The Tycoon's Temporary Bride: Book Four (24 page)

“Adam,” she whispered his name.

“What?” he asked. “What do you want,
Tashi?”

“I want—” She wished she knew how to ask for
what she wanted.

“This?” he asked, drawing his fingers slowly
up one leg of her shorts, as his other hand crawled higher along
her back up to her neck, adding pressure, pulling her upper body
down toward him.

“Yes,” she whispered, as his teasing fingers
on her thighs sent shivers rippling through her. Her gaze slid to
Adam’s sexy mouth and, compelled by her desire to kiss him, her
hunger to taste him, she licked her lips as he drew her head slowly
toward his lying flat against the cushion of the sofa. Her body
felt warm and heavy and flushed. She was floating through space,
yet seemed to be standing still as she took in the dreamy glaze in
his eyes. Closer and closer, he drew her in until she could smell
the heady scent of his masculinity, feel the warm whisper of his
breath on her lips…

Then the shrill ring of his office phone
pierced the silent air.

They both stiffened as if they’d been caught
in a forbidden act. The dream had ended, but the remnants of its
effect still lingered in the sound of their heavy breathing and the
pulsing of their aroused sexes against each other.

They stared at each other in bated silence,
waiting for the phone to stop ringing, but it didn’t. Their moment
had come and gone. As if to prove her point, Adam swore—something
Tashi had never heard him do before. When he turned his head and
flung a frustrated glance toward his desk, Tashi took the
opportunity to push herself up, and off him. She shot to her feet
and stared down at him, still sprawled out on the sofa with his
thick mass of hair around his head and shoulders and the outline of
his arousal still evident at his groin.

He looked so sexy—this large, beautiful man
who would become her husband tomorrow. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“About what?”

She had no idea. Was she sorry for involving
him in her crime, for making him put his own life on hold, for
almost seducing him, or was she sorry that they’d been
interrupted?

His gaze skidded down her body before he sat
upright, pushed to his feet, and walked across the spacious office.
Instead of picking up the receiver, he pushed a button on the base
of the phone, then another. He turned, facing her, passion still
ablaze in his eyes.

“Adam, are you there?”

Tashi held her breath as Dr. LaCrosse’s voice
broke the tense silence. Why had Adam put the call on speaker?

Adam paused on a frown before responding.
“Yes, Erik. I’m here. Where else would I be? I asked to be alone.
You know that.”

“Yes. I understand,” the doctor
responded.

Why were they talking in code? Tashi
wondered. Erik knew she was here with Adam.

“Glad to know you’re still alive.”

That’s why, Tashi thought as an unfamiliar
voice joined the conversation. Who was that, and how did Adam know
Erik wasn’t alone? Was he just being cautious or was he
psychic?

“Massimo.” Adam inadvertently answered her
question.

“I’m here, too.” Another unfamiliar voice,
deepest of the three, spoke.

That had to be Bryce. Tashi clasped her hands
together in front of her.

“You told us you wanted to lay low for a
couple weeks,” Bryce began, “and we were prepared to respect your
wishes. It’s not like you haven’t secluded yourself before, but we
can’t ignore your parents’ request to check up on you. They’re
worried, and frankly, we are too since learning that you put your
household staff on an indefinite leave of absence.”

Tashi’s mouth opened in surprise.
He did
what?
He’d told her he didn’t have a housekeeper.

Adam grimaced in obvious frustration. “Where
are you guys?”

“On our way to see you,” Massimo said.

Tashi’s stomach crunched up into tiny little
knots. She shook her head and mouthed the word, “No” to Adam. She’d
just told him her deepest darkest secret, and he’d agree to marry
her and protect her, and although she knew she’d have to meet his
friends at some point, this was not a good time. She and Adam had
to talk some more about what to tell everybody about her place in
his life and his home. They had to get their stories straight.

“I’m fine. There’s no need for you to come. I
don’t need anything.” He glanced over at Tashi and the lazy
seductive look in his eyes indicated that he had everything he
needed in the world already.

Tashi didn’t know whether she should rejoice
or cry about it. She couldn’t be all he needed.

