Billionaire's Blackmail Bride: Billionaire Brothers Kent - Ridge's Story (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (6 page)

And so they dined in –Saimin, an Asian-style noodle soup, followed
by chicken katsu and fried Mahimahi. They finished off with bowls of pineapple
flavored shaved ice.

“Mmm, that was good,” Lani said with a sigh. “I am so full.” She
gave a playful groan. “You’re going to have to roll me into my room.”

Instead of the laughter she’d expected for that funny comment she
got a serious look from Ridge. He cleared his throat. “I’ve been meaning to
talk to you about that,” he said, his voice sounding strange in its brusqueness.
“That’s not your room anymore.” And that was where he stopped, saying nothing
more, like that terse statement was sufficient.

Lani waited but when nothing further seemed forthcoming she decided
to speak. “What do you mean, that’s not my room anymore?” she asked, frowning.
And then her face cleared. “You’re such a child. Do you mean to tell me you
want us to switch rooms just because I picked the bigger one? Oh, please. Grow
up, will you?” She was laughing now, laughing at him for being so petty.

“That’s not what I meant,” he said, and he wasn’t laughing. “I meant
that you’re not going to be sleeping in that room anymore. Neither am I. You’re
going to be sleeping with me.”

Lani’s brows shot up then she folded her arms across her chest and
glared back at Ridge. “Excuse me? Have you forgotten something? Just in case
you did, let me remind you. We have an agreement.”

“And that agreement stands,” he responded, his tone cold. “I told
you I would not make love to you, not unless you wanted me to. I intend to honor
that agreement.” Then he sat forward and the dark-eyed gaze he fixed on her was
determined. “But I never said that would mean we were going to occupy separate
spaces.”

Lani gasped, shocked that he would put such a spin on things. “No,
you never said that but of course I assumed-”

“You assumed wrong.”

But Lani was not about to accept that. “So why didn’t you stop me
when I unpacked my stuff in that other room? Why am I hearing about this now?”

“Because,” he said with a shrug, a casual gesture that belied the
intensity of his gaze, “I changed my mind.”

“You can’t do that,” she said in strident protest.

“Who says I can’t?”

“Well…” For a moment she was stumped. “Well, you just can’t.”

“Sure I can,” he said, seeming to become more adamant by the second.
“And I will. Tonight you’re sleeping in my bed.” When she opened her mouth to
repeat her protest he put up a hand to stop her. “I’m not going to touch you. I
already told you that. You have absolutely no reason to fear for your,” he
smiled, “feminine virtue.”

“Then why are you doing this?” she half cried, half wailed. “Does it
make sense for us to torture ourselves?” As soon as the words left her lips
Lani realized her mistake.

Immediately, Ridge picked up on her slip of the tongue, his eyes
lighting up with an ah-ha look. “Torture ourselves?” he asked, looking way too
pleased. “It would only be mutual torture if I wanted you…and you wanted me
right back. So,” he sat back in his chair and folded his arms, the smile on his
lips widening, “are you saying that you want me?”

“Never,” she hissed and hopped up from her chair. “I would never
give you that satisfaction.”

“Hmm.” He loosened his arms and lifted his hand to rub his chin in
an exaggerated gesture of thoughtfulness. “Maybe you should think about that.
You might want to consider giving yourself the satisfaction.”

“Ugh.” With a a guttural explosion of frustration Lani whirled
around and marched back into the suite and straight to her room. Yes, it was
her room and she was not going to let Ridge Kent bully her out of it. She would
lock the door if she had to.

And she would have, except that the stupid door didn’t have a lock.
She couldn’t even resort to the option of propping a tilted chair behind the
door. Outside of the sofa and two wicker armchairs there were only bar stools
at the kitchen counter. For a place this posh you’d think they would have even
one real chair. Darn.

And so when Ridge left the balcony and came – uninvited – into her
room, it was to find her sitting on her bed, arms folded, still sulking. She’d
had such a high opinion of him, thinking he would never invade her space. Well,
not anymore. Her opinion of him just plummeted to an all-time low.

“Come on, Lani,” he said, going over to the closet. “Stop pouting
and help me pack up your stuff.”

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” She hopped up off the bed and
went right over to the closet then stood in front of him, trying to block his
view to her stuff. Of course, she was too short for that. The man towered over
her which meant all he had to do was look straight ahead to see everything. Her
presence was no hindrance whatsoever.

“I’m going to help you pack,” he said as if he did that sort of
thing everyday.

“No, you’re not,” she said and jammed her fists on her hips. “Not
over my dead body.”

“Okay,” he said, “no problem. We don’t have to do this over your
dead body. We’ll just do it over your live one.” And he reached over her head
and began pulling her clothes from the racks.

“Stop that,” she shrieked and reached up to try and rip the garments
from his hands but he frustrated her even more when he just held them up high,
forcing her to jump and even then she couldn’t get the darned things.

After jumping a couple of times and realizing it was hopeless she
stopped and resorted to glowering at him. “Ugh, you beast,” she snarled and
then, not knowing what else to do, she stormed out of the room and onto the
balcony. There she flung herself into the nearest chair and stared out into the
night that had now fallen over the land.

It was a good hour before Lani made her way back into the suite. By
then Ridge would have probably moved all her clothes over to his room. At this
point she didn’t even care. She just wanted to get this so-called honeymoon
over and done with so she could get on with her life.

She went back to her bedroom and, as expected, it was bare. The man
was determined she should move to his room, so she would. She didn’t give a
hoot. As long as he didn’t touch her she didn’t really care.

And then she smiled, realizing that things might actually work in
her favor. She’d wanted to torture him, hadn’t she? What better way than to put
temptation right under his nose? Laughing to herself she left her old room and,
not even bothering to knock, she walked into her new place of abode.

