Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 by Maisey Yates (inspirational books .TXT) 📗

He held the phone to his face so the facial recognition program unlocked it and gave it to her. He motored the car out of the hotel’s drive-through and back into Vegas traffic. She opened up a web browser and typed his name. Ethan Connors. She gasped audibly as the search results displayed.

“I guess you googled me.”

She looked at him guiltily. His eyes were focused on the traffic ahead, but his lips twitched.

“I’m sorry. I was curious and I just—”

“—wanted to make sure I wasn’t some serial killer?”

She smiled sheepishly. “Your name sounded familiar. My family business is hotels, so I don’t regularly follow the tech world, but I remember reading the headlines when your app hit one billion users and you branched into India.”

He smiled. “We’re at three billion globally now.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize your name. You’re almost as famous as Mark Zuckerberg. Why didn’t you say something?”

Ethan shrugged; his smile was shy as he focused on the road ahead. His expression sent a ping right to her heart. “Mark gets better publicity. Mine isn’t so flattering.”

“And why is that?”

“I’m known to be a bit of a troublemaker.”

“Is that why you’re helping me?”

He was silent for several seconds. “Maybe. Maybe it’s because you’re a nice distraction from losing my future wife.”

“You hardly seem heartbroken about Pooja.”

He put a hand to his chest. “And how would you know what I’m feeling?”

Had she imagined the fleeting look of relief on his face when Pooja had told him she loved her husband? What do I know? Divya was a basket case of emotions. Her family would be worried about her. And they didn’t deserve the embarrassment and shame that would ensue in the Indian community from her running away so publicly. She should have done it before the invitations went out, or before the guests arrived, or even last night when her family could’ve claimed she was sick and saved face. She’d been so anxious about what it would do to them, that in the end, she’d forced herself into the worst of possible options.

She clicked through various friends’ social media pages and gasped when she saw a picture of her and Ethan escaping from the wedding. As she scrolled through the feed, her heart sank even further. “There are social media hashtags about us. The one that’s trending is #BrideSnatcher.”

“Ha, that’s clever since my company is called Deal Catcher.”

Divya turned the phone off. If she read any more, her already weakening resolve would crumble further. “My parents are going to be furious. They are so careful about their media image. They’re never going to forgive me.”

Ethan flipped his hand dismissively. “It’ll blow over in a day or two, as soon as a Hollywood celebrity announces a baby on the way or there’s a new royal scandal.”

It wouldn’t ever blow over with her family. What have I done? So what if she had to marry boring Vivek? Would it be worse than being disowned by her family? He wasn’t a bad guy. So what if he didn’t make her heart go pitter-patter? Yes he’d laughed at her dream career, but she could’ve worked on him. He wasn’t as traditional as her parents; she could’ve convinced him eventually. That was the conclusion that had driven her to step into the wedding mandap that morning. She mentally shook her head. The damage was done. There would be no point running away if she didn’t do the one thing she needed to do. After that, she could return and face the music with her family. Like she always did.

Divya was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed where Ethan was driving. When he stopped the car, she realized they were at the airport. More specifically, at the private-aviation gate.

“You have your own plane?”

Of course he did. He was Ethan Connors. From the little she remembered and her quick read of his Wikipedia page, he’d started his company with an app that helped people search multiple websites for the best price on products and set an alert when items they were looking for went on sale. During the coronavirus pandemic, the app had helped people find toilet paper and other necessities and report price gouging. Since then, the app had grown into an enterprise that included an online store for exclusive products and was expanding into other areas such as real estate bargains. He’d become an overnight billionaire. Lucky for her, he wasn’t an axe murderer. An adventure junkie and playboy, yes, but that she could handle.

“It’s a business expense,” he replied flippantly.

“And you just happened to have it ready to go?”

He smiled wistfully. “I was planning to whisk a bride away.”

Her pulse jumped. What am I doing? Ethan had to be emotionally messed up, and here she was, taking advantage of him.

He parked the car next to a plane that looked bigger than the medium-sized Gulfstream her parents had. He exited the car, and before she had a chance to gather her skirt, he opened her door and held out his hand. A man with manners. She placed her hand in his and immediately felt his strength as he pulled her up. She came face-to-face with him as she stood. A warmth spread in her chest as she thought about the brief kiss she’d given him at her wedding to convince everyone that she knew him. It had been the lightest touch, but it’d felt so electric, she had pulled away fast. Now, with their faces so close, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him properly.

They stood there for several seconds, until he let go of her hand. He pointed toward the stairs leading up into the airplane.

She paused at the bottom step, the handrail hot under her hand. This is a bad idea. There was still time to make it right with her family. An hour had passed since she’d left her wedding. All the guests would still be there, enjoying the food and