CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER FIVE
‘Y OU HAVE ONLY one hour to escape!’ With dramatic effort Elodie closed the heavy door on the group of excited pre-teens and turned the lock with a loud flourish.
Her first customers were making the most of the air-conditioning to escape the suffocating heat that London could shock with in the summer. By the time she got back to reception, Bethan had arrived and was sewing final touches onto a prop for the new scenario they had planned.
‘You okay?’ Bethan’s eyes narrowed on her. ‘You look tired.’
‘Just a bit distracted.’ Elodie smiled to cover up. ‘I’m going to work from the back office for a while, can you monitor those guys?’
‘Of course.’ Bethan nodded. ‘I’ll bring you coffee shortly.’
Elodie hugged her as she went past. ‘You’re the best .’
Try though she might, Elodie couldn’t stop thinking about Ramon Fernandez. Already in sleep deficit after the disturbed night before, worrying about Ashleigh, she’d lain awake for the whole of last night as well—thinking about him instead of trying to find alternative solutions to help her sister. She was pathetic. But she still couldn’t process what had happened between them.
Lust . Instant. Rampant. Undeniable lust.
Seemingly a normal thing for him but an absolute first for her. Most of the time she didn’t think about sex, and she tried not to think about her ex-husband Callum at all. Their physical relationship had been unsatisfying at best and in truth she wasn’t anywhere near as experienced as people believed. All her nightclub party pictures had been for show to provide the humiliating evidence she needed for her liberation. So the uncontrollable moments in Ramon Fernandez’s home last night?
Shocking . Even more shocking, was her appetite for more.
Bethan appeared in the doorway of the office but with no coffee in hand. Instead, she had a curious expression on her face. ‘Someone’s here to see you. He says it’s a personal matter?’
Elodie stared at Bethan, then swivelled to check the CCTV displays that showed all the escape rooms, plus the reception area. They’d barely been open ten minutes and here he was—tall, devious and handsome.
‘Lock him in the Prohibition room,’ she said softly.
‘Did you say lock him in?’ Bethan checked, startled. ‘Um... I don’t think he’s a customer. He—’
‘Deserves it,’ Elodie said flatly.
‘Right. Uh, I’ll get him in there right away then.’ Bethan backed out of the office. ‘I’ll stay on reception to handle those others and the next scheduled.’
Elodie clicked a few commands on the audiovisual set-up to block the Prohibition room from Bethan’s monitor on reception, then switched her own view to full-size on that very room. It was only a moment before the door opened and Ramon strolled in with that relaxed, yet predatory, ruler of the universe way of his. Bethan quickly closed the door without saying a word to him.
Elodie activated the intercom system. ‘You have one hour to escape.’
‘Elodie.’ He slowly turned a full circle in the centre of the room, his alert gaze taking in the vibrant decor. ‘I am locked in?’
‘That is the point of an escape room,’ she said acidly.
‘You think I came here to play?’ He stared straight into the CCTV camera that was mounted on the wall.
‘Consider it a test.’
‘What happens if I fail your test?’
She’d put him in the hardest of the escape rooms. Whole teams of people struggled to work the challenges out. She was certain he’d fail. ‘Then I know you’re not fit for purpose.’
He smiled. ‘Are you not going to give me the rules—don’t I get some sort of scenario I have to work through?’
Yeah, she’d skipped the three-minute spiel she usually gave before that final line.
‘How can I pass your test if it’s unfair from the outset?’ he added.
She gritted her teeth. ‘The year is 1922. It’s the Prohibition era in the States, but you’re a playboy—running with the wrong crowd and trying to be a big man bootlegger. You’ve been lured to The Redhead, a speakeasy with a secret entrance beneath a barbershop, and locked in to be caught. If you’re found here you’ll forfeit your family fortune. You need to find the hidden mechanisms that will turn the basement bar back into a storeroom and then make your escape before the police catch you.’
‘Did you just say I’ve been lured to a redhead?’ His mouth twitched. ‘You really do like playing games...’
‘It’s the name of the bar.’
