THE BACHELOR'S BED Read online

  "I understand pain," she whispered, stepping close again, but instead of stabbing him with her finger, she slid a hand over his chest, down his arm to his hand, which she held in hers. "You could tell me anything."

  "No. I can't." Not only was it stupid, it would be as embarrassing as hell to admit the mistakes he'd made. He'd like to think he would never do it again. And though that meant not ever trusting another woman in his life, when this woman had such pretty, trusting eyes, it was a decision he'd made out of self-preservation. He wouldn't change. "Your knowing isn't necessary for this charade of ours."

  "Sharing parts of each other has nothing to do with the charade. It's part of being friends."

  God, no. Being friends meant caring, genuine affection. A closeness he couldn't handle. "I'm not sure being friends is a good idea."

  She stared at him for a moment, then with all traces of warmth gone from her eyes, she nodded. "I see."

  It was over. He'd gone too far. But she didn't say anything. "Still want to go through with this?" he forced himself to ask.

  "Yes, I do." She managed a smile at his start of surprise, though it held little mirth. "I told you, Colin, I won't go back on my word. Maybe one of these days you'll believe me. Can we go home now? It's late and I have a long day tomorrow."

  Home. Their pretend home. Suddenly Colin wished, just for a second, that she was coming home with him for real. Coming to his bed. To his open arms.

  "Colin?" She was waiting. "Okay?"

  "Yeah." He sighed and shook off the strange yearnings. They had no place in his life. "Let's go."

  * * *

  The next day, Lani's mind wasn't much on work. Because of that, she was thankful to have a complete staff. She never left her office.

  Things were good, or they would have been, if her mind hadn't kept wandering, gravitating, toward the tall, dark, enigmatic man she had agreed to help. It wasn't Colin's fault that she wanted more. She had no one to blame for that but herself.

  To combat her restlessness, she worked like a fiend, catching up on bookkeeping, phone calls and scheduling.

  But she never stopped thinking about what had happened the night before.

  Or rather, what hadn't happened.

  Colin had slept in his room and she in hers. She had lain there in her big, empty chilly bed, staring at the ceiling all night, hoping the stubborn man down the hall was getting no more rest than she was.

  She wondered what made him so damn unyielding. So incapable of giving in to the yearning in his heated eyes? He could deny it all he wanted, but she'd seen it for herself when she'd come out of the bathroom dressed for bed in nothing more than a plain T-shirt that hung to her thighs.

  Cool, inscrutable Colin had taken one look and come to an abrupt stop. His gaze had run slowly down the length of her, lingering in spots that had made him swallow hard before dragging it back up to meet hers.

  There'd been such hunger there, Lani's knees had quivered and, never one to hold back, she had actually taken a step toward him. But before she could say a word, Colin had spun on his heels and shut himself in his bedroom. Alone.

  She shut off her computer now and looked out the narrow window her office afforded. It was late enough in the afternoon that she could pretend the day was over. The heat would be intense, but Colin's house was cool.

  He'd be there today. He would have to be, to let in his mother and two aunts. Just thinking about it made her sweat. They were pathetically unprepared. They'd accomplished little in the past few days. Fact was, she knew no more about Colin now than when she had started this farce.

  Oh, he wanted her, she knew that much about him.

  She hadn't mistaken the look in his eye, the almost palpable attraction radiating between the two of them.

  But for whatever reason, he refused to act on it, or even acknowledge the existence of their chemistry.

  It wasn't much to go on as far as engagements were concerned.

  Apparently it would have to be enough.

  * * *

  It wasn't difficult to talk herself into running errands before going to Colin's house. Lani wasn't too eager to face his mother and lie about their engagement.

  She drove through town, melting in the heat, going to the bank, the gas station, the library, any place she could think of.

  Then she drove to her apartment, where she grabbed her two plants. By the time she'd set them in her car, along with a few more changes of clothes, she was a sticky wreck and wishing she'd had her car air-conditioning fixed instead of paying down her credit card bill.

  Out of errands and with nowhere else to go, Lani crossed the train tracks. Immediately the quality of the houses improved. Within two minutes she was heading up the steep grade that led to the hill above the town where the wealthy residents lived.

  At the top of the hill, she pulled into Colin's driveway and took a long moment to admire the beautiful place. She could only imagine how wonderful it could be if Colin turned it into a real home. She glanced down at her plants. "You'll be a start," she decided. "A good start."

  She let herself out of the searing hot air and into the soothing coolness of Colin's kitchen. Because her nerves were suddenly leaping, she called out jokingly, "Hi honey. I'm home!"

  Juggling her plants, her purse, a bag of clothes and a smile, it took her a moment to realize she was the only one grinning.

  Colin was standing at the open refrigerator, a dark eyebrow cocked. "Honey?"

  "It's supposed to be funny."

  "Ah. Well, they're in the living room, you can drop the show." He shut the refrigerator and came toward her, looking far more handsome and cool and relaxed than any man with a panicked fiancée in one room and a nosy mother in another should. He wore those jeans that made her light-headed and a dark knit polo shirt, untucked. Simple clothes. Complicated man.

  Lani set down her things and took the bottled water he handed her, gratefully running the bottle over her hot forehead. What was she going to say to his family? Would she convince them? "Thanks," she said lightly. "Whew, it's a scorcher, isn't it?"

  "What's all this?" He looked at her plants as if they held the plague.

  "I know they're drooping," she said a little defensively, stroking one sagging leaf. "But they're just hot. I thought your kitchen window would be perfect for them. All that empty space."

  That unsettling gaze of his switched to her, and for once he wasn't so difficult to read.

  He was afraid she was forgetting again.

  "You know," she said evenly, holding on to her temper. "That's getting annoying."

  "This is just—"

  "Temporary," she finished for him, rolling her eyes. "Look, are you going to remind me of that every single moment of every day?"

  "Just until I'm sure you remember," he murmured, taking the water bottle from her fingers and opening it for her. Gently he brought it to her lips where she took a long, grateful sip. "You look hot."

  "I brought more clothes. Is that going to scare you, too?"

  "I'm not scared of you."

  The heat really wasn't good for her disposition. Nor was looking at him all calm and collected while she was still sticky as hell and feeling as though she was dissolving. "Could have fooled me."

  "Lani, my mother is here. In the next room. Are you going to do this or not?"

  That was it. She didn't know if it was the temperature or just Colin annoying her all to hell, but her patience was gone. "I keep telling you I'm not going to back out! Jeez, you think you can't trust anyone."

  His eyes flashed with warning, but she was good and hot and hungry, all things which had her spoiling for a fight. "No matter how grumpy and difficult you are, Colin—"

  "I'm not grumpy, you are."

  "Let's not go there, all right? I'm not going to leave you hanging. Got it?"

  "Fine," he bit out. "And I'm ever so grateful." At her rough laugh, he gritted his teeth. "But if you're not going to back out, why do you keep baiting me?"

  "Bec