In the Arms of a Stranger (3 page)

Then it occurred to her that same lingering scent would be on the sheets and bedcovers and she’d practically stumbled over herself to get to the hotel phone and demanded that someone from housecleaning come and change her bedding at once.
  Embarrassed to see the knowing look on the chambermaid’s face, Bri hid in the bathroom like a coward until the woman was gone.  She even buried the nightie and matching panties in the back of one of the drawers, although she probably should have thrown them away.

Lord, what was she going to do?
  She was supposed to get married in two months; Chad didn’t deserve to be jilted this close to the wedding.  Even if she managed to fool him into believing he was her first, how could she live with herself afterwards?  And what if he didn’t believe her?  What if he figured it out after they had…oh, no it was just too horrible to think about.  Maybe she could tell him she had lied from the beginning, that she’d slept with someone long before they met but hadn’t confessed because she didn’t want to disappoint him.  He would still be hurt, but it wouldn’t be nearly as devastating as knowing she’d made love to another man while they were engaged.     

Bri rose from the sofa and moved listlessly to the bedroom.
  Chad would be here in less than two hours and she was still wearing the robe she’d put on after her shower.  She stared at the clothes hanging in the closet knowing he wouldn’t approve of anything she’d brought with her.  For once, she wished she had something demure, something that would cover the places where another man’s hands had wandered for the better part of the night.  With a rueful shake of her head, Bri realized how impossible that would be.  Prince Charming hadn’t missed one single solitary patch of bare skin on her, so unless she was covered in a shroud from head to foot…

Bri’s heart leapt to her throat at the loud rapping on her door.
  Not even daring to let herself think it could be
him
, she hurried out of the bedroom to see who it was.  Standing on her toes, she stole a quick glance out the peek hole and drew back with a grimace.  She could almost feel the knots tightening in her stomach when she opened the door and pasted a smile on her face.

Chad’s eyes swept over the silk bathrobe, a frown forming on his face as he ushered her back inside.
  “Bri, I’m sorry about last night, but you didn’t honestly expect me to hop into bed with you the minute I arrived, did you?”

She let out an indignant huff
.  Okay, maybe he was justified in drawing that particular conclusion considering what she was wearing, but his biting tone touched off the explosive emotions she had been trying to contain all day.  If he’d been here last night like he promised, her conscious wouldn’t be gnawing at her right now and she would have made love to her fiancé instead of a perfect stranger.  And damn, the man
had
been perfect, which only made her angrier at Chad because the very least he could have done was act a little turned on by her state of undress.  Bri stomped off to the bedroom with Chad trailing behind her, then whirled on him so fast he nearly ran over her.

“Oh don’t worry,” she snapped, “I promise I’m not trying to seduce you.
  I wasn’t even expecting you for another two hours so I took a shower and was about to get dressed.” 

She brushed past him to the closet and pulled out the tightest pair of blue jeans she owned along with a clingy knit top and brought them back to the bed.
  Rebellion was written all over her face as Chad eyed her choice of clothing, but he wisely said nothing. 

“I managed to catch an earlier flight
,” he explained.  When she only stared unblinkingly at him, he closed the distance between them and offered an apologetic smile.  “I thought you would be glad to see me.”

Bri didn’t feel the least bit forgiving.
  “I would have been happier to see you last night.” 

His eyes flickered for a moment before he leaned down and kissed her and…
nothing
. 
My God
, she thought dismally, she felt absolutely nothing!  He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss, but the only emotion he elicited was a heartfelt sorrow that she hadn’t recognized how wrong he was for her before now.  No, that couldn’t be it.  She was just confused because of last night and was distancing herself from him because of it. 

She loved Chad, of course she did.
  She was going to marry him and they would live happily ever after.  Except…she didn’t feel happy at the moment.  There was only a deep disappointment in herself for not being able to muster even the tiniest of responses.

When Chad finally realized she wasn’t kissing him back, he lifted his head.
  “You’re angry with me.”

“No, I’m not,” she said with a sigh, and was surprised to find she really wasn’t.
  “I think you were right about us waiting.”  Bri drew away from him and sat down on the edge of the bed.  “It was wrong of me to push you into it when the wedding is so close.”

