Chapter14
It wasn’t a long drive from the airport, but it felt to her as if they must have gone half way around the island when he finally turned the car off of the small two-lane road they were on. It was canopied with trees part of the way, as the forestry and jungle seemed to spill from the hilltops downward to the very shoreline, reaching for the waves.
In the place where he turned off, the shoreline had disappeared from sight and they were surrounded by lush growth; trees, bushes, flowering plants, vines, and all manner of tropical flora and fauna everywhere they looked. The air was more still and the sounds around them changed. The rushing tumble of the sea gave way to the chirping of birds and frogs, and strange exotic sounds from whatever lay hidden in the foliage they were engulfed in. The road had led inward, away from the water, and she soon discovered why.
The driveway that took them from the main road was short, and after a curve in it that took them into the seclusion of the jungle, there was an electric gate between two stone pillars. Ryder stopped at the gate and pressed a code into the box beside the car. The doors of the gate swung open and he pulled through them, leaving them to close behind them as he drove the car past a couple turns more.
They came to a stop before a massive white stucco home that never could have been seen from the road, though she didn’t know how, it was so large. It was a fraction of the mansion in the Hamptons, but it was considerable in size all the same. She stared up at it and took it all in.
It was a multilevel home, with rounded balconies at varying points, open windows nearly all around it, and Spanish tiled roof and front patio. She was surprised that it was immaculate and that it looked as if someone might be home.
There was a line of palm trees all along the front of it, set into perfectly trimmed grass, lined with tropical flowers. There was a large fountain near the front door, and it bubbled and poured endlessly over three tiers as it renewed itself. There were birds in the trees all around them, singing and chirping songs that she had never heard from birds anywhere before. It all seemed strange and spectacular to her.
She felt him take her hand as she stood beside the car, and she didn’t look over at him, she was far too taken with gazing at the magnificent structure before her. “This is incredible…” she trailed off, shaking her head.
He was looking at her, rather than at the home. “It is incredible indeed,” he agreed, speaking of her, and not at all of the home.
“Why does it look like someone is living here? Is there someone here?” she asked quietly, as if speaking the words out in front of the home might disturb someone inside.
He smiled as he looked at her, reaching his hand up to run the back of his finger down her cheek. He wanted so badly to take her in his arms right then and there and kiss her until neither one of them could remember how to breathe.
“No, we’re alone here. There’s a couple who look after it while we are gone, and when we come they prepare it for us,” he said, not thinking of the words he spoke as he said them, but instead gazing at her mouth, wishing that he could taste it.
She felt the tension and heat beginning to build between them and she blinked, turning her head slightly to look up at him. “It’s a beautiful place.”
He drew in a breath and told himself to steady the passion growing inside of him. “It is indeed a beautiful place. Come with me and I’ll show it to you.”
Taking her hand, he led her into the front door of the home, and she found herself standing in a great area that spread out from a foyer into a wide-open kitchen and dining room. Further beyond that, there was a spacious sitting room that looked out onto a wide expanse of white sandy beach sprinkled with flowers and palm trees that danced in the sea breeze, and the turquoise and deep blue sea beyond.
Ryder watched her as she looked around. They discovered a large bouquet of fresh flowers in a vase on the kitchen counter, with a note congratulating them. There was a basket beside the flowers, filled with fruits, nuts, chocolates, and champagne. Regina was delighted to see it and she realized at the sight of it that she was famished from their long trip.
“Oh… we’ll need to go to a grocery store.” She frowned slightly as she looked over at Ryder.
He shook his head. “No, they’ve taken care of that for us already. Actually, not only is the kitchen freshly stocked with just about any kind of food you could want, but they always make a delicious island dinner for us when we arrive.”
Ryder walked over to the oven and pulled it open. “It’s in there. I’ll turn this on now, and it will be ready by the time we’re done looking at the house. I’m sure there’s salad in the refrigerator as well.” He looked, and there was. She was surprised at just how well stocked it all was.
He chuckled softly as he walked over to her and gave her a long look. “They know this is our honeymoon… they would have wanted to make sure that we wouldn’t need to leave our… love nest… if we didn’t want to.” He gave her a suggestive smile and a wink and she felt her cheeks warm slightly.
“You know,” he grinned, reaching his hand up to the side of her face, “you blush the loveliest shade of pink now and then. I love it.” He stroked his finger over her cheek again and she drew in a breath and turned away from him.
Business, she reminded herself. She had to remember that it was just business. She cleared her throat. “Well, shall we see the rest of the house?”
He dropped his hand from her and gazed at her only a moment longer before nodding as his smile faded somewhat. “Of course. Let’s go have a look, shall we?”
Ryder led her all through the main floor, showing her the other rooms, including an indoor pool which opened up into an outdoor pool, and was enclosed over the middle of it with sliding glass doors that when opened made it an indoor and outdoor pool. There was a Jacuzzi beside it, and there were glass walls all around that looked out into the gardens and the beach.
They went up one of the two separate flights of stairs that led to the upper levels of the house. There was a flight at the front, and a flight nearer to the side of the home, that lead up to the same hallway on the second floor. Another floor six feet further up from the second floor was also connected by those same stairs and another set. It went to the highest level of the home, one with sun rooms, reading rooms, and a few bedrooms.
Regina was amazed at the home. It was astounding to her that anyone could own a place so beautiful and only visit it a handful of times a year. Ryder told her that there were business responsibilities back in New York, the main residence in New York, and there were other places where the Carrington’s owned property; other places that they went to visit. For the life of her, she could barely conceive of it.
Once she had seen the entire layout of the house, walked through each room and gotten familiar with the place, Ryder asked her which room she wanted to stay in. He had hoped that she would be staying in the room he usually occupied. It was a large room on the second level, with a balcony overlooking the sea, but she chose instead a smaller room on the main floor; one that led out to the beach. There was a wide tiled patio that led off of it, and that same patio led off of another bedroom that shared a wall with the bedroom that she had chosen.
When she said she would stay in the room on the main floor, Ryder said nothing about the room he usually stayed in on the second floor. Instead, he smiled and nodded at her, and told her that he would take the bedroom beside hers. She wasn’t surprised, though there were almost ten other rooms in the house where he could have stayed.
She stood in her new room; at least it would be hers for the coming two weeks, and she marveled at it. She had said she would take the small room, but small was relative. The bedroom was bigger than her house had been in Manhattan.
It didn’t take her long to unpack, and in almost no time she was settled, and had walked back out to the kitchen. She was surprised to see that Ryder had set the dining room table out on the side patio through the glass doors from the dining room. There was a simpler dining area there for al fresco meals in perfect weather.
She helped him bring the food out to the table, and opened a bottle of island spiced rum for them. Their food was what the locals on the island ate; Caribbean fare. Jerk chicken, plantains fried in coconut oil, rice and beans seasoned with garlic, onions, and Creole spices, infused with bay leaves, thyme, and coconut milk.
They enjoyed their meal beneath a sky that darkened and revealed countless stars; so many that it seemed to her as if there was more light than darkness, and the meal was one of the best she had ever had, and the spiced rum made her smile and relax, feeling the weariness of her long day and long travels.
“I can’t believe you thought of all of this.” She smiled happily as she emptied her glass of rum. Ryder filled it back up and handed it back to her.
