted the small boxy green metal cars attached to cables going up the side of the mountain in front of them.

  “The Jasper Tramway,” Madelyn said. “A seven minute ride to 7700 feet.” She smirked as Bella’s face fell. “Don’t worry—it’s perfectly safe.” Her tone said it wasn’t anything of the kind, but Bella squashed the panic rising in her gut. A tram was far safer than a zip line and she’d done just fine with that yesterday.

  “What’s the challenge?”

  “You’ll find out when we get to the top.”

  “When’s lunch?” Evan materialized by her side and as usual, Bella felt the stirrings of desire. Good to know a dousing in cold water hadn’t put out that flame. If anything it had sharpened it.

  “Soon,” was all Madelyn said before stalking off and shouting to a cameraman.

  “How are you doing?” Evan asked her. Glancing up, she noticed several cameras trained on her and stifled a sigh.

  “Fine. Tired.” Shoot, she wasn’t supposed to admit that to him.

  “I’ll bet. It really scared me, seeing you go under like that. It’s a good thing they had extra personnel out on the river with you.” He touched her arm gently. “You know, I want to win this thing, but if you die in the process it kind of spoils things for me.”

  She looked up sharply, caught his grin and melted a little inside. “I guess so.” Usually his closeness unnerved her, but this time she felt herself draw strength from his presence. He was so calm and sane in the midst of the craziness of the film shoot, and in a way he was her ally—the only other person around who wasn’t part of the crew. “What’s up with that marriage thing anyway? Why not marry someone you love?”

  He shrugged and looked away. “I don’t love anyone enough for that.”

  “Really? No steady girlfriend?”

  “Hell, no.” He laughed and glanced at her sheepishly. “That kind of came out wrong. I’m not the settling-down type of guy, but in order to maintain control of Mortimer Innovations, I have to be married by the end of the month, and I have to stay married for a year.”

  “You couldn’t spend a little of your billions and just buy a fake wife?”

  “Nah, I’m too cheap for that. If I win this thing I get you for free,” he said, laughter glinting in his dark eyes.

  “Wouldn’t it be simpler not to spend five days gallivanting around Jasper?”

  “I suppose, but it would be less fun. I guess if I lose, that’s what I’ll do.”

  “Why not just do it to begin with?” she pressed.

  He glanced away from her, then back. “This is going to sound bad no matter how I phrase it, but it’s the truth. I’ve always known women aren’t dating me—they’re dating my money. They’re dating the possibility of becoming Mrs. Billionaire. I learned very early on that women are experts at pretending to love you when you have something they want. I also learned that they’re experts at sinking their claws into you and not letting go, even when you want them to. My competition would have a field day if I bought a wife and I doubt I’d be able to shake the woman when the year was up. She’d claim she was truly in love when we married, and say that I’d duped her about my intentions, and the courts might take her side. After all, I’m just a nasty billionaire.”

  “Wow,” Bella said. Poor little rich guy, indeed. The desire she’d felt a moment ago melted away under the cynicism of his words.

  “I told you it would sound bad.”

  “I don’t want to meet the women you hang out with.” She took a step back from him.

  “No, you don’t.” He watched Madelyn usher a herd of crew members into a tram and send them up the mountain. The director scanned the area and headed their way. Evan frowned. “Look—I know there are good women out there, but I’m so messed up at this point I won’t make a good husband no matter who I’m with. So I’m doing it this way. If you lose, you’ve already agreed to sign an airtight prenuptial agreement. You’ll get an all-expenses-paid yearlong vacation among the high rollers of the business world, with accommodations in the best hotels and homes on the West Coast. We’ll throw in some travel to exotic locals, and I promise I’ll always be a gentleman. It’ll be great, I swear.”

  It’ll be great? Was he for real? Bella laughed derisively. “You are unbelievable. You think you can tell me that sad little story and I’ll just stop competing and join you in false matrimony? Hello—I’m here to win five million dollars because I’m about to go broke and lose my business. There are animals depending on me—real, live creatures who have no one else to turn to, and who are going to die if I don’t win. I’m not rolling over and playing wifey, Moneybuns. I’m going to win this thing!”

  “Did you get that?” Madelyn snapped at the Paul the cameraman as she strode up to them.

  “Sure did.” Paul scratched his stomach.

  “Excellent. Great television. Bella, Evan, come on—your turn in the tram.”