Elodie put on the jazz music that signalled the start of the hour. She watched him read all the supposedly ‘random’ notes on the counter and take note of the patterns painted on the walls. It took him only a moment to find the ‘hint’ envelope stashed behind one of the decorative bottles.
‘Need help so soon?’ she murmured.
‘I want to get out of here as fast as possible.’ He speed-read the letter inside. ‘An interesting job you have, watching people struggle to work out the clues. The diversions, red herrings, complications. Do you enjoy seeing them sweat?’
She did want to see him sweat, actually. ‘What do you think that says about me?’
‘That you like to play but you keep yourself safe. Distanced.’
‘I offer assistance when required.’
‘Benevolence?’ His laugh was low. ‘No, you just like to display your superior intellect.’
‘Not superior,’ she countered. ‘I have the advantage only because I know the rooms inside and out.’
‘Because you designed them. You’ve set this trap for me.’
She watched him unlock the first cabinet and gritted her teeth. He was too quick. He was going to do this in less than an hour. ‘You’ve been doing your research.’
‘I stayed up all night finding everything I could about you.’
‘That would hardly have taken all night,’ she said uncomfortably. What did he think he knew now?
‘The night was very hard.’ He grinned. ‘Will you give me extra time given my performance might be impaired due to the lack of sleep you caused?’
‘No.’
‘I won’t forget that small lack of mercy, Elodie. Maybe there’ll come a time when I show you no mercy.’ He stood still and stared directly into the camera. ‘Here’s the deal. When I escape this room—in less than an hour—you’ll elope with me.’
Even though there were walls between them, she felt that look burn through her. ‘You’re not really in a position to make demands.’
‘I have copies of your parents’ accounts,’ he said softly. ‘You’re going to want to see them.’
Her stomach dropped. ‘How bad are they?’
‘Can’t say right now, I’m concentrating on decoding this cipher.’ He pushed a series of buttons—in the right order. The cloth providing a colourful backdrop for the musicians’ platform fluttered, swallowed into a small gap in the floor and leaving a bland basement wall exposed.
‘Oh, that’s impressive,’ he commented.
Elodie refused to feel pleasure at the praise. She clicked to another screen and adjusted the temperature of the air conditioning. Willing to play dirty to win.
Only a few moments later Ramon removed his jacket, put it on the wooden table and rolled up his sleeves. ‘I appreciate your efforts to make this even more difficult for me.’
He flexed his hands and stepped forward to line up a series of cocktail glasses.
‘Copa de balón...’ He angled his head and read the gin bottles. Understanding he needed to read the colours in the mirror to input them in the right order. ‘This business is for sale. The owner wants to retire. Meaning your job is potentially at risk. His asking price is steep.’
Elodie froze, hating him.
‘It must be disappointing that you don’t have the money to scrape together a bid when you’re the one who’s made such a difference to the bottom line with rooms like this and thus have inflated that asking price,’ he added. ‘You’ve brought in another stellar worker and everything. It must be nice to work with a friend. Bethan, right? The brunette on reception. She’s in some of your social media photos.’ He ran his hand over the knobs and lined them up. ‘Wouldn’t it be a shame if she lost her job too?’
‘I’m not going to let that happen.’
‘No? But the business leases this building and that’s also coming up for renewal shortly. What if the landlord decides to sell? A new building owner might want to do something else with the space given it’s such a central location. It could even be a good boutique hotel.’ He paused. ‘All that could be avoided if you were to buy the business.’
Elodie turned the audiovisual feed off completely. It was a calculated risk but one she had to take given he was at the three-quarter mark already. She ran down the secret fire escape passage to the compartment that was about to be flipped into the room and stepped onto the small space just in time. She heard the creak as the mechanism started. Lifting her chin, she pressed back as she was swung around on the small platform and into the room. Because what had been a shelf in front of him was now a hollow holding Elodie herself.
She met his stunned gaze with a defiant glare.
‘Wow...’ Ramon pressed his hand to his chest. ‘Quite the jump-scare.’ He regarded her with wide eyes as she stepped into the centre of the room. ‘You really do know how to make an entrance. Here was me thinking the object of the exercise was to get out of the room.’
