Surrender to Temptation (Agent Lovers Series Book 1)

by Harper Steen

  “That’s your problem, not mine.” Liz pressed her lips into a thin line. Her painstakingly maintained control was crumbling in the face of his male pride. “We had an agreement.”

  “I never agreed.” Gray gave her a charming smile, seeming unfazed by her outburst. He leaned forward so that their noses were almost touching. “I know what you’re planning, sweetheart. You won’t get me to agree to an annulment. I don’t have a guilty conscience about the means I used to keep you.”

  “’Keep’ me? I don’t need you to agree to an annulment. Our relationship is over right now! You’ve destroyed my life—and I’ll destroy yours! You’ll hate me! It’ll be pathetic how much we’ll hate each other, you miserable piece of shit!” In a fury, she pushed Gray away from her and sank back into the seat. It had become clear to her that he wanted not only to force himself permanently into her life, but to completely take her life over. Gray wasn’t about to give her any freedom—at least, not the kind of freedom she needed. He was too possessive for that.

  Her hopeless situation made her almost livid. She wanted to wail like a child out of sheer disappointment. But she took a deep breath, submitted for the moment to the inevitable, and looked out the window again, ignoring Gray’s presence.

  So much for trying to alleviate the situation! Gray thought. Not only had he been unable to pacify Liz, he’d only made her more furious.

  With a melancholy smile, he ran his eyes over his wife’s figure, which was hiding in the wedding dress he had picked out for her. He had deliberately picked out a modest, simple dress for Liz. When he bought it, he’d already begun to envision himself stripping the silky material from her body and making love to her, exhaustively. He suppressed a sigh of regret at that thought that the way things stood now, he wouldn’t be the one taking the dress off of her on their wedding night. Liz wasn’t about to tolerate him in her bedroom. He reconciled himself to the idea that he’d be spending the night on the couch in the living room. Either that, or he’d share a bed with Jeff—not exactly what he’d had in mind.

  The limousine door opened and Jennifer got in, followed by Chris. She sat as far as possible from him and didn’t say a word. She didn’t need to; her venomous look spoke volumes.

  The glass partition lowered slowly and Jeff looked back from the passenger seat. “Congratulations you four—and welcome to the family, Liz!” But his new sister-in-law only made a disagreeable sound. Refusing to let her hostile behavior intimidate him, Jeff continued good humoredly. “I’m assuming we’ll toast to your marriage later? A wedding is the perfect occasion for celebrating. The caterers should have everything set up by the time we get there.” Jeff appeared oblivious to the hateful looks Liz and Jennifer threw at him. He winked at Gray and Chris and grinned broadly.

  “Caterer?”

  “A small thank you from me for your generous hospitality, dear brother. I’ve also arranged a nice surprise for both brides,” he said mysteriously before turning back around and raising the dark partition with a soft whirring sound.

  ***

  So eager were Liz and Jennifer to put distance between themselves and their new spouses, they practically ran through Gray’s open front door. This, despite the fact that they had no desire to celebrate after all they’d endured over the past few hours. They were barely over the threshold when they stopped abruptly and looked around in shock.

  In the middle of the living room, standing in front of the three-foot-long buffet, was Jeff’s surprise: the Gibson and the Langners. Smiling with affection, the family members approached Liz and Jennifer and thus thwarted their escape.

  “Elizabeth! I never would have thought that you’d take my advice to heart. You couldn’t have made a better choice. You can’t imagine how happy I am for you! Please accept my heartiest congratulations!” Looking almost giddy with joy, Harold embraced his daughter tightly and then surrendered her to her brother and Annie, who couldn’t wait to express their congratulations. Harold hurried over to his business partner, who was now also his son-in-law, congratulated him, clapped him on the shoulder in a fatherly manner and welcomed him into the family.

  “It’s about time, Jennifer! How long have I been saying you should look for a nice husband and start a family?” Jenny’s mother, Claire, waved a finger in front of her daughter’s face and laughed happily before hugging her. “I’m assuming the young man behind you is Chris?” He too was embraced by his mother-in-law and then passed on to the rest of the guests.

