Overnight Wife

by Mollie Molay

  The question disturbed him. But he owed her the truth. “I’ve never promised anything else. I couldn’t then,” he said regretfully, remembering the danger to her if she knew too much of the truth. “I still can’t.”

  The doorknob rattled once, twice, a third time before she could answer. Instinctively she gasped and stiffened in his arms.

  He put his finger to her lips and shook his head. “If it’s the man I think it is,” he whispered, “I want him to believe we’ve vacated the roomette. For both our sakes. Okay?”

  No matter how he wanted to rid himself of Hoyt once and for all, he had to hide behind the door to the roomette like a coward. For Arden’s sake. He had no weapons to fight back with, only his silence.

  He needed time. He needed time to make Arden believe in him and in herself before they said goodbye. He couldn’t leave her like this, uncertain of herself and her decision to find the independence to be her own woman. Not when an unknown future stretched before her. And not when his ill-advised passion might disillusion her about men and send her back into the safety of her fiancé’s arms.

  The doorknob rattled again. Arden returned his warning gaze. He set her aside, ready in case the would-be intruder made his way inside the roomette. Although the door held, he knew from experience there were ways to open it if someone had a passkey— or worse.

  “So, what do you say, Arden?” he asked in as casual a voice as he could muster when the footsteps outside the door finally faded away. He had to end this now, send her on her way. If anyone’s heart was going to be broken, it was going to have to be his. “Now that you know I never meant to hurt you, can we at least part as friends?”

  He wanted to be more than friends, but he couldn’t tell her so. Not after she’d told him she was falling in love with him. Friends were safer than lovers.

  “Is that what this has been about—friendship?”

  “Partly,” he answered softly, brushing her cheek with fingers that ached to do more. “I’ve shown you the rest.”

  Arden regarded him steadily. How could she have thrown aside all she’d ever known, all she’d ever been taught, to take up with a man whose values were so different from hers? How could she be friends with this man to whom she’d so foolishly given herself? Given herself for the first time, and only because it had been him?

  In the course of the hours since they’d met, had she been guilty of creating a fantasy man, who actually had feet of clay and lies in his heart?

  Hadn’t he known how meaningful their coming together would be for her? How could she be friends when her heart said yes and her head said no? She’d always believed the mind controls the body, but she was wrong. It was the heart. She still wanted him.

  “Arden?”

  She looked up into his questioning eyes, still trying to search for answers.

  “I asked if we could at least be friends?”

  Arden shook her head. “No,” she answered slowly. “Not just friends. Not after this. And not until I have a chance to think, to find out who I really am. If the independence I thought I wanted was real.”

  Luke’s blood turned cold. What had he done to this special woman to rob her of the confidence that had brought her so trustfully into his arms? “Find yourself?”

  “Yes,” she answered sadly as she drew away from him. “I don’t know who I am anymore. A woman or a spoiled and willful girl just like Aunt Jane said I am. I don’t even know if I can trust my own judgment anymore,” she added. “The first thing I was taught as a child was to know right from wrong. Now I don’t even know if I’m able to do that anymore.”

  “Arden, please, don’t put yourself through this!” Luke pleaded, as he saw the grief in her exquisite eyes. “You’re more of a real human being than most I’ve met. If anyone is to blame for what happened tonight, it’s me. I’ve been around the block, I should have known better. You’re everything that’s right in this crazy world of ours!” He tried to hold her, but she shook her head and pulled away.

  “If I could only believe that, but I don’t think I can,” she said, turning back to the cot. “I have to find my clothes, dress and leave.”

  “Leave? For where?”

  “Someplace alone where I can think. At least until I can trust myself and my judgment,” she answered with a catch in her voice.

  “Does that mean you intend to go back and marry this fiancé” of yours?”

  “No. John’s not my fiancé anymore. Anyway, after yesterday, he won’t want me. He deserves someone better.”

  Luke became angry, angry at himself for what he’d done to Arden to destroy her faith in herself.

  “There isn’t anyone better than you! A guy would have to be crazy not to realize it!” He took her in his arms, crushed her to him. He couldn’t let her go like this. He had to restore her confidence in herself. Show her what a wonderful and worthy woman she was. Show her how much he cared for her, that their sensual encounter meant more to him than a one-night stand. He had to do this, no matter what, no matter how long it might take. His own plans would have to take second place for now.

  It had taken him a lifetime to find someone like Arden, who restored his own faith in the world around him. And in himself.

  Was what he’d been planning worth losing Arden?

  “You’re not going back!” he said vigorously. “At least, not back to your father’s house. No,” he added firmly as she started to protest, “we’re not going anywhere until we come to an understanding. I care for you too much to let you go doubting yourself. If we can’t settle this now, we’ll go on to Cancún and talk this out. But you’re not going home.”

  She met his eyes, tears still shadowing her clear blue eyes. “I thought you only wanted to be friends?”

  “Come here and I’ll show you how I feel about you,” Luke answered, drawing her back into his arms. He had to take the hurt from her eyes. The idea of remaining only friends with her evaporated in a moment of truth. He loved this woman.

