The Tycoon's Misunderstood Bride (7 page)

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.  “You can’t sign something without reading it, Emma.  Didn’t your father teach you anything?”

She glanced down, ashamed that she’d been so distracted after his visit last night that she hadn’t even thought about this legal document.  “Perhaps you could explain what’s in it?”

Jason ran a hand through his hair.  The agreement wasn’t bad, but he knew that she needed legal advice from an uninterested party.  He glanced at his watch, then pulled out his phone.  “Marshal, we’re going to be delayed.  Probably by a few hours.  I’ll call you when we’re on the way.”

“Come along,” he snapped and headed out the door.  When he noticed she wasn’t following him, he looked back and glared at her. “What’s wrong?”

Emma had had enough!  This man was rude and inconsiderate, ordering her all over the place and she was just sick of it.  “Perhaps if you explained where we are going, I might be more inclined to follow.  But please don’t interpret my inexperience with stupidity, Mr. Montenegro.  I refuse to….follow like a pathetic puppy.  If you would like my company on whatever excursion you have in mind, perhaps you could inform me of our destination.  I’ll then consider your suggestion and will decide if it suits my needs as well.”

Jason’s mouth almost fell open at her little speech.  He could tell that she was terrified of him, her whole body shivering in fear
and yet she still was standing up to him as if she were a school teacher speaking to a misbehaving student
.  He was towering over her but he had to give her points, not only for co
urage, but also for elegance and diction. 

Okay, he acquiesced, s
he was actually quite magnificent.  He didn’t know of a man or woman who had stood up to him quite so eloquently.  Hell, he couldn’t remember anyone standing up to him recently. 

“Well put, Ms. Mason.”  He almost chuckled at her blazing eyes. 
“I was going to take you to a lawyer’s office so you can review this document before signing it.  As a businessman, I cannot let you sign anything without having you review it and understand it.”

She thought about that for a split second, then sighed, knowing that he was doing the right thing.  It would be so much easier for her if he would stick to a bad guy or a good guy.  She was just too confused by his changed and not sure what is triggering one way or the other. 

“That’s very considerate of you, Mr. Montenegro,” she said, her tone barely above a whisper. 

She wasn’t looking at his face or she would have seen the irritation crease his forehead.  “At the risk of sounding tyrannical again, I must insist that you call me Jason.  I find it too awkward to be heading towards our wedding ceremony when not on a first name basis.”

She actually smiled at that, despite her queasy stomach.  “I suppose the person officiating at the ceremony might think it slightly odd,
wouldn’t
he?”

Jason’s irritation increased as she looked up at him through lose ridiculously long eye lashes.  The knockout figure, the shy glances, the soft blushes…yes, he could see how this temptress could seduce a room full of people. 

He moved closer.  “Emma, we need to get one thing straight,” he almost growled.  “There are actually two things.  First of all, I refuse to allow my wife’s name to be attached to any other man in any context that could be construed by the media as salacious.  Do you understand?”

Emma bit her lower lip and blinked at his hard tone.  What had provoked this outburst?   She’d just been standing here agreeing with the man!  “I don’t feel that your comment is warranted, but yes, I agree that
any kind of embarrassing rumors that include the opposite gender should be avoided.”

He almost chuckled at her avoidance of the word “sex”.  She was cute, he’d give her that.  And was she always this formal?  She stood stiffly in front of him, her head bowed except when she was indignant.  She certainly had the timid little mouse act down to a science.  He’d been fooled, and it was extremely rare that he missed judging a person.  He’d become an expert at reading people but this little beauty had thrown him off. 

“Secondly, since the terms of this agreement are that I need to impregnate you, and a DNA test is required, I will not allow this process to be slowed down by you getting pregnant by another man’s child.  Do I make myself clear?”

She was horrified by his insinuation but was so embarrassed that he thought he needed to bring that sort of issue up, she couldn’t even form a reply.  Memories of her father’s tirades flashed through her mind and accusations of sleeping with just about any man she’d come int
o contact with were still fresh
and painful. 

She stood up to her full height, her chin jutting out defensively.  “I can guarantee questions of the parentage of any child conceived through our efforts will not be in question.”

She hadn’t said that she wouldn’t sleep with other men, just that the child’s parentage wouldn’t be in question.  He’d like to know how she was going to guarantee that, but he’d just have to put a guard on her to ensure that she wasn’t sleeping around during the period when they were trying to conceive. 

With that, he stepped away and walked quickly to the waiting limousine, not even waiting for her.  Emma took a deep breath and followed him, wishing she could run back into the house and hide.  But her hiding days were over.  This was her new life and she needed to face up to the challenges, not run from them. 

Two hours later, she stood next to Jason in a judge’s chambers.  The Judge’s two assistants were acting as their witnesses and Jason stood beside her, not even taking her hand while his friend started the ceremony. 

There was no mention of God, no prayers to lay upon them or blessings of the union.  It was a simple ceremony, finished within five minutes of their arrival.  At the end, the judge smiled broadly and finally announced the part Emma had been dreading ever since she’d thought about it. 

The kiss!

The judge chuckled and looked up at Jason.  “You man kiss the bride,” he said, encouraging Jason to turn and face Emma to put the seal on the marriage. 

