Julie
22nd November 2010, 18:58
This will be the thread for this year's Advent Calendar story, once it gets archived. Those wanting to leave longer reviews may do so here :)
You can find the prologue and the chapters on the NS Advent Calendar website (http://network.naughty-seduction.net/advent/). A new chapter will be posted each day from December 1st until December 25th!
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Married for Christmas
Author: Zannie
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Veers off from canon after Season 4
Category: Christmas romance
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Smallville or its characters. No infringement intended.
Summary: An unconventional plan for eluding Lionel’s trap.
Author’s note: This story is reminiscent of “Road Tripping” in a number of ways—although it’s not as young in mood and character as that story was. As you will quickly see, I had to go through a series of plot convolutions in order to get the narrative set-up I needed, so I’d suggest you not spend too much time assessing plausibility! This story is more about romance and character anyway. I had to resurrect Lionel, since I couldn’t think of a believable premise for this particular story that didn’t involve him. The prologue may seem rather intense with the Lionel stuff, but the story won’t be dark or angsty.
* * *
Prologue
Chloe had no idea how she’d gotten into this mess again.
She’d just been following a story—one she thought had nothing to do with either of the Luthors. The Kyring Foundation was a charitable organization in Metropolis that Chloe was assigned to profile for her web magazine. She never would have dug as deeply into their activities had she realized where the investigation would lead.
She remembered all too well how it felt to be Lionel Luthor’s prey.
“Are you threatening me?” he asked her now, in a silky, dangerous voice. “I’d be careful, Miss Sullivan. Very careful. Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?”
“Last time I was a teenager,” Chloe replied, stiffening her spine and trying not to convey the fear rising in her gut. “That was ten years ago. I’m an adult now. And I know what I’m doing.”
She didn’t. Not really. But she couldn’t think of anything else to do.
“Do you?” Lionel moved like a predator, circling her slowly, his hazel eyes as hard and cold as ice. “I don’t think you really do. Trying to blackmail me doesn’t show a great deal of foresight.”
Chloe wished she’d never come to his office. Wished she weren’t alone. Wished she’d never started down the path of this investigation that had led her to a certain truth about Lionel Luthor’s involvement with the Kyring Foundation, a truth that left her in danger. “I’m not blackmailing you. I’m protecting myself. Sure, you have the potential to hurt me. But I can hurt you back.”
“Is that what you think? You’re dealing from a position of fear, Miss Sullivan, and I’ll always be able to recognize that.”
Unfortunately, Chloe believed that was true.
“This time,” Lionel added, “You don’t even have my disappointment of a son to run to for help.”
The reference to Lex only served to heighten Chloe’s anxiety.
“Did you think I couldn’t predict this little parry of yours?” Lionel’s tone was patronizing, made her feel about five years old.
“How could you have predicted it?”
“You might be surprised by what I am capable of. Underestimating your adversary will always mean you put yourself in their power.” He approached closer now and leaned over slightly, so close his breath blew a strand of hair from her throat. “I could kill you right now.”
“Maybe,” she admitted, her voice steady despite the fact that she’d broken out in a cold sweat. “But I’ve taken precautions. And everything you want to keep hidden will come to light if I should happen to die.”
He chuckled. “How delightfully clichéd. I’m sure I could work around that. But you might also consider that there are other things I could do to you.”
Chloe was in way over her head, but she wasn’t about to admit it to Lionel. She’d hated him in high school, when he used her for his own purposes, and she hated him even more now. “Is that what you think?”
“That’s what I know. There are still a few people you love.”
She sucked in a hard breath, thinking of her father, of Lois.
Lionel smiled. “Florida isn’t that far away,” he murmured.
Gabe Sullivan was living in Florida now, and Chloe felt ill at the thought of her poor father paying the price for her foolishness. “If you even touch him, the entire world will know what I know about you.”
“Perhaps. But there’s more,” Lionel continued. “Jobs are tenuous things, you know. You could lose yours – just like your father did ten years ago.”
She swallowed, surprised by an entirely different pang in her heart over the way her father had been treated back in Smallville. “Nice try. I’ll be at my job only for the rest of the year. Just another month. If you use your connections to get me fired, it won’t be the end of the world.”
“That’s good. Because you’ve already lost it.”
Chloe gasped in genuine surprise. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Check your phone. There will be a message from your supervisor.”
Her hand shaking a little, she pulled out her phone and checked the screen. Saw her boss’s number on the caller ID. She’d already arranged to leave her job at the web magazine at the end of December in order to start a much more prestigious and lucrative job as associate editor at a Metropolis city magazine in January. But still . . . it was a blow.
And more so since it proved how far ahead of her Lionel actually was.
“Well, it will just give me a longer Christmas vacation,” she said gamely, doing her best to hide her reaction.
“That was a warning. Your new job—such a coup to earn such a position so young—is every bit as tenuous as the job you just lost.” He circled until he stood in front of her again. “Do you doubt me? Will you really risk it? You could be without any job at all. And, in this economy, that would be a shame.”
“Bastard,” she hissed, suddenly overcome by how infinitely trapped she’d somehow become.
She’d known things weren’t entirely under control, but she hadn’t thought they were as bad as this.
He tsked his tongue, “Now there’s no call for that kind of talk. I believe I’ve just proved that there’s no way you can touch me – without losing everything yourself. So the information you’ve found isn’t as helpful as you’d hoped.” He smiled, as dangerous as a viper. “You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll figure out what to do. I’ll be in touch.”
It was a dismissal. Chloe understood that much. And, since her throat had closed up with panic, she turned and marched out of the sleek office with as much composure as she could muster.
She hadn’t set out to investigate Lionel Luthor. She’d wanted nothing to do with the man. But she followed leads, wherever they took her.
And somehow they’d taken her here. Knowing something she should never know about him. Something he would make sure she never shared with anyone else.
It wasn’t a position in which any sane person would want to be.
When she made it out of the LuthorCorp building, she stood on the Metropolis sidewalk, pale with fear and breathing too fast as she tried to decide what to do.
She felt naked, vulnerable, in her black trench coat and black leather boots, standing by herself on a gray day in the middle of the city. But she wasn’t helpless. She was clever and creative and brave. She would think of something to dig herself out of this hole.
A solution would appear.
A black chauffeured car pulled up to the curb directly in front of her. Before she could process who it might be, the back door opened. A voice she recognized said, “Chloe, get in.”
She stared at the open door. She couldn’t see the speaker, but of course she knew who it was. And she wasn’t about to get involved with another Luthor.
“Chloe, he might change his mind about keeping you alive. Is that a risk you’re willing to take? Get in!”
Chloe thought quickly. He was right. Lionel might change his mind, if he thought for even a moment that the other holds he had over Chloe wouldn’t keep her from becoming a danger to him.
Chloe didn’t like Lex anymore. And she didn’t really trust him.
But he didn’t want to kill her.
So she got into the car.
“Are you going to try to convince me that you just happened to be passing by?” she asked, settling herself in the plush backseat of the car.
She hadn’t seen Lex in such close proximity for more than six years. He was in his mid-thirties now – more character etched on his face and his lean body not quite so boyishly slim. But the sleek bald head, the deep blue-gray eyes, and the sophisticated authority with which he held himself were just the same as she remembered.
And she still felt the same unwilling attraction for the man she’d always felt, although tempered now by distance and experience.
The corner of Lex’s mouth twitched up in a look of ironic amusement she also well remembered. “No. Obviously I was expecting you.”
“It’s a little creepy that you know every little thing your father does.”
“Maybe. But surveillance is necessary. Ignorance is the most serious disadvantage in warfare.”
Chloe knew he wasn’t exaggerating in comparing his relationship with his father to a war. For the last eight years, LexCorp and LuthorCorp had been waging a sustained battle for control of the Metropolis business scene, both corporations swallowing up smaller companies in their strategic and sometimes ruthless expansions. Local politicians were forced into making alliances with one or the other, and the feud had implications even on the national level.
She made a face but didn’t reply. Her panic earlier had eased in intensity—thanks to Lex’s bullet-proof car and his smooth competence at everything he did. If he wanted to keep her safe, he would.
She hadn’t relaxed, though. Getting involved with Lex was just as dangerous as getting involved with Lionel.
It was just a danger of a different variety.
“I’ll admit I was surprised when I learned that you’d embroiled yourself with my father again. I thought you would have learned better last time.” He idly twisted a gold ring on his right hand.
The gesture struck Chloe suddenly as being out of character. Lex had been young in Smallville, and not fully in control of his emotions or responses. But he wasn’t young anymore. And he was always in control. She was surprised that he’d do something as revealing as fidget with the ring.
Since, however, there were more important issues at stake here, she moved the thought to the back of her mind and replied, “I didn’t pursue this intentionally. Sometimes things just . . . happen. One thing led to the next and suddenly I was . . .” She exhaled thickly and concluded, “Trapped.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “And, once you found yourself trapped, you tried to handle it on your own rather than seeking help?”
“Help? From whom exactly? You think I should really trust the police? In Metropolis?”
Lionel had his fingers everywhere in the city. Obviously, not every law-enforcement professional was corrupt, but you just couldn’t assume they were all above reproach.
“I wasn’t referring to the police,” Lex murmured, his eyes never leaving her face.
A few years ago, Chloe would have sought help from the one person she’d always trusted. The person she knew was capable of protecting her. But she and Clark weren’t really friends anymore. He’d still help her. She knew that. He’d keep her alive. But her physical safety wasn’t the only thing she was worried about. “Exactly who do you think I should have turned to for help who would be powerful enough to stand against your father?”
Lex didn’t reply with words. He just kept gazing at her, his eyes steady and his mouth relaxed.
Chloe sucked in a breath. “What? You think I should have turned to you?”
“I’m capable of helping you. And I’m willing.”
She almost choked on her outrage. “Why the hell should that matter? You might be the lesser of two evils, Lex, but that still doesn’t leave me in very good hands.”
The words were harsher than she’d expected, harsher than she’d intended. And she saw a flicker of reaction on Lex’s face before he masked it.
Ridiculously, Chloe felt guilty for wounding him. She knew he wasn’t evil. She knew he wasn’t really like his father, even though for the last several years he seemed to have shaped his persona that way.
“You trusted me once,” Lex said mildly.
“That was years ago,” she bit out. “I don’t even know you anymore.”
Lex glanced away from her, staring out the window for a long moment. “You know that’s not true,” he said at last.
It wasn’t. She did know him. She’d always known him. And all the years and what had come between them back then hadn’t really change that.
“I kept you safe from my father then. I can do it now.” Lex’s face was utterly composed again, and his matter-of-fact voice seemed to echo in her memory. “I’m the only choice you’ve got.”
“It’s not just a matter of keeping me safe.”
“I know that. My people have already moved your father into a safe house in Florida.”
“What?” Chloe swallowed over the revealing word she kept repeating, wishing she could mask her emotions like the Luthors always did. But she just wasn’t built that way.
“All my father has done so far was get you fired from a job you were leaving in a month anyway. Do you really think that’s all he will do to try to keep you in line? Do you understand the potential you have to damage him? He’s not going to take it easy on you. I will certainly have my security personnel pull back from protecting your father, but I don’t think you really want me to do so.”
She didn’t. She would do anything to keep her father safe. But it just pulled her deeper into involvement—dependence—on Lex. And that wasn’t something she wanted. Not anymore.
“Thank you,” she managed to say. “Lois?”
“We tried. She refused. But she said she had another way to keep herself safe.”
Chloe knew what that was. Knew Lois would be safe too. Clearing her throat, she said, “But my dad can’t stay in the safe house forever.”
“Of course not. In January, the Kyring project will be complete, right? You will no longer be a threat to him.”
Chloe thought about this. She’d been so overwhelmed she hadn’t fully thought through the future. “Maybe. But you don’t think he’d try to . . . to . . .”
“To hurt you out of vengeance even after the threat is over? Only if you hurt him first. Did you want to reveal what you know about him just out of spite?”
“No. No!” She swallowed hard. “I just want him to leave me alone.”
“All right. Then we’ll keep you and your father safe until January. You won’t damage my father, so he won’t have any reason to damage you.”
She stared at Lex. Saw the confidence in his eyes. And she realized that he knew his father better than anyone on earth. If he was sure of this, then she could be sure of it too. Feeling a little better, she asked, “But my job? My new one. If he knows you’re keeping me safe, he’ll try to take that from me as well.”
Lex nodded. “Yes. He will.”
Chloe made a face, looking away, fighting to control her emotions. It was heart-breaking – the idea of losing the job she’d worked so hard to earn. But if that was the price she had to pay for her stubbornness and careless ambition, then she would do it without complaint.
“I have an idea about that too,” Lex said mildly.
She turned back to him, hope flaring up at his words. It struck her that there was a certain kind of illogic in believing Lex now—after all the distance that had grown between them—but she did.
“My father doesn’t care about morality. He doesn’t care about money for its own sake. He doesn’t care about family ties, loyalty, or human affection.” He said the words blandly, as if they meant nothing to him. “But I have learned over the years that there are certain things he does care about.”
Chloe thought about that. “Power.”
“Yes,” Lex agreed. “That’s his primary motivator. And part of the power he’s built up for himself is based on his reputation.”
“Reputation,” Chloe repeated, trying to make her mind work enough to follow the thought through to its logical conclusion. “Maybe.”
“He doesn’t seek the reputation of a good man. But he also can’t move forward with the reputation of a monster. Or a reputation for disloyalty.”
Chloe frowned, “How does that help me?”
“If you lose your new job right now and he gets associated with that fact, it won’t hurt him in any real sense.”
“Obviously, but—“
“But if you were linked to him more closely, taking your job away would significantly damage his reputation.”
Chloe felt like she was trying to watch a movie in fast-forward. “I don’t understand. How am I linked to him?”
“You aren’t right now. But, if you were, then he couldn’t maneuver you out of a job without damaging his reputation more than he’d be willing to allow.”
She pushed her hair back behind her ears with a huff of frustration. “Linked to him how?”
Lex glanced away, almost idly. “If you were his daughter-in-law, for instance.”
It took Chloe a full thirty seconds to process this. When she finally did, shock, anger, and disbelief washed over her in a hot wave. “What? What? Marry you?”
He met her eyes evenly. “Obviously, it’s rather unconventional. But it’s the only thing I can think of that would keep him from getting you fired.”
“But what . . . How . . .?”
“If you were his daughter-in-law, there’s no way my father would risk the damage to his reputation by threatening your job. I guarantee it.”
Chloe stared at him. She believed him. While it wasn’t something that would ever have crossed her mind, she knew he was speaking the truth.
But that didn’t mean it was a good idea.
“You think my job is so important to me that I’d actually marry you? Really, Lex!”
“You’re making the marriage more serious than it has to be. We would just need to be married for a month. Then we could get divorced, and you could go on with your life and your job. Remember, in January, the Kyring project will be complete—the most serious stakes for my father will be over—so you’ll no longer be in danger.”
“And he wouldn’t –“ She shook her head hard, trying to think. “He won’t do something afterwards, just out of spite for the way we tricked him?”
“How do you think his reputation would fare if it became known that he’d gotten the woman fired who just divorced his son? You think he’d let himself look so petty? I’ve thought this through, Chloe. It can work. I can keep you safe and you can keep your job. If you’re willing to go through with it.”
No one could solve puzzles and follow through on nuanced possibilities like Lex could. If he’d come to the conclusion that this was the only way to accomplish everything they needed accomplished, then it was.
But still . . .
“You think our marrying is really a good idea?” she asked, twisting her hands in her lap. “After . . . after what happened between us back then?”
Back then was back in Smallville. Ten years ago.
Lex gave a half-shrug. “That was a long time ago. And obviously this would be a marriage of convenience. I wouldn’t want or expect marital favors.”
Ridiculously, the neutral way he’d spoken the words made Chloe feel a little insulted. He’d been attracted to her once. And she was better-looking now than she’d been in high school.
At least, most people thought she was.
“Well, obviously,” she said. “But it still seems kind of weird.”
“It would be a business arrangement – one that happens to be convenient for both of us.”
“Why is it convenient for you?” she asked, the question coming to her suddenly – although it should have occurred to her several minutes ago. “Why are you helping me at all? What’s in this for you?”
He looked at her steadily, absolutely nothing revealed in his handsome features and slate blue eyes.
“Oh,” she said, the truth hitting her with a ridiculous flicker of disappointment. She should have known he wasn’t in this just to help her. “Of course. Quite a victory for you, getting ahead of your father like this. Taking his power away when it will matter to him. You want to use me to win this little battle with your father.”
He inclined his head. “So we use each other. For a month. After Christmas, we can go back to our own lives.”
However crazy the plan was, Chloe was taking it seriously. Despite what she said, she did trust Lex. Not to be a good man, or a safe one, or a soft one.
But to do what he said he would do.
“So I have to spend Christmas with you?” she asked, her tone different, lighter.
As soon as she said the words, she knew she’d made up her mind.
Lex’s mouth quirked up briefly. “Unpleasant, yes. But necessary.”
“I won’t spend another month in a safe house. You can’t just hide me away and throw away the key.”
“I didn’t think you’d be willing to do that, although obviously that’s the surest way of protecting you.”
Chloe shrugged. “Maybe. But I can’t live that way again. Especially over the holidays. Can you protect me still?”
“Of course.”
Chloe released a gusty sigh as she realized a smaller but inevitable consequence of this plan. “I was going out of town this Christmas – my first real vacation in years.”
“Where were you going?”
“Quebec with some friends.”
“So we’ll go. We can call it a honeymoon.”
Chloe’s lips parted. “Excuse me?”
He actually chuckled, a warm, rich sound that sent shudders of memory and feeling down her spine. “We covered that, remember? It’s a marriage of convenience. But the world will expect for us to go on a honeymoon. If you want to go to Quebec, we can.”
“If I’m going on a honeymoon, maybe I want to go somewhere better – like Fiji or something.” Her words were teasing, and she had no idea how she felt comfortable enough in this car, in this situation, to tease Lex.
But she did.
His lips quivered slightly, the only sign of a response. “So we’ll go to Fiji too. I can work from anywhere in the world, and we have a whole month. We can go wherever you want.”
Suddenly, Chloe realized that there would be certain advantages to being married to Lex Luthor, advantages she hadn’t considered before. He was a billionaire. And she could go places, experience things, she never would have otherwise.
It would just be a month. And then she would be free. Safe. And with her new job.
She studied his face carefully – the sculpted features, the faint lines next to his eyes and beside his mouth, the depth and steadiness of his beautiful eyes. The lips—softer now than they’d been when she first entered the car. Softer than she’d seen them for years, since Smallville.
And that brought back a memory – slamming into her so powerfully, so viscerally, it was like she was experiencing it again.
* * *
She was seventeen years old that summer, and Lex was protecting her from his father. She’d been clever and gutsy, but she’d also been innocent. And Lex had been her lifeline, her only link to the world.
He’d come to visit her in the safe house, probably more than he should have. At first, their relationship had been awkward. He’d been really sick—after having been poisoned and having his skin torn up by the glass table he’d fallen into. She’d tried her best to take care of him when he came by, and eventually he started to let her.
She’d warmed to him more quickly than she’d expected, maybe because he’d seemed so uncharacteristically helpless. Then he’d warmed up to her too. He was a guarded man, even then, and it was hard for him to lower his walls. But he had – with her. Eventually they’d become friends.
Closer friends as the summer went on.
One evening they were sitting on her little couch. He’d brought her a bar of the most delicious Swiss chocolate, but he’d been in a rare, teasing mood and was holding it away from her as she tried to claim it.
Chloe had been overwhelmed with warmth and giddiness. She knew they’d gotten closer, but their interaction had always been more brother-sisterly than romantic.
He was older than her—untouchable in so many ways—and he could have any woman he wanted.
But there seemed to be a new light in his eyes that evening. She couldn’t help but respond to it, even as she playfully denounced him for his cruelty.
She’d reached for the chocolate bar, grabbing his chest with one hand as the other stretched out toward where he was extending the candy.
His arm was longer than hers, and she couldn’t reach it.
His body was warm and lean and strong, and she was basically draped on top of him. Thrills of feeling and excitement spiraled through her, but she wasn’t overwhelmed enough to give up the challenge.
She tickled him, just on the side of his ribs.
He jerked, his arm bending enough for her to snatch the chocolate bar. But her victory was only short-lived. Before she could even draw a full breath, he had her on her back on the couch, and he was tickling her ruthlessly. She was squealing and laughing helplessly. The chocolate fell forgotten to the floor.
And all she could see was Lex’s compelling face, laughing, hovering above hers. His warm, deep eyes.
Something changed before either of them realized it, and his hands stilled on her body. Then his face sobered, his expression deepened and softened. And his face lowered toward hers.
When their lips met, sensations Chloe had never imagined swelled up inside her. She’d responded immediately, her mouth clinging to his, her arms twining eagerly around his neck.
The first kiss hadn’t lasted long, and they’d pulled back to stare at each other, panting and disoriented.
Then Chloe—acting on an impulse she couldn’t deny—had pulled his head down toward hers again, claiming his mouth with an entitlement that surprised her. Lex had responded. His mouth had opened to hers. He’d groaned softly against her lips, the sound sending vibrations through her body.
She was only seventeen. And he’d completely swept her off her feet.
It was a long time before he left that evening.
* * *
Even now, ten years later, that first kiss was the sweetest thing she’d ever experienced.
The memory of it hit her so hard she had to close her eyes in the back of Lex’s car, aching from the pure power of that kiss and from all of the complexities that had followed it.
When she opened her eyes, she looked at Lex, and she saw something matching in his eyes, even though his expression was as composed as ever.
If all she had known of Lex was his ambition, his control, his power, his sophistication, his intensity, his shattering intelligence, then she would have refused the unconventional marriage proposal.
But she knew more about him. The man who had kissed her so many years ago had been real, warm, tender. He’d felt things deeply, and he’d cared about her.
It hadn’t worked out – for so many reasons. He’d hurt her in so many ways. And he was so much more than that man now.
But he wasn’t a stranger. And she could trust him to keep his word.
She swallowed hard. Then she said with an amused lilt of her voice, “So I don’t even get a ring or anything?”
With a huff of laughter, he thought for a minute. Then pulled from his right hand the ring he’d been fidgeting with before. Handing it to her, he said with casual ease, “Here. You can wear that as an engagement ring.”
Surprised, Chloe stared down at the ring speechlessly. The ring was like nothing she’d ever seen. It was a man’s ring, but not as big and bulky as a class ring. It made of heavy, aged gold, without any gems or extra ornamentation. The octagon-shaped front was wider than the band and flat with intricate symbols engraved on it. “What is it?” she breathed.
“It’s a Renaissance merchant ring from the sixteenth-century,” Lex explained, nothing revealed in his voice but idle interest. “They were used like signet rings, to seal documents and verify identity. But they were used by merchants who didn’t have a family lineage. They created their own crest and put it on their merchant rings.”
Chloe was strangely affected by the beauty and history of the ring – and also by Lex’s diffident explanation.
She slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. It was too big, of course, but not so big that she couldn’t keep it on.
Breaking the odd mood—since there was no legitimate reason for her to feel such intimate tension—she said with a grin, “It doesn’t fit. How appropriate.”
Lex gave her an amused half-smile. “You’ll just have to wear it for a month.”
Chloe was going to wear Lex’s ring for the month of December. However absurd it all seemed, she was apparently going to do this.
Lex must have been able to see the decision on her face. His mouth twitched again. “What do you say, Chloe Sullivan? Do you want to marry me for Christmas?”
Despite everything—despite the danger she was in from Lionel and the high stakes to what they were doing—she couldn’t help but smile back.
And she said, “I do.”
Chapter One
December 1
Chloe and Lex got married at four o’clock the next afternoon in front of a justice of the peace.
Lex must have expedited the marriage license because everything was ready when they arrived at the courthouse. All Chloe had to do was sign the certificate and say “I do.”
The announcement of their marriage had made the morning papers. It had to be made public immediately, or Lionel might start to plot a response. Chloe’s phone had been ringing off the hook all morning, every one of her friends, acquaintances, and rivals calling her up to see what was going on.
After explaining a hundred times that a whirlwind romance with Lex had preceded this and that, yes, she knew it was really fast, she finally turned off her phone.
She had no idea what to wear to wed Lex Luthor in a fake marriage. She wasn’t about to wear white, and she didn’t have time to buy something new anyway. So she just wore her best suit, one she’d only worn once to the wedding of a college friend. It was made of a smoky lilac silk, with a knee-length pencil skirt and fitted jacket. She wore it with her best heels and pinned her hair up into a French twist.
When Lex’s security, who had camped out in her apartment since yesterday, escorted her down to Lex’s waiting limo, her stomach was twisting with nerves. She hadn’t slept at all that night, with questions and worries and the realization that this idea was absolutely insane crowding her mind without relief.
But in the morning she couldn’t think of any better plan, so she didn’t know what to do but go through with this one.
Lex wasn’t in the limo. It drove her to the courthouse, where she entered by a back door.
She saw Lex for the first time when she was led into a private room in the building. He was standing with his back to the door, reading something in a file folder.
His lean figure and broad shoulders in the beautifully tailored gray suit were so compelling that Chloe’s belly did a strange little flop.
Then he turned around, and they stared at each other.
After a moment, Chloe was able to process more than his steady blue eyes. And soon she realized that he’d paired his charcoal-colored suit with a lilac silk tie that almost matched her suit.
She blinked. And Lex, registering her outfit, had a similar expression of surprise.
It was like they’d dressed to match each other.
For no good reason, Chloe’s cheeks flushed at the idea. But she pushed the self-consciousness out of her mind. It didn’t matter. In fact, since photographers would be grouped outside to take pictures of them afterwards, their choice of clothes would probably end up helping, making it look like they were really a couple.
But it embarrassed her for some reason.
Trying to hide her reaction, she asked lightly, “You ready for this?”
“Of course. You?”
“Let’s get it over with.” She bit her lip and looked around. No one else was supposed to know this was fake, so she’d have to be careful.
He gave a little nod and reached out for her hand. His was warm, and hers was cold.
Then they got married in a ceremony that lasted about five minutes.
The next couple of hours passed in a dazed blur. They exited by the front doors of the courthouse, met by swarms of reporters who snapped pictures and tried to ask them intrusive questions as Lex’s security escorted them to the waiting limo.
Then they went to the Metropolis Grand Hotel, where they had an elegant reception—small but incredibly expensive—attended primarily by the closest of Lex’s business and political allies. She understood why he’d arranged the reception. They had to make it look like this marriage was real, or it wouldn’t be an obstacle to Lionel.
But Chloe didn’t know anyone and—although she tried to play the role of besotted bride—she soon got tired of making small talk and smiling fatuously up at Lex, who was in his element as he schmoozed with cool polish. She also got tired of being called “Mrs. Luthor.”
Eventually, they were able to go up to their suite on the top floor of the hotel.
As soon as she entered the main room, she was greeted to the sight of double doors leading into a bedroom with a huge, luxurious bed.
Chloe gulped.
“It’s not the honeymoon suite,” Lex said. He was standing beside her, and his expression was unreadable. “It’s the presidential suite. There are two bedrooms.”
Chloe flushed hotly and release a thick breath. “Of course.” Nervously, she twisted the merchant ring on her left hand. It stayed on her finger better now, since it was paired with the antique wedding band Lex had placed on her finger at the marriage ceremony earlier.
Lex was wearing one too – the matching ring she’d put on his left hand.
“Won’t it look strange tomorrow morning, when the staff cleans up the suite and sees both beds were slept in?”
Lex gave a half-shrug. “It won’t be strange. It’s always been my habit.”
“What?”
“I have always gotten a two-room suite—with all of my previous wives and girlfriends. Hotels in Metropolis and many around the world are familiar with my habit.”
Chloe had no idea how to respond to that piece of information. So, trying not to feel so self-conscious, she looked around the gorgeous suite, decorated in elegant shades of blue and silver. “I know we just came from the reception,” she said, “But I was too nervous there to eat much. So I’m kind of hungry.”
“Of course.” Lex nodded toward the intimate dining table near the large expanse of windows. On the table were several silver trays, and next to it a champagne bucket on a stand.
Chloe walked over to check out the goodies, lifting the covers to see lobster canapés, a cheese tray, smoked salmon and an assortment of fruit. “What do you mean ‘of course’?” she demanded, her mouth starting to water as she saw the food. “Are you implying I eat a lot?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he murmured, coming over to stand beside her and picking up one of the lobster canapés. After taking a bite, he said, “This is part of the hotel’s honeymoon treatment.”
Naturally. “Should we open the champagne?”
Lex glanced over at the graceful silver bucket. “I suppose. Or they’ll wonder why we didn’t.” He picked up the bottle and skillfully uncorked it with a delicious pop. He poured her a glass and handed it to her. Then poured himself a glass too.
Chloe loaded up a plate as she sipped the best champagne she’d ever had in her life. Maybe marrying Lex for a month wouldn’t be so bad.
“Well,” Lex said, balancing his plate in one hand and his champagne in the other, “I’m going to get some work done.”
She blinked at him. “You’re going to work? Now?”
Lex drew his brows together. “Why not?”
“It’s your wedding night!” She blushed a little when he lifted his eyebrows, but she continued gamely, “I wasn’t suggesting we do something else. I just meant won’t people think it’s strange if you email and call them on your wedding night.”
“Ah,” Lex murmured, as if enlightened, “There are other things I can do. And I’ve already lost the whole day with the preparations and the wedding.”
Chloe managed to bite back a snippy response about how she was sorry their marriage had gotten in the way of his work schedule. It might be official, but they weren’t really married. Not in the way that genuinely mattered.
“All right. Have fun. I’ll just take it easy – take a bath or whatever.”
