STORM: A Standalone Romance (67 page)

Lila looked up at Miles. “If it was up to my brother, I wouldn’t be. He didn’t bother to tell anyone about his nuptials. I actually found out from the internet. A well-timed call to Joan, and I was able to get here in time.”

“I’m glad you did. I told Miles we shouldn’t do this without his family.”

Miles’ eyes narrowed slightly. “And I told you we could do a bigger ceremony for them later. I just wanted to get married.”

I pressed my hand to his chest and moved closer to him. “Well, so did I.”

He hesitated just slightly, but then he slid his free arm around me, tugging me closer to him. And then he pressed a kiss to the top of my head, the movement almost natural, like we’d actually shared little gestures of affection before.

Lila watched us, a touch of weariness in her gaze, but then she pulled back and smiled a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Well, I understand you have a plane to catch, so don’t let me get in your way.”

“I’m glad you came,” Miles said, moving around me to give her a hug.

Lila pressed her face to his shoulder for a long second. “I just wanted to make sure you were really okay. I know—”

“We’ll talk about all that later.”

Tension burned between them for reasons I couldn’t even begin to understand. And then she nodded, rising up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to the end of his nose.

“Call me when you get back to town.”

“Of course.”

She turned to me and took my hand, drawing me close to her.

“Take care of him. He doesn’t always do it himself.”

I nodded. “I will.”

She glanced at Miles again, worry clear in every fine line of her face. But she didn’t say anything else and didn’t touch him again. She walked away, joining Lisa, Colin, and the others on the front steps of my aunts’ house.

It was time to go.

Miles didn’t even look at me as he took my hand and led the way to the car.

I didn’t know what to expect on my wedding night. I knew that it wouldn’t be traditional, but I didn’t expect to spend it with a surly man who wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence. The moment we were alone, he shut down. It was as if I’d played the role he’d asked me to play, but now he was done. He was silent on the flight, silent on the car ride to the hotel, and silent as we rode up the elevator to our suite with the bellboy. The moment we were alone, he went to the bar and pored himself a hefty glass of whiskey. I stood there and watched him for a minute, not sure what I was supposed to do.

“You want a drink?” he asked.

I shook my head, but his back was to me so he couldn’t see it. He turned, his eyes almost cruel, as they found me standing there, still dressed in white, clutching the handle of my clutch.

“You should probably go.” His voice was low, very controlled. “I plan on getting very drunk, and you probably don’t want to be around for that.”

“Where would you like me to go?”

He shook his head as he turned back to the bar, pouring more whiskey into his glass. “Fuck if I care.”

And that’s how my wedding night went. I ended up locking myself in the bedroom and crying myself to sleep. When I woke the next morning, he was gone. He showed up for dinner, and then he was gone again. He never bothered to tell me where he was going or when he would be back. The first day I spent waiting for him to return. After that, I figured I was in Florida and I wasn’t going to sit in a hotel room the whole time. I’d never traveled further than Dallas my entire life—except, of course, the first five years of my life that were spent in Houston—so I was determined to enjoy this experience. I went for a walk on the beach, visiting some of the tourist shops in town. I even took a snorkeling class at the pool. Miles didn’t even ask me how I’d spent my time.

We flew back to Waco after five days. And that’s when I got to see his house for the first time.

I wanted to hate his house. I wanted to find it ostentatious and pompous, just like him. I wanted it to be something I would find it easy to walk away from in a few months when he decided he was done with me.

But I couldn’t.

It was beautiful. It was a Georgian-style house with gorgeous, gray bricks and whitewashed pillars. It wasn’t huge, not a mansion by any stretch of the imagination. Cozy seemed like a more fitting description despite the fact that it had five bedrooms on the second floor and a rambling floor plan on the first. As we turned the corner of the long drive and the house came into view, I found myself imagining how I would decorate a house like that, how I would change the landscape, and what I could do with the many rooms that looked out on the driveway through huge picture windows. I fell in love with it at first sight despite my determination not to.

“I’ll be late tonight,” Miles said, as he dragged our luggage out of the trunk. “I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on when I get to the office.”

“Okay.”