  It seemed an eternity before the onslaught of congratulations was over and Liz and Jennifer could retreat unnoticed into the kitchen.

  “As if this day weren’t a big enough catastrophe already! Now Jeff’s dragged our families here?” Liz swore bitter revenge on her brother-in-law. “I’ll make him pay for that!”

  “You’ll have to wait until I’m done with him!”

  “Why don’t we punish him together? That way neither one of us has to wait.”

  “Good idea! As soon as everyone’s gone, he’s going to be in for it. And I’m not going to settle for just pushing his face into the dirt. I’m thinking about something more like rolling him in honey and then putting him on an ant hill.”

  “In honey? That’s way too nice! Seriously, though, you don’t really think our families are going to leave anytime soon, do you? My father’s been pushing me to get married for years. He’s probably going to drag this out as long as possible.” Liz gave Jennifer a bleak look.

  “How long do you think my mother’s been nagging me? Every time I see her, she eventually starts in on the topic of marriage. And my father’s even worse! Too bad that he isn’t overseas right now. Then I’d have been spared his Well-it’s-about-time commentary.”

  The women sank into a gloomy silence and stared at the floor. When they heard footsteps they looked up again. Liz rolled her eyes when she saw John in the hallway. She could guess why he’d followed her.

  “Well, little sister. I’m glad to see you’ve finally come to your senses.” John was visibly happy. “Can you imagine how thrilled Dad was when Jeff called and invited us to your little wedding celebration? He was beside himself—especially because it was Gray you chose.”

  “I…me? Well, at least one of us is happy about this wedding. Or should I say two—you and Dad!”

  John looked back and forth between the women in confusion. Then a thought occurred to him. “Don’t tell me you’re pregnant? Is that why you got married so fast?” He laughed softly, apparently amused by the idea of his little sister becoming a mother.

  At just that moment, Annie walked in and overheard John’s remark, and her beaming face spoke volumes. She ran to Liz and embraced her fiercely. “A baby? Oooooooh!” she squealed in delight. She was bouncing up and down like a rubber ball. “You’re having a baby!” She spun around and disappeared before Liz could correct her.

  “Great, John! You’re such an idiot!” She wanted to smack him. “Now everyone will think I’m expecting a baby, even though I’m not. Thanks a lot, you moron!” With a pinched expression on her face she steeled herself for the new onslaught of congratulations that was sure to follow. It wasn’t bad enough that everyone had already swooped down on her once today, now they were going to do it again.

  “Sorry! I couldn’t help it. It was just a guess. Annie only heard that one word. You know how obsessed she is with kids.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, jerk, then why don’t you get to work on it!” she said.

  John’s smug grin left Liz in serious doubt about the sincerity of his apology. She looked over in irritation at Jennifer, who was trying in vain to keep a straight face. When the corners of her mouth started to twitch, she covered her lips with her hand.

  “Now you’re laughing at me too? Some friend you are!” Liz pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the cabinet, poured herself a glass and took a huge gulp. She needed the courage the drink would give her if she was going to survive what was coming.

  “What are you doing, Elizabeth?” he
r father said in shock as he came into the room. He ran up to her and tore the glass from her hand. “You can’t drink in your condition!”

  Gray walked into the kitchen just then and threw a questioning look at her flat stomach. “Are you all completely crazy?” Liz shouted. “I’m not pregnant! Please give me back my glass, Dad!”

  Ignoring her, he poured the contents into the sink and grabbed the bottle from the counter. “Mood swings!” he said to his son-in-law in a knowing voice. “Completely to be expected given her condition.” He walked out with the whiskey bottle under his arm.

  “Damn it all! Leave the bottle here, Dad! I’m not pregnant!” Liz called after Harold, but he wouldn’t listen. “Give it to me!” Liz ripped the veil from her head and flung it across the kitchen in a rage.

  “Which one of you is pregnant?” Jennifer’s parents came into the kitchen with Chris in tow and, with looks of joy on their faces, looked from one woman to the other, clearly hoping that they were finally going to become grandparents.

