Marriage Made on Paper (7 page)

“I was thinking a romantic getaway,” he said, enjoying the way her lips tightened further. He wasn’t used to seeing Lily flustered, but she was exactly that about the whole situation.

“And what about our jobs?”

“It will be a working getaway of course. I was planning on going to Thailand to check on the resort progress sometime in the next week. And now seems like a perfect time. Maddy’s in Switzerland until the story blows over, and she’ll be at one of my resorts, so the security will be tight, and with that taken care of, we can get publicity for the resort.”

“And for us,” Lily returned dryly.

“Doesn’t hurt.”

Lily’s heart beat faster. Curse the man. “If Maddy is taken care of …”

“We still have to see this through. If you’re caught lying so blatantly, your credibility will be destroyed. Along with the rest of your career.”

And curse him again, he was right. That was always the risk with this job. There was a fine line between bending the truth and outright lies. She avoided lies whenever she could, but ultimately, her client’s image—or in this case, his sister’s—was her concern. But if she was caught being … economical … with the truth, the media would never take her seriously again. Credibility, once it was damaged like that, was not an easy thing to repair.

“Point taken.” She put her smile on, the one she reserved for press conferences. “I guess we’re going to Thailand.”

I
T WAS
late when Gage’s private plane landed on the island of Koh Samui. A car was waiting for them when they got off of the plane. Lily expected nothing less. Gage was always efficient. Or at least, the people he hired were always completely efficient. Which, she imagined, brought it back around to Gage being efficient.

She took a deep breath of the humid, salty air before getting into the limo.

Gage settled in beside her. His top button was undone, his tie long discarded, his sleeves pushed up over his elbows, revealing tanned, muscular forearms that demanded an in-depth study from female admirers. He still smelled good, too, even after long hours of travel.

“Don’t you find the limo a bit cliché?” she asked, running her hands unconsciously over the cool leather.

“I find it practical. I have a driver, I have privacy. I have enough room to work—” he looked at her, his blue eyes hot “—or play.”

She held up a hand and tried to ignore the chip in her manicure. “I don’t need to hear about your backseat exploits.”

He reached across the seats and gripped the clip that
was holding her bun in place, letting her brown hair fall around her in a heavy curtain. He slid his fingers through it, rubbing the tender places that were sore from so many hours pinned back. The gentle pressure of his fingers felt so good. It was part massage, part sexual tease. She wanted to tilt her head and lean into his touch. To moan in ecstasy over what he was making her feel.

Instead she jerked her head away from his touch. “Why did you do that?”

“You may not want to discuss any of my backseat exploits, but if there are reporters waiting at the resort it wouldn’t hurt you to look as though you’d been engaging in some of your own.” He drew his thumb lightly over her cheek. “You’re already flushed.”

She let her breath out slowly. “It’s hot.”

His blue eyes were serious, studying, and she felt her face get even hotter. “Yes. It is.” He moved away from her, leaning back against the seat.

“How is the building project going?” she asked. Anything to break the tension that had just stretched between them, so real and tight that it had seemed like a physical force. It was worse that she was sure he felt it.

But then he was a man, and she was a woman, so, naturally, if she was giving off any attraction vibes he was going to pick up on them and reciprocate. It was the way it worked. A woman didn’t need to be especially desirable, only available.

“It’s going well. Most of the individual villas are up and ready for use. The main portion of the resort is still under construction, but I’ve made sure that the villa we’re staying in is totally stocked, and some of
the housekeeping staff I’ve already hired are staying on site, so they’ll be around to take care of our needs.”

“I don’t need housekeeping,” she said dryly. “How do you think I manage in my daily life?”

“I assumed you were busy and you would have some domestic help.”

Which would require her to allow a stranger in her house. Which might seem fanatical to some, but she’d done cramped, shared communal living with her mother and whatever man of the month her mother was currently attached to. No privacy. And some of the men had attempted to take advantage … it was no wonder she’d never been the kind of woman to experiment with flings. She’d had to work too hard to maintain any sort of innocence in that environment.

“We’re not all billionaires, Gage.”

“But I know what I pay you,” he said dryly.

“But you don’t know my expenses. Maybe I own beachfront property.”

“You don’t.”

She turned to him, eyebrows raised. “You don’t think I do?”

“You’re too sensible.”

She smirked. “As it happens I own a beachfront condo.”

The West Coast, the ocean, had been her dream growing up. She’d seen the ocean for the first time at seventeen, when she moved to California, and it had been her goal to be able to see it from her bedroom window. It had taken quite a few years, but eighteen months ago she’d finally gotten the keys to her new beachfront home. A home she’d worked for. The home she’d earned. It had been the best feeling in the world.
The ultimate reward for her years of hard work, focus and independence.

“You don’t seem the type.”

“I don’t?”

“Do you surf? Swim?”

She laughed. “No.”

“That’s why you don’t seem the type.”

“I used to dream about the ocean,” she said without thinking. “In Kansas we have seas of cornfields. No ocean. I thought if I could see the ocean … it was like the world would be open to me. Endless possibilities on the horizons.”

As soon as she finished she wished she hadn’t said anything. She’d never told anyone that before, not even any of her friends. Her dreams had always been her own. She had a really nice group of friends, but they kept things casual, not really in depth. And that was how she liked things in general with people. Now she felt horribly exposed, and to Gage of all people, who always seemed like he could see into her, like he knew things about her even she didn’t know.

“It’s a good dream,” he said. “And now you have it.”

She nodded once. “Part of it.”

“You want success.”

“I want unsurpassed success in my field,” she said.

“Something I understand.”

“You have that kind of success, Gage.”

