“Okay,” Travis interrupted, unamused by his cousin. “We’d better get a move on.”
But just then, a young woman in a hotel uniform hurried up to Rico’s side, and tapped his arm to get his attention.
“Pardon, Señor King,” she said and when he turned to her, she leaned in close and whispered something neither Julie or Travis could quite catch.
While they waited, Travis looked at Julie, bent his head so that his low-pitched voice was heard by her alone and asked, “Impressed by Rico, are you?”
Julie grinned up at him and something inside Travis fisted at the brightness of her eyes and the flush on her cheeks.
“He’s gorgeous, and he kissed my hand,” she said. “Who wouldn’t be impressed?”
Travis stared into her eyes. “Just remember which King you’re married to.”
“Hmm…” She tipped her head to one side and pretended to have to think about that one for a second.
“Having trouble?” he asked, not liking the stir of something like possessiveness that rose up inside him. Temporary wife or not, Julie was his for the next year and he didn’t want her forgetting that for a second. “Let me refresh your memory.”
Heedless of the smattering of hotel guests wandering through the lobby, Travis grabbed her, pulled her up close and kissed her hard, long and deep. Every cell in his body sent up a shout of exaltation and even while he was tasting her, he knew it wouldn’t be enough.
For good or bad, she’d gotten into his blood in the last week or two. He wanted her every damn minute. Something he hadn’t expected. Hadn’t been looking for. And, since he couldn’t very well do what he wanted to do to her in the middle of a hotel lobby, he broke their kiss, straightened up and set her back on her feet.
“Wow,” she whispered, lifting one hand to her mouth as she swayed unsteadily.
He smiled, enjoying the knowledge that she was as affected as he. “Better than a kiss on the knuckles?”
She licked her lips and sent an arrow of heat darting straight through him. “Yeah. Way better.”
Julie felt warm all over, a deliciously wicked sensation she’d become all too familiar with in the last couple of weeks. One touch of Travis’s hand, or a single kiss, was enough to make her blood sizzle with need.
Since their little “talk” in the park a few days ago, he hadn’t once even hinted that he actually thought she’d tried to get pregnant on purpose. Did that mean he believed her? Or was he simply better at hiding his feelings than she was?
In fact, they hadn’t discussed that wild, unprotected first night together at all. It was as if each of them were trying to pretend it had never happened. And maybe that was best. Because if she thought about it too much, she’d make herself insane.
Beside her, Travis hooked one arm around her waist and pulled her in close. His body heat reached for her even as a whisper of cool air swept across Julie’s shoulders, making her shiver a bit. It wasn’t a foreboding of anything, she told herself, just the excellent hotel air conditioner. But as Rico continued a whispered conversation with his employee and Julie saw the man’s expression shift from charming to thunderous, she braced herself.
Ever since they’d arranged for the divorce and the remarriage, things had been better between her and Travis and she was really hoping that whatever crisis had Rico looking so concerned had nothing to do with them. She actually felt as though she and her brand-new, temporary husband had reached a sort of détente.
They weren’t exactly a real team, but they were vaguely on the same side. Sure, Travis was still bossy and arrogant and too darn sure of himself all the time, with a real tendency to try to put her in a corner and make her stay there…but that she could handle. It was the outside problems that were making her crazy.
“Something’s wrong,” Travis finally said, looking at his cousin.
“I know,” Julie whispered, and wondered now if that blast of air-conditioned air hadn’t been more than a stray chill after all.
Rico turned to them as his employee scuttled away. His dark features were tight and furious, his black eyes snapping with indignation. Drawing the two of them to one side, he glanced briefly at Julie then turned his gaze on Travis. “There’s trouble.”
“Damn it,” Travis muttered and his arm around her waist tightened reflexively. “What is it now?”
“Someone in the judge’s office has leaked the news of Julie’s divorce and your secretive marriage to the press.” Rico shifted his dark eyes from Travis to Julie and back again.
“How? What? The press?” The relief Julie had felt only moments ago was gone as if it had never existed. Instead, there was a cold, hard knot of worry settling in the pit of her stomach. What else could possibly go wrong?
Rico spared her a sympathetic glance, but Travis was clearly too busy steaming to worry about how she was feeling. Fury literally radiated off his body until Julie wouldn’t have been surprised to see ripples of heat waves rolling across the hotel lobby. She couldn’t really blame him. She, too, was reeling from this latest jolt.
How could she possibly have gone her whole life being pretty much invisible to the world and have that all change in less than two weeks?
“How much does the press know?” Travis demanded.
“Everything,” Rico told him, keeping his voice low. “The story broke early this morning. Should be all over the wire services by now. The idiot law clerk kept nothing to himself. It is small consolation I know—” he added with sympathy “—but Judge Hernandez has already fired the man.”
“You’re right. That is small consolation.” Shoving a hand through his hair, Travis gritted his teeth and looked as if he wanted to kick something. “This is just great. We went through all of this for nothing.”
“It would seem so,” Rico said.
Julie couldn’t believe it. It was like a bad dream that was stuck on rewind. Now, because of one man’s greed, she and Travis had been exposed to the press. Again. But this was far worse than an embarrassing photograph. This was digging into their lives, exposing secrets. This wasn’t just her br**sts displayed for public consumption.
This was her life.
Looking up at Travis, she wondered if he was sorry now that he’d come to her with this little bargain. Of course he was. And why wouldn’t he be? Ever since they’d walked down the aisle together, there’d been nothing but one disaster after another. How could he not wish her to the other side of the earth?