Chapter 5
With only two and a half weeks until they’d planned to be married by a justice of the peace, Marissa was pleased to hear that the rumors were flying around town. Their plans were working perfectly. Her father, while not exactly pleased with them because of their display at the restaurant, seemed to accept their charade and was leaving them alone. With a week to go before their next function, a masquerade ball that was held every year to raise money for the local historical society, Marissa had plenty to keep her occupied.
Luckily, she’d planned to be in L.A. for most of early summer to make the final decisions about the fall and winter line for Marissa’s Fashions, a process that was time consuming but exciting. Most mornings found her driving to the local factory where she’d located her headquarters, a simple office that was just big enough for a small support staff. It was there in her office that the biggest decisions were made, but to look at the office you wouldn’t know that the company behind it was already worth millions.
Marissa preferred to do most of her business out in the field, using one of her many disguises to hide the fact that she was the owner of the company. Thinking about how many times she’d posed as her own assistant, she had to laugh, but then she suddenly remembered that all those disguises, which she’d perfected over the years, were stored at her house in the mountains. She’d have to get them packed up and moved to another location and soon, in only a few weeks she and Scott would be living in that house.
Thinking of her little house in the mountains made her wish she could just get in the car and go there, the need for some privacy so intense in that moment that she could hardly breath. But just then there was a knock at her door, a rare thing since no ever knocked around here. To her surprise, Scott was standing in the doorway, a giant cup of coffee in his hand.
“I thought you might be ready for a coffee break,” he said, smiling at her, then stepping into her office and sitting down across from her.
She rubbed her temples, the final decision for the fall line had to be made in less than a week and she just couldn’t concentrate on anything but the man sitting across from her. Reaching for the coffee he’d brought, she said, “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day. Let’s go for a walk, I need to get out of here for a few minutes.”
On their way out of the office, Marissa introduced everyone to Scott knowing that if she didn’t she’d never hear the end of it. Once they got out of the building, Marissa took several deep breaths trying to clear her head, but all that did was make her realize that Scott smelled good. With a sigh, she crossed the street to the little park where she liked to sit and people watch. They sat in silence for a while, Scott giving Marissa some space to decompress.
Finally, she gathered her thoughts and said, “I’m going to have to go out of town for a couple of days. I just can’t make the final decision on the line without seeing the clothes in person. Hopefully, it won’t take that long, but I’ll have to go to Chicago and Houston.”
Scott thought about this for a second. “I could go with you. I don’t have anything else going on,” he offered.
“No, you’d only be a distraction. I just need to get this done, if we don’t start production soon it will be a huge disaster. I’ll be home in plenty of time for the ball, it’s not until next week. Will you be okay on your own?” she said, then smiled to take the sting out of her refusal.
“It’s okay, I understand. I don’t miss all the stress and worry of my job, but I’m beginning to get bored,” Scott said, not even bothering to pretend that Marissa didn’t know most of his story.
She looked at him, trying to decide if she could ask about his job or lack of one. It didn’t really matter to her, but she had a feeling that it mattered to him. “Scott, I can’t help but wonder what happened with your dad. I told myself that I wasn’t going to ask...” she said, shrugging her shoulders.
“It’s a long story, but basically he asked me to step down because I’d become too...” Scott didn’t finish, unsure how to explain to her what had happened.
“Ruthless?”
He laughed. “Yes, I guess that’s a good way to put it.” But then he said more seriously, “I’m sure you’ve been on the internet so you know some of the story, but let’s just say that I took things a little too far. Made some decisions based on some long held grudges that I’m trying to work through.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I just wondered what happened. I, of all people, know that you can’t believe anything you read on the internet,” she said, taking his hand in hers. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do now? Although I guess you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”
Scott thought about that for a minute. “I thought I might just take some time off and be lazy, but I doubt that’s going to work, I’m already bored. I tried to play golf with your dad the other day, but it didn’t do anything for me. I’ve never had free time, never let myself have it, so I’m a little lost.”
“Well, I wish I could help you, but free time isn’t something I have a lot of either, but when I do I like to work on my house. It’s a bit of a fixer upper, but it has a long history and I love it,” she said, wishing they were there right then.
“You keep talking about this house, but I don’t even know where it is. When do I get to see it?” he asked, intrigued by her description.
“I probably won’t go back until after we get married,” she said, finding it easier to say. “It’s a three-hour drive up in the mountains in an old mining town. There’s not much up there, but I like it that way.”
Scott looked at her surprised. He’d thought that she’d have a house in one of the exclusive communities scattered around the mountains up and down the state, but this sounded more rustic than that. “You never cease to amaze me,” he said, grinning at her.
“Let me guess, you did some internet research as well,” she said, laughing. “Scott, I’m really nothing like that woman you find on social media.”
“Then why does your dad think you are?” he asked, thinking that there was a piece to the puzzle in her answer.
“Because that’s the way I want it,” she said, clearly shutting down the conversation.
