Her Billionaire Bodyguard Bridegroom (5 page)

Kicking herself for not trying the dress on before buying it, she dropped her key card into her purse with a resigned shrug. She’d have to be bold and pull the look off. There was no time to change.

A hostess greeted her as she entered the restaurant. “Are you dining alone, or are you joining someone?”

“I’m meeting Mr. Bryant,” she said, smiling warmly.

“Oh, yes. Right this way.”

Brianna followed the hostess to a corner table. The older gentleman seated there rose as she approached, extending a hand in greeting. “I’m Marcus Bryant,” he said, smiling. “You must be Brianna.”

The sincere warmth in his eyes immediately put her at ease. “Yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bryant.”

“Please, call me Marcus,” he insisted as they took their seats. “We don’t stand on formality at
Intrepid Explorations
. I’m thrilled you’re able to take on our account. Peter Thompson of
Hurst and Hurst
recommended you very highly. He was delighted with the seminar you presented for his team last year.”

“That’s great to hear,” Brianna beamed.

“Speaking of good news, I’ve just learned my editor-in-chief will be joining us this evening. A prior commitment was going to preclude him from being here tonight, but his schedule opened up at the last minute. Do you mind if we wait until he arrives to order?”

“Not at all,” Brianna assured him.

“Ah. Speak of the devil. Here he is now.”

Brianna followed the direction of his gaze, and her heart stuttered in shock.

It couldn’t be.

But it was. The devil striding confidently toward their table was none other than Luke Reynolds.

Marcus rose from his seat to greet him. Brianna followed his lead, hoping her shaky legs would do their job.

“Brianna, I’d like you to meet the man responsible for
Intrepid
’s success, Luke Reynolds. Luke, this is Brianna Atwood, with Upwords Development. She’ll be putting together a training program for your team, as well as helping you pull our conference together.”

Please don’t bring up our having met before,
she desperately telegraphed, her eyes locking with his. She’d die of embarrassment if he mentioned she’d gone by a different name at the lake. And if he referred to her suit-less swimming adventure . . . ugh! “
Oh, funny thing Marcus,”
she imagined Luke saying,
“Brianna and I have already met. We skinny-dipped together earlier this summer.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Brianna,” he said as he smiled and shook her hand.

Brianna released the breath she’d unconsciously been holding, relieved he was playing along. But she was dismayed to find that the formal contact was having the same mind-numbing effect as his embrace at the pool had. And the way his tongue wrapped around her name had her insides melting.

Pull yourself together,
she admonished herself silently, easing her hand from his as quickly as was politely possible.
You’re a professional. You can handle this.

Pep talk over, she promptly sunk back into her chair—before her trembling legs gave way. Deciding her best bet was to focus her attention on the magazine’s CEO rather than his hunky editor-in-chief, she sent a beaming smile Marcus’s way.

“So Trevor tells me you’re interested in our social marketing seminar.”

Her plan backfired when Marcus deflected the question. “Yes. The concept is Luke’s brainchild, actually, so I’ll let him expound on it.”

Luke jumped in, his passion for the topic evident in the excitement sparking in his eyes. “We’re announcing the launch of several new columns next month. I want to encourage our staff to utilize social networking sites to solicit feedback on their articles, or even to get input on stories in progress. It’s a new direction for our magazine.”

“Of course, we may have to drag some of them into the new era kicking and screaming,” Marcus added. “Myself included.”

Entirely too aware of Luke’s sizzling appraisal, Brianna ordered her recalcitrant brain cells to focus on business. “My seminar will certainly lay the groundwork for the trail
Intrepid Explorations
is blazing.”

She launched into a detailed explanation of the course curriculum, and how it would benefit their staff. She couldn’t help but appreciate the input Luke offered for customizing her training program to meet the needs of his team, and she found herself drawn to his keen intellect and quick sense of humor.

It proved to be a productive planning session, and Marcus appeared to be delighted with her proposal. “With your assistance, Brianna, I’m confident our conference will be a rousing success,” he beamed. “On that note, I’m afraid I need to call it an evening. I have an early start to the day tomorrow. Please don’t rush off on my account, though. Stay and enjoy dessert.”

