by Miranda Lee
'You did want me for myself, didn't you?' he said softly, and began walking towards her, his eyes purposeful.
Panic had her sliding off the corner of the desk, her hands flying up to ward him off. But his hands were already reaching to cradle her face and his mouth was descending. Her palms ended up pressed flat against the hard wall of his chest, right above his heart.
Its thundering beat proved even more seductive than his kiss, for it showed Courtney that he wanted her for herself as well. He might still be in love with Katrina, but once they started making love, Courtney believed all thought of the dreaded! Katrina was quickly Vanished from Jack's mind. If nothing else, he was hers'when he was in her arms. Such thinking had her hands sliding up around his neck to pull him close. He groaned and kissed her even more hungrily, his lips prying hers apart, his tongue darting deep.
Courtney moaned, 'Oh, Jack...Jack, my darling...'
Bill's repeated clearing of his throat finally got through to the kissing couple. He wasn't surprised to find them in a torrid embrace when he returned. What did surprise him, however, was the way Courtney blushed once she saw him standing there.
To give her credit, she did her best to rustle up the girl of old. '
'Fifteen minutes up already, is it?' she tossed his way as he walked over to his desk.
A sham, that boldness of hers, Bill decided. Just as Hilary's manner had been a sham. Underneath the surface aggression they were as soft and feminine as any other woman. At least, they were once the right man came along.
Bill sat down and beamed approvingly up at Jack. 'I take it you sorted things out between you?' he enquired.
'Perfectly,' Jack answered. 'If you give me the correspondence from the bank, I'll settle Courtney's loan this week.'
'Wonderful,' Bill said with genuine delight. 'And is this to be a loan on your part, or a gift?'
'A gift. You might as well know, Bill, since you're as much a family friend as ran accountant. I've asked Courtney to marry me and she's said yes. That was a yes
just now, darling, wasn't it?' he asked, an arm snaking possessively around her waist.
For one awful moment Bill thought she was going to say no. She'd stopped blushing somewhere along the line and he was'sure he spotted a decidedly mutinous glint in her eye.
'Darling?' Jack prompted, giving her a squeeze.
She flashed him a somewhat brittle smile. 'Yes,' she confirmed, if a tad tautly.
Bill almost sighed his relief. 'Wonderful,' he said again. 'When?'
'As soon' as it can be arranged,' Jack said, and Bill tried not to look shocked. What was the rush? Courtney could hardly be pregnant given she'd only met the man at the weekend.
Okay, so it was obvious they couldn't keep their hands off each other,' but, given the brevity of their relationship and the fact they were already lovers, Bill would have thought it only sensible to have a longer engagement.
'And how soon would that be?' he asked Jack.
'Unless you get a special licence, you have to wait a month after you've lodged the appropriate form. So as soon as possible after that month is up. I thought a simple ceremony at Crosswinds, with a celebrant.'
Bill waited for Courtney to make some objection to Jack's plans but she didn't. She just stood there, silent, but far from happy.
It suddenly came to Bill that maybe she hadn't fallen for Jack at all: Maybe she was just pretending. Maybe she was marrying this man for his money.
The thought shocked him. Courtney was capable of a lot of things but he hadn't thought deliberate deception was one of them. He frowned at her, and her chin shot up, her eyes suddenly as rebellious as ever.
'You've got some problem with that, Bill?' she said sharply.
'No. Not if you haven't. What about the other money you were going to ask for to bring Crosswinds up to scratch?'
'As Courtney's husband,' Jack inserted smoothly, 'I'll be only too happy to pay for any repairs and improvements necessary around our home.'
Bill saw Courtney stiffen, then throw Jack one of her blistering glances. 'What do you mean..Our home?'
A lesser man might have wilted. But not this man. He stayed cool and composed under the fire of her eyes. 'I am to live at Crosswinds with you, darling. We can hardly conduct a proper marriage with me in Sydney and you up here, can we?'
'I hadn't thought that far yet,' she replied tautly.
'We'll talk about it on the drive home.'
'Yes,' she bit out, 'we certainly will. Give Jack those letters he wants, Bill. We have to get going. Goldplated is having his first dry run today and I want to be there to see what happens.'
Bill did as ordered and watched with definite misgivings as Jack steered Courtney towards the door.
'Courtney,' he called out, partly in concern and partly out of curiosity.
She stopped and turned. 'Yes?'
'Could you spare me a moment, please? In private?'
