Chayton (9 page)

Kate panicked. Again. Was he going to kiss her? The most startling revelation about the entire thing was that she
wanted
him to. She lifted her mouth at the last second, bringing her lips flush with his. The contact startled her, sent a whirlwind of desire spiking through her body. Then he pressed in again, parting her mouth with his tongue, which he used to invade her and seek out all her hidden secrets. He tasted virile, a little like scotch and a lesser taint of mint. The heat and texture of his tongue made her knees weak, made her want to take the kiss even deeper. She held onto his arms for support, tentatively touching her tongue to his. The electric jolt she experienced doubled when his quiet groan vibrated her mouth.

The official cleared his throat.

Breaking away at the same time, as if they'd both been shocked at the unexpected flare of desire, Kate turned to accept her bouquet from Leander. Her mind was blank beyond that. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do now, or where they were supposed to go.

The photographer stepped in front of them on the stone path as Chayton led her down it, snapping off a few more photos.

Up the steps, inside the doors, Kate paced beside Chayton and barely remembered any of it. Some of his employees had gathered at the windows to watch, and Kate twitched when a small round of applause broke out. It helped yank her out of her stupor.

“Do we have enough pictures?” Chayton discreetly asked the photographer.

“I think so. There should probably be one more of you two gazing into each other's eyes, but I got a decent one of that by the arbor, so we're good,” the photographer said.

Kate, relieved the photographer was there to answer a question she thought had been directed at her, took a moment to catch her breath. To clear her mind. She could still taste Chayton on her tongue and it was distracting in the extreme.

“Excellent. Thank you everyone for making this come together so effortlessly,” Chayton said to his staff, who broke into a little louder applause, calling back congratulations.

Kate added her gratitude in a quieter voice, and headed into a private parlor with Chayton when he guided her there. The official came in on their heels with a piece of paper and a pen.

“All right, it's done. All you both have to do is sign and I'll add this to your file. When I get back to the office, I'll add Kate's last name to the document. You're officially married,” he said with a brief smile. He slid the paper onto a table and left the pen on top.

Chayton squeezed Kate's hand where it rested under his elbow, then released her and bent to pick the pen up and sign. He glanced at her, then handed the pen over.

Kate accepted and leaned like he'd done to add her name to the document.

Chayton Black and Kate Fairchild. Man and wife.

“There we go,” the official said. “Congratulations.” He gathered the paper, the pen and another folder that was clearly his.

“Thanks, Tom. Appreciate you coming out on short notice.” Chayton shook hands with the official.

“Any time, Mister Black.” He smiled at them both, then exited the parlor.

Alone with Chayton, Kate wasn't sure what to say or do. She could feel a blush on her cheeks from the unexpected kiss—and her reaction to it.

“You look stunningly beautiful,” Chayton said.

Caught off guard, the blush spreading farther and growing hotter, Kate met his eyes. “Thank you. You look...very nice. I wasn't expecting all this.”

“You weren't supposed to. I wanted to surprise you.” He slid his hands into his pockets and stood a few feet away.

“You certainly did that. I feel like we're a million miles away from that alley in Singapore,” she confessed. That was another lifetime.

“We might as well be. I figured making it as real as we could might help you talk about it when we're out with more conviction. Besides, I thought you deserved something better than a cold room with a piece of paper to make it official.”

Kate glanced at his mouth. She was still distracted by their kiss. Finally meeting his eyes, she inclined her head. “You accomplished that. It's all very authentic.”

Chayton glanced at her mouth, too, making Kate squirm where she stood. She resisted the desire to walk over and kiss him again. What had gotten into her? This was pretend, a not-real marriage. She needed to remember that.

“Good. Mattias uncovered a gathering happening in Hawaii in two days. I thought we could fly over in the morning and get a head start on our 'honeymoon' before the event. Does that sound appealing to you?”

Kate hadn't given any thought to a honeymoon at all. The very word made her think things she shouldn't be thinking. Like long sultry nights in a cool bed with a hot man. A virtual stranger who happened to be her husband. Would they have to sleep in the same room?