  Bella’s rising anger at Evan’s insensitivity drained away as she trailed after Madelyn to the small, green metal car. Engrossed in evaluating how she really felt about riding in one of these things, she felt rather than saw Evan fall back. Madelyn noticed, too.

  “Keep up. What’s the matter with you?” she snapped at
him.

  “I’d prefer to hike up,” he said. Bella thought he looked a little pale. Had her words hurt him that much? She doubted it. Something else must be bugging him.

  “You’d prefer to hike up?” Madelyn put her hands on her hips. “Well, I’d prefer to get this television show filmed sometime in the next century. Get in the tram!”

  “No.”

  Bella raised an eyebrow. Evan didn’t like the tram, either? Was he afraid of heights? That made no sense; he’d been fine on the zip line the previous day, and didn’t he say he liked rock climbing?

  “What do you mean, no? I said get in the tram and I mean it, mister—we have a schedule to keep.” Madelyn stepped forward menacingly.

  “No.”

  Biting back a smile, Bella waited for Madelyn’s response.

  “Are you forfeiting the game? Ellis—get Legal on the line!” she called, and leaned in toward Evan with an icy look. “You have ten seconds to decide, Mr. Mortimer. Contestants must participate in every contest or they forfeit and lose the game. Five…four…three…two…”

  Bella held her breath. Was this it? Was she about to win five million dollars, all because Evan wouldn’t—or couldn’t—get on a tram? She glanced over the small metal contraption again. Small. Was Evan claustrophobic?

  Of course he was—he couldn’t stay in the tent with her, either.

  She turned back to him just in time to see a muscle in his jaw ticking like crazy before he opened his mouth and said, “I’m not forfeiting. Fine, I’ll ride the tram.” He stalked off toward it and disappeared around the back end. A moment later Bella could make out his profile through one of the large windows.

  He didn’t look happy.

  A smile curved her lips. Time for her to make some headway—she wouldn’t let this opportunity slip through her fingers. Forgetting her own qualms, she decided to put his to very good use. Whatever the next challenge was, it obviously was going to take place on top this mountain. She needed to make sure he was thoroughly freaked out by the time they got off that tram.

  *

  Evan kept his fingers wrapped tightly around the railing as the tram filled with passengers. Bella squeezed in beside him and various crew members took up the rest of the space with their bodies and equipment. He could feel them using up all the oxygen. Already the metal walls pressed back upon him and they hadn’t even left the ground. The only thing he had going for him was the knowledge that the ride was only seven minutes long. He could stand anything for seven minutes.

  Bella pressed up against him, as if the crush of bodies gave her no other choice. She leaned into him heavily and although normally he’d relish the feeling of her soft breasts pressed against his arm, right this moment it felt like someone had tossed a woolen blanket over his head and was about to smother him. The image of his mother flashed into his mind, rushing to pull him into her arms just when he’d been about to escape outside to play with his friends. “No, Evan, stay with me. Mommy needs you.”

  He brushed the memory aside and stared out the window as the tram lurched forward.

  Breathe. Just breathe. In. Out. Empty your mind.

  Bella slipped an arm around his waist and pressed closer. “You know sometimes they overload these little cars,” she said conversationally. “They don’t mean to, but they have to make as much money as possible, so they make sure to get as many people on as they can. Sometimes they only count the number of people—not their weight. North Americans are getting heavier all the time, so even though 10 people might have fit just fine in here a century ago, they don’t really fit now, do they?” She crowded him against the wall.

  Evan wanted to push back. In fact, he wanted to shove Bella as hard as he could against the other riders. A sheen of sweat coated his hands and the back of his neck and he was beginning to find it hard to breathe. “Back up a little, would you?” he managed to ask instead.

  “What?” She crowded even closer. “This is just like riding in a really crowded elevator, isn’t it? Do you ever worry about elevators stopping in between floors and you’d get stuck and you’d have to wait for hours and hours until someone came along and rescued you?”

  Hell, getting stuck in an elevator was his worst fear. He never took elevators if he could help it. He passed off his obsession with taking the stairs as part of his dedication to staying fit. “Good practice for climbing mountains,” he always said just before he disappeared into the stairwell of a high rise. Luckily he was too rich for people to question him too closely.

  “Imagine if the tram stopped. It could be days before we were rescued. We’d have to take turns lying down to sleep while the others stood up.”

