“Maybe no one knows about this but us,” he offered with a feeble smile. “I’m willing to forget last night if you are. How about you?”
Kelly thought hard. What had apparently been a romantic thing to do last night, in broad daylight became an irresponsible scenario. In all fairness, she couldn’t put all the blame on Max. He may have started the flirtation, but he was obviously a lot more worldly than she was. She’d been a fool to think she could outsmart him. Besides, it took two people to get into a situation like this.
The problem was that DeeDee had talked so much about Max and how much they had in common, Kelly had turned her off. Now that she realized Max was the sexiest man she’d ever met up with, maybe she should have listened to her friend.
She already had a controlling father and two older brothers who insisted on looking after her. The last thing she needed was another man in her life. Even one like Max.
Another unhappy thought hit her. The O’Rourkes were a large extended and prolific Irish family. She had an army of cousins, most of them male, and had been around them often enough to have heard enough stories that had made her blush. What if she’d gotten pregnant after last night?
“Something wrong?”
“Maybe,” Kelly whispered. She bit her lip as one unhappy thought led to another. How do you ask a man if he’d used protection last night? “Did you, er…” She took a deep breath and plunged into deep waters. “Did you use protection last night?”
Max swallowed hard. If he’d actually thought Kelly was his wife, maybe not. On the other hand, maybe yes. He had had a condom in his wallet. “Yes. I don’t think I could have been that irresponsible,” he replied frankly. He made a mental note to check his wallet as soon as he was alone.
Before they could pursue the subject, there was a knock on the door.
“Who’s that?” Kelly whispered, looking around for cover. “I can’t let anyone find me here.”
“Maybe if we don’t answer, they’ll think we’re still asleep and go away,” Max said under his breath. He put a finger to his lips.
The knock sounded again, this time louder.
“No such luck,” Max muttered. “I guess we’ll never know who it is unless I answer the door.” He had a bare leg out from under the covers when he realized he couldn’t reach his clothes. The fact that they were in a tangled mess on the floor surprised him. He was normally an organized man, a man who never gave in to impulse. Something had happened last night to change him.
“Maybe you’d better close your eyes for a minute.”
“I will not!”
He raised his eyebrows in a sardonic question and pointed to the jumble of clothing. “My clothes are down there.”
Kelly moaned and slid under the blankets.
Max dashed for his trousers, put them on and made for the door before some lunatic broke it down. “Who’s there?”
“Reggie Bennett, the assistant manager of the hotel, sir. You and Mrs. Taylor checked in too late last night to receive the usual amenities that come with the bridal suite. I have them for you now.”
Max felt himself blanch as he shrugged into his shirt and shoes. Mrs. Taylor? Bridal suite? So, last night hadn’t entirely been a dream. Like it or not, he had married Kelly.
Max groaned. He was a man who enjoyed the company of women, but marriage had been the farthest thing from his mind. And the last thing on his carefully plotted life’s agenda.
He took a deep breath. Even with those disturbing memories of a marriage ceremony, he wasn’t exactly ready to believe this marriage business. If he’d gotten married, surely he would have had to have had a marriage license and a marriage certificate, wouldn’t he?
After making sure Kelly couldn’t be seen from the door, he held it open a crack. The assistant manager met his gaze with a broad smile. “Our apologies, sir. The management of the Majestic Hotel would like to correct our unfortunate oversight.”
Oversight? Max’s heart plummeted when he realized daylight was shining through the shuttered windows. Somehow, he’d misplaced a large chunk of the day. And, in the interim, he must have somehow acquired a bride and, heaven help him, consummated the marriage.
“May we come in now?”
Max took another look behind him before he opened the outer door. A room-service waiter rolled in a linen-covered cart and positioned two chairs next to it.
Entranced, Max studied the gaily decorated cart. As Bennett had announced, there was a wedding breakfast in all its glory, including a bottle of champagne in an iced silver container and pats of butter in the form of hearts. A cut-glass vase held a dozen white roses. To his increasing dismay, a congratulatory message was prominently propped against the vase.
What further blew his mind were the silver and gold balloons in the shape of wedding bells that floated behind the cart.
“Our apologies for the delay in bringing your breakfast, Mr. Taylor. After what happened last night, we weren’t sure you and Mrs. Taylor were up yet.” A humorous glint came into Reggie Bennett’s eyes as he regarded Max’s open shirt. “If there’s anything else you would like, please don’t hesitate to ask.” He left with a broad smile.
After what happened last night? A dim recollection of shouting people and flashing cameras floated through Max’s mind. What worse could possibly have happened?
“Max, are they gone?” Kelly called impatiently.
“Yes, but not before they left us breakfast,” he replied. His stomach churned as he eyed the bottle of champagne on ice. Champagne had been his downfall last night. He heard Kelly mutter under her breath. She had to be upset if she’d heard Bennett. For a woman who firmly refused to believe she was married, what would she do when she actually saw the cart?
“I’m not that hungry,” Kelly said. “I’ll get dressed and we can decide what to do.”
As far as Max was concerned, discussions had to wait. What he had to do first was find out how and when he’d actually acquired a wife. He eyed the outside door for a quick getaway. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he announced and rushed out the door.
When Kelly heard the door close, she peered into the next room. The sight of the floating bell-shaped balloons brought her marching into the room.
Then she saw the bridal veil on the coffee table. If this was intended to be a joke, and if Max was in on it, it wasn’t funny.
Married? No way! Max might believe they were married, but she knew better. Right now she needed a long, hot bath and time to plan some course of action to end this nonsense.
Music began to play when she opened the door to the bathroom. She was rendered speechless by a giant Jacuzzi strategically placed in front of a mirrored wall. Tropical plants hung from a skylight above the tub. A shelf held jars of bath oils and colorful soaps in the shapes of flowers. There were assorted brushes to wash one’s back and, to Kelly’s growing discomfiture, bottles of assorted perfumes and ointments clearly intended for rituals of love. Her middle warmed at the sensual implications of a jar marked Aromatic Body Butter.
Visions of Max rubbing her body with the scented butter, and her mental reactions to the idea of his unclothed body, were more than she could bring herself to safely contemplate. Thank goodness he wasn’t here to see the Arabian Nights scene in front of her.
To her relief, on a more practical level, fluffy white bathrobes, embroidered with “Mr.” and “Mrs.,” waited on a padded bench.
She turned on the water and sat down on the edge of the Jacuzzi. One by one, she picked up the tiny colored balls of bath oil beside the faucet and dropped them into the water. The scent that began to waft through the room turned her thoughts to sensual games. Games she would have wanted