by Cat Schield
JT looked no less displeased. “My father has done several favors for Casey. He has no interest in selling his stock to me, nor would he throw his votes in my direction.”
Violet opened her mouth to argue, but decided from JT’s set expression that she’d be wasting her breath. Instead, she set Casey’s folder aside and opened the next one. She sifted through several documents before arriving at the one she wanted. “Your great aunt Harriet has recently come under the influence of a rather clever con man who has convinced her to fund his charity in New Orleans.” Seeing the flicker of interest in JT’s gaze, she sidled closer. “I can be a big help. No one knew the way Tiberius’s mind worked better than me. Did you know that over the past thirty years Tiberius had collected a storage unit full of Las Vegas history? Some of it was significant. Most of it was trivial nonsense. He left the entire collection to Scarlett for her Mob Experience exhibit.”
“I’m sure that’s fascinating, but you’ve done enough.” He pushed away from the pool table and nodded toward the open door. “Have Pauline fix you some breakfast. I’ll take you back to Fontaine Chic when you’re finished.”
She repressed a protest. Assuming he’d accept her as his business partner just because she’d come up with the idea of getting married was shortsighted. A man as closed off as JT wasn’t going to jump at the chance to work with her. If she didn’t accept that, frustration was going to make her crazy.
“Before we head back to town, there are a few things we should talk about.”
“Such as?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“How would you like me to explain this?” She held up her left hand and indicated the ring with her right pointer finger.
For a moment he didn’t speak, just stared at the ring. “However you’d like.”
Violet gnashed her teeth and tried a different approach. “What are you planning to say about our impulsive wedding last night?”
“If it comes up, I will say we’ve been involved for almost a year, but we’ve been keeping it quiet.”
“And that’s it?”
“I do not expect anyone will press me for details.”
“Truly?” How could he not comprehend people’s curiosity? “You don’t think someone will ask where we met? How long we’ve been seeing each other?”
“They won’t.”
“Isn’t there anyone in your life you share things with?”
His isolation continued to baffle her. Did he choose to keep everyone out of his life or was he such a pain in the ass that no one was interested?
“My staff knows better than to show an interest in my personal life and those I see socially aren’t interested in my business dealings. Since our arrangement falls in neither of those categories, I won’t have to explain our marriage to anyone.”
“That’s great for you,” she retorted sarcastically. “But I have two sisters and a mother, who when they hear I got married, are going to expect me to share every juicy detail of what we’re doing and why.”
At last he gave her his full attention. “There are no juicy details.”
She shoved her hands into the back pocket of her jeans to keep from acting on the desire to jolt him out of his stoic calm. “Can I tell them what we’re really doing?”
“Do you trust them to keep the truth to themselves?”
Given his tendency to play his cards close to the vest, the question shouldn’t have shocked her as much as it did. “I trust them completely.”
She bared her teeth in a spiteful grin. “But if you don’t think I should, I could tell them that you’ve pined over me for years, but were too afraid that Tiberius would ruin you if you made your feelings known.”
Irritation tightened his mouth into a thin line. “They won’t believe something so ridiculous.”
“Scarlett will.” Violet gave free rein to the demon riding her shoulder. Being reasonable hadn’t worked, and she badly wanted a peek at the hand he held. Time to play dirty. Maybe if she antagonized him, he’d let something slip. “She already has it in her head that you show up in Baccarat every night because you want me.”
If he denied it, she wouldn’t be surprised.
“And she bases that on what exactly?” His even tone gave nothing away.
Violet found herself in deeper water than she expected. Nothing for her to do but swim hard for shore and hope she wasn’t eaten by sharks. “The way you look at me.”
“And how exactly do I look at you?”
Violet frowned, trying to remember exactly how her sister had phrased it. “She said you look hungry.”
JT might be a master at hiding his thoughts, but Violet swore she saw a slight widening of his eyes. To her delight, she’d scored if not a direct hit, then one fairly close to the mark. Fascinating. She was pondering the possibility that he wasn’t as disinterested in her as he’d claimed when he spoke up.
“Your sister has a flare for the drama,” he said. “She’s fallen in love and sees nothing but potential love matches all around her.”
“You’re probably right.”
But he hadn’t actually come out and denied it. Violet decided she’d pushed enough for one day. Much more and she’d run the risk that he’d become even more enigmatic. By allowing herself this tiny win, she now had something she could build on. It was like gaining the trust of a wild creature. Better to use short positive sessions to get them to drop their guard than to try and rush things and make it more skittish.
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
“An hour ago.”
She masked her disappointment. “I’ll eat something quick and be ready to go back to town in half an hour if that works for you.”
“I think I’m in a place where I can take a break and I could use another cup of coffee.” He scooped an empty mug off the edge of the pool table and followed her out of his playroom.
Violet’s pulse kicked into high gear. Maybe she’d learned the secret to dealing with JT: she’d pretend she didn’t care if he spent time with her or included her in his plans to take over his family business and wait for him to come to her. It wasn’t the way she was accustomed to dealing with the men she got involved with. Most of the time they liked her to take the lead.