Brianna returned the CEO’s congenial smile. “I look forward to seeing you again at the conference, Marcus.”

And then their host departed, leaving her alone with Luke.

“So, my little mermaid, we meet again.”

“I am
not
your mermaid,” she quickly countered. “But I suppose, now that Marcus has left, we should address the elephant in the room.”

“Which elephant would you be referring to, exactly? The ‘I lied to you about my real identity’ elephant, or the ‘this is awkward because you’ve seen me naked’ one? Or I guess it could be the ‘that was one hell of a kiss we shared’ elephant.” His lips curved up in amusement. “For the record, I don’t have a problem with any of them. I understand why you wanted to maintain your anonymity. And seeing you in your birthday suit and sharing that kiss certainly weren’t hardships.”

Brianna rolled her eyes. “What I’m referring to is my behavior when we met at the lake. I hope you won’t doubt my professionalism based on our first encounter. I don’t make a habit of, well . . . you know . . .” she trailed off.

“Cavorting naked on private property and locking lips with total strangers?” he supplied.

“I wasn’t ‘cavorting’. I was swimming. It was hot.”

“It certainly was.” His expression made it clear he was alluding to an altogether different kind of heat.

Determined to direct their fledgling business relationship onto safer ground, she tried again. “Can we just forget it ever happened, and focus on this project?”

“Of course.”

“Great. I take my work seriously, and you can count on me to carry out the job I’ve been hired to do. I just wanted to clear the air. Are we good?”

“Sure. But there’s one more thing I’d like to know before we consider the air officially cleared.”

Brianna struggled to tamp down her trepidation about what his question might be. “Ask away.”

Emerald eyes bored into hers. “Back at the lake, when we first met—why did you run?”

It was the mother of million-dollar questions. Why
had
she run?

Deep down, Brianna knew the answer. But she wasn’t prepared to acknowledge the truth to him or herself, so she promptly deflected his query. “I thought we just agreed to put our first encounter aside and focus strictly on business.”

He tilted his head and regarded her with a contemplative gleam in his eyes. “While in theory that’s a great idea, executing it is an entirely different matter. Perhaps we should go back to Plan A and see how things play out if we just stop fighting our attraction to one another.”

“If you think I have any intention of letting this . . .” she sputtered before breaking off midsentence to gesture broadly, “this
thing
between us muddy our business relationship, you’re sadly mistaken. That kiss we shared was a one-off. As of this moment, I’m forgetting it ever happened. I suggest you do the same.”

“Ah. So you admit you
haven’t
forgotten it,” Luke drawled with a questioning quirk of an eyebrow.

Her face heated in mortification. “That doesn’t mean anything. You are
so
not my type.”

He shook his head. “You really think you know everything there is to know about me after spending a total of two and a half hours in my company? Well, if you’ve got me pegged, then please enlighten me. What ‘type’ am I, exactly?”

Her gaze roved over his professionally styled hair, designer suit, and the expensive watch on his wrist. “A privileged playboy,” she tossed back recklessly.

His eyes narrowed, sending a glittering warning she’d overstepped her boundaries. “You’re way off base. I may be many things, but a playboy isn’t one of them. Sure, I enjoy the company of beautiful women. But I don’t take advantage of them, nor am I indiscriminate in my physical relationships. And as for the privileged part, I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, as you seem to think. I earned everything I have. I grew up in poverty, so I get what it’s like not to know where your next meal is coming from—or if there will even be one.”

Remorse sliced through her at the sincerity in his vehement denial of her blanket assumption. “You’re right,” she admitted, appropriately chastened. “I was out of line. It was unfair of me to jump to conclusions. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted. However, I’m curious to know if you think badly of all men of means, or just me? Your boss shares the same tax bracket as I do. Do you treat him with the same contempt?”

“Trevor’s different,” she shrugged.

“And why is that?”

“He uses his wealth to help people, and he treats his employees like equals rather than like servants.”

“So you think I’m an ogre, hoarding my riches and running roughshod over my subservient workers? That smarts.”

