Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part Two (BWWM Romance Serial) (8 page)

“I think she’s saving herself for Sasha.”

When they arrived at the wide steps leading to the house,
Jada bounded up to the two men. Marina waved shyly at Ian and he nodded with a
smile by way of greeting.

Jada beamed at Sullivan. “Thanks for rescuing Marina. She
told me you found her and brought her here.”

“It was totally Ian’s idea,” he said. “But it was my
pleasure, all the same.”

Jada turned to Ian. “I had a good time on our picnic. I hope
you don’t mind if I go and help Marina settle in.”

“Of course not,” Ian said. “Go on now. I’ll see you later.”

“Promise.”

“Absolutely.”

She stood up on her tiptoes and he leaned down slightly so
she could whisper in his ear. “I had a really, really good time, especially the
part before we were so rudely interrupted.”

Ian’s ear tingled. “Same here,” he said, his voice a bit
gruff.

Jada dashed off with Marina, Mr. Forest still trailing them,
asking if Marina wanted a short tour first, or to be shown to her room right
away.

Ian and Sullivan watched them go. Ian heard the helicopter
gear up and take off again.

“You know,” Sullivan said, “your wife has the prettiest
smile I think I’ve ever seen.”

“She does, doesn’t she?” Ian answered without thinking.

Sullivan chuckled. “That was a joke, calling her your wife I
mean.”

“Oh, well, I wasn’t paying attention,” Ian blustered.

“That, my friend, is clear as a bell. You’ve obviously got
other things on your mind.”

And then some, Ian thought. And they all wore a demure green
dress, smelled like flowers and tasted like strawberries. And had a cat with
terrible timing.

He heartily slapped Sullivan on the shoulder. “Are you
hungry? Shall we give Mrs. Best a thrill and let her fix you a snack?”

“You read my mind.”

And they were off to the kitchen.

MARINA LOOKED OVER HER PRETTY room which was nearly as big
as Jada’s, and sighed. “Isn’t this the life, Jada? Didn’t I tell you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“About being rich. I told you it would be great to be rich.
And here you go. You have to admit this is incredible.”

“I never said it wouldn’t be great to be rich.”

“I wanna see your room. Technically, I want to see
everything Ian bought you,” Marina said, a spirited gleam in her eye. “I didn’t
bring much with me, so I may need to borrow an outfit or two, for dinner and
stuff.”

Jada laughed. “Come on.”

Elly was in Jada’s room when they arrived, tidying things
and re-organizing Jada’s drawers for what had to be the third or fourth time.
Jada wondered why Elly didn’t have other things to do besides nitpicking the
arrangement of Jada’s sock drawer, but what did she know about it?

Marina and Elly met like old friends and bonded within
seconds with their shared enthusiasm about Jada’s new wardrobe. Marina and Jada
sat in the comfortable wingback chairs while Elly brought out one outfit at a
time for Marina’s inspection.

They thrilled over the fabric and workmanship, oohed and
ahhed at detailing and speculated over cost. All the while, Jada’s mind
wandered, returning to the magical picnic site and her steamy times with Ian,
daydreaming about what might have happened had Ms. Kitty not arrived when she
did.

“Can I wear this to dinner?” Marina asked, breaking into her
fantasies.

Jada wasn’t sure how long she’d been away. She scanned the
slinky silk dress Elly held up. “Sure. Of course.”

Marina clapped. “Yay! Now, we need to find shoes. What do
you think will go best with this, Elly?”

Jada drifted off again. Ian was so handsome, so manly and
powerful, yet he could also be kind and generous, too. She knew he couldn’t be
as perfect as he seemed. No one was. Still, she hadn’t found anything about him
she didn’t like.

Again and again, she recalled the events of that day, the
way the sun sparkled in Ian’s hair, the way his ripped abs felt under her
fingertips, the hard swell of muscle on his shoulders. Perfect.
Everything
was perfect. And getting more perfect all the time.

“Damn!” Marina said loudly. “You are out of it, Jada. And I
think we all know who you’re out with.”

Jada came to, glancing at Marina who was practically
gloating. “Okay. Don’t make fun of me. I can’t help it.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Marina said. “Now, do these shoes go
with this dress?”

Jada had no idea. “What do you think?”

Marina sighed. “She’s no help, Elly. I think they work,
don’t you?”

“Yes, Miss Marina. Are you going to try everything on?”

“Not yet. I need to figure out accessories. I assume you’ve
got lots of those, too, Jada?”

“What? Oh, yeah, I think so.”

“She does, Miss,” Elly answered. “They’re all in her vanity
in the dressing room.”

“I think I’ve died and this is the heaven I was meant for,”
Marina said. “Come on, Jada, help me pick out what to wear with this outfit.
Elly, would you mind going and finding out if the masseuse ... what’s her name
again?”

“Deb,” Elly answered.

“Thanks. Will you find Deb and ask her if she’ll have time
this afternoon to give Jada and I the full royal treatment, massages,
manicures, pedicures and so on before dinner?”

