The Rent-A-Groom by Jennifer Blake Read Free Book Online Page A

she knew.
     
    Unless she had something to prove? Unless, God help him, she wasn’t as innocent as she seemed.
     
    No, she must be worrying about what Dillman was going to say or do when they reached the suite. The other man had chased them down on the patio when he could have avoided them; he must have a reason. More than that, seeing the idiot here like this had to be upsetting for her. She had almost married the man, after all. That was it; it had to be.
     
    What if it wasn’t? Race frowned as the elevator doors slid open. He couldn’t afford to ignore that kind of gut instinct. Careful attention to such things had paid off more times than he could count. What he needed was a way to put it to a test.
     
    He could think of one, but was afraid to try it, afraid he might enjoy the experiment far too much. Besides, he had made himself an ironclad promise that he would not take advantage of this deal.
     
    Of course, Gina Madison could take any advantage she wanted. She wouldn’t hear a whisper of objection from him.
     
    The doors for their two respective suites were placed almost at right angles to each other at the far end of the main hall. As the four of them walked along together in that direction, drawing closer to the doors, Bradley cleared his throat. “You two may as well come in with us for a nightcap,” he said in expansive invitation. “We have champagne chilling on ice.”
     
    “Thanks for the invitation, but we’ll pass,” Race said before Gina could answer. “We have champagne of our own, compliments of the management. It would be a shame to let it go to waste.”
     
    “Well, then, we could pool our resources,” Bradley began.
     
    “Oh, I’m sure you don’t want to do that, not tonight of all nights. And frankly, neither do we.” Race ignored Gina’s soft gasp and the sudden bite of her nails into his biceps. “We’ll say goodnight here. See you around. If we decide to get out of bed.”
     
    Without allowing Dillman time to comment, he clamped Gina’s arm against his side and moved on. Gina had given him the room key to carry, and he dug it out of his pocket. Inserting it, he pushed the door open in a smooth movement then swung Gina inside.
     
    As the heavy door closed behind them, she turned on him and opened her mouth to give him the hiding he deserved. He reached to place his fingers on the soft surfaces of her lips and stood listening with his head cocked toward the hall outside.
     
    Nothing. Not a sound.
     
    He glanced down at Gina, and then took his fingers away. She was quiet for a moment, but there was mutiny in her face. He had about five seconds, he thought, before she started throwing things.
     
    The Do Not Disturb sign hung on the doorknob, where it had been taken in as they went down to dinner. He opened the door and put it out as an excuse to check on Dillman and his wife. The two were just disappearing inside the Emerald Suite.
     
    That was good. In fact, that was perfect. Drawing back into the foyer, he closed the door once more and swung to face Gina.
     
    “I hope,” she said distinctly as she crossed her arms over her chest, “that you don’t think that you are really staying here with me.”
     
    He leaned his shoulders against the door panel behind him for support and folded his own arms. “What? You mean we aren’t going to—what was the phrase—head to bed?”
     
    “You know that was part of the act!”
     
    “And a very nice part, too,” he said, recalling the sweet incitement of her breast and thigh pressed against him.
     
    “You didn’t have to pick up on it quite so fast.” There was a flash of gold in the dark brown of her eyes.
     
    “What was I supposed to do? Shake your hand and say a polite good-night at the door?” He lifted his brow. “I thought the idea was to convince your old flame over there that we’re using this place for the purpose intended.”
     
    Her face turned pink; it was amazing. It was also incredibly sexy. Which