That would never be the case with JT.
“You were right about the view,” she remarked a half hour later. She and JT were sitting in the breakfast nook just off the kitchen. The wall-to-wall windows offered a panoramic view of the desert and the mountains to the north that speared an impossibly blue sky. “Do you miss the ocean? Growing up in Miami, I would think the desert would be hard to get used to.”
“At first I was worried that I’d hate the dust and the heat, but the mountains make it all worthwhile. And if I need to get on the water, I have a boat on Lake Mead.”
Something about the view or sharing a meal—he’d sampled her eggs and stolen half the fruit off her plate—had worked some sort of magic on him. For the last half hour he’d been almost...charming. And Violet was loath to break the spell. So she sipped tea and nibbled on toast, delaying the end of the meal so she could prolong her time with this more accessible version of her new husband.
“Sounds like the best of both worlds.” She popped a grape into her mouth. “I am curious though, why are you living on a horse ranch out here instead of closer to Titanium?”
“My grandmother grew up on a horse farm in Kentucky.” He took Violet’s left hand and regarded the ring he’d put on her hand to seal his wedding vows. “Even after she married my grandfather and moved to Miami, she kept several show jumpers. Starting when I was five, my mother used to take me to watch her. I’d sit in the stands and marvel at how she and her horse flew over six-foot-high jumps.”
As he spoke, his gaze grew less focused. He’d stopped seeing his grandmother’s ring and was revisiting a
happy moment from his past. The muscles of his face relaxed into a fond half smile. Violet watched him with dawning wonder. This wasn’t the first time he’d opened up to her—after all, he’d shared his decision to quit his family’s company. But it was the first time he’d shared a happy memory from his childhood.
Based on their interaction to this point, she’d labeled him as guarded and brooding. She’d assumed his unhappy childhood had left him emotionally shut down and incapable of letting joy in. But maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t feel but that he felt too much? If he was a powder keg ready to explode, what happened when someone lit a match?
“She insisted I learn to ride,” JT continued, oblivious to the thoughts churning inside Violet’s head. “During the summer, she would take me to her family’s horse farm in Kentucky and we would spend hours riding. When I was good enough to compete, she took me to horse shows. It all stopped when she died.”
JT had lost his grandmother when he was ten. Hearing him speak so warmly of her, Violet suspected he’d been devastated to lose the one person who’d showered him with love and attention. She remembered what a tough time Tiberius had gone through when his mother had died. He’d taken Lucille and Violet to the funeral and she remembered how unwelcome they’d been.
“I never had any grandparents around when I was a kid,” she told him. “My mom left Cincinnati when she was seventeen and never looked back.” She smiled wryly. “And you know the situation on my father’s side.”
“I’ve never met any of my father’s relatives. His parents died when he was very young.”
“I remember Tiberius saying something about that. I guess I didn’t realize Preston didn’t keep in touch with his family. Wasn’t he from California? Have you ever thought about looking some of them up?”
The shutters were back over JT’s eyes. As soon as he’d mentioned his father, his expression became as remote as the mountaintops that made his view so extraordinary.
“No.”
His abrupt answer discouraged further conversation on that topic. Violet sighed as she realized JT was done sharing.
“If you don’t mind,” she began, setting her napkin on the table beside her plate. “I think it’s time I headed back to Fontaine Chic.”
“I’ll get my keys.”
* * *
While JT waited in the foyer for Violet to collect her overnight bag, he replayed their conversation in his mind and revisited every expression on her lovely face. He’d enjoyed sharing breakfast with her. So much so that instead of giving her a brief, dry explanation of why he’d chosen ranch life over a house in the city, he’d gone all sentimental on her and let her see how his grandmother had influenced him.
Nor did it surprise him how tempted he was to trust her. Her earnest curiosity and upbeat outlook weren’t a clever cover for ulterior motives. She honestly wanted to help. Her impulsive suggestion that they get married so he could get control of Tiberius’s Stone Properties stock had demonstrated she was far too quick to believe in people.
Take him for example. She expected him to stick to their understanding that this wasn’t a real marriage. Which meant hands off. And the best—no, only—way he could think of to honor their agreement was to stay as far away from her as possible.
“Ready when you are,” she said, as descended the stairs. She was a feminine marvel in a pastel floral dress with thin straps that bared her delicate shoulders and a full skirt that flirted with her knees. Pink sandals with three-inch heels drew attention to her spectacular calves and her hair was swept up into a loose top-knot. She made his mouth water.
With a slight bounce, she stepped from the stairs onto the foyer’s marble floor and crossed to where he stood by the front door, tongue-tied, his hormones in an uproar. As she neared, he snagged her luggage and opened the door.
“I don’t think we should live together,” he stated, his voice short and clipped.
“How are people going to believe we are married if we don’t?”
“We both work a lot. No one will notice.”
Her lips thinned. “That’s not going to work.”