“Tell that to Uncle Alessandro and Aunt
Bella. They insisted I visit you today and give them a full
report.”

They apparently hadn’t called Massimo back
since the satellite interview, Tashi thought, grateful that Adam’s
parents had kept their promise to their son. But for how long? Even
though she didn’t understand Alessandro’s last statement just
before Adam had cut him off in midsentence, she’d heard the tone of
disapproval in the older man’s voice. He was upset with the
decisions his son had been making lately, as any concerned father
should be.

“We’re already on Andreas Drive,” Bryce said.
“Almost at the gatehouse. We’ll be there in a few minutes. We’re
not leaving until you see us.”

Tashi clenched and unclenched her hands as
Adam picked up a tablet from his desk and proceeded to type rapidly
on it as if he were sending an emergency text. In a few seconds it
chimed. He read the response, set it back on the table, and pushed
a button on the base of the house phone.

What was he doing
?

Tashi opened her mouth to call out to him,
but he raised his hand to silence her, a crafty smile parting his
lips. They waited as the low hum of a car’s engine came to a stop,
followed by a murmur of male voice exchanges, and then…

“Seriously! You’re not letting us through the
gate? This is ridiculous. He’s gone mad.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Andretti, but your cousin
gave me strict orders not to allow anyone on the estate,” one of
the guards said.

“I’m not
anyone
! I’m his family!”

“Are you sure he’s not being held hostage in
his own home? Have you seen him, spoken to him?” Bryce asked in a
more conciliatory tone, but edged with a touch of concern
nonetheless. “His restrictions definitely don’t apply to us. Why
don’t you call and check with him?”

“I’m sorry, gentlemen, but he said no one is
allowed in,” the guard responded in an apologetic tone. “Mr.
Andreas is not receiving today.”

“Receiving? Not receiving? What the hell is
that? How can he not receive family?”

A smile spread across Tashi’s face as Adam
began to laugh so hard, he fell back against the edge of his desk.
His laughter was deep and rich and warm. It was the first time
she’d seen him so amused.

Deprived of the luxury of expressing her own
glee, Tashi clasped her hand over her mouth to stifle her chuckles.
It had been so long since she’d laughed, had had reason to laugh.
Already, she was feeling like a different person. The dark shadow
over her heart had been lifted. Adam knew the horrible secret of
her past and he hadn’t judged her nor condemned her.

“You think this is funny?” Massimo asked.

“Adam, you’ve had your fun. Let us in,” Bryce
demanded.

Adam sent her a conspiratorial wink. “I’m
sorry guys, but I really can’t see you. I’m already engaged for the
rest of the day.”

“Doing what?”

“And with whom?”

“I can’t say. But I promise to show up for
Little Erik’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon. Five o’clock,
right, Erik?”

“Right. Our families are meeting an hour
before the other guests arrive, just to catch up. We don’t get a
lot of time to do that anymore.”

“Okay. I’ll be there,” Adam said, then
mouthed “we” to Tashi.

Tashi’s nerves tensed immediately at the
prospect of meeting Adam’s friends, especially Bryce and his
wife—the couple she’d seen at the outlets just hours before she ran
into Adam. Would they know her, recognize her as the girl they
thought was very beautiful?

“And Adam, just so you know, I called your
cell to warn you that we were coming by,” Erik said with a note of
caution in his voice.

“Thanks, buddy. I appreciate it. I left my
cell in the bedroom while I took a nap in my office.”

“Napping in the middle of the day? What’s
this? Do you have a girl up there with you? Is that why you’re
being so secretive?” Massimo demanded.

Tashi bit back a gasp.

Adam held her gaze from across the room. “I
assure you, cousin. I do not have a girl up here with me.”

Now, he was lying for her.

There was a brief silence, then Bryce spoke.
“Okay, Adam. We’ll give you one more day. But if you don’t show up
tomorrow, we’re coming back whether or not you’re ‘receiving’.
We’ll drive right through this gate if we have to.”

“See you tomorrow. Give my love to the wives
and kids.” He hit the intercom button, ending the
conversation.”