“I wanted to do it right,” he replied thoughtfully. “I never thought I’d get married. I’m the wild one of the family… I thought I’d be single and unstoppable all my days, but because of my dear father, I’ve been forced to be caught… at least, that’s what he thinks, anyway. Even if this is a marriage of convenience, it’s still a legitimate marriage, and there’s every chance that this will be the only time in my whole life that I’m ever married or that I will have a honeymoon, so… I thought I would give it my best and make the most of it. Besides, I’ve discovered that I quite enjoy impressing you.” There was a twinkle in his eye and a smile at the corner of his mouth when he spoke.
She giggled a little and wondered if it was his charm or the rum, and finally decided that it was a combination of the two.
He watched her quietly as she drank most of her rum, and then before she finished it, he took it from her and set it down on the table. Taking her hand in his, he stood up and smiled down at her. “Come with me, there’s something that I want you to see.”
She let him lead her away from the patio and the house, across a beautiful lawn, and when they got to the edge of it, he stopped and took his shoes off, leaving them there. Kneeling down, he carefully took her shoes off as well, letting her lean on him for support.
When he stood up again, he wove his fingers into hers and walked with her over the sugar-soft white sand toward the beach. There was only a little light on it, just enough of a glow from the house to show them where they were walking until they reached the water. He looked at her with a smile on his face and walked into the sea up to his knees. They were in a kind of cove, and there was a barrier reef further out from the beach that absorbed the bigger waves. Only smaller waves made it in to where they were.
“This is a lagoon.” He told her as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it onto the sand. She tried not to look at the toned and sculpted body before her. He was gorgeous by any definition from the neck up, but from the neck down, the sight of him made her draw in her breath. He reached his hands to his waist and began to unfasten his pants, and she turned away and looked back toward the house.
“What are you doing?” she asked in a breathless panic.
“I’m going for a swim.” He casually sent his pants sailing past her. She saw them land on the beach not far from his shirt and her heart began to pound in her chest.
“Isn’t the water cold?” she asked thinly, keeping her back to it as she heard the waves washing close by.
She felt his hands on her hips and his breath on her neck and her ear as he stepped up close behind her. His sudden touch made her draw in her breath sharply, and her eyes widened. “It’s warm,” he said quietly in her ear. “Come in with me. Don’t miss this incredible place and this rare opportunity. I know you’ve never experienced anything like this in your life. Come with me. It’s safe. You’ll love it, I promise.”
His lips were barely more than a breath from her ear and her neck, and she closed her eyes as she felt her belly tighten and warm at the silken sound of his voice and the closeness of his body to hers. She felt his fingertips squeeze just a little, into the flesh on her hips and she tried to push herself away, but he held her firmly and pulled her against the front of his body. “You’re safe. Don’t be afraid, come with me… please. It’s been a day without equal, and we have the chance to make it a night just as amazing and beautiful.”
“I’m not dressed for swimming.” She managed to say, though not with much strength.
“You’re right.” He reached up to the shoulders of her sundress. She’d put it on after she had unpacked, before she came out to dinner. There were only thin straps and they slipped off easily. Before she could even take in another breath, he gave her sundress a little tug over her curves, and a moment later it was puddled in the sand at her feet. She crossed her arms over herself and gasped in agitation and he wrapped his arms around her, closing his hands over hers as he embraced her.
“Don’t worry, Regina, it’s dark out here. I can’t really see you. Besides, you still have your bra and panties on, and I’d be willing to bet that somewhere amongst your belongings, you have a bikini that covers less than what you’re wearing right now. Am I right?” The calmness in his voice soothed her somewhat, though she was still stiff with shock.
“I can’t believe you did that.” She snapped at him in irritation. His arms were still around her and the feel of his skin against hers was warming her from the inside out.
“I don’t want you to miss this, and your inhibitions would have kept you from doing it. Now the hard part is over. All we have to do is go into the water. It’s warm, it’s clear, and it’s safe. It’s going to feel so good on your skin. The most refreshing thing you’ve ever felt. I promise.” His velvet voice in her ear was somewhat comforting.
“Come on. Come with me.” He took her hands in his, slowly moving her arms away from her body. She let him.
“Don’t peek at me,” she insisted, hoping that it would be some help.
“Oh, I’m going to look. I’m not a saint and you’re my wife now, not to mention you’re an incredibly beautiful woman. I’m going to look, but the sooner you’re in the water, the less I’ll see. It is dark out here.” She could hear the grin in his voice.
She knew that he was right. She did have a swimsuit that covered less than what she was wearing, though she had only worn it once. Sighing in annoyance, she turned and only caught his eyes for a moment. They were locked on hers, and she felt her cheeks warm as she blushed and turned her face away from his. “Okay fine, let’s go.”
He led her into the water, and from the moment it touched her feet, she could feel what he had been talking about. It was just as he had said that it was. Warm, refreshing, and it felt beyond good to her muscles and skin as the pull of the waves seemed to draw away the soreness from their travel and her long day, and all of the stress that had been building up in her over the weeks.
They went in up to their chests, and he watched her, checking to see that she grew comfortable in the water. She did, after a few minutes, and he let go of her hand and let her begin to swim and tread water a little.
“This is incredible.” A smile formed over her face.
“Yes, it is. I couldn’t let you miss it, and I couldn’t let you miss that.” He pointed over to the horizon, and she saw a great yellow moon begin to rise up over the palm trees, spilling moonlight all over the ocean and the beach. They were awash in its brightness and she was spellbound by it.
“That’s…” she began, and stopped, unable to find a word to describe the moment. She stood transfixed in the water as it moved around her, staring at the moon as it rose higher in the sky, and Ryder swam near her.
“It is perfect, especially with you here. There’s no one else I would rather be here with,” he told her, and he meant it. She heard it in his words and she felt an unease begin to bubble up in her. She turned her eyes from the moon and looked into his, and the expression on his face caught her off guard.
There was a seriousness about him; a hunger in his eyes, and she felt embers deep in her begin to spark and leap into small undulating flames. Panic gripped the back of her mind and she blinked and shook her head. “Ryder, we can’t confuse things…” she began, but he didn’t seem to hear any of her words.
“Lose yourself in this moment, Regina. It’s perfect… lose yourself in this place, and let me lose myself in you,” he said in a low voice, and he reached for her beneath the water, pulling her close to him. Before she could utter another word, his lips pressed firmly against hers and his hand went to the back of her head, holding her to him.
She protested for a moment, willing herself not to give in to the moment and the place and the beautiful man who was kissing her, trying to remember that she was being paid to be there, trying to remember that she was going to leave, but as his mouth moved over hers and he held her close against him, her reasons began to slip away, one by one.
He parted her lips and she tasted him; the rum and the salt from the sea. His powerful arms were wrapped around her, and as she began to kiss him back, tentatively at first, she began to realize that there wasn’t anywhere else that she wanted to be.
His tongue twisted with hers as their kiss began to grow more passionate, and she felt his hand at the back of her head; he pulled the comb from her hair and the red locks spilled down the back of her neck and shoulders and soaked up the sea water behind her. He turned his fingers in the curls gently and pulled slightly as he kissed her deeper.
“This is better than I ever imagined that it would be. I couldn’t dream this.” He began to kiss her down the side of her neck.
She moaned softly and ran her hands over the solid bulk of his muscles, holding on to his shoulders as his hands moved to her back, and a moment later her bra was undone and a rush of water swirled around her breasts.
