Love Script (11 page)

“Oh.” Nick hadn’t considered her previous plans before meeting him. “You can use mine. I have a set on the bed. You can wear the top.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“Trust me. It’l cover al the. . . necessary parts.” Nick didn’t give her time to disagree. He yanked his bottoms off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Laney watched him close the door behind him and heard the hiss of the shower begin. She quickly tossed her robe aside and slipped on his shirt. It was a pale blue cotton button-up, a shade she imagined would complement the color of Nick’s eyes. When the last button was done she looked down to see where the bottom of the shirt stopped.

The fabric ended mid-thigh. He was right. It covered up the necessary parts, barely. So much for modesty!

Her nerves were beginning to get the best of her.

Any minute, Nick would enter the room—and then what? He’d promised not to touch her, but his words lacked significance now that she was partial y nude.

And the kiss he had threatened her with—had he real y meant it? Would he force her to be intimate with him? What the hel had she been thinking to accept his offer? No man in his right mind would shel out ten grand and not expect a generous return.

How stupid could she have been? No, she argued, stupidity didn’t begin to describe her predicament.

She’d been so desperate to escape her miserable circumstances, she’d agreed to the most insane plan possible. She didn’t know Mr. Sinclair. He could be a secret axe murderer, for al she knew. He could rape women for fun and amuse himself by plotting the best way to use his wealth to make the problem disappear. He did fit the profile of a serial kil er.

Weren’t they always white and between the ages of twenty and forty? Or was it thirty and forty?

She heard the shower water pause and nearly had a heart attack. She sat there for long breathless minutes. When she heard him moving about, she drew a much-needed breath. She must have been crazy to take his word that he would make good on his end if he got the Zelman account. If he was wil ing to pretend to be married to a stranger, then he definitely wasn’t above lying to a peon at his office.

It’s not like she could force him to uphold his part of the bargain. They had nothing in writing. They hadn’t even shaken hands to solidify their pact. She would have no legal leg to stand on if he suddenly developed amnesia at the conclusion of this trip.

She imagined herself standing in court pleading her case to a stern-faced judge. “Your honor, I realize I didn’t force Mr. Sinclair to sign a contract stating the terms of our agreement, but how was I to know he was a total creep? Yes, I knew he was deceiving a perfectly sweet old couple into believing he was married. And yes, part of my agreement to help him was to get my bitch supervisor demoted or, even better, fired. But despite al that, you have to take pity on me, your honor. He had a real y great ass!” She frowned. Somehow, she doubted she would sway anyone to tears with that argument.

Outraged by the idea that he would take advantage of her, she threw back the bed sheets.

She was getting out of here. If she moved quickly, she could toss her important belongings into the smal est bag, stack it over her larger suitcase and pul it down the hal . She wasn’t sure how far her original y assigned room was from this wing, but surely she could find someone along the way to point her in the right direction. She wouldn’t have enough time to change, but she would manage. She was running for her life, right?

Easing slowly out of bed, she tiptoed toward her carrying case and pul ed it toward the door. Her swimsuit and a pair of sandals had been tossed onto the ottoman. She could have grabbed the items and stuffed them into her bag, but she’d already spotted more of her belongings piled neatly on a writing desk on the opposite side of the room. She couldn’t possibly grab them al at once. Running back and forth would take more time. Grimacing, she struggled to place her bag quietly on the sofa.

Snatching up as many of her things as she could, as soundlessly as possible, she zipped the carrying case closed and eased it onto her shoulder. It was at that moment that she remembered she needed to col ect not only her large suitcase, which was tucked away in the smal closet, but also her purse, which was splayed open next to the bathroom door. She looked at her carrying case and then back at the suite door. She was running out of time. Now was the time to take drastic measures. Nudging her bag back off her shoulder, she took a deep breath. This could get tricky. She had enough money in her purse to buy new necessities.
Forget the rest
, she thought,
just get your purse
.

With agility she hadn’t known she possessed, Laney leaped across the room to scoop up her purse but just as her fingers wrapped around the leather strap, the bathroom door sprung open. She froze where she stood, waiting for the worst. But when it didn’t come, she looked up to see Nick had turned around to col ect his things from the bathroom counter. She felt like a deer in headlights. There was no place else for her to go. Panicked, Laney did the only thing she could think of. Dropping her purse, she dived into bed just in time to see Nick strol into the room, humming softly to himself.

When Nick came out of the bathroom, Laney was already in bed, the covers pul ed up to her chin. He could feel her gaze on him as he crossed the room.

Whether she was interested in looking at his bare chest or curious where he planned to sleep, he wasn’t sure. Based on her previous responses to him, he would guess the latter.

He began clearing his things off the couch, placing one of her smal er bags on the shelf in the closet. “Let me know if you need anything in here,” he said, pointing at her bag. “I’m not sure if you can reach up there.”

He continued to stow things away until the couch was clear and was surprised to discover it was real y a love seat. Definitely not long enough to support a man his size. He looked around the spacious suite, sizing up the other furniture. Nothing was reasonable. Only overstuffed chairs and ottomans.

“Check to see if the couch has a sleeper.” He could hear the nervousness in her voice. He lifted the couch cushions to see if a sleeper was included, but to his frustration it was not.

“I can cal the housekeeper to bring up a cot,” she suggested.

He shook his head. “That’s not going to work.

How would it look if the Zelmans saw that? I don’t want to have to explain that in the morning.”

“Then what are we supposed to do?”

“Hold on.” He rubbed his head, wondering how he could push the furniture together to create something respectable. But even as he assessed the situation, he knew it wasn’t going to work.

“Look in the closet to see if an extra cot is in there.”

He shot her an incredulous look.

