The Temporary Mrs. King (12 page)

He kissed her, and she took him inside, tangling her tongue with his. When he broke the kiss and smiled down at her, she smiled back, feeling freer than she ever had. Happiness dropped down on top of her, and she hardly
recognized it. He had done this, she thought wildly. He had opened her heart, her body, her life.

That last, improbable thought dissolved an instant later when her body reached its peak and she gave herself up to the overwhelming crash of something amazing. She held onto him and cried out his name as she broke apart again, safe in his arms.

She held onto him as his body joined hers and, together, they slid into oblivion.

In the quiet, Melinda realized that she cared for Sean, far more than she should. But it wasn't love. Couldn't be.

Because if it was, she had set herself up for even more heartbreak.

 

Two days later, Sean stood up from his desk and turned to look out his office window. Couldn't keep his mind on work. Couldn't really think about anything but Melinda and this mess he'd landed them both in.

He'd thought to seduce her. Hadn't really planned on his
own
reaction to the plan. Funny, he had once warned his brother Lucas to pull back from his idiotic idea to use Rose Clancy as a means of revenge against her brother Dave. Sean could remember telling Lucas that his plan was going to turn on him. And damned if it didn't. Although, that had all worked out in the end, since Lucas and Rose were happily married now—not to mention the parents of the cutest three-month-old boy in the world.

“Should've listened to your own advice,” he muttered, disgusted with himself. But no, true to King form, he'd figured he could handle his own life just fine. Now, he was stuck in the middle of a damn soap opera.

A marriage of convenience to a woman still mourn
ing the death of her once fiancé—and getting deeper and deeper into…what? Lust?
Love
?

That thought backed him right up. It hit him hard, and he shook his head as if he could wipe away even the silent mention of the word. He wasn't in love. He didn't do love. He'd tried that once only to get kicked in the teeth for his trouble.

“No, not love. Serious
like
, maybe,” he hedged and winced at the idiocy of that statement.

He really hated to admit that his brothers had been right. He never should have married Melinda. It had been asking for trouble right from the jump, and it was only getting worse the longer this marriage lasted. Even if he wasn't in love, he was definitely feeling something for Melinda. Something that had him worried enough that he wondered how the hell he was supposed to deal with this for the next several weeks. He'd already decided that he would go out of his way to not have to come back to Tesoro during the length of the construction job.

Once he was gone from the island, he was going to stay gone. No sense putting him or Melinda through unnecessarily awkward situations. But damned if he wanted to think about leaving, either.

Sean stared out the window and realized that though he had only been on Tesoro a couple of weeks, he'd already become accustomed to the view here.

At first, it had all been foreign to him. Every time he looked out a window, he expected to see Long Beach. Busy streets, tons of people and his favorite Mexican restaurant on the corner. He had felt out of place, and he'd missed his water tower home and the familiar feel of Sunset Beach.

But now, looking out over clear blue water, white beaches and seeing only the occasional car felt…right.
Somehow, the island had sneaked into his system. Much like Melinda had, he admitted silently.

This place, this woman, were becoming more important to him every day. Yet he knew he couldn't afford to get attached to either one of them since he would be leaving in a few short weeks.

His brain was running in circles. He wasn't finding answers to any of his questions—only more questions. Which gave him a damn headache and had him reaching for his phone gratefully when it rang.

A glance at the caller ID had him smiling. “Garrett.”

“Sean, got some news for you.”

“Right.” He focused on his cousin's voice and pushed thoughts of Melinda to one side for the moment. God knew there'd be plenty of time later to deal with the ramifications of this temporary marriage. “What'd you find out?”

“Mainly?” Garret asked. “I found out Steven Hardesty was a creep.”

Sean inhaled sharply and nodded as his gut feeling was vindicated.

“Not surprised,” he said. “You should see his picture. No one with that many teeth is a good guy.”

“Yeah.” Garrett snorted. “Anyway, seems our Mr. Hardesty was a small-time con. Used his charm to bilk women out of money, then he'd disappear. There are a couple of police departments in Europe who'd love to have a chat with him.”

“Tough to manage, him being dead and all,” Sean muttered.

“Yeah, I actually told them about his death. They were disappointed.”

Thinking about Melinda mourning this guy, crying because she'd felt she was cheating on him with Sean, just
made Sean's stomach churn and his temper spike. “So he was a thief.”

“Oh yeah, and from what I can tell, he had moved up to embezzling just before his untimely passing.”

“Embezzling?” Sean's spine went stiff as a board. His gaze was fixed on the harbor, but he hardly noticed the panorama stretched out in front of him. “From who?”