The shock of the feel of it made her draw in her breath and somehow it seemed to wake her from the romantic moment that she was drowning in. She gasped and reached her hands to the bra, pressing it against her breasts.
“We can’t do this!” She shook her head and moved backward, pushing herself away from him.
He stopped short and stared at her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“We talked about his, Ryder. We were going to keep it just business! We can’t do this! We agreed to that!” She moved toward the shore and felt the sand beneath her feet as she began to walk backward out of the water, clinging the bra to her bare chest.
He followed her and reached for her, trying to stop her. “Wait! We can change our plan… we can do anything we want, and it’s clear that we both want this! Don’t you want this?” he asked worriedly. He was certain that she did. He had been so sure, from their kiss at the wedding to the way he could see that he had affected her when he stood close to her and touched her, he knew that he was getting to her, and she had to want him.
She shook her head. “No, you’re wrong. I know it was a… a passionate moment, and I’m so sorry. I let the rum get to me, I let the moonlight and the beach, and you… I let you get to me, but think about this. This is business, and that’s all that it is. You hired me… I’m your employee. We can’t let emotions get in the way! We have to keep this simple. This cannot happen.”
He continued to follow her as she left the water and grabbed her dress up out of the sand on the beach. She shook her head at him and held her dress to her body. “I’m sorry. I never should have let you kiss me. I never should have kissed you back. This cannot happen.”
Regina looked at him with a miserable frown on her face. She wished that it could happen, she hadn’t felt so good in longer than she could remember, but it was the worst thing they could do to ruin their plan.
“It’s our honeymoon night!” He frowned at her and reached his hand out to her. She turned away from him and almost ran to the house where her room was.
“It’s just business, Ryder! We have to remember that! Only business!” She called back over her shoulder. She left him on the beach in the moonlight, and she went to her room and locked the door and went straight to the shower. She needed to think and the best place to do that was in the hot water, the steam, and the silence.
She pushed back all of the heated emotion she was feeling, all of the desire and passion, and she reminded herself yet again that she was going to get a million dollars out of it, and that it would be over soon. She just needed to play his wife in front of his family. They could be friends on their own turf, but that was all that she could afford to allow between them. She was sure that if anything else developed between them, it would only lead to trouble, and the last thing that she wanted was trouble.
Regina stepped out of the shower, exhausted and calm. She was determined. She might be his wife on paper, but she wasn’t going to be his wife in his bed. They were in business together, and that was all that it was going to be. It was the best decision for them both, she was going to make sure that it stayed that way.
She slipped into her nightgown and nestled down into the bed, reaching to switch off the lamp on the bedside table next to her. With a sigh, she let the worries of the day go, and she promised herself that she would not let anything like it happen again. They would be friends, just as they had been, and it would be fine. Their business would go smoothly, and nothing would interfere with it.
Outside on the beach, Ryder stood in the sand where she had left him. The moon had climbed higher and had lit the beach up with an almost daylight quality. He stared at the glass doors of her room, seeing her shadow pass back and forth behind the thin curtain, seeing her shadow form change into her nightgown, and finally, seeing her light go out.
He cursed himself for pushing it too far and too fast with her, trusting on the romantic environment of the island to do all of his work for him in wooing her. It was good, but it was not good enough. He thought long and hard about her, about what had happened between them, and about what he wanted with her. He knew somewhere at the back of his thoughts that she was probably right, that they should probably keep it simple and just leave it as business, but that was swiftly becoming a problem for him.
He wanted her. He was beginning to want her more than he had ever wanted any woman. He felt her getting under his skin, creeping over the edges of his heart, and into the walled off places of his mind. He felt her coming into places in him that no woman had ever been, and he knew that if he stopped pursuing her right then, he would be completely free of her, and there would be no repercussions.
He also knew that if he let her saturate him any further, he might not have such an easy time walking away from her at the end, and he knew that he could not afford to lose himself to her. There was far too much at stake in his future to allow a dalliance like her to affect him the way that she was.
The desires and the common sense of it all waged a battle in his mind, and pushed and pulled like the tides around his ankles and legs, back and forth. He wasn’t certain that he could go after her, do all that it might take to win her and convince her to let him have her in every way he wanted., and then let her go, but as the night wore slowly on and he stared at her darkened bedroom window, thinking of the fires that had ignited in him as he had held her in the waters around him, as he had finally kissed her mouth and tasted her, touched her and held her close to him, he felt true to his nature.
Recklessness was practically his creed. Rash action, heedless abandon; a slave to his pleasures and desires, and there was no one he desired more than her. He clenched his jaw and his hands as he made up his mind in sheer determination. It didn’t matter what it cost him, short of his inheritance, he could handle going after her and wearing her down until she let her guard drop, until she could no longer resist him, until she wanted him with just as much ache and need as he wanted her.
He could work for that, and when he finally had her, had her all that he wanted until he was totally sated and had his fill of her, then he would let her go and give her the divorce and her million dollars, and then it would be easy to let her go. He would be done with her, and she would have gotten what she came for and a whole lot more.
They would both be happy, both be satisfied, and then they would part ways. Then there would be no pain for him, no emotional tie to her that might hurt him. He’d have had all he wanted of her and he would be done with her. The need and desire would be gone; those fires would be quenched.
He smiled. She was going to be his, and he wasn’t going to stop until he had his fill of her, and then when she didn’t plague his mind, when he could look at another woman and feel desire, when he wasn’t quite so hungry for her anymore, she could go and it would be over. Their business would be done.
*
Regina rested deeply, soothed by the quietness of the remote location, the darkness around the house with no city lights to shine in through windows, and the sounds of the ocean so close by. She woke when the morning sun began to glow all around her, lighting the room up as if it was the very first day of the world; the first day of life, of everything.
She blinked and looked around, forgetting only for a moment where she was and why, but then she ran her hands over the white sheets and bedclothes and turned her head a little in the deep fluffy pillow, and smiled. She was in paradise, and even if things had gotten too hot too fast with Ryder the night before, she knew that it would be okay, that they could let it go and focus on business, and just have a fun vacation together at his family’s home on the island.
Pushing herself from the bed, she stretched and stepped onto the cool tile floor. In minutes, she had the bed made and the nearly sheer white curtains pulled back. She opened the glass doors that led out onto the tiled patio, and breathed in the fresh ocean air that swept over her. It smelled and tasted delicious. It felt delicious.
A short while later she walked into the kitchen and indoor dining area, and was surprised to see that Ryder was up and looked as if he had been for a while. Coffee was made, breakfast was nearly done being cooked, and he was dressed in a black tank top and cream-colored cotton shorts that reached almost to his knees. He was barefoot and whistling to some island music that was playing on a radio not far from him.
He smiled when he saw her, giving her a friendly look. He knew that he was going to have to play it cool until the right moments came up to get closer to her. He knew she would never go for him if he kept pushing. He had to take it easy and let her come to him, to a point.
“Good morning. Did you sleep alright?” he asked, his dark hair tousled and his blue eyes steady on her.
She nodded and gave him a smile in return. She could see that they were going to be okay. Things between them were going to be okay. “Yeah, actually, I slept better than I have in ages. It was amazing.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Also,” he said, handing her a glass of pink tropical fruit juice, which she took and eyed curiously, “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about last night. I mean… I don’t regret it at all and if you were interested, I’d absolutely do it again, but I do understand what you said and I’m sorry it wasn’t right for us last night.”