  Liz groaned and hung her head. What had she done to deserve this? Had someone forgotten to tell her it was “Let’s Wear Liz Down Completely” Day? How had she gotten into this mess? She took a deep breath to calm herself and gave Claire a forced smile. “No one’s pregnant, Mrs. Langner. It’s just a mistake. Annie unfortunately misunderstood something and before I could correct her, she’d already broadcast that I was pregnant.”

  “Too bad!” Claire looked from Liz to her daughter. “Lighten up!” Her voice was unapologetic. “I want to have grandchildren while I’m still young enough to enjoy them. So you, Chris, please provide me with some.” She punched her son-in-law in the side, smiled impishly and linked arms with her husband, Robert.

  Before they left the kitchen, Robert made it clear that he concurred. “I hope that this time next year I won’t just be congratulating you on your anniversary,” he said. “I hope I’ll also be holding my first grandchild in my arms.” He sounded more like a man who was making an order than one who was joking around.

  Liz laughed after Jennifer’s parents had left the room. Things were almost worse for her friend than they were for her!

  “You think that’s funny?” Jennifer asked. “They’re like that all the time. My father has tried to hook me up with his business partner a bunch of times.” Pretty soon her shoulders began to shake and she joined Liz in laughing at the absurd situation.

  John just shook his head and left the kitchen as if he wanted to get out before he was infected with whatever had stricken them.

  “Liz?” Gray approached and stood right in front of her, unable to disguise the hope in his eyes. “Are you really not pregnant?”

  Liz’s laughter died away. “That would be a great excuse to keep me away from my job, wouldn’t it? You won’t take that from me too. Not that! No, I’m definitely not pregnant and I couldn’t be. I use the birth control shot. It lasts for months.” She pushed past him and fled the kitchen. Several wedding guests huddled together and watched her pass, exchanging startled glances in the hopes that they’d just heard wrong.

  “You don’t have to look at me like that, Chris.” Jennifer raised her hands to ward him off. “I can’t be pregnant either. I use the same birth control, remember?” She hurriedly followed her friend out of the room.

  “False alarm.” Chris sighed and looked over at his friend.

  He couldn’t believe what had happened to him. It was like something right out of a tear-jerker novel. He had fallen in love with Jennifer in a short span of time, dragged her down the aisle six weeks after meeting her, and now he felt disappointed that he hadn’t actually gotten her pregnant. Chris gave Gray a pained grin. “If you tell me you were excited about the prospect of children, too, then it’s official, old buddy!”

  “I really wouldn’t have minded.” Gray shrugged. “Quite the opposite, in fact!”

  “Then it’s official. We’ve both gone crazy and should be locked up.”

  “That can be arranged, gentlemen!” Jennifer called from the living room having overheard Chris’s last words. “In fact, nothing would make us happier than to do this small favor for you!”

  ***

  After the two grooms had accompanied their last guests out the door and to the waiting limousine, they had to listen one more time to their in-laws’ expectations regarding children. Claire, Robert and Harold assured them that they didn’t want to push. But the prospective grandparents did remind the men pointedly that they weren’t getting any younger.

  Not until the limousine had disappeared from sight did Chris and Gray go back into the house. Gray closed the front door and they leaned with their backs against it.

  Chris tilted his head back, stared at the ceiling and exhaled noisily. “Pretty darn reckless of us to promise to make them grandparents soon. Don’t you think?”

  Gray nodded thoughtfully. “Possibly.”

  “Possibly?” Chris turned his head and looked at his friend in disbelief. “Try probably! I’ll bet that every time we see them from now on, they’ll ask about it.”

  Gray turned his face toward Chris and grinned. “That’s a bet I’m sure you’d win!”

  “Hey guys…” Jeff walked into the kitchen and waved them over. “Your help is urgently needed over there.” With his thumb he pointed over his right shoulder toward the backyard.

  “What have they done now?” Gray and Chris asked almost in unison.