Jason wished he could knock his friend’s teeth out.  He’d asked Todd Jeffrey’s, a judge in the criminal court system and a personal friend of Jason’s, to officiate at the ceremony.  Todd wasn’t one to spread gossip but he also wasn’t one to let an opportunity pass.  He just had no idea that Jason’s new bride had been shivering from the moment they’d stepped out of the lawyer’s office and he could feel her shaking increase now that he was about to kiss her. 

He took her hands in his, squeezing her freezing cold fingers for encouragement.  He didn’t want her to be frightened, but he couldn’t seem to reassure her.  Why she was nervous anyway, he had no idea.  Maybe it was just because it was the first time a man had touched her with the eyes of the law on her side.  Or maybe she just didn’t like an audience. 

Either way, he didn’t care.  He was going to kiss those full, red lips.  He was finally going to taste their sweetness and know their softness.  He’d been dreaming about them at night, thinking about them during meetings and there was no way in hell she was getting out of this part of the ceremony, audience or not. 

Just a short kiss, something to ease his curiosity and they’d be on their way. 
Jason pulled her closer, noting that she was stiff and looking as if she were terrified of what he was about to do.  He wanted to assure her that it was only a kiss.  And it would be short at that.  But he couldn’t do it, couldn’t say the words.  At some level, he knew the words would be a lie and he didn’t want to start off their relationship, as odd as it was already, with a lie. 

He pulled her that last little ways, then pulled her hands higher, placing them on his shoulder.  His hands then moved down her body, settling on her slender waist.  Damn, but she was thin!  Too thin, he thought with a groan as he lowered his head.  Closer and closer, he watched her eyes as he bent over her.  She turned her face up to his and it was as if the moment were in slow motion.  He was making too big a deal of this kiss, he told himself. 

And then their lips touched, her breath came out of her, sweet and soft and he couldn’t resist tasting her.  Deepening the kiss, he moved her closer, pulling her against him, feeling her soft breasts against his chest.  As soon as he felt her lips, felt the soft, barely there quiver, that was the end of the control he’d been able to maintain.  He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss, his mouth moving over her soft lips, caressing and teasing, nipping at her lower lip until she opened slightly for him.  He bent lower, his mouth devouring her with the pleasure, the excitement that ripped through him. 

Emma couldn’t believe how wonderful kissing was.  With this man, it wasn’t the embarrassing situation, the fumbling trials she’d imagined her first kissing to be like.  It was smooth and erotic, her body lifting into his, her mind shutting off and her lips moving closer, wanting more of him but not sure what would be appropriate.  She imitated everything he was doing to her, wanting to learn, to feel and to know him.  This might be their only kiss and, for some reason, she suddenly wanted to take advantage of the opportunity, to experience all that a kiss could be and Jason didn’t disappoint.  When he nibbled on her lower lip, she almost jumped but since his arms were around her, it just put her more securely in his arms. 

She felt him pull her closer, his strong arms holding her while his mouth moved over her again and again, caressing her with those firm, sensuous lips that delivered everything she hoped a kiss could be. 

The soft laughter to her left slowly filtered into her mind.  She opened her eyes, looked up into Jason’s and wondered what had just happened.  He looked just as confused as she was
but he pulled himself together faster and stepped back, leaving Emma feeling cold, bereft. 

He tucked her hand into his arm, then turned to face his friend.  “Thank you for your help,” he said to the judge.

The other two women smiled broadly, obviously excited to be a party to such an important and secret wedding.  Jason knew they were both chomping at the bit to rush out of here and sell the story to the press. 

“I also appreciate your discretion,” he added on, a message not directed to Todd because he knew his friend wouldn’t reveal to anyone what had happened here this afternoon.  The comment was for his assistants, a reminder that they didn’t want to mess with him on this situation. 

Todd immediately turned to both women, giving them a dark look.  “No one will hear about this wedding until you’re ready to post the issue at your leisure.”  Which meant that the papers wouldn’t even be filed until Jason was ready for that to happen. 

Emma bit her lower lip, her body trembling with reaction after that kiss and she missed most of the interaction between Jason and the other three occupants of the room.  She wouldn’t have cared either because she had no friends who would care if she were married or not.  If she’d thought about it, she might have wondered if the announcement might have gotten word to her mother, who might want to approach Emma, but she was too confused, too shaken by the kiss to think about anything other than trying to recover. 

Emma sat outside Jason’s office, her whole body blushing fro
m the conversations she had prepared all morning to discuss with him.  She couldn’t believe she was this bold, but she had no choice.  She needed that diary!  Her mother’s clothes and jewelry gave her no clues to where her mother might be.  Her wretched father must have known that!  He’d only taunted her with the storage room filled with her forgotten clothes and costume jewelry and he’d known it.  She could even picture him where she thought he was now, with flames leaping up around him and someone even poking him in the sides with a stick.  At least she hoped someone was poking him with something!  But even in Hell, she could see her father laughing at her, knowing she’d gone into that room with such high hopes and dreams of finding the one person who had genuinely cared for her. 

Emma didn’t believe any of the stories her father had told her about her mother’s infidelity.  Having been the recipient of so many of his tirades about her lack of morals and how she’d come on to every man, even a guy she passed while walking to the grocery store!  No, she didn’t believe any of it.  She’d been hurt when her mother had left.  Devastated even.  But when she’d reached her teen years and had gone off to school, she’d finally understood why her mother had left.  The absence of the taunts and lectures, the yelling and demeaning accusations was euphoric!