“I think that sounds like a fine idea.” Kate wanted to ask what they were doing
tonight.
She had no idea where she would—or should—sleep. As far as she knew, no one but Chayton, herself and his immediate acquaintances knew the marriage was a farce. His staff might expect her to switch her belongings to his room now. Funny, Kate thought, how she hadn't considered these intimate things when he mentioned
marriage the first time.

“All right. We have to cut the cake and have at least a few dances before we can escape the 'reception'. You ready?” he asked.

Kate stifled her surprise. He'd said nothing about any kind of reception this
morning. “As ready as I'll ever be.”

He offered his elbow. She slipped her fingers under the crook and let him lead her from the parlor.

. . .

“Fairchild. We should have seen that coming,” Leander said.

“Probably. I'd guess Kate is Anna's daughter,” Chayton added. He wasn't sure what to think about the revelation. Standing with Mattias and Leander to one side of the great hall, transformed with tulle, lights and vases of flowers for the 'reception', he downed the rest of his drink and immediately wished for a refill.

“And I take it you didn't even have her scratch out any kind of pre-agreement?” Mattias asked. His jaw was tense, a muscle flexing.

“I didn't. I just didn't expect her to be
related
to the Fairchilds.” Chayton couldn't wrap his mind around all the implications. Kate was more familiar with Anton than she'd let on, however. He'd bet half his life on it. There was more to the story, something important left out of the details. At the moment, he couldn't be sure that his brethren weren't right in their conjecture that Kate might be working with Anton, had planned at least some of their interaction. He wondered if he'd just walked into an elaborate trap that wound up working a lot better for Kate than she'd hoped.

No wonder Kate had withheld her last name.

Chayton traded his empty glass for a full one and got right to drinking.

“A lot of this is based on gut instinct. You've been adamant that you can trust her, so let's go with the assumption that she really needed all the help you've given her, and that she won't suddenly produce a lawyer and take you to court,” Mattias said.

Chayton's gaze landed on Kate, drawn there as it had been for the last ten minutes since their arrival at the reception. She swirled on the dance floor with one of his staff, a handsome man in his early thirties with dark hair and dark eyes. Chayton had used the distraction to speak with Leander and Mattias now that he knew what Kate's affiliation to Anton's situation was.

Leander grunted and had a drink from his tumbler. Then he said, “You do still feel confident that she was telling the truth, right?”

Chayton examined his feelings over the matter. Did he trust Kate? Knowing she was intimately involved somehow in Anton's scheme unsettled him. He wasn't sure he could trust his own perception right now. Still, when he peeled back the layers of her replies, the honesty he'd glimpsed in her eyes, Chayton felt at his core that she'd been sincere and in serious trouble.

“For the most part, yes. Any hesitation I feel right now has to be to realizing she's closer to all this than I first thought,” Chayton said.

“We have the pertinent information for media release and we'll shortly have digital copies of your wedding pictures, so as soon as I get up to my room, I'll send it all out to the right contacts and get the ball rolling with Anton.” Leander finished his drink with a hiss and set his glass aside. “With any luck, this will all be over in a week or two rather than a month or more, and you can file for the annulment.”

“Yes. We'll attend the gathering in Hawaii, and the one in New York, and that should be that,” Mattias added.

Chayton caught Kate's eye during a turn. She smiled a small, tentative smile, one
Chayton returned. To Leander and Mattias, he said, “Thanks for the help. I'll keep Kate distracted as much as I can, and see if she tries to contact Anton on the sly.”

“Let's hope not.” Leander huffed and rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable in the tuxedo.

“Agreed,” Chayton echoed, setting his glass down. He shook hands with Mattias and Leander, knowing they were about to depart the reception to get to work on spreading the word of the 'marriage'. “I'll see you both in Hawaii.”

“Likewise. Watch your back,” Mattias said.

“Yeah, watch your back. We'll dig a little deeper into Miss Kate's background and let you know.” Leander clapped Chayton on the shoulder.

