by L. Steele
His eyes lock onto mine. The silver in them glows before his eyelids sweep down. When he raises them to me next, they are blank. But he doesn't look away. He looks purposeful. He's here to get something.
"I was taking Sienna to lunch." Natalie pipes up, her voice deliberately light, provocative, "You joining us?"
That's the last thing I want. I'm not yet ready to speak with Jace.
His scent still clings to my skin, his touch on me, in me, like he was making love to me a few seconds ago. If I sit at the same table as him, next to him, I won't be able to hide how he's affecting me.
I tug my hand, but Natalie refuses to let go.
I can't pull away without making a scene either.
Damn.
I stand there helpless, shifting from foot to foot, under his scrutiny. The silence stretches.
The sound of a lawnmower starting up punches through the air and I flinch. I can't take it anymore.
"Look, there's no need to pretend anymore, is there, Jace?" I force out the words through lips gone dry.
"Pretend?" He asks, voice casual.
"This," I point to the space between us, "whatever is happening between us. I don't think we need to keep up this charade anymore."
Next to me, Natalie inhales a deep breath.
I raise my eyes to his. Don't bother hiding my emotions. Anger, confusion, regret...I let it all show. I try to tell him, without saying it aloud, that I'm sorry for what I did. That I didn't mean to hurt him. That I hadn't known what was at stake for him. That I also...care for him. I'm half in love with him.
His jaw hardens, eyes narrowing. He's made a decision. I know what's coming next. I look away, fighting the conflict of emotions inside.
"Yes," he agrees, voice grim. "No more pretense."
My throat closes at that. I half nod, not surprised. Not trusting myself to speak. When I pull away from Natalie, she doesn't hold me back. Lets me go. That sends another spurt of grief through me. The iron band around my chest tightens. It's over. Really over.
When Jace takes a step toward me, I flinch. Natalie inserts herself between us. "Let's not be hasty, cousin." Her voice is wary.
She's trying to shield me from Jace. If I liked her earlier, I am positively in love with Jace's cousin now.
He places his hands on her shoulders. "Trust me to do the right thing," he tells her, but he hasn't taken his eyes off me.
She moves aside and I swallow. "So this is, goodbye?" My voice comes out thready, my blood thudding in my ears.
"This is it," he agrees.
Sweat trickles down my back and I am sure I'm going to faint. Swallowing down the sickness, I raise my palm for a goodbye handshake.
"Wrong hand."
"What?" I blink.
Then all the breath goes out of me.
Grasping my left hand, Jace slides a ring onto my finger.
29
Sienna
What the—?
He didn't just do that, did he?
Natalie yelps in delight, but I don't notice. I simply stand there, unmoving as I look from Jace to the ring on my finger.
The world tilts back into focus. And I'm well and truly pissed off at him.
Seriously?
He leads me on, letting me think we are going to break up, knowing I am getting more upset by the moment. And then...he puts a ring on my finger.
He. Didn't. Ask. Me.
I snarl, "What are you playing at? If you think—?"
He closes the distance between us. Covers my lips with his and absorbs the rest of the words. Eyes wide open in shock, I look straight into his, watching the green in them turn stormy.
Then the sweetness of his lips fills my mouth, and my eyelids shutter down. It's different, this kiss. Gentle. Not like the last few times when he'd tried to possess me. He licks his tongue over my lips, seducing, coaxing.
Asking.
And that is my undoing.
I groan in my throat, open my lips, and his tongue slips in.
Heat plumes off him, curling around me, locking me to him in a way that is unbearably familiar. Desire flares. It's as if he's absorbing the fire inside me, using it to fuel the heat in his body, his arousal throbbing against the curve of my waist.
Then, my mouth is free. So suddenly that my knees buckle. I'd have fallen if it were not for Jace holding me up. He turns me around so I stand in front of him. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, a steel band. A warning in his possessive hold, to stay silent. The other holding my left hand.
