Tucking the folder she carried under one arm and tossing the diet cola she had just finished drinking into one of the nearby recycling bins, Caroline headed back toward her office. She had spent all morning going over more artwork for the magazine layouts for Fabulous Face. As a result, she probably had a pile of papers stacked high on her desk by now, she thought, sighing. And she had missed lunch, too. She would have to get a sandwich from one of the snack machines or something.
“Caroline! Caroline, wait up!”
Oh, God, she groaned inwardly as she glanced back over her shoulder and spied Paul Andersen coming after her down the corridor. She looked around, hoping to see another employee or two, but the hall was empty at the moment. Because of that, she kept on walking.
“Caroline!” Catching up with her, he grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. “I know you heard me calling you, so why didn’t you wait up like I asked?”
“Possibly because I don’t want to talk to you, Paul. As far as I’m concerned, we have nothing to say to each other—now, or ever! So let go of my arm!”
“Look, don’t give me the cold shoulder. I only want a few minutes of your time, that’s all. You owe me that much, I think.”
“I don’t owe you anything. Let go, I said.” With a jerk, Caroline wrenched her arm free and started on down the corridor again. From the smell of his breath, she suspected Paul had had a very old-fashioned, three-martini lunch, that he somehow hadn’t got the message that these days club soda or mineral water was de rigueur. And remembering his drunken behavior that night at her apartment, she wasn’t about to hang around for a repeat performance. “If you don’t stop bothering me, Paul, I’m going to call security,” she insisted when he followed her.
“I just want to know whether or not it’s true that you’ve married Nick Valkov.”
“Whether I have or not, it’s none of your business, Paul.”
“It is! Damn it, Caroline! You were my fiancée once. I thought…that is, I had hoped that you might be again someday. I know your family poisoned you against me, insisting I was only after your money. But that wasn’t true.”
“Wasn’t it?”
“No.”
“Why don’t I buy that, Paul? Now, go away and leave me alone!”
“You’re wearing a set of wedding rings, Caroline. So who are you trying to fool? Do you know what people are saying behind your back? That your family paid Nick to marry you, that they hired you a husband because you couldn’t get a man any other way! What I want to know is…why him? What’s the difference between him and me? I at least loved you, Caroline, in my own fashion.”
“You’re despicable,” she said icily, mortified by what Paul told her. Surely, he was making this gossip up—or worse, more likely, he had started it himself! He was malicious enough to have done something like that for revenge, she thought. Oh, God. It had never occurred to her that everyone at the company might learn that her father had paid Nick to marry her. It simply had to be a guess on Paul’s part, rumors he had spread out of sheer spite. And she didn’t know how to counteract them.
Caroline had reached her own office now, but Paul was still behind her, babbling away half drunkenly. He seized her arm again, and this time, she couldn’t pull free.
“Paul, you’re hurting me,” she told him quietly. She could see her secretary, Mary, sitting at her desk beyond Caroline’s office, speaking into the telephone receiver. Caroline didn’t want a witness to an ugly scene—and further gossip being bandied about the halls of Fortune Cosmetics. “I think you’d better go. Mary is probably calling security,” she lied, because in truth, she didn’t know whom her secretary was talking to.
She found out only moments later when Nick stepped out of the elevator across from her office, his face as dark as a thundercloud.
“Take your damned hands off my wife, Andersen, or you’ll be sorry!” he growled, striding toward Paul angrily.
“Nick!” Caroline cried, vastly relieved to see her husband. “He’s been drinking,” she said, by way of explaining Paul’s behavior to Nick.
She thought the two men would come to blows, but her former fiancé proved too cowardly for that. Glancing over her shoulder and spying her husband, his eyes widened, and he abruptly turned and hurried away down the corridor. Nick would have pursued him, but Caroline grasped her husband’s hand, drawing him back.
“No, let him go. Please, Nick. It’s enough that you got rid of him.”
“Are you all right, baby?”
“Yes. He was only making a pest out of himself.”