“You really mean that?”

She nodded, wondering why it didn’t upset her that he seemed so relieved.  “Eventually, you would have resented me for persuading you to spend the night when I know you don’t feel right about it.”

Chad sat down beside her.
  “It
has
been bothering me,” he admitted.  “I couldn’t understand why it was so important to you that we sleep together before we’re married.”

Brianne shrugged.
  “I guess I just wanted to know you found me desirable.”

“Bri, you
are a
very
beautiful woman.  No man in his right mind would find you anything but desirable.”

“If that’s true
, why is it so easy for you leave me every night and go back to your own house?”

“I didn’t say it was easy.
  I just think that since you waited for the right man to come along, you should wait for the time to be right too.”

“What about you?
  Don’t you ever get…urges?”

Chad stood up abruptly.
  “Look, you agreed we should wait so why are we even having this conversation?”

Bri’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as he fidgeted with his tie and then the cuff
links on his shirt.  “I should think we could discuss anything with each other.  Why does talking about having sex always seem to irritate you?”

“The only thing that irritates me is that you wouldn’t sleep with me before we were engaged and now it’s seems to be all you can think of.
  It’s a minor part of a marriage, Bri, and you’re placing way too much importance on it.”

She gaped at him in total disbelief.
  “You think the intimacy between two people who love each other is minor?”

“I didn’t say that, you’re twisting my words.”

Bri stood up with a heavy sigh.  “Maybe we should continue this another time.  I need to go over the proposals and you’ll need time to settle into your room and take a shower before dinner.”

It didn’t occur to her until after he’d gone that
his reluctance to sleep with her before the wedding was because he was afraid she would discover he didn’t have much of a sex drive.  And if she hadn’t spent the night in the arms of a man who had shown her every imaginable pleasure, Bri would never have questioned whether Chad was good in bed or not.  But she had someone to compare him with now, someone who had set the standards so high it would be a miracle if Chad could measure up. 

The only saving grace was that she would never have to see the man again
.  In time, she would forget about him and do her best to be a good wife to Chad. 
Liar
,
liar
, her inner voice chanted,
you won’t
ever forget
…

 
                                                                ***

Jake approved of the dress Brandy was wearing, but then he’d specifically asked her to keep it toned down since he wasn’t sure how conservative the Carrington’s were.
  She was a beautiful woman who seemed perfectly content to do what he asked and when he asked it, which probably would have thrilled just about any other man.  But Jake didn’t want a marionette for a partner and couldn’t help thinking his little auburn haired beauty probably would have told him to go to hell if he tried to dictate what she wore or how she styled her hair.  She had fire and passion, something Brandy seriously lacked, and until last night he hadn’t even realized just how much he needed that in a woman. 

For all his snooping around and attempts at cajoling the hotel personnel into revealing her name, he’d come up dry and still didn’t have a clue who the woman was.
  The only thing he was certain of was that she couldn’t have been there very long because no one admitted to having seen her around the hotel and she wasn’t the type of woman you forgot once you’d gotten a look at her. 

How he could ever have mistaken her for Brandy was beyond him
.  She was a good four inches shorter, and though her curves were definitely in all the right places, she was so small in stature she seemed almost fragile.  Not that Brandy was much bigger, but her bone structure wasn’t nearly as delicate, so the fact that he hadn’t detected the difference between the two women right away only proved how little interest he’d had in Brandy to begin with.

Jake’s attention was drawn back to the present when they entered the restaurant and were immediately escorted back to where the Carrington’s were seated.
  He’d met Phillip on several occasions and knew him on sight but had never met his wife before.  Juliette Carrington was a striking woman with a sheen of dark hair and the most amazing green eyes he’d ever seen.  When she held out her hand and smiled up at him, for a moment Jake had the strangest feeling he knew her from somewhere.  After the introductions were made and they were all seated, Phillip apologized for his tardy Public Relations Director.

“I’m afraid I’m a bit indulgent where she’s concerned,” he grinned.
  “You see, my P.R. girl also happens to be my daughter, Brianne.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s extremely proficient at her job but Bri doesn’t always conform to protocol, and being on time is not one of her strong suits.”