She gave him a nod as she sipped her juice. It was the best juice she’d ever had, and it felt inside her like the morning sun had looked in her room; completely refreshing and enlivening. “Okay. Well, we’ll leave it at that, then. Let’s have some fun while we’re here and enjoy ourselves.”
Ryder gave her a wink. “I’m already on top of that. First, we start with breakfast, I made banana pancakes for you, and a fresh fruit smoothie. Also, there’s coffee and juice. When we’re done with breakfast, we’ll go explore the island. There’s so much to show you!”
Happiness bubbled up in her at the idea of it. It sounded like the most fun she might ever have had, and she had only just sat down at the breakfast table. She looked at the food that he set down in front of her and blinked as she gazed back up at him with a grin.
“Thank you! This looks amazing! I had no idea that you were such a good cook!” She wouldn’t have thought that anyone with his kind of wealth would ever have to cook a meal for themselves, and it impressed her that not only did he know how to cook, he knew how to cook well. “These are the best pancakes I’ve ever had.”
She chewed on a bite and closed her eyes as she enjoyed them. He beamed proudly. “I love cooking. I love doing anything with my hands, and cooking is a great artistic expression. I just don’t indulge in it often enough.
“Well,” She swallowed her bite and took a sip of the coconut flavored coffee he had brewed, “you’re welcome to cook all you want for me. I’m never going to tell you no.”
He laughed and they ate the rest of their breakfast together. He was pleased that they were both enjoying themselves so much. Apart from his mounting desires for her in an intimate way, he discovered that he genuinely appreciated her company. There was much that they enjoyed discussing together, and once they actually began talking over breakfast and all throughout the day, they realized that there wasn’t much that they didn’t want to talk with each other about; no topic that wasn’t of interest to them both.
Part of it was that they were getting to know one another, but the majority of it was that the more they did learn about each other, the more fascinated they were to continue learning more. Both of them were intrigued with the other, and they could both sense their friendship growing even more and becoming stronger, the more that they opened up to each other.
He drove them around a few parts of the island. They spent the first part of the morning, while the air was still fairly cool, hiking up a trail to a waterfall. When they got to the waterfall, they stripped down to their swimsuits and swam in the clear waters, washed by the sprays that tumbled down over them.
They laid on towels in the sun on the rocks around the far edge of the waterfall and dried off before they hiked back down the trail to the car and he took her into the nearest little village. They visited the few shops that were there, and she was surprised that the people not only knew him, but liked him well. They greeted him as an old friend might, and she was something she was pleased about.
They ate lunch at one of the little restaurants in the village, and when they were done, he drove her further up the road and showed her more jungle and beaches. There were lots of spots to see, and he pulled off of the road more than a few times in order to share them with her.
She loved the exotic birds that they saw, and the vistas of thick, luscious growth and sandy or rocky beaches. She loved the feel of the island; the sun, the moisture in the air, the cool breeze off of the sea, the sweet floral scents that wafted around her so often. She loved all of it, and she loved it even more because he went out of his way to make it special.
They came around a corner in the road and there was a simple farm stand where a farmer was selling coconuts. Ryder pulled the car over and bought two of them from the man. The farmer took out a huge machete and with a few easy strokes, he had sliced open the very top of the coconuts, through the thick green husks and into the top of the nut. He slipped a straw into each one and handed them to Ryder and Regina.
Regina watched with wide eyes and an excited smile. Ryder chuckled at her and gazed at her from behind his dark glasses. “Let me guess… you haven’t drunk from a coconut before?”
She shook her head and closed her mouth around the straw. The coconut water was zesty and refreshing, as the farmer had also squeezed a little lime into it. When the nut was empty of drink, the farmer took the coconuts back and opened them for the couple, scooping out the meat and putting it into cups for each of them to take away. He waved them farewell, and they left, going down the road with their fresh coconut in a cup.
“This is amazing. I had no idea fresh coconut was so good.” She grinned as she looked over at Ryder.
He laughed a little. “Everything here is so good. You’re going to have to feed me bites of mine though, because I’m driving and I don’t want to take my hands off of the wheel. Not on this road.” He gave her a quick glance and she agreed.
As she fed him bites of coconut out of his cup with her bare fingers, she tried to ignore the way his tongue and lips felt on her fingertips, and she wasn’t entirely sure that he couldn’t have figured out another way to eat his coconut, but then she supposed he was right. Safety first, even if it was arousing.
They went back to the house in the early afternoon and she napped for a short while in the heat of the day, but then as the warmth began to fade, he took her back out to the lagoon on their beach for a swim in the daylight. She wore her swimsuit, and she tried to keep her mind off what they had shared in that same place the night before.
As they swam down into the water, going deeper and further from shore and closer to the barrier reef that was out further from the land, she was astounded by the different colors of blue in the sea, and the white sand far beneath them, by the endless fish of every color imaginable and even some colors she wasn’t sure she had ever seen before, swimming by them. There were little fish and big fish, stingrays and shellfish, and even a small pod of dolphins who came in to eat lunch and frolic near them. The dolphins played with them for a little while, and she could barely contain her excitement and joy.
Ryder watched her the whole time, amazed by her, dazzled by her beauty, her love for life, and her curiosity and delight with everything that she came across. To him it was as if he had discovered a woman child in a woman’s body; a carefree soul who delighted in joy and exploration, but who had been stifled by life and who had been put into exactly the right situation and circumstance to grow and blossom like a beautiful flower. It dazzled him, and he didn’t quite sense just how much she was slipping into his heart and his mind.
He might be a good cook, but she insisted on helping him with dinner and they laughed and talked at length as they ate, and he realized that there was so much more about her to desire than just her body. Her company was so good that he was disappointed when she said goodnight and went to bed. He stayed awake on his own, sitting out on the patio where they had eaten dinner, finishing his glass of wine and thinking about her and the time that they had shared. She was very different than he had assumed that she would be, and he found that he wanted more of her; more of who she was inside, underneath her enticing body. He felt that she was a flower and that he was peeling her petals back one by one, and finding everything about her sweeter and sweeter the deeper he got into her.
Their days passed with wonderful simplicity; the rode bicycles along the road and past a few villages, they swam with sea turtles, they cooked together and browsed together through the little shops. They had picnics on the beaches and at a few different waterfalls, and somehow it felt to her as if time had stopped and did not exist any longer outside of their near perfect life there.
He took her dancing at a small club in the largest village not far from the airport where they’d come in on the plane. There were perhaps only twenty-five or thirty other people there, so it was intimate but lively and fun. She was happy to dance with him at first, but then as a slow song played and he held her close against him as they swayed, she felt the heated stirrings for him rising up again in her, and she tried to ignore them, but they could not be pushed away as easily as they had been before.
They seemed to be so much stronger, and she closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the nearness of him, wishing that it wouldn’t matter if she could tip her head back and kiss him, that it would do no harm to either of them if he touched her, if he took her home that night and laid her back in his bed, and those thoughts surfaced in her as they danced, staying with her throughout the night.
He watched her and he could see her struggling, he saw that the joy and delight had been replaced with deep thought and a troubled heart. He saw that she caught her breath when he was closer to her, when he held her hand and kissed her cheek, when he looked at her too long and let the tension between them build stronger and hotter.