Natalie looks from me to him, a wicked smile on her face. My cheeks redden.
A smattering of claps sound from the hotel staff who've been watching us with interest.
No doubt everyone is taken in by his demonstration. Hell, I'd be taken in by it, too. For those few seconds, that slow, sweet seduction had been my undoing. But it's all a front. A public demonstration that the 'romance' is very much on. And he'd made it official.
My fingers curl around the foreign weight on my fingers. The band around my chest tightens.
Oh! How I hate being played.
30
Sienna
I stand silent in the circle of Jace's arms, while Natalie kisses me on my cheek. She flings her arms around both of us. Squeezes. Before stepping back.
"Guess that's our afternoon plans done then." She cries, voice ringing with delight. "I'm so happy for you Jace, you take good care of her now, you hear?"
Yeah right.
Behind me, Jace's muscles stiffen. "I know a good woman when I see one."
I want to elbow him in the groin. Instead, I content myself with digging my nails into the arm around my waist. Dig in with enough force, that I know it must hurt. But he doesn't flinch.
Annoying, macho man!
Blowing us a last kiss, Natalie flounces away.
I turn to him, mouth open, only to have his lips swoop down on mine again. A hard kiss. This one leaves me breathless.
"Don’t spoil it now." Jace growls in a low voice. "Save it for when we're back in our suite."
Pulling me against him, so there's no mistaking his desire throbbing against my waist, he lowers his lips. Thrusting his tongue inside my mouth. A third kiss that zooms straight to my knees, leaving them weak.
Damn him!
My fingers clutch at his shirt, helpless. He has me writing in a whirlwind of anticipation.
Then he pulls me along.
Arm slung around my shoulders in a gesture meant to look possessive but which leaves me effectively imprisoned.
A slow shiver of desire, of anger twines around me.
What. The. Hell.
He's manipulating me again, this time using his sexual pull.
Fuming, I force myself to move as Jace accepts congratulations from the hotel staff.
The nerve!
As we walk through the lobby, another couple walks down. The man nodding to Jace as the woman surveys me with frankly curious eyes.
An imp of mischief makes me turn my body into Jace, melting into him. Sliding my arm around his waist, I thrust my breasts flush against his side. Leaning up on tip toe to bite on his earlobe.
And am rewarded by a shudder that runs through him. His arm around my shoulders tightens and then I’m pulled along in double quick time.
As we near the short flight of steps leading to our room, Eric walks toward us.
I stiffen, wondering if I should ask him for help.
As if sensing my intent, Jace leans down—without slowing his steps—and says in a low voice, "Don't even think about it."
"You threatening me?" I bite out the words.
"If that's how you want to interpret it." He shrugs.
His voice is mildly condescending, uncaring, and that finally pushes me over the edge.
I dig my heels in at the base of the staircase and come to a stop. Short of dragging or carrying me, Jace has no option but to listen to me now.
Eric stops in front of us and to my surprise, Jace half moves in front of me, as if trying
to hide me from Eric.
"What are you doing?" I hiss at him.
In reply, he grips my waist, pulls me to him with one arm, the other on my shoulder, so I am standing on tip toe, back arched, hair falling down my back and over his hand.
"Holding my fiancé," he says, his features expressionless.
"That was a cheap trick you pulled," I say, "Giving me the ring in front of everyone."
"Not a trick," he says, voice short.
"So the ring means something?"
His eyebrows slash down, I know I've taken him by surprise.
Jace hesitates, before tilting his head. His eyes soften, as he brushes the hair from my cheek.
He feels something for me.
He does.
Before he can reply, Eric stops next to us, "I hear congratulations are in order?"
When my gaze swivels to him, he says, "Natalie told me."
"So a double celebration tonight?" He pats Jace on his shoulder.
"Tonight?" I ask.
"The stag party," Eric says. "Hasn't your fiancé told you?"
Before I can reply, the concierge hails us, "Phone call for you."