Juliette laughed.
  “That’s the understatement of the year.  Our daughter takes after her grandmother, who acts first and thinks later.  You’ve heard the old adage, look before you leap?  Well, put that in reverse and you have our Bri.”

“She sounds delightful,” Jake said earnestly, “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Well, you won’t have long,” Phillip said as he rose from his chair, “here she is now.”

Jake scooted his chair back and stood up to greet Brianne Carrington.
  The slightly upturned corners of his mouth broadened into a full-fledged smile when he turned and got his first glimpse of Phillip’s daughter.  The teal colored dress she wore was just short of being a second skin, conforming flawlessly to every dangerous curve.  The scooped neckline showed just enough cleavage to entice the imagination while the mid-thigh length revealed a pair of shapely legs that made his mouth go dry. 

Sea blue eyes fought valiantly to hold his gaze,
although the furious blush on her cheeks told him she very much wanted to look away.  Auburn hair framed her face and though she wasn’t wearing any lipstick, Jake’s attention was immediately drawn to her mouth.  How well he remembered their softness and intoxicating taste.  He also remembered the way his heart thundered in his chest that morning when those perfect lips had parted and whispered,
I want you
…

Jake took the hand she offered, noting the slight tremor when he gave it a gentle squeeze.  “Jake Malone,” he said with a smile.  “I’m so happy to meet you at last.”  He tilted his head, a devilish gleam in his eyes. “Strange, but I feel we’ve met before.”

“I…I’m sure I would remember if we had.”
  Bri pulled her hand away, completely mortified at having to introduce her fiancé to the man she’d slept with last night.  “This is Chad Donahue.  He’s the head of Finance at Carrington Cosmetics.”

Chad stuck out his hand.
  “And Brianne’s fiancé,” he shot her a pointed glance.

It didn’t take Jake two seconds to determine a stuffed shirt like Chad Donahue was all wrong for Brianne
.  Judging by the look on the lovely Miss Carrington’s face, her assessment of Brandy wasn’t any more flattering than his was for her fiancé.  More than once during the meal he caught the disparaging expression on Chad’s face whenever Brianne adjusted the strap on her dress or leaned a little too far forward, stressing the thin material covering her delectable breasts. 

It was obvious Chad didn’t approve of her attire, while Jake himself couldn’t have been more appreciative.
  She was simply gorgeous with an exquisite figure and Jake certainly had no objections to the breathtaking view he was being given.  It amused him to see how blatantly she ignored her fiancé’s disapproving glances and how profusely she blushed when she caught Jake’s eyes feasting on her.

“…don’t you think so, Jake?”

He turned to Juliette with an apologetic smile.  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Carrington, I’m afraid my mind was wandering.”  His gaze flickered briefly over Brianne.  “I had a rough night last night and didn’t get much sleep.”

“Call me Juliette, please.
  I was just saying it’s a wonder there wasn’t a mix up in the rooms considering how similar the two names are; Brianne Carrington and Brandy Karritaine.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
  “It certainly is.  I suppose it’s a good thing my flight didn’t get in until this morning.  I would hate to think how Bri would have reacted if I had slipped into her room in the middle of the night.”

Phillip’s booming laughter
made the people around them chuckle.  “No doubt my daughter would have gone after you like a wildcat.”

Jake
grinned.  “Is that so?”  He looked at Bri, whose face had gone white as a sheet.  “I imagine it would have been an experience neither of us would have forgotten.”

Brianne stood up abruptly.
  “Excuse me, I…I need to use the restroom.” 

She glanced around
, knowing full well just how desperate she looked, but no one seemed to notice.  Except Jake, that is.

“I believe
it’s over there,” he nodded off to the right then rose to his feet and did a gallant bow.  “I would be happy to escort you, as I have need of the facilities myself.”

Brianne could have clobbered him
, and probably would have if it wouldn’t have caused a scene.  With a little huff, she turned on her heel and hurried off in the direction he’d indicated, hoping to reach the bathrooms before he caught up with her.  Her luck wasn’t that good.  As she rounded the corner and headed down a short corridor, Jake kept pace with her, although he didn’t say anything until she made another turn and realized this wasn’t the way to the bathrooms at all.  She whirled on him, eyes blazing.