‘There are surprises for the clients,’ she muttered. ‘Sometimes a mannequin, sometimes a fake skeleton—’
‘Sometimes a beautiful woman.’ He put his hands on her waist and pulled her flush against him. ‘This is definitely an interactive experience. I—’
‘Think you’re done?’ She stood stiffly against him.
‘Yes.’
‘No,’ she said with some pleasure. ‘It was a false finish.’
He stilled. ‘So we’re still locked in here?’
‘You are. I can get out anytime I like.’
He gazed down at her, taking in her floor-length black skirt and high-necked fitted black shirt with its long row of pearl buttons. ‘So are you a Victorian widow or scandalous witch? Either way, I like it.’ He looked back into her face, his own half smile all mockery. ‘I’m not sure you should have joined me in here, carino .’
Elodie summoned all her strength to resist him. ‘I’m not afraid of you.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ he said softly. ‘I’m not afraid of you either.’ He glanced into her eyes. ‘Much.’ He cupped her face and muttered quietly, ‘Who’s monitoring the cameras?’
‘I turned them off.’
He stared at her for a long moment. ‘Always three steps ahead, aren’t you Elodie?’
She stared back at him silently.
‘You want to delay my success,’ he murmured. ‘You’re trying to distract me—’
‘Because you’re cheating.’
‘No, I’m not.’ He smiled a little bitterly and released her. ‘I think that’s your speciality.’
‘The clues,’ she gritted as he stepped back. ‘You’re getting them too quickly. Did you search a spoiler page online? I change up the clues frequently to counteract them.’
‘I didn’t look them up, you’re watching my raw talent.’ He focused on figuring out the final task. ‘When I’m determined to achieve something, I don’t let anything get in the way of my goal. Like you.’
‘You know what you want and you go for it.’
‘As do you.’
She wasn’t his equal—but she could pretend. Because she wanted to be. She really wanted to be. If she could hold her own with Ramon Fernandez, she could hold her own with anyone.
‘You use numerical patterns. Ciphers. The envelope contained a decoder,’ he said. ‘A colour wheel. Morse code.’
‘We use many codes, trick props. But sometimes it’s simply that the truth is the opposite of how it appears.’
She watched as he worked through the penultimate clue with annoying ease.
‘The opposite.’ He glanced across and read her expression. ‘The door will unlock if I do this?’ He smiled but didn’t move the piece into play. ‘Less than an hour. Time to keep your end of the bargain.’
There was so much that was more important than testing him like this. ‘Are my parents really going to lose their hotel?’
‘It’s in trouble. Your ex-husband didn’t do such a great job as assistant manager. You left and he stayed.’
Right. So now Ramon knew that her father had sided with her ex after she’d walked out. Callum had remained as assistant manager while both he and her father had tried to convince her to come back. Well, Callum had tried to convince her with increasingly startling desperation while her father had simply bullied and threatened. Neither liked not having complete control.
‘He left once he agreed to the divorce,’ she said. Once she’d publicly humiliated him too much.
‘Your father hasn’t made wise choices since.’
‘He tends not to make wise choices.’
He thought he did. He thought he knew everything and wouldn’t listen to alternative ideas. The only way was his way.
She watched Ramon step closer to her. ‘Dad’s financial issues don’t make marrying off Ashleigh the right thing to do.’
Ashleigh shouldn’t be driven out of the only home she’d known. Shouldn’t be expunged from the family like Elodie had been.
‘Don’t worry, that wedding will not happen.’
But Ramon wanted another one. Her heart thudded.
He frowned. ‘You still look worried.’
‘Of course I’m worried.’
‘Don’t be. I’m a good guy, helping save your sister.’
‘By taking advantage of—’
‘ No one takes advantage of you, Elodie Wallace. You’ll get what you want as much as I will from this.’
She stared at him. What she really wanted was selfish .
‘Say yes and you’ll have more than you need to help your sister,’ he said. ‘You’ll have your own business. You’ll be able to secure Bethan’s job too. I understand she also walked out on her marriage.’
‘That’s right.’ She tilted her chin in defiance of all his damned invasive research. ‘We have our own divorced wives club, actually.’