All three of us turn, and he clarifies, "Call for Ms. Sienna Murphy."
"For me?" I ask, surprised.
A puzzled look on Jace's face, which fades to disbelief, then anger.
"I didn't tell anyone I was here," I rush to clarify. "I have no idea who that is."
The silver in his eyes flares. He thinks I'm lying.
Pulling his arms from around me, he steps aside. I feel bereft, shiver as goose bumps erupt over my arms.
Jace strides away, up the staircase toward the suite.
I should be relieved that he let me go. After all, I don't care what he thinks about me, right?
I take a step up, wanting to follow him, to ask him what he'd been about to say before we were interrupted, only to have the concierge call out again.
"It seems to be urgent," he says, "It’s from Bombay."
Bombay? Who’s calling me from Bombay? I don't know anyone there. Not unless you count the people I knew before I lost my memory, before my American parents found me.
When I hesitate, he adds unnecessarily, "From India."
A shiver runs down my spine, and the hair on my forearms stand on end. Fear grips my heart. I don't want to take the call.
But I know I must.
I have to find out who's on the other end.
I take a step, almost stumble.
Eric steadies me, but I brush off his helping hand. I can't take my eyes off the phone the concierge is holding out. Walking toward it, I take it, holding it to my ear as if it's about to bite me any minute.
As I listen to the voice on the other end, I know my life is going to change forever.
I need to leave for Bombay on the next available flight.
31
Jace
Later that than evening, returning from the stag party, Jace walks up the garden path leading to the hotel. Stumbling over the uneven ground he sprawls. Face down. For a second, he lies there groaning, his arms spread out, hugging the paved stones. Then, the sound of footsteps grows closer, and he's being rolled over.
Eric's anxious face looms over him. "You okay?"
When Jace doesn't reply, Eric hauls him up to his feet, supporting him with an arm around his shoulders. Jace leans on Eric, who staggers under his weight.
The world swims around Jace, and he groans aloud. "Fuck."
"Yeah. Should have thought of that before you chugged down most of that bottle of whiskey," Eric replies, amused.
"Whiskey?" Jace sounds befuddled.
"You didn't even taste it, did you?” Eric says his voice angry yet controlled. "Glugged it down like it was going out of style. It was single malt. Thirty years aged," he says in an exaggeratedly sad tone. "What a waste."
"There'll be more." Jace shrugs, his tone careless.
He stumbles, almost falls again as Eric flings off his arm from around his shoulder. He stands facing Jace, arms clenched at his side.
Jace looks at him curiously. What had set Eric off now?
Jace sways a little on his feet and reaches out to clutch at Eric again.
Eric moves out of his grasp.
"So easy for you to say that." Eric's voice is tight. "Easy come, easy go. Isn't that what you believe in, Jace?"
Something in Eric's eyes makes Jace take a step back, but he's not fast enough. Eric catches him with a swing to his face that has Jace's head snapping back.
"Fuck." Jace gasps aloud. The shock from the hit ripples down his back and sets off an immediate pounding behind his eyes. Before Jace can recover, Eric punches him in the side.
Jace bends over, the breath whooshing out of him.
Eric swings again, grabs Jace around the neck.
"What the fuck's wrong with you?" Jace snarls.
Eric doesn't reply. Just squeezes the arm clamped around Jace's neck.
A burst of adrenaline has Jace shoving his elbow into Eric's stomach. He puts enough force behind the blow that Eric's grip loosens. Sliding out of Eric's grasp, Jace takes a step back, putting distance between them.
"What was that about?" Jace asks, voice strained.
Eric turns around, running his hand through his hair. He features twist slightly, as if on the verge of saying something.
"You know, I quite like what I saw just now. A man who cared about something enough to lose control," Jace says, and Eric stiffens.
"Don't give me your warped, pop philosophy," Eric bites back.
Jace frowns. "I mean it. Though I still don't understand what brought that on."