With plans in order, he broke away from his long time friends and approached Kate. He needed to have his dance with her, to fulfill that part of the reception at least so his staff didn't think anything was amiss.

“Pardon,” he said to the man with Kate, who bowed out with a cordial smile. Stepping into his place, Chayton set a hand on Kate's small waist and caught her delicate hand in his. An experienced dancer, Chayton fell easily into the rhythm, taking Kate through the turns at a languid pace.

“You really shouldn't have gone to all the trouble,” Kate said, breaking their silence.

“It wouldn't be impossible for Anton to try and coerce a member of my staff for information once the word gets out, and although I trust those under my roof, money or blackmail can be a strong motivator. If they believe it to be true, then they'll report it as such if they are approached.” Chayton had covered his bases as best as he could. The photographer was actually one of their brethren, someone he trusted with his life. Because he'd needed certain shots, he hadn't wanted to hire a stranger and put the plan at risk.

“Do you go to such lengths for all the strangers you meet?”

“Not by a long shot.” Chayton put his life on the line on a regular basis, though he didn't consider that on the same scale as taking a bride and putting his entire empire at risk. He studied her eyes, the rest of the room and his staff fading further into the background. Chayton wanted to ask her about her mother and Anton, to see if she would give over any more information. It was suddenly important to him that she didn't veer away from the truths he was sure she'd been telling so far. On the other hand, their tentative peace and amiability served the circumstances well. He was loathe to make her prickly and defensive right now.

“Then I owe you a large debt of gratitude. Really, you've gone above and beyond to make this authentic.” Kate glanced away to the three tiered cake waiting to be cut, then back to his eyes.

“You're welcome. If it keeps you away from Anton, all the better.” Chayton realized he didn't want her anywhere near the man.

“It's like a fortress here, and tomorrow, when we fly to Hawaii, we'll be even further away. I think he would have a very hard time catching up to our jet setting ways.”

He chuckled and tightened his arm around her waist. The wedding dress swished around their ankles while they swayed, feminine and dainty. “He found you in Singapore.”

Kate's expression faltered. Chayton cursed himself inwardly for reminding her that Anton was apparently more resilient than she'd given him credit for. He said, “Well, we're baiting him to a degree anyway. Eventually we
want
him to catch up to us so we can prove that you're officially off the market. Before then, however—I doubt he'll find you.”

“True. And I think I left a trail of bread crumbs a mile long from New York, so he probably didn't have any trouble staying on my trail.”

“Is that where you're based? New York?”

“Upstate, yes. He moved there--”

Chayton waited Kate out. He thought she might be on the cusp of a revelation. Just then, the staff holding flutes of champagne or wine in their hands tapped forks against the glass, the traditional signal for the bride and groom to kiss. His staff were taking advantage, of course, as he might have expected them to do had this been his real wedding. Kate's eyes widened and she glanced from his eyes to his mouth, proving she too knew what the tapping meant. There was no way around it except to bend his head and brush a kiss across her mouth. He made it as light and unobtrusive as he could, the same kind of kiss he'd first delivered at the altar. The supple pliancy of her lips called to the baser part of him, the part that wanted to plunder and take and claim.

Surprised at his reaction, he lifted his head while the staff cheered and clapped their hands. Kate looked slightly dazed. He might have found it amusing had the situation not been what it was. To retain a level of normalcy, he slanted a smile at the small crowd, then guided a very distracted Kate to the cake.

“Let's get this out of the way, hm?” he said near her ear. They couldn't make their escape until they'd cut the cake and taken the requisite pictures.

“Yes.” Kate cleared her throat and stood next to him with her hand on a knife, the tip slicing into the fluffy edge of the frosting.

Chayton covered her hand with his, the ridge of her delicate knuckles disappearing beneath his broad palm. He tucked his chest against her side, half behind, and absorbed her shudder. Her reactions were having an affect on him, and he glanced at the camera to smile, hoping it looked less strained than it felt.