“There’s a car in the garage you can use if you have somewhere to be. Otherwise, you should probably stick close to the house. I’ll get you a cellphone in a few days so I can get ahold of you when I need you. Until then, there’s the house phone.”

“I have a cellphone.”

“Yes, well, I’d rather get you a better one. A more reliable one.”

My cellphone was a little old, but it felt like an insult when he said it like that.

He walked to the front door without looking to see if I was following. I did follow, curious to see the inside of this building I had already fallen in love with. I wasn’t disappointed. The marble and woodwork in the entryway alone was breathtaking. The French doors in the sitting room, the high ceilings, and the little details in the woodwork on the door frames were all incredible. I wanted to walk through each room and do it again, just absorb every little detail about the place.

“Your room is at the top of the stairs, the second door on the right.”

I nodded, not really listening to him. I ran my fingers over the glass doorknob that opened one set of French doors as I stared out at the terraced garden behind them. It was pretty obvious that the garden was a work in progress, but it already sported rose bushes that were overflowing with late spring blooms. My aunts would have a wonderful time here, planning what and where to put new plants. I was actually thinking of inviting them over when I realized what a mistake that would be.

I couldn’t let them close. I couldn’t let them see the cracks in the façade Miles wanted us to put out there into the world. My aunts would see through it eventually. And I didn’t want them to know the truth.

It was like a cold slap that brought me back to reality.

“I’m leaving,” Miles said.

I just nodded without bothering to turn around.

And that’s how things went between us for the next few months. I stayed at the house, alone, and waited for Miles to need me. When I had a job, I thought it would be fantastic to stay home all day and watch television, but now, I would have given anything to have a job, or an excuse to get out of the house.

We went to dinner with a few of Miles’ clients, attended a some parties, and even drove to Dallas for a big gala at one of the museums there. And it as fun, I guess. Most of the people stared at me and asked stupid questions without actually appearing to address me. Miles was always kind and gentle in front of other people, but the moment we were alone he mostly ignored me. If I’d known it would be like that…I don’t know. Maybe I would have done it anyway. Or maybe not.

I was curled up on the couch one afternoon when Miles came slamming into the house. I mean, literally, slamming. The front door closed with such a clatter that I could feel the house reverberating under me. I sat up and watched him toss his suit jacket over the back of a chair and head for the bar.

“Bad day?” I asked, even though it was only three o’clock. Miles rarely came home earlier than seven on a normal business day.

He didn’t answer. Big surprise. I was so used to him ignoring my questions that I settled back on the couch. I was two more paragraphs in to my novel when he said, “Go pack. We’re leaving in an hour.”

“Pack? For what?”

He didn’t answer at first. He swallowed whatever it was he was drinking. I guessed that it was whiskey—that seemed to be his favorite drink—but I wasn’t sure. Then he turned and focused on me for the first time in weeks.

“I’ve been summoned to my father’s house, so I need you to go pack. Make sure you have a couple of cocktail dresses. Mother and father like to dress for dinner.”

That wasn’t a problem. Joan took me shopping a couple of days after we returned from Florida. She said a proper lady needed a proper wardrobe and she couldn’t imagine that covered my particular wardrobe. It was hard not to be offended by the words that often fell from Joan’s lips, but it was also hard to take offense because I didn’t even realize I was being insulted half the time until I’d had a few minutes to think about it.

I dropped my book on the couch and headed out of the room.

“Riley?” Miles called after me.

I turned around and looked at him.

“It’s very important that everyone we meet at my parents’ house believe that this marriage is real. I realize I haven’t been very forthcoming with you these last weeks, but, please…”

“I’ll be on my best behavior.”

There was tension in everything about him, from the way his shoulders were set, to the way his jaw hardened as he watched me.

“If we can pull this off, it will be the last thing I ask of you.”

“Okay.”

It was a different experience packing for this trip than it had been for our honeymoon. I had monogrammed luggage now and beautiful clothes that required careful arrangement. I packed more than one pair of shoes and makeup—I actually wore makeup now. Joan took me to a spa where they taught me how to accentuate my better qualities and hide my lesser ones. I still didn’t wear makeup often, just when Miles took me out, but it was nice to know I could do it without looking like a clown now.

