seen when they’d driven in made up the breakfast nook. She found the coffeemaker and made a pot. So far, she hadn’t heard any screams coming from upstairs, but it was only a matter of time. She carried her mug out onto a roofed veranda with the same twisted russet columns and blue-and-white Spanish tile floor as the front entry porch. The filigreed metal lanterns, mosaic tables with curved iron legs, ornate wooden screen, and furniture upholstered in colorful Moroccan and Turkish fabrics made her feel as though she’d stepped into a casbah. Luxuriant vines, low palms, and stands of bamboo offered a sense of privacy.
She wrapped a cotton throw around her shoulders and settled in a comfortable lounge chair. The faint sound of brass wind-bells drifted through the chilly morning quiet. Bram obviously didn’t know his girlfriend well because the kind of woman who owned a house like this wasn’t going to accept having her boyfriend marry another woman, regardless of the circumstances. He was stupid to even imagine such a thing, which was odd because Bram was never-
She jolted upright. Coffee splashed on her hand. She sucked it off, then set her mug on a stack of newsmagazines and stomped inside. Within seconds, she’d climbed the steps and found the master bedroom where Bram lay facedown and sound asleep across the king-size bed. Alone.
Georgie had forgotten the most fundamental rule when dealing with Bram Shepard. Don’t believe anything he says.
She was ready to dump a cold bucket of water over his head when she thought better of it. As long as he was asleep, she didn’t have to deal with him. She went back downstairs and resettled on the veranda. At eight o’clock she called Trev, who, predictably, nearly blew out her eardrums.
“True love,” she retorted.
“I can’t believe he married you. I absolutely cannot believe you talked him into this.”
“We were drunk.”
“Believe me, he wasn’t that drunk. Bram always knows exactly what he’s doing. Where is he now?”
“Asleep upstairs in a magnificent house that, apparently, belongs to him.”
“He bought it two years ago. God knows how he came up with the down payment. It’s no secret that he hasn’t been exactly fiscally responsible.”
Which was why Bram had agreed to go along with this. The fifty thousand dollars a month she’d promised him.
But Trev didn’t know about the blood money. “He’s decided you’re the ticket he needs to raise his profile. This publicity could help him get some decent parts again. He pretends not to care that he’s basically made himself unemployable, but, believe me, he does.”
She moved restlessly from the veranda into the yard and gazed back at the house. A second set of twisted columns on top of the first held up the roof of the balcony that ran across much of the top story, and more vines climbed the russet stucco walls. “He can’t be destitute,” she said. “This place is amazing.”
“And mortgaged to the hilt. He’s done a lot of the work himself.”
“No way. He’s talked some lovesick woman into paying at least some of his bills.”
“Always a possibility.”
She needed to know more, but when she pressed, Trev shut her down. “You’re both my friends, and I’m not getting involved in this, although I definitely want a dinner invitation so I can watch the fireworks.”
She had a total of thirty-eight messages and texts on her cell, with her father accounting for ten of them. She could imagine how frantic he was, but she couldn’t bear talking to him yet. April had left with her family for their Tennessee farm two days ago. Georgie dialed her number, and as she heard her friend’s voice, some of her defenses fell away, and she bit her lip. “April, you have no way of knowing that just about everything I’m getting ready to tell you is a pack of lies, so that means you can pass on the information with a clear conscience, okay?”
“Oh, sweetie…” April sounded like a worried mother.
“Bram and I met accidentally in Las Vegas. The sparks flew, and we realized how much we’d always loved each other. We decided we’d wasted too much time being apart, so we got married. You don’t know for sure where we are, but you suspect we’re still holed up at the Bellagio enjoying an impromptu honeymoon, and isn’t everyone glad that Bram Shepard has finally reformed and the world has the happy ending they didn’t get when
“Of course I will, but, honey, I’m really worried about you. I’m going to fly back and-”
“No.” The concern in April’s voice made her want to burst into tears. “I’m fine. Really. Just shaken up. Love you.”
As she hung up, she made herself face reality. She was trapped in this house for the immediate future. The public would expect Bram and her to be glued together while they were newlyweds. Weeks would pass before she could go anywhere without him. She leaned back on the veranda chaise, shut her eyes, and tried to think. But there were no easy answers, and eventually she dozed off to the sound of the brass wind-bells.
When she awakened two hours later, she felt no more refreshed than when she’d fallen asleep, and she reluctantly headed upstairs. Latin music reverberated from the far end of the hallway. On her way to investigate, she passed Bram’s bedroom and spotted her suitcase sitting in the middle of the floor.
Yeah, right. Like that was going to happen.
If she’d had to guess what Bram Shepard’s bedroom looked like, she’d have imagined a disco ball and a stripper’s pole, but she’d have been wrong. The barrel vault ceiling and roughly plastered buckwheat-honey walls defined a space that was rich, elegant, and sensual without being sleazy. Rectangular leather panels set in a bronze metal grid made up the headboard of the king-size bed, and a comfortable lounging area occupied the turret she’d spotted from the front of the house.
As she went in to retrieve her suitcase, the music stopped. Moments later, Bram appeared at the bedroom door in a sweat-damp Lakers T-shirt and gray workout shorts. Just the sight of him looking so healthy made her temper erupt. “I met your
“I hope you were nice to her.”
He didn’t have the grace to apologize for his lie, but then he’d never told her he was sorry for anything he’d done. She moved in on him. “There’s no girlfriend, and there’s no apartment. This is your house, and I want you to stop lying to me.”
“Couldn’t help it. You were getting on my nerves.” He walked right past her toward the bathroom.
“I mean it, Bram! We’re in this together. No matter how much we hate it, we’re officially a team. I know you don’t understand what that means, but I do. A team only works if everybody cooperates.”
“Okay. You’ve gotten on my nerves again. Try to entertain yourself while I clean up.” He whipped off his damp T-shirt and disappeared into the bathroom. “Unless”-he stuck his head back out-“you want to hop in the shower with me and play some water games.” He deliberately smoldered her with his eyes. “After last night…I’m not saying you’re a nympho, but you sure are close.”
Oh, no. He wasn’t getting her that easily. She lifted her chin and smoldered him right back. “I’m afraid you have me confused with that Great Dane you used to own.”
He laughed and shut the bathroom door.
She grabbed her suitcase and carried it out into the hallway. Once again, the sense of being trapped made her heart race, and once again she fought to steady herself. She needed someplace to sleep tonight. She’d glimpsed a guesthouse in the back, but he almost certainly had some kind of household staff, so she couldn’t settle in that far away.
She explored the upstairs and discovered five bedrooms. Bram used one for storage, he’d converted another into a well-equipped exercise room, and a third was spacious but empty. Only the room next to the master had furniture, a double bed with an ornamental Moorish headboard and matching dresser. Light spilled in through a set of French doors that opened out onto the rear balcony. The cool lemony walls provided an appealing contrast to the dark wood and colorful Oriental rug.
Her assistant would bring over some clothes tomorrow, but until then, she had only one clean outfit left. She unpacked her suitcase and carried her toiletries into the adjoining glass block and cinnabar tile bathroom. She badly needed a shower, but when she returned to her room to undress, she found Bram stretched out on her bed in a
