He got up from his desk, walked down the long marble hallway of Cobra International Solutions toward the conference room, anticipation heating his blood.
How they were supposed to last another ten days to the wedding living apart, he didn’t know. Why were they going along with this stupid charade anyway? His mom and dad knew that he and Holly lived together and had been living together since last summer. As far as he was concerned, they could stay in a hotel if that bothered them.
But Holly wanted so badly to get along with his parents and be accepted by his family. She had moved out of their new posh four-bedroom Cheesman Park condo and back into her old place the day before his parents had flown in from Philadelphia. Nick saw her each day at the office, and she joined him and his parents every night for the elaborate dinners his mother made.
But they hadn’t slept together for more than a week.
The joke is on you, Andris. You’re thirty-nine, about to marry the most beautiful woman in the world, and reduced to sleeping alone.
He turned the corner, saw Holly walking toward him wearing a tailored navy blue suit and twelve-hundred-dollar heels. Yeah, she looked all business, but he knew what she was wearing beneath that suit. She’d texted him a photo of those crotchless panties with the crazy laces in the back this morning when she’d put them on.
He’d spent all morning sitting across from her in a meeting with representatives of the nonprofit she was funding through the sale of the necklace Dudaev had given her. She’d gotten more than three million dollars for it at auction and was giving every cent of it to help the victims of human trafficking in the former Soviet states, including Georgia. And yet all Nick had been able to think about was those damned panties.
She opened the conference room door, walked inside, her gaze meeting his through the glass wall, a sultry smile on her face as she pressed the button that closed the blinds, giving them privacy.
Damn.
It took some serious self-control not to break into a run. He strode to the door, opened it, and locked it behind him. They didn’t need anyone walking in on them.
“Ms. Bradshaw.”
“Mr. Andris.”
And then she was in his arms, and they were kissing. She felt sweet and soft and warm, her familiar scent both soothing and arousing. While she fought with his zipper, Nick yanked up that proper pencil skirt, ran his hands over those laces, then slipped a hand between her thighs to tease her clit.
Her hand closed around his erection, stroked him. “It’s been so long. Please! I can’t wait. This is all I’ve thought about all day.”
They staggered together to the conference table, kissing as they went.
He set her on the edge of the table, took her hand, glanced down at the two-karat blue diamond engagement ring on her finger. “What will your fiancé say about this?”
“Who’s going to tell him?” She lay on her back, her skirt up around her hips.
He caught her behind the knees, spread her legs wide apart, and took a long, hard look at paradise. Then he rested those expensive heels on his shoulders, took his cock in hand, and guided himself inside her. “Jesus, Holly.”
She was slick, hot, tight, and he found himself pounding into her—no finesse, no restraint, no holding back. For a moment he was afraid he’d embarrass himself by coming right away. He took a deep breath and willed himself to relax, reaching down to caress her swollen clit, wanting her to enjoy this as much as he did.
Her eyes were closed now, her lips parted, little moans rolling from her throat with each thrust. She grabbed his wrist, her nails digging into his skin, her other hand bunched into a fist. “Oh . . . yes . . . Nika.”
Thank God the conference rooms were soundproof.
He drove into her again and again, faster, harder, reaching up with one hand to open the buttons of her shirt and fondle her breasts.
Yes, this was the way to spend an afternoon at work.
* * *
Javier looked at the security monitor, moans and sighs coming in loud and clear through the audio feed. “No one told them conference room two has hidden cameras and listening devices?”
They took prospective clients to that room when they believed those parties were hiding something, let them spend some time there alone, and listened.
“No, sir.” Ricardo Perez was one of the newer security guards. Like every other male at CIS, he was in love with Holly. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the X-rated action on the monitor. “Should I go knock on the door?”
“Nah.” Javier turned off the monitor for Holly’s sake. “Leave the monitor off until they exit. I’ll tell Andris myself. And, Perez, you’re under strict orders not to mention this to anyone, especially not Ms. Bradshaw. Got me, man? I want that footage on my desk before the end of your shift today.”