‘Of course you do. Does it have a name?’
‘You mean your team didn’t find that out for you? FFS.’
‘Quite.’
‘No, that’s the name .’
‘Standing for the obvious.’
‘We’re the Forever Free Sisters. Meaning we’re going to be free—from marriage —forever. None of us are making that mistake again.’
‘And with me you won’t be,’ he said. ‘You’re an astute woman, why not get what you can from me?’
‘My body is not for sale.’
‘Sure, but your signature could be. That’s all I’m paying for. Your signature on a wedding certificate.’
She swallowed. It was a little more than that. It was her name. Her honour. But she’d destroyed both of those things herself, hadn’t she?
‘We both have pasts. We both know what we’re getting into. We both know our affair is as inevitable as our next breath,’ he said harshly. ‘So why not extract some additional benefit to our being together?’
He thought she was something she wasn’t, but if he knew the truth of her first marriage, if he knew how she’d faked most of those photos, how inexperienced she actually was—especially compared to him—would he still suggest this?
Elodie swallowed. He was more powerful. More experienced. More everything. If she told him and if he still wanted to proceed with this crazy plan, then she would lose what little power she had. So he couldn’t know.
Because she’d spent most of last night regretting that she’d stopped him touching her.
Her loss of control had been shocking. Yet because of that she now knew he wouldn’t demand more than she was willing to give. Not physically. She’d inadvertently tested him in the course of her own confusion and overwhelm. He’d stopped the instant she’d asked him to. He would again. So maybe she could fake her way through this. He never need know the extent of her inexperience and along with securing Ashleigh’s future, she would get something she wanted. Him. Just for a little while.
‘Come on, Elodie.’ He crowded her as he had last night. As if he couldn’t stand to stay at a respectable distance from her for more than three seconds. ‘You know it’s going to happen.’
‘Are you trying to seduce me into saying yes?’
‘As if you’ve never seduced someone into doing something you want?’ He laughed.
Right. Elodie had never seduced anyone. She’d flirted—but only so far—then she was very good at escaping. And she didn’t get seduced. She didn’t lose herself in desire and heat. Never had. But she wanted to know. She wanted to be normal. This was her secret reason to say yes. But it had to stay a secret.
The physical relationship between them was to be a separate issue. She had an opportunity to discover something for herself. And right now it was the only thing she could think about.
‘You know how this game works,’ he murmured. ‘The stakes aren’t even that high. Neither of us is going to get hurt.’
Right. What was another failed marriage to her name? Maybe hardly anyone needed to even know about it. Surely it would be brief. Just long enough to secure a safe future for her sister and ensure he had the assets he wanted.
‘You’re too smart to turn down a deal that benefits you and those you care about so greatly. You’re a realist, Elodie. You know what you want and you know you can get it all from me.’
Affair. Benefits. No complication. No messy misunderstandings. No expectations that couldn’t be met. She’d sworn not to get hurt by a man again. And she wouldn’t, because this was simply an arrangement. There was nothing deeper—no emotional connection. No guilt. But he could give her something she’d never had.
He watched her hesitation with raised brows. ‘It’s not like you consider wedding vows to really mean anything, right?’
That hurt but at the same time helped narrow her focus. He wanted her but didn’t think much of her. She could hate him a little for that. Which was good. It would protect her from his immense magnetism.
‘It doesn’t bother me that you broke them before,’ he added. ‘They mean little to me either.’
She didn’t believe him. He judged .
‘So this is to be an open marriage?’ she questioned even as the idea repelled her.
‘Oh, no .’
His immediate guttural denial made her skin prickle and he captured her in a hard embrace.
‘My affairs are always monogamous.’ He lifted her chin so she couldn’t avoid his eyes. ‘I won’t cheat on you.’
The strangest sensation of trust washed over her—belief in him—a fragile thing that scared her into pushing back. Because she couldn’t drown in it. She’d believed someone once before when he’d made promises.
‘I don’t care if you do,’ she lied, purely to keep him distanced.