“I don’t care.” A muscle twitched alarmingly in Nick’s set jaw. “If your secretary hadn’t phoned me to let me know what was happening up here, he might have hurt you. I’m going upstairs right now and have Kate fire him. That bastard doesn’t deserve to work here after all he’s done to you—and this is the last straw! I’m sure your grandmother will agree.”
Nothing Caroline said dissuaded Nick from this course of action.
“Don’t argue with me about this, baby. I won’t stand for it. Andersen tried to rape you once before, and it’s obvious he still has both feelings toward you and a drinking problem. You often work late hours, when you’re the only person on this entire floor. What if he came up here some night and attacked you? Who would hear you scream? No, I won’t have it, and that’s final, Caroline!”
Her grandmother, hearing all Nick had to report, sternly agreed.
“Why didn’t you tell me about Paul before, Caroline?” she asked soberly. “Had I known, I would never have permitted him to continue working here.” Picking up her telephone receiver, she called down to Paul’s department head and instructed him tersely to fire Paul immediately. Then she hung up and turned back to the newlyweds. “Nick, I want to thank you for coming up here to tell me about Paul. I truly appreciate it. It makes me shudder just to think he might actually have harmed my granddaughter in some way.”
“Caro’s my wife, Kate. It’s my duty to keep her safe.”
His duty, Caroline thought bleakly. Of course. Why should there have been any other reason besides him doing the right thing by her, as he had promised he would?
“So. How are you two newlyweds getting along?” Kate inquired.
“Fine. Just fine,” Nick replied. “Caro’s moved into my house on the lake, and in just weeks, she’s managed to turn it into a real home. We’ve got our schedules worked out nicely, so I can drive us back and forth to work every day and Caro’s not out on the country roads after dark. And so far, the INS hasn’t paid us any more visits.”
“Excellent.” Kate smiled, although her eyes were thoughtful as she gazed at Caroline, noting her silence. “And how about my secret youth formula? I hate to sound like a tired old parrot, harping on the same thing over and over. But to tell you the truth, I’m just so excited about Fabulous Face that I can hardly contain myself.”
Nick grinned wryly. “Yes, I’ve gathered, Kate. So, although we’re not yet done with our testing, I’ll give you a brief update. We are now almost certain that Ingredient X is going to prove to be a plant rumored to grow only in the Amazon jungle. Its Latin name is floris virginis—maiden flower. But the Indians in South America call it the youth flower, and it’s the properties they describe it as having that we’re interested in. However, at the moment, we’re not even sure it really exists. The stories told about it may be only that—stories, legends, myths, whatever. So we need to do some further investigation before we go off on a wild-goose chase. Currently, we’re testing other plants with properties supposedly similar to those of the maiden flower, to see if we’re even on the right track. Still, my gut instinct tells me that we are—so don’t be surprised if, in the near future, I come to you with a request to take a small team down to the Amazon, Kate.”
“No, I won’t,” she responded calmly. But inwardly, she was turning cartwheels as she thought, However, that isn’t going to prove necessary, because now that I know what you’re after, I intend to fly down to So
uth America and get it myself!
Shortly afterward, blissfully unaware of Kate’s plans, Caroline and Nick left Kate’s office, walking together down the corridor toward the elevators. Before they had reached them, however, Nick suddenly caught hold of his wife’s hand and drew her into a small conference room off to one side. It was empty and dark—and didn’t grow much brighter when he flicked on the lights. Apparently, it had last been used for either a video or slide presentation, and the dimmer switch was set on low, so the illumination provided by the recessed lights in the ceiling was scant. To her surprise, however, Nick made no move to turn the lights up, and he closed the door and locked it.
“Nick, what’re you doing? Why did you bring me in here? Is there something wrong?”
“You tell me. I was just about to ask you that same question.”
“I—I don’t understand….”
“You barely had two words to say in your grandmother’s office, Caro. Because of that, she’s worried that you’re unhappy with me, I could tell. Are you unhappy? Is there something I’ve said, something I’ve done to make you so? Are you mad at me for getting that bastard Andersen fired? Are you—God forbid—still in love with him?”