“Walter Stanford.”

“Damn it.” Sean's hand fisted on his phone tightly enough that he wouldn't have been surprised to snap the plastic case. Not only was the late, great Steven setting Melinda up to be used, and to no doubt drain her trust fund, but he had been stealing from the old man, too?

Quietly furious, Sean couldn't help wondering if this was why Walter's finances were in such bad shape. If Steven had been siphoning money from the hotel…” You sure about this?”

“Oh yeah. There's enough of a paper trail to prove it.”

“Good.” Not that Sean had any imminent plans to tell Melinda about this, but he was sure as hell going to tell Walter. And it was good to know there was proof if the old man needed it.

“Sounds like your Melinda got off easy with this guy dying before he could cheat her and leave her.”

“Sounds that way, doesn't it.” Garrett was clearly as disgusted as Sean. “Thanks Garrett. Appreciate it.”

“No problem, cuz. Call if you need anything else.”

When he hung up, Sean thought about Garrett's statement. If Steven hadn't died, Melinda would have been hurt and betrayed. She probably would have lost the money she was counting on to make her independent. But more, she'd have felt foolish and might have gone on a man-hating spree. But as it stood, she didn't know the guy was
a creep. To her, he was still the beloved fiancé, so instead of being pissed off, she was dealing with survivor's guilt.

Steven Hardesty didn't deserve one of Melinda's tears. Tossing the phone onto his desk, Sean turned to the window again. He threw it open, allowing the ocean wind to rush in at him. The scent of the sea and the cool air didn't do a damn thing to settle his mind. Bottom line? He didn't know what the hell to do with this knowledge.

Should he tell Melinda? If she believed him, it would break her heart. If she didn't believe him, she'd hate Sean for trying to destroy her memory of Steven.

“Hell, even dead, the bastard is winning.”

Riding a wave of banked fury, Sean knew there was one person at least, who should be told the truth. He pushed away from the window, stalked across the room and left, slamming the door behind him.

F
or the first time, Walter Stanford looked old.

Sean swallowed back his own anger and sense of righteous indignation and focused on the man sitting at his desk.

Walter stared down at his empty hands as if accusing them of being helpless. Shaking his head slowly, he took several long, deep breaths before speaking in a soft voice filled with regret and just a hint of the fury Sean was still feeling.

“Yes, I knew about Steven's theft. He had been here for little more than year,” Walter said, lifting his gaze to meet Sean's. “And in that time, he managed to feather quite a nice nest for himself—at my expense.”

“So he
is
the reason the hotel is having hard times.”

“Not entirely,” Walter said with a tired sigh. “Truthfully, I made a few bad investments and, in all honesty, should have opened the island to more tourism. Not just
for my sake, but for everyone else here. So it wasn't all Steven's fault, though he certainly did his share.” Walter picked up a pen, twirled it in his fingers for a second, then tossed it to his desktop in disgust. “Steven must have gotten wind that I was to have him arrested. He was killed when he was driving to the harbor to catch a boat to St. Thomas.”

“And you didn't tell Melinda.” It wasn't a question.

He fixed his gaze on Sean. “No. Melinda was never aware of my troubles or Steven's perfidy. If he had lived, she would have had to know. As it is, I thought it better to keep my silence.”

“Why?” Sean demanded, dropping both hands onto the edge of the desk and leaning in. “Damn it Walter, Melinda's smart. Capable. She doesn't need to be treated like a child.”

“Do you think I don't know that?” Walter's anger began to crackle in the room, and it collided with Sean's in a nearly visible shower of sparks. Pushing up from his chair, Walter muttered, “Do you think I enjoy seeing my girl mourning that fraud? Grieving for a cheat of a man who would have left her broken had he been given the chance?”

Sean leaned one hip against the edge of the desk, crossed his arms over his chest and asked a simple question. “Why then? Why keep quiet?”

Walter turned and fixed a hard look on him.

“You're letting her suffer by feeling she's betraying that son-of-a-bitch's memory.”

“And you think it would be better if I tell her that he
never
cared for her? That he wanted her only for the money?” Walter snapped the words out in another burst of rage, but a moment later, he looked defeated again. “There is no right answer here,” he whispered. “If I don't
tell her, she'll torture herself, and if I do tell her, she'll be crushed. How can I know what to do?”

Sean could see the old man's problem. After all, he'd asked himself pretty much the same questions after he had talked to Garrett. But at the same time, it irritated the hell out of him to remember Melinda's tears over the thief who'd died before he could be prosecuted. Still, how could he argue with the man's need to protect his family? Hadn't Sean lost everything at sixteen trying to do the same thing for his mother?