“Just what the hell are you up to, Jake Malone?”

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he slowly advanced on her until Brianne’s back stepping brought her up against the wall.  Jake braced his arms on either side of her, quite enamored by the flush in her cheeks and the way her nose flared out ever so slightly as she glared up at him.  He dipped his head and heard the sharp intake of breath a fraction of a second before he captured her lips and gave her a long, hard kiss.

Bri
ached all over.  How was that even possible?  How could he make her want him beyond all reason with just one little kiss?  Except it wasn’t just one little kiss; it was one very lengthy, very thorough, bone-melting, mind-boggling, to the freaking moon and back kiss, and Brianne was finding it extremely difficult at that moment to think of a single reason why she shouldn’t take him upstairs to her room for a command performance. 

Just thinking about making love to Jake again and losing herself in the heated passion he stirred made her heart thump erratically and her breath come up short.
  Her salvation came in the form of a waitress whose heels made a sharp clicking sound as she emerged from a door at the far end of the hallway and hurried past them.  The momentary distraction was all Bri needed to knock some sense into herself.  As soon as Jake lifted his head, she shoved against his chest. 

“Have you lost your mind?
  What if Chad or Brandy, or Heaven forbid, my father saw us?”

He only chuckled at her futile attempt to look angry.
  “You little hypocrite, you want me just as much as I want you and you know it.”

“That’s not true,” she denied vehemently.
  “You…you caught me off guard, that’s all.”

He lowered his head, arching a brow when she let out a soft little sigh and leaned into him.
  “Catching you off guard again, am I?” he teased.

Bri’s eyelids snapped open.
  Oh this was bad,
very
bad.  She hadn’t even realized she’d closed her eyes or that she was clutching the lapels of his jacket.  What kind of person was she that she could fall so easily into the arms of another man while her fiancé waited in the restaurant for her?  Shame washed over her in waves.  Jake must have seen the abrupt change in her expression because he dropped his arms to his sides, his eyes filled with genuine remorse. 

“I’m sorry, Bri, I shouldn’t have kissed you like that.”

She managed a weak smile.  “I don’t suppose I should have kissed you back either.  Maybe we should just forget this ever happened and get back to the table before someone comes looking for us.”

He nodded in agreement
, but wasn’t likely to forget that kiss or the dazed look on her face afterwards.  He’d never met any woman who instilled such unbridled emotions the way Bri did and he determined to get to know her better.  Whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not, there was something between them, something he was sure would last a lifetime if it was nurtured and given time to grow.  The problem was he didn’t have much time, not with an impending wedding on the horizon. 

Somehow he had to make her see what he
had surmised in only minutes; she would be miserable married to Chad.  The stiff-necked yuppie would do everything he could to squash that wild spirit of hers until there was nothing left but an empty shell.  Jake didn’t like the nasty looks Chad gave Bri, or the condescending tone he often used.  And he especially didn’t care for the way Chad put his hand on Bri’s arm or nudged her with his elbow whenever she laughed too loud or got a little too animated when she was talking. 

A woman like that was made to laugh
, and if Chad wasn't around, Jake imagined he would hear a whole lot more of that melodious sound.  It was care-free and infectious and made him smile on those infrequent occasions when it wasn’t cut short by her oppressive fiancé.  The saddest part of it all was that Bri seemed to take it all in stride.  He doubted she even knew what was happening, but the people who loved her had certainly picked up on it. 

Several times
, he noted the way her father’s lips pressed together when Chad said or did something to dampen Bri’s light-heartedness.  It was obvious Phillip was fighting back the urge to direct some biting words of his own towards his future son-in-law.  And her mother visibly cringed whenever Chad corrected Brianne or made some remark about how hard he worked at teaching her the proper way to conduct herself. 

Over the course of the next hour, Jake watched Bri’s vibrant personality slowly wilt under Chad’s constant little reminders
, and by the end of the meal she was barely speaking at all.  He hated seeing the light in her eyes dim and that beautiful smile fade, and he hated Chad even more for doing that to her.  He’d always considered it tasteless and just plain unsporting to go after another man’s woman, but in this case he felt justified.  Because Jake knew he was the only man she had ever made love to, and because he intended to keep it that way. 