“Now you’re putting words in my mouth. All I’m saying is Trevor
doesn’t
exploit his wealth and power. I’ve seen other rich men abuse their affluence.”

“So your dislike of affluent men is personal?”

If he only knew.

She’d never opened up to anyone about the years of grief she’d watched her mother endure while manacled by her wealthy employers, slaving away for men of privilege. She had no idea why she suddenly felt compelled to allow this man a peek inside the deepest recesses of her heart, where she’d tucked those awful memories away, but before she could stop the words, somehow they came spilling out.

“My mother was a maid, and I grew up watching her wealthy clients take advantage of her. She was good enough to care for their finest possessions, but never good enough to merit civil treatment.”

Now that the dam had burst, Brianna found she couldn’t stanch the flow of raw emotion. “It made me furious to see my mother’s employers treat her without the slightest thread of common decency. They had this sense of entitlement that overrode everything. Mom just accepted it. We had to know ‘our place,’ she’d say. I learned ‘our place’ meant we weren’t good enough for them to associate with.”

“The men that treated your mother so vilely were the exception, not the rule.”

“I’d like to believe that. Maybe the concept would be easier to grasp if I hadn’t recently learned she had an affair with one of the tycoons who employed her. Apparently there was one thing he deemed her good enough for. She never told me I was the result of that affair, and I’ll never know if she would have. She died in a car crash a few months ago.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured sincerely. “You’ve had a lot thrown at you all at once.”

“I was trying to make some sense of it all when I met you. I was getting away to sort things out.”

“And did you?”

“Somewhat. It’s a lot to absorb. A part of me wants to get to know my father, but I haven’t quite reached the point where I feel like I’m ready to take that step. It’s crazy, I know, but . . .”

“You’re scared he might be a carbon copy of the men who ran roughshod over your mother. The men who abused her.”

She nodded, his insight surprising her. “I’m not sure I’d go so far as to call it abuse, though. That seems harsh.”

“Not harsh enough, in my opinion. There’s no excuse for treating people with a lack of dignity and respect. Just because someone has money, that doesn’t give them the right to look down on people who don’t. And as you’ve experienced firsthand, sometimes wealth brings out the darker side in people. I can’t vouch for your father, but I’m not like the men who took advantage of your mother. You can trust me in the same way you trust Trevor.”

His expression made it clear it was important to him that she believe him. And, somehow, she knew she really could trust him. What she didn’t trust was the undercurrent of attraction arcing between them.

“Trevor doesn’t make me feel the things you make me feel,” she replied, opting for blatant honesty.

“Which brings us back to that kiss. You’ve thought about it. I have, too. It’s all I’ve thought of.”

“Well, you can forget about an encore. There won’t be one.”
There couldn’t be.

“Why not? I see no reason we can’t mix business with pleasure. What are you afraid of?” he challenged.

“I’m not afraid of anything. It’s just that my life is convoluted enough right now. I don’t want to complicate it any further. Let’s just put what happened between us aside and focus on doing our jobs. We have a conference to plan.”

Luke nodded his assent, playing along with her attempt to draw a boundary line. She didn’t buy his easy acquiescence for a second. The look on his face told her he was planning on crossing said boundary line at the first opportunity. His next words confirmed it.

“And what if I told you I nearly went crazy sitting across from you at dinner tonight, knowing exactly what that very sexy dress conceals? What would you say then?”

The truth was, the idea of mixing business with pleasure with
him
was a temptation as compelling and difficult to resist as the finest melt-in-your-mouth chocolate. Brianna dug deep for the willpower to ignore the craving. “Apparently I’m not making myself clear,” she sighed, articulating her next sentence with exaggerated slowness. “I’m not interested in a fling.”

A corner of his mouth tilted upward. “Fair enough.”

It was obvious he didn’t believe her. Of course he didn’t. Though she’d made every effort to get her message across explicitly, her body language had confused the issue by screaming the exact opposite. Oh, she may have gotten the words right, but her voice lacked conviction. Her huskily breathed avowal had sounded more like “I want you” than “I’m not interested.”