Love Script (8 page)

How was she supposed to know what to wear to play golf? Final y, she chose a sleeveless white button-down shirt and khaki shorts. She scrutinized herself in the mirror. She hadn’t planned on spending her vacation with her boss. She’d packed specifical y for a romantic retreat with Rob. Her clothing selection was evident. Though the shirt was plain enough, the shorts were a bit too short. She’d bought them to show as much leg as possible, hoping to seduce Rob every chance she got. They weren’t risqué shorts by any means, but under the radiant blue eyes of Mr. Sinclair, she was nervous. She swept her hair up into a clip while mental y preparing herself for his response.

Nick was beginning to get frustrated. There was absolutely no reason for Laney to take so long in the bathroom. They weren’t going to the prom. She’d been in there for almost an hour! How much longer was she going to take?

Just when he was about to completely lose his patience, the bathroom door opened. What he saw was completely unexpected…and wel worth the wait. The blouse she wore fit her every curve, emphasizing her generous yet perky breasts. As spel binding as her breasts may have been, he knew with determination he could force himself to ignore his urges. Her shorts, however, were another issue.

They were short. Too short for him to ignore. Al he saw was luscious golden skin. Her legs were perfect. Wel formed. Toned but soft. They had a natural curve to them that gave him no choice but to stare.

When he’d first laid eyes on her, he had been intrigued by her classic look. She had a cute, heart-shaped face, enticing lips and warm brown eyes.

She was pretty, but that was the end of it. His sexual preferences were known to vary but never towards black women. In any case, when he saw Vivian Zelman he could not have cared less what the Parks woman looked like, so long as she agreed to play the part. He was real y that desperate. He hadn’t spared her physical attributes a second thought after making up his mind to employ her services. Now, with Laney standing in front of him wearing those damn hot pants, he couldn’t help but appreciate her beauty. It suddenly occurred to him Laney Parks might just be a distraction he didn’t need.

Laney groaned. She could tel he was at a complete loss for words. Did she real y look that horrible in her shorts? Perhaps she should have exercised more during the approaching weeks of her vacation. She tugged nervously at the bottoms of her shorts. “I didn’t know what was proper golf apparel. I can change if you like.”

He swal owed but seemed unable to tear his gaze away from her legs. “It’s fine. We need to be leaving.”

She hesitated for a second, then shrugged and picked up her tennis shoes. When she bent over to stuff her feet into her sneakers, she heard Nick groan roughly. She looked over her shoulder at him, but his reaction was quicker. He turned his back on her and headed for the door, mumbling that he would be waiting outside. Laney feared when she leaned over, something offensive showed. She froze to brush her hands along the back of her shorts.

Nothing. For added security, she squeezed her bottom to reassure herself a flabby piece of flesh hadn’t reared its ugly head. No, everything was firm back there. But now she felt self-conscious. She considered changing but quickly assured herself that Mr. Sinclair would have told her if she looked awful.

He didn’t ease her fears anytime soon. When she joined him in the hal , he purposely avoided looking at her. He hastily grabbed her hand and headed for the deck. They arrived at an area of the ship known as the Princess Links, a nine-hole putting green. It would seem that golfing was on a lot of guys’ minds, Laney being among the few females present. Her “husband” picked her club and talked her through the basic concept of the game. Though she tried to not appear so miserable, she had to admit her acting skil s could use a little fine-tuning.

By the third hole, she was clearly annoyed, and Mr.

Sinclair’s silent treatment wasn’t helping.

Nick paid little attention to Laney’s shameful game. She was hitting the bal everywhere but in the right direction, and it was taking her three times longer than anyone present to sink the bal . By now, she was frowning fiercely with every terrible swing.

They had begun keeping score, but he had long since given up. There was no point. Laney had absolutely no hand-eye coordination. He would have corrected her several swings ago but found himself enjoying watching her bend over and treat him to a charitable view of the supple skin just below her buttocks. Apparently, he was not alone in admiring her ample curves. None of the guys behind them muttered any smartass remarks when they had to wait for Laney. In fact they, like him, watched her in quiet adoration. Though Nick found it damn irritating to watch her with an audience, he couldn’t blame them. Whether Laney knew it or not, she was quite captivating.

When Nick saw one of the guys press a little closer for a better look at Laney, his growing infatuation with Laney disappeared. He planted a frustrated look on his face as he advanced upon her.

Placing his hand on her arm, he stopped her from exercising another bad swing.

“You’re doing it wrong,” he said.

She frowned at him. “I’ve been doing it wrong for a long time, but you haven’t offered any help.”

“I was hoping you would learn from your mistakes.”

“Wel , I haven’t,” she snapped. “Now what?” Nick rol ed his eyes and demonstrated how she should hold her club. “No, move your thumb over. Not like that. Move it—stand straighter. Don’t slouch. You shouldn’t hang your head like that. You’l never get a good swing.”

Laney tried to improve, but no matter what he told her, she couldn’t seem to get it right. Final y, out of real frustration, he wrapped his arms around her and placed his hands over hers. He positioned her hands into the right spot and pressed his chest against her back to straighten her posture. “Like that. You get it?”

Nick knew instantly he was in trouble. His body temperature had seemingly gone up several degrees, leaving him uncomfortably hot. He looked down at her and noticed she’d visibly blushed several shades darker. He was almost certain her discomfort had little to do with his lecturing her and everything to do with his groin nestled firmly against her buttocks. And with every passing nanosecond, it grew harder against her.

Nick coughed and stepped away from her. “Just like that. Do you think you can do it?” She nodded, purposely avoiding making eye contact. This time, when she swung, the bal went in a more direct path; however, it wasn’t in the direction of the hole. She struggled the remainder of the game, barely improving. By the time they had finished, both Laney and Nick were frustrated with the game and relieved to be done with it.