He wondered if it was time to try to touch her again, to try to bring her to bed and keep her there as long as he wanted to, but when they got back to the house after their hot tropical night of dancing, she said quietly that she needed a cool shower and a good night’s sleep. He knew then that it was still too soon, but that neither of them would be able to hold back much longer. Her defenses were crumbling, and he was going to continue to do all that he could to bring them down, and bring her into his arms.
She did not sleep fitfully that night. He was at the forefront of her thoughts, and her body had begun to burn and ache for him. She longed for the feel of his touch on her skin and his mouth on hers. His scent stayed in her mind, the feel of him close to her made her imagine what it must feel like to have him much closer, and though she tried to turn her mind to other things, it kept shifting back to him, always back to him. When the morning light came, her carefree joy was diminished and her need for him was growing.
They had spent days playing and exploring and discovering together, and all of the time they had been on the island, they had not been apart. The day after they danced, she told him that she needed a day of rest, and she took a couple of books with her out to the beach and nestled onto a towel with them, covered in a sunhat and wearing sunglasses and her bathing suit, she hoped to distract herself with anything that she could read. She hoped to focus her mind on anything but him.
It had only been working a short while when he came out and joined her, bringing out a picnic lunch and his own book, setting up his towel beside hers and giving her a smile.
“Would you like me to rub sun screen lotion on you?” He offered with an almost impish smile.
She wanted him to; she wanted him to rub his hands all over her body, but she knew that that would be a huge mistake. “No, thanks. I sprayed sunblock on before I came out.” She said as casually as she could.
He leaned closer and looked over the top of his sunglasses at her. “If you need to reapply, I’m right here for you, and glad to do it.” He let his eyes linger on her a long while and she gave him a smile and went back to her book, but she sat there and stared at the same sentence on the same page for several minutes before she gave up on the book. She set it beside her and laid down on her stomach, turning her head away from him and hoping that falling asleep on the beach would be enough of a distraction from him to give her some peace, even if he was right beside her.
Ryder watched her, seeing her struggle, and felt both pleased and anxious with himself. He knew that it was becoming more difficult for her, but it wasn’t easy for him either. While he was working so hard to make her want him, he hadn’t counted on being affected by any of it, and he was discovering slowly that he was affected by it, to a large degree.
The more he knew of her from the inside out, the more he wanted to know of her, the more he wanted her, period, and the tighter he held on to all that he could get of her. He had worried intermittently that he might be holding on so tightly that he would not be able to let go later, but it felt so good to just be around her and enjoy her, that he pushed those worries away, and hoped that once he did have her, it would be enough to satisfy him, and he could let her go once and for all later on.
The day came to an end. They ate a quiet dinner together, and she told him goodnight. He could see a sweet sadness in her eyes, and it made him want to go to her, to comfort her, to kiss the sadness away and make her give in to the desire that she felt for him and continued to fight. But he didn’t. He said goodnight to her and went to the patio to sip wine and watch the moon and the stars as the sky darkened.
Regina went to her room and took a cool shower, slipping into a short thin cotton nightdress that reached only a short way down toward the middle of her thighs. She brushed her red curls out and went to bed, hoping that sleep would be an escape for her, and that it would free her from the thoughts and emotions that she could barely hold at bay any longer.
She tossed and turned, and both the heat of the night and her mind would not let her sleep. Finally, in frustration, she tossed her pillows aside and rose from the bed, going out onto her terrace. She walked to the edge of the railing and held onto it, gazing up at the night sky.
It was dark out, darker than it had been as the moon had waned into a mere crescent that hung in the night sky, letting the stars glitter with their own light. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, letting the ocean breeze wrap itself around her. It swirled beneath the hem of her nightgown, making the lacy edge dance around her skin, billowing slightly.
He stood only a few feet from her, staring at her, drinking in her private moment on the terrace. He had heard the doors of her bedroom open as he sat further away at the dining patio, and as it was just around the corner from her room, he had gotten up to investigate the sound and to be sure that everything was alright. He hadn’t expected to find her outside, standing alone in her nightgown, looking like a living dream.
Ryder was drawn to her. Any thought of hesitation he might have had was lost in his need for her. He was silent as his bare feet padded across the tiles, though he wasn’t thinking of that. He was solely focused on her.
She had let her head fall back, and her eyes were closed as she breathed in the fresh night air. She felt him; his hands on her hips and his body close behind her. She jumped, startled by him, not having heard him come up behind her. Turning with a start, she faced him and discovered that he was bare-chested, having taken his own shirt off while he was relaxing with his wine around the corner.
“Ryder!” She gasped in a hushed voice, her heart pounding with the unexpected surprise of him there, and with the alarming sense that he was much too close to her.
He stared straight into her blue eyes and slid one hand from her waist, moving it behind her back until she could feel his hand on the back of her head, and his other hand on her hip. She felt his legs touch hers as he drew closer to her.
“Regina…” He breathed her name like a prayer. “I know we said… it doesn’t matter what we said. Things are changing between us. Things are different. I want you to know how much I need you. Please…” he spoke just above a whisper.
She didn’t have time to think or argue or protest. His mouth was upon hers, moving slowly, sensually, pushing her lips open and taking over her tongue, drawing out a deep moan from her as he pressed her close to his body.
Her hands moved up to stop him, or touch him, she wasn’t sure which. She only knew that the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips was setting her on fire, and she wanted so much to feel that. She kissed him back, slowly and sweetly, sliding her hands over his shoulders and arms, and aching for all of him.
Fires burned swiftly and hotly inside of him, stoking his need for her as he became breathless, moving his mouth from hers down her neck as he slipped both of his hands over her waist and down to her thighs.
Regina drew in a sharp breath when she felt his hands on her skin, pushing her nightgown up as he pressed himself to her. His rock-solid erection met with her body, shielded only by his shorts. The firm pressure of it against her made her cry out softly and she clung to his shoulders for a moment, wanting him desperately and wishing with everything in her that she could have him.
In the time since their first night on the island, she had let her mind play through so many possible scenarios with him; trying to come up with some way that they could be together with no negative outcome, but it always ended in disaster, no matter how she tried to work it out in her mind and in her heart. She could not afford to have a torrid affair with the man who was paying her to be his wife.
The feel of him on her body, pressing anxiously against her core, hungry and hard for love, was like a jolt of electricity to her. Like being hit with lightning. She couldn’t do it. It was like reality gripping her too tightly. She pulled herself away from him, freeing herself from the edge of the balcony where he had pinned her.
He stared at her, blinking in shock. “No…” he whispered shaking his head. “Please… please don’t stop this. Please don’t leave me again. Let me be with you. I need you! I know you want this too. I can see it! I can feel it! Don’t deny us this night together!”
She felt hot tears spring to her eyes and she shook her head. “We can’t! It doesn’t matter how much we want this, and you’re right, I want it too, but we can’t. We have to stay focused and on task. We can’t afford any mistakes in this. It’s a dangerous game you’re playing; that we’re playing, and we can’t afford to mess it up! There’s far too much on the line!”
He shook his head, reaching for her, but she turned and rushed into her room, tears spilling over her thick lashes and washing down her cheeks. Feeling a sob growing in her, she flung herself on her bed and buried her face in her pillow, sobbing as her body quivered with need for him.