'I'll wait for you in the car, darling,' Jack replied diplomatically before continuing out through the door.
'What is it. Bill?' she asked impatiently.
He waited till he was sure Jack was out of earshot.
'I hope what I'm thinking isn't true, Courtney Cross. I hope you're not marrying Jack just for his money.'
The minx laughed. 'Good God, Bill, how can you sound so appalled when marrying a man for his money was your own idea, voiced in this office only last week?'
'But I didn't really mean it! Hilary would turn in her grave if she thought you'd do a thing like that.'
'You're wrong, Bill. Mum would probably applaud my boldness and daring. But please...do put your very decent mind at rest. I'm not marrying Jack just for his money.'
Bill could not contain his relief. He sighed expansively. 'Ah...so it is love. That was my first thought when I saw you two kissing. I said to myself, Bill, now there's a couple who are madly in love.'
Her laughter really shocked him this time. 'Heavens, you old romantic, you. Jack doesn't love me. He's still besotted with his ex, who upped and married another man. He wants me; that's all. I told you the only reason I'd ever marry a man and that hasn't changed.'
Sex? She was marrying him for the sex.
"The money is just an added bonus. See you at the wedding, Bill. And er...do keep this under your hat. No telling Agnes, especially. As much as Jack knows the score, I think he'd prefer everyone to think ours is the love-match of the century. I mean...it's a matter of male ego, isn't it?'
'WHAT did Bill want? Or shouldn't I ask?'
They had just left Queenswood, with Courtney still fuming over Jack's high-handed attitude in Bill's office. How dared he casually announce when and how they were getting married, not to mention where he was going to live, all without so much as consulting her? If this was the way he was going to act with her all the time once they were married, then he could think again. And if he thought she was going to come cap in hand for money all the time, then he could really think again. The man needed sorting out!
'He wanted to know if I was marrying you for your money,' she announced baldly.
'And what did you say?'
'I told him exactly what I told him last week when he himself made that suggestion.'
'Bill suggested you marry for money?' Jack's tone was disbelieving.
'Indeed he did. But I told him I'd never do that. I said the only reason I'd do something as stupid as marry a man was for the sex.'
Jack's amused laughter did not quell her rising temper.
'You don't believe me?' she said archly.
'I might...under other circumstances. Much as I might like to, I'm not going to fool myself into thinking my money didn't have a bearing on your saying yes...to both my proposals. But I'm happy that you liked me and fancied me before you knew I was filthy rich.'
'Just how filthy rich are you, exactly?'
'I'm no billionaire. But I'm worth a good ten million or so. Which reminds me, the day you marry me I'll have two million dollars transferred
into your bank account for you to do all those things you want to do to Crosswinds. You don't have to answer to me. Spend it as you please.'
Jack's offer really took the wind out of Courtney's sails, and the heat out of her anger.
'That...that's very generous of you. But I don't really need that much. I mean I...I...'
'Of course you do,' he insisted. 'Crosswinds needs more than a coat of paint. It needs a complete update.'
'I don't know what to say.'
'I'll let you thank me tonight,' he said, slanting her a saucy smile.
The penny dropped. The extra million was a bribe to make sure she didn't change her mind about everything, and to keep her sweet in bed. Little did Jack know, but nothing short of Katrina getting him back would stop her marrying him. As for keeping her sweet in the lovemak-ing department...no amount of money could make her any sweeter.
In a way, she'd told Bill the truth. It was the love-making, rather than love, that had made her accept Jack's proposal of marriage. She could live without Jack's love. She had to. But she couldn't live without his lovemaking if she didn't have to.
And, as his wife, she wouldn't have to.
'I'm going to have to go back to Sydney tomorrow and attend to the business side of things,' Jack said. 'While I'm there I'll put in the form for a marriage licence, so you'd better give me your birth certificate before I go. I'll be back by the weekend, and this time I'll bring all my things with me.'
'You're really meaning to stay?' she asked. 'Permanently?'
'You have some objection to that?'
'No. But what are you going to do with your spare time? I mean...Crosswinds has only one boss, and that's me, Jack. I told you, I won't tolerate any interference in the running of the stud.'
'Don't worry. I won't interfere. What the hell do I know about horses, anyway? During the day I'll keep on doing what I've been doing ever since I wound up my consultancy business. I'll set myself up to trade on the stock market on the internet. Do you have a room I could use as an office?'