“No…no, it’s nothing like that.”
“Then, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Why should there be anything the matter?”
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m trying to find out. And I have the strangest feeling that you’re lying to me, baby—and I don’t like that. I don’t like it at all. If it’s not Andersen, then is there someone else?”
“No, of course not.” But to her dismay, Caroline found she couldn’t look her husband in the eye when she answered, she was so afraid he would see that she indeed wasn’t telling him the truth, that there was someone else—him!
“Caroline. Caroline, look at me, damn it!” Catching her chin with his hand, he forced her mute, stubbornly resisting face up to his. “I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t see anybody else for the duration of our marriage.”
“Yes, we did. And I’m not, I swear.”
“Good—because I’ve changed my mind. I won’t turn a blind eye. You’re my wife—and I didn’t like seeing you with that slime Andersen’s hands all over you!” Nick’s eyes blazed with anger at the memory as he stared down at her. The muscle in his taut jaw flexed.
Despite herself, Caroline felt a tiny thrill shoot through her. Why, he was behaving as though he were jealous! What if he was? That would mean he had begun to feel something toward her, even if it was not yet love. No matter how hard she tried to rein in her emotions, her heart soared at the thought. Was it possible that Nick was falling in love with her, as she had him?
“Paul wanted to know if you and I were really married,” she stated quietly. “It seems he harbored hopes, still, of wedding me himself. And when I wouldn’t answer him, he said something about my wedding rings and that…everybody at Fortune Cosmetics knew my family had…paid you to marry me, that I…couldn’t get a husband any other way.”
“Oh, Caro, you know that’s not true,” Nick insisted, pulling her into his arms, kissing her and stroking her hair lightly.
“Maybe not, but still, it’s embarrassing and humiliating to think Paul was spreading rumors like that about me, to think there are those at the company who might have believed him.” Tears stung her eyes at the thought.
“Shhh. Nobody will have taken seriously anything he said. They’ll put it down to sour grapes—and rightly so. No one knows the truth about our marriage, baby—and I for damned sure better not hear anybody say I’m nothing but a hired husband!”
“But it’s true,” Caroline murmured.
“Is that really how you think of me, Caro? Is that the real reason why you wouldn’t sleep with me again after we came back from Canada?”
“No…oh, no, Nick. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I—I meant that it’s true that my family paid you to marry me, that you…probably wouldn’t have wanted me, otherwise.”
Understanding dawned in Nick’s eyes. “Is that what all this is about, Caro? Is that what’s troubling you? Because if it is, you can just get that idea out of your head right now. Hell. I’ve been attracted to you, interested in taking you out, for ages—only you never would give me the time of day until your family needed me to save your grandmother’s secret youth formula. Otherwise, we’d have been dating a long time ago. Baby, don’t you know what you do to me?” he asked softly before his eyes darkened with passion and his mouth took hers.
There was nothing tentative or tender about his kiss. It was rough, urgent, taking Caroline’s breath and leaving her blood roaring in her ears, her heart pounding so hard that she thought it would burst in her breast. She clung to Nick as he bent her back, shoving aside a chair and pressing her down upon the conference table, his mouth moving hard and hungrily on hers. A wild, electric shudder jolted through her. Desire flooded her being. Her fingers tightened into fists in his thick, dark hair, as, moaning, she opened her lips to him, her tongue meeting his own, tasting and twining.
Her response seemed to inflame Nick. He tore at her sweater, jerking it up, then pushing up her bra, too, to free her breasts. His palms cupped them possessively, caressing and kneading, his thumbs teasing her nipples to tautly furled buds. His mouth swept down to capture one flushed peak, sucking greedily as she whimpered and writhed beneath him. She could feel his hands sliding up her legs, pushing up her skirt. Caroline thought panty hose were one of the most uncomfortable pieces of underwear ever invented—second only to the archaic corset—so she followed the French custom of wearing thigh-high stockings.