Ryder stood outside, his eyes wide and unblinking as he looked at her doors. Turning back at long last to the terrace railing, he closed his hands into fists and pounded the stone banister once with a frustrated growl. Then he dropped his face down into his hands and groaned. It had happened again. He began to feel as though he might never get her; he might never hold her long enough to make love to her, to show her how much he needed her, how much he wanted her. He breathed out heavily and tried to still the burning ache in him, but like a bonfire, it blazed hot and bright and would not be put out so easily.
The ocean waves washed in, one after the other, hushing and shushing the sand, and the breeze wrapped itself around him, cooling him some on the surface.
*
They were both quiet the next morning. He had prepared breakfast for them as usual, though the delight in it was gone. He would not look at her until she spoke his name quietly as they sat at the table together.
“It’s time to go.” She said simply.
“Go where?” he asked, looking up at her.
“Back to New York.” Her answer was quiet. “We can’t stay here, not like this. It’s much too difficult. We need the distraction of our daily lives. We need other things that we can do to keep ourselves focused on the goal here. I didn’t marry you so that we could fail at this job before we even got started with it. You have an inheritance to get, and I have a divorce to reach. We can’t let anything get in the way of that.”
He felt his stomach tighten at her words. “No, of course not.” He replied evenly. “I’ll arrange for us to go back as soon as you want to leave, if you’re sure.”
“Today, please.” She told him, gazing down into her untouched coffee. She had thought about it long and hard the night before, and there was no other way. The trip had to end. It had to be cut short, and they had to get back to reality before paradise made them forget everything but their daydreams.
She took her coffee into a study and sat there with it and a book, hoping that the distance between the two of them would cool their growing desires.
Ryder watched her go and said nothing. He knew that she was probably right, but it was discouraging, and he felt as if he was at an impasse, uncertain of what to do. He had tried to talk himself out of wanting her, but the more he even considered it, the more it seemed to build his need for her. He looked at the empty doorway that she had walked out of and considered what she was saying and doing. He thought that perhaps she might be right, and they should spend a little time apart.
He gave it some thought and then poked his head into the study where she was. “I checked the flights, we can leave in the morning. There’s not another plane out of her before then. I’m going to go for a drive, you’re welcome to come along, if you’d like to.”
She looked up from her book at him and gave him a half smile. “No thank you, I’m alright here.”
With another silent nod to her, he pursed his lips and turned, leaving the house. As he drove away alone, the island air rushing all around him, he wished adamantly that it would take every thought of her with it for a while and leave him in some kind of peace.
He spent the day out driving and stopping here and there along the coastal road and in a couple of villages. He didn’t realize until later in the day that he was revisiting the places they had gone together and it bothered him and made him ache a little as though he was missing her.
Regina tried her best to read in the study, and she couldn’t concentrate on the book. She moved to the sitting room and tried to settle in there, but it didn’t help. After three more failed rooms, she tried reading on the beach and walking on the beach, but nothing could push him entirely from her mind.
By afternoon she had given up and she stretched out in a hammock strung up between two palm trees on the beach, and fell asleep, though that didn’t help either. She dreamed of him, and woke to find herself alone and feeling as if something was missing that should be there.
Taking another tack, she left the hammock and went for a swim in the sea just off of the beach. There was some peace to be found there among all the sea creatures and the silence in the water, and she spent most of the rest of her afternoon there, coming back only when the light began to fade. She showered and went into the kitchen where Ryder was cooking dinner for them. She was thinking of helping him, but he was already done with it.
They spent a quiet evening on the patio, talking about their travel in the morning and what they would be doing when they got back to New York. They spoke a little about the vacation they had shared, both of them careful not to bring up the heated moments while smiling about the fun that they had had together.
She did the dishes and they bid each other goodnight, him going to the patio again to enjoy the night air, and her going to her room. She was sad that they were leaving, especially that they were leaving early, but she had been right, it was going to take some work for them to make their business arrangement marriage work, and intimacy could not be a part of it.
Another night of restless sleep passed, and she woke tired and disappointed. She didn’t say much as they ate a light breakfast and headed for the airport. Each of them slept on the plane back to New York, and when they arrived, she felt exhausted.
The limousine picked them up from the airport and drove them both back out to Carrington Manor, and it wasn’t until she walked in the door of the house that reality hit her like a brick wall. She may have been able to have her own room and her own bed on their honeymoon, but they were back at his family’s residence, and it had failed to occur to her at all that she was going to be staying in his wing of the house, in his room, and more than that, in his own bed.
There was no way that she could sleep in another bed; the help would notice immediately and there was no other option. Not if she was going to pull off the lie of their marriage successfully. Not if she was going to make everyone in the family believe that she had married Ryder Carrington for love. She was going to have to sleep beside him in his bed the whole time that she was there. There was just no way around it.
She stood at the doorway to his bedroom after having followed him down the hallway, and stared at his massive bed. She stared at the old dark mahogany wood that was polished to perfection and formed a four-poster bed that rested on a slightly raised platform, one step up off of the floor. She stared at the mound of pillows set all along the headboard, and the beautiful wooden bench at the end of the bed at the footboard. She couldn’t breathe. All she could do was stare.
“I have to sleep with you every night…” She whispered, trailing off.
He had walked in ahead of her and turned to look back at her as he stood there. “Yes, I guess… if we expect anyone to believe us, you’ll have to.” He had been looking forward to it with longing for weeks, but now that they stood there together in his room, after the awkward shift of reality on the island, he felt ill about it.
He had no idea how he was going to lay beside her night after night and feel her warmth and her beautiful form next to him, so close to him, and not reach out to touch her, not pull her to him and make love with her as he wanted so desperately to do. He had enough trouble sleeping at the house on the island, wishing he was in her room every night, longing for her, but now she would be right beside him, and further away than she had ever been.
It pained him and he looked away from her and walked to his private bathroom. “I’ve had the staff clear space in here for you, so you’ll have room for your things in the bathroom and the closet.” He was trying to keep it nonchalant, and it didn’t feel at all like it was working.
One of the staff came to the door and knocked, smiling widely at them both. He was bringing their luggage to them. Ryder and Regina both smiled back and thanked him. He left.
Regina walked over to a beautiful bouquet of flowers on a table where a card and a box of fine chocolates was waiting for them, along with a basket of fresh fruit. The card read “Welcome home” and it was signed by all the members of the Carrington family.
“They really believe it.” She looked from the card up to Ryder who walked over to her and stood beside her at the table.
“Good.” He replied evenly. “That’s just what we wanted, isn’t it?” He turned from her and went into the closet to change his clothes and she showered and put on the most modest nightgown she had, which wasn’t too terribly modest. It was white satin and reached to her mid-thighs, with thin straps over her shoulders and a V neck that did little to cover the swell of her breasts, and a low-cut back that went nearly to her waist. It was perfect when she was living alone, but in the light of the changes between them, she realized that she was going to have to go shopping for nightgowns the next day.
She walked out of the bathroom with her hair loose and brushed to one side, her form filling the satin that almost clung to it, and she nearly walked into Ryder. He stopped where he was as his gaze locked on her, and he lost his train of thought as he watched her walk to the bed.
She looked up at him and bit at her lower lip, and everything in him tightened. “Is there a side that you prefer to sleep on?”
