Catherine Mann - Secrets of the Tycoon's Bride / The Executive's Surprise Baby - Secrets of the Tycoon's Bride

Two bottles of champagne waited in sterling silver ice buckets on a sideboard and through the open kitchen door she spotted a pair of workers hustling around preparing food, presumably for the feast after the ceremony. Brandon, Cassie and the minister were staying for a wedding dinner. As much as Lauryn dreaded the lovey-dovey pretense, having company meant delaying the time alone with her groom, and that was good.

Last night… She exhaled slowly, trying to ease her overstretched nerves. Last night had been a nightmare. She couldn’t remember ever being so aware of another person. Every shift of Adam’s body on the sofa, each rustle of his clothing or chink of his glass on the coffee table had sounded as loud as a ship’s horn. Finally, tension had driven Lauryn to her room for an early night of reading. Attempted reading . But a romance with steamy love scenes wasn’t what she needed when she wanted to douse any potential flames for her groom. Even with the door closed she’d been aware of Adam’s movements throughout the cottage.

Their marriage might be a business deal, but the whole wedding thing seemed so real. So…permanent. But it wasn’t. And she didn’t want it to be. One day she’d find the right man to build a future with—one who’d marry her because he loved her and not because he had a hidden agenda for marrying.

Like her father had had for marrying Susan. Like Tommy and Adam had for marrying Lauryn. Surely all men weren’t that conniving? There had to be some good guys out there somewhere, and when this was over she’d find one.

She forced a smile and turned back to the trio in the den. “Cassie, this is incredible. I can’t believe you pulled it all together so quickly.”

“I’ve enjoyed it. Besides, it’s good practice for when Brandon and I get married.”

“And when is that going to be?” Adam asked.

“Soon,” Brandon replied firmly with his dark eyes intent on Cassie.

Lauryn wanted a man who looked at her the way Brandon looked at Cassie—with his love shining like a lighthouse beacon from his eyes.

A brisk knock at the front door made Lauryn jump. Adam headed into the foyer and returned moments later with a dark-skinned, black-suited, white-collared minister by his side. Adam made the introductions.

Lauryn barely heard him through the alarms shrieking like hungry seagulls in her head. She wanted to run. All the way back to California. But she couldn’t. Not until she found her answers.

She dug her toes into the rough sisal rug and the movement drew Adam’s attention.

“Excuse me,” he said and left the room. Moments later he returned without his shoes and socks. Lauryn’s heart blipped irregularly. Adam had looked sexy before, but there was something dangerously appealing about a barefooted, tux-clad man that made her insides feel like a lava lamp.

His eyes met Lauryn’s. “The sun is on the horizon. Ready?”

No . “Yes.”

“Shall we?” He crooked his elbow in invitation.

Under a deluge of doubts Lauryn hesitated for precious seconds and then hooked her arm through Adam’s. His muscles shifted beneath her fingers and her nerves and legs quivered.

He handed her a single long-stemmed red rose with an ivory ribbon twined around the thornless stem and then led her out the back door, down the porch stairs and across the warm sand to the archway.

An ocean breeze teased her hair, lifting the unbound strands and pulling at the wreath of flowers she wore instead of a veil. Adam caught a stray lock and smoothed it behind her ear. His fingertips glided down the hollow of her neck. She shivered. With awareness. With lust. Neither of which were welcome.

Cassie and Brandon flanked them and the beaming minister took his place and launched into the vows. At any other time Lauryn would have found the man’s melodious accented voice beautiful, but the fragrant frame of the arch seemed to enclose her as securely as a locked jail cell.

A cold fog descended over her. She couldn’t believe she was marrying a man she didn’t love to find out more about a woman who’d discarded her.

But why hadn’t Adrianna wanted her? That question kept Lauryn from running. She had to know. And she was counting on Adam’s house holding the answers.

Adam’s warm hands tightened around Lauryn’s icy fingers. Did he sense her doubts? Her growing panic?

Too late to back out now .

As if he were willing her to finish what they’d started, his gaze never left hers as he stated his vows in a deep, steady baritone. If he had any doubts about the deception they were perpetrating he concealed them well. His hands were steady as he slid a platinum diamond eternity band onto her trembling finger next to the sparkling marquis.

And then it was Lauryn’s turn. She numbly repeated the words the minister fed her and prayed this wasn’t as big a mistake as her first wedding. She’d trusted Tommy and he’d betrayed her. Would Adam do the same?

She looked at the strong hand in her palm as she eased the wide platinum band they’d bought this morning over Adam’s knuckle. Because he’d refused to put their amended agreement in writing, only his word would keep him from consummating their marriage tonight. Or any other night. Could she trust him?

A little late to worry about that now, isn’t it?

A whirlpool of mixed emotions churned within her. This was so wrong. She was taking vows. Vows she had no intention of keeping. And yet what other choice did she have?

“I now pronounce you mon ,” the minister pronounced island-style, “and wife. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Garrison.”

Mrs. Garrison .

Before she could digest those words Adam cupped her face in his palms and covered her mouth with his. This wasn’t a tentative seal-the-deal peck. Adam kissed like a man assured of his welcome. His mouth branded hers, stamping her with ownership, and then his tongue separated her lips and swept the sensitive inside of her mouth as if he had every right to be there.

Tasting. Teasing. Tempting.

His kiss invited her to a party of sensual delights she had no doubt a man of his experience could provide. She hadn’t had a lover since Tommy, and he’d been a twenty-three-yearold selfish jerk. The men before Tommy had been just as clumsy, just as selfish.

Adam’s kiss promised satisfaction and she felt her control slipping. He overwhelmed her senses with his taste, his scent, his touch, and her hormones did a rain dance in hopes of ending the nine-year drought. The kiss felt so good, so right, that she lost herself in a hot rush of need, dug her toes in the shifting sand and pushed herself deeper into his embrace. Every inch of her body yearned to accept his invitation, to find out if lovemaking could actually be as good as it was in the romance novels she read.

She vaguely registered the birds screeching overhead, the waves crashing nearby, but it was Cassie’s laughter that jarred Lauryn back to reality.

What are you doing?

She ripped her mouth free.

Adam breathed harshly. Hunger blazed in his eyes as he held her gaze, and she realized her mistake. She’d done a lot of less than honorable things in her time, things that made her cringe with shame. But she’d never been a tease.

That kiss, laden with years of pent-up passion, had promised something she had no intention of delivering.

“Sober enough to come to the phone?”

Lauryn nearly choked on her champagne when she heard Adam’s question as she reentered the den after changing out of her wedding dress.

Okay, so maybe this was her second glass since Cassie and Brandon had left, and she’d had one two hours ago after dinner with her slice of wedding cake. Still, she should switch to coffee unless she wanted another wedding night like her first. One she couldn’t remember. Drowning her nerves and her doubts wasn’t working, anyway.