  Days? He dragged his gaze away from the spectacular mountain scenery outside the window and looked down at her, finally catching her evil grin. “It isn’t working,” he ground out.

  “What isn’t working?” she asked innocently, pushing him farther into the wall.

  “You’re not scaring me.”

  “I think I am,” she laughed. “You’re really sweating.”

  Damn it, she was right—he was practically dripping. “So I don’t like small spaces, so what?”

  “So, it’s kind of pathetic, Moneybuns. This is just a tourist attraction.” She draped herself over him. “A really, really small and confined tourist attraction.”

  This time he did push her away, firmly but not too roughly. No need to make a spectacle of himself while the cameras were rolling. “Enough. I know I’m impossible to resist, but you’re going to have to control yourself until you get to the top. Once we’re there, I’ll be happy to indulge your every fantasy.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw the upper station come into view and breathed a sigh of relief. A couple more moments and he’d be done with this ride from hell.

  With any luck they’d hike down.

  *

  Even scared to death, Evan was hot. Once he succumbed to his claustrophobia he stopped complaining about the hordes of money-hungry women who threw themselves at him on a daily basis, and she was able to remember why she’d found him so attractive. The fact that billionaire Evan Mortimer had an Achilles heel made him all that much more interesting. What had happened to make him so antsy in small spaces?

  Bella filed out of the tram onto the top of Whistler’s Mountain, no relation to the famous ski resort far to the southwest, as Madelyn pointed out. The air was noticeably cooler up here, even in the broad sunshine, and the view took her breath away. She only glanced at the upper station, which looked to contain a restaurant as well as a gift shop, before she turned to face the valley spread out below them and the jagged mountains that marched in every direction off into the distance.

  Canada had so far exceeded her expectations, she had to admit. She’d heard about Banff and Jasper from many of her friends and family members—since Montana bordered Canada, the park was a popular vacation destination for Chance Creek’s citizens—but their descriptions and even their photographs didn’t do it justice. For one minute all her worries about the show, Evan, her animals and business slid away and she let the light breeze and thin air refresh her. She wished she always had this view in front of her to remind her of the infinite wonder of the world she inhabited. Somehow, in the day to day of life and work, it was all too easy to forget.

  “Pretty spectacular, isn’t it?” Evan said, coming up beside her.

  “It sure is. Feeling better?”

  “Much. No thanks to you.”

  “You deserved it,” she said tartly.

  “Look, I never meant to imply that your goals in winning this contest are any less worthy than my goals,” Evan said.

  “Yes, you did,” she retorted.

  “Well, I guess I did,” he admitted. “But I want you to know I do admire your work.”

  “I wish I could say the same.” She wasn’t going to fall for his charm again. She’d watched him turn it on and off too many times.

  “Oh, yeah? Is your filing and appointment system computerized?”
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  “Sure. Everyone’s is,” she said. “So what?”

  “Mortimer Innovations has five patents that pertain to that software. Do you use the new, longer-lasting lightbulbs?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “We helped develop them. Do you care at all if people in Africa have access to clean drinking water?”

  She just looked at him.

  “We’re a major backer in a plan to deliver simple, low cost technology to a thousand remote villages in the next three years. How about disease control…”

  “I get it, I get it. You’re a saint and we’d all be lost without you,” Bella said, waving him off.

  “All I’m saying is I’m not a bad guy, Bella. I want to retain control over Mortimer Innovations because I have a vision for the company—one that values improving conditions for human beings all over this planet above stockholder profits. Unfortunately, if I don’t get married I’ll lose control over the company and my brother will take charge.”

  “Let me guess; your brother is the devil incarnate and he’ll use his super-powers for evil?”

  “Something like that,” Evan said. “Let’s just say his belief in the bottom line trumps everything else. I’m in an incredible position, Bella—I can affect millions of lives for the better.”

  “Or my life for the worse,” she said and walked away.

  *

  Evan stared out of the mountaintop restaurant’s huge windows without seeing the incredible panorama spread below them anymore. His first attempt to impress Bella and get her thinking positively about the possibility of marrying him for a year had failed utterly because once again he’d forgotten she wasn’t one of the legions of women back in California throwing themselves at his feet in order to get hold of his money. He wanted to tell her more about what his company could do—why she should look at it as a force for good rather than just another enormous corporation—but if he thought she would be wowed by a list of patents and inventions, he was highly mistaken.