“Let me know if you need anything. We’ll need to get up early. Our flight takes off at seven.”
“What?” Chloe demanded. “I thought it was a private plane. Why do we have to leave so early?”
Lex looked a little impatient. “It is a private jet. But I’ve had to go through a series of logistical convolutions to keep our location secret so my father can’t find you. I assume your desire to sleep in isn’t stronger than your desire to stay alive.”
She made a face at him – not because of what he said but because of the patronizing way in which he said it. But she just said, “Fine. Should I take this room?” She gestured toward the second bedroom – not the nicest one with the enormous bed.
“Take the other one.” Before she could object, Lex added, “It has the whirlpool tub.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Glancing over at the glass doors that led outside, she decided she might go and sit out on the large balcony. It was a fairly mild night for the first of December and the sun would be setting after not too much longer.
But before she could open the balcony door, she felt a strong hand on her arm. “What are you doing?” Lex asked, his voice slightly rough.
She stared at him in shock. “I was just going to sit outside for a while.”
“No, you’re not. I guarantee there are photographers staked out in nearby buildings with telephoto camera lenses, trying to get a picture of us on our wedding night. Not to mention the potential for my father having hired a sniper.”
Chloe hadn’t even thought of either thing, which struck her as incredibly stupid. So, both embarrassed and annoyed by Lex’s domineering tone, she jerked her arm away from his tight grip. “You don’t have to be so rude about it. We’re stuck together for a month, so we might as well try to get along.”
He pressed his lips together, obviously displeased with her. “And how would you suggest I get along better?”
“You could phrase things as questions rather than commands.”
He let out a breath. “Fine. Chloe, would it be too much trouble for you to not go out on the balcony right now and make yourself a target for tabloid photographers and snipers?” His tone was chilly and smug.
Despite her annoyance with his arrogance, she had to fight a snort of amusement at his ironic question. Trying to keep her lips from quivering, she said, “Fine. I won’t go out. Thanks for asking.”
His mouth twitched, almost imperceptibly. “No problem.”
Chloe took another sip of champagne and stared out the windows. It seemed so impossible to believe that her life was actually in danger, that she was actually married to Lex Luthor.
When she turned back, she saw that Lex was still standing near her, gazing at her face with an expression she didn’t quite understand. He looked handsome and professional in his suit and tie, but there was something about him that felt more accessible, less untouchable.
“Thank you,” she said spontaneously. “Seriously, Lex. I know you’re going to great lengths to keep me safe. Thank you.”
He glanced away. “It’s nothing. You know I have my own reasons for doing so.”
“I know that. I’m not saying there’s nothing in it for you. But you’re helping me and I appreciate it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said in what was almost a mumble. Then he took his plate and glass of champagne and went into the other room.
She stared in the direction in which he’d disappeared for a moment. Some wedding night she was having. Left alone while her husband went to work.
But she wasn’t a fool. She knew they weren’t close anymore. They weren’t even friends. They were partners in this, but that was all.
She stared down at her left hand, the aged merchant ring and the delicately engraved wedding band.
It wasn’t even seven in the evening yet. And she had most of a bottle of champagne she could drink – if she decided she wanted it. And she had canapés, cheese, fruit, and chocolate-dipped strawberries.
And she had a big jetted tub with what was likely to be an expensive assortment of scented bubbles or bath salts.
Tomorrow morning she was flying to Quebec. And from there she could go anywhere in the world.
Being married to Lex wasn’t really so bad.
Of course, they’d only been married one day.
Chapter Two
December 2
“Can I take your bag, Mrs. Luthor?”
Chloe had a weird moment of surrealism as the courteous hotel porter waited for her to hand him her leather satchel. Eventually, because she knew he was speaking to her—however bizarre it was to be called “Mrs. Luthor”—she handed him the bag.
She’d packed yesterday morning, before the wedding. While she was sure Lex would have been happy to outfit her with an entire new wardrobe—one suitable for honeymooning with a man as privileged as Lex Luthor—Chloe wasn’t at all comfortable with that. So she’d sorted through her own clothes, choosing anything that she thought might be remotely appropriate for the month-long trip. She ended up with two large suitcases and a couple of smaller bags. But since they would be taking a private jet, the amount of her luggage didn’t matter.
Lex hadn’t let her bring her laptop or cell phone, however, because of the potential for them to be traced through unsecured connections. While she understood the reasoning, she felt oddly naked without them.
“Ready, honey?” Lex asked, coming over to stand beside her and placing a warm hand on the small of her back. He looked sleek and urban in black trousers and a dress shirt in a beautiful shade of dark, slate blue.
Chloe blinked at him, her lips parting in surprise until she realized that the “honey” was for the benefit of the hotel staff, who could very likely talk to reporters later today about what they’d observed of the newly married Luthors.
“Yes, dear,” she said, with only a hint of irony in her tone.
Lex walked with her out of the suite and into the private elevator, and it was obvious to Chloe that he was hiding a smile.
There were more photographers as they left the hotel, but Chloe knew Lex had staged the departure on purpose. This was the last time they’d be seen on the radar as a married couple, and it was important that the public bought the marriage as genuine.
Lionel, of course, wouldn’t be deceived, but that hardly mattered.
Because she knew the photographers would be there, Chloe had gotten up early to shower and dress carefully. She wore a pair of black slacks that flattered her butt, just in case a camera caught her from an unattractive angle. And she’d paired them with her favorite green velvet jacket and a pair of chunky heeled loafers.
She thought she looked as good as she could for being before seven in the morning.
When she got in the back of the car, she sighed in pleasure as she was greeted to a large cup of hot coffee.
Lex was talking on the phone for most of the ride to the airport—several different conversations she couldn’t really follow—so she sipped her coffee and tried not to fall asleep.
Travel with Lex was remarkably easy and convenient. They didn’t have to wait in any lines. They were able to immediately board the private jet. And a pleasant man immediately refilled her coffee cup.
The interior of the jet was roomy and beautifully decorated. She’d taken the first cushy leather seat she’d come to, but as she looked around, she saw on the table across from her a pretty purple laptop with a silver bow on top of it.
Lex was talking to the pilot, so she looked around for some clue about its ownership, almost holding her breath as she tried not to jump to unfounded conclusions. After a minute, however, when no sign came down from heaven about whom the laptop belonged to, she got up and sat in the seat in front of it.
She checked under the bow, but there was no card or identifying tag. And it was the most beautiful laptop she’d ever seen – leaving her own moderately priced one in the dust.
Surely someone wouldn’t have left such a pretty laptop on the plane for Lex.
Which meant . . .
“It’s yours,” Lex said, walking toward her from the cockpit. He wasn’t smiling, so it was hard to tell how he was feeling. “I know you didn’t want to leave yours at home. This one has all of the necessary security features installed, so you won’t be traced when you go online.”
Chloe stared down at the laptop, almost caressing the smooth top. “Oh,” she breathed, rather stupidly. “Thank you.”
“Consider it a wedding present.” Lex sat down in the seat across the table from her and reached into his pocket to pull out a sleek smart phone in the same pretty purple shade. “This is for you too. You can talk to your dad securely, whenever you want. ”
She reached out for it, delighted and surprised and a little overwhelmed. “Thank you,” she said again, this time her voice was a little hoarse. “They’re beautiful. You didn’t have to—“
Lex shrugged off her thanks. “I didn’t let you bring yours. So it was my job to replace them. Excuse me.” He took out his own phone then and made another call, effectively ending the conversation.
Chloe felt a little rebuffed at the abrupt end of their talk, but she gave herself a firm lecture as she admired her beautiful gifts. Lex was a busy man with a lot to do. He’d gone way out of his way to help her and accommodate her needs. And he’d given her the incredible laptop and smart phone. He had absolutely no reason to coddle her or entertain her on top of that.
The jet was rolling onto the runway when Lex hung up on his call. “’You should make yourself comfortable,” Lex said, “It’s going to be a long flight.”
“Just to Quebec?”
“We’re having to take a roundabout route, in order to prevent anyone from tracking us.”
“I thought you had to submit a flight plan for any flight you take.”
“You do,” he said. He arched an eyebrow at her. “Keeping our location a secret is taking some doing.”
She felt a little shiver of fear at the thought that she was more vulnerable than she believed herself to be.
“Don’t worry about it,” Lex said. “I’m good at this. We’ll be fine.”
She smiled at him, and he smiled back. And, after a moment, Chloe felt strangely self-conscious so she looked out of the window as the plane took off.
When they’d reached a cruising altitude, Lex took off his seatbelt and moved over to a work station on the opposite side of the plane. “Do you want any breakfast?” he asked, turning around to look at her. “They can make you an omelet or a Belgian waffle or whatever you want.”
Chloe hadn’t realized it until now, but she was ravenous. “Thanks. Maybe I will.”
Lex reached over to press a buzzer. “Which do you want?”
She frowned at him. “You mean I have to choose just one?”
Lex laughed—a sound that made her stomach do a familiar flop—and when a server came out from the back, he requested two omelets, his with whole wheat toast and hers with a waffle.
Lex worked at his fancy computer station while he ate. But Chloe focused on the delicious food. Then she played with her new laptop for a while, checking out all its features. Then she moved over to the built-in sofa in the back of the plane and watched a movie on the large flat-screen. Then she picked out a recent bestseller from the collection of books she found in a closet. She read for a while. Then ate a light lunch of chicken salad on mixed greens. Then she tried to read some more.
But the food, the peaceful setting, and the comfort of the plush sofa combined to lull her into sleep.
When she woke up, she was curled up on her side, hugging a chenille cushion to her chest.
She blinked a few times, trying to orient herself. Her eyes instinctively landed on Lex at his workstation across the room. He’d been watching her. Even in her groggy state, she was somehow sure of it.
But when she could focus on details, his eyes were directed on the monitor in front of him.
A little embarrassed that he’d caught her sleeping that way, Chloe stretched out from her fetal position. But she was too sleepy and comfortable to actually sit up.
“Was I snoring?” she asked, making her voice light although the idea was not a pleasant one.
“No.” He turned away from his monitor and arched his eyebrows at her. “Nice nap?”
He wasn’t even smiling, but it seemed like he might be laughing at her. So she scowled in his direction. “You’re the one who made me get up at the crack of dawn.”
“Quite true.”
And that response left her no remaining objections. So, to change the subject, she asked, “Where are we staying in Quebec?”
“Where do you think?”
“Château Frontenac?” Her heart skipped a little in excitement.
He nodded. “It’s actually not the most luxurious of hotels we could have chosen. But I figured that would be your first choice.”
She started to hug herself in excitement before she realized that it might make her look a little silly. Then, thinking it through, she said, “Is it safe? I thought we were supposed to keep a low profile.”
“We are. Obviously, we won’t be registered under our real names. But we could be going anywhere in the world. It’s going to take my father at least several days to figure out where we are. By that time, we’ll be in a different city.”
She had to assume Lex knew what he was doing, so she didn’t argue. She adjusted on the sofa, propping her head up a little higher on a second pillow. “The last time you were protecting me from your father, you had to hide me away in a little safe house.”
She immediately wished she hadn’t said that, since it evoked certain memories that were better forgotten.
Nothing was revealed on Lex’s face. “I had fewer resources then. That was the only way I knew to keep you safe. Things are different now.”
They were different now. Lex had many more resources. He was much more powerful than he’d been ten years ago.
And there was no longer the potential for the closeness that had developed between them back then.
Chloe changed the subject again. “Did you check on the Metropolis news? Are they all talking about our wedding?”
“Yes. It’s in all the papers. Complete with pictures.”
“No one thinks it’s strange?”
“Why would they? Given my previous habits, a whirlwind courtship and marriage is only to be expected.”
This was undoubtedly true. But she was surprised that Lex would admit it so openly, as if his past marriages and love affairs hadn’t really affected him. “Did no one find it strange that I was blonde?”
Lex arched an eyebrow at her.
“What?” she demanded, “All your previous wives and girlfriends and one-night-stands have been brunette. It’s common knowledge.”
“If anyone has found it odd, no one has mentioned it. They did rehearse my past romantic failures, of course.” With a quirk of his mouth, he added, “Yours too.”
Chloe sat up suddenly with a huff. “What?”
“They dredged up all of it,” he said, “Your list, of course, was much shorter than mine.”
For some reason, she took that as an insult. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Her list of romantic entanglements was remarkably short. In high school, she’d been in love with Clark Kent, but that, of course, hadn’t gone anywhere. Then there was the short-lived thing with Lex. She hadn’t dated much in college. While she’d gone out on a lot of first and second dates, nothing had led anywhere.
Her only serious boyfriend had been a one-year relationship that had ended badly a few years ago.
Compared to Lex’s endless list of romantic conquests, her experience looked rather pitiful.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Lex replied, lowering his brow. “It just means your list is shorter than mine.”
“Well, it’s not because men aren’t interested in me,” she insisted, smoothing down her hair which was probably tangled around her face after her nap.
The truth was, she had never been as popular with men as girls like Lana and Lois. While she knew very well there was nothing wrong with her, she had never had men chasing her. She just wasn’t one of those girls.
“Of course, they’re interested in you. Why would you think I implied differently?” Lex looked annoyed, almost grumpy. “Why wouldn’t they be interested in you? You’re smart and beautiful and—“ He broke off his words, as if he hadn’t intended to say as much.
Chloe flushed in pleasure, taken aback by what he’d said. “And what?” While being smart and beautiful was very, very good, the last thing on Lex’s list was the one she really wanted to hear.
Lex gave his head a quick shake. “Nothing.”
“And what?” she demanded again.
“And blonde,” Lex said, an ironic lilt to his voice.
That wasn’t what he’d been going to say. But he was just as stubborn as her, so she wasn’t going to learn what he’d originally been about to say.
She wrinkled her nose and stretched back out on the couch. She idly twirled Lex’s merchant ring, trying to decipher the letters and symbols on its front.
Already, it seemed familiar on her finger, along with the wedding ring that matched the one on Lex’s hand.
“Being blonde isn’t really an advantage with a lot of men.”
“Maybe.” Lex seemed to have gotten wrapped up in his work again, since his voice was a little distracted.
“For you, for instance,” Chloe continued. “You’re not really into blondes.”
“Right,” he murmured. His eyes narrowed, focusing on something on his computer screen.
She was a little hurt by his agreeing so readily, but she kept her voice matter-of-fact as she went on. “I’m just saying. Being blonde is actually a negative for you.”
“The blondeness really isn’t a problem. It’s your being so bossy and demanding that’s really the problem for me.”
She gasped and sat up again, feeling like he’d just struck her. “What? You’re the bossiest and most demanding person I’ve ever met! And you’re saying . . .”
Her voice trailed off as she stared at him. Although his expression was bland and steady, she caught a glint of something in his eyes.
He was teasing her. The bastard was teasing her!
She sputtered for a minute, torn between slapping him and giggling.
She settled for an exaggerated huff and rolled over to her opposite side, mostly to hide her expression so he wouldn’t see he’d amused her with his poker-faced teasing.
So far, in the short time since she’d wedded Lex Luthor, he’d made her want to scream, laugh, cry, and strangle him.
It didn’t bode well for a stable, peaceful marriage.
And they’d only been married two days.
Chapter Three
December 3
They’d landed in Quebec in the early evening and they’d gone directly to the historic hotel.
The following morning, Chloe slept in late, had a leisurely breakfast alone—since Lex was already hard at work—and then had a private tour of the city in a secure car, surrounded by guards.
While she’d gotten to see most of the sites, she really hadn’t gotten a feel for the city. And while it was interesting, it wasn’t all that fun, since she was basically seeing everything by herself.
Lex was evidently too busy to spend any time with her.
She hadn’t complained, since she told herself he had absolutely no obligation to hang out with her or entertain her. He’d already done more than enough.
So, after she’d returned and rested some and Lex asked what she wanted to order for dinner from room-service, she was feeling quite gracious and generous and was determined to be nice to him over dinner.
But then he took his steak and red wine back into his bedroom to work some more.
Chloe grumbled to herself as she ate her shrimp and pasta, glaring at Lex’s closed door. When she finished, she decided to call her dad. And, after talking to him, she was in a better mood.
She was an intelligent adult. She was more than capable of exploring new cities on her own. It was a beautiful evening, so she put on her coat and walked out the front door of the suite.
She was stopped by a bodyguard, who told her she wasn’t allowed to go outside and walk around in the old town. She told him she’d be happy to be escorted by guards, but they told her she wasn’t allowed to leave at all.
Chloe stared, tempted to scream at Lex’s security personnel. But she managed to restrain the impulse, even as she practically shook with rising anger.
After a moment, she turned on her heel and stormed back into the suite. Then she stormed into Lex’s bedroom, so mad she didn’t even knock. She assumed he’d still be working, since he evidently never did anything else.
She jerked to a stop when she confronted Lex, who was walking out of the bathroom. Apparently, he hadn’t been working. He’d been taking a shower.
He wore nothing except a thick white towel, wrapped around his waist. Chloe’s eyes automatically scanned over his long legs, his toned chest, his fine shoulders, and his flat belly.
Lex had frozen when she entered, for once taken off-guard. “Is there something you wanted?” he asked at last, his eyebrows arching in that smug expression and his tone conveying cool skepticism.
His reaction caused the anger to rise hotly inside her again. “Yes,” she snapped, “I want to not be imprisoned in this suite!”
“You spent most of the day outside. Hardly a prison.”
“Why can’t I leave now? I just want to get out and walk around some.”
“It’s too dangerous,” he said, his voice losing the ironic edge. “There are too many people crowding the streets now. It will be too hard to keep you safe.”
He was starting to make sense, which annoyed her even more. “I thought there wasn’t much chance your father could find us here out of all of the cities in the world.”
“There’s a very slim chance of that. But there’s still a chance.” Lex stepped forward and put one hand on her shoulder. “You’ve entrusted me to keep you safe, Chloe. You have to allow me to do so.”
She let out a long breath, all of the anger and momentum rushing out of her with her exhale. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess you’re right. But . . .”
His hand on her shoulder shifted, so it was less of a grip and more of a caress. “But what?”
“But I don’t like to feel trapped. I don’t like to feel like I don’t get to choose what happens to me. And don’t like feeling like you’re secretly making all the decisions and leaving me in the dark.”
“Is that how you feel?”
It suddenly struck Chloe that Lex was barely dressed. He smelled clean and his body was gorgeous. And, for some reason, the sight of his bare belly above his low-slung towel made her want to grab his sides and squeeze hard.
“Yes,” she managed to say, raising her eyes back to his face. “I do. I get carted around in a car all day. You hole up at your desk and barely talk to me. And then a bodyguard tells me I can’t do what I wanted to do.”
“Are you bored?” Lex asked, his eyebrows drawing together in three little lines.
She shrugged. “Not that bad. But it defeats the purpose of visiting a cool city if I don’t get to leave the car and have to stay in the room for the rest of the day, staring at your closed door.”
Lex rubbed his forehead between his thumb and forefinger, as if he were trying to think.
Suddenly feeling guilty for complaining and a little embarrassed that she’d revealed that his ignoring her had bothered her, Chloe forced a smile. “I’m just being silly. Don’t worry about it. Things are just fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I was a little restless this evening, but this is the most luxurious vacation I’ve ever had. I have no complaints.”
Lex kept studying her face, his scrutiny so intense it was frightening. She had no idea what he could read in her expression.
“Anyway, sorry I almost caught you naked. I’ll knock next time.” She smiled again, this time more genuine. “I’m going to take a bath and then watch some TV. Have a good night.”
Then she left, before she’d embarrassed herself any more.
She took her bath—it was a very good one—and then she put on a pair of white, man-style pajamas. She curled up on the sofa with a bottle of expensive sparkling water in the living area of the suite, turned on the gas fireplace, and then started flipping channels.
She was deep in a nature documentary about African wildlife when Lex startled her by handing her a little carton of chocolate-peanut-butter-cup ice cream. She hadn’t even seen him enter the room.
She grabbed the ice cream greedily before she looked over at Lex. To her surprise, he hadn’t gotten dressed in his normal clothes. Instead, he was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of gray pants that she realized, after a moment, must be pajama pants.
She’d never seen him dressed so relaxed before. He sat down next to her and handed her a spoon. He had a carton of ice cream for himself as well.
“Thanks,” she said, opening hers and spooning out her first bite.
“What are you watching?” Lex asked, frowning at the flat-screen television, on which a lion was making an unsuccessful attempt to catch a gazelle.
“Documentary. I love these shows. The big cats are my favorite.”
Lex fortunately wasn’t an annoying TV companion. He didn’t talk or ask a bunch of obnoxious questions. He just watched the show with her without complaining.
It was one of the better ones. And Chloe found herself entirely absorbed with the natural drama unfolding on the screen before her – the lion pride suffering from the death of the alpha male, the cheetah cubs who almost got killed by mean old hyenas, the leopard—Chloe’s favorite—who moved so gracefully, with such power.
“Look at her,” she breathed, leaning forward as the leopard climbed a tree, dragging her kill with her to keep it from being claimed by the lions and hyenas. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
Lex didn’t respond. And, when she turned to look at him, she caught him looking at her instead of at the television.
She shifted uncomfortably. “I suppose you think I’m stupid for getting into this.”
“Why would I think that?”
For some reason, his bland response reassured her. And she gave him a quick smile and turned to watch the end of the show.
After it ended, Lex found an old movie to watch. Chloe enjoyed the first part of it, but she got more and more tired until she finally drifted off to sleep before she realized it was happening.
When she woke up, she was warm and cozy and comfortable. When she was able to process her position, she realized she was still curled up on the sofa, but her head was in Lex’s lap.
She jerked up into a sitting position, her cheeks burning as she realized what she’d done. “Oh! Sorry! Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Why would I?” Lex asked casually, giving her a slightly baffled look. “You were tired and the movie wasn’t over.”
“But . . . but I was sleeping on top of you.”
“I managed to muddle through the agony of it.”
Chloe giggled, despite her lingering embarrassment. “Agony, was it?” She was still sitting too close to Lex, and her hand had somehow ended up on his chest.
“Agony,” Lex repeated, something changing in his eyes as he gazed at her.
The look in his eyes reminded her so strongly of how he’d looked at her ten years ago, during that summer in the safe house, that she instinctively leaned forward, wanting to feel his mouth on hers, wanting to be as close to him as she could get.
Then she suddenly realized where she was, who she was, and everything that had happened between them.
She stumbled to her feet, avoiding Lex’s eyes and mumbling, “Well, I’m tired. I’ll go to bed.”
She managed to escape into her bedroom, and then leaned against the closed door.
Not good. Not good at all. She was remembering too much, dredging up memories and feelings that should have died ten years ago.
She remembered in painful detail what had happened last time she’d fallen under Lex’s spell, the last time she’d been overwhelmed by his charm and appeal.
She would have to do better. A lot better. She couldn’t let this marriage upend her world, more than it already had.
They’d only been married three days.
Chapter Four
December 4
Chloe was awakened the following morning by a hand gently shaking her shoulder.
“Huh,” she grunted, trying to pull away from the hand and roll over to a safer spot on the large bed.
“Chloe,” a familiar voice said, “Chloe, wake up.”
She mumbled out something that sounded vaguely like “Why should I?”
“You’re the one who wanted to explore the old city.”
“Huh?” she grunted again, this time in the form of a question. She managed to open her eyes and saw Lex, fully dressed in a black sweater and gray trousers, with a smugly amused look on his face.
“We have to go early if you want to go out, before it gets too crowded. So you’ll need to get up and get dressed.”
Torn between outrage and interest, Chloe managed to sit up in bed, pulling one of the straps of her tank top back up on her shoulder. “I can go out? Walk around?”
“Yes, you can. As long as you don’t dawdle. We’ll have to be back before the streets get too crowded.”
Chloe’s grogginess was fading and she was starting to get excited about the prospect of a morning in which she didn’t have to sit around the suite on her own. “You’re coming too?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No. I’m just surprised. I thought you worked all day long.”
“I don’t.” Lex seemed to be hiding a smile, an expression that warmed his eyes deliciously. “Can you get dressed in a half-hour? I’ll order some breakfast from room service.”
“Yeah. Okay.” She started to scoot off the bed, although since Lex was still sitting on the edge, she had a little trouble pulling her legs out from under the covers. But then her eyes happened to land on the bedside clock.
She gasped indignantly. “It’s only six-thirty! You woke me up at six-thirty!”
“I’ve been up for hours. You should be glad I waited as long as I did.”
She made a few choked sounds of outrage, but was distracted when Lex handed her a mug of coffee. After she took a sip, she glared at him, “You’ve had that the whole time and just now gave it to me?”
Lex chuckled and stood up. “You know me. A master strategist. I had to wait for the most opportune time.”
She threw a pillow at him as he started to leave the room and was delighted when it hit him square in the back and bounced from his body to the floor.
After half the cup of coffee, she decided it wouldn’t hurt her to get up, since she was already awake. So she went to her marble bathroom and turned on the high-end shower. As she washed her hair, she thought about Lex.
Things were little weird and awkward—and they argued about half of the time—but they were interacting with more familiarity than one would have expected in a situation like this.
Lex wasn’t an easy man. But he’d been surprisingly good-natured with her. He’d even laughed a lot.
She wasn’t fool enough to think that it was because of her feminine appeal. He hadn’t come on to her. Not once. Whatever attraction he’d once had for her had obviously faded with time.
But he knew her. As well as she knew him. So they were familiar, if nothing else.
And maybe—maybe—Lex was actually enjoying the chance to be himself with someone, rather than always having to put on the cold, controlled persona he showed the world.
Satisfied with her explanation, she got out of the shower, dried her hair, dressed in jeans and a red sweater, and put on a little make-up, feeling better than she had in a week. The better she and Lex could get along, the better the month would be.
And the little slip-up she’d had last night was natural, predictable. But it wasn’t important. Lex was an attractive man, but she was a grown-up. And she wasn’t led around by her hormones.
She ate a quick breakfast, patiently waiting as Lex finished working on email or something.
Then she picked up her purse and they went downstairs and walked outside onto the streets of Vieux-Québec.
The morning was chilly, and she was glad she’d brought her coat and gloves. They started on the Terrasse Dufferin, which was mostly empty of the street vendors and entertainers that normally filled it later in the day. But she had a great time gazing out over the river and down at Place Royale, admiring the distinct skyline of the city above them, including the unmistakable lines of Le Château Frontenac, and watching Lex try to smother his impatience every time she lingered too long looking at the scenery.
She started lingering a little longer than she normally would have, just to watch Lex restrain his natural responses.
Finally, she consented to walk down the long, incredibly steep stairs that led to the river, Place Royale, and the Vieux-Port. The stairs were actually more challenging than she expected, and she stayed near the rail, so she could hold on if she happened to trip.
When she made it down, she grinned with a ridiculous but irresistible feeling of accomplishment.
“Pretty exciting stuff, huh?” Lex asked, a small smile on his face. “Walking down some stairs?”
Chloe huffed, but without much heat, and walked toward the historic square of Place Royale. It was too early for there to be many tourists out, since most of the sights were still closed. But Lex had used his contacts to gain them access to some of the places early, including a charming seventeenth-century church and the Museum of Civilization.
Lex enjoyed the history more than the aimless gawking. And he recounted to her details of the history of the square and the historic battles fought in Quebec as they wandered around.
Chloe was tired and pleased with their sightseeing when they finally wandered over to the river. She gazed lustfully at a booth selling soft ice cream, which was just opening up for the day, but she didn’t have the nerve to ask Lex for an ice cream cone.
Not at ten o’clock in the morning.
“Did you want ice cream?” he asked dryly.
She frowned at him. “You don’t have to sound so snotty about it. It’s been hours since breakfast.”
“Why didn’t you ask?”
“I didn’t want to look greedy.”
He shook his head with a huff of laughter and walked over to buy her a cone.
She sat on a bench, gazing out on the river and eating her ice cream cone. The wind was actually quite cold here, but the sun was bright—and since she wasn’t likely to visit this city again, she wanted to experience as much of it as she could.
When she glanced over at Lex, she found him watching her.
“What?” she asked, “Am I dribbling ice cream?”
“A little.”
She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Thanks for taking me to see all this. I would have been sorry to come all the way here and only see the old part from a car.” She sighed in satisfaction. “I love to walk on cobblestones.”
“No problem.” Lex looked composed, almost mild.
He wasn’t a mild man.
And Chloe suddenly wondered what was going on beneath the mild good-humor he’d been showing her for the last few days. “Why are you doing this, Lex?” she demanded, without warning or preamble. She hadn’t even realized she was going to ask the blunt question.
“Because you said yesterday you felt trapped and that you were getting tired of staring at my closed door. So I thought—“
“I don’t mean why did you take me out this morning,” she interrupted, “Although I do appreciate it. I mean why are you doing this at all? Why are you helping me?”
“I told you that before. There are things I can accomplish through you that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish otherwise.”
“You want to come out ahead with your father?”
Lex inclined his head. “Yes.”
Chloe studied him, trying to scrutinize him as closely as he always scrutinized her. “That would explain the marriage. And your keeping me safe. But why are you being so nice to me?”
Something flickered in Lex’s eyes, and she wondered if she’d hurt him with the question. “You’d expect me to be otherwise?”
“Well, I knew you wouldn’t hurt me or be cruel toward me in any way. But you could accomplish what you want and still ignore me most of the time.”
Lex gave a half-shrug. “This plan will be more successful if we get along. If we’re . . . friendly.”
Exactly the same thoughts Chloe had in the shower that morning. And, because the reasoning matched hers so perfectly, she couldn’t help but believe him. “Oh. I guess that makes sense.” She gave him a sideways look. “So you’re . . . you’re all right with everything?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? We actually work well together when we’re pursuing the same goal.”
