Tara mirrored her expression. “What?”
Lexi shook her head. “No, that couldn’t be it.”
“You had unprotected sex?”
“Only for a minute. It was the middle of the night, and we woke up and he started to…” Her cheeks blushed a brilliant shade of pink. She’d never spoken about anything so personal to anyone in her life. Not even her physician. “But he put a condom on before he…you know…finished.”
Tara looked pained. “Sperm can be released before ejaculation. And it only takes one. They teach this stuff in health class, Lex.”
But she hadn’t had health class. She had been homeschooled by tutors, to spare her the improper influence of other children. And not a single one of those tutors, not even her science instructor, had ever said a word about sex education. Her father would have had a fit. Everything she knew about sex, she’d learned from the romance novels she used to sneak into the house. Lately, she had come to realize that those books offered a somewhat slanted view of what love and relationships truly entailed.
“So, this is my fault,” she said. If she hadn’t been so naive, she would have known better.
“It’s no one’s fault. Besides, it sounds like you two had one heck of a night together. Maybe, if there’s a chance—”
Lexi shook her head. “There’s no chance. He wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
“Well, he still has rights.”
“I know,” she said, feeling more confused than she ever had in her life. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Maybe what you need is some time away to think this through. You’ve been telling me for months that you’d like to take a vacation. Didn’t you mention a trip to Cabo San Lucas?”
The place where she had hoped to spend her honeymoon in marital bliss with Mitch? She couldn’t bear the thought of it.
“Too hot,” she told Tara.
“Okay, how about an Alaskan cruise?”
She blanched. “As if I’m not nauseous enough.”
“I didn’t think about that.” Tara gnawed her lower lip for a moment, then she brightened. “I know! What about that villa in the Greek Isles that Senator Richardson mentioned? That would be perfect.”
Actually, that was an excellent idea. She wanted quiet and seclusion, and no one in Greece was likely to know, or even care, who her father happened to be. But there was still a problem. “What if my father won’t allow it?”
“Tell him the humiliation of Lance’s rejection is just too much to bear, and you need some time alone.”
It was the humiliation of Mitch’s rejection that was really killing her, but still, it wasn’t a bad idea.
“Make him feel guilty for putting you in this position,” Tara said. “It is ultimately his fault that you’re going through all this.”
Tara had a point. If her father hadn’t insisted she marry Lance, Lexi never would have met Mitch. So, in a roundabout way he was responsible, although she doubted he would agree. He would lay the blame solely on her. As always. No matter how hard she tried, she never seemed to do anything right. And though she had never been one to play the pity card, if the circumstance demanded it…
She smiled at her friend, thankful she had someone so supportive to lean on at a time like this, even if she was getting paid handsomely to do so. “How soon can you make the reservation?”
As soon as he left the senator’s office, Mitch called his brother.
Lance answered on the first ring. “What did he say?”
“He agreed.”
Lance released a breath.
“You’re sure you’re ready to deal with the backlash?” Mitch asked. “This isn’t going to look great for you.”
“After the way I humiliated her, I would say I probably deserve it. I’m just sorry that you have to go through this.”
“Sorry for what? You were going to make the same sacrifice.”
“But I didn’t. I went with my heart.”
“I’m sure Lexi and I will eventually grow fond of one another,” he lied. It was probably more likely they would live completely separate lives. If they didn’t kill each other first.
“I just feel guilty as hell making you do this. Now that I know what it feels like to be with someone I love and trust, I want the same for you. I want you to be happy.”
“When our company is thriving and we’re leaving our competitors in the dust, I will be. Besides, you know I don’t believe in love. Life doesn’t work that way. Not for me, anyhow.” Nor did he want it to. It was tough to betray a man who refused to leave himself vulnerable. No woman would hurt him the way his mother had.
His brother could see right through him. “Not all women abandon their families,” he said. “And when Mom did, I’m sure she had her reasons.”
Of course she did. Their father was a bastard, emotionally, and at times physically, abusive. But if she loved Mitch and Lance, why leave them behind to suffer in her place? Why not take them with her?
He had no doubt that Lexi was self-centered and spoiled enough to do the same. If she did agree to marry him, he would insist they remain childless. It would be cruel to bring a baby into a loveless shell of a marriage. Sometimes he wished his parents would have spared him the burden of ever being born.
“There is a catch,” Mitch told him. “Alexis has to willingly accept my proposal.”
Lance let out a low whistle. “Maybe it was my imagination, but there didn’t seem to be any love lost between the two of you when I broke the engagement.”
Lance had no idea. “He also warned me that if I hurt her, he’ll crush us.”
Lance chuckled. “The old goat doesn’t pull any punches, does he?”
“You’re not concerned?”
“Why should I be? I have total faith in you.”
Mitch hoped that faith wasn’t misplaced. He’d already let his brother down once, betraying him by sleeping with his soon-to-be fiancée. Although it wasn’t as if Lance loved Lexi, or thought of the marriage as anything more than a business arrangement. Mitch, on the other hand, had honestly believed there had been a connection between Lexi and him. If he had known that Lance loved Kate the night that he slept with Lexi, he might have asked Lexi to marry him, instead. But she had only been using him.
Ironic that he would be stuck marrying her regardless.
“You can still back out,” Lance said.
No, he couldn’t. This marriage was imperative. “I’ve already made my decision. I’m going to call her right now and set up a meeting.”
“Suppose you ask, and she says no.”
A very likely scenario. But every woman had a weakness. He would find hers and use it to his advantage. “I’ll just have to make her an offer she can’t refuse.”
Though she hadn’t yet sought her father’s approval, Lexi laid out her clothes for the maid to pack. Her plane departed the day after tomorrow and nothing short of the apocalypse would stop her from being on it. The way she figured it, an emotional meltdown during supper and tearful pleading should bend him to her will.
Her cell phone rang and she