He leaned forward again, gesturing with his fork. "If there was another way to do this without getting married, I'd do it."
"Naturally," said Lexi, thanking her lucky stars that there wasn't another way. "You certainly don't think I'm looking forward to a marriage of convenience, do you?"
"Marriage is a lot of things," Kiel said. "Convenient isn't one of them."
A bad marriage, she thought suddenly. So he and his wife weren't the match-made-in-heaven that Joanna had thought them to be. She reached for her cup of coffee and took a sip, trying to look nonchalant. "So when is the wedding?"
"Wedding?" He made it sound like a four-letter word. "There won't be a wedding."
"Wait just a minute," she said, slamming her coffee cup back down on the table. "I thought--"
"If you're looking for hearts and flowers, forget it," he broke in. "We're driving up to Black Wolf Pass tomorrow morning. The circuit judge will take care of everything."
"Great," said Lexi.
"Yeah," said Kiel. "Great."
After supper Kiel poured himself a thermos of coffee then walked back across the moonlit yard to his laboratory. Overhead the northern lights wove their magical spell and, for the first time since he'd arrived in Alaska, he didn't notice.
All he could think of was Alexa Grace Marsden.
"You're a damn fool," he muttered as he locked the lab door behind him then hung his jacket up on the peg. There she was, nothing but trouble in a five feet two inch package of dynamite, and he was about to take her as his wife.
He could have sent her back. The phones were working again. He'd tried them right after he put Kelsey down for the night. Punch in a code, punch in PAX's number, and he could've told Ryder O'Neal to bag the whole damn idea and send him a seventy-five year old housekeeper instead. Let her pose as his grandmother for all he cared, but get Lexi out of his life and fast.
"So why didn't you?" he asked the four walls as he paced the length of his laboratory. Being direct had never been one of his problems. He usually said what he thought, consequences be damned. It was one of the many traits that made him better off alone in a research lab and not saddled with some political patronage gig where charm was more important than brains.
Getting rid of a hot-tempered blonde with an attitude problem should have been as easy as brushing his teeth. And a hell of a lot more enjoyable. God knows, she'd made it clear that the situation was equally untenable from her vantage point. She didn't like the town, the house, the sleeping arrangements, Kelsey's fashion statement, or his table manners. The last thing he'd expected was for her to say she intended to go through with the marriage.
No, he thought ruefully, that wasn't quite right. The last thing he'd expected was the sense of relief that flooded through him when she said she'd go through with the marriage. He wasn't supposed to feel that way. Hell, he wasn't supposed to feel anything at all. Not for her or anybody. Only Kelsey.
"Sex," he said aloud as he powered up the various computers and machines that were part and parcel of his work. "That's what it is." That primal urge to bury yourself in a woman, to spill your seed, to find release in the ancient order of things. It had been a long time and he was only human. Put a slab of meat in front of a hungry bear and you didn't need to be Einstein to figure out what happened next.
He doubted if Alexa Grace would find that analogy flattering, but it got the point across. He was responding to her on a sexual level. His hormones were lining up like a row of penny arcade ducks just waiting to be shot down. He grinned. She probably wouldn't like that analogy either.
She was a woman.
He was a man.
It was only natural that that fact would get his blood racing.
The fact that they didn't much like each other mattered less with every minute that passed. You could want a woman without liking her. And, damn it, he wanted Alexa Grace in every way possible.
Come tomorrow, it was going to be hard as hell to remember that in their case "I do" really meant "I don't."
The drive to Black Wolf Pass took one hour and twenty minutes. Lexi knew that for a fact because Kelsey asked for a time update at least once every ten minutes.
"Gotta teach her to tell time," Kiel muttered as he maneuvered the Jeep through a series of hairpin curves.
Lexi said nothing. She couldn't have said anything if she wanted to. The lump in her throat seemed to grow bigger the closer they got to Black Wolf Pass and Judge Moreland.
They were getting married.
