They strolled slowly along the shoreline, close together like the few other couples they saw, and Hannah knew they must look as if they, too, had created a little world all their own, but it was the worst kind of lie. While the other couples were whispering words of love, Grant was talking very quietly about his errors of judgement.
‘I wouldn’t have suggested it if I hadn’t thought it would work,’ he said. ‘I want you to understand that, Hannah.’
She nodded. ‘I do. And I want you to understand that—that I know I’m not blameless.’
He shook his head. ‘That’s kind of you, but it’s not true. You tried to tell me this wouldn’t work, right from the start.’
‘I mean——’ She hesitated. ‘I mean,’ she said, clearing her throat, ‘it was foolish of me to assume you’d—you’d agreed to a marriage of convenience. Thinking back, it seems impossible that I could have been so stupid.’
Grant shrugged his shoulders. ‘That was no crazier than my ideas.’
‘I’m just glad you understand. I was afraid you might not see it my way, that you might—you might insist we—we——’
‘No.’ He laughed sharply. ‘No, I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a man who believes in forcing a woman into his bed.’
‘Then you agree—our situation is impossible.’
He nodded. ‘It is.’
Hannah let out her breath. There it was, out in the open. She’d been right, then. Grant was not only calmer this morning, he was back to being the practical, self-disciplined man he’d always been. Their marriage, such as it was, was finished. Relief, tinged by a bitter-sweet emotion, flooded through her.
‘I’m glad we don’t have to quarrel about it,’ she said. ‘I thought you’d see it this way, I hoped you would, but——’
‘I’ve already arranged to check out of the hotel. And I’ve arranged for a car to be delivered to us at ten.’
‘Ten? That’s not very much time, is it? We’d better start to pack.’
Grant put his arm around her as she started to turn back towards the hotel.
‘The chambermaid’s taking care of that.’
Hannah let out her breath as they began walking again. ‘Then—then I guess all that’s left is deciding what we’ll tell everyone back home.’
‘Not to worry.’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I phoned Marilyn early this morning, and I cabled the office.’ His arm tightened around her. ‘Everything’s all taken care of, darling.’
‘But—what did you tell them?’ She looked up at him. ‘I thought about that—about what we could say to everyone—and—and I couldn’t come up with anything.’
Grant smiled. ‘If practising law has taught me one valuable lesson,’ he said, ‘it’s that there’s nothing wrong in giving a truthful answer if the truth fits the situation.’
Hannah looked at him again. Why did she have this strange feeling that they were talking about two different things?
‘Well, yes,’ she said slowly, ‘but considering the circumstances …’ She ran the tip of her tongue along her lips. ‘You couldn’t—you didn‘t—we can’t very well tell them the truth, Grant, not after what we told them about why we were getting married so quickly.’
‘That we’d fallen head over heels in love, you mean?’
She nodded. How shabby the lie sounded now.
‘Exactly,’ she said. ‘So what could you have said that would possibly——?’
‘I told you, darling. The truth.’
Hannah came to a stop and swung to face him. ‘You keep saying that as if it’s a code word or something, but I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘I told them that falling madly in love is wonderful——’
‘What?’
‘—so wonderful, in fact, that we’ve decided we can’t possibly make do with a one-week honeymoon.’
She felt the blood drain from her face. ‘What are you saying?’
‘It’s simple. I made a mistake, thinking you’d be ready to consummate our marriage immediately.’
She gaped at him. His face bore a cool, calm look, one that she had seen before, and it sent a chill through her, for it said, more clearly than words ever could, that the disagreement between them was far from over.
‘You mean, you made a mistake thinking I’d consummate it at all,’ she said, her eyes locked on his.
Grant shook his head. ‘I meant exactly what I said.’ His voice was low-pitched and filled with assurance. ‘We really don’t know each other. Oh, we’ve worked together for several months——’
‘Five,’ Hannah said stupidly. ‘Five months, that’s all.’
‘Right. Five months. And for most of that time we barely looked at each other.’ He slid his arm around her shoulders and they began walking again. ‘You were Miss Lewis, I was Mr MacLean.’
‘Grant.’ She swallowed drily. ‘I still don’t follow you. We’ve already agreed, this was a mistake.’
‘Yes. Trying to make love to you yesterday was a mistake,’ he said bluntly. ‘I’ve no excuse to offer, Hannah. Hell, I figured it was enough that we want to go to bed with each other; I——’
Hannah twisted out from his encircling arm. ‘Speak for yourself,’ she said tautly.
A slow smile tilted across his mouth. ‘Don’t lie to me or yourself,’ he said softly.
‘I don’t lie! If you think I’m going to—to feed your monstrous ego by—by letting you say things that——’
He caught her in his arms and kissed her before she could finish the sentence, his mouth dropping to hers so hard and fast that she hadn’t time to step back or even to turn her head away.
Hannah slammed her fists against his chest. ‘Damn you,’ she hissed. ‘What do you think you’re going to——?’
‘Shut up, Hannah,’ he said fiercely. ‘Just shut the hell up and kiss me.’
His mouth was cool, much cooler than the sun blazing down overhead, but it flamed against hers, as hot as the stroke of his hands along her spine and across her hips.
‘Kiss me,’ he whispered again, and suddenly she was, kissing him over and over, her mouth open to the taste of his, her arms slipping up to curl aroun
d his neck and bring his head down to hers.
When they finally broke apart, her breathing was ragged. Grant looked at her for what seemed an eternity, and then he clasped her face in his hands.
‘The house is on a mountain,’ he said, his eyes on hers, ‘a million miles from anywhere.’
Hannah’s world was spinning. ‘What—what house?’
Grant smiled. ‘The one I’ve rented for us. I had to take it without seeing it, of course, but the agent who made the arrangements assured me that it’s perfect for honeymooners.’
‘Grant. Grant, please——’
‘It comes staffed with a cook and a housekeeper. And it’s very private, with a garden and a pool.’ He smiled. ‘But if we get tired of lazing around in the sun there are Mayan ruins not far away, and we can always drive to Cozumel or Cancun for entertainment.’
‘My God, Grant, what have you done?’
He laughed softly. ‘I’m trying to tell you, darling. I’ve rented a house for us for the rest of the month.’
Hannah’s eyes widened in shock. ‘Are you crazy? A house, for the month? But you said—you said you agreed, that our situation was impossible.’
‘And it is. We certainly can’t continue on the way we are. This marriage——’
‘It isn’t a marriage! We only entered into it to——’
‘You don’t have to remind me,’ he growled. ‘Believe me, Hannah, I know the reason for this union.’
She let out a breath. ‘And—and you agreed when I said it had to end; you said——’
‘And it will,’ Grant said calmly. ‘Once you’ve met the terms of our contract.’
She stared at him in disbelief. He had to be joking. He had to be! Surely he wasn’t going to try and hold her to their ugly arrangement?
‘It won’t be that impossible, Hannah.’ His hands slipped to her shoulders. ‘After a few days, we won’t be strangers to each other any more. You’ll feel more at ease with me——’
‘Is that all you think it will take to get me into your bed?’ She gave a sharp laugh. ‘I’m at ease with—with the man who does my dry-cleaning, but that doesn’t mean I’d——’