They did. Work well together. And Lex showed no signs of hiding any sort of deep emotion—no angst, anger or despair connected to his father. It had to be hard for him. In Smallville, any battle with his father would tear him up inside.
But he’d grown up. And maybe he’d come to terms with things.
“Well,” she said at last. “I appreciate your help with everything.”
“You’ve said that already,” Lex said, for the first time since they’d sat down sounding a little impatient. “I’m getting something out of this arrangement too. You don’t have to thank me again.”
“Then I won’t.” Searching for a new topic, she just followed the direction of her thoughts. “Do you think your father is really going to try to kill me?”
Lex’s mouth twisted briefly. “It’s hard to tell. He’s certainly moving heaven and earth trying to find us. But it may just be so he can feel like he still has choices.”
“I know he’s dangerous,” Chloe admitted. “But it’s hard to believe he’d really kill me. Just over the information I have.”
“It wouldn’t just be over the information. It would be an act of taking his power back, after you took it away from him. You should have realized that. You know him well enough. You should have known better.”
Chloe’s previous annoyance that morning had been light, half-ironic. But the flash of annoyance she felt now was real and deep. “I didn’t go out looking to blackmail him, Lex.”
“Maybe not. But the moment you started digging deep enough into Kyring to find his project, you might as well have been taunting a viper. He’ll always strike back.” Lex’s face was cold now. She assumed most of it was directed at his father, but there seemed to be a little left for her.
She didn’t appreciate it. She resented it. And she also felt a little hurt. “You’re right,” she said resignedly. “It just happened.”
“It didn’t just happen. It was the result of a series of choices. Some of them yours.”
“You’ve done your share of stupid things too, Lex. Shall we discuss them?”
“We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk about me. I know I screwed up. But the reasons aren’t really your business.”
Lex’s expression—which had been mild and even the whole time up to now—twisted into something she recognized as anger. “Aren’t they?” he asked, a little roughly.
For the strangest reason, his shadowed urgency suddenly made him feel more Lex-like – as if the mild stranger had transformed back into the Lex she’d always known.
“No, they aren’t. Helping me doesn’t give you the right to pry into my affairs. “
“If I don’t know why you let yourself get trapped like this, then I won’t be able to figure out how to keep it from happening again.”
“Let it go, Lex,” she snapped, angry and oddly mortified at how Lex clearly seemed to think she was a fool who got involved with dangerous men and couldn’t seem to fix things on her own. “I’m not talking about this with you.”
“What are you trying to hide from me?” he demanded, taking her forearm again but this time holding her more tightly. “How did you get involved with my father at all? It wasn’t . . . it wasn’t . . .” He trailed off, reluctant to say the word.
But Chloe suddenly knew what it was. “What? You think your dad and I were . . . were together?”
“Not like that. I would know if you’d been having an affair with him, since I always keep him under surveillance. But I just can’t believe you’d accidently run across something like this. You must have been searching into something connected to him intentionally.”
“Let it go, Lex,” Chloe said again, finishing her cone and crumpling the napkin between her twisting hands.
They sat in silence for a long time. And all the ease and good-nature with which they’d been interacting before were suddenly gone.
It wasn’t going to be easy to get along with Lex. Not when he was so deep, so complex, so unknowable. Not when neither one of them could let a secret alone. Not with the history they had together.
December was going to be a very long month.
And they’d only been married for four days.
Chapter Five
December 5
Despite her intentions to sleep in late the next morning, she found herself awake in bed before seven. She tossed and turned a few times and tried to go back to sleep. But eventually she gave up and got out of bed.
She put on the shirt to her dark blue pajamas, since she felt a bit too exposed in just the little tank top she normally slept in with the pajama pants. Then she shuffled into the main room of the suite.
It was empty. Lex’s bedroom door was open, but also empty.
Frowning, Chloe looked around. She saw a carafe of coffee that Lex must have ordered up earlier, so she poured herself a cup and scanned the room for any sign of Lex’s location.
He wasn’t in his bathroom. He wasn’t at the desk. He wasn’t on the balcony that overlooked the St. Lawrence River. He wasn’t in the suite at all.
There was also no note left for her, although she realized that was a silly thought even as it passed through her mind.
Lex was a grown man. He didn’t have to inform her if he wanted to leave the suite. For all she knew, he might have been gone all night. He’d been in a bad mood most of yesterday afternoon, the tension from their conversation by the river not really easing all day. He might have hooked up with someone last night—hooked up with a tall, willowy, exotic brunette.
The thought made her vaguely ill, but fortunately she was able to reason herself out of it. She didn’t really think Lex would duck out and have anonymous sex with a gorgeous woman. While their marriage wasn’t genuine, it felt like kind of a cheap thing to do. And Lex just wasn’t cheap.
She also couldn’t imagine where he would have met some random woman to have a sleazy one-night-stand with.
Whatever he was doing right now, it was almost certainly not waking up in some other woman’s bed.
Satisfied with this conclusion, she still felt a little flicker of annoyance that he hadn’t even told her where he was. Not that he had any obligation to, of course. But it was just basic courtesy to tell your wife where you were so she wouldn’t wake up in a huge empty suite and wonder.
Chloe had intended to have a leisurely morning, lying around and maybe going down to enjoy the hotel spa. But, after she finished her first cup of coffee, she discovered she was antsy and restless.
Deciding what she needed was a good dose of exercise, she went back into her bedroom and changed into workout clothes.
And, if Lex returned and didn’t find her in the suite, then he could just wonder as well.
Not that he would wonder long, of course. She had no doubt that the bodyguard who escorted her down to the workout room in the hotel would inform Lex of her location.
She was feeling better about the morning when she walked into the workout room and discovered that Lex was already there, running hard on a treadmill.
She waved at him casually, and he made a slight gesture of acknowledgement that might have passed for a wave. Trying not to be annoyed by his unfriendliness, Chloe ignored him and got onto an elliptical trainer.
For the first few minutes, she just warmed up and wasn’t working very hard. So she had time and energy to observe Lex, although she made sure to do so discreetly.
He wore shorts and a gray t-shirt that was soaked with sweat. He must have been working out for a while, and he was running full-out at the moment, pounding the treadmill with an intense concentration that seemed to characterize the man.
For some reason, Chloe found his intensity and physical effort mesmerizing. She was used to seeing him sleek, professional, urbane. But this was something else. His visceral physicality seemed so strong at the moment, like he was primal man as much as civilized man.
She felt a surge of attraction for him—so powerful it actually startled her. So she made herself look away and concentrate on her exercise.
Increasing her speed, Chloe was glad she’d decided against the baggy t-shirt she’d been planning to wear and had instead chosen the more flattering workout tank with her stretchy capris.
Not that Lex was looking at her, of course. He didn’t even seem to be conscious of her presence in the room. Chloe tried to follow his example and clear her mind of everything but the motion of her body.
Soon, she was perspiring and breathing fast, as she worked the trainer harder than she usually did. She was in pretty good shape as a whole, but she wasn’t a huge fitness buff. And her workouts were usually somewhat haphazard. After twenty-five minutes, she was ready to get off, but she didn’t because Lex was still running.
She was starting to wheeze after forty-five minutes, so she finally slowed down – mostly out of necessity. It would be more embarrassing, she decided, to fall off the elliptical in exhaustion than to stop before Lex did.
As she was doing a few cool-down minutes, she saw that Lex had finally slowed down as well. Sweat was dripping from his face, and his shirt was plastered to his chest and belly. It was absolutely ridiculous, but she still felt that primitive pull of magnetism toward him.
When she finally got off the elliptical and did a few stretches, Lex slowed to a walk. “I’ve finished my workout,” he said, finally acknowledging her presence, “But if you wanted to lift weights, I can stay to spot you.”
Chloe thought the offer was nice. But she was ready to take a shower and collapse on the couch. And she questioned the wisdom of being at such close quarters with Lex all hot and masculine when she was suffering from this animal attraction for him.
“Thanks. But I think I’ve had enough. I’m not much of a fitness buff.”
He gave her an odd look—one she couldn’t decipher. “You did great.”
Not terribly extravagant or romantic as far as compliments went. But it made her flush with pleasure just the same.
* * *
Chloe took it easy for the rest of the day after eating so much breakfast that Lex made a dry comment on it. She did go down the spa for a delicious facial and massage. Then she tried to do some writing – although she had trouble focusing on it.
Lex spent the day working, and he didn’t get any more talkative than he’d been that morning. Chloe was a little disappointed, since they’d seemed to get along better in the previous days. But Lex was a deep, complex man. And there was no way to predict what was going through his mind or what was motivating his behavior.
He wasn’t here to be her best friend. So she tried not to take it personally.
At dinnertime, she’d resigned herself to eating another meal from room service. There was a marathon of The West Wing episodes on a cable network, so she figured that wouldn’t be the worst way to spend the evening.
She was sprawled out on the sofa when Lex made an appearance.
She blinked when she saw him. He’d changed clothes since last she saw him and was now dressed all in black—dress shirt, trousers, and a sport coat that looked to be made of cashmere.
“Where are you going?” she asked, suppressing a stab of hurt that he would have an evening outing without her.
“Where are we going,” he corrected. “I thought we could go out to dinner. Go get changed.”
Chloe’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“You can go in the pajamas if you want, but it might bring you unwanted attention.”
She was wearing a pair of plaid flannel pants and a Metropolis Sharks sweatshirt. She huffed. “They’re not pajamas. They’re lounge pants.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “My mistake. However, the lounge pants will likely draw an equal amount of unwanted attention. So run get changed.”
Chloe sat up. She wasn’t about to miss out on a potential outing, and she was absurdly touched that Lex had even thought about her. But still . . . there was a tone issue that needed to be addressed. “Remember what we talked about regarding questions rather than commands?” she asked sweetly.
Rolling his eyes, Lex said, “Chloe, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble for you, would you please change into something appropriate for dinner and let me take you out, always assuming you haven’t changed your mind about not wanting to sit around the suite all day.”
“One day your snotty tone is going to get you a slap in the face,” she quipped, her voice a bit unsteady from the amusement she was trying to hide. She’d gotten off the couch.
“I assure you,” he murmured, his lip twitching a little. It was like the sight of an old friend. “It already has.”
Chloe hurried into her bedroom and stared blankly into her closet. She had nothing nice enough to really match Lex’s wardrobe. But he looked so handsome and sophisticated that she wanted to at least make an effort.
She decided, from lack of other options, on a low-cut top in a slinky, wine-colored fabric and a pair of silk slacks. They were flattering but a little too long, so she always had to wear them with her high-heeled ankle boots. Fortunately, she’d taken the time to blow-dry her hair well that morning. So she just had to brush it out and add a little powder, mascara, and lipstick.
Pleased with the result—especially since it had taken her ten minutes—she went to join Lex in the main room of the suite.
He scanned her from top to bottom, his eyes lingering a little too long at her cleavage.
When he frowned, she stiffened defensively, “What?”
“You look very nice,” he said, “But I hadn’t expected to have to put up with a bunch of other men ogling my wife.”
Chloe sucked in a breath, her eyes dipping to the crease and shadow of her cleavage. “It’s not that bad!”
“If the ogling gets too obnoxious,” Lex said blandly, gesturing toward the door in what was obviously a signal for her to get moving, “Then you can wear my jacket.”
She was trying to keep from giggling as they rode down the elevator to the waiting chauffeured car. But the tiniest, insecure part of her wondered if it was too much to hope that her husband—even if he was just that for a month—might express genuine appreciation for how she looked.
His saying she looked “very nice” wasn’t all that convincing.
They were driven to a cozy, historic restaurant in the old town with a rustic decor and a line out the door of people waiting for tables. She and Lex, of course, were taken right in and led to the private table—a u-shaped wooden banquette in the corner—near a huge fireplace. The walls were exposed brick and the savory scents of the room swallowed her up, making her stomach growl.
“Good?” Lex asked, evidently having seen her make the silent assessment.
“Great. It feels like real Quebec.”
“It specializes in Québécois cuisine,” he mentioned, “As you’ll see when you open the menu.”
Chloe knew what he meant when she looked at the menu and saw she could choose between bison, venison, pheasant, duck and wild meat pie.
She made sure to keep her expression mild when she saw that Lex was eyeing her covertly, no doubt looking for a reaction. “Yummy,” she said with a smile.
She ordered mulled wine, a warm goat-cheese salad with maple vinaigrette, and duck with truffle mashed potatoes and rustic vegetables. Lex got a bison steak.
The fire and the mulled wine quickly went to Chloe’s head. Lex was pleasant, almost charming. She felt warm and giddy and quite pleased with the fact that other patrons of the restaurant were looking over at her table in interest or admiration. While the marriage might be fake, she felt a ridiculous rush of pride over the fact that she was obviously with the most attractive man in the place.
“It’s starting to feel like Christmas,” she said, when the server came to take her salad plate. “For some reason, it feels more like it here.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “That’s not what the restaurant makes me think of.”
“I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just the rustic food and the fire and the kind of old-world feel of the place. It makes me think of Christmas.”
“It’s still pretty early for Christmas. Let’s try to hold off on the sentiment for as long as possible.” He paused. Gave her a slanting look. “Are you a Christmas-person?”
“Of course. Isn’t everyone?” Chloe had always loved Christmas. It had made her think of happy family memories and festive times with friends.
Lex didn’t reply. Just looked at her steadily.
“You’re not,” she breathed, her giddiness fading a little. “You don’t have good Christmas memories?”
He licked his lips and looked away from her, toward the roaring fireplace. Finally he said, “Not one.”
Chloe sipped her wine, fighting the ridiculous urge to scoot over and put her arms around him. It seemed so horrible that he didn’t have one good Christmas memory. She asked softly, “Not even with your mother?”
His expression twisted slightly and he still didn’t meet her eyes. “There were some good times, when I was young. But no memory is pure, without something . . .” He trailed off.
She understood what he meant. None of his good memories of his mother were without the taint of his father.
Unable to resist, she reached over and put her hand gently on his forearm. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded. Then the mood shifted quickly when he slanted her a dry look. “I suppose your Christmas memories are full of sap and sentiment.”
She grinned at him. “Of course.”
Their meals came then, and Chloe drank more wine. When she’d finished, she was overly warm and replete and her head was spinning a little. Somehow—she wasn’t conscious of doing so—she’d slid over in the banquette until she was very close to Lex.
Their thighs were pressing together.
She refused dessert, but when Lex’s maple syrup pie came, Chloe had to sneak a few bites. He complained at every bite she took, and—when she beat him to the last bite—he gave her an indignant look.
Giggling helplessly, she decided to be generous and give him the bite. So she fed it to him off of her fork.
Because she’d drunk a little too much, he ended up with whip cream on the corner of his lip.
She reached over to wipe it off for him, and something in his eyes as he gazed at her made her stop, her fingertips resting of his skin.
Before anything more could happen, a flashbulb broke the shadows of the candlelit room.
Both of them jerked apart and whirled around to see where the camera flash had come from.
Chloe saw the back of a man hurrying out of the restaurant.
A photographer, most likely. Either one of the patrons had recognized Lex and called the photographer. Or the photographer himself happened to be here, thrilled with accidentally catching sight of Lex Luthor in the midst of an intimate dinner with his new bride.
Chloe’s stomach dropped painfully.
Lex nudged her toward the end of the banquette. “We better go,” he said quietly, whatever teasing languor he’d been feeling that evening vanishing with the flash of the camera.
Chloe got up quickly, without objection. And she knew that—likely before dawn tomorrow morning—she and Lex would be leaving Quebec, before their presence here could hit the news.
They’d be winging their way in a private jet toward another place in the world, the second city in less than a week.
And they’d only been married five days.
Chapter Six
December 6
The jet took off before dawn the next morning. Chloe was groggy, since she hadn’t slept well the night before and she didn’t like getting up so early even under normal circumstances. So she didn’t ask any questions or raise any objections as the hotel staff loaded up her luggage and they headed to the chauffeured car and then to the airport.
She would have asked Lex where they were going—since he hadn’t bothered to tell her—but he was busy on the phone from the moment she was woken up so she hadn’t gotten the chance.
From his side of the conversation, Chloe could tell he was busy making plans for their trip. And she was amazed by how complicated it seemed to be for them to leave Quebec and travel somewhere else in the world without leaving an obvious trail.
Because she knew Lex was doing this for her, she didn’t interrupt and she didn’t complain – even though she was a little annoyed that he hadn’t even said “good morning” to her today.
She took one of the buckle-seats on the jet and accepted the coffee a polite server offered her. When she thanked him, he murmured, “My pleasure, Mrs. Luthor.”
Chloe wondered if she’d ever get used to being called that.
Glancing over to where Lex had taken his own seat, rubbing his bald scalp as he talked intently in a phone conversation that had evidently gotten more frustrating, Chloe felt an odd little pang of possessiveness. He looked so handsome and focused and exasperated.
Then she reminded herself that she wouldn’t need to get used to being called “Mrs. Luthor” because a month from now she would no longer be his wife.
She dozed off shortly after the jet took off, and she woke up stiff and disoriented.
Realizing where she was, she glanced over and saw that Lex was still talking on the phone.
Groaning in frustration, she stood up and stretched, trying to work out the kinks from her back and shoulders. She was kind of sore from too much exercise the previous morning.
She happened to look over and noticed that Lex’s eyes were on her. Something about his expression made her glance down, and she noticed that her red tank top—which she was wearing under a hoodie sweater—had lifted as she stretched so that a wide strip of skin was exposed above her jeans.
She yanked it down self-consciously, although she was secretly a little pleased that Lex had been looking at her. He didn’t seem to be suffering from any undue attraction to her body, but at least he seemed to notice that she had one.
Since she was starving, she walked back and found the polite server, and she asked for an omelet. When he asked if Mr. Luthor would like one too, she asked, “He hasn’t eaten yet?”
“No, ma’am. Nothing but coffee.”
“Bring him an omelet—whatever he normally gets—with whole wheat toast.” She frowned, thinking that Lex’s diet was sadly short on fruit. “Do you have any juice or anything?”
“Yes, ma’am. Fresh squeezed orange juice.”
“Bring him some of that too.”
When she returned, Lex was finally hanging up on his call. She opened her mouth to say hello and ask where they were heading, but he raised his hand in a silencing gesture and dialed his phone again.
Chloe rolled her eyes and gave up on him.
She looked for a movie to watch, but hadn’t yet found one when their breakfast arrived. She thanked the server and then watched as he brought the other tray over to the workstation where Lex had ensconced himself.
Lex stared at the omelet, toast, and juice blankly. Then he covered his phone with one hand and asked the server, “What’s this?”
“Your wife ordered it for you, sir.” The server, well-trained, kept his eyes down and left without further comment.
Lex aimed a narrow-eyed look in her direction, but she noticed that, after a minute, he started to eat his breakfast.
She’d found an old romantic comedy to watch and was enjoying her breakfast, so she didn’t immediately notice when Lex finally ended his conversation.
He had finished eating and was halfway through his juice when she looked over.
“The orange juice is good, isn’t it?” she asked, grinning at him.
He quirked up one side of his mouth. “Did you think I needed extra vitamin C?”
“Probably.” She gestured vaguely toward his phone. “Is everything all right?”
He nodded. “Yes. I’ve got things under control. We won’t be tracked.”
“It seems kind of strange—that your father would still be out there looking for me. Metropolis seems so far away.”
“It’s not, though. And I guarantee he hasn’t given up.”
“I know. Thanks for everything.”
“I thought we covered that there’s no need for you to thank me every other minute.” He actually sounded grumpy, even as he swallowed down the last of his juice.
Chloe scowled at him. “Why shouldn’t I thank you? You’re doing a lot to help me.”
“I’ve told you now multiple times that I’m getting something—“
“I know you’re getting something out of it,” she interrupted sharply. “But I still want to thank you.”
“Well, you have now. So let it go.”
She sat and glowered at him, mentally rehearsing all of his obnoxious and annoying traits. Why the hell shouldn’t she thank him for all he was doing to keep her safe?
“The photo hit the papers,” Lex said, his tone shifting to something casual and natural. If she had to guess, she thought maybe he was trying to ease the tension between them.
“Did it?” she asked. “I guess that’s just what we figured.”
He turned the computer monitor in her direction, and she got up to get close enough to see it.
The picture she saw on the screen wasn’t perfectly clear, but it revealed a man who was obviously Lex Luthor, looking relaxed and attractive as he sat at a rustic table in a Quebec restaurant. And Chloe, his new bride, was gazing up at him with what seemed to Chloe to be an embarrassingly besotted expression. Her hand was on his face, and they appeared to be moments from a kiss.
Her cheeks burned, and she mumbled, “I’d clearly drunk too much wine.”
Lex chuckled. “You were exceptionally friendly last night. And there wasn’t a trace of nagging. You should get a little tipsy more often.”
“Nagging,” she gasped. “I don’t nag!”
Then she noticed the twitch of Lex’s lips.
“’Oh,” she choked, “You asshole. You’re mocking me again.”
“Not mocking,” Lex corrected. “But it’s just so fun to see how outraged you look when you think you’ve been insulted.”
She gave him an icy glare—just for good measure, since she wasn’t feeling all that unhappy with him. “Are you done on the phone?”
“For now. Why?”
“No reason. It’s just not all that exciting for me to watch endless one-sided phone conversations, so I wanted to be prepared.”
Lex studied her face closely. “I wasn’t planning for us to leave this morning, so I had to quickly redo a lot of plans.”
“I know,” she acknowledged, sinking down onto the sofa, which was more comfortable than the seats. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was whining. But you could at least say good morning, you know.”
“Didn’t I say good morning?”
She stared, wondering if he was being genuine or if he was teasing her again. “You didn’t,” she said carefully.
When he drew his eyebrows together, as if he were thinking over the events of the morning, she decided he honestly hadn’t realized his rudeness.
“So I’m just saying,” she said, “Phrasing requests as questions rather than commands, saying good morning when you see your wife first thing, these are some basic courtesies you might consider.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
She sat up suddenly, remembering something else. “Oh, and where the hell are we going?”
“Excuse me?”
“Today. You’ve never told me where we’re going. You just shuffled me along like a piece of the luggage. If I’m part of this enterprise, I’d like some say in where we’re going.”
“If you had your choice, where would you go?”
“I have no idea. I’d have to think about it.”
Lex nodded, as if she’d proven his point. “Exactly. We didn’t have time to think about it. We just had to go. You can choose the next spot.”
She was getting annoyed again at his obtuseness. He seemed to be going out of his way not to tell her what she wanted to know. “So where are we going now?” When he hesitated before responding, she snapped, “You’ve got to work on these control-freak tendencies. Really. I know we’re doing this on your resources, but I’m not a child or a fool, you know. And I don’t like being treated like one.”
His voice was quieter than it had been when he asked, “You think that’s how I’m treating you?”
“Well, not always.” She felt kind of bad about her outburst, even though it was a real frustration. So she tempered it by saying, “I’m sorry to bite your head off. But I really would appreciate it if you could try a little harder to treat me like a partner rather than an underling.”
Lex didn’t answer for a long time. Too long. Then finally he said, “I’m not used to having partners.”
She let out a gusty sigh. “I know that. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be whining. You’ve been . . . you’ve been great.”
He hadn’t been great in every way, but he’d been better than she could have expected. And building their relationship didn’t really matter that much since it would be over in less than a month.
She cleared her throat when he hadn’t replied—just stared blankly at his computer screen. “So where are we going?”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. We’re going to South Africa.”
Chloe’s jaw dropped open. “What?”
“South Africa. To a game reserve. You enjoyed that African wildlife documentary so much I thought you might want to see the real thing.” He looked a little diffident as he explained, perhaps because of her dumbfounded look.
Chloe clasped her hands together. “A game reserve? Like a wildlife safari thing?”
“Yes. We’ll be staying at a luxury resort, of course. We won’t be roughing it.”
“Oh.” Chloe tried to process what he’d just told her, as spirals of excitement and anticipation rose inside her. “Oh.”
Lex frowned. “Is that all right?”
“All right?” Chloe realized she wasn’t expressing herself well, so she tried to do a little better.
But all that came out was a silly little squeal.
Then she got up and ran over to hug him hard—so excited about the prospect of the new trip that such a gesture seemed not only appropriate but natural.
Lex laughed—low and husky—as she squeezed him with her arms. “I guess you approve,” he murmured as she pulled away.
Chloe was flushed again, and she tried to pull herself together again by quipping, “This doesn’t cancel out what I said before about the partnership thing. Just because you make good decisions some of the time doesn’t mean you should make all of them.”
Lex’s mouth twitched. “Understood.”
Chloe went back to watching her movie, and Lex went back to working. And they were in flight for most of the day, since not only was it a very long flight but they also once more took a roundabout way to get there.
But it wasn’t that bad a day. And Lex wasn’t really too annoying.
And, despite his shortcomings, he wasn’t really that bad a man to have as a fake husband.
Of course, they’d only been married six days.
Chapter Seven
December 7
The luxury resort on the South African game reserve was like nothing Chloe had ever experienced before.
She and Lex had a private, detached suite furnished in an elegant, exotic mix of Colonial and African styles with foldaway glass walls on two sides of their suite that opened to expose the entire place to the outdoors. There was a plunge infinity pool on their private deck, an expansive view of the African bush, and the marble bathroom of her dreams.
They arrived late the night before, but the view even at night was breathtaking, and she spent a full half-hour just gushing over the accommodations and the setting. And that morning she woke up before dawn without any trouble.
Lex had arranged a private game ride for her—rather than going out in groups of five or six as guests at the resort usually went—but it was still scheduled to leave at six in the morning in order to take advantage of the best time for viewing the wildlife.
Lex was awake—drinking coffee and working on his computer—when she emerged from her room dressed in khakis and a fitted white t-shirt. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Chloe asked.
“Not this morning,” Lex said. He looked over at her, his expression softening. “You have a good time.”
Chloe had her own private game ranger—a tall, rugged man with thick dark hair, a five-o’clock shadow, amazing shoulders, and an easy grin. He introduced himself as Michael in a charming South African accent.
As they started off in the open-air jeep, Chloe quickly discovered that Michael really knew what he was talking about. He told her about plants, geological formations, and animals with equal expertise. And he quickly spotted birds and small animals that she otherwise would have missed.
When she asked him a few questions, based on what she’d understood from documentaries on cable, he didn’t patronize her or treat her like she was silly. And an hour of the ride passed so quickly she couldn’t believe it when she glanced at her watch.
It was then that she saw the first of the big animals, a herd of buffalo shuffling along in the distance. They drove to a popular watering hole and found a huge group of elephants—including several babies that made Chloe’s heart melt—and a couple of white rhinos.
Chloe was thrilled with all of it—almost hugging herself every time she spotted another African animal. And she couldn’t believe that Lex was missing out on such an experience.
Maybe he’d already done something like this before.
As they stopped for coffee, which was evidently a normal part of the ride, Michael asked with easy interest, “So your husband didn’t want to come out this morning?”
“No,” she answered, feeling a weird little pang in her chest. “He didn’t.”
“Shame to miss out on this.” Michael gave a broad wave toward the lush African bush to indicate what he meant by “this.”
“Yeah,” Chloe agreed. “I know. But I’m sure he’ll come out this afternoon or tomorrow morning.” Then, feeling a little awkward, as if she had to justify Lex’s choices since he was supposed to be her husband, she added with a sheepish smile, “This trip was mostly for me.”
“Then as long as you enjoy yourself, I guess he’ll be happy.”
“Right.”
She thought Michael had the most gorgeous dark eyes she’d ever seen. He was big and masculine and attractive. And she liked his voice and his smile. In another situation, she would have been really interested in him and would have gotten a thrill out of the slightly flirtatious glint in his eyes.
Of course, he probably cultivated that non-intrusive flirtatiousness with female guests as a matter of routine. Another way to make sure he was popular with the resort’s clientele. She probably shouldn’t take it personally.
But she liked him, and she was glad he was her guide.
At the very end of the ride, after three amazing hours, Michael silently gestured to some long grass to the right where Chloe saw a cheetah.
She had to cover her mouth to suppress her squeal of delight.
“We’ll be able to see some lions this afternoon, almost certainly. We’re almost at peak season now, and I know their favorite spots.”
“Oh, I can’t wait. Do you think we’ll be able to see any leopards? They’re my favorite.”
Michael grinned. “Then I’ll make sure we do.”
Lex was still working when she returned to the suite, breathless and excited. But he did pause to ask her questions and hear her account of all she’d seen, and he seemed pleased that she’d enjoyed it.
Since she was starving, she went down to the main patio of their exclusive section of the resort where the staff was serving a hot breakfast buffet. She chatted with some of the other guests. They were all rich and mostly stuffy, but she found them all highly entertaining.
Lex was still working when she came back up to the suite, so she took a plunge in the infinity pool and then lay out on a chaise on their private deck, enjoying the sun and the scent of nature and the gorgeous landscape.
She actually dozed off and woke up just in time for lunch.
They ordered room service—just sandwiches and salads—and, since Lex went right back to work afterwards, Chloe decided to visit the spa, where she greatly enjoyed an aroma essence massage.
She returned to the suite near the time for the afternoon game ride.
“You aren’t going to come on this ride either?” she asked Lex, feeling ridiculously disappointed.
“No. I’m good. You have a good time and try to spot a leopard.”
She left with a sigh. There was no sense in her nagging Lex. If he didn’t want to go, then he didn’t want to go. She was having a grand time, and it didn’t really matter that she was having it alone.
Michael was just as charming, rugged, and informed as he’d been that morning. And, to Chloe’s great joy, in addition to more rhinos, buffaloes, and elephants, they also spotted a good-sized pride of lions—that they were able to watch for almost a half-hour.
