Keeping Kennedy Read Free Page A

“That’s a fine way to talk to the man you’re planning to
marry,” he offered glibly.
    She rolled her eyes. “Pleeease.” She
shuddered at the thought. Never in a million years would she marry
a man who crawled through jungles, climbed mountains, crossed
deserts and was foolish enough to call it fun. Adding emphasis to
her thought, Iggy scooted across the floor, his long tail swishing
back and forth on the shiny hardwood. “Just because we’ve never
been…intimate,” she informed him, “doesn’t mean I don’t know you
well enough to know that you’re not my type. Not my type at
all.”
    A grin that literally left her breathless
stole across his chiseled features. Before she could fathom what he
intended, he had backed her against the window and braced his arms
on either side of her. He leaned in so close that she could feel
his warm breath on her face. Her heart did a couple of somersaults,
then dropped into her stomach to quiver there.
    “Never underestimate what’s in the package,
Kennedy, until you’ve opened it.” He moistened his lips all the
while looking at hers. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure
he heard it. Why was he behaving like this? Just when she was
positive he might do something crazy like kiss her, his gaze
reconnected with hers. “Now tell me,” he whispered in a low, husky
voice that sent a shiver over her skin, “what is it exactly you
want from me?”
    For the first time in her adult life, Kennedy
found herself at a loss for words. Unsure of an already-made
decision. Reluctant to follow through with something she’d started.
But she had to do this. No way could go back to Friendly Corners
without her faux fiancé. “You know what I want,” she managed in
spite of the sudden tightness in her throat.
    “Say it, Kennedy,” he murmured.
    Held captive by his gaze and tamping down
something that felt entirely too much like sexual awareness, she
went for broke. “I want you to go to my hometown with me and
pretend to be my fiancé for one week.”
     
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    “Hold still just one moment longer, Mr.
Drake.”
    Drake felt like a mannequin being rigged up
for display or—more likely—hanging. He cast a doubting glance at
Edward, the man folding and tucking and adjusting the silk suit
jacket Drake now wore.
    Apparently satisfied with his final
adjustments, Edward queried the woman in charge, “How’s that Ms.
Malone?”
    Kennedy paused midstride, then turned in
their direction. “Hang on, Carol,” she said into the cell phone
that Drake fully believed to be permanently attached to her ear.
Her coral-colored lips puckered thoughtfully, she gave Drake’s
Versace-clad frame a long, slow sweep, then shook her head. “Go
with the Armani,” she instructed before returning to her
conversation with a business associate.
    “Good choice,” Edward agreed. He slipped the
coat from Drake’s shoulders with practiced ease.
    Kennedy paced back and forth across the plush
carpet. Her free arm giving dramatic emphasis to her every word,
she appeared immensely distressed over some decision her associate
had made. Drake hadn’t spent much time with Kennedy in a social
setting, with the exception of the one time he’d taken her to
dinner to celebrate the publication of his latest collection of
photographs. But that one time had been enough to get a fix on
her.
    Strictly business. That had been his first
impression of Kennedy Malone and time hadn’t changed his mind. She
worked long hours, her social life was non-existent as far as he
could tell, and she was his friend. A frown furrowed his brow at
the thought. Not that he charmed every woman he met, but he wasn’t
oblivious to the fact that women—most women he happened to
meet—were somewhat attracted to him. He was well aware that his
looks were an asset in that department. And for the first thirty
years of his life he’d considered himself a very lucky man indeed.
But things had changed in the last