“By the power vested in me by the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Mr. McKay, you may kiss your bride.”
That was it? They were married?
Ryan turned to Faith and she forced herself to meet his gaze. He graced her with a generous smile and leaned towards her.
She was supposed to kiss him. The man she’d worked side by side with for the past five years and had barely shaken hands with, and she was supposed to kiss him. Her boss. Her drop-dead gorgeous, sexy, virile boss. Who also happened to now be her husband. Surely he’d give her a quick peck on the lips and that would be all.
She was wrong.
He slid his arms around her and drew her against his chest, effectively cutting off what remaining oxygen fueled her numb brain. His gray eyes darkened at the same time he pressed his lips against hers.
Her breath caught on a sigh as his soft lips caressed her trembling mouth before capturing it in a firm kiss that shocked Faith to her toes.
Lightning struck her heart, electricity arcing through her as his tongue entered her mouth and boldly twined with hers.
It was a promise of delicious things to come. Things Faith wanted right this moment, yet also feared more than nightmares in the dark.
This had to be the most passionate kiss Faith had ever received.
As soon as it began, it was over. Yet that brief kiss had seemed to last an eternity. Ryan released her and stepped back, appearing unaffected by their kiss as he turned away.
It was as if they had kissed a thousand times instead of this being their first. Faith, on the other hand, stood like a statue, completely stunned by the entire ceremony and the resulting kiss.
“Are you all right?” Ryan asked.
Her lips still burned, but she managed a nod. “Yes, I’m fine. This is all kind of overwhelming.”
“It’s been an eventful day for you.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Well, it’s over now. Let’s go.”
Faith stopped him. “Where are we going?”
“To my house.”
“What about the things at my apartment?”
“I’ve already made arrangements for them to be packed up and moved to the house. You’ll have them by morning.”
“But, I have nothing to wear other than the clothes I worked in today and this dress. I don’t have a toothbrush, comb, shampoo—”
“Relax, Faith,” he interrupted as he grabbed her hand and headed toward the door. “I’ve already anticipated the things you’ll need and they’ll be at the house when we arrive.”
Ryan’s attorney stood outside the chapel, smiling brightly.
“Looks like you made the deadline, Ryan. Barely.”
“Yes, it’s done, Stan, and the terms of the will are met.”
Stan nodded. “So far so good. But there’s still more to come in order to complete the mandates.”
“I’m fully aware of that,” Ryan said crisply. “Now if you don’t mind, it’s been a long damn day and I’d like to get out of here.”
“Of course,” Stan said and turned to Faith. “Congratulations, Mrs.
McKay, and I wish you the best of luck in your marriage.” He quickly made his exit from the room.
Mrs. McKay. Reality struck home. She was married. To Ryan McKay.
And now she was going home with him to begin a year filled with uncertainty.
Why had she done this? To help her boss? Or because deep down she had yearned for this, hoped someone, someday would ask her to marry him?
It didn’t matter now. The deed was done. She hoped she’d made the right decision, because her entire life had just changed dramatically.
Chapter Three
No doubt about it, Faith had transformed from a working girl into a princess right before his eyes. Ryan watched the sway of her full skirt as she headed down the hallway towards the elevators. She walked with a natural, sexy little swish of her hips and that dress accentuated it.
What was he doing? Already salivating behind his new wife and they hadn’t even been married an hour. He forced his eyes away from her backside and thought about the upcoming business deal he’d had to put off because of this ridiculous wedding charade. That’s what he needed to concentrate on. Business was his only driving desire. Not some attractive brunette’s rear end.
But it was such a nice rear end. Even covered in all that white and lacy wedding dress stuff. Or when she hid it under long granny skirts and suit jackets too big for her petite frame. Ryan had a keen eye and a very vivid imagination. An imagination that already had Faith undressed and waiting for him on his bed.
If he were honest with himself, he’d admit she had knocked him off his feet when he walked into the bedroom of the penthouse to find her standing there in her wedding gown. He’d never bothered to ask her why she hid her beauty under thick glasses that didn’t fit her face, or kept her hair severely pulled back into an ugly roll.
He would never ask. That would be personal, and Ryan never got personal.
But despite her best efforts at camouflage, she was incapable of hiding her natural beauty. And the wedding dress had somehow transformed her. Her eyes shined like a sunlit ocean and her cheeks glowed with a natural blush that had nothing to do with makeup. She even looked happy. A ridiculous notion since theirs was nothing but a business marriage.
When he’d caught her reflection in the mirror at the suite, Ryan had felt like he was the man she was destined to be with. The one whose touch would flame her desire. Like she had flamed his. He felt like today was his real wedding day and Faith was his real wife. And tonight was his wedding night.
The tightening in his tux trousers annoyed him more than his errant thoughts. He never had more than a fleeting interest in a woman. To give more than random attention meant emotional involvement, and he’d learned well from his parents and grandfather that emotion led to hurt.
Where would he ever have learned to care for someone? His mother was a socialite with no use for a child, his father a workaholic who’d driven himself into an early grave, and his grandfather lacked even a rudimentary knowledge of warmth and love. He’d had no role models, so where would he have learned how to give his heart?
Women were for physical release or to grace his arm at a social or business function. And that was it. Females like that were available in ample abundance in Las Vegas. They never occupied his thoughts for longer than the time necessary to deal with them. Then they were gone.