She was happy and exhausted when she returned. And she wasn’t at all surprised when Lex said he didn’t want to come down for dinner.
“Why the hell not?” she demanded, getting fed up with his reticence. She hadn’t realized she’d married a workaholic hermit.
“I’ve gotten behind on some projects,” he said mildly, “And this kind of social setting isn’t really my thing.”
She wasn’t sure what he was talking about. They seemed like affluent but basically interesting fellow guests. Yes, they were thrown together by the dining style and forced to interact, but that just livened things up.
As if he noticed her displeasure, he added, “I’ll move out to the deck, where I’ll be able to see you.”
It was true. One side of their deck looked out toward the boma, the outdoor dining enclosure surrounding a large bonfire. But Chloe just scowled, “Much good that will do.”
Lex didn’t reply, so she went to shower and change clothes before she went out to dinner. It was almost dark—eight o’clock—and she mingled with some other guests over drinks before they sat down to eat.
It was a very good meal, and she laughed a lot as the couple she sat near regaled her with tales of their eventful travels. But she privately stewed over the fact that Lex hadn’t left their suite all day.
What the hell was wrong with the man? Was he completely unable to enjoy himself? He had gone out at least a little in Quebec – couldn’t he step out of his room here?
Suddenly, it occurred to her what might be happening. The last time he’d ventured out in Quebec he’d been recognized and photographed.
Maybe—maybe—he was afraid he’d be recognized here too and they’d have to leave prematurely.
Chloe sipped the last of her wine and gazed up at the bright stars as she reflected on that possibility. And, as she realized that must be exactly what he was thinking, she was overwhelmed with gratitude, fondness, and annoyance—all mingling in her chest together.
It was so Lex-like that he’d think of that. And so Lex-like that he wouldn’t bother to tell her that’s why he wasn’t venturing out.
She shook her head, said goodbye to her new friends, and started back toward the suite.
“Chloe,” a familiar voice called from down the path.
She stopped, recognizing Michael approaching. “Hey,” she said with a grin. “What are you up to?”
“I was eating dinner at another lodge. They try to spread us out—so guests can talk to rangers as much as possible.”
“Ah – how fun for you.”
“I could think of worse jobs.” His mouth quirked up. “Although tonight I was called on to dance, which is not my favorite activity.”
“Dance?” Chloe asked, intrigued. She wouldn’t have pegged Michael as a dancer.
“One of the other lodges requested a dance, and I got roped into being a partner.”
“It wasn’t a tribal dance, was it?” Her voice was teasing.
He laughed. “Oh no. Ballroom dance.”
“You can do ballroom dance? I never would have guessed it – you’re so rugged and outdoorsy.”
“Shall I prove it?” Then, as proof, he slipped an arm around her and swung her into a dance—something resembling a waltz.
There wasn’t any music, of course, and they were by themselves on the patio off the gardens, but Chloe laughed and did the best she could to match his steps.
In another situation, she would have been totally swept off her feet by him—handsome, manly, engaging, intelligent, and paying special attention to her.
For some reason, however, she wasn’t. And even if she had been, she naturally wouldn’t do anything while she was married to Lex. Even if it wasn’t a genuine marriage, she just wasn’t that kind of a person.
But she was having fun when a cool voice broke into their laughter. “It would be more effective with some music.”
Chloe jerked to a stop and whirled around to see Lex standing and surveying them with cool disinterest. “Oh, hi! I thought you weren’t coming out.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, stepping forward and extending a hand to Michael. “I’m Chloe’s husband.”
Michael grinned and introduced himself. “It’s nice to meet you. I was beginning to think your existence was fictitious.”
“It’s not.”
Lex’s tone and attitude struck Chloe as rather rude. “Michael was my ranger on the game rides today. He’s been great.”
“And what exactly was he guiding you through just now?”
Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise. Lex was acting like . . . well, he was acting like a jealous husband.
Michael laughed agreeably. “I was just showing her how we dance here.”
Lex’s blue eyes were like granite as he looked at the other man steadily. “Is that right?”
Chloe rolled her eyes and took his arm. “Thanks, Michael. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Sure thing. Have a great night.” He strolled off with a wave and didn’t look back.
As they started back to their suite, Chloe glared up at Lex. “That was exceptionally rude. He’s been nothing but super-nice to me.”
“I saw how nice he was being to you.” Lex was tense and just as cool with her as he’d been with Michael.
“You’re being ridiculous. It was perfectly innocent. And it’s not like there’s anything real between us anyway.” Even though there wasn’t anything between them, she wouldn’t have dreamed of having an affair while she was married to Lex. But she didn’t like his high-handed manner, and she didn’t like that he was so rude to Michael.
“So that means I should simply accept without complaint my wife sneaking off in the dark to embrace another man.”
Chloe choked in outrage. “Damn you, Lex. I don’t have to put up with this.” Since they’d reached the suite by then, she stormed into the main room. Then stormed into her bedroom and closed the door.
She was careful not to slam it, since she didn’t want to look petty.
She drew a hot bath in the huge jetted and dumped some ginger-scented bath salts in it. Then she took off her clothes and stepped in, trying to relax and empty her mind from her annoyance with Lex.
How dare he think she would be so cheap and crass as to sneak off and kiss another man? How dare he think she was so sleazy that she’d jump into bed with a virtual stranger while she was married to him?
While it had crossed her mind a couple of mornings ago when she hadn’t found him in the suite in the morning, she’d come to the conclusion that Lex wouldn’t do such a thing. The least he could do is come to the same conclusion about her.
Other than his obnoxious behavior, she’d had a very nice day.
She’d never thought she’d get to come to Africa and visit a luxury game reserve resort.
She wondered what else she would get to experience in the month she was married to Lex—except for his infuriating behavior, of course.
They’d only been married seven days.
Chapter Eight
December 8
The next morning, Chloe woke up early again, a little more tired than she’d been the morning before, and stumbled out of bed to shower before her early game ride.
She dressed in jeans, a moss green camp shirt that flattered her figure, and her hiking boots. Then she went out to the main room of the suite and was shocked to see Lex standing in front of the window wall looking outside, wearing khakis and a black t-shirt.
“What’s going on?” Chloe asked, rather foolishly. But his behavior was so atypical that she was rather disoriented.
Lex turned around with a lift of his eyebrows. “I’m going on the game ride with you.”
“Oh.” She stared at him silently for a moment, trying to figure it out. She was ridiculously pleased with the decision, but she was afraid she knew the reason. “I’m not going to sneak off in the bush and screw the game ranger, you know.”
“I know you aren’t. I’m sorry I implied otherwise last night.” The words were mild but sounded genuine.
“Oh. Thank you. I guess.” Then she added, “So why are you going? I thought you were trying to keep a low profile.”
He gave her a slant-wise look. “Figured that out, did you? Yes, I was trying to keep from being recognized. But, since the game ride is private, the only person to see me will be your macho admirer.”
Chloe huffed. “Michael was just being nice. He isn’t my admirer.”
“We’ll have to disagree on that.”
“You don’t have to sacrifice your precious work time just to play escort. I’ve already told you I’m not going to sleep with him.”
“I know you’re not. But I’d rather he not have the opportunity to hit on you at all.” Before she could object to this assessment, he added with a twitch of his mouth, “Besides, since I’m here, I’d like to see a little wildlife.”
His last dry comment made Chloe feel a lot better. Like she was on familiar ground, and Lex wasn’t coming along on the ride bad-temperedly. “Well, I should certainly think so.” Glancing at her watch, she said, “We better hurry. It’s almost six.”
Michael appeared surprised to see that Lex was joining them, but he didn’t appear disappointed in the slightest. He began by casually pointing out spots of interest—highlighting the African flora and fauna—and he drove them out to the best spots to find the big game.
“Our goal this morning is to spot a leopard,” Michael said.
“Those are my favorite,” Chloe explained, looking up at Lex, who was riding in the seat beside her.
“I know that. You told me, remember?”
She had told him—when they were watching the documentary. For no good reason, she flushed a little. “Oh. Right.”
They found more elephants at the watering spot—the same group Chloe had seen yesterday, Michael told her. She loved watching the baby elephants play around in the water and the mother elephants try to keep them in line.
Lex watched with interest as well, but his absolute composure made her a little self-conscious about her own enthusiasm. She didn’t want him to think she was silly for getting so excited about baby elephants.
They drove some more and saw a black rhino, which was evidently more rare than the white rhino and therefore a great sighting. They also saw another cheetah and a pack of wild dogs, which was pretty amazing as well.
But no leopard.
“Maybe we’ll catch sight of one on the way back,” Michael said, as they stopped for coffee. “And, if not, we’ll try again this afternoon.”
Chloe nodded. “It’s all right if we don’t. I know there are no guarantees.”
Lex had been listening, she assumed, but he was now gazing off beyond Michael’s shoulder. “What’s that?” he asked in a low voice, pointing toward something in the direction he’d been looking.
They all looked.
“Serval,” Michael said, after taking a measure of the solitary animal lurking in the low grass quite a ways away. He pulled up his binoculars and looked more closely. “They’re really shy, so we don’t always see them.”
He gestured toward Chloe. “Come see.”
She moved next to him and looked through his binoculars. He helped direct them for her and then casually kept a hand on her shoulder.
She was delighted by the sight of the odd-looking, spotted cat and after a few minutes, she said, “Lex, come see!”
While Lex obviously could see without the binoculars, he would see much better with them. So she handed them to him, and he took a look—edging Michael away from Chloe as he did.
Once the serval disappeared, they started back in the jeep. To Chloe’s surprise, Lex scooted farther over in the seat and put his arm around her.
She looked up at him in confusion. He nodded toward Michael in a wordless explanation, and she rolled her eyes in response. Evidently, he still thought Michael was coming on to her.
But she was happy and tired, satisfied in all they’d seen this morning, even if they hadn’t seen a leopard. So she didn’t pull away from him. In fact, she leaned against him a little more, occasionally responding to Michael’s friendly running commentary.
After a while, she felt Lex shift against her. Then felt his breath against her head. He was really close and seemed to have been nuzzling her hair.
She arched her neck and whispered in his ear, “He’s not coming on to me.”
“He wants to,” Lex whispered back.
“He does not. He’s just friendly.”
“Not to me, he isn’t. Besides, we’re supposed to be newlyweds. If we act too unusual, he’ll start to wonder and maybe raise questions about us.”
That actually made a little sense. And it disappointed Chloe a little. If this was just for an act, then Lex’s warm, strong body and familiar scent didn’t feel quite as good.
She saw Michael glancing into the rearview mirror at them, and she realized Lex might be right. They hadn’t really been acting like newlyweds, and that might raise some obvious questions. Questions they’d do well to avoid.
So she smiled up at Lex. And she didn’t jerk away when he leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips.
And she couldn’t help but wonder how she would feel—how much better it would be—if she was experiencing this with a husband who was real.
She glanced down at her rings—the too-big Renaissance merchant ring and the antique wedding band. And she felt a sharp pang in her chest.
But she remembered all too well what had happened the last time she had let herself believe that Lex’s fond eyes and warm touch were real and lasting.
She wasn’t going to be a fool again.
After all, they’d only been married eight days.
Chapter Nine
December 9
The following morning, Lex came along on the game ride again. It was a cool, beautiful morning and they saw a remarkable range of wildlife. Still no leopards, but Chloe had a really good time.
When they came back, they ordered a late breakfast from room service and ate on their private deck. Since she was planning to relax in the sun for the rest of the morning, Chloe had showered and changed into a new dark red tankini and a matching, flimsy cover-up. Because her own wardrobe was sadly limited, she’d finally surrendered to Lex’s suggestion and had gone to buy a few new things from the resort’s exclusive boutique.
“Very nice,” Lex said, scanning her from head to foot as she emerged on to the deck to find trays of fruit, pastries, yogurt, juice and coffee.
Ridiculously pleased by the obvious admiration in his eyes and even more pleased that the cover-up hid her butt and the back of her thighs, she gave him a dry look. “You’re just trying to encourage me to relent and go on a shopping spree.”
Lex chuckled. “Why would I do that? Most husbands would be thrilled if their wives were as thrifty as you.”
“I’m not really thrifty.” Chloe settled herself on her seat and started to dish out a plate of food. “But I’m not at all comfortable letting you outfit me.”
“Whatever you would spend would barely register on my accounts.”
“I know that. But still. It’s the principle of the thing. If we were married for real, it would be different.”
Something odd reflected in Lex’s eyes, but she couldn’t quite understand it. “We are married for real. We have the certificate and the rings to prove it.”
Chloe glanced down at the rings on her left hand. “Well, yeah. But it’s not for long. So I’d feel weird about letting you buy me a whole new wardrobe since we’re just going to get divorced in a few weeks.”
Lex gave a half-shrug. “All right. The offer stands, if you change your mind.”
“Thanks, though,” she added, afraid he felt rebuffed. While it might seem like a trivial thing to feel rebuffed about, Lex was much more sensitive than most people realized. And, since he was cut off from many of the more natural ways of expressing good will, he was probably accustomed to using material things. “I appreciate it.”
They ate in generally pleasant leisure and then Lex went in to get some work done while Chloe took off her cover-up, but on some sun screen, and stretched out in the sun.
It was so nice, she thought, that it was summer here when it was winter in her part of the world.
She’d almost dozed off when she became conscious of a tickling feel on her shoulder. She slapped out at it groggily and was startled awake by the fact that she had slapped at someone else’s hand.
Her eyes flew open to land on Lex, who was leaning over her and reaching out toward her shoulder for some reason.
“What?” she gasped, sitting up in surprise and knocking Lex in the forehead in the process.
They both grunted at the impact, and Lex sat down on the edge of her chaise, rubbing his forehead.
“Sorry,” Chloe mumbled, rubbing her own head and trying to catch her breath. “What were you doing?”
“I came out for another cup of coffee and noticed there was a spider crawling up your arm.”
Chloe twitched in reaction and slapped at her arm.
“I got him,” Lex said with a smile. There was a warm look in his eyes that surprised her and caused her breath to hitch.
“Oh. Thanks.” She glanced down at her hands, feeling warm and shivery. “Sorry about your head. Is it okay?”
“Just a minor concussion.”
Since he was still rubbing his head, despite his dry words, Chloe leaned over to peer at his forehead. There was a red spot where their skulls had impacted. “Oh,” she murmured, reaching over to brush her fingers over the spot. “I hope it doesn’t bruise.”
“It’s fine. What about yours?” Lex gently removed her hand from his head and then reached over to stroke her hair away from her forehead.
Their eyes met and Chloe was overwhelmed by attraction, by emotion, by need. It suddenly felt like she was seventeen-years-old again and Lex was visiting her in the safe house.
She wanted to embrace him. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to give herself to him completely.
But that hadn’t worked out very well for her last time. And she’d been through too much, she’d grown up too much, to let herself fall for these feelings again.
She turned her head away from him and said, “My head is fine. Thanks for getting rid of the spider.”
Lex stood up. “You’re welcome. Have a good time laying out.”
When he went back inside, Chloe reclined back on the chaise. The sun still felt good, but she wasn’t as relaxed as she’d been before.
And she couldn’t help but remember.
* * *
The day after Lionel’s conviction, Lex came to see Chloe for the last time.
As far as Chloe had understood, they’d been together that summer. Lex had been out of town a lot—including at least one trip to Egypt—and his health was still not up to par, with the blood purifications he still had to undergo. But he’d come to see her often, and his visits were the only bright spots in her entire isolated summer.
Things had changed, however, after she was kidnapped by Trent and then rescued by Clark. The day after that, she’d testified against Lionel. And shortly after that Lionel was convicted.
Chloe had to now somehow return to her regular life. And Lex seemed to be a different person.
She’d originally hoped his distance and coolness was just a result of the awkwardness of shifting their relationship into a more public context, coupled with the difficulty of his father’s trial.
So, when Lex paid her a visit at her father’s apartment the day after Lionel’s conviction, Chloe hugged him, whispering, “Are you all right?”
Lex hugged her back, his arms clutching at her urgently in a way that soothed her torn feelings. “Yeah,” he murmured thickly. He brushed a few kisses into her hair. “What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
She pulled back just enough to look up into his face. His features were tense, and his eyes were deep and conflicted. She stretched up to kiss him, her lips brushing against his gently at first, then clinging to them more hungrily.
He returned the kiss with a low groan in his throat, and his fingers tangled in her hair to curl around the back of her skull. But he pulled away, much sooner than normal.
They went to sit down, and she sat next to him on the couch, wanting to be as close to him as possible.
“I’m sorry . . .” Lex had to pause to clear his throat. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
Chloe knew he was talking about her being kidnapped, when he was supposed to be protecting her. “I’m fine. I wasn’t really hurt.” She reached up to stroke his face, troubled that it was so tense. It had taken so long for her to get him to let down his guard with her this summer, get him to relax. And now it had all disappeared.
He didn’t respond. He just stared blankly at the wall across from him. And Chloe’s heart started to pound as she realized something significant had changed.
“So,” she asked, a little hesitantly, “What happens now?”
Lex turned to look at her, his eyes closed down in a way she hadn’t seen since before Lex had hidden her away. “You know things can’t continue as they’ve been, don’t you?”
She hadn’t really known that. “Yeah,” she said, her voice cracking as an ache seemed to tear her chest apart, “I figured.”
“I’ve had a good time this summer. You’ve been . . . great.” His voice wasn’t exactly cold, but there was no trace of real feeling in it—at least, no feeling except vague reluctance.
As if he was taking care of an unpleasant duty.
“Thanks,” she managed to say. “I’ve had a good time.” She had to look away from him, since it was starting to hurt so bad.
He must have picked up on something she was feeling, because he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder—like he used to do, before they’d gotten together.
Only they were never really together.
“I’m sorry, Chloe. I should have done better by you. It just happened, before I realized it. And I . . . I really enjoyed what we’ve had this summer.”
Chloe cleared her throat. “Me too.”
“But you’re only seventeen. And there’s too much going on in my life to . . .” His voice trailed off, but he didn’t really need to finish.
Chloe knew what he meant. He hadn’t set out to take advantage of her. He hadn’t really led her on. He’d needed something this summer, and she’d been able to offer it to him. But, now that the summer was over, they both had to return to their real lives.
“I know.” She tried for a fake smile, and was somewhat successful. “It would be silly to expect for us to be serious. We’re in completely different places.”
His face twisted, as if he were torn by guilt. Evidently, her words hadn’t convinced him.
She gave her head a firm shake. “I’m kind of disappointed,” she admitted. “But I’m a big girl. And I’ve never had unrealistic romantic dreams about us. It’s fine, Lex.”
She’d had unrealistic romantic dreams about Lex. At least a few. But those were private, and—even if she had a broken heart—she was going to keep what she could of her dignity.
Lex inclined his head. “I am sorry.”
“I know.” She reached over to cup his face with her palm, for the very last time. “Take care of yourself.”
Lex leaned over and kissed her once more on the mouth—softly, almost wistfully. “You too.”
* * *
Chloe sat up on her chaise, her heart aching so much she felt like crying. She breathed deeply, trying to control herself, trying not to feel torn up about the memory.
It had been ten years ago. She was long over the disappointment.
Lex came back out onto the deck with his empty cup of coffee, but he put it down when his eyes landed on Chloe.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, coming over to sit beside her again on the chaise.
Chloe shook her head a few times, trying to jar the lingering pain out of her mind. “Nothing.”
“I don’t think it’s nothing.” He reached up a hand to cup her cheek with his palm. His eyes were soft and worried—so similar to the way they’d been that summer. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
It would be so easy to let things happen as they had before. They’d sort of melt together—enjoying the closeness and the humor and the mutual support. It wasn’t like he was setting out to use her or take advantage of her – but she didn’t mean as much to him as he would mean to her. He liked her. And he was a man—he wouldn’t turn down a willing woman he generally liked.
And, when it was over, she’d be wrenched apart from him again.
Her heart would be broken again.
“It’s nothing,” she said again, standing up and pulling away from his warm hand. She was really about to cry now, and she had to get away from him. “I just got overly hot. I’m going to take another shower.”
She cried a little bit in the shower, but she felt better by the time she got out and dried off.
She was an adult. She wasn’t a silly little girl. And she wouldn’t let herself dream of things that could never be.
She’d just have to be a little more careful. But she could do it. This marriage would only last for a few more weeks.
They’d already been married nine days.
Chapter Ten
December 10
Chloe successfully avoided Lex for the rest of that day, and she was relieved the next day when he said he had to make some calls and couldn’t come on the morning game ride.
The ride didn’t seem nearly as fun as it had when Lex had come along.
When she returned, she didn’t see Lex in the suite, although the foldaway glass walls were both open. She glanced into his bedroom and his bathroom, but he wasn’t there either.
She was wondering if he’d left to go somewhere when she finally spotted him outside. He was standing facing the lush expanse of African bush, just in front of the infinity pool. He obviously hadn’t heard her arrive.
He was wearing dark gray shorts and an expensive white camp shirt. She almost never saw him dressed so casually. In fact, he wasn’t even wearing shoes.
Something about him struck her as she stood inside and watched him. One of his hands was in his pocket, and the other was idly rubbing his opposite arm. There was nothing obvious in his stance or position, but she somehow felt he wasn’t happy. Something wistful, or poignant, or lonely about the way he was standing hit her hard.
It was irrational, of course. There was absolutely no reason why she would have interpreted his stance in that way. But she did.
He looked lonely somehow.
Last night, she’d come to a mental resolution to distance herself from him emotionally as much as possible—in order to protect her heart. But she felt a powerful compulsion as she watched him now, and there was no way she could resist it.
If he was sad, then she wanted to comfort him.
She was used to acting on instinct. That was what had gotten her into this situation with Lionel to begin with. But she followed her instincts now and quietly walked outside onto their deck to where Lex was standing.
“Hey,” she said softly, coming up beside him. “You all right?”
He gave a little jerk—evidence that he’d been so caught up in his brooding thoughts that he hadn’t heard her approach. But all he said was, “Sure. How was your ride?”
“Good. Still no leopard.”
“Maybe tonight.”
“Maybe.”
Chloe studied his face, trying to read his expression. But it showed nothing but stoic composure. “You all right?” she asked again.
His brow lowered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug. “It just seemed like . . . I don’t know. You don’t normally stand out here and admire the scenery.”
“It’s beautiful,” he said, his eyes focused on a mountain in the distance.
“I know. I love it. Thank you so much for taking me here. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.”
When he didn’t reply, she followed up, “Do you think so too?”
His forehead creased the way it did when he was thinking something over. “It’s up there. Not the most beautiful, though.”
“What’s the most beautiful?” She was genuinely curious, and she also wanted to continue the conversation, since it seemed to be successfully pulling Lex out of whatever slump he’d been suffering from.
“Probably Provence.”
“In France?” Chloe asked, vaguely surprised. She’d thought Lex would choose some sort of majestic, sublime mountain landscape. “I’ve never been. Why is it so beautiful?”
“Something about the sunlight there.”
He sounded a little distracted, and Chloe was worried he was falling back into his mood. “Anything happen this morning?” she asked, wondering if he’d heard something of Lionel and if that’s what had brought him down. “Any sign of your dad?”
“No. Nothing. It’s been a quiet morning.”
Somehow, he seemed to be drifting away from her—but she couldn’t quite define how it was she sensed it. It would have been wisest, probably, to just let him do so.
But Chloe just didn’t want to.
She reached out and put a hand on his arm. “You’re freaking me out a little, Lex. Are you sure everything is all right?”
Finally, he turned toward her completely. He tilted his head to study her face, his eyes so penetrating they were almost scary. Then finally he twitched his mouth and said, “I’d hate to freak you out. Why all the concern? I thought you were giving me the cold shoulder.”
Chloe’s breath hitched and her cheeks warmed a little. “Sorry if I was standoffish yesterday.” She thought for a moment to figure out a way to answer him honestly without giving too much away. Finally, she said, “It’s a little awkward sometimes. This marriage, I mean.”
“I know it is. But I thought we were doing all right.”
“We were. I mean, we mostly are.”
“What specifically feels awkward to you?”
This was getting far too close to the secrets of her heart, but she managed to muddle through a somewhat sensible answer. “I guess it’s just keeping that balance between being good partners and not being . . . not being . . . intimate.”
Lex’s eyebrows shot up.
Chloe flushed. “Not like that. I just mean that being married throws us into situations that require a certain amount of intimacy. And our relationship isn’t like that. It isn’t intimate like that.”
He nodded. “I know. But I believe we can work through that.”
He sounded so confident that it actually gave her confidence. “I think we can too. But that’s where the awkwardness comes. For me, at least. Especially with our history . . .” She trailed off.
“That complicates things,” he murmured, “I realize that.”
Chloe was silent. There was nothing they could say. They both knew what had happened between them and none of it could be taken back.
After a long moment, Lex asked, almost hesitantly, “Is there anything you need to change about our arrangement?”
Chloe took the question seriously. And, despite her panic the day before, she realized that she could do this. She could like Lex. Work with him. Appreciate him for what he was. Even enjoy his company. But just protect her heart and not take anything between them too seriously.
It would make things so much easier if she didn’t keep doing the emotional hokey-pokey. She didn’t have to keep pulling back from Lex. She just needed to keep things in proper perspective.
And that was something she could do.
“No,” she said at last. “I think we’re doing fine.” She saw something change in his eyes—a flicker of something she couldn’t recognize.
But, feeling comfortable again, she quirked her mouth into a smile. “Except, of course, the need to change your obnoxious, domineering habits.”
Lex smiled appreciatively. “Understood.”
“What about you?” Chloe asked, remembering his weird poignancy earlier. “Is there anything you’d like to change about the way we’re together?”
“Well . . .”
When he trailed off, Chloe sucked in a breath. And all of a sudden she was afraid that Lex was going to drop a bombshell on her—something he was deeply unhappy about regarding their pseudo-marriage.
“I’ve tried to hint about this before,” Lex began, his mouth sobering into a serious look. “And I don’t want to hurt your feelings. But do you think there’s anything you can do about your nagging?”
Chloe blinked, processing his words.
Realized he was teasing.
Gasping indignantly, she hissed, “Asshole!” Although she really kind of wanted to laugh.
Then she was slammed with an irresistible impulse. She never would have given into it if Lex hadn’t been barefoot and dressed so casually. And she never would have given into it if they hadn’t just come to comfortable terms with their relationship.
But both were true.
And he was far too smug with his teasing. Even now, at her reaction, his mouth was quivering irrepressibly.
So she did it.
She pushed him into the plunge pool.
He gave an exclamation of shock as he fell awkwardly into the water with a huge splash. Then he sputtered in outrage, denouncing her malicious ways in terms that would have been more effective if he hadn’t been soaked and choking on water.
Chloe nearly doubled over with laughter, her hilarity only increasing as Lex’s outrage took on force.
“Serves you right,” she told him, gasping for breath. “You’re far too full of yourself.”
“Is that what you think?” Lex asked. His voice transformed without warning, grew silky, almost predatory.
Chloe straightened up, studying his drenched form in the pool to identify his mood. He wasn’t serious, she ascertained. Ironic amusement was glittering in his eyes. “Yes,” she said, trying to nod gravely but not succeeding because she couldn’t stop giggling. “I’m afraid so.”
“If you know me so well,” Lex replied, moving toward the edge of the pool and planting his hands on the side to heave himself up, “Then you know I’ll retaliate.”
It only took Chloe a moment to figure out what he was talking about. But it was a moment she should have been using to flee.
As soon as he started to pull himself out of the water, she twirled around and ran, squealing in both laughter and excitement.
She raced to her room, where she was planning to lock the door against Lex’s assault. But he must have pulled himself out of the pool with super-human strength because he was right on her heels.
Screaming something wordless, the only breathless expression she could make of her hilarity and her resistance to Lex’s pursuit, she slammed her bedroom door, just as he was about to enter.
She hadn’t quite gotten in locked when he threw it opened.
She stumbled from the force of the suddenly opened door. Gasping, laughing, and calling him every dirty name she could think of, she tried to scramble up so she could escape to the bathroom.
But escape didn’t come.
Lex reached down and hauled her up, his eyes blazing with something so rare for him—laughter, exhilaration, victory. There was nothing soft or fond about him at the moment. He was soaking wet, water dripping from his fine body, his clothes pasted to his skin. And there was something almost fierce, even about his amusement.
Chloe tried futilely to fight him off, although her resistance was hampered by her laughter. And so he succeeded in swinging her over his shoulder to carry her back out to the deck.
She squealed and pounded his back—her heart racing, her blood pounding, and something vibrantly alive in her heart despite her helpless position.
And she knew what to expect when he reached the pool. She clung resiliently to his shirt as he dropped her into the pool, so she was able to offset his balance and pull him into the pool with her.
They ended in a clumsy, wet tumble. They wrestled around for a few more minutes until Chloe finally gasped, “Fine, fine. We’ll call it a draw.”
Water dripping down his face, Lex still managed an arrogant arch of his eyebrows. “Is that what you’d call it?”
“Well, yes. Admit it. I got you good.”
With a laugh she loved but hardly ever heard, Lex climbed out of the pool and reached down to help her out too. “All right.”
She accepted his hand, since they were both obviously ready to get dried off and out of the wet clothes. He pulled her up so she was standing in front of him, and then their eyes met with a warm kind of understanding.
To her absolute astonishment, Lex pulled her into a hard hug. And he murmured against her ear, “I admit it. You got me good.”
After the brief hug, they went into their separate rooms to dry off and change clothes. And Chloe was ridiculously pleased with the way the morning had gone.
This could work. They could be friends. They could be partners. They could get through this and still come out unscathed.
They didn’t have to be anything else to each other.
And they’d only been married ten days.