The enormity of it all hit her right between the eyes. Was it any wonder she'd been awake all night, curled up in a corner of the couch, thinking about all that lay ahead?
It didn't matter that it was a marriage of convenience, a business arrangement. The truth was that in a little while they would take their vows and Judge Moreland would pronounce them husband and wife and they'd be married the way her parents had been married and her grandparents and everyone else who'd ever loved enough to pledge their lives to one another.
It was enough to make a woman stop and think.
Of course thinking was the one thing Lexi didn't want to do. Thinking was how she got that lump in her throat in the first place. She was supposed to turn off her brain, smile brightly, and say "I do." All of which had sounded much easier than it was turning out to be.
"Are we almost there yet?" she asked Kiel, unable to suppress the question.
He glanced at her then back at the road. "You too? You sound like Kelse."
"Really," she persisted. "How much longer?"
They crested a hill and he pointed toward a small, low building to the right. "About thirty seconds," he said. "That's the courthouse."
"Oh God...." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to summon up her resolve. This is all your fault, Daddy, she thought. Why couldn't you just leave a normal inheritance like every other father on earth?
And Joanna O'Neal shared some of the blame as well. Joanna knew her situation. She knew Lexi wasn't looking for romance or commitment. All she was looking for was a husband. Wouldn't you think her friend would have found her a man who was a little less...manly than the one she was about to marry? A little less gorgeous would have been nice, a little less arrogant, a little less of just about everything.
There wasn't time to quibble. Kiel pulled up in front of the building, turned off the engine, then met her eyes. "Next stop, matrimony."
"Very funny," she said. "Especially in front of Kelsey."
"Am I getting married too?" Kelsey asked as she and G.I. Joe climbed out of the truck.
"Not for about thirty years," said Kiel, taking her hand in his.
"You don't think much of the institution, do you," Lexi remarked as they walked up the path to the front door.
"I don't think of the institution at all," he said. "Do you?"
Lexi shrugged. "It's never been one of my priorities."
They were ushered inside by a plain-faced woman wearing tan corduroy trousers. "Fred will be with you in a moment." She retrieved some papers from a utilitarian file cabinet in the corner of the front room. "I'll need you both to sign these papers."
Kiel signed quickly. He had a sprawling hand, not at all what she expected from a tidy research type. But then why should that surprise her? Nothing about him was at all what she'd expected. Why should his handwriting be any different.
He handed her the pen. She took a deep breath and signed "Alexa Grace Mars--" She looked up. "Do I sign Marsden or Brown?"
The woman in red flannel smiled at her. "Maiden name now," she said. "Married name after the ceremony."
Lexi nodded, signed, and then handed the document to the woman.
Kelsey tugged at the hem of her coat. She wore a bright blue sweater, a white down jacket, and her hair was caught up into two lopsided ponytails. Lexi itched to take a brush to the little girl's hair but there wasn't time.
"Will you be my mommy now?" Kelsey asked.
Lexi looked at Kiel but he said nothing.
/> "I'm going to take care of you, if that's what you mean."
Kelsey shook her head. "No. Will you be my mommy?"
The lump in Lexi's throat returned. "I--I suppose I will." Why had she never thought of it that way before?
A tall man in an outfit uncannily like his assistant's strode into the room. "Kiel." The man shook Kiel's hand. "Alexa." Her own hand disappeared into the man's clasp. "I'm Fred Moreland." He bent down and extended a hand to Kelsey who stared up at him with curiosity. He straightened up. "If you're ready, we can perform the ceremony in my office."
Kiel and Lexi nodded. Kelsey clasped G.I. Joe close to her chest.
They followed Judge Moreland into his office.
And three minutes later they followed him back out again.
"Good luck to you," said Judge Moreland, shaking their hands once again.
His assistant Marta dabbed at her eyes with a pink handkerchief. "I just love weddings," she said, sniffing loudly.
"I can't believe it," said Lexi as they climbed back into the truck. "It was over so fast."