He pointed to the side opposite her. “I usually wind up on that side.” He realized that he would no longer be sleeping like a starfish in his bed, which made no difference, because he would no longer be sleeping period, unless he was very lucky.
“Thanks.” She said with an attempt at a half smile, pulling the thin cover back and sliding down into the sheets. They were the smoothest, silkiest feeling sheets she had ever been in, and she closed her eyes as she leaned back into the thick soft pillows. His bed was easily the most comfortable she had ever been in, and she was grateful for that at least, because she knew it would be incredibly uncomfortable trying to sleep beside him each night while she was there. She had no idea how she was going to do it, but she promised herself that she would.
Ryder did not go to bed with her right away. He wandered into the kitchen and made a simple meal of scrambled eggs. He took a walk along the beach a short way, and he tried to convince himself that it could work, that it was all going to work out. He went in late, slipping silently into his room. She had left the little light at his side of the bed on so that he could find his way.
He stood in the middle of the floor, looking at her form beneath the thin covers, and he watched her sleeping for a while. He thought about everything they were going through, wanting her, not being able to have her, and needing to get his inheritance more than anything else. That was the key goal; get his inheritance, and though he had believed he could have her along the way, it was clear that that wasn’t going to happen. He was going to have to come to terms with it.
Sighing, he climbed into bed beside her and switched off the light. She didn’t stir. He lay with his back to her, feeling the warmth from her reaching him, and wondering if she was struggling at all with wanting him the way that he wanted her. There was no secret when he kissed her that she felt just as much desire and passion as he did, but she stopped it; each time she stopped it, and he had no idea how she was able to do it, but he had to find out. He had to find a way, some way, his own way to repress the urges he felt for her and see the marriage through to the end. Hours passed, and finally his exhaustion took over, and he fell asleep.
***
They were there in the house together a week, holding hands around the family, kissing one another’s cheeks around the family, sharing smiles and conversation as if everything about them was newly wedded bliss, but when no one else was around, they did not speak much, they did not spend time together, and they slept every night with their backs to each other, both of them struggling to sleep, both of them miserable. It was a costly charade, hurting and tiring them both out.
One week after they had returned from their island paradise honeymoon, Carter found Regina in the library, sitting on a lounge and reading a book. He asked her to speak with him in his study. She agreed, her heart pounding and her mind a whirl of questions and fears. Lying to anyone was difficult for her, but lying to her new family while she lived among them in their own home was becoming almost more than she could bear. Tremendous guilt hung on her like chains, bound with regret.
When they were both in his study, he closed the door and went to her, sitting opposite her on the two sofas that faced each other off to one side of the room.
“I’ve been watching you since you returned.” He began, eyeing her curiously. “It seems like you must have had a good honeymoon.”
She made herself smile and nod as her heart pounded faster. “Of course, it was incredible. I’ve never been to a more beautiful place. Thank you for letting us use your home on the island. It was paradise.”
She meant it. It had been heaven, and it would only have been more perfect if she could have made love with Ryder countless times without any worry of repercussion later. Carter continued to watch her, and he nodded finally.
“Good, that’s good. I’m glad to hear it. I’m glad that you both made good use of it; that’s why we have it, so that the family can enjoy it.” He kept his eyes on her and breathed in deeply. She could see that there was much on his mind, though she had no idea what it might be, and fear began to grip her that he might know their secret. It was possible that he might have found out some way or another that they were scamming him so Ryder could get his inheritance.
“As you are now a part of this family, I feel that there’s something you should know, and I feel certain that I would be the only one to tell you about it. You see, Ryder has always been reckless. Well, I say always, but what I mean is that he has been wild, but more reckless since his mother’s death. Her death was a tragic and unfortunate event. An accident that Ryder blames me for entirely. I feel that you should know what happened, as I believe it will be of some help to you in your new life.
It’s never easy to go into a situation as a newcomer when there is a great deal of history already going on. Consider this a primer, I suppose.” He sighed and stood up, walking around the room a few paces before sliding his hands into his suit pants pockets and turning to look at Regina.
She felt her heart still racing, though it had slowed somewhat. Curiosity began to replace the fear she felt. He spoke in a level tone, and she could see that years of emotion were just beneath the surface of his face, especially in his eyes.
“It was our anniversary weekend. We had planned that I would be home with her to celebrate. Friday evening, and I had come home from the office… but during dinner I got a call. A business call. She pleaded with me not to take it, but I did. There was a meeting I’d been after for months, and the man I was meeting with had been passing through New York on his way to fly to London, but there was a terrible storm, and his flight had been cancelled.
He was able to meet with me, and as there would not be another chance for the foreseeable future, I told her that I would go into the city to meet with him, stay the night at our condo there, and come back on Saturday morning.” He swallowed hard and his voice grew thin as his throat seemed to tighten. He turned away from Regina for a moment and she saw him pull a cloth handkerchief from his pocket and dab at his face. He tucked the handkerchief away and cleared his throat, taking another breath before he turned back to look at her again.
She sat frozen on the sofa, watching him and listening, every part of her body tense. He took a breath and continued.
“She decided that she wanted to be with me instead of waiting for me at home, she thought it would be nice if we spent the anniversary weekend in the city, and she told the children that. They told her not to go… there was still a storm, and it was still bad. Our driver had taken me, so there was no one to drive her to the city but herself. She kissed them all goodbye and said she’d see them on Sunday night. She got into her car and drove herself toward the city…” He trailed off a moment and closed his eyes, breathing in thickly and struggling to calm his emotion.
It touched Regina’s heart that after so many years he was still hurting about it, just as if it had happened a month before. She saw deep love in Carter’s eyes, and she felt that she was betraying that kind of love by even sitting in the same room with him, living her lie under his roof and to his face.
“The weather was too bad. She lost control of her vehicle and went off of a bridge. She died.” Carter paused again, turning away from Regina and taking a long moment before he turned to face her again. He walked a few steps more and stopped, shaking his head. “Ryder was furious with me. He blamed me, saying that if I hadn’t put my business before my family and my marriage, that we would all have been home that night. We all would have been safe, and she would not have died.”
Regina felt as if her heart had broken right in two at the words Carter spoke. It suddenly became crystal clear to her why Ryder hated his father so much, and why he was so sure that Carter hated his family and loved his money and his business. It was a horrible tragedy with no real blame, but it happened unnecessarily, and that was the worst of it.
Carter was quiet again for a long moment and then walked over to the large window behind his desk, looking out onto the grounds behind the house. “Pierce buried himself in his work and has done his best to ignore the pain. Cami and Lucas just… dealt with it. They forgave me. They said it was an accident and that it wasn’t my fault.
Ryder, well… he could only find rage as a means to express his pain, and it has only grown stronger with contempt over the years. He does all that he can to defy me, to hurt me, and to try to get back at me for what he thinks that I did to him, his siblings, and his mother.” He shook his head and lifted his hand to his face, holding it over his eyes for a long moment.
When he let his hand fall and returned his gaze to Regina, she folded her hands together and gazed back at him with eyes that reflected the pain she saw in him. “Why are you telling me all of this?” she asked in a quiet voice. “It seems so… so personal. Why trust me with it?”
Carter sighed and walked toward her, sitting on the sofa opposite her once more. “Regina,” his voice leveled out again and became kind, “I meant what I said to you at the wedding. You are a Carrington now, no matter how it happened, and that makes you a daughter of mine. I want you to be a strong member of this family, because family is our greatest asset, and you are a part of that now.”