“I think Deb’s working on Miss Agatha down in the solarium.
Not sure. I’ll find her.” Elly hung the silk dress up on a hook and brushed at
the fabric. “This dress could use some work, too. A few wrinkles haven’t fallen
out of it yet. I’ll take care of it when I come back, okay?”

Elly slipped away, quiet as usual, closing the bedroom door
behind her with hardly a sound.

“I like her,” Marina declared. “I want one at home just like
her.”

Jada rolled her eyes. “Dream on.”

“I think I will.”

They headed into the dressing room and Marina sat in front
of the vanity mirror, pawing through the drawers and the big jewelry box. “Wow,
look at all this stuff. I can’t believe he got all of this for you.”

“Well, technically, his assistant picked it all out.”

Marina held up a pair of dainty, cut crystal earrings.
“These are gorgeous. I saw them in this month’s ‘Vogue.’”

“I’m not keeping it, Marina, once I leave. It’s all too
much.”

Marina goggled at Jada in the mirror. “You can’t be
serious.”

“I am.”

Marina sighed and gently lay the earrings back on their tiny
velvet cushion. “You’re not thinking about this in the right way. All this.”
She waved at the dresser. “To a man with Ian’s kind of money, this is
practically nothing. It would be like you and me going out and buying a cup of
coffee. Actually, not even that. Not even close.”

“You can’t compare it that way. Give it up. I won’t change
my mind.”

Marina shrugged and inspected a charm bracelet. “But you
like him, don’t you? You like him a lot.”

“Maybe.”

“Puh-leeze. Admit it. I know this has been a crazy ordeal
and some of it has been pretty bad, but getting to know Ian and being here on
his estate has made it worth it, right? I mean, at least some of it?”

Jada was surprised at how intent Marina was, how she
regarded Jada with unusual earnestness.

“I do like him,” Jada said. “As for it being worth it, no. I
don’t think so. I’m trying not to think about it right now because there’s no
point, and I’d like to keep having some fun while I can, but the truth is that
I’m scared about what’s going to happen after the truth comes out and I return to
my real life.”

“What are you scared of?”

“For one thing, will I still have a job? I don’t know.
They’re conservative where I work, and I’m notorious now as a man-stealer and
... you saw it today, on CGTV. Everyone hates me. I can’t imagine going to the store,
or the coffee shop at home right now because of what people might say to me.
Oh, I don’t want to talk about it right now. I’m a little scared, that’s all.”

“They’re blowing it out of proportion on TV and making it
seem worse than it is. I know it’s going to be okay, Jada,” Marina said. “It
has to be.”

“Well, I’ll have to be satisfied that whoever forged that
license and caused this mess won’t be let off the hook. They won’t if Ian has
anything to say about it. He told me today that he’ll make them sorry they ever
messed with him, and I believe him.”

Marina dropped the bracelet on the vanity top. “Um, what do
you mean Ian will make them sorry?”

“I don’t know. That’s all he said. I imagine he’ll make sure
the crime gets prosecuted.”

“Crime?”

“Well yeah. It’s a crime to forge people’s signatures. There
are probably more crimes involved in this thing, too, but I don’t know what
they are.”

Marina lowered her head, toyed with the tiny, jingling
charms. “So you’re really mad, huh? Ian, too. I guess I can’t blame either of
you.”

“Look how it’s affected you, too, Marina. You got run out of
town and were stuck in that awful motel—”

“Yeah, but now that I’m here at this amazing place, it seems
like it kind of worked out, didn’t it?”

“I’ll give you credit for looking on the bright side,” Jada
said, smiling at her uncharacteristically serious sister.

“You don’t think it worked out, though, do you, not for
you?”

“Like I said, I don’t want to talk about it, Marina. Truly.
I’m so worried. And if I talk about it, I’m going to start crying.”

“Oh Jada. I don’t want you to cry. It’s just ... just ...”

“Just what?”

Marina swung around on the velvet stool and faced Jada. She
clutched her knees and hunched her shoulders. “I can’t not tell you this. Not
anymore. I’m sorry.”

“What’s going on?”

“Before the reporters found me, I did get a chance to talk
to some of my contacts at the courthouse.”

“You did? Why didn’t you tell me? Did you learn anything?”

Marina swallowed audibly. “Oh Jada, I should have told you
this before.”

“Well, tell me now.”

“I’m just going to come out and say it.”

“Okay,” Jada prompted.

“I think I know what happened. And I’m positive it’s going
to make you very unhappy.”

Marina’s words landed on Jada like an eighteen wheeler. “You
... you know what happened?”

Marina nodded jerkily.

Jada’s heart thumped in her chest. “And I’m not going to
like it?”

“No, you won’t. I have to tell you, though,” she said. “I
don’t want to, but I have to. I can’t keep it back anymore.”