Javier would destroy it himself. He didn’t need his two new employees starring in an Internet sex scandal. They’d had enough crazy publicity already.
Perez nodded. “Yes, sir. I understand, sir.”
Chuckling to himself, Javier walked out of the security office and glanced at his watch. He and Laura had come back to Denver for the wedding, and Laura was chilling up at the Cimarron Ranch. Maybe he should give her a buzz and see how she felt about taking time for a little afternoon delight.
If anything was more contagious than a yawn, it was lust.
* * *
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?” Nick whispered.
“You can’t come with me,” Holly whispered back. “I don’t want you to see my gown until the wedding.”
“Right, but—”
“It’s going to be okay. I’ve got it all worked out. Kara and Sophie are going to be there, and so is my mom. We have a plan. By the time we’re done, she’ll love my gown.” She kissed his cheek. “Are you coming by tonight after supper?”
After learning that their office sexcapades had been filmed and recorded by security, they had changed tactics. Now Nick drove her home after dinner—and they had a quickie before he left.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than sexual starvation.
“You bet I am.” He gave her a smile that warmed her all over.
“See you later!” she called out, climbing into her car.
Ekaterine Natalia Mariami Tsiuri Andris sat in the passenger seat, a red, blue, and yellow scarf covering her black-and-silver hair, an enormous black handbag in her lap. She smiled at Holly, and Holly could tell she was nervous, too. Still beautiful at sixty-seven, she had a quiet grace and dignity that Holly admired. She was tall, too, taller than Holly, with an old-world elegance that made Holly think of vineyards and giant poplars.
“Are you ready?” Holly asked, putting on her seatbelt and starting the car.
“Yes, yes.”
Holly put on some classical music, something soft to ease the silence. “I would love to see photos of your wedding.”
“Next time you come to Pennsylvania, I will show you.”
“When did you meet Papa Andris?”
“Oh, I was seventeen, and he was nineteen.”
Holly drove through Denver, listening while Mama, as she insisted Holly call her, told her how she’d met her future husband one day when her bicycle had gotten a flat tire outside the grocery store that belonged to Papa Andris’s family. He’d fixed the flat, then followed in his father’s car to make sure she got home safely.
They’d seen each other at church after that, and her uncle was cousins with his father’s sister-in-law—or something like that. Holly got lost in there somewhere. They hadn’t dated, because respectable girls did not date, but were married two months later. She’d left school because the teachers felt uncomfortable with a wife—someone who was enjoying the benefits of marriage, as she put it—attending school alongside the unmarried girls. She’d given birth to her first son nine months later.
“Wow.” Holly wanted to say something like, “That’s so romantic,” but it didn’t sound even remot
ely romantic to her. Thrown out of school for having a sex life? Becoming a mother at the young age of eighteen? “You must have been so happy when Tomas was born.”
Holly counted in her mind, hoping she’d gotten the birth order right.
Tomas, Peter, Michael, Jacob, Nick, and Katherine.
Their real names were Toma, Petre, Mikheil, Iacob, Nikolai, Ekaterine, but they all went by the Americanized versions.
Mama Andris smiled. “As will you be when your first child is born. You do plan to have children? You are—what, thirty-four now?”
Well you walked into that one, Bradshaw.
“Yes, we do want children, but not right away.”
And certainly not six.
“Hmm,” said Mama, like she always did when Holly said something of which she didn’t quite approve.
Holly pulled into the parking lot behind the bridal shop and glanced at her watch. The others should be here at any minute.
“I can’t wait to hear what you think of my gown.” A frisson of excitement shot through Holly, the realization hitting her. “Two nights from tonight, I’m getting married!”
Mama smiled, her blue eyes warm. “Yes, you are.”
They went inside and met Nora, the shop’s owner, who greeted them with a smile. “We’re so close to the big day. You must be so excited.”