She swallowed hard, realizing just what it was that he was saying, and feeling as if she couldn’t be farther short of it.
“I want to help you fit in here, to help you fit into our world. I know that this isn’t a familiar life to you, but it is your life now, and you are a lady of this house, and that is your rightful position. I will be here for you, no matter what, always. You are a Carrington, you are now my daughter, and a sister, and a wife. I will make certain that this new life of yours is something that you can love and be proud of, and a place where you can shine.” He reached for her hands, taking them in his, and he gave them a squeeze.
She tried to swallow, but the lump in her throat was too big, and hot tears began to spill out of her eyes and down her cheeks. She felt her lower lip tremble, and as she looked at him, she knew that he meant every word he said. She knew that he would be there for her anytime that she needed him.
“Regina, I want you to call me father, like my children do, for you are one of them now.” He gave her a sort of shy smile, but it was genuine, and she tried again to swallow back the tears and emotion that could not be held in.
She knew that she had to uphold her end of the deal with Ryder. She had to go every step of the agreement that she had made with him to be his fake wife in front of the world, and to his family. She hated lying to Carter, knowing how hurt he was, knowing how he had found hope in her that she could mend the broken remnants in his family by bringing them together again, knowing that he trusted her and was willing to care for her and let her in. She was sick to her stomach to open her mouth and speak to such a good man. One that she was scamming for nothing more than money.
“I would be so honored, father,” she answered, and he beamed a great smile, reaching for her and hugging her.
She closed her eyes and squeezed out some of the tears and they spilled down her cheeks and onto his broad shoulders. They soaked his tailor-made suit jacket, and to her they felt like stains of dishonesty, showing him just how terrible she truly was.
When he let her go, he sat back and reached for a clean handkerchief from another pocket. “I brought a spare, thinking that one of us might need it.” He winked at her and leaned back against the sofa as she dabbed at her face.
“One of the first things that I want to help you with in this new life of yours is to set up a charitable trust in your name, for a charity of your choice.” He gave her a kindly smile and waited for her response.
She blinked and stared at him. “A… a trust?”
“Yes, anything you like. Choose a charity that is close to your heart, and you and I will provide a trust for it. It shows our community and the world that you, as a Carrington, have compassion for the well-being of the world around you, and that your wealth is meaningless without sharing it with those who might need it most. It’s a precedent.” He looked at her pointedly.
She understood. She had married into a billionaire family. She needed to be one of the people who made the name look good. She was one of them now. She needed to act like it.
He continued. “The eyes of everyone in this state, as well as other states and a few other countries, are on you now; the most recent high society celebrity bride in the financial world. Everyone will be watching your first steps to see who and what you are. First impressions are vital; they set a tone. You want to be wise about what you do. I’m going to help you through all of that, and you could have no better guide through it than me, I promise you that.” He gave her a wide smile.
She realized that it might be some form of redemption for her to do as much good as she could, both in the family and in the community, to minimize the guilt of her fallacy and her lies. She had an opportunity to improve the lives of others through her new and temporary position. She wanted to grab at it. Anything to assuage even some of the guilt that she was feeling.
“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” She replied. She didn’t have to think on it long at all, though dozens of causes rushed to mind, one was at the forefront of them all. “I think I’d like to make education for struggling women easier. I would like to offer funding for it with more than just scholarships, if we can.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do, and I can fully understand your endeavor, considering how much you sacrificed for your own education.” He rubbed his finger over his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll help you set it up, we’ll meet with our family lawyer, and get the paperwork all drawn up. We’ll make a foundation to accomplish this goal for you. Then, we’ll plan a benefit gala to be held a month from now, and I’ll invite every wealthy family I know to come to it. I know everyone.” He winked at her. “They’ll contribute to it with you, and your foundation will grow.”
He beamed at her, and she could see the pride for her in his eyes. It felt wonderful and horrible all at the same time. “Thank you,” she whispered, stunned and amazed at his generosity and thoughtfulness. “I can’t believe this… I will really be making a difference to those women!” She felt a grin grow wide over her face as excitement washed through her and she began to feel somewhat better. She might be at the center of the biggest lie of her lifetime, but she was going to make sure that tremendous good came of it while she was there.
They spoke a while longer, and finally she was laughing and grinning when he opened the study door to let her out. She nearly walked into Ryder, who was looking for her.
She gave Ryder a customary kiss on the cheek and turned, heading for their bedroom to take a bath. Ryder glared hotly at his father and when she was gone, he barged into the study and faced his father.
He spoke vehemently to him. “What were you doing in here with Regina?” He demanded, angrier than usual. His emotional estrangement from her was taking a massive toll on him, as was his exhaustion and weariness from not sleeping well.
Carter was completely unruffled. “I was making her a part of the family, just as you have done.”
“In secret?” Ryder snapped, eyeing his father suspiciously. He was terrified that his father would find out that their marriage was a sham, and that he would not be inheriting anything. He wasn’t about to accept that he could go through all that he was going through with Regina and then not get the prize at the end; it was bad enough that he didn’t really have Regina.
Carter looked at him peacefully. There was no anger in him. “Not really. We were discussing a foundation that I am going to help her set up. We’ll be meeting with the attorney and hosting a gala in a month. You’re welcome to attend. Her foundation is between she and I. You might have brought her here, but I have welcomed her with open arms as a daughter, and that is what and who she will be from this point forward. She should be treated as such.”
Ryder blanched and shook his head. “A foundation? You can’t…” He began, and then stopped himself before his temper let his mouth run on too far.
“Of course, I can, and I am, and you have no say in the matter. Now you know what she was doing, and that’s that. I don’t want to see you ever treat her poorly. She is your wife, and she is a lady of this house. Treat her accordingly.” Carter told him in all seriousness.
“There is no other way that I would treat her.” Ryder spoke with an icy tone. “She is my wife, she is my family. Family comes first.” He nearly spat it out at his father.
Carter’s expression changed slightly, just around the eyes. “Always.” He then turned toward his desk. “You may go.”
Ryder left the study and stood in the hallway, fuming about what was going on behind his back. His father was scheming with his new wife, making plans for a foundation that she knew could not come to pass because she would be gone and they would be divorced before the foundation even took hold.
He stormed down the hallway, all the thoughts of it running through his mind. A gala in a month, he thought to himself, how utterly ridiculous. She was going to be gone forever in no time at all. It would be a waste of time and money to even begin looking at starting a foundation.
He flung the door of their bedroom open and slammed it behind him, ready to argue with her over what a thoughtless notion it was to even consider doing anything of the kind, but he stopped right in his tracks when he saw her.
She was standing before him in nothing but a towel, her hair wet, her body wet, bubbles drifting all over her skin, sliding downward, and a look of total surprise on her flushed face. She blinked and held her hand up. “I forgot my nail polish… I was going to paint my toes while I was in the bath.” She barely whispered, seeing the intense expression on his face.
Everything that he was going to argue with her about began to dissipate from his mind like cool morning mist in the hot sun. He grew breathless, staring at her. He struggled to hold on to his thoughts as his own body began to betray him. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing, trying to plan some kind of foundation with my father behind my back? You’re not going to be here long enough to see it through!”