“Wel , at least I’m trying to think of a solution,” she snapped. “You should have thought about this when you were piecing together this master plan of yours.” He understood she was irritated. She had a valid point, but that didn’t stop him from being pissed. “There’s no cot in there.”

“Have you looked?”

“I don’t need to,” he said stubbornly.

She huffed as she pushed the covers back.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she crossed the room and slid back the closet door. He was right. Aside from her suitcase, the closet was empty. She turned around and crossed her arms, clearly aggravated.

Nick couldn’t care less about the cot anymore; he was too busy gawking at her legs. Her smooth caramel-colored legs were flawless. If possible, this was a better view than her khaki shorts had provided. Wearing his pajama top, standing there with her long brown hair up in a clip, she was ravishing. He coughed to ease the tension he knew she felt.

“How about this,” he rationalized. “You can sleep under the covers and I’l sleep on top. It’s a big bed, Laney. We can easily sleep without touching each other.” He placed his hand over his heart. “I swear I won’t take advantage of the situation…tonight.”

“Tonight?”

she

squeaked.

“What

about

tomorrow?”

“We’l cross that bridge when we come to it.” She was apprehensive, but what could she do?

Force him to sleep on the floor? Somehow, she knew that suggestion wouldn’t go over very wel .

“Okay,” she huffed, “but you have to promise to stay on your side of the bed.”

“You have my word. I won’t touch you tonight.” She should have questioned his emphasis on the word “tonight,” but she was so tired of dealing with him right now she nodded her agreement.

“But we have one matter to resolve,” he reminded.

“What is that?”

“Our kiss.”

She sighed. “Nick, I’m tired. I don’t feel like arguing with you about this anymore. I’l do better tomorrow. Let’s just go to bed.”

“This isn’t negotiable.”

“Please don’t pressure me. I don’t feel comfortable doing this.”

He yawned. “Then I can’t promise I’l sleep on my side the entire night.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Oh, yes, I would. And I’m not so nice in the dark.”

She groaned. How did she get herself into these messes? “Only a quick one and then we go to bed. Okay?”

He nodded and advanced toward her.

“Wait! Let me come to you.”

He stopped where he stood and waited for her but she didn’t move. “Laney.”

“Okay.” She took smal steps until she was standing in front of him. She stood on tiptoes and hastily pecked him on the lips.

Nick’s arms encircled her waist and pul ed her into his chest. “That doesn’t count.” He lowered his head and touched her lips with his own. She stiffened in his arms, but he pressed harder on her mouth, pushing his tongue slowly through her lips.

Final y, her mouth opened to him and his tongue swept inside, brushing against her own, inviting it to mate with his. He played with her until she welcomed his kiss and her arms slowly wrapped around his neck.

That was al the invitation he needed. He crushed her breasts to him, deepening his kiss. Their breathing grew heavy. Passionately, he tasted her; enjoying her unique flavor. He sucked on her soft ful lips, seductively teasing her. Laney released a muffled sigh when his hands drew slow circles across her back. Timidly, she moved forward to taste more of him when her thigh rubbed against his groin. She gasped at the feeling of its resolute stiffness and tried to step away but Nick was entranced. His hands slipped down to her ass, cupping her cheeks and lifting her up against him.

Gripping her firmly, his fingers pressed against the crotch of her panties as he moved her up and down the length of his cock.

“Nick—Nick, stop.” She pushed hard against him, her hand shaking as she flicked a loose strand of hair out of her face. They were both breathing hard. “I’m tired,” she whispered breathlessly. “I’m going to bed.”

She didn’t wait for his response and quickly jumped into bed, lifting the covers high over her shoulders. She closed her eyes and held her breath as she listened to Nick turn off the lights. The mattress groaned sadly as he lay down on the far side of the bed. The room was abruptly fil ed with loud silence. Laney couldn’t hear anything over the deafening beat of her heart. Her mind was cluttered with confusion. If she didn’t get herself together, the next ten days were going to be agony. She didn’t know the man, and couldn’t even say she liked what little she did know about him, but images of him clouded her mind right now. The memory of his damp bare chest made her earlier resolution to escape both an immediate necessity and a distant il usion. She wasn’t sure which direction she should run in.

She struggled to understand him. He was used to getting everything he wanted, had even manipulated his way into getting Wil iam Zelman’s attention. He was undeniably big trouble. She reasoned she should never have agreed to this. Nick was her boss.

He was the ‘Mr. Sinclair’ everyone feared in the office. Very wealthy, very clever and very handsome.

In fact, when she real y thought about it, his rumored good looks did him no justice, and she could only imagine how irresistible he was when he was actual y interested in a woman and put forth even the smal est degree of effort into seducing her. She shivered at the thought.

At any rate, she must remember that to him she was a nobody. Nick only wanted to sleep with her, because she was a half-naked woman in his room.

To him, she was merely a convenient piece of ass.

With frightening clarity, she acknowledged her situation for what it was. She was stil heartbroken over Rob’s betrayal and she wanted to hurt him back, but this wasn’t the way. Yes, she felt dejected right now, but al owing herself to be used by Mr.

Sinclair was not the answer. When she was strong enough, she would deal with Rob, but for now she would handle the man lying beside her with careful y gloved hands. If things worked out, she would get her promotion and her money. Who cared if she was literal y sleeping her way to the top?

Nick barely slept a wink al night. After Laney had stopped their kiss, he was sentenced to spend the rest of the night with an aching hard-on. He was out of the suite long before she would wake up and he found himself back in the gym. Not many people were there, so he had ful range of the equipment. He muttered to himself he would be in the best shape of his life after his “marriage” to Laney. He moved from one machine to the next, pushing himself harder and harder, purposely trying to exhaust himself, so he would have something else to focus on other than the memory of his and Laney’s kiss, the press of her breasts beneath his night shirt, the firm softness of her bottom in his hands.