‘To be clear,’ he said harshly, ‘you won’t cheat on me either.’ He ran his hand firmly down her back, moulding her against his rock-hard frame. ‘You won’t have the time or the energy to even consider it. I intend to keep you utterly exhausted.’
His heat and strength seeped into her. This was a threat she knew he’d honour. And just like that he got her. Her overwhelming physical response was unlike anything in her life.
‘Wow,’ she breathed to mask her trembling. ‘Big promises.’
‘Big enough to satisfy you.’ His smile was more a baring of teeth. ‘Say yes already.’
This was what she wanted. Him roused. Her on fire. To the point where thinking was impossible. There was only feeling. It compelled her to soften and lean right against him.
‘Elodie?’ He jerked her closer into an intimate embrace.
His hand lifted, gazing her breast. His erection dug into her lower belly. Her nipples pebbled hard against his hand. But her physical acceptance was not enough.
‘Fine.’
Not the word he wanted but the meaning was the same. He grunted and smashed his mouth on hers. She moaned, bowing into him so he scooped her closer still.
The kisses destroyed her. She clawed him closer as the animal inside overtook her again so swiftly. He was so hot and she wanted him everywhere. He knew because he moved almost as fast as she needed him to—unbuttoning her blouse to press kisses down her neck while hungrily grinding his hips against hers in that shamelessly sensual dance. Hell, they were almost consummating the deal while still fully clothed and it was so arousing. Elodie moaned.
Ramon wedged his hand between them, sliding it beneath her waistband until he got his fingers right between her legs and she moaned into his mouth again.
‘Three steps ahead again, Elodie?’ he growled.
‘So?’ She gasped in stunned pleasure at his repeated—deeper—incursion. ‘Are you going to catch up?’
He laughed and suddenly dropped to his haunches, lifting her long skirt up and out of his way in a flagrant move. She just fell back against the wall as he shoved her panties down and exposed her core to his fierce gaze. To his mouth.
‘What are you doing?’ she whispered harshly. But she was so shocked she just let him. So willing she actually widened her stance and bunched her skirt in her hands to hold it high. So thrilled she couldn’t catch her breath.
‘I’m locked in here until I satisfy your demands, no?’ he growled against her.
Utterly overwhelmed, she was unable to resist the temptation he offered. Pleasure .
‘You’re stunning,’ he ground huskily, trailing his fingers over her thighs.
Never in her life had she been so bold. There was no embarrassment— nothing could survive this heat other than the desire that fuelled it. She craved his touch. She’d been craving it all night. And it was his fault. He’d awakened this hunger and with a singular circling motion she demanded he sate it.
To her gasping delight he teased his fingers over her and his mouth followed. There was no thinking. Only feeling. Wanting. Every stroke. Every lap of his tongue. She quaked as pleasure fired along every nerve. She wanted him to devour her and he did. Until a high-pitched moan startled her back to earth.
‘Oh, no .’ She bucked her hips to break his hold as she realised that mewling cry had come from her. She’d turned off the cameras and intercom, but the walls weren’t going to be soundproof enough for the explosion coming upon her.
‘Bite on this,’ he ordered harshly.
She blinked at him uncomprehendingly, stunned to see that he’d risen.
‘You’re seconds from screaming your head off,’ he added gruffly. ‘Bite on this.’
Her mouth slackened and he shoved his silk handkerchief in before dropping back to his knees. She moaned in mortification but now it was muffled. Helplessly, hopelessly relieved, she closed her eyes and moaned again. His broad, strong hands squeezed her thighs, parting her for his mouth. She gripped her skirt as he took her so intimately with his tongue again. His fingers teased. Filling her just enough to be devastating. She rocked her hips, wanting more of him to ride. He gave her another. Pulsing, then plunging faster and deeper, he sucked too deliciously hard right where she was too devastatingly sensitive. He pulled her under with a relentless rhythmic onslaught that destroyed the last of her defences until she lost it entirely on a shriek of surrender. She gritted her teeth into the gag, grateful it suffocated her screams and then she was so far gone she simply didn’t care any more.
