The Billionaire's Runaway Fiancé (Invested in Love)

by Jenna Bayley-Burke

  He needed a plan for how he would handle the fallout. Kendra would come up with a scheme of some kind, but more than likely, it would shine a bad light on Robyn. And as angry as he was with her, he didn’t want her to be humiliated.

  It was enough that he was. All those eyes turning on him as Robyn lifted her skirts and ran back down the stairs of the church. He’d chased her, almost caught her until her father pulled up and whisked her away.

  Hell, he’d even picked up the shoes she’d ditched to make her escape.

  He leaned against the pillar at the side of the stairs, held up the shiny silver heels, and shook his head. She’d had her chance to play Cinderella, to be her own fairy godmother. A happily ever after wasn’t waiting around the corner—lawsuits and damage control were. Prince Charming might have chased the girl all over the kingdom, but Robyn hadn’t been standing next to a prince.

  Which was probably why she’d run. He wanted to find her, make sure she was all right, coax her into continuing the scheme. Instead, he decided to face that this was something that could never work. Curtis shook his head and started for his car. Robyn would be fine. She could start over someplace else with complete anonymity.

  He kept walking, knowing that finding Robyn Tindall was the absolute last thing he needed to do.

  …

  Robyn lay down on the small bed, her dress wilting around her. Really, she should have worn something underneath, or packed an appropriate suitcase rather than being stuck with the one her friends thought she might need, friends who expected her to have a real honeymoon and a real wedding. But she hadn’t planned on trying to escape reporters before she got out of the dress and into something with proper undergarments.

  Why did they choose a dress that laced up the back?

  Right up until that photographer started talking, and then Curtis remained forever frozen, the entire day had been a little girl’s dream. And what did dreams get you?

  Nightmares.

  Curtis would fire her. Her sisters would laugh behind her back for the rest of her life. Curtis’s PR guru would persecute her in the press. She might be completely unemployable. And there was a clause in the contract that allowed Curtis to sue her for such behavior. Not that he could get blood from a turnip, but the threat of permanent poverty should have kept her from running away. And yet, her heart had taken over.

  Stupid fairy-tale fantasies. She reached up, trying to free the veil and tiara from her head. Pins held her hair in an upswept cascade of curls, a style that had taken two hours to put in and promised to take twice as long to find all the pins holding everything in place.

  If her hair wouldn’t budge, she’d settle for losing the hoop skirts holding the layers of silk miles from her body. She stood and lifted the layers until she found what she hoped was the tie to the skirts. She’d put them on before the dress, then dove into the creation with the help of three people.

  The skirts dropped in a whoosh, the air hitting her legs.

  “Damn.”

  Robyn tried to ignore the thumping of her heart as she hurriedly dropped her skirts and faced the man behind the voice she’d never forget.

  “What are you doing here?” she squeaked.

  The cool blue gaze cut at her beneath heavy-lidded eyes. “It’s my boat.”

  “Right.” She smoothed her hands down the skirt of the dress, the beading tickling her palms. “Right. I didn’t think you’d come here today.”

  “I did have other plans, but they ended up here, too.”

  “I know you’re upset—”

  “Upset would have been Curtis, I can’t go through with this in private.”

  “I’m sorry.” Her chin trembled, and she clenched her jaw to rein in her emotions. She didn’t get to be the one who cried right now. Not after the spectacle she’d made in public.

  “I know you are.” He set the suitcase he carried on the floor of the small cabin of the cruiser. “How are you?”

  “I’ve been better.” Robyn kicked at the hoop skirts pooling at her bare feet.

  She raised her face to meet his ice-blue gaze, no emotion showing through his polished facade. At once, she knew she’d love him forever, and running out was the smartest decision she’d ever make. She’d lost herself in him for a few months, let herself get wrapped up in the promise of perfect until she could barely see her way out.

  She’d hoped indulging his fake-relationship scheme would help him see his way into the real thing, but he had no intention of ever opening himself up that way. She knew she felt things too intensely at times, but it was far better than feeling nothing at all.

  “What are you doing here?” The husky purr to his voice tickled her ear, making her shiver.

  “I thought I would hide.”

  “On my boat?” Laughter tinged his voice.

  “No, on the island.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, trying not to think he looked even better now, out of the suit and in jeans and an oxford shirt the same color as his eyes. She’d never seen him this dressed down before.

  “And how were you going to get there?”

  “I was going to take the boat.”

  Curtis laughed, leaning his shoulder against the doorjamb. “You can barely see without your glasses and you’ve never driven a boat, let alone one this size. That’s why we had to have someone ferry you to the house last week to tour the property with the inspector.”

  She squared her shoulders. “It can’t be that hard. There has to be a manual somewhere.”

  Laughter erupted from him, and he slumped down into the chair bolted by the door.

  “What?”

  “Frye’s Runaway Bride Stranded in Lake Shastina. Story at eleven.”

  “Oh, stuff it. I’d have figured it out well enough.”

  “So what were you waiting for? Why haven’t you made this great escape?”

  She shifted, trying not to let his stare bother her. “I need to change my clothes.”

  “So, change.”