Making note of the fact that her father was definitely a touchy subject, although he should have figured that out before., no father forces his daughter to get married without some issues, he knew what he was going to do while she was gone. It shouldn’t matter to him why she put on this false front, but since Marissa was beginning to matter to him it did. Howard had always been his enemy and he’d never given much thought to his life, but he did know that he’d been married multiple times since his first wife had died.
Marissa pulled him from his thoughts when she said, “I probably should get back to work.”
“Thanks for taking a few minutes out for me. Can we have dinner before you leave?” he asked, kissing the palm of her hand sending shivers up and down her spine.
Marissa’s body responded immediately to his simple gesture, but she managed to say, “I’d like that. I’ll probably be leaving early tomorrow morning and I still have to pack, but how about eight o’clock tonight?”
“It’s a date. I’ll see you then,” he said, getting to his feet and offering her his hand.
They walked hand in hand back across the street. Scott kissed her goodbye, an event that was quickly becoming a habit. As she rode the elevator up to her office, she touched her lips with her fingers, thinking that she’d become accustomed to those kisses. By the time he picked her up for dinner that night, she was exhausted and not up to a big scene at one of the popular restaurants.
When she let him in the house, he took one look at her and said, “It looks like it’s been a long day. Do you still want to go out? We could just make something here.”
“No, I’d still like to go out, but let’s go someplace low key. I can’t handle getting dressed up tonight,” she said, leading him into the sunroom. “Wait here, I’ll be right back, just let me get cleaned up a little.
Before she got three steps, Scott had his arms around her. “I think you look just perfect the way you are with your hair a little wild and a big smudge of dirt on your cheek. What have you been doing anyway?” he asked, wiping the dirt off her face with his thumb.
“Packing,” she said, looking up at him, her heart beginning to beat faster in her chest, knowing that one of those Earth shattering kissing was coming. “I was looking for a pair of shoes.”
“Hm, and you had to dig them up?” he said, his mouth coming closer to hers.
“Uh, no, they were on the top shelf of my closet,” she whispered, her eyes locked on his.
When his mouth came down on hers, it was like an explosion of fireworks in her brain, the pleasure surging through her in heavy waves. His tongue was hot and demanding as he bent her back, his mouth slanting across hers. She wrapped her arms around him to keep her balance. The feel of his strong arms supporting her only increased her pleasure, the tingle that had started deep inside her blooming into a full blown throbbing between her legs.
Scott pulled her back to her feet, then said, “Go do what you have to, but you look beautiful just the way you are.”
Marissa stumbled from the room, grinning from ear to ear. Once back in her room, she quickly changed her clothes and ran her fingers through her hair. It was wildly out of control but so was she. Contrary to what was on the internet, Marissa was seldom out of control, but when she was with Scott there was no other way to describe her behavior. The worst part was that she knew that she was making a big mistake, this was only a diversion for Scott, and eventually he’d move on, they’d both agreed on that.
She’d always been careful with her heart, but this time she was going with her instincts which told her that as short lived as their relationship was going to be, it wasn’t something she wanted to miss. The power of their attraction couldn’t be denied, it had a life of its own, and she knew that resisting would only delay the inevitable. But that didn’t mean that she was going to give in easily. In fact, she might even make him wait until the wedding night, if she could resist that long.
Marissa surprised him once again that night when she not only directed him to one of the worst neighborhoods in town, but paid a couple of dangerous looking men to watch the car while they ate. He was hesitant to even enter the little hole in the wall, but once inside, the smell of Mexican food drew him further into the cramped space. All the tables were full, but once the owner spotted Marissa, he rushed across the room and moved people around until he’d gotten them a couple of places to sit at one of the large tables.
Without even placing an order, food began to appear on their table. Raising his eyebrows quizzically, Scott picked up the margarita that had been placed in front of him and took a small sip. Marissa did the same, waiting to see his reaction which was just as she’d expected.
“That’s the best margarita I’ve ever had,” he said, taking another sip.
“Wait until you try the food,” she said, taking the lid off a big soup tureen.
Inside, Scott saw a steaming tomato-based seafood soup with an amazing array of fresh crab, mussels, and shrimp. It smelled wonderful, and his mouth began to water. Marissa ladled some into his bowl and handed him a warm tortilla, watching as he took his first bite, then laughed when he closed his eyes in pleasure.
“Told you,” she said, taking a portion for herself.
They ate in silence until the worst of their hunger had been appeased, then Scott asked, “How did you know about this place? Don’t tell me you just stumbled on it.”
“Actually, I loaned the owner the money to open it a few years ago. It’s a long story, but he paid me back in less than a year,” she said, taking her last bite, pleased that she’d been able to answer him without giving anything away about her community service. This neighborhood had been the first one she’d spent time in after she’d turned eighteen.
Scott could sense that there was much more to the story than she was telling him, but also knew that she wasn’t going to share more than that so he changed the subject. “What time does your flight leave in the morning?”
“Early. I have to make this trip as quick as I can, the ball is this weekend,” she said, nodding to the owner who brought them a simple dessert of tropical fruit and her favorite Mexican pudding.
“I’d be happy to take you to the airport,” he said, taking a bite of the dessert then a second when he realized how good it was.