"What did you expect?" Kiel asked as he started the engine. "A twenty-one gun salute?"
"I don't know what I expected," Lexi said, "but it takes me longer to put on my mascara every morning."
"What's mass-kaa-ruh?" asked Kelsey from the back seat.
"Eye paint," said Kiel, heading back toward Nowhere.
Lexi made a face. She turned around to look at Kelsey. "See my eyelashes?" Kelsey nodded. "Mascara is what makes them dark and curly."
Kelsey looked from Lexi to her G.I. Joe. "Joe wears mass-kaa-ruh, too."
Kiel snorted with laughter. Lexi barely restrained the urge to kick him. Actually it looked like Joe wore lipstick as well but kids these days were having enough trouble with gender identity. Why add any more fuel to the fire?
They rode in silence for a good twenty miles. Kiel cast around for a neutral topic of conversation and rejected each one in turn. There was no point to talking about the wedding. Moreland was a nice enough guy but the whole thing had been a sorry exercise in legalities. He considered a conversation about the weather but it was cold and clear and uneventful. Not the stuff of which witty dialogue was made. They could have talked about Kelsey but not with his inquisitive little daughter in the car. And they couldn't talk about PAX.
Which pretty much left them silent as two statues in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
He cleared his throat about fifteen miles from home. "There's a roadhouse not too far from here," he said. "Thought we might grab some lunch."
"Pizza?" asked Kelsey.
"Maybe," he said, grinning at her in the rear view mirror. "What do you say, Alexa?"
"Whatever you like," she said primly.
"You don't look like the burgers and fries type."
"You're very perceptive."
"If you don't want to stop for lunch, just say so."
"I--" She stopped. He watched as your chin began to quiver, then her lower lip, then her entire face. A second later she was crying into her gloved hands.
"What the hell--?" He pulled over to the side of the road. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing."
"You sick?"
"No."
"Does something hurt?"
"N-nothing hurts."
"Why the hell are you crying?"
She looked at him and wailed even louder. Kelsey leaned forward in her seat, her big blue eyes wide with curiosity. "Maybe she has a tummy ache."
Lexi shook her head. She didn't stop crying.
"Don't cry," said Kelsey, her own lower lip beginning to quiver in an alarming fashion. "We like you."
Speak for yourself, Kelse, he thought. Right now he would have welcomed the appearance of space aliens looking for an able-bodied earthman to take home as a specimen.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong or do you expect me to guess?"
"It’s our wedding day," she said. As if that explained everything.
"And--?"
She glared at him. "If I have to tell you then it doesn't matter."
"Is that supposed to make sense?"
"It would if you weren't such a barbarian."
"You're not getting sentimental on me, are you?" Where in hell did PAX find this one? Agents were supposed to have computer chips instead of hearts. Emotions were unheard of. And this woman was pure emotion.
"Excuse me," she said, sniffling. "This is the first time I've been married. How was I to know how it would feel?"
Good question. "All things considered," he said carefully, "I didn't think it would mean anything."
"Neither did I," she said.
"It shouldn't mean anything."
"I know it shouldn't. But when he said those words I--" He watched, fascinated, as she struggled to regain control of her emotions. "I've probably played into every stereotype of the dumb blonde, haven't I?"
It was an easy opening. There were at least a half dozen one-liners he could have used against her. But he didn't. Something came over him, a desire to make her tears go away, and he offered up an easy smile instead. "Why don't we get some lunch? The roadhouse is usually filled with a few real Alaskan types. You might like it."
She shook her head. "I'd rather go home."
"Come on," he urged. "We might not have another chance."
She shook her head again. "I look dreadful," she said. She met his eyes. "We both know why we got married. Let's not make this situation any more confusing than it already is."
It occurred to him that he could pull her into his arms and kiss away her tears.
It also occurred to him that he could climb to the top of Denali and jump off.
Either way he'd be a dead man.
He headed for home.
Idiot.
Fool.
Dope.