  “I can’t get out of the dress by myself.”

  “You should have thought about that before you had your dad drop you off here.”

  “I did. He should be back with my suitcase any minute now.”

  “And what is that?” He nodded toward the pink case sitting on the table beside the bed.

  The blush heated her from the roots of her hair all the way down to her toes. That was the largest collection of lingerie she’d ever seen. And there was no way she could ask her father to help untie her dress only to put on clothes she had no business wearing in the first place.

  “Wedding presents.”

  “You don’t get to keep the presents if you don’t actually have a wedding, and we were never going to.”

  Yes, she’d read that loud and clear at the church. “Not from the wedding, from the bridal shower. A magazine wanted to photograph mine, so we held it yesterday.”

  “Well, you certainly look the part of the bride, so I suppose you do get to keep them. But we have a problem bigger than wedding etiquette.”

  “Which one?”

  “Right now there is the issue of you on my boat planning on going to my island, and I suppose to stay at my house, though you have no desire to be with me.”

  “That’s not it.”

  “Then what is it, Robyn? What was so important you had to put on a performance like that? Are you trying to renegotiate for a better contract?”

  “No!” Her hands balled into fists, her fingernails biting at her palms.

  He blew out a breath. “Did someone put you up to this?”

  “No!”

  He looked her straight in the eye. “Then what?”

  “I can’t pretend a kiss.” Her throat hardened as if her heart had lodged there.

  He rolled his eyes. “Another half hour, so you could have told me without witnesses, would have killed you?”

  “I’m not you. You think things out twice beforehand. I actually have emotions, react to situations. You go throug
h life like a robot.” Her voice took on a thick, strained quality.

  “Of all the people to be juvenile and petty—”

  “Me?” Her eyes widened, and she blinked furiously to hold back the tears. “How mature is it to dream up a fake relationship to get out of the limelight? Glass houses, Curtis.”

  “Glass slippers, Robyn.” She hadn’t noticed her shoes in his hand until he held them up and pitched them at the opposite wall. “What kind of game are you playing?”

  She closed her eyes, lowering her head in defeat. “I didn’t take them off for you to come find me.”

  “And yet I did find you, here on my boat.”

  She stood, lifting the skirts of her dress so she could walk. “I took them off because I couldn’t run in heels that high. No other blooming reason.” She stepped toward the door of the cabin, tripped on the hoopskirts at her feet, and fell directly into Curtis’s arms. He righted her, shifting from the doorway so she could leave.

  “I’m not your Prince Charming,” he whispered in her ear. “And I never promised to be.”

  “Don’t I know it,” she mumbled, trudging up the stairs. On deck, her heart thudded even harder than it had when Curtis had stepped into the cabin. The entire marina was abuzz with voices, so many voices. That meant people, and she couldn’t go out there, face them in bare feet and limp wedding dress while she waited like a teenager for her father to pick her up.

  As if none of them had ever seen a woman in a wedding gown on the deck of a yacht before, the crowd started humming in anticipation. A half dozen or so grabbed their cameras and made their way toward the boat.

  “Holy schnikey,” she whispered, her eyes heavy with tears. Panic flooded her mind, froze her feet to the spot. She could not push her way through them. They’d eat her alive.

  “Deep breath, then smile.”

  Curtis’s whisper behind her became the only sound she could make out above the pounding of her heartbeat, the rushing of adrenaline-soaked blood in her ears. “It’s all going to be fine.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and turned her to him, away from the onslaught rushing toward the boat. “Just relax.”

  “I can’t.” She hated to whine, but her jaw felt so tense she could barely open her mouth. “I can’t go out there, and you want—”

  He silenced her mouth and her mind with one brush of his lips against hers. Her senses came alive—the soft, firm feel of his lips against hers, the fresh peppermint taste of his mouth as her lips parted for him, the warm smell of his skin. In her mind’s eye, she saw them at the altar of the church, sharing this kiss she’d dreamed of for so long.

  He pulled back, pressing his forehead to hers. “See? It’s not so hard.”

  Her heart stalled. Did he mean kissing her, or lying?

  Curtis pulled her tighter against him. “When I’m done talking, you wave and smile, then get below decks.” He spoke through his pasted-on grin, not waiting for her to respond. Reporters and town gossips had almost made it down the dock to the boat.

  “Sorry about today, everybody.” He spoke loud enough for even those still in the parking lot to hear. “Just a little case of cold feet. We’re off to warm them up.” He planted a kiss on her temple and gave her a gentle nudge toward the stairs as he released her. On autopilot, she waved, smiled, and darted down the stairs, flopping onto the bed as the engines of the boat roared to life around her.

  …

  “You didn’t change.” After securing the yacht at the private dock and calling to put the security team on alert, Curtis opened the door and went below decks, finding Robyn lying on the bed, her hands pressed over her eyes. Too bad it wasn’t like last time, when he’d stumbled upon her, skirts hitched up to her waist, sheer white panties—

  “I can’t get out of the dress by myself.” At least that’s what it sounded like she said.

  “You want me to help you change before we go to the house?”

  She rolled to the side, then stood straight up, her eyes so wide he feared they might roll out of her head. “What if they take pictures?”