  “Sweetheart, sometimes words aren’t enough,” he told her. “Sometimes words can’t say it all. Come back here and let me show you how much you’ve come to mean to me.”

  “In spite of everything you said about the dangers facing you that keep us apart?”

  “In spite of everything,” he agreed as he drew the negligee out of her cold hands. “The first time we met, I offered to warm you with my coat, remember? I didn’t know it then, but it turned out to be the best idea I’d ever come up with.

  “And this time,” he added softly into her luminescent eyes, “I intend to warm you in another way.”

  He lowered Arden to the cot, dropped the towel from around his hips and joined her.

  “The first time was for you. This time it will be for both of us. No,” he said moving away the hands she held against her chest to cover herself. “I want to see every adorable inch of you, to love every inch of you.”

  Under his impassioned gaze, Arden shut out her doubts and put her arms around him. Everything about her life had been planned for her until now. This man was her choice. A heated sensation spread through her as she realized this time his loving was going to be a new experience from the one last night. The first time, he’d taken care to arouse her, to make her want him, to make her welcome him. He’d taken her with a tenderness she would remember forever. But even as he’d given her pleasure, she’d somehow sensed he’d been holding something back, fearful of offending or frightening her. Now she would know the full meaning of making love.

  He loved her first with his lips, nibbling gently on hers until she opened to him. With soft whispers of reassurance, he slid his lips over her neck, her shoulders, breasts and down to her hips, lingering only long enough until she stirred with passion. When he moved back to her lips, she returned his kiss with all the desire that welled up in her. Her body burned with wanting; the need for him, built up inside of her and threatened to burst.

  He loved her with his hands, tenderly brushing the sensitive skin between h
er breasts, the tips of her breasts, the curve of her waist and inner thighs. With soft whispers of pleasure, he placed kisses where his hands had traveled, until she was on fire.

  Instinctively she reached for him to end the wanting, only to hear him whisper, “Soon.”

  He loved her with his glistening body, covering her until she felt mindless with the need to become part of him.

  When he finally joined their bodies, Arden’s faith in herself was reborn. This was the man she’d chosen for her lover, this was the man she would remember forever…even if this was to be the last night they spent together. The questions about the briefcase and his past vanished in a haze of pleasure.

  She returned his passion and his ardor with every ounce of love in her, until the stars that seemed to have gathered behind her eyes broke in a brilliant shower to cover them with their light.

  Luke loved her. In her world, he couldn’t possibly make such wondrous love to her without meaning every fiery touch, every lingering kiss.

  “When did you fall in love with me?” she asked, when Luke finally fell to his side, pulled her to his chest and looked down at her with that quirky smile that had attracted her from the first moment their eyes had met.

  He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Just like a woman, wanting to talk at a time like this,” he answered with a light laugh.

  “I need to know.”

  Unaccustomed to speaking openly of love, Luke found it hard to voice his thoughts. But he could see she needed reassurance. “Actually, that’s an easy question to answer,” he said solemnly when she prodded his shoulder. “It was twice. The first time was when you stood up to a security guard two times your size, defending me as if I actually was your husband. Then, I was sure of it when I saw how happy you were when I gave you that funny little music box.”

  He untangled himself long enough to reach for the music box and to set the sleigh in motion. Smiling, he returned Santa’s wave as the little figure passed.

  “So, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” he joked as he took her comfortably back into his arms. He felt a little foolish, but all things considered, he’d done more than a few foolish things tonight. “When did you fall in love with me?”

  “Only once, but it seems as if I’ve loved you forever,” Arden answered. She cradled his head and drew him down for a lingering kiss. “When you held little Noel in your hands and smiled down at him so tenderly before you handed him to his mother.”

  Luke rewarded her with another kiss. In moments, they returned to a special world of their own, while the little red music box went round and round on its red lacquer surface until it wound down.

  “So, tell me,” Luke asked later. “Now do you believe I care for you? That I never intended to hurt you?” he teased tenderly, running a questing forefinger across her lips.

  “Yes, I do,” she whispered into his sable eyes, warmed with love, compassion and understanding. He couldn’t have made such tender, passionate love to her if he hadn’t really cared for her. This was the man she’d dreamed about long before she’d met and fallen in love with him. He was a flesh-and-blood man, not just a fantasy. She ran a searching finger across the scar under his lower lip, evidence that at least part of his dark background was true.

  She caught his hand in hers, kissed the palm and held it to her lips as if she never wanted to let it go. “But what about tomorrow?” she whispered as if to herself.

  Tomorrow?

  Luke heard the soft question with a heavy heart. He’d never promised Arden a tomorrow. He couldn’t, not yet. Not when he wasn’t sure there was going to be a tomorrow for the two of them together. And not when he was so close to finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

  He glanced back at the chair where he’d left his clothes. The briefcase and its contents were still a temptation. A chance to shed his shaded past and live as he’d never lived before. Until this moment he’d felt he had to take that chance.

  Until he made up his mind to deliver the contents of the briefcase and to return to New York without it, he had to separate Arden from the danger that followed him. A danger that would surely find her if they remained together.