Of all the stupid, ridiculous things to do, bursting into tears had to take the cake. If she had the nerve she'd open the truck door and leap out. She'd rather fend with asphalt burns and grizzly bears than the embarrassment of facing the man who was her husband after he'd seen her at her worst.
She'd never been the type of woman who cried at weddings. She was the only one of her set to sit through Phantom of the Opera, and not shed a single tear. Wouldn't you know she'd turn into a sentimental fool in front of her new husband.
For a second there she'd actually thought he wanted to kiss her. His eyes had dropped to her mouth. An awareness of some primal pull...some indefinable chemistry.
She stifled a groan. Now she was really acting like an idiot. If she really believed he was interested in her sexually she would leap out of the car and take her chances with that grizzly. He would overpower a woman, her husband would. The sheer size of him, the force of his will. He could take what he wanted, consequences be damned, and what woman would be strong enough to stop him? Alone in a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, he could take her any time he wanted and no one would ever know.
They were married. Legally he had the right to take her into his bed, to claim her body.
To make her his wife in more than name only.
She glanced over at him, noting the thrust of his jaw, the sensual curve of his mouth. Those large hands that commanded the wheel. For an instant she had a vivid image of how those hands would feel against her skin, cupping her breasts, sliding lower until she lost her mind.
If she hadn't already lost it.
"What the hell--?" Kiel slammed on the brakes a few hundred feet away from his cabin. There was no point to going any farther. There were enough autos, vans, and trucks parked alongside the road, in the yard, and in his driveway to fill a used car lot.
Lexi stared out the window. "I didn't think there were that many cars in the entire town."
"Neither did I," said Kiel. His anxiety level rose appreciably.
"What do you think's going on?"
"Beats me." He turned off the engine and reached for the door handle. "But I'm going to find out."
"Balloons!" Kelsey shrieked, pointing toward the house. "We're having a party!"
Lexi and Kiel locked glances.
"They wouldn't," she said.
"They would," said Kiel.
And they had.
Chapter 6
"They're here!" Agnes Lopez stood in the doorway and clapped her hands. "The newlyweds are here!"
Kiel didn't know whether to laugh or reach for a loaded weapon. All of PAX's brilliance and he'd forgotten one simple thing: he hadn't locked the front door. Good thing they hadn't been able to get into his lab. One wrong move and Alaska would be blasted back to the Stone Age.
"Smile," he said through gritted teeth as he helped Lexi and Kelsey from the truck.
Lexi rummaged through her purse. "I must have cried off all my eye makeup."
"You look fine."
"I can't look fine. My nose gets red when I cry."
"To hell with your nose," he said. "We have a houseful of strangers looking to toast the newlyweds. Try to act happy."
Kelsey didn't need any coaching. She broke free and bounded for the house. She was a bundle of enthusiasm, ready to embrace life with both hands, eager to discover what lay around the next corner. The way he used to be, back in the days when he believed in happy endings.
Back when he believed love could make things right.
He reached for Lexi's hand. She looked up at him, a curious expression in her china blue eyes. Her hand disappeared in his. A wave of emotion flooded through him, nearly bringing him to his knees. You're beautiful, he thought as they started toward the house. I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you.
He didn't know her. He didn't know anything about her. All he knew was the way she made him feel, vulnerable and a little less alone.
Lexi's heart thundered inside her chest. She'd held hands with a hundred men in her day. Maybe a thousand boys when she was a teenager. But that simple act had never made her feel as if she'd been drinking champagne.
More than anything she wanted to pull her hand away from his, break the unnerving connection between them, but knew she couldn't. This was part of the bargain and she'd sworn to do her best to maintain the illusion of a happy marriage. Six months from now it would all be over and this momentary discomfort would be forgotten. She'd be back in her real life where she belonged, with her inheritance tucked away in the bank doing whatever it was supposed to do to grow bigger and stronger.
The Bride Came C.O.D. (Bachelor Fathers) Page 6