He offered her a partial smile. “Yet, I still want more. It’s never quite enough, that’s the thing about ambition. But that’s what keeps me going, and in business, you have to keep going. Money doesn’t wait for you. If I wasn’t building this resort, someone else would be,
and it would be my missed opportunity. As it is, it’s my payday and someone else’s regret.”

“You don’t do regret, do you?” she asked.

“I make sure I never need to.”

They pulled onto a road that was newer than the main highway, the pavement dark and smooth as the road curved around the base of sheer rock face covered with vines and moss. The road led up the mountain and the foliage grew thicker and greener and palm trees and other topical plants grew thick along the roadside.

It certainly hadn’t been overtaken by Forrestation Inc., as some of the environmental groups had feared. With the exception of the road, Lily could barely make out any signs of civilization.

The partially built resort was at the top of the mountain, with a clear view of the crystalline ocean and the white sand beaches. Paths led from the main building and into the trees and, she assumed, to the separate teakwood villas.

The limo came to a halt and Lily got out without waiting for Gage, or the driver, to open her door for her.

“It has a view of the ocean,” Gage said, coming to stand beside her.

She cleared her throat. “Yes, it does.” It bothered her now, that he had that little piece of her. Now he knew what to say, and he knew why this place was so perfect to her. He would know what she was thinking.

She shrugged off the unsettling thought. “So, where am I staying?”

“We are staying in the house I had built for my own personal use.”

The thought of staying with him did not settle well. “Why are we staying together?”

“The board is visiting. That means we have to look as cozy as possible.”

“But it’s a whole house?”

“Yes. More than three thousand square feet. You’ll never have to see me. Unless you want to, of course.”

The look that he gave her was so heated it made her body temperature skyrocket. His meaning wasn’t implied so much as stated. Boldly, explicitly.

“I don’t,” she said, tight-lipped, knowing how uptight she sounded.

He lifted an eyebrow. “What if there’s a business matter we need to discuss?”

“Then I’ll look for you.”

“What did you think I meant, Lily?”

She made a scoffing sound in the back of her throat. “You know perfectly well what … because it’s what you were implying.” He was flustering her. Honestly flustering her. That did not happen. Ever.

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t even try to break the thick silence with a clever comment. He only looked at her, his blue eyes roaming over her body, making her feel like he was undressing her. Like she was already undressed. Like he could see everything. Every flaw, every imperfection, every bit of her.

She looked away, throat dry. “Okay, so where’s the house?”

“Just down the path.”

He surprised her by opening the trunk of the limousine and taking their suitcases out himself before heading down the heavily wooded trail. She followed him, as best she could in her stilettos, which were not made for a natural path, however nicely constructed.

She wobbled and pitched forward, catching herself on his broad shoulders, her breasts crushed against his
back. He stopped, his body stiff and strong beneath her weight. Her heart thundered heavily, both from the near fall, and from being so close to him again.

It was just like it had been when they were dancing. He was so solid, so hot and male. She wanted to melt into him. To chase after the riot of sensations that were moving through her body at lightning speed. To finally know what it meant to share sexual pleasure with someone else.

She pushed away from him, wobbling again, but she managed to get her balance on her own. She took a sharp breath. Just the small distance between them afforded her more clarity of thought. But when she touched him … she forgot everything. Everything but her steadily growing desire for him. Well, not really for him personally, but for his body. Gage was the last man on earth—okay, not really the last man but he was low on the list—with whom she would choose to have a real relationship. But something about him physically, probably his undeniable sex appeal, got to her more than any other man ever had.

It was raw and elemental, beyond common sense. And she really, really hated it.

“Sorry,” she said, her voice breaking and, she knew, revealing just how much the encounter had affected her.

“Be careful,” he said. His voice sounded thicker, huskier. That was when she knew. Knew that he was affected by her, too, that her touching him, pressing against him, was doing the same thing to him that it had done to her. And that did not make things better.

She twisted the engagement ring on her finger and reminded herself exactly why she didn’t need a relationship, with Gage or anyone else. She didn’t want anyone
to
own
her. Didn’t want anyone to control her and manipulate her with her own foolish emotions. She’d seen how it worked, what love did to you, what it asked of you. It wasn’t anything she wanted a part of.

She followed him the rest of the way, more slowly and more carefully, until they reached the house. It was set up on stilts and made from solid dark teakwood with the traditional curves of Thai architecture, mixed with a modern sensibility. The large, covered outdoor living area that wrapped around the house made the most of the natural environment and the view. It appeared rustic in a sense, but she knew that inside it would have every modern convenience available, and even some that weren’t available. Not to mere mortals anyway.

“I love it,” she said, meaning it.

“I like it, too,” he said. “I designed it, actually.”

“You did?”

He shrugged. “That was how I got into property development. Architecture has always interested me. I like building resorts that are functional and beautiful, and blend in with the natural culture and landscape.”

“You really have to start saying these things in public,” she said.

Now she knew something about Gage, she realized. And he knew something about her. That caused strange tightening sensation in her chest.

“Why? Then your job would be easy.”

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the persistent roll of her stomach. “Can’t have that.” She walked up the exterior stairs of the house without waiting for him and went inside.

It was gorgeous, the décor simple and traditional, a muted color palette that caused all attention to be drawn
to the view outside, to the vivid colors of the beach that could never be rivaled by anything man-made.

She moved through the open living room and into the kitchen, which was outfitted, as she’d predicted, with top-of-the-line equipment. Stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. The kitchen flowed seamlessly into the dining room, which went back around into the living room.

“Where’s my room?” she asked, starting to feel desperate for a little bit of space. He was making her whole body feel restless and jittery and she needed a break.

“Just through here,” he said and gestured to another open doorway just off of the living room.

There was no door, just a cleverly angled wall that kept the bed from view. The bedroom was open to a massive bathroom that was, again, only private in part.