Because he didn’t stop, even as she arched uncontrollably and sobbed in uncontrolled, feral ecstasy, he gave her more. Holding her harder, his fingers flicking faster, his mouth hot and hungry until her legs gave out. That’s when he caught her, rising to his feet and pressing her body against the wall with his. She trembled uncontrollably as he took the material from her mouth, wiped his own with it before shoving it into his pocket. She watched, stunned and turned on again by the total intimacy of that act and the even more carnal one preceding it. She’d never been this intimate. Never let go of everything. Never been as out of control. And she still wasn’t herself. She still wasn’t done. She felt his hardness pressing against her—where she needed him. If it weren’t for the clothes in the way—
‘Please...’ She was barely aware as the raw plea escaped her. Barely aware of what she was asking for. She simply ached, unable to bear the agony of unfulfilled lust.
‘Luscious Elodie,’ he growled as he pinned her. ‘So hedonistic. No wonder...’ He breathed out harshly. His body was primed, pressing close enough to leave an imprint on her. ‘When I finally have you, it will not be in a semipublic place with the possibility of interruption at any moment. It’ll be in a bed, and we’ll have all night and several days beyond to indulge in each other. There’ll be no distractions. No interruptions.’
She shivered at the prospect. Impossibly all the more aroused. Because she believed him. He’d given her the most intense release of her life earlier. He’d just made her brainless.
She was utterly vulnerable. Utterly exposed. He’d turned her into a writhing, hot creature desperate for his touch. Shaken by the intensity of it all, she put her hand to her face to hide. How much she still ached. She heard him mutter something and he pulled back from the blatant thrust of possession into a looser, gentler embrace.
‘You’ll be my sole focus. I’ll be yours. Together we’ll be filthy,’ he said unevenly. ‘But it’ll be after the wedding.’
With a muffled sob of laughter, she rested her forehead on his chest and closed her eyes. Sure, she should straighten and take her own weight. Not lean on him like some weakling. But she was too wobbly. Still too needy . Lust still howled within her. If she was the confident woman he thought she was, she would prowl down his body now—freely purr on all fours, undo his trousers, tease him as he’d teased her. She would touch him. She would take him in her mouth. She would rub—
She clenched her fist, unthinkingly pressing it into Ramon’s chest as she tried to stop the X-rated images in her head turning her on all over again. She’d never wanted to do that with anyone. Ever. She’d had sex only with her ex-husband and he’d never made her feel that . Never made her want to reciprocate in such—
How was she to have known? Why couldn’t she have known? She squeezed her fist more tightly, hating her humiliating past. She’d never initiated sex. She’d invented reasons not to be intimate. She’d lied to her ex-husband. Repeatedly. But she’d been begging Ramon just now. Begging . Because the pleasure she’d just experienced, she wanted again.
A little thrown by the intensity of the storm he’d just incited, Ramon adjusted his footing to steady them both. He kept hold of her—she was trembling too much to stand on her own two feet. He covered her tightly held fist with his hand and tried to claw back his own calm while she rode out the emotion sweeping through her in a series of violent aftershocks.
She still wouldn’t look at him. And she’d looked almost stricken in the immediate aftermath of her orgasm, she’d pressed her face into his shirt and hadn’t lifted it since. Was she embarrassed? He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Not possible.
Yet last night her ‘no’ had emerged just as she’d been about to come apart on his dining table. At the time he’d thought she’d wanted him to stop but he’d realised she’d been muttering to herself . Today it had almost happened again until he’d thought to silence her self-consciousness. He’d wanted her to have the release. Wanted to taste it. Wanted it again now.
It was shocking how much he wanted it.
‘Don’t think you have to hide your hunger from me,’ he growled. ‘I am not so prehistoric to think a woman has any less right to pleasure than a man. You like sex. So do I.’
Her wordless, quivering response almost unravelled him. If they weren’t in a semipublic place he’d be plunging balls-deep inside her right now. He tensed, battling the surging hunger he couldn’t yet control. Winning her acquiescence to his—frankly mad—scheme had him wildly exhilarated. That’s why he’d just lost his mind and gone down on her like some ravenous sex beast, right? He held her more tightly as another intense wave washed through them both. This was the most savage ache he’d ever experienced. She smelt good. Tasted good. Felt good. He wanted more. Now. Because she was still hungry too. As aroused as he.