  “The paparazzi? They can’t get in range with a helicopter because of the airspace restrictions, but telescopic lenses might work from shore. You told me that, remember? When you told me about the property?”

  Robyn nodded.

  With a sigh she turned to the pink case. “I don’t have anything to change into.”

  “What in the world is in that suitcase?”

  “Nothing I’ll need.” Robyn marched out of the cabin and up the stairs. He grabbed her suitcase and his, then followed her on deck.

  Setting the cases on the dock, he turned back to the boat and lifted Robyn over the rail. She squeaked and clung to him until he set her on her feet.

  “What did you do that for?” She pressed against his chest, but he didn’t let go his hold on her waist. The dress was the softest silk he’d ever felt.

  “I didn’t want you to trip on your dress like last time.”

  “Last time I tripped on my hoop skirt, not my dress.” She tried to wiggle free, but he held her firm. The water slowly sloshed against the dock, the sun waning in the sky, dipping behind the wall of forest separating the lake from the rest of the world. His mind whirled with a kaleidoscope of lust, doubt, and absolute confidence.

  He could make this deal happen. He’d pushed too hard before, assumed too much. Robyn wanted more than a contractual obligation from him. He liked her, liked her more than any other person he knew. If she needed more, needed to make the arrangement more than business, he could accommodate her. Hell, there were elements to having a relationship with her he’d thoroughly enjoy.

  She stiffened in his grasp, eyeing him warily. Was that why she ran? Did she think he’d expect more than what was on paper from their arrangement? Or was she more afraid that he wouldn’t?

  He couldn’t put his finger on what told him it was the latter, but he’d have bet his life savings on it. Maybe Kendra and Mrs. Rutledge were on to something. Maybe all of this happened not because someone had gotten to her, but because her fears had.

  “Shouldn’t we go into the house?” she whispered, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “You look amazing today. I didn’t have a chance to tell you before now.” He dropped his hands from her waist, catching her hands in his. Her chest rose as she gasped. He bent his head and grazed her surprised mouth with the kiss he’d wanted to continue earlier.

  Damn, but she could kiss. She did everything well, so he didn’t know why he was surprised, but she had such an innocent air about her he knew it was a natural talent, not a learned skill.

  When he kissed her, no matter that she hadn’t expected it either time, she completely relaxed. The soft, responsive flesh of her lips convinced him the most important conversation they’d ever have wouldn’t contain a single word.

  This time alone together would be the perfect opportunity to show her another perk to being the woman on his arm, the side of him that thoroughly enjoyed learning a woman, finding what made her gasp and cry out, moan and purr.

  He might not be the Prince Charming of her romantic fantasies, but he wasn’t the villain, either. He could promise her honesty, fidelity, security, and pleasure.

  He pulled back from the kiss, holding her hands until she opened her eyes and took a deep breath. When he released her, she rubbed her fingertips absently against her lips.

  Oh yes, Curtis thought as he picked up the suitcases and started up the path for the house, if that kiss was any indication, everything would work out. Who says you couldn’t mix business with pleasure?

  Chapter Six

  The cobblestone path leading from the boat dock to the mansion hurt her feet, even through Curtis’s oversized flip-flops. He trudged ahead without so much as a backward glance.

  This is what she hated about him, his ability to run ice cold or boiling hot, while she fluctuated from tepid to simmer. Even the panoramic sweeps of lush forest, smooth lake, and clear sky couldn’t turn off her
permanent preoccupation with all things Curtis.

  Walking behind him, the heavy beaded skirts of her dress in her hands, Robyn tried to distract herself with recollections of everything she’d been told about Sapphire Isle. Her parents had been trying to sell the estate for years, but few had the kind of cash to purchase such a sprawling property, and those who did didn’t care to live at the base of Mt. Shasta.

  But no one would live here now. They would run the estate as an ultra-private resort. The groundskeeper maintained the land, the security team Curtis hired kept an eye on the water, and air flight was restricted in this part of the national forest. Really, the only way to get here would be to swim.

  Once they made it to the foot of the stairs in front of the house, Curtis turned around.

  “Golf carts?”

  Robyn blinked. “Excuse me?”

  A smile played on his lips. “I didn’t realize the walk from the dock to the house was this long. The guests aren’t going to want to walk this far.”

  “I think it depends on what theme you choose for the resort. Bed-and-breakfast style, they can walk. For something posher, we’ll find souped-up golf carts. Carriages could work for something romantic. I have some other ideas, too. There is a copy of my report inside the house.”

  Tilting his head, he peered down at her. “I thought we were working on this together. You already have it planned out, don’t you?”

  She shrugged. “Only the basics. My parents have had the listing on this place for a long time. That’s lots of daydreaming I finally found a use for.”

  He smiled, that bone-melting grin, then turned and took the stairs two at a time. With a frustrated huff, Robyn looked down at her dress. The hems of the skirts were tinged with dust, but for the most part it had held up well. If only she were doing such a good job holding up. The beads were heavy, the skirt cumbersome, the strapless bodice constricting her to perfect posture, and her mental state had deteriorated to a pity party.