You can find the prologue and the chapters on the NS Advent Calendar website (http://network.naughty-seduction.net/advent/). A new chapter will be posted each day from December 1st until December 25th!
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Married for Christmas
Author: Zannie
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Veers off from canon after Season 4
Category: Christmas romance
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Smallville or its characters. No infringement intended.
Summary: An unconventional plan for eluding Lionel’s trap.
Author’s note: This story is reminiscent of “Road Tripping” in a number of ways—although it’s not as young in mood and character as that story was. As you will quickly see, I had to go through a series of plot convolutions in order to get the narrative set-up I needed, so I’d suggest you not spend too much time assessing plausibility! This story is more about romance and character anyway. I had to resurrect Lionel, since I couldn’t think of a believable premise for this particular story that didn’t involve him. The prologue may seem rather intense with the Lionel stuff, but the story won’t be dark or angsty.
* * *
Prologue
Chloe had no idea how she’d gotten into this mess again.
She’d just been following a story—one she thought had nothing to do with either of the Luthors. The Kyring Foundation was a charitable organization in Metropolis that Chloe was assigned to profile for her web magazine. She never would have dug as deeply into their activities had she realized where the investigation would lead.
She remembered all too well how it felt to be Lionel Luthor’s prey.
“Are you threatening me?” he asked her now, in a silky, dangerous voice. “I’d be careful, Miss Sullivan. Very careful. Didn’t you learn your lesson last time?”
“Last time I was a teenager,” Chloe replied, stiffening her spine and trying not to convey the fear rising in her gut. “That was ten years ago. I’m an adult now. And I know what I’m doing.”
She didn’t. Not really. But she couldn’t think of anything else to do.
“Do you?” Lionel moved like a predator, circling her slowly, his hazel eyes as hard and cold as ice. “I don’t think you really do. Trying to blackmail me doesn’t show a great deal of foresight.”
Chloe wished she’d never come to his office. Wished she weren’t alone. Wished she’d never started down the path of this investigation that had led her to a certain truth about Lionel Luthor’s involvement with the Kyring Foundation, a truth that left her in danger. “I’m not blackmailing you. I’m protecting myself. Sure, you have the potential to hurt me. But I can hurt you back.”
“Is that what you think? You’re dealing from a position of fear, Miss Sullivan, and I’ll always be able to recognize that.”
Unfortunately, Chloe believed that was true.
“This time,” Lionel added, “You don’t even have my disappointment of a son to run to for help.”
The reference to Lex only served to heighten Chloe’s anxiety.
“Did you think I couldn’t predict this little parry of yours?” Lionel’s tone was patronizing, made her feel about five years old.
“How could you have predicted it?”
“You might be surprised by what I am capable of. Underestimating your adversary will always mean you put yourself in their power.” He approached closer now and leaned over slightly, so close his breath blew a strand of hair from her throat. “I could kill you right now.”
“Maybe,” she admitted, her voice steady despite the fact that she’d broken out in a cold sweat. “But I’ve taken precautions. And everything you want to keep hidden will come to light if I should happen to die.”
He chuckled. “How delightfully clichéd. I’m sure I could work around that. But you might also consider that there are other things I could do to you.”
Chloe was in way over her head, but she wasn’t about to admit it to Lionel. She’d hated him in high school, when he used her for his own purposes, and she hated him even more now. “Is that what you think?”
“That’s what I know. There are still a few people you love.”
She sucked in a hard breath, thinking of her father, of Lois.
Lionel smiled. “Florida isn’t that far away,” he murmured.
Gabe Sullivan was living in Florida now, and Chloe felt ill at the thought of her poor father paying the price for her foolishness. “If you even touch him, the entire world will know what I know about you.”
“Perhaps. But there’s more,” Lionel continued. “Jobs are tenuous things, you know. You could lose yours – just like your father did ten years ago.”
She swallowed, surprised by an entirely different pang in her heart over the way her father had been treated back in Smallville. “Nice try. I’ll be at my job only for the rest of the year. Just another month. If you use your connections to get me fired, it won’t be the end of the world.”
“That’s good. Because you’ve already lost it.”
Chloe gasped in genuine surprise. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Check your phone. There will be a message from your supervisor.”
Her hand shaking a little, she pulled out her phone and checked the screen. Saw her boss’s number on the caller ID. She’d already arranged to leave her job at the web magazine at the end of December in order to start a much more prestigious and lucrative job as associate editor at a Metropolis city magazine in January. But still . . . it was a blow.
And more so since it proved how far ahead of her Lionel actually was.
“Well, it will just give me a longer Christmas vacation,” she said gamely, doing her best to hide her reaction.
“That was a warning. Your new job—such a coup to earn such a position so young—is every bit as tenuous as the job you just lost.” He circled until he stood in front of her again. “Do you doubt me? Will you really risk it? You could be without any job at all. And, in this economy, that would be a shame.”
“Bastard,” she hissed, suddenly overcome by how infinitely trapped she’d somehow become.
She’d known things weren’t entirely under control, but she hadn’t thought they were as bad as this.
He tsked his tongue, “Now there’s no call for that kind of talk. I believe I’ve just proved that there’s no way you can touch me – without losing everything yourself. So the information you’ve found isn’t as helpful as you’d hoped.” He smiled, as dangerous as a viper. “You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll figure out what to do. I’ll be in touch.”
It was a dismissal. Chloe understood that much. And, since her throat had closed up with panic, she turned and marched out of the sleek office with as much composure as she could muster.
She hadn’t set out to investigate Lionel Luthor. She’d wanted nothing to do with the man. But she followed leads, wherever they took her.
And somehow they’d taken her here. Knowing something she should never know about him. Something he would make sure she never shared with anyone else.
It wasn’t a position in which any sane person would want to be.
When she made it out of the LuthorCorp building, she stood on the Metropolis sidewalk, pale with fear and breathing too fast as she tried to decide what to do.
She felt naked, vulnerable, in her black trench coat and black leather boots, standing by herself on a gray day in the middle of the city. But she wasn’t helpless. She was clever and creative and brave. She would think of something to dig herself out of this hole.
A solution would appear.
A black chauffeured car pulled up to the curb directly in front of her. Before she could process who it might be, the back door opened. A voice she recognized said, “Chloe, get in.”
She stared at the open door. She couldn’t see the speaker, but of course she knew who it was. And she wasn’t about to get involved with another Luthor.
“Chloe, he might change his mind about keeping you alive. Is that a risk you’re willing to take? Get in!”
Chloe thought quickly. He was right. Lionel might change his mind, if he thought for even a moment that the other holds he had over Chloe wouldn’t keep her from becoming a danger to him.
Chloe didn’t like Lex anymore. And she didn’t really trust him.
But he didn’t want to kill her.
So she got into the car.
“Are you going to try to convince me that you just happened to be passing by?” she asked, settling herself in the plush backseat of the car.
She hadn’t seen Lex in such close proximity for more than six years. He was in his mid-thirties now – more character etched on his face and his lean body not quite so boyishly slim. But the sleek bald head, the deep blue-gray eyes, and the sophisticated authority with which he held himself were just the same as she remembered.
And she still felt the same unwilling attraction for the man she’d always felt, although tempered now by distance and experience.
The corner of Lex’s mouth twitched up in a look of ironic amusement she also well remembered. “No. Obviously I was expecting you.”
“It’s a little creepy that you know every little thing your father does.”
“Maybe. But surveillance is necessary. Ignorance is the most serious disadvantage in warfare.”
Chloe knew he wasn’t exaggerating in comparing his relationship with his father to a war. For the last eight years, LexCorp and LuthorCorp had been waging a sustained battle for control of the Metropolis business scene, both corporations swallowing up smaller companies in their strategic and sometimes ruthless expansions. Local politicians were forced into making alliances with one or the other, and the feud had implications even on the national level.
She made a face but didn’t reply. Her panic earlier had eased in intensity—thanks to Lex’s bullet-proof car and his smooth competence at everything he did. If he wanted to keep her safe, he would.
She hadn’t relaxed, though. Getting involved with Lex was just as dangerous as getting involved with Lionel.
It was just a danger of a different variety.
“I’ll admit I was surprised when I learned that you’d embroiled yourself with my father again. I thought you would have learned better last time.” He idly twisted a gold ring on his right hand.
The gesture struck Chloe suddenly as being out of character. Lex had been young in Smallville, and not fully in control of his emotions or responses. But he wasn’t young anymore. And he was always in control. She was surprised that he’d do something as revealing as fidget with the ring.
Since, however, there were more important issues at stake here, she moved the thought to the back of her mind and replied, “I didn’t pursue this intentionally. Sometimes things just . . . happen. One thing led to the next and suddenly I was . . .” She exhaled thickly and concluded, “Trapped.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “And, once you found yourself trapped, you tried to handle it on your own rather than seeking help?”
“Help? From whom exactly? You think I should really trust the police? In Metropolis?”
Lionel had his fingers everywhere in the city. Obviously, not every law-enforcement professional was corrupt, but you just couldn’t assume they were all above reproach.
“I wasn’t referring to the police,” Lex murmured, his eyes never leaving her face.
A few years ago, Chloe would have sought help from the one person she’d always trusted. The person she knew was capable of protecting her. But she and Clark weren’t really friends anymore. He’d still help her. She knew that. He’d keep her alive. But her physical safety wasn’t the only thing she was worried about. “Exactly who do you think I should have turned to for help who would be powerful enough to stand against your father?”
Lex didn’t reply with words. He just kept gazing at her, his eyes steady and his mouth relaxed.
Chloe sucked in a breath. “What? You think I should have turned to you?”
“I’m capable of helping you. And I’m willing.”
She almost choked on her outrage. “Why the hell should that matter? You might be the lesser of two evils, Lex, but that still doesn’t leave me in very good hands.”
The words were harsher than she’d expected, harsher than she’d intended. And she saw a flicker of reaction on Lex’s face before he masked it.
Ridiculously, Chloe felt guilty for wounding him. She knew he wasn’t evil. She knew he wasn’t really like his father, even though for the last several years he seemed to have shaped his persona that way.
“You trusted me once,” Lex said mildly.
“That was years ago,” she bit out. “I don’t even know you anymore.”
Lex glanced away from her, staring out the window for a long moment. “You know that’s not true,” he said at last.
It wasn’t. She did know him. She’d always known him. And all the years and what had come between them back then hadn’t really change that.
“I kept you safe from my father then. I can do it now.” Lex’s face was utterly composed again, and his matter-of-fact voice seemed to echo in her memory. “I’m the only choice you’ve got.”
“It’s not just a matter of keeping me safe.”
“I know that. My people have already moved your father into a safe house in Florida.”
“What?” Chloe swallowed over the revealing word she kept repeating, wishing she could mask her emotions like the Luthors always did. But she just wasn’t built that way.
“All my father has done so far was get you fired from a job you were leaving in a month anyway. Do you really think that’s all he will do to try to keep you in line? Do you understand the potential you have to damage him? He’s not going to take it easy on you. I will certainly have my security personnel pull back from protecting your father, but I don’t think you really want me to do so.”
She didn’t. She would do anything to keep her father safe. But it just pulled her deeper into involvement—dependence—on Lex. And that wasn’t something she wanted. Not anymore.
“Thank you,” she managed to say. “Lois?”
“We tried. She refused. But she said she had another way to keep herself safe.”
Chloe knew what that was. Knew Lois would be safe too. Clearing her throat, she said, “But my dad can’t stay in the safe house forever.”
“Of course not. In January, the Kyring project will be complete, right? You will no longer be a threat to him.”
Chloe thought about this. She’d been so overwhelmed she hadn’t fully thought through the future. “Maybe. But you don’t think he’d try to . . . to . . .”
“To hurt you out of vengeance even after the threat is over? Only if you hurt him first. Did you want to reveal what you know about him just out of spite?”
“No. No!” She swallowed hard. “I just want him to leave me alone.”
“All right. Then we’ll keep you and your father safe until January. You won’t damage my father, so he won’t have any reason to damage you.”
She stared at Lex. Saw the confidence in his eyes. And she realized that he knew his father better than anyone on earth. If he was sure of this, then she could be sure of it too. Feeling a little better, she asked, “But my job? My new one. If he knows you’re keeping me safe, he’ll try to take that from me as well.”
Lex nodded. “Yes. He will.”
Chloe made a face, looking away, fighting to control her emotions. It was heart-breaking – the idea of losing the job she’d worked so hard to earn. But if that was the price she had to pay for her stubbornness and careless ambition, then she would do it without complaint.
“I have an idea about that too,” Lex said mildly.
She turned back to him, hope flaring up at his words. It struck her that there was a certain kind of illogic in believing Lex now—after all the distance that had grown between them—but she did.
“My father doesn’t care about morality. He doesn’t care about money for its own sake. He doesn’t care about family ties, loyalty, or human affection.” He said the words blandly, as if they meant nothing to him. “But I have learned over the years that there are certain things he does care about.”
Chloe thought about that. “Power.”
“Yes,” Lex agreed. “That’s his primary motivator. And part of the power he’s built up for himself is based on his reputation.”
“Reputation,” Chloe repeated, trying to make her mind work enough to follow the thought through to its logical conclusion. “Maybe.”
“He doesn’t seek the reputation of a good man. But he also can’t move forward with the reputation of a monster. Or a reputation for disloyalty.”
Chloe frowned, “How does that help me?”
“If you lose your new job right now and he gets associated with that fact, it won’t hurt him in any real sense.”
“Obviously, but—“
“But if you were linked to him more closely, taking your job away would significantly damage his reputation.”
Chloe felt like she was trying to watch a movie in fast-forward. “I don’t understand. How am I linked to him?”
“You aren’t right now. But, if you were, then he couldn’t maneuver you out of a job without damaging his reputation more than he’d be willing to allow.”
She pushed her hair back behind her ears with a huff of frustration. “Linked to him how?”
Lex glanced away, almost idly. “If you were his daughter-in-law, for instance.”
It took Chloe a full thirty seconds to process this. When she finally did, shock, anger, and disbelief washed over her in a hot wave. “What? What? Marry you?”
He met her eyes evenly. “Obviously, it’s rather unconventional. But it’s the only thing I can think of that would keep him from getting you fired.”
“But what . . . How . . .?”
“If you were his daughter-in-law, there’s no way my father would risk the damage to his reputation by threatening your job. I guarantee it.”
Chloe stared at him. She believed him. While it wasn’t something that would ever have crossed her mind, she knew he was speaking the truth.
But that didn’t mean it was a good idea.
“You think my job is so important to me that I’d actually marry you? Really, Lex!”
“You’re making the marriage more serious than it has to be. We would just need to be married for a month. Then we could get divorced, and you could go on with your life and your job. Remember, in January, the Kyring project will be complete—the most serious stakes for my father will be over—so you’ll no longer be in danger.”
“And he wouldn’t –“ She shook her head hard, trying to think. “He won’t do something afterwards, just out of spite for the way we tricked him?”
“How do you think his reputation would fare if it became known that he’d gotten the woman fired who just divorced his son? You think he’d let himself look so petty? I’ve thought this through, Chloe. It can work. I can keep you safe and you can keep your job. If you’re willing to go through with it.”
No one could solve puzzles and follow through on nuanced possibilities like Lex could. If he’d come to the conclusion that this was the only way to accomplish everything they needed accomplished, then it was.
But still . . .
“You think our marrying is really a good idea?” she asked, twisting her hands in her lap. “After . . . after what happened between us back then?”
Back then was back in Smallville. Ten years ago.
Lex gave a half-shrug. “That was a long time ago. And obviously this would be a marriage of convenience. I wouldn’t want or expect marital favors.”
Ridiculously, the neutral way he’d spoken the words made Chloe feel a little insulted. He’d been attracted to her once. And she was better-looking now than she’d been in high school.
At least, most people thought she was.
“Well, obviously,” she said. “But it still seems kind of weird.”
“It would be a business arrangement – one that happens to be convenient for both of us.”
“Why is it convenient for you?” she asked, the question coming to her suddenly – although it should have occurred to her several minutes ago. “Why are you helping me at all? What’s in this for you?”
He looked at her steadily, absolutely nothing revealed in his handsome features and slate blue eyes.
“Oh,” she said, the truth hitting her with a ridiculous flicker of disappointment. She should have known he wasn’t in this just to help her. “Of course. Quite a victory for you, getting ahead of your father like this. Taking his power away when it will matter to him. You want to use me to win this little battle with your father.”
He inclined his head. “So we use each other. For a month. After Christmas, we can go back to our own lives.”
However crazy the plan was, Chloe was taking it seriously. Despite what she said, she did trust Lex. Not to be a good man, or a safe one, or a soft one.
But to do what he said he would do.
“So I have to spend Christmas with you?” she asked, her tone different, lighter.
As soon as she said the words, she knew she’d made up her mind.
Lex’s mouth quirked up briefly. “Unpleasant, yes. But necessary.”
“I won’t spend another month in a safe house. You can’t just hide me away and throw away the key.”
“I didn’t think you’d be willing to do that, although obviously that’s the surest way of protecting you.”
Chloe shrugged. “Maybe. But I can’t live that way again. Especially over the holidays. Can you protect me still?”
“Of course.”
Chloe released a gusty sigh as she realized a smaller but inevitable consequence of this plan. “I was going out of town this Christmas – my first real vacation in years.”
“Where were you going?”
“Quebec with some friends.”
“So we’ll go. We can call it a honeymoon.”
Chloe’s lips parted. “Excuse me?”
He actually chuckled, a warm, rich sound that sent shudders of memory and feeling down her spine. “We covered that, remember? It’s a marriage of convenience. But the world will expect for us to go on a honeymoon. If you want to go to Quebec, we can.”
“If I’m going on a honeymoon, maybe I want to go somewhere better – like Fiji or something.” Her words were teasing, and she had no idea how she felt comfortable enough in this car, in this situation, to tease Lex.
But she did.
His lips quivered slightly, the only sign of a response. “So we’ll go to Fiji too. I can work from anywhere in the world, and we have a whole month. We can go wherever you want.”
Suddenly, Chloe realized that there would be certain advantages to being married to Lex Luthor, advantages she hadn’t considered before. He was a billionaire. And she could go places, experience things, she never would have otherwise.
It would just be a month. And then she would be free. Safe. And with her new job.
She studied his face carefully – the sculpted features, the faint lines next to his eyes and beside his mouth, the depth and steadiness of his beautiful eyes. The lips—softer now than they’d been when she first entered the car. Softer than she’d seen them for years, since Smallville.
And that brought back a memory – slamming into her so powerfully, so viscerally, it was like she was experiencing it again.
* * *
She was seventeen years old that summer, and Lex was protecting her from his father. She’d been clever and gutsy, but she’d also been innocent. And Lex had been her lifeline, her only link to the world.
He’d come to visit her in the safe house, probably more than he should have. At first, their relationship had been awkward. He’d been really sick—after having been poisoned and having his skin torn up by the glass table he’d fallen into. She’d tried her best to take care of him when he came by, and eventually he started to let her.
She’d warmed to him more quickly than she’d expected, maybe because he’d seemed so uncharacteristically helpless. Then he’d warmed up to her too. He was a guarded man, even then, and it was hard for him to lower his walls. But he had – with her. Eventually they’d become friends.
Closer friends as the summer went on.
One evening they were sitting on her little couch. He’d brought her a bar of the most delicious Swiss chocolate, but he’d been in a rare, teasing mood and was holding it away from her as she tried to claim it.
Chloe had been overwhelmed with warmth and giddiness. She knew they’d gotten closer, but their interaction had always been more brother-sisterly than romantic.
He was older than her—untouchable in so many ways—and he could have any woman he wanted.
But there seemed to be a new light in his eyes that evening. She couldn’t help but respond to it, even as she playfully denounced him for his cruelty.
She’d reached for the chocolate bar, grabbing his chest with one hand as the other stretched out toward where he was extending the candy.
His arm was longer than hers, and she couldn’t reach it.
His body was warm and lean and strong, and she was basically draped on top of him. Thrills of feeling and excitement spiraled through her, but she wasn’t overwhelmed enough to give up the challenge.
She tickled him, just on the side of his ribs.
He jerked, his arm bending enough for her to snatch the chocolate bar. But her victory was only short-lived. Before she could even draw a full breath, he had her on her back on the couch, and he was tickling her ruthlessly. She was squealing and laughing helplessly. The chocolate fell forgotten to the floor.
And all she could see was Lex’s compelling face, laughing, hovering above hers. His warm, deep eyes.
Something changed before either of them realized it, and his hands stilled on her body. Then his face sobered, his expression deepened and softened. And his face lowered toward hers.
When their lips met, sensations Chloe had never imagined swelled up inside her. She’d responded immediately, her mouth clinging to his, her arms twining eagerly around his neck.
The first kiss hadn’t lasted long, and they’d pulled back to stare at each other, panting and disoriented.
Then Chloe—acting on an impulse she couldn’t deny—had pulled his head down toward hers again, claiming his mouth with an entitlement that surprised her. Lex had responded. His mouth had opened to hers. He’d groaned softly against her lips, the sound sending vibrations through her body.
She was only seventeen. And he’d completely swept her off her feet.
It was a long time before he left that evening.
* * *
Even now, ten years later, that first kiss was the sweetest thing she’d ever experienced.
The memory of it hit her so hard she had to close her eyes in the back of Lex’s car, aching from the pure power of that kiss and from all of the complexities that had followed it.
When she opened her eyes, she looked at Lex, and she saw something matching in his eyes, even though his expression was as composed as ever.
If all she had known of Lex was his ambition, his control, his power, his sophistication, his intensity, his shattering intelligence, then she would have refused the unconventional marriage proposal.
But she knew more about him. The man who had kissed her so many years ago had been real, warm, tender. He’d felt things deeply, and he’d cared about her.
It hadn’t worked out – for so many reasons. He’d hurt her in so many ways. And he was so much more than that man now.
But he wasn’t a stranger. And she could trust him to keep his word.
She swallowed hard. Then she said with an amused lilt of her voice, “So I don’t even get a ring or anything?”
With a huff of laughter, he thought for a minute. Then pulled from his right hand the ring he’d been fidgeting with before. Handing it to her, he said with casual ease, “Here. You can wear that as an engagement ring.”
Surprised, Chloe stared down at the ring speechlessly. The ring was like nothing she’d ever seen. It was a man’s ring, but not as big and bulky as a class ring. It made of heavy, aged gold, without any gems or extra ornamentation. The octagon-shaped front was wider than the band and flat with intricate symbols engraved on it. “What is it?” she breathed.
“It’s a Renaissance merchant ring from the sixteenth-century,” Lex explained, nothing revealed in his voice but idle interest. “They were used like signet rings, to seal documents and verify identity. But they were used by merchants who didn’t have a family lineage. They created their own crest and put it on their merchant rings.”
Chloe was strangely affected by the beauty and history of the ring – and also by Lex’s diffident explanation.
She slipped the ring onto the ring finger of her left hand. It was too big, of course, but not so big that she couldn’t keep it on.
Breaking the odd mood—since there was no legitimate reason for her to feel such intimate tension—she said with a grin, “It doesn’t fit. How appropriate.”
Lex gave her an amused half-smile. “You’ll just have to wear it for a month.”
Chloe was going to wear Lex’s ring for the month of December. However absurd it all seemed, she was apparently going to do this.
Lex must have been able to see the decision on her face. His mouth twitched again. “What do you say, Chloe Sullivan? Do you want to marry me for Christmas?”
Despite everything—despite the danger she was in from Lionel and the high stakes to what they were doing—she couldn’t help but smile back.
And she said, “I do.”
Chapter One
December 1
Chloe and Lex got married at four o’clock the next afternoon in front of a justice of the peace.
Lex must have expedited the marriage license because everything was ready when they arrived at the courthouse. All Chloe had to do was sign the certificate and say “I do.”
The announcement of their marriage had made the morning papers. It had to be made public immediately, or Lionel might start to plot a response. Chloe’s phone had been ringing off the hook all morning, every one of her friends, acquaintances, and rivals calling her up to see what was going on.
After explaining a hundred times that a whirlwind romance with Lex had preceded this and that, yes, she knew it was really fast, she finally turned off her phone.
She had no idea what to wear to wed Lex Luthor in a fake marriage. She wasn’t about to wear white, and she didn’t have time to buy something new anyway. So she just wore her best suit, one she’d only worn once to the wedding of a college friend. It was made of a smoky lilac silk, with a knee-length pencil skirt and fitted jacket. She wore it with her best heels and pinned her hair up into a French twist.
When Lex’s security, who had camped out in her apartment since yesterday, escorted her down to Lex’s waiting limo, her stomach was twisting with nerves. She hadn’t slept at all that night, with questions and worries and the realization that this idea was absolutely insane crowding her mind without relief.
But in the morning she couldn’t think of any better plan, so she didn’t know what to do but go through with this one.
Lex wasn’t in the limo. It drove her to the courthouse, where she entered by a back door.
She saw Lex for the first time when she was led into a private room in the building. He was standing with his back to the door, reading something in a file folder.
His lean figure and broad shoulders in the beautifully tailored gray suit were so compelling that Chloe’s belly did a strange little flop.
Then he turned around, and they stared at each other.
After a moment, Chloe was able to process more than his steady blue eyes. And soon she realized that he’d paired his charcoal-colored suit with a lilac silk tie that almost matched her suit.
She blinked. And Lex, registering her outfit, had a similar expression of surprise.
It was like they’d dressed to match each other.
For no good reason, Chloe’s cheeks flushed at the idea. But she pushed the self-consciousness out of her mind. It didn’t matter. In fact, since photographers would be grouped outside to take pictures of them afterwards, their choice of clothes would probably end up helping, making it look like they were really a couple.
But it embarrassed her for some reason.
Trying to hide her reaction, she asked lightly, “You ready for this?”
“Of course. You?”
“Let’s get it over with.” She bit her lip and looked around. No one else was supposed to know this was fake, so she’d have to be careful.
He gave a little nod and reached out for her hand. His was warm, and hers was cold.
Then they got married in a ceremony that lasted about five minutes.
The next couple of hours passed in a dazed blur. They exited by the front doors of the courthouse, met by swarms of reporters who snapped pictures and tried to ask them intrusive questions as Lex’s security escorted them to the waiting limo.
Then they went to the Metropolis Grand Hotel, where they had an elegant reception—small but incredibly expensive—attended primarily by the closest of Lex’s business and political allies. She understood why he’d arranged the reception. They had to make it look like this marriage was real, or it wouldn’t be an obstacle to Lionel.
But Chloe didn’t know anyone and—although she tried to play the role of besotted bride—she soon got tired of making small talk and smiling fatuously up at Lex, who was in his element as he schmoozed with cool polish. She also got tired of being called “Mrs. Luthor.”
Eventually, they were able to go up to their suite on the top floor of the hotel.
As soon as she entered the main room, she was greeted to the sight of double doors leading into a bedroom with a huge, luxurious bed.
Chloe gulped.
“It’s not the honeymoon suite,” Lex said. He was standing beside her, and his expression was unreadable. “It’s the presidential suite. There are two bedrooms.”
Chloe flushed hotly and release a thick breath. “Of course.” Nervously, she twisted the merchant ring on her left hand. It stayed on her finger better now, since it was paired with the antique wedding band Lex had placed on her finger at the marriage ceremony earlier.
Lex was wearing one too – the matching ring she’d put on his left hand.
“Won’t it look strange tomorrow morning, when the staff cleans up the suite and sees both beds were slept in?”
Lex gave a half-shrug. “It won’t be strange. It’s always been my habit.”
“What?”
“I have always gotten a two-room suite—with all of my previous wives and girlfriends. Hotels in Metropolis and many around the world are familiar with my habit.”
Chloe had no idea how to respond to that piece of information. So, trying not to feel so self-conscious, she looked around the gorgeous suite, decorated in elegant shades of blue and silver. “I know we just came from the reception,” she said, “But I was too nervous there to eat much. So I’m kind of hungry.”
“Of course.” Lex nodded toward the intimate dining table near the large expanse of windows. On the table were several silver trays, and next to it a champagne bucket on a stand.
Chloe walked over to check out the goodies, lifting the covers to see lobster canapés, a cheese tray, smoked salmon and an assortment of fruit. “What do you mean ‘of course’?” she demanded, her mouth starting to water as she saw the food. “Are you implying I eat a lot?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he murmured, coming over to stand beside her and picking up one of the lobster canapés. After taking a bite, he said, “This is part of the hotel’s honeymoon treatment.”
Naturally. “Should we open the champagne?”
Lex glanced over at the graceful silver bucket. “I suppose. Or they’ll wonder why we didn’t.” He picked up the bottle and skillfully uncorked it with a delicious pop. He poured her a glass and handed it to her. Then poured himself a glass too.
Chloe loaded up a plate as she sipped the best champagne she’d ever had in her life. Maybe marrying Lex for a month wouldn’t be so bad.
“Well,” Lex said, balancing his plate in one hand and his champagne in the other, “I’m going to get some work done.”
She blinked at him. “You’re going to work? Now?”
Lex drew his brows together. “Why not?”
“It’s your wedding night!” She blushed a little when he lifted his eyebrows, but she continued gamely, “I wasn’t suggesting we do something else. I just meant won’t people think it’s strange if you email and call them on your wedding night.”
“Ah,” Lex murmured, as if enlightened, “There are other things I can do. And I’ve already lost the whole day with the preparations and the wedding.”
Chloe managed to bite back a snippy response about how she was sorry their marriage had gotten in the way of his work schedule. It might be official, but they weren’t really married. Not in the way that genuinely mattered.
“All right. Have fun. I’ll just take it easy – take a bath or whatever.”
“Let me know if you need anything. We’ll need to get up early. Our flight takes off at seven.”