  “It might be easier to tell you what they haven’t done. They haven’t left even a drop in the whiskey bottle. You can forget about your wedding night.” Jeff followed the two as they hurried through the kitchen and crossed the patio to the yard. He wasn’t about to miss the coming drama.

  ***

  From several yards away, Gray and Chris shook their heads at their new wives.

  Both women sat cross-legged on one of the lounge chairs. Their wedding dresses billowed out around them. Only cream silk stockings covered their long legs. As the men watched, they took off their shoes and threw them. The shoes flew in a wide arc and landed yards apart. Three ended up in the grass and one landed in the pool, where it floated. Liz’s upswept hairdo was slowly but surely falling apart, and Jennifer’s hair stuck out from her head in every direction. The funniest part of the scene wasn’t their unkempt appearance, but their battle over the last swig of alcohol.

  “Thas mine! Aferall, I had ta get married firs,” Liz slurred. She pulled the bottle out from under Jennifer’s bent arm. As soon as she put the bottle to her lips, her friend tore it out of her hands again.

  “Bah! Who cares ‘bout that? Fiiive minutz iz all!” With one hand Jennifer held off her friend, who was swaying considerably, and greedily drank the last drop of whiskey.

  “Tell me, whydja get married anyhow? Dija have a reason?” Liz looked at Jennifer. Jennifer thought a minute, then shook her head. “Then lez go back tomorrow and ‘splain things. We can correct the mizunderstanding tomorrow morning!”

  “An whada we do now? I juz drank yer last drop in da boddle! Nuthin more there.” Jennifer held the bottle up and peered into the opening. Then she shook it, tapped it on the ground and nodded. “Nuthin ta drink. Gray’s probbly got sumethin ina cubbard sumewherz. Shall we look?”

  “This time I’m not givin’ you anythin’ from my boddle! I hardly got anythin’ outta yourz.” Liz’s inarticulate speech proved just the opposite. “Buy yer own.”

  Jennifer was already up and headed for the house, but she’d already forgotten why she was headed there. A moment later, the swimming pool got in her way. All at once, the path between the lounge chair and the water appeared narrower and narrower to her, and then it disappeared altogether. Jenny accepted the inevitable: she was going to have to go through the water. She tore off her finery and in the process, lost her balance and fell with a splash into the water. Struggling, she twisted her foot out of the material that clung to her and called out, “Thatz okay with me too, cuz I’m gonna just swim ta the house.”

  Ever the
gentleman, Chris waited for his wife at the other end of the pool and helped her out of the water. Without his help, it would have probably taken much longer for her to climb up the ladder.

  Gray walked around the lounge chair and with arms crossed over his chest confronted his tipsy wife. There was mild rebuke in his gaze. “Don’t you think that’s enough?” he said with a chuckle. Instead of answering, Liz squinted and glared at him. “Shtay away. Shud up!”

  Jennifer stood on the edge of the pool, wrapped in a blanket and thought about what to do now. She’d enjoyed the delicious wedding feast earlier, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt like getting rid of it now. Should she stagger over to the grass to relieve herself, or should she eavesdrop some more on the two people in the lounge chairs, who were very funny but obviously a bit crazy? Or should she just wait here at the edge of the pool until everything around her stopped dancing?

  “What’s wrong, dear?” Chris asked her. Jennifer’s eyes widened as she looked at him, and then her cheeks puffed out. Then she started making choking sounds, and a mush of half-digested steak, cake, champagne and whiskey made its way up her throat and out of her mouth.

  Unfortunately for Chris, at that moment he was considerately bending towards his wife to help her, and the entire mess landed on him. On the upside, this prevented the disgusting load from landing in the pool, where it would spoil any swimming fun for days. Chris had to take his suit to the cleaners soon, anyway, so it really didn’t matter much that the contents of Jennifer’s sour stomach now trickled from his chin all the way down his fancy threads. Looking disgusted, he went inside the house and Jennifer staggered after him in a roundabout way, across the bumpy grass.

  “Didja shower?” She looked at Chris in amazement, when he came out several minutes later, wrapped in a bath sheet.

  “I would recommend you do the same, darling.”