“Could you look into her eyes and tell her?” Walter asked quietly.

He wanted to say yes. Damn it, he didn't want her grieving over Steven one more damn minute. But as he thought about it, the truth was… “No.”

At the end, no matter what else was at stake, Sean simply didn't want to be the one to hurt her.

 

Two days later, Melinda was nervous.

The Kings were arriving to check out the island—and
her
—she thought.

“Relax,” he told her as they stood at the dock waiting for the boat from St. Thomas to arrive. “You'll like them all, I promise.”

“But they know about our deal, right? So they know we're not your average married couple.”

“They know, but it won't matter to them. They're going to love you. So relax.”

She nodded and kept staring out at the water. The launch should be here any second. “Tell me again.”

He smiled and draped one arm around her shoulder. “Rafe is married to Katie.”

“The cookie queen,” Melinda added.

“Yep. And Lucas is married to Rose.”

“The great cook,” she provided. Honestly, she'd heard so much about his brothers and their wives, Melinda had quite the confidence crisis going on. Sean's sisters-in-law sounded brilliant, successful and, most importantly,
loved
.

“And I'm married to the artist,” Sean said, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

He said that so lightly. As if they were
really
married and just for a moment, she let herself wonder what that would be like. She glanced up at him and briefly studied his profile as he watched for the approaching boat. His features were sharp and clean. His hair windblown, as she liked it best, and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark glasses. He wore a dark red, collared knit shirt and a pair of tan cargoes with his scuffed and battered boots. An anticipatory smile curved his mouth.

And she knew. In a blink. In a heart-stopping, souljarring instant, that she
loved
Sean King.

Melinda swayed with the impact of that knowledge and waited for an accompanying stab of guilt to jolt her. But it didn't come. Had she finally, and at last, let Steven's memory go? Was she ready now to love someone else, just in time to say goodbye to him?

“Hey?” Sean tipped his sunglasses down and looked at her over the edge. “You okay? You look a little pale all of a sudden.”

Not surprising, she thought, but didn't say. Taking a deep breath she nodded and forced a smile. “I'm fine. Just a little nervous I guess.”

Nervous?

Terrified.

He hugged her, drawing her in and giving her a hard squeeze. Then he bent his head, claimed a quick kiss and said, “Don't be. It'll be great. We'll show them the hotel site, go to dinner, have some laughs and they'll go home.”

“Right. Back to California,” she said, thinking that in just a few more weeks, Sean would be gone too. He'd be back there with his family and she would be here. On Tesoro.

Alone.

“No more time for nerves. They're here.”

It was only then that Melinda heard the roar of an engine headed their way. She looked out and saw the Tesoro launch headed into dock.

 

“Oh, please,” Katie said, “my kitchen was perfect. I
paid
you to remodel it and then what did you do?” She didn't wait for an answer, just turned to Melinda and said, “The minute we got married, he decided to renovate the whole house, so he took out the wall!”

“It'll be bigger and feed right into the new family room,” Rafe argued with a grin.

“Told you,” Sean whispered to Melinda.

“With a home theatre surround sound system,” Rafe put in, a gleam in his eye.

“Oh God,” Sean said, horrified. “He's not going to make us watch those outer space movies he loves on a big screen, is he?”

“Not me, he's not,” Lucas said and jiggled his infant son on his shoulder. “I'm home nights on diaper duty.”

Melinda watched them all as the banter flew around the table. They were in a private dining room at the Stanford hotel and the conversation hadn't lagged once since the Kings' arrival two hours before.

Sitting beside Sean on the red leather booth seat, she watched the interaction of the family and found herself envious of the easy solidarity they shared. Seeing Sean with his brothers and their wives showed her yet another side to the man she'd married. There was real affection beneath
the teasing, and the warmth she felt from all of them was welcoming.

She really liked Katie and Rose, too. She had been prepared to be intimidated or even feel like a stranger around them. But both women were warm and friendly and seemed to have their King husbands wrapped around their fingers. It was amazing to watch, really. They were all so…connected.

“Oh wow,” Katie said suddenly, reaching out to lift Melinda's left hand for a better look. “That's a gorgeous ring!” She flashed Sean a smile. “Nice job on picking it out. Where did you get it? I think Rose and I need to go shopping.”

“Actually,” Sean said, giving Melinda's shoulders a squeeze, “My clever wife made it.”

“She
made
her own wedding ring?” Rose said, sounding appalled.

“Damn, you're cheap,” Rafe muttered with a shake of his head.

“Funny,” Sean told him. “No, I bought the ring at a jewelry store in town. Later on I found out that Melinda designed and made it herself.”

