Smiling in satisfaction, Ridge looked down at his bride and then he reached for her, eager to taste her lips. This first kiss would be in front of an audience but he wasn’t complaining. He would take it any way he could get it. Knowing Lani, he might not get another chance for a while.
Bending low, Ridge captured her lips in a kiss meant to show her she was his, body and soul. He’d thought she would be shy, would even resist, but she surprised him by responding willingly, even eagerly. The fact that she had an audience didn’t seem to bother her, not one bit.
When he finally let her go Lani came off her tiptoes and settled back down on her heels but she did not release his gaze. She was smiling and she was staring boldly back at him, a hint of mischief in her eyes.
And, for some strange reason, at the look in her eyes a tiny tingle of worry ran up his spine.
CHAPTER FOUR
Tonight was Lani’s wedding night and she could hardly wait. But it was not for the reason most people would imagine. No, she had plans for a night that promised to be a lot of fun. Fun for her, anyway. For Ridge Kent, not so much.
Ridge had blackmailed her into marrying him and she’d ended up accepting his proposal, if you could call it that. It was like no marriage proposal she would ever have expected. In fact, she’d pretty much given up on being proposed to at all. Her work had been her life for so many years. She’d hardly had time to include a man in the middle of that. And then, before she knew it, she was pushing thirty and her mother had begun harassing her for grandkids.
Now her mother finally had her wish. Her daughter was a married woman and no amount of explaining would make her see there was really no cause for celebration. Her heart was set on grandkids, temporary arrangement be damned.
But that wasn’t going to happen, not if Lani had anything to do with it. And she did. A lot.
She smiled as she thought back to the conversation she’d had with Ridge just days before the wedding.
“There will be no love-making,” she’d declared, laying down the rule before he got any ideas. “No sex or anything even close.”
He’d given her a sly grin. “What about something that’s just in the ball park?”
“No, nothing. Zilch.” She chopped her hand down with force, showing him just how much she meant the zilch part. “No hugging, no kissing, nada.”
“Hmm. Kinda harsh, aren’t we?” For some reason he hadn’t seemed worried. Sort of amused, really. Did he think she didn’t mean it? “So,” he continued, “for one whole year we’re going to live in the same house and not touch each other? Do you really think you can manage that?” Then his grin widened and he spread his arms wide. “How are you going to resist all this, what do you ladies call it, man candy?”
“Ha. Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’ll resist you just fine. You just give me your promise that we won’t make love.”
He’d come close, right up to her, and when he spoke his voice was deceptively cool. “Here’s what I will promise you. I will make love to you,” he said softly, “but not until you come to me, begging for it.”
"Never," she hissed, glaring up at him. "You'll never live to see me begging you for sex, ever."
Instead of backing off he only laughed. “And one more thing. You won’t get my promise that I won’t kiss you but you can rest assured that I will never make love to you unless you come to me first. And trust me, you will.”
“You arrogant ass. Do you think you’re irresistible?” She was breathing hard now, she was that angry.
“I know I am,” the conceited pig replied, so full of himself it made her want to deliver a swift kick to his shin.
“We’ll just see about that.”
And that was where their conversation ended because she turned on her heel and stalked off, the sound of his laughter ringing in her ears.
He’d laughed at her then but tonight, their wedding night, Lani was going to have the last laugh. Tonight they would see who could resist who.
After the wedding Ridge had flown them to Hawaii in his private jet. That night in the bridal suite of Grand MoloKa’i Hotel Lani made preparations to be as alluring and seductive as she possibly could. Luckily, the bridal suite had two bedrooms so, quickly claiming one of them then making sure to close the door firmly behind her, she had no problem in doing her thing in private. She’d always been the casual type, usually a make-up free, pajama-wearing kind of girl. Tonight, though, she would go all out. She would make Ridge want her so bad his teeth would hurt.
After a leisurely bath in the Jacuzzi tub Lani patted herself dry then sat on the padded bench where she spent a good six or seven minutes massaging rose-scented body oil into her skin. She finished by spritzing her favorite perfume, Estee Lauder Pleasures, behind her ears and along the column of her neck. Now it was time to dress.
Still nude, she left the bathroom and walked into the bedroom, confident that Ridge would stick to his own quarters. He might be a cad but she could tell he was not the sort to invade someone else’s privacy. At least he had that one good quality.
In the bedroom she went straight to the chest of drawers and pulled out her piece-de-resistance, a crimson G-string with black lace along the waistband, a garment so tiny she had to wonder why they charged so much for such a tiny scrap of cloth. Then she smiled to herself. It wasn’t the size, of course, but the impact and with this bit of garment she planned to have the maximum impact possible.
She stepped into the G-string and pulled it up her legs and over her bu**ocks, making sure the tiny bow settled right at the top of the valley between the cheeks. Turning, she glanced back into the mirror. Perfect.
Next, she went back to her stash of sexy secrets and pulled out a diaphanous red teddy that left her shoulders and arms exposed. Dressing carefully in the see-through lingerie, she made sure the neckline fell just right, leaving much of her skin bare to the gaze. Not that her neckline was what would hold Ridge’s attention. The sexy top was near-transparent, leaving hardly anything to the imagination. If Ridge was like any other red-blooded man his eyes would be glued to the curves of her br**sts and the rose buds of her ni**les as they winked at him from behind their gauzy veil.
Last, she slid her feet into high heeled sandals, transparent like glass to give him a nice view of her painted toenails, and with a feathery red puff on top of each, giving the footwear a naughty flair.