“What?” Chloe demanded. “I thought it was a private plane. Why do we have to leave so early?”
Lex looked a little impatient. “It is a private jet. But I’ve had to go through a series of logistical convolutions to keep our location secret so my father can’t find you. I assume your desire to sleep in isn’t stronger than your desire to stay alive.”
She made a face at him – not because of what he said but because of the patronizing way in which he said it. But she just said, “Fine. Should I take this room?” She gestured toward the second bedroom – not the nicest one with the enormous bed.
“Take the other one.” Before she could object, Lex added, “It has the whirlpool tub.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Glancing over at the glass doors that led outside, she decided she might go and sit out on the large balcony. It was a fairly mild night for the first of December and the sun would be setting after not too much longer.
But before she could open the balcony door, she felt a strong hand on her arm. “What are you doing?” Lex asked, his voice slightly rough.
She stared at him in shock. “I was just going to sit outside for a while.”
“No, you’re not. I guarantee there are photographers staked out in nearby buildings with telephoto camera lenses, trying to get a picture of us on our wedding night. Not to mention the potential for my father having hired a sniper.”
Chloe hadn’t even thought of either thing, which struck her as incredibly stupid. So, both embarrassed and annoyed by Lex’s domineering tone, she jerked her arm away from his tight grip. “You don’t have to be so rude about it. We’re stuck together for a month, so we might as well try to get along.”
He pressed his lips together, obviously displeased with her. “And how would you suggest I get along better?”
“You could phrase things as questions rather than commands.”
He let out a breath. “Fine. Chloe, would it be too much trouble for you to not go out on the balcony right now and make yourself a target for tabloid photographers and snipers?” His tone was chilly and smug.
Despite her annoyance with his arrogance, she had to fight a snort of amusement at his ironic question. Trying to keep her lips from quivering, she said, “Fine. I won’t go out. Thanks for asking.”
His mouth twitched, almost imperceptibly. “No problem.”
Chloe took another sip of champagne and stared out the windows. It seemed so impossible to believe that her life was actually in danger, that she was actually married to Lex Luthor.
When she turned back, she saw that Lex was still standing near her, gazing at her face with an expression she didn’t quite understand. He looked handsome and professional in his suit and tie, but there was something about him that felt more accessible, less untouchable.
“Thank you,” she said spontaneously. “Seriously, Lex. I know you’re going to great lengths to keep me safe. Thank you.”
He glanced away. “It’s nothing. You know I have my own reasons for doing so.”
“I know that. I’m not saying there’s nothing in it for you. But you’re helping me and I appreciate it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said in what was almost a mumble. Then he took his plate and glass of champagne and went into the other room.
She stared in the direction in which he’d disappeared for a moment. Some wedding night she was having. Left alone while her husband went to work.
But she wasn’t a fool. She knew they weren’t close anymore. They weren’t even friends. They were partners in this, but that was all.
She stared down at her left hand, the aged merchant ring and the delicately engraved wedding band.
It wasn’t even seven in the evening yet. And she had most of a bottle of champagne she could drink – if she decided she wanted it. And she had canapés, cheese, fruit, and chocolate-dipped strawberries.
And she had a big jetted tub with what was likely to be an expensive assortment of scented bubbles or bath salts.
Tomorrow morning she was flying to Quebec. And from there she could go anywhere in the world.
Being married to Lex wasn’t really so bad.
Of course, they’d only been married one day.
Chapter Two
December 2
“Can I take your bag, Mrs. Luthor?”
Chloe had a weird moment of surrealism as the courteous hotel porter waited for her to hand him her leather satchel. Eventually, because she knew he was speaking to her—however bizarre it was to be called “Mrs. Luthor”—she handed him the bag.
She’d packed yesterday morning, before the wedding. While she was sure Lex would have been happy to outfit her with an entire new wardrobe—one suitable for honeymooning with a man as privileged as Lex Luthor—Chloe wasn’t at all comfortable with that. So she’d sorted through her own clothes, choosing anything that she thought might be remotely appropriate for the month-long trip. She ended up with two large suitcases and a couple of smaller bags. But since they would be taking a private jet, the amount of her luggage didn’t matter.
Lex hadn’t let her bring her laptop or cell phone, however, because of the potential for them to be traced through unsecured connections. While she understood the reasoning, she felt oddly naked without them.
“Ready, honey?” Lex asked, coming over to stand beside her and placing a warm hand on the small of her back. He looked sleek and urban in black trousers and a dress shirt in a beautiful shade of dark, slate blue.
Chloe blinked at him, her lips parting in surprise until she realized that the “honey” was for the benefit of the hotel staff, who could very likely talk to reporters later today about what they’d observed of the newly married Luthors.
“Yes, dear,” she said, with only a hint of irony in her tone.
Lex walked with her out of the suite and into the private elevator, and it was obvious to Chloe that he was hiding a smile.
There were more photographers as they left the hotel, but Chloe knew Lex had staged the departure on purpose. This was the last time they’d be seen on the radar as a married couple, and it was important that the public bought the marriage as genuine.
Lionel, of course, wouldn’t be deceived, but that hardly mattered.
Because she knew the photographers would be there, Chloe had gotten up early to shower and dress carefully. She wore a pair of black slacks that flattered her butt, just in case a camera caught her from an unattractive angle. And she’d paired them with her favorite green velvet jacket and a pair of chunky heeled loafers.
She thought she looked as good as she could for being before seven in the morning.
When she got in the back of the car, she sighed in pleasure as she was greeted to a large cup of hot coffee.
Lex was talking on the phone for most of the ride to the airport—several different conversations she couldn’t really follow—so she sipped her coffee and tried not to fall asleep.
Travel with Lex was remarkably easy and convenient. They didn’t have to wait in any lines. They were able to immediately board the private jet. And a pleasant man immediately refilled her coffee cup.
The interior of the jet was roomy and beautifully decorated. She’d taken the first cushy leather seat she’d come to, but as she looked around, she saw on the table across from her a pretty purple laptop with a silver bow on top of it.
Lex was talking to the pilot, so she looked around for some clue about its ownership, almost holding her breath as she tried not to jump to unfounded conclusions. After a minute, however, when no sign came down from heaven about whom the laptop belonged to, she got up and sat in the seat in front of it.
She checked under the bow, but there was no card or identifying tag. And it was the most beautiful laptop she’d ever seen – leaving her own moderately priced one in the dust.
Surely someone wouldn’t have left such a pretty laptop on the plane for Lex.
Which meant . . .
“It’s yours,” Lex said, walking toward her from the cockpit. He wasn’t smiling, so it was hard to tell how he was feeling. “I know you didn’t want to leave yours at home. This one has all of the necessary security features installed, so you won’t be traced when you go online.”
Chloe stared down at the laptop, almost caressing the smooth top. “Oh,” she breathed, rather stupidly. “Thank you.”
“Consider it a wedding present.” Lex sat down in the seat across the table from her and reached into his pocket to pull out a sleek smart phone in the same pretty purple shade. “This is for you too. You can talk to your dad securely, whenever you want. ”
She reached out for it, delighted and surprised and a little overwhelmed. “Thank you,” she said again, this time her voice was a little hoarse. “They’re beautiful. You didn’t have to—“
Lex shrugged off her thanks. “I didn’t let you bring yours. So it was my job to replace them. Excuse me.” He took out his own phone then and made another call, effectively ending the conversation.
Chloe felt a little rebuffed at the abrupt end of their talk, but she gave herself a firm lecture as she admired her beautiful gifts. Lex was a busy man with a lot to do. He’d gone way out of his way to help her and accommodate her needs. And he’d given her the incredible laptop and smart phone. He had absolutely no reason to coddle her or entertain her on top of that.
The jet was rolling onto the runway when Lex hung up on his call. “’You should make yourself comfortable,” Lex said, “It’s going to be a long flight.”
“Just to Quebec?”
“We’re having to take a roundabout route, in order to prevent anyone from tracking us.”
“I thought you had to submit a flight plan for any flight you take.”
“You do,” he said. He arched an eyebrow at her. “Keeping our location a secret is taking some doing.”
She felt a little shiver of fear at the thought that she was more vulnerable than she believed herself to be.
“Don’t worry about it,” Lex said. “I’m good at this. We’ll be fine.”
She smiled at him, and he smiled back. And, after a moment, Chloe felt strangely self-conscious so she looked out of the window as the plane took off.
When they’d reached a cruising altitude, Lex took off his seatbelt and moved over to a work station on the opposite side of the plane. “Do you want any breakfast?” he asked, turning around to look at her. “They can make you an omelet or a Belgian waffle or whatever you want.”
Chloe hadn’t realized it until now, but she was ravenous. “Thanks. Maybe I will.”
Lex reached over to press a buzzer. “Which do you want?”
She frowned at him. “You mean I have to choose just one?”
Lex laughed—a sound that made her stomach do a familiar flop—and when a server came out from the back, he requested two omelets, his with whole wheat toast and hers with a waffle.
Lex worked at his fancy computer station while he ate. But Chloe focused on the delicious food. Then she played with her new laptop for a while, checking out all its features. Then she moved over to the built-in sofa in the back of the plane and watched a movie on the large flat-screen. Then she picked out a recent bestseller from the collection of books she found in a closet. She read for a while. Then ate a light lunch of chicken salad on mixed greens. Then she tried to read some more.
But the food, the peaceful setting, and the comfort of the plush sofa combined to lull her into sleep.
When she woke up, she was curled up on her side, hugging a chenille cushion to her chest.
She blinked a few times, trying to orient herself. Her eyes instinctively landed on Lex at his workstation across the room. He’d been watching her. Even in her groggy state, she was somehow sure of it.
But when she could focus on details, his eyes were directed on the monitor in front of him.
A little embarrassed that he’d caught her sleeping that way, Chloe stretched out from her fetal position. But she was too sleepy and comfortable to actually sit up.
“Was I snoring?” she asked, making her voice light although the idea was not a pleasant one.
“No.” He turned away from his monitor and arched his eyebrows at her. “Nice nap?”
He wasn’t even smiling, but it seemed like he might be laughing at her. So she scowled in his direction. “You’re the one who made me get up at the crack of dawn.”
“Quite true.”
And that response left her no remaining objections. So, to change the subject, she asked, “Where are we staying in Quebec?”
“Where do you think?”
“Château Frontenac?” Her heart skipped a little in excitement.
He nodded. “It’s actually not the most luxurious of hotels we could have chosen. But I figured that would be your first choice.”
She started to hug herself in excitement before she realized that it might make her look a little silly. Then, thinking it through, she said, “Is it safe? I thought we were supposed to keep a low profile.”
“We are. Obviously, we won’t be registered under our real names. But we could be going anywhere in the world. It’s going to take my father at least several days to figure out where we are. By that time, we’ll be in a different city.”
She had to assume Lex knew what he was doing, so she didn’t argue. She adjusted on the sofa, propping her head up a little higher on a second pillow. “The last time you were protecting me from your father, you had to hide me away in a little safe house.”
She immediately wished she hadn’t said that, since it evoked certain memories that were better forgotten.
Nothing was revealed on Lex’s face. “I had fewer resources then. That was the only way I knew to keep you safe. Things are different now.”
They were different now. Lex had many more resources. He was much more powerful than he’d been ten years ago.
And there was no longer the potential for the closeness that had developed between them back then.
Chloe changed the subject again. “Did you check on the Metropolis news? Are they all talking about our wedding?”
“Yes. It’s in all the papers. Complete with pictures.”
“No one thinks it’s strange?”
“Why would they? Given my previous habits, a whirlwind courtship and marriage is only to be expected.”
This was undoubtedly true. But she was surprised that Lex would admit it so openly, as if his past marriages and love affairs hadn’t really affected him. “Did no one find it strange that I was blonde?”
Lex arched an eyebrow at her.
“What?” she demanded, “All your previous wives and girlfriends and one-night-stands have been brunette. It’s common knowledge.”
“If anyone has found it odd, no one has mentioned it. They did rehearse my past romantic failures, of course.” With a quirk of his mouth, he added, “Yours too.”
Chloe sat up suddenly with a huff. “What?”
“They dredged up all of it,” he said, “Your list, of course, was much shorter than mine.”
For some reason, she took that as an insult. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Her list of romantic entanglements was remarkably short. In high school, she’d been in love with Clark Kent, but that, of course, hadn’t gone anywhere. Then there was the short-lived thing with Lex. She hadn’t dated much in college. While she’d gone out on a lot of first and second dates, nothing had led anywhere.
Her only serious boyfriend had been a one-year relationship that had ended badly a few years ago.
Compared to Lex’s endless list of romantic conquests, her experience looked rather pitiful.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Lex replied, lowering his brow. “It just means your list is shorter than mine.”
“Well, it’s not because men aren’t interested in me,” she insisted, smoothing down her hair which was probably tangled around her face after her nap.
The truth was, she had never been as popular with men as girls like Lana and Lois. While she knew very well there was nothing wrong with her, she had never had men chasing her. She just wasn’t one of those girls.
“Of course, they’re interested in you. Why would you think I implied differently?” Lex looked annoyed, almost grumpy. “Why wouldn’t they be interested in you? You’re smart and beautiful and—“ He broke off his words, as if he hadn’t intended to say as much.
Chloe flushed in pleasure, taken aback by what he’d said. “And what?” While being smart and beautiful was very, very good, the last thing on Lex’s list was the one she really wanted to hear.
Lex gave his head a quick shake. “Nothing.”
“And what?” she demanded again.
“And blonde,” Lex said, an ironic lilt to his voice.
That wasn’t what he’d been going to say. But he was just as stubborn as her, so she wasn’t going to learn what he’d originally been about to say.
She wrinkled her nose and stretched back out on the couch. She idly twirled Lex’s merchant ring, trying to decipher the letters and symbols on its front.
Already, it seemed familiar on her finger, along with the wedding ring that matched the one on Lex’s hand.
“Being blonde isn’t really an advantage with a lot of men.”
“Maybe.” Lex seemed to have gotten wrapped up in his work again, since his voice was a little distracted.
“For you, for instance,” Chloe continued. “You’re not really into blondes.”
“Right,” he murmured. His eyes narrowed, focusing on something on his computer screen.
She was a little hurt by his agreeing so readily, but she kept her voice matter-of-fact as she went on. “I’m just saying. Being blonde is actually a negative for you.”
“The blondeness really isn’t a problem. It’s your being so bossy and demanding that’s really the problem for me.”
She gasped and sat up again, feeling like he’d just struck her. “What? You’re the bossiest and most demanding person I’ve ever met! And you’re saying . . .”
Her voice trailed off as she stared at him. Although his expression was bland and steady, she caught a glint of something in his eyes.
He was teasing her. The bastard was teasing her!
She sputtered for a minute, torn between slapping him and giggling.
She settled for an exaggerated huff and rolled over to her opposite side, mostly to hide her expression so he wouldn’t see he’d amused her with his poker-faced teasing.
So far, in the short time since she’d wedded Lex Luthor, he’d made her want to scream, laugh, cry, and strangle him.
It didn’t bode well for a stable, peaceful marriage.
And they’d only been married two days.
Chapter Three
December 3
They’d landed in Quebec in the early evening and they’d gone directly to the historic hotel.
The following morning, Chloe slept in late, had a leisurely breakfast alone—since Lex was already hard at work—and then had a private tour of the city in a secure car, surrounded by guards.
While she’d gotten to see most of the sites, she really hadn’t gotten a feel for the city. And while it was interesting, it wasn’t all that fun, since she was basically seeing everything by herself.
Lex was evidently too busy to spend any time with her.
She hadn’t complained, since she told herself he had absolutely no obligation to hang out with her or entertain her. He’d already done more than enough.
So, after she’d returned and rested some and Lex asked what she wanted to order for dinner from room-service, she was feeling quite gracious and generous and was determined to be nice to him over dinner.
But then he took his steak and red wine back into his bedroom to work some more.
Chloe grumbled to herself as she ate her shrimp and pasta, glaring at Lex’s closed door. When she finished, she decided to call her dad. And, after talking to him, she was in a better mood.
She was an intelligent adult. She was more than capable of exploring new cities on her own. It was a beautiful evening, so she put on her coat and walked out the front door of the suite.
She was stopped by a bodyguard, who told her she wasn’t allowed to go outside and walk around in the old town. She told him she’d be happy to be escorted by guards, but they told her she wasn’t allowed to leave at all.
Chloe stared, tempted to scream at Lex’s security personnel. But she managed to restrain the impulse, even as she practically shook with rising anger.
After a moment, she turned on her heel and stormed back into the suite. Then she stormed into Lex’s bedroom, so mad she didn’t even knock. She assumed he’d still be working, since he evidently never did anything else.
She jerked to a stop when she confronted Lex, who was walking out of the bathroom. Apparently, he hadn’t been working. He’d been taking a shower.
He wore nothing except a thick white towel, wrapped around his waist. Chloe’s eyes automatically scanned over his long legs, his toned chest, his fine shoulders, and his flat belly.
Lex had frozen when she entered, for once taken off-guard. “Is there something you wanted?” he asked at last, his eyebrows arching in that smug expression and his tone conveying cool skepticism.
His reaction caused the anger to rise hotly inside her again. “Yes,” she snapped, “I want to not be imprisoned in this suite!”
“You spent most of the day outside. Hardly a prison.”
“Why can’t I leave now? I just want to get out and walk around some.”
“It’s too dangerous,” he said, his voice losing the ironic edge. “There are too many people crowding the streets now. It will be too hard to keep you safe.”
He was starting to make sense, which annoyed her even more. “I thought there wasn’t much chance your father could find us here out of all of the cities in the world.”
“There’s a very slim chance of that. But there’s still a chance.” Lex stepped forward and put one hand on her shoulder. “You’ve entrusted me to keep you safe, Chloe. You have to allow me to do so.”
She let out a long breath, all of the anger and momentum rushing out of her with her exhale. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess you’re right. But . . .”
His hand on her shoulder shifted, so it was less of a grip and more of a caress. “But what?”
“But I don’t like to feel trapped. I don’t like to feel like I don’t get to choose what happens to me. And don’t like feeling like you’re secretly making all the decisions and leaving me in the dark.”
“Is that how you feel?”
It suddenly struck Chloe that Lex was barely dressed. He smelled clean and his body was gorgeous. And, for some reason, the sight of his bare belly above his low-slung towel made her want to grab his sides and squeeze hard.
“Yes,” she managed to say, raising her eyes back to his face. “I do. I get carted around in a car all day. You hole up at your desk and barely talk to me. And then a bodyguard tells me I can’t do what I wanted to do.”
“Are you bored?” Lex asked, his eyebrows drawing together in three little lines.
She shrugged. “Not that bad. But it defeats the purpose of visiting a cool city if I don’t get to leave the car and have to stay in the room for the rest of the day, staring at your closed door.”
Lex rubbed his forehead between his thumb and forefinger, as if he were trying to think.
Suddenly feeling guilty for complaining and a little embarrassed that she’d revealed that his ignoring her had bothered her, Chloe forced a smile. “I’m just being silly. Don’t worry about it. Things are just fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. I was a little restless this evening, but this is the most luxurious vacation I’ve ever had. I have no complaints.”
Lex kept studying her face, his scrutiny so intense it was frightening. She had no idea what he could read in her expression.
“Anyway, sorry I almost caught you naked. I’ll knock next time.” She smiled again, this time more genuine. “I’m going to take a bath and then watch some TV. Have a good night.”
Then she left, before she’d embarrassed herself any more.
She took her bath—it was a very good one—and then she put on a pair of white, man-style pajamas. She curled up on the sofa with a bottle of expensive sparkling water in the living area of the suite, turned on the gas fireplace, and then started flipping channels.
She was deep in a nature documentary about African wildlife when Lex startled her by handing her a little carton of chocolate-peanut-butter-cup ice cream. She hadn’t even seen him enter the room.
She grabbed the ice cream greedily before she looked over at Lex. To her surprise, he hadn’t gotten dressed in his normal clothes. Instead, he was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of gray pants that she realized, after a moment, must be pajama pants.
She’d never seen him dressed so relaxed before. He sat down next to her and handed her a spoon. He had a carton of ice cream for himself as well.
“Thanks,” she said, opening hers and spooning out her first bite.
“What are you watching?” Lex asked, frowning at the flat-screen television, on which a lion was making an unsuccessful attempt to catch a gazelle.
“Documentary. I love these shows. The big cats are my favorite.”
Lex fortunately wasn’t an annoying TV companion. He didn’t talk or ask a bunch of obnoxious questions. He just watched the show with her without complaining.
It was one of the better ones. And Chloe found herself entirely absorbed with the natural drama unfolding on the screen before her – the lion pride suffering from the death of the alpha male, the cheetah cubs who almost got killed by mean old hyenas, the leopard—Chloe’s favorite—who moved so gracefully, with such power.
“Look at her,” she breathed, leaning forward as the leopard climbed a tree, dragging her kill with her to keep it from being claimed by the lions and hyenas. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
Lex didn’t respond. And, when she turned to look at him, she caught him looking at her instead of at the television.
She shifted uncomfortably. “I suppose you think I’m stupid for getting into this.”
“Why would I think that?”
For some reason, his bland response reassured her. And she gave him a quick smile and turned to watch the end of the show.
After it ended, Lex found an old movie to watch. Chloe enjoyed the first part of it, but she got more and more tired until she finally drifted off to sleep before she realized it was happening.
When she woke up, she was warm and cozy and comfortable. When she was able to process her position, she realized she was still curled up on the sofa, but her head was in Lex’s lap.
She jerked up into a sitting position, her cheeks burning as she realized what she’d done. “Oh! Sorry! Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“Why would I?” Lex asked casually, giving her a slightly baffled look. “You were tired and the movie wasn’t over.”
“But . . . but I was sleeping on top of you.”
“I managed to muddle through the agony of it.”
Chloe giggled, despite her lingering embarrassment. “Agony, was it?” She was still sitting too close to Lex, and her hand had somehow ended up on his chest.
“Agony,” Lex repeated, something changing in his eyes as he gazed at her.
The look in his eyes reminded her so strongly of how he’d looked at her ten years ago, during that summer in the safe house, that she instinctively leaned forward, wanting to feel his mouth on hers, wanting to be as close to him as she could get.
Then she suddenly realized where she was, who she was, and everything that had happened between them.
She stumbled to her feet, avoiding Lex’s eyes and mumbling, “Well, I’m tired. I’ll go to bed.”
She managed to escape into her bedroom, and then leaned against the closed door.
Not good. Not good at all. She was remembering too much, dredging up memories and feelings that should have died ten years ago.
She remembered in painful detail what had happened last time she’d fallen under Lex’s spell, the last time she’d been overwhelmed by his charm and appeal.
She would have to do better. A lot better. She couldn’t let this marriage upend her world, more than it already had.
They’d only been married three days.
Chapter Four
December 4
Chloe was awakened the following morning by a hand gently shaking her shoulder.
“Huh,” she grunted, trying to pull away from the hand and roll over to a safer spot on the large bed.
“Chloe,” a familiar voice said, “Chloe, wake up.”
She mumbled out something that sounded vaguely like “Why should I?”
“You’re the one who wanted to explore the old city.”
“Huh?” she grunted again, this time in the form of a question. She managed to open her eyes and saw Lex, fully dressed in a black sweater and gray trousers, with a smugly amused look on his face.
“We have to go early if you want to go out, before it gets too crowded. So you’ll need to get up and get dressed.”
Torn between outrage and interest, Chloe managed to sit up in bed, pulling one of the straps of her tank top back up on her shoulder. “I can go out? Walk around?”
“Yes, you can. As long as you don’t dawdle. We’ll have to be back before the streets get too crowded.”
Chloe’s grogginess was fading and she was starting to get excited about the prospect of a morning in which she didn’t have to sit around the suite on her own. “You’re coming too?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No. I’m just surprised. I thought you worked all day long.”
“I don’t.” Lex seemed to be hiding a smile, an expression that warmed his eyes deliciously. “Can you get dressed in a half-hour? I’ll order some breakfast from room service.”
“Yeah. Okay.” She started to scoot off the bed, although since Lex was still sitting on the edge, she had a little trouble pulling her legs out from under the covers. But then her eyes happened to land on the bedside clock.
She gasped indignantly. “It’s only six-thirty! You woke me up at six-thirty!”
“I’ve been up for hours. You should be glad I waited as long as I did.”
She made a few choked sounds of outrage, but was distracted when Lex handed her a mug of coffee. After she took a sip, she glared at him, “You’ve had that the whole time and just now gave it to me?”
Lex chuckled and stood up. “You know me. A master strategist. I had to wait for the most opportune time.”
She threw a pillow at him as he started to leave the room and was delighted when it hit him square in the back and bounced from his body to the floor.
After half the cup of coffee, she decided it wouldn’t hurt her to get up, since she was already awake. So she went to her marble bathroom and turned on the high-end shower. As she washed her hair, she thought about Lex.
Things were little weird and awkward—and they argued about half of the time—but they were interacting with more familiarity than one would have expected in a situation like this.
Lex wasn’t an easy man. But he’d been surprisingly good-natured with her. He’d even laughed a lot.
She wasn’t fool enough to think that it was because of her feminine appeal. He hadn’t come on to her. Not once. Whatever attraction he’d once had for her had obviously faded with time.
But he knew her. As well as she knew him. So they were familiar, if nothing else.
And maybe—maybe—Lex was actually enjoying the chance to be himself with someone, rather than always having to put on the cold, controlled persona he showed the world.
Satisfied with her explanation, she got out of the shower, dried her hair, dressed in jeans and a red sweater, and put on a little make-up, feeling better than she had in a week. The better she and Lex could get along, the better the month would be.
And the little slip-up she’d had last night was natural, predictable. But it wasn’t important. Lex was an attractive man, but she was a grown-up. And she wasn’t led around by her hormones.
She ate a quick breakfast, patiently waiting as Lex finished working on email or something.
Then she picked up her purse and they went downstairs and walked outside onto the streets of Vieux-Québec.
The morning was chilly, and she was glad she’d brought her coat and gloves. They started on the Terrasse Dufferin, which was mostly empty of the street vendors and entertainers that normally filled it later in the day. But she had a great time gazing out over the river and down at Place Royale, admiring the distinct skyline of the city above them, including the unmistakable lines of Le Château Frontenac, and watching Lex try to smother his impatience every time she lingered too long looking at the scenery.
She started lingering a little longer than she normally would have, just to watch Lex restrain his natural responses.
Finally, she consented to walk down the long, incredibly steep stairs that led to the river, Place Royale, and the Vieux-Port. The stairs were actually more challenging than she expected, and she stayed near the rail, so she could hold on if she happened to trip.
When she made it down, she grinned with a ridiculous but irresistible feeling of accomplishment.
“Pretty exciting stuff, huh?” Lex asked, a small smile on his face. “Walking down some stairs?”
Chloe huffed, but without much heat, and walked toward the historic square of Place Royale. It was too early for there to be many tourists out, since most of the sights were still closed. But Lex had used his contacts to gain them access to some of the places early, including a charming seventeenth-century church and the Museum of Civilization.
Lex enjoyed the history more than the aimless gawking. And he recounted to her details of the history of the square and the historic battles fought in Quebec as they wandered around.
Chloe was tired and pleased with their sightseeing when they finally wandered over to the river. She gazed lustfully at a booth selling soft ice cream, which was just opening up for the day, but she didn’t have the nerve to ask Lex for an ice cream cone.
Not at ten o’clock in the morning.
“Did you want ice cream?” he asked dryly.
She frowned at him. “You don’t have to sound so snotty about it. It’s been hours since breakfast.”
“Why didn’t you ask?”
“I didn’t want to look greedy.”
He shook his head with a huff of laughter and walked over to buy her a cone.
She sat on a bench, gazing out on the river and eating her ice cream cone. The wind was actually quite cold here, but the sun was bright—and since she wasn’t likely to visit this city again, she wanted to experience as much of it as she could.
When she glanced over at Lex, she found him watching her.
“What?” she asked, “Am I dribbling ice cream?”
“A little.”
She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Thanks for taking me to see all this. I would have been sorry to come all the way here and only see the old part from a car.” She sighed in satisfaction. “I love to walk on cobblestones.”
“No problem.” Lex looked composed, almost mild.
He wasn’t a mild man.
And Chloe suddenly wondered what was going on beneath the mild good-humor he’d been showing her for the last few days. “Why are you doing this, Lex?” she demanded, without warning or preamble. She hadn’t even realized she was going to ask the blunt question.
“Because you said yesterday you felt trapped and that you were getting tired of staring at my closed door. So I thought—“
“I don’t mean why did you take me out this morning,” she interrupted, “Although I do appreciate it. I mean why are you doing this at all? Why are you helping me?”
“I told you that before. There are things I can accomplish through you that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish otherwise.”
“You want to come out ahead with your father?”
Lex inclined his head. “Yes.”
Chloe studied him, trying to scrutinize him as closely as he always scrutinized her. “That would explain the marriage. And your keeping me safe. But why are you being so nice to me?”
Something flickered in Lex’s eyes, and she wondered if she’d hurt him with the question. “You’d expect me to be otherwise?”
“Well, I knew you wouldn’t hurt me or be cruel toward me in any way. But you could accomplish what you want and still ignore me most of the time.”
Lex gave a half-shrug. “This plan will be more successful if we get along. If we’re . . . friendly.”
Exactly the same thoughts Chloe had in the shower that morning. And, because the reasoning matched hers so perfectly, she couldn’t help but believe him. “Oh. I guess that makes sense.” She gave him a sideways look. “So you’re . . . you’re all right with everything?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? We actually work well together when we’re pursuing the same goal.”
