The Bachelor's Bed Read Online Free Page A

thought of that give her a heady rush of anticipation? She wasn’t promiscuous, not by a long shot, but somehow, with a man likeColin, she thought she might learn something about being a woman.
    Yep, the chemicals in the cleaning stuff she used were most definitely going to her head—and really starting to burn her skin. Too bad she couldn’t rip her shirt off, too. At the thought, she let out another laugh.
    â€œLani?” Colin dipped his head down a little so he could see into her eyes. “Don’t leave yet.”
    Did he honestly think she’d disappear now? He didn’t know much about her if—
    What was she thinking?
    He knew nothing about her. Still speechless, a truly unusual state for her, she shook her head.
    She wouldn’t leave.
    He looked at her for a long moment, and she wondered what was going through his mind, what he saw in her.
    Again, the enormity of what she’d agreed to do staggered her. What was she going to tell Great-Aunt Jennie, who was likely to be so excited to have wed off her old-maid niece, finally? She’d have a heart attack!
    It was just pretend, she reminded herself. No real heart involved. Walk away when the project’s done.
    Lani watched her half-naked boss—and, good Lord, her future husband—as he walked out of the room.
    Another unstoppable giggle escaped and sheslapped her hand over her mouth. Giggling wouldn’t do, it didn’t become the future Mrs. West. “Oh, my God.”
    Quietly, and since her knees were very weak, quickly, with a wide, silly grin on her face, she sank to the nearest seat, which happened to be the floor.
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    T HE PHONE had stopped ringing by the time Colin got to his home office, which suited him.
    Everything was good, he thought with relief. He had his fictional fiancée, and now, finally, he could concentrate on his work.
    All other troubles faded away as he did just that, with a hyper-focus born of necessity. Nothing intruded, not the Institute’s hurry for his completed laser, not the fact he still had to talk to his well-meaning if meddling mother, nor that he had conned his cleaning lady into a pretense she clearly wasn’t prepared for.
    His fingers raced over the keyboard of his computer, his mind locked deep in the complicated equations he was formulating. He was so close to perfecting his compact mini-laser, all he needed was time, uninterrupted time.
    Turning to the console behind his desk, he lifted part of the scale model of his invention. He worked on many projects at a time for various conglomerates and institutions all over the world, but he had also incorporated himself. Generally he worked out of alarge converted warehouse downtown, but this home office allowed him the privacy he sometimes craved.
    The laser component hummed when he activated it. A miracle, and the miracle lay in the palm of his hand. Finally, after months and months of work, everything had begun to gel. Just as he let out a rare smile in response to the thrill of that, the phone rang, startling him from his intense concentration.
    Blowing out a breath of frustration, he grabbed the phone.
    â€œDarling, you haven’t returned a single one of my calls,” said his mother before he had a chance to open his mouth.
    Thirty-two years old and that tone could still plant a headache between his eyes as fast as lightning. “I know. I—”
    â€œHow are you? I hope you’re good, you work too hard. Listen darling, I’m in town for the night only. I’m at the Towers with Aunt Bessie and Aunt Lola.”
    Oh, God, all three of them at once. They were just women; petite, innocuous, elderly. But together, this team of New York, Italian, Catholic-raised siblings had guilt-laying and conformity-forcing down to a science. Colin was convinced that together they could have conquered Rome in a day.
    And now they were in town. He rubbed his temples, knowing they cared about him beyond reason,