The Rented Bride (Highland Billionaires Book 1) by KyAnn Waters, Tarah Scott Page A

him well enough to know that he guessed plenty. What he couldn’t know was how close Trent had come to making a life-long commitment to the woman who had lied to him from the day they met.
    “Ms. Fremont,” Tomas said, then stepped past them.
    Trent closed the door and shifted his gaze to Lindsey. She’d gotten him closer to the altar than any other woman. Would the poker face he’d perfected in the boardroom be enough to hide the truth from her? He gave a silent, morbid laugh. She wouldn’t read the truth in his eyes any more than he had hers.
    Lindsey wrapped her arms around his neck. “Help? What kind of help?” Her mouth formed the pretty pout she wielded like a sword. “Don’t tell me you’re working tonight. You promised, Trent.”
    “Not work,” he said.
    She flashed a pleased smile. “I missed you so much.” She cupped the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.
    Trent stiffened before he could command his muscles to relax. Their lips met and shock reverberated through him. Her willowy body, sexy and familiar, sent a wave of unwanted lust through him. He allowed her tongue to slip inside his mouth and spar with his.
    Then the bitter taste of betrayal filled his mouth. It wasn’t the kiss of a woman in love, but a woman with an agenda. He should have recognized a kiss of deceit. He’d tasted kisses like hers before. All the years as a cold negotiator hadn’t prepared him for the clever and devious Lindsey Fremont. She deserved an academy award for best actress.
    She sighed then broke the kiss and rested her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist and tried to ignore the warmth of her arms when she slipped them beneath his coat and hugged him close. He counted the seconds, willing himself not to shove her away.
    “From the limos and cars parked outside, you must have quite a crowd,” she said into his shirt.
    She knew exactly how many people he’d invited. When he’d told her three hundred people were coming to his grandfather’s birthday party, she’d laughed and said she would feel like she’d never left Beverly Hills. She knew all right. She knew every damned thing.
    Lindsey placed a kiss on his jaw then stepped out of his arms. “Does that window overlook the property?” She tossed a sultry glance over her shoulder, but didn’t wait for an answer. She crossed to the bay window behind the couch. She leaned one bent knee on the cushioned bench, a move that drove her dress higher up her thigh and revealed a sliver of pink lace panties.
    Trent recalled their second date, and the first time he’d felt the press of her nipples through his shirt. He’d fought an erection that entire evening. She’d played coy and innocent. He’d been hot to get closer to her. She was beautiful, sexy and desired by every red-blooded heterosexual man on the planet. She’d played him from the beginning. He should have taken negotiating lessons from her.
    “A pool.” Her laugh sounded too bright. “How much swimming can you actually do here? It’s freezing out there.”
    “You’d be surprised,” he said. “It gets in the high nineties during the summer.”
    “A tennis court. You’ve thought of everything,” she said, as if he’d built Brettonwood for her. She shifted and looked right, where the east wing of the castle met in an L with the house and added another four thousand square feet. “This place is huge,” she breathed. “How many rooms are there?”
    There it was. He could practically hear the cash register in her head calculating how much their marriage would add to her financial portfolio.
    “I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it,” she said.  “Pictures don’t do it justice.”
    Pictures? He hadn’t shown her any pictures.
    She rose and faced him. In the instant before her expression brightened, he caught the hint of avarice in her eyes. Trent stared. Why hadn’t he seen it before? How had she so thoroughly and completely fooled him?
    Her