“We’ll talk about it when I return to town.”
She eyed the second overnight bag he held. “Where are you going?”
“As soon as I drop you off, I’m heading to North Carolina.” The sooner he secured the necessary shares of Stone Properties, the sooner he could replace his father as CEO. And the sooner he could be free of this marriage-in-name-only before he did something to change their relationship forever.
“Who’s there?”
“My cousin Brent. His dad’s Alzheimer’s has made it necessary for him to take charge of the finances in the last few months. He has several thousand shares. It’s not all that I need, but every bit helps.”
“I don’t recall seeing him in Tiberius’s files.”
JT held the passenger door open and gritted his teeth against the sweet seduction of her perfume as she brushed past him and slid into the car. Damn, but she was a tempting armful. Resisting the impulse to reprise last night’s kiss actually caused a dull ache in his gut. When he’d agreed to marry her, he’d underestimated just how challenging it would be to keep his hands to himself.
“He’s not.” After depositing their bags in the trunk, JT got behind the wheel and started the BMW. “I don’t know why Tiberius didn’t include him.”
The car picked up speed as he drove down his long driveway toward the highway and JT noticed that the airflow in the open convertible whipped Violet’s skirt into a frenzy of dancing flowers and bared a whole lot of lean, toned thigh. He daydreamed about sliding his hands along the soft, smooth length of her leg and finding her hot and wet and eager for him. It wasn’t until a truck flashed past on a perpendicular course that he realized they’d reached the end of his driveway. JT slammed on his brakes and the BMW skidded to a halt.
“Are you okay?” he asked, glancing her way.
She regarded him curiously. “I’m fine. Are you?”
Not even close. “I think we’ll be more comfortable with the top up.” He hit the button that raised the convertible top and while it was closing, stared at his grandfather’s ring on his left hand.
Yeah, staying as far from her as possible for the next couple months was the only way he was going to survive this marriage with his heart intact.
On the thirty-minute ride to Las Vegas, he kept his eyes to himself and his thoughts on the trip ahead. Violet seemed to understand his need to plan because she kept her gaze on the passing landscape, only occasionally glancing down at her ever-vibrating smartphone.
Finally, JT had to ask, “Is it always this way for you?”
“I’m sorry?” She blinked as if she had a hard time refocusing her attention on him.
“Your phone. It’s been going off non-stop since we got in the car.”
A wry smile curved her lips. “It’s my sisters. I’m not usually off the grid for twelve hours.”
Envy stabbed at JT. What would it be like to have someone fret about your wellbeing? Nice? Smothering? “They must be worried about you. Why don’t you answer them?”
“I sent them a text last night. They know I’m safe.” Her smile developed sharp edges. “I told them I was with you.”
JT ignored the way his pulse leapt at the challenge in her manner. She would take any opening he gave her to provoke him; what she didn’t realize was that once unleashed, his emotions would overwhelm them both.
“Did you explain that we got married?”
“I didn’t want to do that in a text.”
“Then what do they think you are doing with me?” His body tensed, but the sensation was pleasurable rather than distressing.
“Probably what most of the women do when they spend the night at your house.”
Damn her sass. “Why would you w
ant your sisters to think we slept together?”
She didn’t answer him immediately, and when she did speak, all amusement had fled her voice. “I suppose that’s something else we should discuss.”
“Aren’t we already discussing it?” Her change of topic made him feel as if he was spinning in place.
“Do you intend to bring women home while we’re married?”
Her question sparked a ridiculous urge to snatch her into his arms and kiss her silly. He wasn’t allowed to make love to her, but she didn’t want him having sex with anyone else? “I hadn’t really thought about it.”
“I know our marriage isn’t real, but I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from dating other women until we can get divorced.”
“I think I can last a couple months.”
“What if you can’t get the shares or the votes you need in time for the annual stockholders’ meeting?”
“What are you asking?”
“Our goal was to make you CEO,” she said, her manner matter-of-fact. “If that doesn’t happen in the next few months it’s because we didn’t have enough time. You aren’t horrible to be married to. I could see sticking it out for another year.”
A year of being married to Violet with the temptation of making love to her eating him alive? JT recoiled from the thought. “We’ll get divorced in the fall regardless.”
Her expression was inscrutable as she nodded. “Then we’ll get divorced.”
Conversation dried up after their exchange. Fortunately they’d reached the city limits and traffic wasn’t as backed up as usual, so their journey to her hotel was accomplished quickly. He swung the BMW into Fontaine Chic’s circular driveway and stopped the car by the lobby doors. Before he could shut off the car, Violet put a hand on his arm.
“If you just open the trunk, I’ll grab my bag.”
In that instant, JT realized the last thing he wanted to do was fly off and leave his brand-new wife to her own devices. What an idiotic notion. They weren’t really married. It wasn’t as if they’d shared a grand night of passion he couldn’t wait to duplicate. But she was already far more important to him than a casual acquaintance, which—their connection to Tiberius aside—was all they were.