It was unfathomable that he felt this rabid about getting her to bed. He’d thought he’d escaped his father’s weakness. He’d always been able to walk away from a woman easily enough. But he’d do almost anything to have Elodie. And that was dangerous. She freely admitted being a liar and an adulteress. But the intensity of their sexual chemistry would be expunged and if he had to feel this kind of madness, at least it was with a woman who was experienced enough to know how it would end and who wouldn’t be hurt.
‘What you did before you met me is your business. Your past is your past,’ he muttered, reminding himself of that reality more than anything.
That was when she lifted her head. ‘I don’t need your absolution.’
He released her and she immediately stepped away. But there was an interesting rush of colour beneath her skin as if she were embarrassed. Which didn’t really make sense.
‘No?’ he questioned.
A spark of rebellion glittered in her pale face.
‘You can still go dancing, anytime you like.’ He suddenly wanted to make her strike again. ‘I know you like dancing a lot.’
She straightened her blouse. ‘You’re not worried I might dance with other men?’
‘If I’m not there your bodyguard will see off any threats.’
‘My what ?’
He smiled, happy to see her fire return. ‘Naturally you’ll have a bodyguard. More than one, at times.’
‘You’re not serious.’
Deadly, actually. ‘I’m extremely wealthy. It would be remiss of me not to provide protection for you. I won’t have you endangered because of your association with me.’
‘They don’t sound like bodyguards, more like gaolers.’ She looked mutinous. ‘I don’t want you to control my actions.’
His amusement died. ‘The last thing I want to do is control you.’ In fact, the only person he wanted to control right now was himself. But that hunger sliced anew, and another truth emerged before he could stop it. ‘I want to enjoy you.’
But if he were wholly honest, he ached for more than that. He wanted her surrender—her total submission to the passion that had ignited between them so unexpectedly. So irrationally. He didn’t want control or her obedience, but he did want her to admit this was like nothing else she’d ever experienced.
Ego . In other words. The competitive nature that had pushed him to be top of class was on fire today. He mocked himself. He just wanted to be the best she’d ever had. He wanted to be the one she would never, ever forget. Because he already knew he was never, ever forgetting her. And that was infuriating.
But now she turned, pulling back completely. ‘So how did you want to go about this? Are we to have a wedding in Vegas at two a.m.? Five minutes in a neon chapel?’ She smoothed one of the silver coasters on the table needlessly. Turned and adjusted another glass.
Ramon watched her fidgeting and suspected she was more shaken by what had just happened than she wanted to admit. Frankly, so was he. They needed to get out of here and deal with everything properly. He needed to calm down.
‘Sadly no, we’re in too much of a hurry.’ He reached for his jacket. ‘Ashleigh’s engagement is being announced this weekend. Isn’t that why you hunted me down in the first place? I assume you have a current passport?’
‘I thought you just said we weren’t going to Vegas?’
‘Not quite that far. We fly today. Get married tomorrow. Return before the engagement party. Our families are having a private celebration the night before and we’re going to gatecrash it.’
At that she turned and shot him a mocking look. ‘Why Ramon, you have a flair for the dramatic.’
‘Well, you enjoy the dramatic.’ He gestured around the room they were in. ‘You like to create a scene.’
‘A pretend one. For other people to enjoy.’
‘Isn’t that exactly what we’re doing?’ he drawled.
She fiddled with another prop. ‘I’ll need a couple of moments with Bethan.’
He smiled ruefully. ‘How will she cope with your defection from the single-forever divorcees’ club?’
‘She’ll be busy looking after the escape rooms for me and Phoebe is currently abroad. I’ll fudge the reality—’
‘No scruples about deceiving her?’
‘I’ve already told you I lie. I bluff in my business all the time. So rest assured, I’m good at it.’
Yeah. Ramon slowly followed her from the room. Warned, wary but utterly willing as he took one last look at the little clue stuck on the back wall of the hidden compartment she’d appeared in.
Trust No One
He really didn’t need the reminder.