Chapter Fifteen

Lily’s lids were heavy as she opened her eyes. For a moment she didn’t know where she was. And then she remembered: Travis’s loft. Not because of a one-night stand. Because they were married.

Married.

It was still too much for her to take in, even though she wore his ring, and he’d shown her the Italian paperwork last night when they were sitting in bed eating chow mein and kung pao chicken.

“We’re married,” he had said in the hallway when she’d asked him about a condom, as if that answered everything. And she’d been so stunned she hadn’t been able to do anything except give in to the moment.

Everything had been such a whirlwind the past week that she didn’t have a clue when she was supposed to get her period, so she didn’t know if she should be worried about getting pregnant or not. She wished they had thought things through a little better, instead of getting wrapped up in the heat of the moment.

A baby. What if she got pregnant, and that was when Travis decided he’d had his fill of her?

She noticed a note on the pillow. “Had to get into the office for an early meeting. Meet me at noon at the office and I’ll take you to lunch. Can’t wait. Love, Your Husband.”

Lily held the note to her chest as she looked out at the oak tree beyond the bedroom. She couldn’t believe how well Travis was taking their accidental marriage. Previously a confirmed bachelor, now he was slipping the word “love” and “husband” into his notes? She wished she had the nerve to ask him about the big change, but she was too afraid of what he might say.

What if he laughed in her face and said, Gotcha! like it was all some horrible practical joke?

Lily closed her eyes. She had to stop doing this to herself. Every day with Travis would be a slow death if she kept waiting for the axe to fall.

The clock on the bedside table said 10:00 a.m. How could it have gotten so late? After showering she realized she didn’t have any clean clothes left in her suitcase. Travis’s walk-in closet beckoned, and even though she told herself she was just looking for something she could wear until she picked up some clothes from her apartment, what she was really doing was snooping.

Inhaling his potent scent, she fingered his Prada suits and Ralph Lauren ties. She buried her face in his T-shirts and opened up all of his drawers to see what he had hidden.

“What was I expecting to find?” she said aloud, hating herself for being so suspicious and negative. “A dead body? A marriage certificate to Miss America?”

Thoroughly sick of her bad attitude, she grabbed a starched white shirt and pair of black slacks that looked like they might fit her. “Please don’t be too tight,” she prayed as she slipped them up over her hips.

They were snug, but when she examined herself in the full-length mirror, Lily was surprised by how good she looked in Travis’s clothes. Sexy, yet classy. She knotted the shirt at her waist and turned up the collar. The legs of the slacks were a couple of inches too long, but when she slipped on her sexy red high-heeled sandals you couldn’t really tell. She applied mascara, swiped on some lip gloss, and the look was complete.

She rushed out and hailed a cab, incredibly nervous about going to see Travis at his office. She’d never been in the large, glass-fronted building, but she’d driven past it many times.

She paid the driver and took a deep breath before pushing through the large front door. One look at the lithe blond secretary with enormous br**sts who sat at the reception desk and Lily was tempted to tuck her tail between her legs and run.

How had she thought she could ever compete with the women in Travis’s world?

“Hello?” the young girl said.

Lily hated how meek her voice sounded in reply. “Hi,” she said, having to swallow before continuing. “I’m here to see—”

Travis leaned down from the railing above and whistled. “Wow,” he said as he took in her improvised outfit. “Don’t you look sexy? I’ll be down in a second.”

Lily blushed at his compliment and walked on trembling legs toward the leather couch by the stairs. She smiled at the receptionist, but the girl had a glazed, stunned look on her face and didn’t smile back. Lily studied her hands on her lap, not knowing what else to do with herself.

Even though she was pleased that he thought she looked good, she wished he hadn’t called it out for everyone to hear. She could hear them thinking, Her? He thinks she looks good? Where have his standards gone?

Before she knew it Travis was down the stairs and pulled her into his arms. “Hi, gorgeous,” he said, before giving her a thoroughly distracting kiss.

Coming up for air, Lily said haltingly, “I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your clothes.”

His eyes hot, Travis said, “You can wear anything of mine that you want.” He leered down the front of her button-down shirt. “Especially if you don’t wear anything underneath it.”

Lily reddened again, but managed to tease him, saying, “I was wondering how long it would take you to notice.”

“The minute you walked in the door,” he said with a wink. He grabbed her hand and pulled her up the stairs. “I want to introduce you to everyone before we go.”

Oh God, it was going to be Italy all over again, an instant replay of the humiliation and hurt that she had gone through when Travis had been confronted with Luke and Janica during the festival. Lily wanted to run. This was never going to work. She couldn’t face the embarrassment that was bound to be on Travis’s face when he realized that playing a husband in a foreign paradise and actually being a husband in the real world—at the office, no less—were two very different things.

Lily looked down at her clothes, desperate for an excuse to postpone the inevitable fall. “Like this?

Maybe we could do it later?”

“I want them to meet the brightest new interior designer in town,” he said, ignoring her protests.

Lily numbly shook hands and smiled so much her lips felt like they were going to crack off. She cast a sidelong glance at Travis, watching for dangerous signs—a little stiffness, nervous laughter maybe—but he was as cool as always. Could that possibly be pride she was reading in his eyes?

“Now that everyone’s here, I think it’s time to make the announcement that Lily and I were recently married in Italy.”

He held her hand tightly, which was a good thing since she nearly fainted. Travis’s behavior couldn’t have surprised her more. Not only was he claiming her as his own, but his joy radiated through her. His employees cheered loudly, and another round of handshaking, hugs, and backslapping ensued. But through it all, Lily couldn’t help but think that the women were giving her the evil eye and the men were wondering what kind of magical sex tricks she had up her sleeve to land a guy like Travis.