They did. Work well together. And Lex showed no signs of hiding any sort of deep emotion—no angst, anger or despair connected to his father. It had to be hard for him. In Smallville, any battle with his father would tear him up inside.
But he’d grown up. And maybe he’d come to terms with things.
“Well,” she said at last. “I appreciate your help with everything.”
“You’ve said that already,” Lex said, for the first time since they’d sat down sounding a little impatient. “I’m getting something out of this arrangement too. You don’t have to thank me again.”
“Then I won’t.” Searching for a new topic, she just followed the direction of her thoughts. “Do you think your father is really going to try to kill me?”
Lex’s mouth twisted briefly. “It’s hard to tell. He’s certainly moving heaven and earth trying to find us. But it may just be so he can feel like he still has choices.”
“I know he’s dangerous,” Chloe admitted. “But it’s hard to believe he’d really kill me. Just over the information I have.”
“It wouldn’t just be over the information. It would be an act of taking his power back, after you took it away from him. You should have realized that. You know him well enough. You should have known better.”
Chloe’s previous annoyance that morning had been light, half-ironic. But the flash of annoyance she felt now was real and deep. “I didn’t go out looking to blackmail him, Lex.”
“Maybe not. But the moment you started digging deep enough into Kyring to find his project, you might as well have been taunting a viper. He’ll always strike back.” Lex’s face was cold now. She assumed most of it was directed at his father, but there seemed to be a little left for her.
She didn’t appreciate it. She resented it. And she also felt a little hurt. “You’re right,” she said resignedly. “It just happened.”
“It didn’t just happen. It was the result of a series of choices. Some of them yours.”
“You’ve done your share of stupid things too, Lex. Shall we discuss them?”
“We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you.”
“Well, I don’t want to talk about me. I know I screwed up. But the reasons aren’t really your business.”
Lex’s expression—which had been mild and even the whole time up to now—twisted into something she recognized as anger. “Aren’t they?” he asked, a little roughly.
For the strangest reason, his shadowed urgency suddenly made him feel more Lex-like – as if the mild stranger had transformed back into the Lex she’d always known.
“No, they aren’t. Helping me doesn’t give you the right to pry into my affairs. “
“If I don’t know why you let yourself get trapped like this, then I won’t be able to figure out how to keep it from happening again.”
“Let it go, Lex,” she snapped, angry and oddly mortified at how Lex clearly seemed to think she was a fool who got involved with dangerous men and couldn’t seem to fix things on her own. “I’m not talking about this with you.”
“What are you trying to hide from me?” he demanded, taking her forearm again but this time holding her more tightly. “How did you get involved with my father at all? It wasn’t . . . it wasn’t . . .” He trailed off, reluctant to say the word.
But Chloe suddenly knew what it was. “What? You think your dad and I were . . . were together?”
“Not like that. I would know if you’d been having an affair with him, since I always keep him under surveillance. But I just can’t believe you’d accidently run across something like this. You must have been searching into something connected to him intentionally.”
“Let it go, Lex,” Chloe said again, finishing her cone and crumpling the napkin between her twisting hands.
They sat in silence for a long time. And all the ease and good-nature with which they’d been interacting before were suddenly gone.
It wasn’t going to be easy to get along with Lex. Not when he was so deep, so complex, so unknowable. Not when neither one of them could let a secret alone. Not with the history they had together.
December was going to be a very long month.
And they’d only been married for four days.
Chapter Five
December 5
Despite her intentions to sleep in late the next morning, she found herself awake in bed before seven. She tossed and turned a few times and tried to go back to sleep. But eventually she gave up and got out of bed.
She put on the shirt to her dark blue pajamas, since she felt a bit too exposed in just the little tank top she normally slept in with the pajama pants. Then she shuffled into the main room of the suite.
It was empty. Lex’s bedroom door was open, but also empty.
Frowning, Chloe looked around. She saw a carafe of coffee that Lex must have ordered up earlier, so she poured herself a cup and scanned the room for any sign of Lex’s location.
He wasn’t in his bathroom. He wasn’t at the desk. He wasn’t on the balcony that overlooked the St. Lawrence River. He wasn’t in the suite at all.
There was also no note left for her, although she realized that was a silly thought even as it passed through her mind.
Lex was a grown man. He didn’t have to inform her if he wanted to leave the suite. For all she knew, he might have been gone all night. He’d been in a bad mood most of yesterday afternoon, the tension from their conversation by the river not really easing all day. He might have hooked up with someone last night—hooked up with a tall, willowy, exotic brunette.
The thought made her vaguely ill, but fortunately she was able to reason herself out of it. She didn’t really think Lex would duck out and have anonymous sex with a gorgeous woman. While their marriage wasn’t genuine, it felt like kind of a cheap thing to do. And Lex just wasn’t cheap.
She also couldn’t imagine where he would have met some random woman to have a sleazy one-night-stand with.
Whatever he was doing right now, it was almost certainly not waking up in some other woman’s bed.
Satisfied with this conclusion, she still felt a little flicker of annoyance that he hadn’t even told her where he was. Not that he had any obligation to, of course. But it was just basic courtesy to tell your wife where you were so she wouldn’t wake up in a huge empty suite and wonder.
Chloe had intended to have a leisurely morning, lying around and maybe going down to enjoy the hotel spa. But, after she finished her first cup of coffee, she discovered she was antsy and restless.
Deciding what she needed was a good dose of exercise, she went back into her bedroom and changed into workout clothes.
And, if Lex returned and didn’t find her in the suite, then he could just wonder as well.
Not that he would wonder long, of course. She had no doubt that the bodyguard who escorted her down to the workout room in the hotel would inform Lex of her location.
She was feeling better about the morning when she walked into the workout room and discovered that Lex was already there, running hard on a treadmill.
She waved at him casually, and he made a slight gesture of acknowledgement that might have passed for a wave. Trying not to be annoyed by his unfriendliness, Chloe ignored him and got onto an elliptical trainer.
For the first few minutes, she just warmed up and wasn’t working very hard. So she had time and energy to observe Lex, although she made sure to do so discreetly.
He wore shorts and a gray t-shirt that was soaked with sweat. He must have been working out for a while, and he was running full-out at the moment, pounding the treadmill with an intense concentration that seemed to characterize the man.
For some reason, Chloe found his intensity and physical effort mesmerizing. She was used to seeing him sleek, professional, urbane. But this was something else. His visceral physicality seemed so strong at the moment, like he was primal man as much as civilized man.
She felt a surge of attraction for him—so powerful it actually startled her. So she made herself look away and concentrate on her exercise.
Increasing her speed, Chloe was glad she’d decided against the baggy t-shirt she’d been planning to wear and had instead chosen the more flattering workout tank with her stretchy capris.
Not that Lex was looking at her, of course. He didn’t even seem to be conscious of her presence in the room. Chloe tried to follow his example and clear her mind of everything but the motion of her body.
Soon, she was perspiring and breathing fast, as she worked the trainer harder than she usually did. She was in pretty good shape as a whole, but she wasn’t a huge fitness buff. And her workouts were usually somewhat haphazard. After twenty-five minutes, she was ready to get off, but she didn’t because Lex was still running.
She was starting to wheeze after forty-five minutes, so she finally slowed down – mostly out of necessity. It would be more embarrassing, she decided, to fall off the elliptical in exhaustion than to stop before Lex did.
As she was doing a few cool-down minutes, she saw that Lex had finally slowed down as well. Sweat was dripping from his face, and his shirt was plastered to his chest and belly. It was absolutely ridiculous, but she still felt that primitive pull of magnetism toward him.
When she finally got off the elliptical and did a few stretches, Lex slowed to a walk. “I’ve finished my workout,” he said, finally acknowledging her presence, “But if you wanted to lift weights, I can stay to spot you.”
Chloe thought the offer was nice. But she was ready to take a shower and collapse on the couch. And she questioned the wisdom of being at such close quarters with Lex all hot and masculine when she was suffering from this animal attraction for him.
“Thanks. But I think I’ve had enough. I’m not much of a fitness buff.”
He gave her an odd look—one she couldn’t decipher. “You did great.”
Not terribly extravagant or romantic as far as compliments went. But it made her flush with pleasure just the same.
* * *
Chloe took it easy for the rest of the day after eating so much breakfast that Lex made a dry comment on it. She did go down the spa for a delicious facial and massage. Then she tried to do some writing – although she had trouble focusing on it.
Lex spent the day working, and he didn’t get any more talkative than he’d been that morning. Chloe was a little disappointed, since they’d seemed to get along better in the previous days. But Lex was a deep, complex man. And there was no way to predict what was going through his mind or what was motivating his behavior.
He wasn’t here to be her best friend. So she tried not to take it personally.
At dinnertime, she’d resigned herself to eating another meal from room service. There was a marathon of The West Wing episodes on a cable network, so she figured that wouldn’t be the worst way to spend the evening.
She was sprawled out on the sofa when Lex made an appearance.
She blinked when she saw him. He’d changed clothes since last she saw him and was now dressed all in black—dress shirt, trousers, and a sport coat that looked to be made of cashmere.
“Where are you going?” she asked, suppressing a stab of hurt that he would have an evening outing without her.
“Where are we going,” he corrected. “I thought we could go out to dinner. Go get changed.”
Chloe’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
“You can go in the pajamas if you want, but it might bring you unwanted attention.”
She was wearing a pair of plaid flannel pants and a Metropolis Sharks sweatshirt. She huffed. “They’re not pajamas. They’re lounge pants.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “My mistake. However, the lounge pants will likely draw an equal amount of unwanted attention. So run get changed.”
Chloe sat up. She wasn’t about to miss out on a potential outing, and she was absurdly touched that Lex had even thought about her. But still . . . there was a tone issue that needed to be addressed. “Remember what we talked about regarding questions rather than commands?” she asked sweetly.
Rolling his eyes, Lex said, “Chloe, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble for you, would you please change into something appropriate for dinner and let me take you out, always assuming you haven’t changed your mind about not wanting to sit around the suite all day.”
“One day your snotty tone is going to get you a slap in the face,” she quipped, her voice a bit unsteady from the amusement she was trying to hide. She’d gotten off the couch.
“I assure you,” he murmured, his lip twitching a little. It was like the sight of an old friend. “It already has.”
Chloe hurried into her bedroom and stared blankly into her closet. She had nothing nice enough to really match Lex’s wardrobe. But he looked so handsome and sophisticated that she wanted to at least make an effort.
She decided, from lack of other options, on a low-cut top in a slinky, wine-colored fabric and a pair of silk slacks. They were flattering but a little too long, so she always had to wear them with her high-heeled ankle boots. Fortunately, she’d taken the time to blow-dry her hair well that morning. So she just had to brush it out and add a little powder, mascara, and lipstick.
Pleased with the result—especially since it had taken her ten minutes—she went to join Lex in the main room of the suite.
He scanned her from top to bottom, his eyes lingering a little too long at her cleavage.
When he frowned, she stiffened defensively, “What?”
“You look very nice,” he said, “But I hadn’t expected to have to put up with a bunch of other men ogling my wife.”
Chloe sucked in a breath, her eyes dipping to the crease and shadow of her cleavage. “It’s not that bad!”
“If the ogling gets too obnoxious,” Lex said blandly, gesturing toward the door in what was obviously a signal for her to get moving, “Then you can wear my jacket.”
She was trying to keep from giggling as they rode down the elevator to the waiting chauffeured car. But the tiniest, insecure part of her wondered if it was too much to hope that her husband—even if he was just that for a month—might express genuine appreciation for how she looked.
His saying she looked “very nice” wasn’t all that convincing.
They were driven to a cozy, historic restaurant in the old town with a rustic decor and a line out the door of people waiting for tables. She and Lex, of course, were taken right in and led to the private table—a u-shaped wooden banquette in the corner—near a huge fireplace. The walls were exposed brick and the savory scents of the room swallowed her up, making her stomach growl.
“Good?” Lex asked, evidently having seen her make the silent assessment.
“Great. It feels like real Quebec.”
“It specializes in Québécois cuisine,” he mentioned, “As you’ll see when you open the menu.”
Chloe knew what he meant when she looked at the menu and saw she could choose between bison, venison, pheasant, duck and wild meat pie.
She made sure to keep her expression mild when she saw that Lex was eyeing her covertly, no doubt looking for a reaction. “Yummy,” she said with a smile.
She ordered mulled wine, a warm goat-cheese salad with maple vinaigrette, and duck with truffle mashed potatoes and rustic vegetables. Lex got a bison steak.
The fire and the mulled wine quickly went to Chloe’s head. Lex was pleasant, almost charming. She felt warm and giddy and quite pleased with the fact that other patrons of the restaurant were looking over at her table in interest or admiration. While the marriage might be fake, she felt a ridiculous rush of pride over the fact that she was obviously with the most attractive man in the place.
“It’s starting to feel like Christmas,” she said, when the server came to take her salad plate. “For some reason, it feels more like it here.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “That’s not what the restaurant makes me think of.”
“I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just the rustic food and the fire and the kind of old-world feel of the place. It makes me think of Christmas.”
“It’s still pretty early for Christmas. Let’s try to hold off on the sentiment for as long as possible.” He paused. Gave her a slanting look. “Are you a Christmas-person?”
“Of course. Isn’t everyone?” Chloe had always loved Christmas. It had made her think of happy family memories and festive times with friends.
Lex didn’t reply. Just looked at her steadily.
“You’re not,” she breathed, her giddiness fading a little. “You don’t have good Christmas memories?”
He licked his lips and looked away from her, toward the roaring fireplace. Finally he said, “Not one.”
Chloe sipped her wine, fighting the ridiculous urge to scoot over and put her arms around him. It seemed so horrible that he didn’t have one good Christmas memory. She asked softly, “Not even with your mother?”
His expression twisted slightly and he still didn’t meet her eyes. “There were some good times, when I was young. But no memory is pure, without something . . .” He trailed off.
She understood what he meant. None of his good memories of his mother were without the taint of his father.
Unable to resist, she reached over and put her hand gently on his forearm. “I’m sorry.”
He nodded. Then the mood shifted quickly when he slanted her a dry look. “I suppose your Christmas memories are full of sap and sentiment.”
She grinned at him. “Of course.”
Their meals came then, and Chloe drank more wine. When she’d finished, she was overly warm and replete and her head was spinning a little. Somehow—she wasn’t conscious of doing so—she’d slid over in the banquette until she was very close to Lex.
Their thighs were pressing together.
She refused dessert, but when Lex’s maple syrup pie came, Chloe had to sneak a few bites. He complained at every bite she took, and—when she beat him to the last bite—he gave her an indignant look.
Giggling helplessly, she decided to be generous and give him the bite. So she fed it to him off of her fork.
Because she’d drunk a little too much, he ended up with whip cream on the corner of his lip.
She reached over to wipe it off for him, and something in his eyes as he gazed at her made her stop, her fingertips resting of his skin.
Before anything more could happen, a flashbulb broke the shadows of the candlelit room.
Both of them jerked apart and whirled around to see where the camera flash had come from.
Chloe saw the back of a man hurrying out of the restaurant.
A photographer, most likely. Either one of the patrons had recognized Lex and called the photographer. Or the photographer himself happened to be here, thrilled with accidentally catching sight of Lex Luthor in the midst of an intimate dinner with his new bride.
Chloe’s stomach dropped painfully.
Lex nudged her toward the end of the banquette. “We better go,” he said quietly, whatever teasing languor he’d been feeling that evening vanishing with the flash of the camera.
Chloe got up quickly, without objection. And she knew that—likely before dawn tomorrow morning—she and Lex would be leaving Quebec, before their presence here could hit the news.
They’d be winging their way in a private jet toward another place in the world, the second city in less than a week.
And they’d only been married five days.
Chapter Six
December 6
The jet took off before dawn the next morning. Chloe was groggy, since she hadn’t slept well the night before and she didn’t like getting up so early even under normal circumstances. So she didn’t ask any questions or raise any objections as the hotel staff loaded up her luggage and they headed to the chauffeured car and then to the airport.
She would have asked Lex where they were going—since he hadn’t bothered to tell her—but he was busy on the phone from the moment she was woken up so she hadn’t gotten the chance.
From his side of the conversation, Chloe could tell he was busy making plans for their trip. And she was amazed by how complicated it seemed to be for them to leave Quebec and travel somewhere else in the world without leaving an obvious trail.
Because she knew Lex was doing this for her, she didn’t interrupt and she didn’t complain – even though she was a little annoyed that he hadn’t even said “good morning” to her today.
She took one of the buckle-seats on the jet and accepted the coffee a polite server offered her. When she thanked him, he murmured, “My pleasure, Mrs. Luthor.”
Chloe wondered if she’d ever get used to being called that.
Glancing over to where Lex had taken his own seat, rubbing his bald scalp as he talked intently in a phone conversation that had evidently gotten more frustrating, Chloe felt an odd little pang of possessiveness. He looked so handsome and focused and exasperated.
Then she reminded herself that she wouldn’t need to get used to being called “Mrs. Luthor” because a month from now she would no longer be his wife.
She dozed off shortly after the jet took off, and she woke up stiff and disoriented.
Realizing where she was, she glanced over and saw that Lex was still talking on the phone.
Groaning in frustration, she stood up and stretched, trying to work out the kinks from her back and shoulders. She was kind of sore from too much exercise the previous morning.
She happened to look over and noticed that Lex’s eyes were on her. Something about his expression made her glance down, and she noticed that her red tank top—which she was wearing under a hoodie sweater—had lifted as she stretched so that a wide strip of skin was exposed above her jeans.
She yanked it down self-consciously, although she was secretly a little pleased that Lex had been looking at her. He didn’t seem to be suffering from any undue attraction to her body, but at least he seemed to notice that she had one.
Since she was starving, she walked back and found the polite server, and she asked for an omelet. When he asked if Mr. Luthor would like one too, she asked, “He hasn’t eaten yet?”
“No, ma’am. Nothing but coffee.”
“Bring him an omelet—whatever he normally gets—with whole wheat toast.” She frowned, thinking that Lex’s diet was sadly short on fruit. “Do you have any juice or anything?”
“Yes, ma’am. Fresh squeezed orange juice.”
“Bring him some of that too.”
When she returned, Lex was finally hanging up on his call. She opened her mouth to say hello and ask where they were heading, but he raised his hand in a silencing gesture and dialed his phone again.
Chloe rolled her eyes and gave up on him.
She looked for a movie to watch, but hadn’t yet found one when their breakfast arrived. She thanked the server and then watched as he brought the other tray over to the workstation where Lex had ensconced himself.
Lex stared at the omelet, toast, and juice blankly. Then he covered his phone with one hand and asked the server, “What’s this?”
“Your wife ordered it for you, sir.” The server, well-trained, kept his eyes down and left without further comment.
Lex aimed a narrow-eyed look in her direction, but she noticed that, after a minute, he started to eat his breakfast.
She’d found an old romantic comedy to watch and was enjoying her breakfast, so she didn’t immediately notice when Lex finally ended his conversation.
He had finished eating and was halfway through his juice when she looked over.
“The orange juice is good, isn’t it?” she asked, grinning at him.
He quirked up one side of his mouth. “Did you think I needed extra vitamin C?”
“Probably.” She gestured vaguely toward his phone. “Is everything all right?”
He nodded. “Yes. I’ve got things under control. We won’t be tracked.”
“It seems kind of strange—that your father would still be out there looking for me. Metropolis seems so far away.”
“It’s not, though. And I guarantee he hasn’t given up.”
“I know. Thanks for everything.”
“I thought we covered that there’s no need for you to thank me every other minute.” He actually sounded grumpy, even as he swallowed down the last of his juice.
Chloe scowled at him. “Why shouldn’t I thank you? You’re doing a lot to help me.”
“I’ve told you now multiple times that I’m getting something—“
“I know you’re getting something out of it,” she interrupted sharply. “But I still want to thank you.”
“Well, you have now. So let it go.”
She sat and glowered at him, mentally rehearsing all of his obnoxious and annoying traits. Why the hell shouldn’t she thank him for all he was doing to keep her safe?
“The photo hit the papers,” Lex said, his tone shifting to something casual and natural. If she had to guess, she thought maybe he was trying to ease the tension between them.
“Did it?” she asked. “I guess that’s just what we figured.”
He turned the computer monitor in her direction, and she got up to get close enough to see it.
The picture she saw on the screen wasn’t perfectly clear, but it revealed a man who was obviously Lex Luthor, looking relaxed and attractive as he sat at a rustic table in a Quebec restaurant. And Chloe, his new bride, was gazing up at him with what seemed to Chloe to be an embarrassingly besotted expression. Her hand was on his face, and they appeared to be moments from a kiss.
Her cheeks burned, and she mumbled, “I’d clearly drunk too much wine.”
Lex chuckled. “You were exceptionally friendly last night. And there wasn’t a trace of nagging. You should get a little tipsy more often.”
“Nagging,” she gasped. “I don’t nag!”
Then she noticed the twitch of Lex’s lips.
“’Oh,” she choked, “You asshole. You’re mocking me again.”
“Not mocking,” Lex corrected. “But it’s just so fun to see how outraged you look when you think you’ve been insulted.”
She gave him an icy glare—just for good measure, since she wasn’t feeling all that unhappy with him. “Are you done on the phone?”
“For now. Why?”
“No reason. It’s just not all that exciting for me to watch endless one-sided phone conversations, so I wanted to be prepared.”
Lex studied her face closely. “I wasn’t planning for us to leave this morning, so I had to quickly redo a lot of plans.”
“I know,” she acknowledged, sinking down onto the sofa, which was more comfortable than the seats. “I didn’t mean to sound like I was whining. But you could at least say good morning, you know.”
“Didn’t I say good morning?”
She stared, wondering if he was being genuine or if he was teasing her again. “You didn’t,” she said carefully.
When he drew his eyebrows together, as if he were thinking over the events of the morning, she decided he honestly hadn’t realized his rudeness.
“So I’m just saying,” she said, “Phrasing requests as questions rather than commands, saying good morning when you see your wife first thing, these are some basic courtesies you might consider.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
She sat up suddenly, remembering something else. “Oh, and where the hell are we going?”
“Excuse me?”
“Today. You’ve never told me where we’re going. You just shuffled me along like a piece of the luggage. If I’m part of this enterprise, I’d like some say in where we’re going.”
“If you had your choice, where would you go?”
“I have no idea. I’d have to think about it.”
Lex nodded, as if she’d proven his point. “Exactly. We didn’t have time to think about it. We just had to go. You can choose the next spot.”
She was getting annoyed again at his obtuseness. He seemed to be going out of his way not to tell her what she wanted to know. “So where are we going now?” When he hesitated before responding, she snapped, “You’ve got to work on these control-freak tendencies. Really. I know we’re doing this on your resources, but I’m not a child or a fool, you know. And I don’t like being treated like one.”
His voice was quieter than it had been when he asked, “You think that’s how I’m treating you?”
“Well, not always.” She felt kind of bad about her outburst, even though it was a real frustration. So she tempered it by saying, “I’m sorry to bite your head off. But I really would appreciate it if you could try a little harder to treat me like a partner rather than an underling.”
Lex didn’t answer for a long time. Too long. Then finally he said, “I’m not used to having partners.”
She let out a gusty sigh. “I know that. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be whining. You’ve been . . . you’ve been great.”
He hadn’t been great in every way, but he’d been better than she could have expected. And building their relationship didn’t really matter that much since it would be over in less than a month.
She cleared her throat when he hadn’t replied—just stared blankly at his computer screen. “So where are we going?”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. We’re going to South Africa.”
Chloe’s jaw dropped open. “What?”
“South Africa. To a game reserve. You enjoyed that African wildlife documentary so much I thought you might want to see the real thing.” He looked a little diffident as he explained, perhaps because of her dumbfounded look.
Chloe clasped her hands together. “A game reserve? Like a wildlife safari thing?”
“Yes. We’ll be staying at a luxury resort, of course. We won’t be roughing it.”
“Oh.” Chloe tried to process what he’d just told her, as spirals of excitement and anticipation rose inside her. “Oh.”
Lex frowned. “Is that all right?”
“All right?” Chloe realized she wasn’t expressing herself well, so she tried to do a little better.
But all that came out was a silly little squeal.
Then she got up and ran over to hug him hard—so excited about the prospect of the new trip that such a gesture seemed not only appropriate but natural.
Lex laughed—low and husky—as she squeezed him with her arms. “I guess you approve,” he murmured as she pulled away.
Chloe was flushed again, and she tried to pull herself together again by quipping, “This doesn’t cancel out what I said before about the partnership thing. Just because you make good decisions some of the time doesn’t mean you should make all of them.”
Lex’s mouth twitched. “Understood.”
Chloe went back to watching her movie, and Lex went back to working. And they were in flight for most of the day, since not only was it a very long flight but they also once more took a roundabout way to get there.
But it wasn’t that bad a day. And Lex wasn’t really too annoying.
And, despite his shortcomings, he wasn’t really that bad a man to have as a fake husband.
Of course, they’d only been married six days.
Chapter Seven
December 7
The luxury resort on the South African game reserve was like nothing Chloe had ever experienced before.
She and Lex had a private, detached suite furnished in an elegant, exotic mix of Colonial and African styles with foldaway glass walls on two sides of their suite that opened to expose the entire place to the outdoors. There was a plunge infinity pool on their private deck, an expansive view of the African bush, and the marble bathroom of her dreams.
They arrived late the night before, but the view even at night was breathtaking, and she spent a full half-hour just gushing over the accommodations and the setting. And that morning she woke up before dawn without any trouble.
Lex had arranged a private game ride for her—rather than going out in groups of five or six as guests at the resort usually went—but it was still scheduled to leave at six in the morning in order to take advantage of the best time for viewing the wildlife.
Lex was awake—drinking coffee and working on his computer—when she emerged from her room dressed in khakis and a fitted white t-shirt. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Chloe asked.
“Not this morning,” Lex said. He looked over at her, his expression softening. “You have a good time.”
Chloe had her own private game ranger—a tall, rugged man with thick dark hair, a five-o’clock shadow, amazing shoulders, and an easy grin. He introduced himself as Michael in a charming South African accent.
As they started off in the open-air jeep, Chloe quickly discovered that Michael really knew what he was talking about. He told her about plants, geological formations, and animals with equal expertise. And he quickly spotted birds and small animals that she otherwise would have missed.
When she asked him a few questions, based on what she’d understood from documentaries on cable, he didn’t patronize her or treat her like she was silly. And an hour of the ride passed so quickly she couldn’t believe it when she glanced at her watch.
It was then that she saw the first of the big animals, a herd of buffalo shuffling along in the distance. They drove to a popular watering hole and found a huge group of elephants—including several babies that made Chloe’s heart melt—and a couple of white rhinos.
Chloe was thrilled with all of it—almost hugging herself every time she spotted another African animal. And she couldn’t believe that Lex was missing out on such an experience.
Maybe he’d already done something like this before.
As they stopped for coffee, which was evidently a normal part of the ride, Michael asked with easy interest, “So your husband didn’t want to come out this morning?”
“No,” she answered, feeling a weird little pang in her chest. “He didn’t.”
“Shame to miss out on this.” Michael gave a broad wave toward the lush African bush to indicate what he meant by “this.”
“Yeah,” Chloe agreed. “I know. But I’m sure he’ll come out this afternoon or tomorrow morning.” Then, feeling a little awkward, as if she had to justify Lex’s choices since he was supposed to be her husband, she added with a sheepish smile, “This trip was mostly for me.”
“Then as long as you enjoy yourself, I guess he’ll be happy.”
“Right.”
She thought Michael had the most gorgeous dark eyes she’d ever seen. He was big and masculine and attractive. And she liked his voice and his smile. In another situation, she would have been really interested in him and would have gotten a thrill out of the slightly flirtatious glint in his eyes.
Of course, he probably cultivated that non-intrusive flirtatiousness with female guests as a matter of routine. Another way to make sure he was popular with the resort’s clientele. She probably shouldn’t take it personally.
But she liked him, and she was glad he was her guide.
At the very end of the ride, after three amazing hours, Michael silently gestured to some long grass to the right where Chloe saw a cheetah.
She had to cover her mouth to suppress her squeal of delight.
“We’ll be able to see some lions this afternoon, almost certainly. We’re almost at peak season now, and I know their favorite spots.”
“Oh, I can’t wait. Do you think we’ll be able to see any leopards? They’re my favorite.”
Michael grinned. “Then I’ll make sure we do.”
Lex was still working when she returned to the suite, breathless and excited. But he did pause to ask her questions and hear her account of all she’d seen, and he seemed pleased that she’d enjoyed it.
Since she was starving, she went down to the main patio of their exclusive section of the resort where the staff was serving a hot breakfast buffet. She chatted with some of the other guests. They were all rich and mostly stuffy, but she found them all highly entertaining.
Lex was still working when she came back up to the suite, so she took a plunge in the infinity pool and then lay out on a chaise on their private deck, enjoying the sun and the scent of nature and the gorgeous landscape.
She actually dozed off and woke up just in time for lunch.
They ordered room service—just sandwiches and salads—and, since Lex went right back to work afterwards, Chloe decided to visit the spa, where she greatly enjoyed an aroma essence massage.
She returned to the suite near the time for the afternoon game ride.
“You aren’t going to come on this ride either?” she asked Lex, feeling ridiculously disappointed.
“No. I’m good. You have a good time and try to spot a leopard.”
She left with a sigh. There was no sense in her nagging Lex. If he didn’t want to go, then he didn’t want to go. She was having a grand time, and it didn’t really matter that she was having it alone.
Michael was just as charming, rugged, and informed as he’d been that morning. And, to Chloe’s great joy, in addition to more rhinos, buffaloes, and elephants, they also spotted a good-sized pride of lions—that they were able to watch for almost a half-hour.
