The Rent-A-Groom Read Free

a sigh. “I can’t.”
     
    “Why?” he asked softly. “What are you afraid of? It isn’t me. Or at least I don’t think it is, since you let me in here.”
     
    Was he suggesting she was distrusted herself? That was ridiculous. “I’m not afraid. It’s just—oh, it wouldn’t work.”
     
    He lifted a brow. “Why not?”
     
    “Bradley would find out eventually that we aren’t married.”
     
    “Marriage isn’t the only reason two people take a hotel suite together. A man doesn’t have to be a groom to act like a lover.”
     
    The low timbre of his voice, his choice of words and the images they evoked, muddled her thinking and did peculiar things to the rhythm of her heartbeat. Her voice wasn’t quite steady as she answered. “Call it a matter of principle.”
     
    “Principle is a lovely thing,” he said with a wry smile, “but not a lot of comfort.”
     
    “Yes, well, it’s all I’ve got.”
     
    He shook his head, a definite negative. “You’ve got me, if you want me.” He paused. “Tell you what. I’ll make it easy for you. Say the word, and I’ll go without a whimper. But if you have any use for my support, if you think you can stand an evening in my company, then all you have to do is point the way to the shower.”
     
    He faced her in relaxed ease. A near-overwhelming presence there in the close confines of the suite foyer, he waited for her approval.
     
    She did approve. It was possible she approved a bit too much.
     
    He made the situation sound so simple. It wasn’t, and she knew it. Still, to resist the steady light in his eyes and the force of his personality was beyond her. She should never have let him inside, never have spoken to him at all.
     
    She was going to regret this; she knew it beyond a doubt. But she couldn’t help it. The man and the opportunity were too good to resist.
     
    Lifting a hand, she waved vaguely toward the door between the sitting room and sunken bedroom. Her voice hardly more than a whisper, she said, “In there.”
     
    His smile was slow in coming, but worth the wait. “Good decision.” Picking up his belongings, he swung in the direction of the bathroom. “You won’t be sorry.”
     
    She was sorry already. She just couldn’t find the words to call him back.
     
    Her nerves were so on edge that she couldn’t sit down, couldn’t relax. All she could do was think about the man taking off his clothes in her bathroom, stepping into her life as he stepped into her shower. All the mirrors behind the vanity and along one side of the raised Jacuzzi tub would reflect his hard, lean form with its acres of sun-burnished muscle. He would see all her cosmetics and other personal articles scattered across the marble-topped vanity, emptied from her travel bag as she searched earlier for something for a throbbing headache.
     
    She could feel the pain in her head returning now.
     
    A hired escort. She must be losing her mind.
     
    And yet he was so right for the job. She could not have found a better groom if she had constructed him herself. No, nor one more likely to make Bradley sit up and take notice.
     
    At the same time, it was completely unreal that he was there. It almost seemed she must have summoned him with her pure, unadulterated need.
     
    But no, Diane had sent him. She really should thank her, Gina thought. More than that, her friend and neighbor deserved to know how well her idea had worked out, what a great groom the Rent-A-Gent agency had sent.
     
    Moving to the wicker loveseat that took up one corner before the sitting room fireplace, Gina dropped down on the cushions and reached for her cell phone that lay on the end table. As she punched in the number and waited for Diane to answer, her lips tilted in a mischievous smile.
     
    “Diane? You’ll never guess who’s taking a shower in my bathroom,” she said the instant her friend answered. Without waiting for a reply, she began to fill her in on the details.
     
    “Wait! Wait,