“That’s okay, I have a car coming to pick me up at four. I’m not exactly a morning person so I’ll spare you my wrath,” she said, touched that he’d be willing to take her to the airport, a terrible trip even that time of day.
“I’ll have to remember that in the future,” he said, flashing her a smile. “Does coffee help with this morning grumpiness?”
“Don’t even talk to me until I’ve had at least two cups,” she said, laughing. “What about you? Are you one of those people who jumps out of bed ready to start the day? Keep in mind that I hate those kind of people.”
“Me? No, definitely not. I like to lay around in bed as long as I can. I’ll use just about any excuse to stay in bed. Don’t you just hate that first cold blast of air on your bare skin when you get out of bed?” he asked innocently, knowing he’d just painted a picture in her mind when her eyes got big.
Stamping down a wave of desire, she said, “Um, I guess so.” But the picture of him naked in bed just wouldn’t leave her mind. “That was terribly unfair to paint that picture in my mind,” she said as they walked to the car, finally able to drag her mind away from thoughts of Scott in bed.
“Can you ever forgive me?” he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her.
“Not if you keep doing that,” she said and pushed him away laughing. “You’d better take me home before we do something we’ll be sorry for.”
“I’d never be sorry,” Scott said, meeting her eyes, then kissing her again.
When they pulled up in front of the house, Scott turned to Marissa and said, “I don’t suppose you’d consider making out with me for a few minutes.”
“You’re terrible,” she said, reaching for the door handle.
“Not as terrible as I’d like to be,” he said, making her stop and look at him. The raw desire in his voice cutting right through her.
She turned in her seat and let him kiss her. He was gentle at first, but soon the electricity that always sparked between them flared and the kiss turned demanding. When she finally managed to pull away, they were both breathing hard, their chests rising and falling with the passion between them.
“This can’t go on much longer, Marissa. You’re driving me crazy,” Scott said, grabbing her head with his hand and pressing his forehead against hers.
She pulled back and kissed him sweetly, then said, “I never thought I’d say this, but you’re just going to have to wait for your wedding night. I have a flight to catch in the morning.”
Those words filtered so slowly through his brain that Marissa had enough time to get out of the car and make it to the porch before he could say a word. She waved at him, blew him a kiss, and then slipped through the front door and shut it behind her. Grinning from ear to ear, he started the car and headed for home, looking forward to his wedding day for the first time since he’d learned it was going to happen.
Marissa pressed her back against the door unable to believe she’d just said that. When had she made that decision? The words had just popped out of her mouth, but now that she’d said them she knew that they had been the right ones. It was stupid to think that this little affair would ever turn into something more than that, but if she was going to have to marry Scott, they might as well make it real for as long as it lasted. Somewhere along the way, they’d become involved, built something that would help them survive the next year.
The wedding had suddenly become something more than a day that she’d have to get over, it had become a day she was looking forward to. They hadn’t talked about any plans for the day, but now she’d set the bar higher a few preparations might be in order. Las Vegas wasn’t that far away, they could drive over and get married there, that would be much better than a trip to the courthouse.
With thoughts of a romantic Las Vegas wedding in her mind, she flew out of Los Angeles the next morning unaware that Scott was dreaming of his own special wedding. His thoughts that early morning weren’t so much about the ceremony but what would follow, he’d been awake most of the night thinking about it. He’d never been much of a romantic, but he knew one person who could help him if he could just get up the guts to make a couple of phone calls.
The first would be to his dad, who deserved not only an apology but a thank you. By making him take responsibility for one of his more hateful schemes against Michael, he had given him a chance to make a new life, a life free of the old animosity and hatred he’d lived with so long. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to tell his dad all that but he had to start somewhere.
Then as difficult as it was going to be he’d have to try to make some amends with his family in Colorado. Hopefully, they would be forgiving since he’d backed off everything he’d started out there. He hadn’t even applied for his trust fund disbursement even though it was hundreds of thousands of dollars. It was time to deal with the mess he’d made, and maybe if he was lucky, Sabrina Terrell would be able to help him put together a wedding Marissa wouldn’t soon forget.
He had no idea what the future would hold for them, but there was no reason that they couldn’t make some wonderful memories in the process. Deep down, he knew that he was falling in love with Marissa, she was sexy and smart. The added mystery of what she was hiding only made him want to get to know her more, expose even more of the layers to her personality that he hadn’t seen yet.
As close as they’d become, he knew that she was still holding a part of herself back from him. He couldn’t figure out what that was but knew that an essential part of what made her who she was still needed to be uncovered. He knew that if she could learn to trust him she might share that part of her, but he also knew that like him she’d been hurt so he hand to proceed carefully.
Taking the sting out of what they were being forced to do, mostly because of him, would help make the transition easier. Plus, she’d said he’d have to wait for their wedding night and if that was the case he wanted it to be special, like the whole thing was real, it was the least he could do for her since he’d drug her into his life. He wasn’t an expert on women, but he knew that for a woman like Marissa sleeping with him would be a commitment and he was perfectly happy to have her see it that way.