She was happy and exhausted when she returned. And she wasn’t at all surprised when Lex said he didn’t want to come down for dinner.
“Why the hell not?” she demanded, getting fed up with his reticence. She hadn’t realized she’d married a workaholic hermit.
“I’ve gotten behind on some projects,” he said mildly, “And this kind of social setting isn’t really my thing.”
She wasn’t sure what he was talking about. They seemed like affluent but basically interesting fellow guests. Yes, they were thrown together by the dining style and forced to interact, but that just livened things up.
As if he noticed her displeasure, he added, “I’ll move out to the deck, where I’ll be able to see you.”
It was true. One side of their deck looked out toward the boma, the outdoor dining enclosure surrounding a large bonfire. But Chloe just scowled, “Much good that will do.”
Lex didn’t reply, so she went to shower and change clothes before she went out to dinner. It was almost dark—eight o’clock—and she mingled with some other guests over drinks before they sat down to eat.
It was a very good meal, and she laughed a lot as the couple she sat near regaled her with tales of their eventful travels. But she privately stewed over the fact that Lex hadn’t left their suite all day.
What the hell was wrong with the man? Was he completely unable to enjoy himself? He had gone out at least a little in Quebec – couldn’t he step out of his room here?
Suddenly, it occurred to her what might be happening. The last time he’d ventured out in Quebec he’d been recognized and photographed.
Maybe—maybe—he was afraid he’d be recognized here too and they’d have to leave prematurely.
Chloe sipped the last of her wine and gazed up at the bright stars as she reflected on that possibility. And, as she realized that must be exactly what he was thinking, she was overwhelmed with gratitude, fondness, and annoyance—all mingling in her chest together.
It was so Lex-like that he’d think of that. And so Lex-like that he wouldn’t bother to tell her that’s why he wasn’t venturing out.
She shook her head, said goodbye to her new friends, and started back toward the suite.
“Chloe,” a familiar voice called from down the path.
She stopped, recognizing Michael approaching. “Hey,” she said with a grin. “What are you up to?”
“I was eating dinner at another lodge. They try to spread us out—so guests can talk to rangers as much as possible.”
“Ah – how fun for you.”
“I could think of worse jobs.” His mouth quirked up. “Although tonight I was called on to dance, which is not my favorite activity.”
“Dance?” Chloe asked, intrigued. She wouldn’t have pegged Michael as a dancer.
“One of the other lodges requested a dance, and I got roped into being a partner.”
“It wasn’t a tribal dance, was it?” Her voice was teasing.
He laughed. “Oh no. Ballroom dance.”
“You can do ballroom dance? I never would have guessed it – you’re so rugged and outdoorsy.”
“Shall I prove it?” Then, as proof, he slipped an arm around her and swung her into a dance—something resembling a waltz.
There wasn’t any music, of course, and they were by themselves on the patio off the gardens, but Chloe laughed and did the best she could to match his steps.
In another situation, she would have been totally swept off her feet by him—handsome, manly, engaging, intelligent, and paying special attention to her.
For some reason, however, she wasn’t. And even if she had been, she naturally wouldn’t do anything while she was married to Lex. Even if it wasn’t a genuine marriage, she just wasn’t that kind of a person.
But she was having fun when a cool voice broke into their laughter. “It would be more effective with some music.”
Chloe jerked to a stop and whirled around to see Lex standing and surveying them with cool disinterest. “Oh, hi! I thought you weren’t coming out.”
Lex arched his eyebrows. “I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, stepping forward and extending a hand to Michael. “I’m Chloe’s husband.”
Michael grinned and introduced himself. “It’s nice to meet you. I was beginning to think your existence was fictitious.”
“It’s not.”
Lex’s tone and attitude struck Chloe as rather rude. “Michael was my ranger on the game rides today. He’s been great.”
“And what exactly was he guiding you through just now?”
Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise. Lex was acting like . . . well, he was acting like a jealous husband.
Michael laughed agreeably. “I was just showing her how we dance here.”
Lex’s blue eyes were like granite as he looked at the other man steadily. “Is that right?”
Chloe rolled her eyes and took his arm. “Thanks, Michael. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Sure thing. Have a great night.” He strolled off with a wave and didn’t look back.
As they started back to their suite, Chloe glared up at Lex. “That was exceptionally rude. He’s been nothing but super-nice to me.”
“I saw how nice he was being to you.” Lex was tense and just as cool with her as he’d been with Michael.
“You’re being ridiculous. It was perfectly innocent. And it’s not like there’s anything real between us anyway.” Even though there wasn’t anything between them, she wouldn’t have dreamed of having an affair while she was married to Lex. But she didn’t like his high-handed manner, and she didn’t like that he was so rude to Michael.
“So that means I should simply accept without complaint my wife sneaking off in the dark to embrace another man.”
Chloe choked in outrage. “Damn you, Lex. I don’t have to put up with this.” Since they’d reached the suite by then, she stormed into the main room. Then stormed into her bedroom and closed the door.
She was careful not to slam it, since she didn’t want to look petty.
She drew a hot bath in the huge jetted and dumped some ginger-scented bath salts in it. Then she took off her clothes and stepped in, trying to relax and empty her mind from her annoyance with Lex.
How dare he think she would be so cheap and crass as to sneak off and kiss another man? How dare he think she was so sleazy that she’d jump into bed with a virtual stranger while she was married to him?
While it had crossed her mind a couple of mornings ago when she hadn’t found him in the suite in the morning, she’d come to the conclusion that Lex wouldn’t do such a thing. The least he could do is come to the same conclusion about her.
Other than his obnoxious behavior, she’d had a very nice day.
She’d never thought she’d get to come to Africa and visit a luxury game reserve resort.
She wondered what else she would get to experience in the month she was married to Lex—except for his infuriating behavior, of course.
They’d only been married seven days.
Chapter Eight
December 8
The next morning, Chloe woke up early again, a little more tired than she’d been the morning before, and stumbled out of bed to shower before her early game ride.
She dressed in jeans, a moss green camp shirt that flattered her figure, and her hiking boots. Then she went out to the main room of the suite and was shocked to see Lex standing in front of the window wall looking outside, wearing khakis and a black t-shirt.
“What’s going on?” Chloe asked, rather foolishly. But his behavior was so atypical that she was rather disoriented.
Lex turned around with a lift of his eyebrows. “I’m going on the game ride with you.”
“Oh.” She stared at him silently for a moment, trying to figure it out. She was ridiculously pleased with the decision, but she was afraid she knew the reason. “I’m not going to sneak off in the bush and screw the game ranger, you know.”
“I know you aren’t. I’m sorry I implied otherwise last night.” The words were mild but sounded genuine.
“Oh. Thank you. I guess.” Then she added, “So why are you going? I thought you were trying to keep a low profile.”
He gave her a slant-wise look. “Figured that out, did you? Yes, I was trying to keep from being recognized. But, since the game ride is private, the only person to see me will be your macho admirer.”
Chloe huffed. “Michael was just being nice. He isn’t my admirer.”
“We’ll have to disagree on that.”
“You don’t have to sacrifice your precious work time just to play escort. I’ve already told you I’m not going to sleep with him.”
“I know you’re not. But I’d rather he not have the opportunity to hit on you at all.” Before she could object to this assessment, he added with a twitch of his mouth, “Besides, since I’m here, I’d like to see a little wildlife.”
His last dry comment made Chloe feel a lot better. Like she was on familiar ground, and Lex wasn’t coming along on the ride bad-temperedly. “Well, I should certainly think so.” Glancing at her watch, she said, “We better hurry. It’s almost six.”
Michael appeared surprised to see that Lex was joining them, but he didn’t appear disappointed in the slightest. He began by casually pointing out spots of interest—highlighting the African flora and fauna—and he drove them out to the best spots to find the big game.
“Our goal this morning is to spot a leopard,” Michael said.
“Those are my favorite,” Chloe explained, looking up at Lex, who was riding in the seat beside her.
“I know that. You told me, remember?”
She had told him—when they were watching the documentary. For no good reason, she flushed a little. “Oh. Right.”
They found more elephants at the watering spot—the same group Chloe had seen yesterday, Michael told her. She loved watching the baby elephants play around in the water and the mother elephants try to keep them in line.
Lex watched with interest as well, but his absolute composure made her a little self-conscious about her own enthusiasm. She didn’t want him to think she was silly for getting so excited about baby elephants.
They drove some more and saw a black rhino, which was evidently more rare than the white rhino and therefore a great sighting. They also saw another cheetah and a pack of wild dogs, which was pretty amazing as well.
But no leopard.
“Maybe we’ll catch sight of one on the way back,” Michael said, as they stopped for coffee. “And, if not, we’ll try again this afternoon.”
Chloe nodded. “It’s all right if we don’t. I know there are no guarantees.”
Lex had been listening, she assumed, but he was now gazing off beyond Michael’s shoulder. “What’s that?” he asked in a low voice, pointing toward something in the direction he’d been looking.
They all looked.
“Serval,” Michael said, after taking a measure of the solitary animal lurking in the low grass quite a ways away. He pulled up his binoculars and looked more closely. “They’re really shy, so we don’t always see them.”
He gestured toward Chloe. “Come see.”
She moved next to him and looked through his binoculars. He helped direct them for her and then casually kept a hand on her shoulder.
She was delighted by the sight of the odd-looking, spotted cat and after a few minutes, she said, “Lex, come see!”
While Lex obviously could see without the binoculars, he would see much better with them. So she handed them to him, and he took a look—edging Michael away from Chloe as he did.
Once the serval disappeared, they started back in the jeep. To Chloe’s surprise, Lex scooted farther over in the seat and put his arm around her.
She looked up at him in confusion. He nodded toward Michael in a wordless explanation, and she rolled her eyes in response. Evidently, he still thought Michael was coming on to her.
But she was happy and tired, satisfied in all they’d seen this morning, even if they hadn’t seen a leopard. So she didn’t pull away from him. In fact, she leaned against him a little more, occasionally responding to Michael’s friendly running commentary.
After a while, she felt Lex shift against her. Then felt his breath against her head. He was really close and seemed to have been nuzzling her hair.
She arched her neck and whispered in his ear, “He’s not coming on to me.”
“He wants to,” Lex whispered back.
“He does not. He’s just friendly.”
“Not to me, he isn’t. Besides, we’re supposed to be newlyweds. If we act too unusual, he’ll start to wonder and maybe raise questions about us.”
That actually made a little sense. And it disappointed Chloe a little. If this was just for an act, then Lex’s warm, strong body and familiar scent didn’t feel quite as good.
She saw Michael glancing into the rearview mirror at them, and she realized Lex might be right. They hadn’t really been acting like newlyweds, and that might raise some obvious questions. Questions they’d do well to avoid.
So she smiled up at Lex. And she didn’t jerk away when he leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips.
And she couldn’t help but wonder how she would feel—how much better it would be—if she was experiencing this with a husband who was real.
She glanced down at her rings—the too-big Renaissance merchant ring and the antique wedding band. And she felt a sharp pang in her chest.
But she remembered all too well what had happened the last time she had let herself believe that Lex’s fond eyes and warm touch were real and lasting.
She wasn’t going to be a fool again.
After all, they’d only been married eight days.
Chapter Nine
December 9
The following morning, Lex came along on the game ride again. It was a cool, beautiful morning and they saw a remarkable range of wildlife. Still no leopards, but Chloe had a really good time.
When they came back, they ordered a late breakfast from room service and ate on their private deck. Since she was planning to relax in the sun for the rest of the morning, Chloe had showered and changed into a new dark red tankini and a matching, flimsy cover-up. Because her own wardrobe was sadly limited, she’d finally surrendered to Lex’s suggestion and had gone to buy a few new things from the resort’s exclusive boutique.
“Very nice,” Lex said, scanning her from head to foot as she emerged on to the deck to find trays of fruit, pastries, yogurt, juice and coffee.
Ridiculously pleased by the obvious admiration in his eyes and even more pleased that the cover-up hid her butt and the back of her thighs, she gave him a dry look. “You’re just trying to encourage me to relent and go on a shopping spree.”
Lex chuckled. “Why would I do that? Most husbands would be thrilled if their wives were as thrifty as you.”
“I’m not really thrifty.” Chloe settled herself on her seat and started to dish out a plate of food. “But I’m not at all comfortable letting you outfit me.”
“Whatever you would spend would barely register on my accounts.”
“I know that. But still. It’s the principle of the thing. If we were married for real, it would be different.”
Something odd reflected in Lex’s eyes, but she couldn’t quite understand it. “We are married for real. We have the certificate and the rings to prove it.”
Chloe glanced down at the rings on her left hand. “Well, yeah. But it’s not for long. So I’d feel weird about letting you buy me a whole new wardrobe since we’re just going to get divorced in a few weeks.”
Lex gave a half-shrug. “All right. The offer stands, if you change your mind.”
“Thanks, though,” she added, afraid he felt rebuffed. While it might seem like a trivial thing to feel rebuffed about, Lex was much more sensitive than most people realized. And, since he was cut off from many of the more natural ways of expressing good will, he was probably accustomed to using material things. “I appreciate it.”
They ate in generally pleasant leisure and then Lex went in to get some work done while Chloe took off her cover-up, but on some sun screen, and stretched out in the sun.
It was so nice, she thought, that it was summer here when it was winter in her part of the world.
She’d almost dozed off when she became conscious of a tickling feel on her shoulder. She slapped out at it groggily and was startled awake by the fact that she had slapped at someone else’s hand.
Her eyes flew open to land on Lex, who was leaning over her and reaching out toward her shoulder for some reason.
“What?” she gasped, sitting up in surprise and knocking Lex in the forehead in the process.
They both grunted at the impact, and Lex sat down on the edge of her chaise, rubbing his forehead.
“Sorry,” Chloe mumbled, rubbing her own head and trying to catch her breath. “What were you doing?”
“I came out for another cup of coffee and noticed there was a spider crawling up your arm.”
Chloe twitched in reaction and slapped at her arm.
“I got him,” Lex said with a smile. There was a warm look in his eyes that surprised her and caused her breath to hitch.
“Oh. Thanks.” She glanced down at her hands, feeling warm and shivery. “Sorry about your head. Is it okay?”
“Just a minor concussion.”
Since he was still rubbing his head, despite his dry words, Chloe leaned over to peer at his forehead. There was a red spot where their skulls had impacted. “Oh,” she murmured, reaching over to brush her fingers over the spot. “I hope it doesn’t bruise.”
“It’s fine. What about yours?” Lex gently removed her hand from his head and then reached over to stroke her hair away from her forehead.
Their eyes met and Chloe was overwhelmed by attraction, by emotion, by need. It suddenly felt like she was seventeen-years-old again and Lex was visiting her in the safe house.
She wanted to embrace him. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to give herself to him completely.
But that hadn’t worked out very well for her last time. And she’d been through too much, she’d grown up too much, to let herself fall for these feelings again.
She turned her head away from him and said, “My head is fine. Thanks for getting rid of the spider.”
Lex stood up. “You’re welcome. Have a good time laying out.”
When he went back inside, Chloe reclined back on the chaise. The sun still felt good, but she wasn’t as relaxed as she’d been before.
And she couldn’t help but remember.
* * *
The day after Lionel’s conviction, Lex came to see Chloe for the last time.
As far as Chloe had understood, they’d been together that summer. Lex had been out of town a lot—including at least one trip to Egypt—and his health was still not up to par, with the blood purifications he still had to undergo. But he’d come to see her often, and his visits were the only bright spots in her entire isolated summer.
Things had changed, however, after she was kidnapped by Trent and then rescued by Clark. The day after that, she’d testified against Lionel. And shortly after that Lionel was convicted.
Chloe had to now somehow return to her regular life. And Lex seemed to be a different person.
She’d originally hoped his distance and coolness was just a result of the awkwardness of shifting their relationship into a more public context, coupled with the difficulty of his father’s trial.
So, when Lex paid her a visit at her father’s apartment the day after Lionel’s conviction, Chloe hugged him, whispering, “Are you all right?”
Lex hugged her back, his arms clutching at her urgently in a way that soothed her torn feelings. “Yeah,” he murmured thickly. He brushed a few kisses into her hair. “What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
She pulled back just enough to look up into his face. His features were tense, and his eyes were deep and conflicted. She stretched up to kiss him, her lips brushing against his gently at first, then clinging to them more hungrily.
He returned the kiss with a low groan in his throat, and his fingers tangled in her hair to curl around the back of her skull. But he pulled away, much sooner than normal.
They went to sit down, and she sat next to him on the couch, wanting to be as close to him as possible.
“I’m sorry . . .” Lex had to pause to clear his throat. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
Chloe knew he was talking about her being kidnapped, when he was supposed to be protecting her. “I’m fine. I wasn’t really hurt.” She reached up to stroke his face, troubled that it was so tense. It had taken so long for her to get him to let down his guard with her this summer, get him to relax. And now it had all disappeared.
He didn’t respond. He just stared blankly at the wall across from him. And Chloe’s heart started to pound as she realized something significant had changed.
“So,” she asked, a little hesitantly, “What happens now?”
Lex turned to look at her, his eyes closed down in a way she hadn’t seen since before Lex had hidden her away. “You know things can’t continue as they’ve been, don’t you?”
She hadn’t really known that. “Yeah,” she said, her voice cracking as an ache seemed to tear her chest apart, “I figured.”
“I’ve had a good time this summer. You’ve been . . . great.” His voice wasn’t exactly cold, but there was no trace of real feeling in it—at least, no feeling except vague reluctance.
As if he was taking care of an unpleasant duty.
“Thanks,” she managed to say. “I’ve had a good time.” She had to look away from him, since it was starting to hurt so bad.
He must have picked up on something she was feeling, because he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder—like he used to do, before they’d gotten together.
Only they were never really together.
“I’m sorry, Chloe. I should have done better by you. It just happened, before I realized it. And I . . . I really enjoyed what we’ve had this summer.”
Chloe cleared her throat. “Me too.”
“But you’re only seventeen. And there’s too much going on in my life to . . .” His voice trailed off, but he didn’t really need to finish.
Chloe knew what he meant. He hadn’t set out to take advantage of her. He hadn’t really led her on. He’d needed something this summer, and she’d been able to offer it to him. But, now that the summer was over, they both had to return to their real lives.
“I know.” She tried for a fake smile, and was somewhat successful. “It would be silly to expect for us to be serious. We’re in completely different places.”
His face twisted, as if he were torn by guilt. Evidently, her words hadn’t convinced him.
She gave her head a firm shake. “I’m kind of disappointed,” she admitted. “But I’m a big girl. And I’ve never had unrealistic romantic dreams about us. It’s fine, Lex.”
She’d had unrealistic romantic dreams about Lex. At least a few. But those were private, and—even if she had a broken heart—she was going to keep what she could of her dignity.
Lex inclined his head. “I am sorry.”
“I know.” She reached over to cup his face with her palm, for the very last time. “Take care of yourself.”
Lex leaned over and kissed her once more on the mouth—softly, almost wistfully. “You too.”
* * *
Chloe sat up on her chaise, her heart aching so much she felt like crying. She breathed deeply, trying to control herself, trying not to feel torn up about the memory.
It had been ten years ago. She was long over the disappointment.
Lex came back out onto the deck with his empty cup of coffee, but he put it down when his eyes landed on Chloe.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, coming over to sit beside her again on the chaise.
Chloe shook her head a few times, trying to jar the lingering pain out of her mind. “Nothing.”
“I don’t think it’s nothing.” He reached up a hand to cup her cheek with his palm. His eyes were soft and worried—so similar to the way they’d been that summer. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
It would be so easy to let things happen as they had before. They’d sort of melt together—enjoying the closeness and the humor and the mutual support. It wasn’t like he was setting out to use her or take advantage of her – but she didn’t mean as much to him as he would mean to her. He liked her. And he was a man—he wouldn’t turn down a willing woman he generally liked.
And, when it was over, she’d be wrenched apart from him again.
Her heart would be broken again.
“It’s nothing,” she said again, standing up and pulling away from his warm hand. She was really about to cry now, and she had to get away from him. “I just got overly hot. I’m going to take another shower.”
She cried a little bit in the shower, but she felt better by the time she got out and dried off.
She was an adult. She wasn’t a silly little girl. And she wouldn’t let herself dream of things that could never be.
She’d just have to be a little more careful. But she could do it. This marriage would only last for a few more weeks.
They’d already been married nine days.
Chapter Ten
December 10
Chloe successfully avoided Lex for the rest of that day, and she was relieved the next day when he said he had to make some calls and couldn’t come on the morning game ride.
The ride didn’t seem nearly as fun as it had when Lex had come along.
When she returned, she didn’t see Lex in the suite, although the foldaway glass walls were both open. She glanced into his bedroom and his bathroom, but he wasn’t there either.
She was wondering if he’d left to go somewhere when she finally spotted him outside. He was standing facing the lush expanse of African bush, just in front of the infinity pool. He obviously hadn’t heard her arrive.
He was wearing dark gray shorts and an expensive white camp shirt. She almost never saw him dressed so casually. In fact, he wasn’t even wearing shoes.
Something about him struck her as she stood inside and watched him. One of his hands was in his pocket, and the other was idly rubbing his opposite arm. There was nothing obvious in his stance or position, but she somehow felt he wasn’t happy. Something wistful, or poignant, or lonely about the way he was standing hit her hard.
It was irrational, of course. There was absolutely no reason why she would have interpreted his stance in that way. But she did.
He looked lonely somehow.
Last night, she’d come to a mental resolution to distance herself from him emotionally as much as possible—in order to protect her heart. But she felt a powerful compulsion as she watched him now, and there was no way she could resist it.
If he was sad, then she wanted to comfort him.
She was used to acting on instinct. That was what had gotten her into this situation with Lionel to begin with. But she followed her instincts now and quietly walked outside onto their deck to where Lex was standing.
“Hey,” she said softly, coming up beside him. “You all right?”
He gave a little jerk—evidence that he’d been so caught up in his brooding thoughts that he hadn’t heard her approach. But all he said was, “Sure. How was your ride?”
“Good. Still no leopard.”
“Maybe tonight.”
“Maybe.”
Chloe studied his face, trying to read his expression. But it showed nothing but stoic composure. “You all right?” she asked again.
His brow lowered. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug. “It just seemed like . . . I don’t know. You don’t normally stand out here and admire the scenery.”
“It’s beautiful,” he said, his eyes focused on a mountain in the distance.
“I know. I love it. Thank you so much for taking me here. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.”
When he didn’t reply, she followed up, “Do you think so too?”
His forehead creased the way it did when he was thinking something over. “It’s up there. Not the most beautiful, though.”
“What’s the most beautiful?” She was genuinely curious, and she also wanted to continue the conversation, since it seemed to be successfully pulling Lex out of whatever slump he’d been suffering from.
“Probably Provence.”
“In France?” Chloe asked, vaguely surprised. She’d thought Lex would choose some sort of majestic, sublime mountain landscape. “I’ve never been. Why is it so beautiful?”
“Something about the sunlight there.”
He sounded a little distracted, and Chloe was worried he was falling back into his mood. “Anything happen this morning?” she asked, wondering if he’d heard something of Lionel and if that’s what had brought him down. “Any sign of your dad?”
“No. Nothing. It’s been a quiet morning.”
Somehow, he seemed to be drifting away from her—but she couldn’t quite define how it was she sensed it. It would have been wisest, probably, to just let him do so.
But Chloe just didn’t want to.
She reached out and put a hand on his arm. “You’re freaking me out a little, Lex. Are you sure everything is all right?”
Finally, he turned toward her completely. He tilted his head to study her face, his eyes so penetrating they were almost scary. Then finally he twitched his mouth and said, “I’d hate to freak you out. Why all the concern? I thought you were giving me the cold shoulder.”
Chloe’s breath hitched and her cheeks warmed a little. “Sorry if I was standoffish yesterday.” She thought for a moment to figure out a way to answer him honestly without giving too much away. Finally, she said, “It’s a little awkward sometimes. This marriage, I mean.”
“I know it is. But I thought we were doing all right.”
“We were. I mean, we mostly are.”
“What specifically feels awkward to you?”
This was getting far too close to the secrets of her heart, but she managed to muddle through a somewhat sensible answer. “I guess it’s just keeping that balance between being good partners and not being . . . not being . . . intimate.”
Lex’s eyebrows shot up.
Chloe flushed. “Not like that. I just mean that being married throws us into situations that require a certain amount of intimacy. And our relationship isn’t like that. It isn’t intimate like that.”
He nodded. “I know. But I believe we can work through that.”
He sounded so confident that it actually gave her confidence. “I think we can too. But that’s where the awkwardness comes. For me, at least. Especially with our history . . .” She trailed off.
“That complicates things,” he murmured, “I realize that.”
Chloe was silent. There was nothing they could say. They both knew what had happened between them and none of it could be taken back.
After a long moment, Lex asked, almost hesitantly, “Is there anything you need to change about our arrangement?”
Chloe took the question seriously. And, despite her panic the day before, she realized that she could do this. She could like Lex. Work with him. Appreciate him for what he was. Even enjoy his company. But just protect her heart and not take anything between them too seriously.
It would make things so much easier if she didn’t keep doing the emotional hokey-pokey. She didn’t have to keep pulling back from Lex. She just needed to keep things in proper perspective.
And that was something she could do.
“No,” she said at last. “I think we’re doing fine.” She saw something change in his eyes—a flicker of something she couldn’t recognize.
But, feeling comfortable again, she quirked her mouth into a smile. “Except, of course, the need to change your obnoxious, domineering habits.”
Lex smiled appreciatively. “Understood.”
“What about you?” Chloe asked, remembering his weird poignancy earlier. “Is there anything you’d like to change about the way we’re together?”
“Well . . .”
When he trailed off, Chloe sucked in a breath. And all of a sudden she was afraid that Lex was going to drop a bombshell on her—something he was deeply unhappy about regarding their pseudo-marriage.
“I’ve tried to hint about this before,” Lex began, his mouth sobering into a serious look. “And I don’t want to hurt your feelings. But do you think there’s anything you can do about your nagging?”
Chloe blinked, processing his words.
Realized he was teasing.
Gasping indignantly, she hissed, “Asshole!” Although she really kind of wanted to laugh.
Then she was slammed with an irresistible impulse. She never would have given into it if Lex hadn’t been barefoot and dressed so casually. And she never would have given into it if they hadn’t just come to comfortable terms with their relationship.
But both were true.
And he was far too smug with his teasing. Even now, at her reaction, his mouth was quivering irrepressibly.
So she did it.
She pushed him into the plunge pool.
He gave an exclamation of shock as he fell awkwardly into the water with a huge splash. Then he sputtered in outrage, denouncing her malicious ways in terms that would have been more effective if he hadn’t been soaked and choking on water.
Chloe nearly doubled over with laughter, her hilarity only increasing as Lex’s outrage took on force.
“Serves you right,” she told him, gasping for breath. “You’re far too full of yourself.”
“Is that what you think?” Lex asked. His voice transformed without warning, grew silky, almost predatory.
Chloe straightened up, studying his drenched form in the pool to identify his mood. He wasn’t serious, she ascertained. Ironic amusement was glittering in his eyes. “Yes,” she said, trying to nod gravely but not succeeding because she couldn’t stop giggling. “I’m afraid so.”
“If you know me so well,” Lex replied, moving toward the edge of the pool and planting his hands on the side to heave himself up, “Then you know I’ll retaliate.”
It only took Chloe a moment to figure out what he was talking about. But it was a moment she should have been using to flee.
As soon as he started to pull himself out of the water, she twirled around and ran, squealing in both laughter and excitement.
She raced to her room, where she was planning to lock the door against Lex’s assault. But he must have pulled himself out of the pool with super-human strength because he was right on her heels.
Screaming something wordless, the only breathless expression she could make of her hilarity and her resistance to Lex’s pursuit, she slammed her bedroom door, just as he was about to enter.
She hadn’t quite gotten in locked when he threw it opened.
She stumbled from the force of the suddenly opened door. Gasping, laughing, and calling him every dirty name she could think of, she tried to scramble up so she could escape to the bathroom.
But escape didn’t come.
Lex reached down and hauled her up, his eyes blazing with something so rare for him—laughter, exhilaration, victory. There was nothing soft or fond about him at the moment. He was soaking wet, water dripping from his fine body, his clothes pasted to his skin. And there was something almost fierce, even about his amusement.
Chloe tried futilely to fight him off, although her resistance was hampered by her laughter. And so he succeeded in swinging her over his shoulder to carry her back out to the deck.
She squealed and pounded his back—her heart racing, her blood pounding, and something vibrantly alive in her heart despite her helpless position.
And she knew what to expect when he reached the pool. She clung resiliently to his shirt as he dropped her into the pool, so she was able to offset his balance and pull him into the pool with her.
They ended in a clumsy, wet tumble. They wrestled around for a few more minutes until Chloe finally gasped, “Fine, fine. We’ll call it a draw.”
Water dripping down his face, Lex still managed an arrogant arch of his eyebrows. “Is that what you’d call it?”
“Well, yes. Admit it. I got you good.”
With a laugh she loved but hardly ever heard, Lex climbed out of the pool and reached down to help her out too. “All right.”
She accepted his hand, since they were both obviously ready to get dried off and out of the wet clothes. He pulled her up so she was standing in front of him, and then their eyes met with a warm kind of understanding.
To her absolute astonishment, Lex pulled her into a hard hug. And he murmured against her ear, “I admit it. You got me good.”
After the brief hug, they went into their separate rooms to dry off and change clothes. And Chloe was ridiculously pleased with the way the morning had gone.
This could work. They could be friends. They could be partners. They could get through this and still come out unscathed.
They didn’t have to be anything else to each other.
And they’d only been married ten days.