The CEO Takes a Wife / The Throw-Away Bride. Maxine Sullivan

associating this man with the same CEO she’d married.

      Quickly, for something to do, she glanced down at the slacks she was wearing. “Give me five minutes to change into something more casual.”

      “Like some help?”

      Her heart bumped against her ribs. “No, thanks. I’ve been dressing myself a long time now,” she said, walking toward the door, trying to appear nonchalant.

      “It was the undressing I was more interested in,” he teased, moving aside from the doorway, allowing her to pass him.

      She hid a smile, otherwise he might think she was encouraging him to come up to the bedroom and make love to her.

      She wasn’t.

      No, definitely not.

      “I’ll meet you on the front veranda in five minutes,” she heard him say as she headed for the stairs.

      “Fine.”

      Olivia deliberately took ten minutes to change into Bermuda shorts and a sleeveless top. Then she applied sunscreen to her exposed areas, and grabbed her sunglasses from her purse and put them on.

      “That was a long five minutes,” Alex said, his own sunglasses not hiding his scowl as she pushed open the front screen door and stepped out onto the veranda.

      “I didn’t know we were clock-watching.”

      “We’re not.” He glanced at his Rolex, then grimaced. “Habit.” Taking off the watch, he placed it on the table behind him. “Now, let’s go get some fresh air.” He held out his hand.

      For some reason she found herself hesitating.

      “Harriet’s watching from the window,” he drawled.

      “She is?” She went to turn around but didn’t get a chance to look before he stepped forward and slipped his hand around hers, tugging her down the front steps and through the short grass to the side of the house. Hand in hand they started walking along a dirt path leading to the beach.

      He slanted her a mocking smile. “See, we actually look like lovers now.”

      “Oh, but—”

      “What? We’re not lovers?” He stopped and faced her. “Then who was that gorgeous woman in my arms last night?” Suddenly his smile disappeared, his dark glasses hiding his eyes but not the huskiness in his voice.

      She could feel her cheeks warm. “Maybe she was a dream?”

      “Oh yeah,” he murmured. “She was that.”

      Her heart flipped over. “Alex, I—” All at once the ocean breeze picked up and swirled around them like a small whirlwind, snapping her out of the moment. “Um…that breeze is pretty strong,” she said quickly, then turned and continued to walk, surprised when he let her drop her hand from his. She half expected he would tug her back around to face him, pull her up close and…

      He fell into step beside her, not touching her now. “Yes, that breeze is good for clearing out the cobwebs,” was all he said.

      She ignored a stab of disappointment, but it was her own fault. She could have chosen to stay where she was and let him kiss her. Yet she knew why she hadn’t. Despite them being lovers, she wasn’t in love with him. For her to initiate making love with him would be the equivalent of walking down the main street of Sydney naked. She’d feel totally exposed.

      Ahead, the path looped over a small sand dune and down to a sun-kissed beach, scattered with couples lying on towels or parents playing in the shallows with their children. An older man jogged along the water’s edge. A couple of surfboard riders bobbed out in the sea, their wait for larger waves appearing to be in vain today.

      She sighed in appreciation. “It’s beautiful.”

      “Yes.”

      She kicked off her sandals, enjoying the feel of soft sand trickling through her toes. “It’s been ages since I walked along a beach.”

      He stepped out of his own sandals. “Then what are we waiting for?” When she went to pick up her sandals, he instructed, “Leave them. We’ll get them on our way back.”

      She blinked in surprise. “But won’t someone steal them?”

      He gave a dismissive shrug. “If they’re that desperate then they’re welcome to them.”

      “Oh.” She shrugged. “Well, I guess a man like you doesn’t need to worry about the cost of things.”

      A muscle tightened at the edge of his jaw. “A man like me?”

      She hesitated, realizing she’d said the wrong thing. “It’s just that I noticed you left your Rolex back on the veranda.”

      “So?”

      No getting around it now. “Admit it, Alex. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. You take some things for granted.”

      “I seem to remember you’ve got one of those silver spoons, too.”

      “Yes,” she admitted slowly, “but I was raised frugally by my grandmother.” And while Olivia wouldn’t call herself in the least frugal, she still couldn’t be so cavalier about things like leaving expensive watches out in the open, or even sandals on the beach.

      A mask came down over his face. “I keep what’s important.”

      Chapter Five

      Olivia stood and watched Alex turn and walk along the sand. His words had been steely and totally no-nonsense—the tough CEO coming to the fore. The hard-hitting man was such a part of him. A woman would be incredibly lucky to have him love her. To be so fiercely protected by him. And he would be fiercely protective. She knew that instinctively.

      He turned back to her. “Coming?”

      His words jarred her from her thoughts and she fell into step beside him. She didn’t want to think about Alex and another woman, so she changed the subject to try to break any tension between them. “Do you come here often?”

      A moment crept by before he glanced at her from behind his sunglasses. “I usually make it for Christmas with the family. It’s good to get away from the city and the December heat.”

      She nodded. “Sounds wonderful.” Oh, how she remembered those long, hot summer Christmases. Her mother had always come home to spend the holidays with her and Nanna and they’d had a great time as a family. Then Nanna had died and the last few years she and Felicia had spent Christmas in LA, and nothing had been quite the same. She supposed that was all a part of growing older.

      “You’ll get to find out yourself this year, Olivia. Christmas is only a couple of months away.”

      His words startled her. “But I usually spend Christmas with my mother.”

      “We’ll invite her here then.” It was more an order than a suggestion.

      “But—”

      “It would look odd if you take off for the States and leave your new husband here during the festive season,” he pointed out.

      “You could always come to LA,” she said, not even sure she wanted him there, though she knew it would seem strange without him. Good Lord, and she’d only been married a day.

      “No.” His voice was firm, his chin stubborn. “My parents will be here and my two brothers. I won’t break family tradition.”

      Something in his tone roused her curiosity. This man was deeper than she’d first thought. And much more family-oriented than he let on. No wonder his father had been able to blackmail his son into getting married.

      Marriage to a man like this would have been a dream come true for her if it had been a real marriage. A permanent marriage. She sighed. It was just as well it wasn’t a real marriage because