Tell me about it. ‘I won’t stay married to her for any longer than I have to,’ Remy said. ‘I’m working it to my advantage. Remember the Mappleton hotel chain I’ve been trying to buy for months? Henri Marchand’s rumours about me turned old man Mappleton off, but now I’m married to Angelique he wants to play ball. I’m meeting with him next week. If I nail that deal, it will be worth any minor inconvenience of being married.’
‘I can’t help thinking this could blow up in your face.’
‘You always think that about me,’ Remy said. ‘I like taking chances. Going with the gut. I always land on my feet. Always. Goal. Focus. Win. Remember?’
Rafe let out a long breath. ‘Watch your back, Remy. Keeping your enemies close is wise, but sleeping with them is not.’
Sleeping with them is the fun part, Remy thought as he ended the call.
In fact, he couldn’t wait to do it again.
* * *
Angelique was putting the finishing touches to her make-up when her mobile phone rang. She glanced at the screen to see it was her manager, Mackenzie Hillstrom, from her New York modelling agency. ‘Hi, Mac, I was going to call you but—’
‘Darling girl, I should hate you for not inviting me to your totally awesome desert wedding, and for not even telling me you were dating one of the most eligible and gorgeous men on this planet, but I forgive you, because you’ve just landed yourself the biggest contract of all time,’ Mackenzie said.
‘I...I have?’
‘Forget Barbados and bikinis and bum-biting camels in Mexico. You are now the new poster girl for designer bridal wear. Every top designer wants you on his or her books! There’s a bidding war going on as we speak. You looked absolutely amazing in that traditional garb. No one but you could pull that exotic look off. You’ve created the biggest sensation in bridal wear since the royal wedding.’
Bridal wear?
Was this fate’s idea of a twisted joke? ‘Um... Wow, that’s great.’ Should she tell her manager her marriage to Remy was only temporary, a charade unlikely to last longer than it took him to nail the Mappleton account?
‘This is the big break you’ve been waiting for,’ Mackenzie went on in her fast-paced New York accent. ‘You’re our golden girl now. You’ll earn millions out of this. It will set you up for life—me too, when it comes to that. I’ll email you the contract. Get it back to me as soon as you can. Take the next couple of weeks off while I sort the spring schedule out. Shanae will fill in for you on the Barbados shoot. Any questions?’
‘No...that sounds wonderful.’ I think.
Angelique put the phone down on the dressing table. She looked at it for a long moment, wondering if she should call her manager straight back and tell her she didn’t want to take up the offer. Her life seemed to be spinning out of control in an alarming manner. A part of her wanted the money that was being put on the table, but the fame and constant exposure that would go with it gave her a troubling sense of unease. She had planned for months to get out of modelling. She was tired of living in the false world of perfection.
Her body was tired.
She had notebooks and slips of paper with designs doodled all over them. When would she have time to pursue her dream if she was caught up in a hectic shooting schedule? She didn’t believe in doing things in half-measures. If they wanted her to be the next it girl in bridal wear, then her designs would have to wait...
Angelique was made up, coiffed and poised when Remy came back to the suite. She felt much more in charge when she had her professional armour on. It seemed important to give Remy the impression their love-making had made little or no impact on her. But it was hard to ignore the way her senses jumped to attention as soon as he came in the door, even harder to ignore the way her skin tightened all over and the way her inner core contracted. ‘Nice walk?’ she said.
His espresso gaze moved over her in a lazy sweep that tightened her skin and her inner core another notch. ‘I wonder how long it would take me to get you out of that dress?’
She squared her shoulders even as her belly flipped over. ‘What happened before was a mistake. I’d rather not repeat it.’
A hint of a smile lifted the corner of his mouth. ‘You’re not a very good liar, ma chérie. What happened before is going to happen again. And soon and often.’
Angelique felt a shiver course down her spine at the dark glitter of unbridled lust in his eyes. ‘I think it would be foolish to complicate things with that level of involvement. We don’t even like each other. It’s rather unseemly to be going at each other like wild animals.’
His smile tilted a little further. ‘Unseemly?’
She willed herself to hold his gaze for as long as she could. ‘Primitive.’
He closed the distance between them in an easy stride or two. She knew she should have stepped back but her feet seemed to be bolted to the floor. She drew in a sharp breath when he put a hand to the nape of her neck. His warm palm was slightly rough against her soft skin and a shower of sensations spiralled through her at the delicious contact.
His eyes were so dark they looked like bottomless black pools. His mouth was so sexy, so sensually contoured, her insides shifted restlessly and her own mouth started to tingle.
‘The thing is, ma belle, I feel very primitive when I’m around you.’ His hand cupped her left cheek, his thumb pad giving one stroke over her lips that sent every nerve into a frantic dance.
Angelique’s heart skipped a beat as his thighs brushed against hers. She felt the bulge of his erection. It spoke to everything that was female in her. Her senses were not sleeping or dormant now; they were wide awake and hungry for his touch. Ravenous. ‘Find yourself another plaything.’ She was really rather proud of how curt and cold she sounded. ‘I will not be used by you.’
His thumb pad moved back over her lips, his eyes still locked on hers. ‘Is that really what you want? To go back to a hands-off arrangement?’