“I am. Nora, I’d like you to meet Nick’s mother, Katherine Andris.”
“A pleasure. Your son certainly chose well, didn’t he?”
Mama smiled. “Yes, I think he did.”
Nora took their coats and led them to the fitting area. “Make yourselves comfortable. We’ve got coffee, tea, white wine, bottled water. Can I get you anything?”
Holly asked for water, Mama coffee.
“I think your friends are here.” Nora disappeared and returned a few minutes later with Kara and Sophie.
They’d already met Mama, and she welcomed them with a warm smile.
“Shall we begin?”
Holly’s mother was late—again.
Holly quickly undressed until she was wearing only her panties, hanging her blouse and jeans on hooks. She turned to find Mama Andris standing behind her.
“Let me see that.” Mama’s brow was bent in a concerned frown.
Holly realized she wanted to see her scar. She lifted her left arm, slowly turning so that Mama could see the entire thing.
Mama’s hands pressed against her ribs where the bullet had entered her. “This still causes you pain?”
“Sometimes.”
Nora reappeared with the first of two dresses Holly was going to try on the pretext of it being her last chance to change her mind. “Here’s the Badgley Mischka.”
Operation Wedding Dress was underway.
Holly took the strapless bra and put it on, then accepted Nora’s help getting into the gown. It was a body-hugging strapless gown with a corset-style bodice of shirred tulle and a dropped waist adorned with Swarovski crystals. The mermaid skirt was made of light, fluffy layers that trailed into a short train.
“That is so beautiful!” Kara said. “Oh, Holly, you look amazing!”
“You’re the only woman I know who can wear that dress without worrying about her tummy sticking out,” Sophie said. “Can I ask how much it is?”
Nora read off the price tag. “Six thousand seven hundred.”
Sophie gave a whistle. “Right.”
“What do you think, Mama?” Holly turned, showing her the back.
“It is a lovely dress.” The frown on her face told Holly that Mama wasn’t happy with it. “But it looks like a dress for a party, not a bridal gown. A bride should be dignified, don’t you think?”
“Let’s try the Vera Wang.” Nora winked at Holly as she helped her undress. She disappeared for a few minutes and returned with yards of lace draped over her arm. “Vera Wang is taking high fashion to new places when it comes to bridal gowns.”
She helped Holly into the delicate garment, which wasn’t much more than a sheath of transparent lace with a trumpet skirt. The deep V-neck showed off her cleavage, but the illusion lace showed everything else, including her breasts and panties.
“Isn’t there more to this dress, something that goes on top?” Mama asked, staring at Holly’s nipples. “I can see your boopsies.”
“I’ve got to go with Mama Andris on this one,” Kara said. “It’s high fashion, but it looks like something you’re supposed to wear under a wedding dress—or maybe on your wedding night.”
“They have already had their wedding night,” Mama Andris muttered.
Holly ignored the comment and studied her reflection, imagining the stir it would cause if she walked down the aisle dressed in nothing but air and lace.
“I don’t know that Nick wants to share that much of you with your guests,” said Sophie. “But it does look amazing on you.”
It was time to stop shocking poor Mama Andris and try on her real gown.
“Nora, can I try on the one I picked?”
“These are not gowns you chose?” Mama asked.
“No, they’re not.” Holly could almost hear Mama sending a silent prayer of thanksgiving skyward. But that had been the entire point of this exercise—to make sure she wasn’t shocked by the gown Holly had chosen. It did have a low neckline. “I just wanted to try them. It’s my last chance to change my mind.”
Nora helped Holly out of the Vera Wang and disappeared, then returned with a large white garment bag that had Holly’s name written on it. “Here it is.”
Anticipation made it hard for Holly to breathe. “Oh, I can’t wait to try it on!”
She’d been working with Nora’s seamstress for weeks, getting the fit perfect, making tiny adjustments here and there.
Mama looked like she might need something stronger than coffee.
“Can I put this on in a dressing room and surprise them?” she asked Nora.