“That's amazing,” Rose said, getting a good look at it herself. She lifted her gaze and smiled. “Do you have more?”

“Sure,” Melinda said, basking in the praise. “My workshop is here in the hotel.”

“Oh boy.” Katie wriggled in excitement. “And I'm guessing family gets a private look at all of the sparklies?”

“Sure,” Melinda told her, laughing. “We can go now if you want.”

“Absolutely,” Rose said and scooped her son out of his father's arms. “You guys be good. We're going to spend a lot of money.”

“And my son is going why?” Lucas asked with a laugh.

“Never too early to teach him how to shop!” Rose bent down, kissed Lucas, then waited for Katie and Melinda.

Katie kissed Rafe, and Melinda was just scooting out of the booth when Sean pulled her in for a quick, hard kiss. She felt flustered but pleased that he'd kissed her as easily as his brothers had their own wives as she led the women off to the elevators.

 

“Okay,” Rafe asked once the women were out of earshot. “What exactly is going on?”

“What do you mean?” Sean picked up his beer and took a sip, stalling.

“Pitiful.” Lucas laughed and took a drink of his beer. “You know exactly what he means. You just don't want to talk about it.”

“And since you know that, you'll drop it, right?” Sean slid a glance at him. “Uh,
no
,” Rafe told him before Lucas could speak up. “You told us you were getting married as part of a land deal. Yet, when we get here, we find you all googly-eyed over your new wife.”

Well, that was unsettling. Sean frowned at him. “So?”

“
So
,” Lucas said, “it doesn't exactly look like a business deal to us.”

“That's what it is,” Sean muttered. All it could be, he told himself. He and Melinda had made a bargain, and he would stick to it. He never went back on his word.

Besides, as he kept reminding himself, he had already tried marriage and it hadn't exactly been a vacation. The reason this marriage was working was probably because they both knew it was going to end. No pressure. No promises to be kept or vows to take seriously. He nodded to himself and repeated, “It's strictly business.”

“Yeah,” Lucas said with a snort. “I can see that.”

Sean glared at him. “Nobody asked you for your opinion.”

“Yeah, because that's how we do things in the King family. We wait to be asked.”

“Pay no attention to him,” Rafe said, staring at Sean. “Just tell me what's going on. From what I can see, there's more to this marriage than you said there was.”

Sean blew out a breath. The dining room was large, but quiet. Since they had the place to themselves, there was no reason not to discuss it. But he didn't like it. For some reason, he felt disloyal to Melinda for talking to his brothers about what was between them. Still, he'd always been able to count on his family. Maybe talking to them would help him straighten things out in his mind.

Because, God knew, a little clarity would come in handy.

“Okay,” he said with a nod, “I admit that things aren't quite as clear as they should be.”

“You think?” Lucas prompted.

Rafe glared him into silence.

“Fine. I'm not ready to leave her, even though I should be. It doesn't make any sense to me,” he muttered, peeling the local label off his beer bottle.

“Brother, you're hooked. Just give in now. Don't fight it.” Lucas gave him a slap on the shoulder in solidarity.

“No,” Sean argued, looking from one brother to the other. “You don't get it. I'm not husband material.” He couldn't believe he was going to do this, Sean thought. But they had to understand. Had to see where he was coming from and why he knew he couldn't be married. “I've tried it before. It didn't work out.”

“What?” Rafe and Lucas spoke at the same time, ex
changed a look of astonishment, then turned back to Sean. Rafe said, “What're you talking about?”

“I was married once. Never told you guys.”

“Why the hell not?” Lucas demanded.

“Because I felt like a jackass, okay?” Sean snapped. “Why would I tell you two that I let some woman…” He stopped and took a deep breath.

“Well, now you have to tell us,” Rafe said.

So he did, but he kept it short. “Okay. Her name was Tracy. We met in college. Freshman year. Dated awhile then broke up.” Sean paused for a sip of beer and the cold liquid did nothing to ease the dryness in his throat. But he was in this far, he might as well finish it. “Eight months later, she showed up, pregnant. She cried and said how she hadn't wanted to worry me, but she got scared.”

“Damn it,” Rafe muttered.

“Yeah.” Sean smiled wryly. “No way was I going to be the kind of father our dad was, so I married her.”

“And?” Lucas asked.

Sean shrugged and realized that telling this story wasn't as terrible as he had imagined. It actually felt good to get it out there. To finally tell his brothers what he'd been hiding for years.

“The baby was a week or two old when Tracy told me he wasn't mine. Seems Tracy's first boyfriend had come back to town. He was the father. She left that day, haven't seen her or the baby since.”