  He rested his chin on Arden’s gleaming golden curls. The scent of lily of the valley clung to her, along with bittersweet memories of the moments when he’d given her her heart’s desire. And filled his own empty heart.

  She was a woman who’d found the strength to live her dreams and to find her independence.

  He was a man who’d finally found a woman he could love. And love her he did. Too much, and more than she realized.

  With a heavy heart, he knew that he loved her enough to have to walk away.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I’m afraid we’ll have to get a move on if we’re going to catch our flight,” Luke said reluctantly as he glanced at the large black-and-white clock on the wall. “It’s after eight o’clock.”

  “I wish… I wish last night could go on forever.” She tried to smile, but he saw the regret in her eyes.

  “Me, too,” he said as he lingered for a last kiss. “But that’s not the way things work. Life has a terrible way of grinding our noses in reality.”

  “I prefer dreams.”

  With a little laugh, he kissed her once, twice, lingering there beside her. He preferred dreams, too, but he knew better than to give in to them. He’d made a promise to himself not to expose her to danger, himself included.

  The precious hours of exploring every inch of Arden suddenly didn’t seem enough. It was difficult for him to hide his reaction to the creamy white shoulders, soft breasts and hips—hidden but still revealed under the white cotton sheet. A reaction that made him want to gather her in his arms and turn off the world outside the door.

  He untangled himself from Arden’s arms and lowered his feet to the cold marble floor. “Jeez,” he muttered, standing on one foot, “the floor feels like ice.”

  “Here,” Arden said, “take the blanket and put it on the floor. Cancún is bound to be warmer, thank goodness.” She wrapped the bedsheet around herself and scrambled after him.

  He kept his silence while he turned away to dress. To avoid anyone noticing he’d had his clothes off, he took care to look exactly as he had before, even to the way he knotted his tie.

  The time was fast approaching when he would have to say goodbye. Looking back at Arden, he decided there would be time enough for goodbyes after they’d reached Cancún. First, he had to reassure himself she was safely registered at the Majestic Hotel and he could leave her with a clear conscience.

  Or could he?

  “Luke?”

  The question in Arden’s voice turned him around just as he was getting ready to snap the damn handcuff around his wrist.

  She was poised by the door with her flight bag in her hand. The rumpled I Love NY sweatshirt covered her wedding dress almost to the knee. The long sleeves hung over her hands. He could see the bubble-gummachine wedding ring on her finger. Traces of mud spattered the white satin shoes which had dried out of shape. Her blond curls were drawn into a ponytail. Even tied back from her face, a few tendrils framed her eyes. She looked as bedraggled as ever.

  Still, she managed to look great.

  Luke smothered a strangled laugh at the picture she made—a combination of the sugar and spice little girls were made of and a large dose of sensuality. She was all woman and the one with whom he’d shared a few surprisingly passionate early-morning hours.

  He didn’t dare ask if she was wearing the skimpy bikini.

  “You haven’t answered me. What do you intend to do when we reach Cancún?”

  If she’d asked, he hadn’t heard her. He’d been too busy admiring the woman she’d become. And reminding himself of all the reasons he had to let her go.

  “’I’m not sure,” he said evasively, willing himself to return her questioning look without giving away his inner turmoil. He could see from the smiling expression on her face that, after
the passion that had passed between them, she believed he would remain in Cancún with her.

  He couldn’t. For her sake, he had to let her go.

  In a crowded resort like Cancún where everyone was a stranger, there were half a dozen ways he could disappear. At one time or another, he’d tried all of them. The disappearance of one tourist wouldn’t be noticed.

  Her smile slowly faded as he steadfastly returned her gaze. Comprehension slowly dawned on her face. His conscience took a dive as she realized, or at least suspected, he intended to leave her once they’d reached their destination.

  “You’re not going to stay at CancÚn, are you?” she asked quietly. “You’re going to leave.”

  “I have to, I may not have a choice.” He cursed himself for what he was doing to her. He’d hoped to delay the question and the answer until she was safely in Cancún.

  Arden’s face whitened. She glanced at the rumpled cot where he’d made love to her in what seemed a few heartbeats ago. “Back to New York?”

  He shrugged, settled the handcuff around his wrist and snapped it shut with a sharp click. “’Maybe. I’m not sure.”

  She studied him for a minute or two before her gaze focused on the briefcase that dangled from his wrist. “It’s because what’s in there is more important to you than I am, isn’t it?”

  Luke glanced sharply at her. How could she have guessed the contents were so vital to him personally? No good could come of her knowing the truth. Especially if she was ultimately questioned about what she knew of him and the contents of the briefcase. He had to skirt the truth, even as he’d told himself there would be no more lies between them.

  “Now look, Arden,” he said, “I told you before that the less you knew about me the better. I meant it then and I mean it now. And the less you know about the briefcase the better off both of us will be.”

  “What’s in it?” she persisted, never taking her gaze off the briefcase. “You’ve never answered me when I asked you before. After last night and this morning, you owe me.”