Neither Kara nor Sophie had seen the finished gown.
“Of course.” Nora led her to a dressing room and helped her into it, then helped her put on the sheer blusher veil. “Oh, you look beautiful, Holly. Truly beautiful.”
The gown had a sweetheart neckline and a tightly fitted bodice with delicate cap sleeves and a full princess skirt. There was no lace, no beading, no crystals, just clean white silk. Even the veil was simple—nothing but sheer fabric and a slender edge of white silk along its scalloped edges.
Holly stepped out of the dressing room, disappointed that her mother still hadn’t arrived. She’d wanted her to be here for this moment. But the look on Mama Andris’s face made her forget that.
Mama raised her hands to her face, her blue eyes wide. “Ah! There is a bride! Beautiful! This shows your lovely figure without giving it all away.”
“Oh, God, Holly, it’s gorgeous!” Kara stepped forward, helped Nora straighten out the short silk train.
Sophie smiled. “Mama Andris is right. It’s perfect for you. You are going to be the most beautiful bride.”
Holly turned and looked into the mirror—and the breath left her lungs. She looked like a princess, like a queen. In two days, she was going to walk down the aisle wearing this gown, and she was going to marry the man she loved.
“It’s Carolina Herrera,” Nora was saying.
Holly turned to face her future mother-in-law and her friends. “I decided I didn’t want Nick to see my gown. I wanted him to see me.”
“Oh, sweetie, you are going to blow him away,” said Kara.
Mama laughed, a big hearty laugh, a smile on her face. “That was a funny trick to play on me. You show me shocking, half-naked gowns to make sure I will like this one. You didn’t need to do that. It is beautiful.”
Holly blinked.
“Oh, yes, I figured it out.” Mama was still smiling and didn’t seem offended. “I don’t speak very good English, and I look like a silly old grandmama with a scarf on my head, but I was not born five minutes ago. I raised six children, you know. Oh, the lies those boys told
me!”
Then Mama reached into her enormous handbag, got to her feet, and walked over to Holly, holding something in her hands. “In our church, a man and woman wear crowns during the ceremony. You are not getting married in the church, I know, but I thought you might agree to wear this. It is the crown I wore when Nika’s father and I were wed.”
She held out a circlet of delicate silver flowers and leaves held together by silver wire. It had recently been polished, and Holly could tell it was very old.
Holly took it into her hands, amazed by the detail and the quality of the silversmithing. “It’s beautiful. Thank you. I would be honored to wear it.”
Nora took it, lifted off the veil, settled the crown on Holly’s hair. “Like this. We’ll attach the veil like so. It will be perfect.”
“Wonderful!” Holly couldn’t stop smiling.
“You and I may be very different, but in one way we are the same. We both love Nika with our whole hearts. How do I know this?” She reached out, touched Holly’s left side. “You offered up your life for his. There is no greater love than that.”
Holly found herself blinking tears away. “Thank you.”
“Hey, everyone!” Holly’s mother breezed in, looked at Holly, but didn’t say a word about the gown, that familiar glint of envy in her eyes. “Sorry I’m late. I felt like I needed a massage this morning, and then it took the coffee shop forever to get my latte right. Is my dress ready to try?”
She looked from Holly to Mama Andris. “Did I miss something?”
“You missed everything—including the point, I think,” Mama replied.
* * *
“I’m tipsy,” Holly spoke in Nick’s ear, her words a bit slurred. “Take me somewhere private and have your way with me.”
Nick grinned down at his inebriated fiancée. “Not till tomorrow night.”
Holly moaned. “Tomorrow night?”
Nick glanced around the club, but didn’t see anywhere the two of them could be alone without security cameras. “Sorry, honey, but you’re going to have to wait. We’re both going to have to wait.”
They’d rented the place out for a joint bachelor/bachelorette party and invited all their friends and family to join in. This way he and Holly had gotten to spend the evening together rather than apart trying to act amused by sex jokes and strippers.