Tashi walked over to him. “Thank you. I know
it wasn’t easy blowing off your friends like that, and especially
lying to them about not having a girl up here.”

He bunched his hair in his hands and tucked
it behind his ears. “You’ve been interrogated enough for today.
Let’s leave some drama for tomorrow when you meet them. As my
wife.” His eyes and voice softened on the last three words. “I
didn’t lie to them. You’re a woman, Tashi, not a girl.”

His elucidation brought Tashi a giddy sense
of awareness. She was a girl when she first came here, but she’d
evolved into a woman. “They care about you, and they’re worried,”
she said, deciding not to follow through on his perception of
her.

“As they should. It’s what friends do. They
look out for each other’s best interests.”

Friends
. She and Adam had been
colliding strangers in a café, wary strangers on the street,
intimate strangers on an estate, and now she could honestly say
that over the course of the past two weeks, their relationship had
evolved into a trusting, genuine friendship. And tomorrow he would
become her husband at the request of a friend.

Agent Dawson was his friend.
Agent
Dawson
. Tashi repeated the name in her head. It was so nice to
have a name to put with the face—a face she might never see again,
but one she could never forget. What was so special about her that
two men—total strangers to her—were so willing to lay down their
lives to protect her? She might never know Agent Dawson’s reason,
but she could understand Adam’s sense of duty to grant his friend’s
request.

Their marriage might be temporary, but based
on what just almost happened on the sofa, Tashi knew that it didn’t
interfere with their desire to be together. It was pointless to try
to recapture the moment right now. They’d just have to wait until
another came around again, and make certain there were no
interruptions when it did.

And speaking of interruptions… Tashi folded
her arms and frowned up at him. “Adam, you told me you didn’t have
a housekeeper. I should have known you couldn’t maintain the upkeep
of this mansion by yourself. Just how many people did you put out
of work?”

He dipped his head and smiled sheepishly.
“They’re not out of work, just on a paid vacation. And I don’t have
a
housekeeper. I have six, along with eight gardeners, two
butlers, four kitchen staff, and a driver. The only staff members I
kept are the four armed guards at the gatehouse. And it’s a good
thing I kept them around, or we’d be entertaining three inquisitive
men right now. Would you have been able to handle the
pressure?”

She shook her head. “No. It would have been
too soon.”

“We need time to digest all that has happened
today and prepare for what’s coming tomorrow and the days
following.”

Guilt raised its ugly head in Tashi’s mind.
“Adam, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you have to put your life on hold
and place yourself in danger for me.” Tears choked her.

He clasped his hand under her chin and raised
her face to his. “What are you talking about, sweetie? My life
isn’t on hold. It’s exactly where it should be. These two weeks
I’ve spent secluded with you have been the most amazing of my life.
I’ve had time to reflect on my past mistakes, my desires, my
dreams. I know what I want, and it’s you, Tashi. I want you in my
life. So stop apologizing. Promise me that you will. Promise,” he
reiterated, his electric blues piercing through to her heart,
warming her.

“Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll stop
apologizing.”

His eyes pierced her for a few tense seconds,
then he dropped his hands to his side. “However,
I
have to
apologize to you for something.”

“What could you ever possibly do to upset me,
Adam?”

“That remains to be seen.” He picked up the
pad he’d used to send the text to the guards and while typing on
it, he strolled to the other side of his office where a built-in
door swung open from the wall. He reached inside and pulled out
something, then turned around. “I was able to retrieve this the day
after it was stolen. I don’t know how much—”

“You found my money?” Tashi screamed as she
raced across the room. She grabbed the bag from him and hugged it
to her chest like it was a long lost child coming home. Tears of
joy raced down her face as she dropped into the nearest chair. She
set the bag on her lap and opened it.

“The thief swore he hadn’t spent any of it.
Since I don’t know how much you had, I don’t know if he told the
truth.”

Tashi dumped the contents of the bag on the
floor, then got down on her knees and began counting out the stacks
of hundred dollar bills. “It seems to be all here,” she said,
gazing up at Adam. “Who stole it?”

“Your landlord,” he said, his voice laced
with barely controlled bitterness.