"It's all a lark for you." Eric stands straight, arms folded over his chest. "The money needed for the business, the proposition to Sienna, being engaged to her."
Jace's anger flares. "I told you I'll get the money,” he snaps. “And Sienna being here is definitely going to make an impact. She's an adult, knows what she's doing. She knows the engagement is a necessary prop. It gets everyone believing the story. Besides," Jace looks at Eric, forehead furrowed, "why are you so worried about her?"
Drunk and struggling to focus, Jace notices the angry twist to Eric's features.
"You've fallen for her," Jace says.
Eric winces, but doesn't deny it. "It doesn't make a damn difference what I feel. What matters is that—"
"Of course it does." Jace snaps. "You want her? Then fight for her." He holds up his hands, curled into fists, and takes a fighter’s stance.
When Eric hesitates, Jace prods him, "Come on, Eric. Be a man."
"I've seen the way you look at her. Don't deny that you want her." Eric shoots back.
Jace goes still. "Don't go there, Eric," he warns.
"When are you going to tell her?" Eric asks, as if he hasn't heard Jace at all.
"You are the last person I'm going to discussing this with," Jace says.
"You're right. I'm not fighting you over this, Jace."
"Oh, yeah?" Jace sneers.
"Yeah. I'm leaving your company."
"What?" Jace asks, not sure what Eric means. Hands held up, he bounces on his feet, in a fighter's stance. "We were always partners, anyway"
"No, we're not, and you know that. I was your employee. It's your company, and you can do as you please now. I'm done here." Eric turns and walks past him, back the way they'd come.
About to call his friend back, Jace stops. It's obvious: Eric's crushing on Sienna.
Continuing toward the hotel, a spurt of jealousy tightens Jace's gut. He's jealous about Eric's depth of feeling. He's also strangely relieved to see him go.
Sure, he's going to miss Eric, but if this is how his friend feels about Sienna―if Eric likes her enough to break up with his business partner of the last five years―then it’s best Eric leaves now.
And Sienna? How does she feel about Eric?
He's not going to tolerate her having any feelings for Eric or for any other man. Not as long as she'
s his fiancé. Sure, it's a pretend relationship, but she belongs to him for the next few days. And he's going to make sure she thinks of no one except him during that time.
32
Sienna
I've booked my flight to Bombay. My bags are packed. I'd hoped to leave without meeting Jace again. Just sidle out without warning, being the coward that I am.
No such luck.
One minute I'm asleep, and the next I shoot upright, my heart hammering in my ears.
Then I hear it: someone pounding on the door to my bedroom. I'd locked the door to my room to make sure Jace couldn't come in.
"Sienna."
Jace's voice is loud enough to make me start.
"Open the door. I know you're in there."
I don't move.
Jace pounds on the door again.
"Goddammit woman," he roars. "Open. The. Damn. Door!"
Before he's completed the statement, I'm on my feet and at the door. I fling it open.
Jace's hand is poised to bang on the door again, the other thrust up against the door frame for support. He stands motionless, silver-green eyes wide and more opaque than usual.
His jacket is muddy, his tie half off. I wince on seeing the cut on his upper cheek.
All of which, of course, only makes him look even more appealing. A slow tug pulls at the base of my stomach. I take a deep breath to squash down that melting feeling.
"You're biting your nails," he says, voice husky.
"What?" I start guiltily.
Dropping my hand to my side, my fingers curl into a fist. I'm still wearing his ring. I shove my hand behind my back.
He brushes past me, holding himself stiff. Movements controlled. Jace takes one heavy step, and another.
The sharp reek of alcohol hits me.
He’s drunk out of his skull. Even as I think that, he trips over the carpet and goes sprawling.
What the—?
I leap toward him and sink to my knees next to his fallen body.
"Dammit. Did you hurt yourself?" I ask, my hands hovering over him.
When he doesn't move, I begin to fret in earnest. It's not like Jace to be so docile, so submissive. Unless...he's injured.