SEALed Bride: A Bad Boy Romance (Includes bonus novel Jerked!) (9 page)

I watched as she turned and stormed away.

“Shit,” I muttered to myself, walking back into the room.

Livy was onto us. That wasn’t surprising, since Livy was always on me like white on toast. She was my damn professional babysitter, and she was good at it. Since she was my publicist, she wouldn’t do anything stupid like contradicting me in front of a journalist or saying something stupid around the paparazzi.

But her word held weight with the publisher. If I wanted my mission to be a success, I needed to convince my publisher that this wife thing was for real.

And, hopefully, they’d decide to let me go free of this fucking hell.

I sat back down on the couch, lounging out. I took off my shirt and tossed it aside, closing my eyes to take a little nap.

“Do you ever wear a shirt?”

I opened one eye. “Sometimes,” I said.

“Well clothe yourself, please.”

“No. I’m in my bedroom.”

Selena stared at me for a second and then sighed. “Fine. You can sleep on the bed tonight if you want.”

“Nah,” I said. “That’s fine. You can have the bed.”

“Really. You don’t have to sleep on couches for the next few months. We can alternate.”

“Really,” I said, “you can have the bed.”

“Fine.” She sat down in a chair. “I’m starving. Where do we eat?”

“Call room service. It’s on the publisher.”

She nodded. “Okay. And I need my stuff, too, from home.”

I sighed and rubbed my head. “I’ll have Liv send for it. Make a list of what you want.”

She nodded again.

“Is that all, princess?” I asked, not sure why I was being short with her.

“No,” she said, frowning. “Look, we should talk about tomorrow.”

“What about it?”

“We need to have our story straight.”

I sat up. “Yeah. Okay.”

“So you told Liv that we’ve been together secretly for a while, but our relationship was open. I think that was a good idea.”

I nodded. “Thanks. I’m pretty great sometimes.”

“Also,” she went on, “we should tell the media that I’m very private. That way we can minimize the number of times I’m on camera.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Trying to get out of your work?”

“No, but the fewer times I have to lie, the fewer times I can screw it all up.”

He nodded slowly. “Makes sense.”

“How did we meet?”

“At a bar. You were a huge fan and couldn’t resist my charms.”

She shook her head. “No. You haven’t been in Philly in a while.”

“Have you traveled recently?”

“I visited a friend in Chicago.”

“I was in Chicago three months ago. We can say you were there with your friend and we ran into each other at a bar.”

She frowned, thinking. She looked cute as fuck trying to reason this whole thing out. “Okay, fine. That could work.”

“What else?” I asked.

“They’re going to ask for the story exactly.”

“Let me handle that.”

“Fine. What about the wedding?”

“We can tell the truth about that. Spur of the moment thing in Vegas.”

“Okay.” She stretched her legs and looked at me. “I think that’s it.”

“Good,” I said, lying back down and shutting my eyes. “I’m fucking exhausted.”

“I’ll leave you alone.” I listened as she stood and went back into the bedroom.

I lay there, eyes shut, and felt bad about how short I had been with her. She was probably pretty nervous for tomorrow, especially considering she had never done a media interview before, let alone lied to the whole nation.

Sighing, I stood up and slipped my shirt back on. I walked over to the bedroom door and pushed it open.

“Hey, why don’t you—”

I stopped in my tracks. Selena was standing there next to the bed in nothing but a bra and panties. She turned beet red and tried to cover herself.

“Get out!” she yelled.

I smirked at her. “I was just going to say you should order food for me too, but now I’m hungry for something else.”

“Nash! Get out!”

I laughed as I turned and left.

My cock was fucking rock hard as I moved back into the main living room. Selena was fucking incredibly sexy with her full, firm tits and her incredible ass. The way she got so embarrassed just made it that much better.

She came back out a minute later, fully clothed and looking pissed.

“You cannot just barge in like that,” she said.

“Forgot we aren’t really married,” I said, grinning at her. “Just wanted to check on my wife.”

“Seriously, Nash. Boundaries.”

“Sure. Whatever you say.” I smirked and moved closer to her. “But you know it excites you thinking about me staring at your body.”

“Not at all.”

“No? You don’t get soaking wet knowing that I’m fucking hard just thinking about your incredible fucking body?”

“Professional, Nash. We’re being professional.”

But that look she was giving me wasn’t professional at all.

In fact, she was looking at me like a starving cat looking at milk. She wanted to lap me up, and I fucking knew it. I stepped closer to her, cutting the distance between us in half, but she didn’t move a muscle.

Her lips were slightly parted. “I like to keep things professional, too,” I said to her.

“So then stop making comments.”

“I have to lie to everyone else. I’m not going to lie to you.”

“You can just not say it,” she mumbled.

“Why? I want you to know how badly I want that pussy on my mouth. I can make you come a thousand different ways, you know that?” I watched as she began to blush again, and I knew she was soaking wet for me in that moment. “I’m trained to know the human body. I can kill a man in a hundred ways with my bare hands. I can get a woman off even easier and in much more fun ways.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “And I doubt the military taught you that.”

“It didn’t, not exactly. That was my own training. And I’ve gotten very, very good at it.”

“Enough,” she whispered. She shook her head and took a deep breath and then stepped away from me. “I’m ordering food. What do you want?”

“Steak and a whisky,” I said, grinning at her.

“Okay.” She walked back toward the room.

“You going to hide in there all night?”

“Yeah,” she said, “I am.”

“Don’t trust yourself around me? Think you’re going to lose your mind and wrap those pretty legs around my face, let me eat you up?”

She looked at me quietly for a second. “Not at all,” she said finally, and then she turned and disappeared back into the bedroom.

I watched the door click shut.

My cock was so hard I could barely stand it.