I changed from the shorts I’d been wearing into a soft linen dress that made my curves look desirable. At least, I thought they did. Miles never seemed to notice. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and fixed my face, tossing everything into the travel bag Joan also insisted I have. Packed, I opened the door to find Miles pacing in the hallway.

This visit clearly had him tied up in knots for reasons I couldn’t even begin to guess. In fact, I’d stopped trying to figure out my husband. He was an enigma that it wasn’t mine to figure out.

We drove to the airport in silence. I turned on the radio when I couldn’t stand it anymore. There was a local station that played some Sinatra, so I switched it to that and was instantly rewarded with “That’s Life”. I hummed under my breath, thinking of aunts with a wisp of nostalgia.

Miles switched it off.

I’d assumed we were flying commercial, but Miles pulled into a small, private airstrip just outside of town where a small jet was waiting just off the runway. He came around and took my hand to help me out of the car, his fingers intertwining with mine as though they owned that space. And, perhaps, they did. He often held my hand when we were out together. I kind of assumed it was to keep me at his side. And it worked. I was always so nervous that it gave me a certain amount of courage to feel his strong hand wrapped around my own. Maybe it worked that way for him, too, though I couldn’t imagine he would need courage, especially not from the likes of me.

We walked to the plane, and a young man greeted Miles by name.

“Jonathon,” Miles said in return, shaking the man’s hand with his free one. “How are you?”

“I’m good, sir. Glad to see you again.”

“Yes, well, if only it was under better circumstances.”

The man looked down at the ground for a second, and then he was looking at me, naked curiosity in his eyes as they moved over my face.

“May I introduce my wife,” Miles said. “Riley, this is Jonathon Calla, my father’s private steward. Jonathon, this is my wife, Riley Thorn.”

I rarely heard my name attached to Miles’, so it was always kind of jarring. I managed to control my reaction this time, however, forcing a smile that felt too heavy on my facial muscles as I accepted Jonathan’s light handshake.

“Welcome to the family, Mrs. Thorn,” Jonathon said, as he gestured toward the plane. “Everything is set up for you. Please, make yourselves at home.”

Miles led the way to the steps, letting go of my hand and pressing his against the small of my back. Even after all these months, I was still unused to him touching me. Not that he did it often. But it was still odd—and a little thrilling—to feel the heat of his hand against my back, even with the thin linen of my dress between us.

The plane was like so many I’d seen on television and in the movies. It sported a half-dozen, leather-clad chairs, thick carpet, and expensive accents. I caught myself running my fingers over the fine-grain wood that was the arm rests of each chair. Miles stayed close to me, directing me to a chair toward the center of the cabin. I sat next to the window, and he sat beside me, quickly fastening his seatbelt and gesturing for me to do the same.

I’ve flown twice in my entire life—to Florida and back to Texas. This was definitely a new experience for me. Jonathon brought Miles a whiskey without being asked, and a glass of red wine for me. When I tasted it, I realized it was a similar vintage to the one Miles and I had shared over dinner the night he proposed his crazy scheme for us to marry. I glanced at him, but he was staring at his cellphone, occupied with a text message displayed on the screen.

I stared out the window, as the crew prepared the plane for takeoff. The longer we sat there, the more nervous I became until I grabbed Miles’ hand as the engines rumbled beneath us and the plane began to move.

“You’re perfectly safe,” he said, leaning close to me so that only I could hear his words. “It’s much more dangerous to drive across town than it is to fly in an airplane.”

“Yes, well, I’d rather be behind the wheel at the moment, thank you.”

“You can’t always be in control.”

“I don’t want to always be in control. Just right now.”

He chuckled softly near my ear. “You are stubborn.”

I would have argued, but the plane chose that moment to leave the ground. I don’t know what it was about being in such a small plane that made this moment so much worse than the overcrowded commercial jet we’d flown in earlier, but it did. I turned to him and buried my face in the side of his shoulder, a small groan slipping from my lips. He turned into me, my head sliding closer to his throat as he pressed his free hand against the side of my head.

It would have been a nice moment if I hadn’t been so frightened—and if he hadn’t been laughing.