 
                                                                ***

If it was possible to die of embarrassment, the death march would have played at least a dozen times for her that evening.
  How many times had Chad given her that blank stare when she said something he deemed inappropriate?  At one point he leaned over and whispered that she should take lessons from Brandy who spoke so softly everyone had to strain to hear her and whose laughter was nothing more than a quiet little twitter that could hardly be considered a laugh at all. 

He even had the nerve to compare what they were wearing and asked Bri why she couldn’t dress like that.
  It was downright degrading and she was just thankful he hadn’t said any of those things loud enough for the others to hear.  Of course, he’d managed to make so many other demeaning remarks she’d wanted to run back to her room and hide her head in shame.

It
was agonizing sitting at the same table with Chad and Jake, not only because of the horrible way Chad treated her, but because she couldn’t keep herself from comparing the two men.  They were night and day, and looking at Jake’s rugged good looks in contrast to Chad’s starched male model features made her wonder how she had ever thought Chad was so attractive. 

Oh
, he was good looking, but he didn’t make her temperature rise or her heart race like it did when her eyes fell on Jake’s handsome face.  And even though Chad was a decent kisser, he’d never made her feel like a pat of butter on a hot skillet or turned her insides to mush the way Jake did.  Thank God, her father hadn’t wanted to talk business and she was able to escape, claiming a headache.

Now, all alone in her room and brooding over what she considered a disastrous evening, she really was starting to develop a pounding headache.
  It wasn’t really that late, but she’d half decided to go to bed anyway when there was a sharp rap on her door.  Positive it was Chad coming to chastise her for all the things she’d done wrong that evening and offer helpful suggestions on how she could improve herself, Bri tried to mask her irritation as she opened the door.

Jake grinned, holding up a bottle of aspirin.
  “I’ve come to administer first aide.”

Bri grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, quickly closing the door behind him.
  “Have you gone completely mad?  Chad’s room is just down the hallway and if I’m not mistaken, yours is too!”

He shrugged indifferently and led the way to the living room.
  “Brandy took a couple of sleeping pills and probably won’t even wake up until noon tomorrow.”

Bri crossed her arms.
  “Well Chad doesn’t take sleeping pills.  What if he’d seen you at my door?”

Jake snorted.
  “Chad boy probably doesn’t take any type of pill that isn’t holistic in nature.  Tell the truth now, does he always order vegetarian meals and grill the waitress on what type of oil is used to cook it in?”

She turned away from him, hoping he’d think she was angry when in fact she was trying to hide her smile.
  “He’s very conscientious about his diet, unlike you who ordered half a cow for dinner.”

“Steak, sweetheart, and it was only sixteen ounces.
  What do you see in him anyway?  The man is so uptight I doubt he has a clue about how to relax.  He probably sleeps with his tie on, and I would bet my shiny new pickup that he doesn’t even own a pair of blue jeans.”

Bri turned back around, intending
 to deny his smug accusation, but now that he’d mentioned it, she thought he might just be right.  “I thought you came here to administer first aide,” she said, hoping to change the subject.

Jake stared at her in astonishment.
  “Oh, my God, I’m right; he really doesn’t own a pair of jeans, does he?”

Brianne glared at him.
  “What about your girlfriend,” she snapped.  “I’ll bet Malibu Barbie wouldn’t be caught dead in anything that didn’t carry a designer label.”

His eyes moved appreciatively over the snug jeans Brianne was wearing.
  Brandy wouldn’t have looked half as good.  “I wouldn’t know, we’ve never been on a casual date.”

Before she could stop herself she blurted out, “You mean you don’t live together?”

Jake looked as if he’d just eaten something sour.  “Good Lord, what gave you that idea?”

“Well you brought her with you so I just assumed.”
 

Why did it make her so happy to know he wasn’t serious enough about the woman to live with her?
  She shouldn’t care about it one way or another; shouldn’t being the operative word since she most certainly
did
care. 

“So…how long have you been dating?”

Jake set the bottle of aspirin on the coffee table and dropped down onto the sofa.  “Three or four months, I think.”