“I didn’t think it was possible,” Nick muttered as he guided them through the crowd. “But I think I could go without playing golf for a while.”

“Sinclair!”

Nick swore beneath his breath when he saw Cooper Wright headed their way. Nick and Cooper shared many similarities, such as inheriting family businesses, attending the same prep schools and partying with the same friends. It was a smal wonder they hadn’t slept with the same women, although Nick wouldn’t bet his money that they hadn’t.

Perhaps in another life they would have been best friends, so similar were their ambitions. However, in this

dimension,

they

were

uncompromising

adversaries.

“I was hoping I would run into you,” Cooper said with a broad smile.

“You found me, Coop,” Nick said with cool reserve. “What can I do for you?”

Cooper’s gaze landed on Laney. “This must be your lovely
wife
.”

Laney considered the stranger. He was tal , wel -

built and very handsome. His thick, dark brown hair was so dark it could easily be mistaken for black.

And his smile! It was absolutely dazzling. Laney lingered over his gray eyes, which were so pale they appeared silver. She guessed he was around Mr.

Sinclair’s age. He carried himself with an athletic grace that made Laney conjure up some naughty thoughts. She watched his intense stare travel down her body and surmised he liked what he saw. This pleased her immensely.

Nick ignored the man’s blatant flirtation with her, but he conceded with making introductions. “Laney, this is Cooper Wright. Cooper, this is
Mrs
. Sinclair.” His voice had a definite edge to it.

She was a little taken aback by Nick’s guarded tone. He was being unnecessarily rude, but Cooper didn’t appear to take offense. In fact, he seemed to think Nick’s obvious annoyance with him was amusing. He smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back at him. “You can cal me Laney,” she offered.

Cooper held his hand over his heart and inclined his head. “Laney? How unusual. Nevertheless, a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”

“Thank you.” She immediately decided that she was fond of this man.

“We should be seeing a lot of each other during this retreat. I certainly hope so.” He gave her a playful wink. She blushed. “Tel me, Laney, what is your
maiden
name?”

Nick placed his hand possessively on Laney’s hip. “As far as you’re concerned, Laney and I are happily married.” Nick looked around. “Where is your
wife
, Coop?”

Cooper shrugged, final y giving Nick his attention. “She’s roaming about. As luck would have it, our stateroom is next door to the Zelmans. We bumped into each other in the hal . Zelman extended a dinner invitation,” he finished with a triumphant smile.

“I guess that makes dinner for six,” Nick said with an equal y gloating smile.

Cooper’s gaze settled back on Laney. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He grinned at Nick. “See you at dinner.”

After their run-in with Cooper, Nick had little to say for the next hour. They walked the open deck hand in hand in total silence. In truth, he was more irritated with Laney than he was with Cooper Wright.

Her obvious fancy for Cooper was the least of his problems. He was beginning to question her ability to pose as a credible spouse. Sure, Cooper knew she wasn’t real y married to him, but their encounter had been a frosty one. When he’d put his hand on her hip, she’d gone completely stiff. Her body language screamed she was single and interested in Cooper’s attention.

The reality of the situation was he couldn’t care less if Cooper screwed Laney. Hel , he could have at her every night of this blasted cruise, so long as Nick got what he came for: the Zelman account. Being the resourceful person he knew himself to be, he tried to consider Cooper and Laney’s attraction as an advantage. If Cooper focused on Laney, Nick could take ful advantage of Wil iam Zelman. Yet the probabilities of things going wrong were extremely high. If Laney let her attraction for Cooper become obvious, Nick would look like an idiot to Zelman.

Zelman wouldn’t see him as a reliable marketing consultant but as a moron who couldn’t control his wife. Nick would have to talk to her.

They retreated back to the room to rest. Deciding frankness was the best method of attack, Nick waited until Laney finished washing her face before addressing her.

“We need to talk.”

Laney did not like the sound of that. Nick had barely said a word since the Cooper incident. She’d already figured out that Cooper was the “competitor” Nick had mentioned earlier. Cooper obviously knew she and Nick weren’t real y married. Nick was upset with something, and she was struggling to convince herself that she wasn’t to blame.

“This is business, Laney, so I’m going to be blunt.”

“Okay,” she said cautiously.

“This deal is very important to Sinclair Corp, which makes it important to me. When we are in the presence of the Zelmans, your job is to be my wife.

Nothing else.”

“You’ve already covered this with me earlier.” She could feel her irritation rising.

“After seeing you and Cooper together, I feel the need to reiterate my position. Stick to the plan, Laney.”

“I wil ,” she snapped.

“I’m serious. This isn’t just fun and games. I’m here for business purposes only. Whatever plans you and Coop have in mind need to be handled with discretion.”

She folded her arms across her chest. She barely knew Mr. Sinclair, and he had already categorized her as a slut. “Exactly what are you trying to say?”

When he clenched his jaw, a muscle ticked in his cheek. “You know exactly what I’m saying, but let me spel it out for you.” He fixed her with a hard stare.

“Don’t make it so obvious that you want to sleep with Cooper.”

She gasped. He might as wel have slapped her.

Tears sprang to her eyes. Her feelings were hurt, but right now anger was the apex of her emotions.

Unfortunately, she had a habit of crying when she was real y upset. Not very mature, but it was a fact.

She quickly brushed her tears away and turned her back on him. The last thing she wanted him to see was her vulnerability. She straightened her back. “I’l see you at dinner.” With that, she marched into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Nick cursed. Things just kept getting better. He had a knack for dealing with irrational women lately.