And there he was, lying on top of the bed, hair damp, his hands
clasped behind his head. He was watching her expectantly. “Took you long
enough.” He didn’t sound angry, only amused.

She walked over to the chest of drawers. “I had a lot to think
about.” She opened the top drawer and, as she guessed, he’d already put some of
her stuff there. Her intimates. He’d had his fingers on her undies but if that
gave him joy she couldn’t care less. As long as he didn’t think that gave him
the right to touch her.

But, unfortunately for him, in the next few minutes he would get an
unexpected show and boy, would he be tempted to touch. Too bad for him she
wouldn’t let him.

Tonight she grabbed bikini panties and a black lace teddy, not as
skimpy as the one she’d worn the night before but good enough, and then she was
off to the shower. His shower. Now theirs. She gritted her teeth at the thought.

She took her time, savoring the warm spray massaging her back and
shoulders, and then she donned her new costume and checked herself in the full-length
mirror. The midnight-black silk teddy was in stark contrast to her pale skin,
pale from all the hours locked away in the research lab, but the shimmering
black material was a perfect match for the shiny-black shade of her damply
curling hair.

When she went back into the room Ridge had pulled the covers down
and he was still lying on his back but now he didn’t seem quite as relaxed as
before. His arms folded across his chest, he was watching her enter the room,
his eyes following her as she walked around the foot of the bed and then to the
other side. His gaze was roaming over her body, taking her in from head to toe,
practically burning into her skin.

When she got into the bed she didn’t slide in with her back toward
the middle as she normally would. No, this time she climbed on, making sure to
tilt forward, giving her now very tense ‘husband’ an unobstructed view of her
breasts falling against the fabric of her skimpy top.

His sharp intake of breath told her all she needed to know. Ridge
Kent was pretending to be unaffected by her display but he wanted her real bad
and the evidence was there right in front of her eyes.

Why else would his shoulder muscles flex as he clenched his hands
around his elbows? Why else would his nostrils be flaring like that? Why else,
for goodness gracious sake, would he have a rapidly rising mound tenting the
front of his pants?

And then just as she settled onto the pillow beside him Ridge gave a
groan fraught with frustration then rolled away from her and got out of the
bed. Without warning he walked away into the bathroom and she didn’t hear
anything else until the shower started.

Ridge
was mad all right, but he’d asked for it. She chuckled as she remembered his
reaction. “Be careful what you wish for,” she murmured. “You might just get
it.”   ***

It was early, barely six o’clock in the morning but Ridge was up and
jogging on the cool sand of  Papohaku Beach. If he’d spent another minute with
Lani’s warm, sweet-smelling body curled up against his he’d have gone mad.

That is, if he wasn’t already. Who but a mad man would put his own
damn self in a prison of torment, living with a desirable woman but not able to
touch her, then worsen the torment by bringing her into his own bed? No, you
had to be crazy to willingly put yourself in such a fix. And that was exactly
what he was. Crazy.

Exhausted from pushing himself hard, Ridge jogged over to a rock
jutting out of the sand and dropped down onto it. Still panting, he raised his
head to stare at the low-lying clouds tinted red and gold by the emerging rays
of the early morning sun, a picture so serene it was in direct contrast to the
turmoil that raged within him. Last night he’d had to resort to a quick, cold
shower just to get his body to calm down. After enduring a sleepless night
listening to Lani’s gentle breathing, conscious of her lying next to him, he’d
had to leave her there and escape to the beach just so he could breathe again.
And think.

And as he sat there on his rock, a solitary figure on the stretch of
beach, Ridge came to a decision. None of this made any sense. The only way he’d
be able to preserve his sanity was to put a stop to it.

When he got back to the suite he didn’t even enter the bedroom. That
kind of sweet torture, he could do without. For the next couple of hours while
Lani slept he hung out in the living room watching reruns of classic comedy
shows. He’d always been a fan of ‘The Honeymooners’ and ‘I Love Lucy’ and he
welcomed the distraction.

Contrary to what he’d expected, though, after sitting through four
episodes of comedy he was in no better mood than when he’d left early that
morning. In fact, when Lani finally emerged from the bedroom, scantily clad and
making him even more aware of her as she spread her arms in a languorous
stretch, his mood got even worse.

He didn’t mince words. “We’re leaving,” he said. “Today. You can
start packing right now.”

Lani froze mid-stretch then she lowered her arms to her sides and
frowned. “So soon? I thought this was supposed to be a week-long honeymoon.”

“I’ve had enough,” he said, his voice terse. “It’s time for me to
get back to the real world.”

“Well.” That was all she said – no protest, no nothing – then she
shrugged and headed back into the bedroom.

Ridge grimaced then let out the breath he’d been holding. The truth
was, he’d expected a fight, maybe even an all-out war. The last thing he’d
expected was for her to accept his sudden change of plans without demur.

But he was thankful. He was looking forward to getting back to
Houston where he could lose himself in the day-to-day problems of work. With
all that distraction maybe he would be able to deal with his dilemma. This
romantic setting was definitely not working in his favor.

But, back in Houston Ridge soon found out that losing himself in
work was not going to be the answer. Each night he still had to come home to
face a bride, now a wife of over one week, who proved a constant distraction.
And as if that weren’t bad enough she was a constant cause for vexation. The
woman would not listen to him.

As soon as they’d arrived back in Texas the woman decided she was
going back to work the very next day.

“You already told your staff you’d be away this week,” Ridge told
her. “Why don’t you just stay in and relax?”

Instead of seeing reason Lani had a ready response. “So you rush us
back here so you can get back to work but I should sit in the house for the
rest of the week, bored out of my mind? Nothing doing.”

“You were the one who complained that you hadn’t had a vacation
since taking that job.”