It was too much. Jada didn’t know what to think about
Marina’s bombshell. What did it mean? Marina knew what happened? She knew that
knowledge would make Jada unhappy? How unhappy?

After all of Jada’s playing at being a detective and trying
to figure out whodunnit, here she was, on the brink of cracking the case and
she suddenly had a terrible stomach ache and was pretty sure she’d rather not
know whodunnit after all.

Unfortunately, from the desperate look on Marina’s face,
Jada was going to learn what happened whether she wanted to or not.

Jada looked out the small window at the framed view of
pristine lake and clear sky. Wait. Were there dark clouds building, right above
the horizon beyond the tree line?

There definitely were figurative dark clouds in the dressing
room with her and Marina. And Jada was positive those clouds didn’t herald
anything good. Not for anyone.

So much for perfect.

Oh hell.

The story continues in Alpha Billionaire’s Bride, Part 3,
coming soon!

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Check out this excerpt from
The
Tycoon’s Reluctant Bride
:

MEGAN ALMOST MISSED HER BOARDING call, she’d been so
engrossed in her thoughts as she went over the few plans she’d made for her
week-long island getaway.

She’d forgotten she was on a first class ticket for the
first time, so she was expecting to be called later, not among the first set of
passengers to be invited on.

She got up quickly, grabbing her bag, then hurried onto the
plane.

A face caught her eye once she entered the first class
section, a handsome, chiseled tan face with bright blue eyes focused on her.

She almost stopped in her tracks she was so stunned by the
man’s good looks—she thought guys like him only existed in the movies, aided by
lighting and other visual effects, tucked into corners of Hollywood.

She suddenly found herself feeling heated and
self-conscious, aware of every movement she made, especially with his
hypnotizing eyes not leaving her.

He didn’t vanish like a mirage as she got closer, and as she
checked her seating assignment, she realized she was sitting right next to him.

Every atom of her being vibrated more.

“What luck,” he said, one corner of his mouth tilting up as
she stopped and flashed him a brief smile, indicating the empty window seat
next to him.

He got up to accommodate her, and she decided not to address
his comment, especially since she had been thinking the same thing.

Instead, she sat and tucked her bag beneath the seat in
front of her as he sat back down.

She felt his eyes on her again.

“You sure look the part,” he said in a growling masculine
tone once she had settled, a growl that made her middle start to vibrate.

She turned to look at him. “Excuse me?”

He was even more rattling up close and she tried to ignore
his beauty, his heady cologne, his intent blue gaze, the lips she had started
to scrutinize and wonder what it would be like to touch with hers. She did her
best to ignore her pounding heart, her racing blood, the growing tingling
between her legs.

“I happen to be looking for a wife,” he said, his voice deep
and casual, “and that’s probably you.”

Megan suddenly stopped buzzing all over and erupted into
laughter.

She laughed for so long, that she wondered if she had
transitioned to hysterics. Had her grief finally gotten to her? Why did this
beautiful man’s statement seem so absurd?

“Is this some kind of joke?” she asked once she recovered.
She looked around, as if searching for a hidden camera crew. “What on earth do
you think I am?” she asked more seriously, trying to sound calm and firm, but
not too caustic; after all, she was stuck with him for the duration of the
plane ride.

“Who am I, you should ask,” he said, his manner and tone
unchanged, his eyes still on her.

“Okay then, who are you?”

He didn’t answer. He just continued staring at her boldly.

She tried to ignore him, but eventually, the feel of his gorgeous
blue eyes boring into her became too much to handle.

“Christ, will you stop staring at me like that?”

“That would be hard. To not stare at you will probably be
one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

“Oh boy, you’re a Casanova.”

She was a bit annoyed but a lot intrigued—though she didn’t
plan to show him that. If she let him know she enjoyed his attention, his
boldness, it might never stop, and she planned to take a nap in peace. Then
again, maybe she shouldn’t sleep around this guy. Closing her eyes could be a
very bad idea.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

Finally! Some normalcy. “Megan. What’s…?”

“What do you do?”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable telling you that.”

“Well, what would you most like to do, since you’re not
happy at your current job?”

What the hell? “Who says I’m not happy?”

“Do you have kids?”

She was starting to get ticked now.

“Okay, you’re really pushing it there.”

“You don’t! Great.” His smile widened and she got lost in
the beauty of it before realizing he had made another correct assumption.

“Wait, how did you know…?”

“Most parents would be rolling out wallet pics or flipping
through their smart phone album right now to show them off.” He shook his head
slightly at her. “Don’t you realize, Megan, that you answer me even when you
don’t? So you might as well just answer my questions.”

His arrogance was infuriating, no matter how cute he was.

“But you haven’t even answered my one question about what
you do!”

“You asked me who I am—I’m a business owner.”

“And? What does that even mean?”

“I own a few businesses.”

Smart-ass. “Well, congrats. I hope you’re happy.”

“For the most part, yes—business is booming. I am, however,
missing one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You.”