Nick hadn’t known that until now, but the realization drove him wild with both desire and jealousy. It was something secret and sexy he had discovered about his wife. He would never see her at the office again without thinking about the fact that beneath her skirt, she was wearing only a pair of thigh-high stockings and wispy, French-cut panties. The thought that whenever she crossed her legs in her office, at a conference table, in the executive dining room, another man might glimpse the top of a stocking, a flash of thigh, incensed him, made him long to insist that she wear nothing but sober, calf-length skirts to work from now on.
He told her as much—but to his surprise and irritation, Caroline only laughed.
“Why, what’s this sudden change of heart, Nick?” she teased, still smiling. “You were the one who said I needed to try some designers like Versace, Hervé Leger and Badgley Mischka. Besides, can I help it if skirts are everything from minis to maxis these days?”
“No, I guess not. But damn it, Caroline! I don’t want other guys knowing my wife goes around in thigh-high stockings all day!”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to tell them, Nick.” Caroline’s pulse raced as she gazed up at him. He was jealous. She lowered her lashes to conceal her thoughts. “I didn’t realize you found thigh-high stockings so objectionable. I’ll buy some panty hose, if you like.”
“I don’t like,” he growled, his tongue tracing the outline of her mouth before he kissed her deeply again. His teeth caught her lower lip gently before his mouth seared across her cheek, her temple, the strands of her hair. “Because then I couldn’t do this,” he muttered huskily in her ear, his hand slipping beneath the inset of her panties, making her gasp. “You’re all wet, sweetheart. I think you want me. What do you think?” When she didn’t respond, turning her head away and blushing, he laughed softly.
Then, deliberately, he began to stroke her—languorous, circling, taunting caresses that excited her unbearably but did nothing to bring her release. Whimpering, her head thrashing at the hollow, burning ache that had seized her, she pushed against his hand, wanting, needing to be filled by him. But he refused to assuage her with his fingers, continuing to torment her, bringing her to the edge of climax again and again, only to leave her unsated.
And all the while, he kissed her, his tongue delving deep into her mouth, laving her breasts and
nipples, until she was frantic, sobbing. She tried desperately to unbutton his shirt, to unzip his trousers. But to her distress, Nick caught her wrists with his free hand, determinedly pinioning them above her head, so she was helpless against him.
“Nick…please…” she gasped out.
“Please, what, baby?”
“Make love to me.”
“I am, sweetheart.”
“No, you know what I mean, what I want, what I need—”
“Do I?” He laughed softly again, then kissed her, his warm breath fanning her face, her breasts. He sucked her nipples once more, tongue licking, swirling, as he went on fondling the tender, moist folds of her, the throbbing heart of her. “Do you want me inside you, Caroline? Is that it?” he asked hoarsely.
“Yes…yes!”
“All right.” He unzipped his trousers to free himself then, so hard and hot for her that he didn’t even slip her lacy panties off, just drew their inset to one side and drove into her. She came the minute he entered her, crying out and arching against him wildly, her orgasm so strong that Nick felt it, too, was maddened by it. Urgently, he thrust deeply into her, again and again, rocking her harder and faster until his own climax gripped him.
Afterward, he kissed her lingeringly, then slowly withdrew and zipped up his trousers. His eyes danced with deviltry, and a wicked smile curved his mouth as he stood there gazing down at her sprawled on the conference table. He took in her hair tangled around her face and her lips bruised and swollen from his kisses, her sweater and bra pushed up to reveal her naked breasts, her skirt wrinkled up around her bare thighs. She was gorgeous, Nick thought.
“Mrs. Valkov, I sincerely hope this is not the way you conduct all your meetings,” he drawled lazily.
“Meetings! Oh, my God—” Caroline glanced at her watch frantically, jerking her bra and sweater down as she scrambled from the conference table. “I’m supposed to be in one in fifteen minutes! I can’t believe this happened!” With trembling fingers, she combed her hair frenziedly. “We talked about this, Nick! That we wouldn’t do this—”
Hired Husband Page 13
