Rebecca Hagan Lee - [Borrowed Brides 01] by Golden Chances Page B

was surrounded by his arms, his mouth, his hard, masculine body and the taste and touch and smell of him. She melted against him, enjoying the coffee-flavored taste of his kiss and the hot, tangy scent that permeated the air around them. She breathed in that scent and nuzzled closer to its source. Reese groaned again. Faith pulled her mouth away from his, gasping for breath. Her senses swam, her knees threatened to give way at any moment. She tilted her head back as Reese brushed his lips against her closed eyelids before trailing them down her neck to place, hot, wet kisses against the tattered lace covering the swells of her breasts. He dipped his tongue into the crevice between the soft mounds and tasted the tart droplets beading her flesh. Faith gasped in reaction, tightening her grip around his neck when her legs abruptly refused to support her weight.
    The sound of her sigh and the slamming of a door somewhere outside the bedroom brought Reese to his senses. He opened his eyes and found himself confronted by the loveliness framed by her tight corset. He raised his head and grinding his teeth against the agony in loins, he forced his arms to relax their hold on her.
    “Faith.”
    Faith smiled up at him, the deep gray of her eyes, soft and luminous. “Hmm?”
    “We’re about to cause that scandal,” Reese said.
    His words sobered her instantly. She practically bolted out of his arms and across the room. “I’m sorry.”
    Reese quirked an eyebrow. “Not as sorry as I am.” He walked to the armoire, removed her black dress, and handed it to her, then turned his back while she slipped it on.
    “You can turn around now,” Faith told him, when she had her dress in place and had fastened the numerous jet buttons on the bodice. “Thank you,” she said, her voice wavering.
    “Don’t thank me! Hell, I doubt very much if I’m doing you a favor by offering you this job.” He paced the confines of the bedroom, impatiently raking his fingers through his hair. “I know for a fact, I’m not doing myself one.”
    “I’m a grown woman, Mr. Jordan, and I know exactly what I’m doing.”
    “I’m not so sure,” Reese mused aloud.
    “Of course, I understand,” Faith said. “You explained the position to me last night.”
    “I lied.”
    “You what?”
    “I lied,” Reese repeated. “I lied to you by omitting a few pertinent facts.”
    “I don’t believe it.” Faith shook her head. “You wouldn’t.”
    “I did,” he affirmed. “Faith, exactly what do you think you’ll be expected to do if you decide to take the job?”
    “I’m to do as the ad in the paper says. I’m to be a sort of governess to your baby. I’m to provide for your child.” Faith walked to her where her cloak lay across a chair and removed a battered newspaper. It was folded to the page containing Reese’s advertisement. She looked him in the eye as she placed it in his hand. “See for yourself.”
    Reese shook his head in disbelief as he read the ad in the Richmond newspaper. The irony of the situation struck him like a blow. He smiled, grimly. The best laid plans…
    “Faith,” he said, “I’m not looking for a governess. I’m looking for a mother. I don’t want you to provide for my child. I want you to provide the child. To conceive him, carry him, deliver him, give him to me, and walk away. Forever.”
    Faith’s knees weakened again. She sat down abruptly on the edge of the bed. “I don’t believe it.”
    Reese crossed to the desk in the corner of the bedroom and removed a copy of the original Washington newspaper ad from the top drawer. He looked her in the eye as he placed it in her hand.
    She quickly scanned the ad. “Oh, my!”
    “‘Oh, my’? Is that all you’ve got to say?” Reese asked.
    “You lied to me,” she accused.
    “I didn’t exactly lie to you.”
    “You just said you did.”
    “I said I omitted a few pertinent facts,” Reese corrected.
    “It’s the same as lying. You admitted it!”
    “So?