Unyielding (Tortured Love Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

Are you comfortable waiting until morning? I mean for appearance’s sake, of course. The date on the papers. People will wonder why we transferred the business on our wedding day.”
    Oh. Duh. She should have thought of that. “Yes. That makes sense.”
    “Thank you. We need to get downstairs.” He held out his arm. “Also for appearance’s sake.”
    Only for that, nothing more. The kisses, the lustful looks, they were all for the cameras. Everything was back to business and putting on a show. She’d have to do the same.
    Lynda took his arm, wishing doing so didn’t send another spark coursing through her body. But who could blame her? He was gorgeous and charming. She hadn’t expected that, anymore than she’d expected to be aroused by his touch or his kiss.
    She’d have deal with her emotions later because right now, it was time to play the happy bride.
    ****
    Lynda’s head ached by the third toast. She didn’t know any of his groomsmen, and thought his best man, Jason Brenner, was an obnoxious loud mouth. If she heard silverware tapping crystal one more time she was going to scream. As arousing as kissing Merrick was, doing it time after time in a room full of people whistling and calling for them to keep going was more than she could handle.
    The memories of finding the email and all those videos were coming fast and furious now. And, for the first time in years, the memories of what her uncles had done to her at age fifteen plagued her as well.
    She tried to hold the past at bay, but the longer the reception dragged on, the more difficult it became. Merrick wasn’t Rey, and he wasn’t one of her uncles. The only cameras here were the ones capturing them smiling, eating, and kissing every time someone started tapping on a glass.
    She ate less and drank more than she should have, so by the time they were ushered over by André to cut the cake, Lynda had trouble walking on her three-inch heels. It would be the perfect ending to this shitty day if she tripped and fell in front of the TV cameras. André was already pissed off about everything. If she stumbled on top of all that, he was likely to burst a blood vessel.
    Merrick leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “Let’s not smash it in each other’s faces, okay?”
    She nodded. “André would kill us if we did.”
    The corners of his mouth turned up briefly, but she didn’t have to know him well to see he was still bothered by something. What the hell had she done wrong? His entire demeanor in her bedroom had changed as soon as she’d brought up transferring the company, but she didn’t understand why. That’s why he’d married her. To get the business.
    Some of the guests protested when they each daintily put a piece of the cake into the other’s mouth, and Jason actually called them pussies. Wonderful . That will make a nice sound bite for the morning news. She cut her gaze toward André, and was seriously worried the man was going to have a stroke.
    As soon as they were able to get away from the cake, and after they’d each had a small piece, Merrick called André over and asked him to have the band warm up. Lynda was grateful. She wanted to get the awkward first dance with her husband out of the way before the booze made her any clumsier.
    Of course he was an amazing dancer. She’d have expected nothing less. He moved her across the floor, his hand warm in hers. His opposite hand held her just close enough by the waist to guide her, and she was able to easily follow his lead. It felt as if they’d danced together for years.
    It also felt so normal to be dancing with this man that Lynda had to blink back tears again. Reality was finally beginning to set in. She was married . To a man she didn’t even know. All for the sake of a business her father and uncles had run into the ground.
    That was crazy enough to accept as her life now, but the bigger surprise was her arousal. She hadn’t thought it possible to feel that way again. How ironic