God damn. That fucking girl drove me wild. Her words sounded like she didn’t want it, but every look begged to differ. She was practically dripping wet for me, begging for it, wanted me more than she even realized.

And fuck if I didn’t feel the same way.

What had I gotten myself into? Maybe it was a bad idea to choose a fake wife I wanted to fuck more than anything.

Or maybe it was the best decision I had ever made.

Only one way to find out.

T
he lights were bright as hell as I sat there and tried not to sweat.

After that arrogant asshole had walked in on me while I was getting changed, I pretty much went right to bed. I ate a little bit of the food that was delivered, but I didn’t have much of an appetite.

Because he was right. He was absolutely right. I didn’t trust myself around him. Every time he looked at me with that serious, piercing gaze and said something so deliciously inappropriate, I found myself so excited. My pussy would be dripping wet and I’d practically have to run away or else risk throwing myself at him.

And that was a real problem, because I wanted to keep things professional. The second we started mixing business with pleasure was the second I lost myself in all this.

I looked at him and he grinned at me. “Relax,” he said.

“I’m not relaxed?”

“You look like you’re about to get into a firefight with the Taliban,” he joked.

“So I looked terrified.”

He smiled softly and put his hand on my leg. I didn’t flinch or move it off since we were in acting mode. And since I really liked it there. “You’re going to be fine,” he said.

“Thanks.”

“Really. Just follow my lead.”

“Okay.” I looked at him for a second. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For being nice,” I said softly.

Whatever cocky response he had lined up was forgotten as a slim, gorgeous girl walked over to us.

“Nash!” she exclaimed. “Good to see you again.”

“Melissa.” He smiled and stood up. “I’m glad it’s you.”

“Why’s that?” She came over and kissed him on both cheeks.

“Because you’ll go easy on us.”

She smiled and looked at me. “Is this her?”

“Melissa, my wife, Selena.”

“Nice to meet you, lucky girl.”

I stood and shook her hand. “I am lucky,” I said.

“Damn right she is,” Nash said, laughing.

Melissa smiled again and sat down, turning her gaze back to Nash. The cameramen were getting set up, and a woman came over to pin a microphone to my shirt. Nash sat there and let people buzz around him, and I had to try hard not to swat them away. He looked like a Zen monk sitting in a forest, not like a Navy SEAL sitting in a media room.

“So, we’ll make this fast,” Melissa said. “I’m sure you guys want to get it over with.”

I laughed. “Yeah, we do.”

She ignored me, staring at Nash. “Nothing too tough question-wise, but I hope you’ll be forthcoming.”

“Sure,” he grunted. “Whatever you want.”

“Okay.” She looked at her crew. “Ready?” They gave her the all-clear sign and she looked back at Nash.

I got the distinct impression that she had absolutely no interest in talking to me at all and that she’d be looking to Nash for most of her answers.

Which suited me just fine.

“Nash Bell, how are you?”

“I’m good, Melissa. How are you?”

“I’m swell. So, who is this sitting with you?”

I smiled as Nash introduced me. “This is Selena Wood.” He paused dramatically. “My new wife.”

Melissa laughed. “Congrats to you two. Can I see the ring?”

I held my hand out, and she glanced at it before looking back to Nash. “So, tell me how it happened.”

“I was in Chicago doing interviews, a lot like this one. She was there visiting a friend.”

“That's fun,” Melissa said, smiling.

“Yeah, well, she’s a fun girl. More fun than I am. Anyway, I was at this bar, drinking like I normally do, and this girl comes up to me. I don’t know how, but she manages to trip and spill her damn drink right in my lap.”

Melissa laughed. “You’re kidding me.”

He shook his head, grinning. “True story. Right in my lap. Well, I bought her a new drink, and we hit it off from there.”

“Oh wow. How embarrassing,” Melissa said, laughing.

I glared at Nash. That asshole didn’t have to make me look like a clumsy idiot in our story. And Melissa was clearly eating it up; anything to make me look bad. The woman clearly had something against me, or maybe she had something for Nash.

“Tell me, Selena, is that how you remember it?”

“More or less,” I said quickly. “Although I remember he was much less smooth about the whole thing.”

Melissa laughed, delighted. “Well isn’t this a delicious story. So, you two eloped. Why?”

“Impatience,” Nash said. “You know how I’ve been lately, drinking too much, partying too much. I’m ready to get my life together, and I want that life to be with Selena.”

Melissa practically melted at that. “Wow Nash. That’s so sweet. Selena?”

I looked at her. “Yes?”

She frowned at me. “What do you think?”

I blinked, blanking for a second. Nash quickly put his hand on my leg again. “Sorry. She’s a little camera shy,” he said.

Melissa smiled. “That’s okay. Nothing to be afraid of. Just tell me about the wedding.”

“It was good,” I said finally. “I’m just glad he’s finally getting himself together, is all.”

“Great,” she said, turning back to Nash. “Now, I have some questions about the upcoming movie.”

I spaced out as the two of them chatted about the movie and the book. I didn’t know why I had blanked like that and panicked. It must have been because of Nash’s answer. It had just seemed so sincere and honest, and frankly, it had taken me off guard.

He hadn’t said any of that stuff to me, or at least he hadn’t prepared me for that. I didn’t know he was playing this whole thing as some redemption story, but that did make sense. He wanted it to look like he was settling down, get the publishers off his back, make his fans happy.

And I was his arm candy, there to smile and look wholesome.

Fine. So long as I got my million dollars, I could do that. I could be his window dressing.

The interview slowly wound down and finally ended. We all stood up and shook hands again, though Melissa lingered on Nash.

“Great seeing you again, Nash,” she said. “We have to catch up.”

“Of course,” he said, smiling at her. “Whenever you want.”

“I’ll call you.” She glanced at me. “Bye, sweetie.” She turned and walked away.