'You can use Mum's old study.'
'Great. That's all settled, then,' he said happily.
Courtney wasn't so sure. Life in the country was not the same as in the city. It was very quiet. And remote. There were no five-star restaurants within easy driving distance. No theatres or international sporting events. No fancy shops or galleries or wherever it was Jack had used to go with Katrina. He said he didn't want any of that any more, but old habits died hard.
'You'll get bored,' she told him.
'With you? Never!'
With me, she thought ruefully. With horses. And flies. And the heat. With everything, long before any baby arrives. Six months, she reckoned. Six months and he'd be climbing the walls. Or, worse, interfering. She would put money on it.
A silence fell in the car which didn't lift till they reached Crosswinds and were driving up towards the house.
'What are we going to tell Agnes?' she asked abruptly.
'What would you like to tell her?'
'Not the bald truth. And nothing about the baby business. You can admit you were the mystery investor all along but, after we fell in love, you decided on a different type of partnership. You can say you proposed to me on the way in the car this morning and I accepted. I don't want her knowing about the bank calling in the loan. I want her to think this is a true love-match. I'll give Bill a ring and make sure he backs me up in this.'
'Fine. But do you think she'll believe such a story? She knows you well, Courtney, and I gathered during our conversations about you that she had doubts about you ever marrying. Like mother, like daughter.'
Agnes might have thought that once, but she was not a stupid woman, and had twigged to something when Courtney came down to breakfast today wearing the jumper Sarah had given her last birthday. At the time, Courtney had confided to Agnes it was the sort of garment she wouldn't be seen dead in and was only fit for mushy girls in love. Agnes hadn't said anything when she'd spotted her wearing it, but the knowingness in her eyes had said it all. So had the barely hidden delight.
Courtney wasn't blind. Agnes thought Jack was the ant's pants. When he announced their engagement, Agnes would probably be over the moon.
She was. Utterly.
'Oh, my goodness!' she exclaimed, all of a flutter for once. 'Oh, heavens. And you're going to live here, Jack? How wonderful. And what about children? Might we eventually hear the patter of little feet?' she directed Courtney's way.
Courtney had been trying hard not to think about the baby bit, plus the fact she was virtually being paid to have Jack's child. It made her feel like some kind of expensive brood mare, selected for her genes and nothing
else, a feeling added to when she recalled Jack's concern the other night about her possibly having heart trouble. Clearly, such a defect would have ruled her out as the mother of his child.
This shouldn't have hurt her, but it did. Everything about this marriage was going to hurt her in the end. Any physical pleasure she might gamer from their union would come at a price.
But it wasn't fair to share any of her qualms with Agnes. After all the bad things that had happened lately, the woman deserved some happiness for a change.
'Jack and I intend starting a family straight away,' Courtney said, plastering a smile on her face.
'Oh, that's marvellous,' Agnes gushed. 'And who knows? Maybe Crosswinds will have a boy at long last'
'You'd like a boy?' Jack asked later as they walked together down towards Goldplated's yard. Agnes had not let them go for ages, plying them with sandwiches and tea whilst asking about their plans for the wedding.
Naturally Agnes had made no objection to Jack's plans, as Courtney hadn't. There again, he'd made it all sound so romantic this time, even the getting married so quickly, especially here, on the property. Agnes had gone gaga over the idea and was already planning the wedding cake.
'Not particularly,' she replied. 'That was my mother's bent. Would you?'
'No. I don't care either way.'
'Are you going to invite your family to the wedding?'
'I don't think so. There's only my father and my brother and they both live in South Australia. Why? Did you want me to?'
'No, I guess not. Best we keep it small.'
'Who are you going to ask to give you away?'
The reality of having neither father nor mother at her wedding depressed her. 'I don't know,' she muttered. 'Does it matter?'
'You could ask Bill.'
'Yes, I could.' Which reminded her. She had to ring Bill later and clue him up on things. She could ask him then, 'Walk faster or we'll miss the mating. Sean said he'd be putting the mare in with Goldplated straight after lunch.' She hastened her step, Jack lengthening his stride to keep up with her with ease.
The yard Goldplated was stabled in was very spacious, used to agist stallions during the off season. It had a large lock-up stable in one corner and shady trees in two others. The ground was covered with good pasture, the lush green grass only worn out along the fences where the horses liked to run up and down.
When Courtney and Jack arrived, both Ned and Sean were hiding behind the stable, surreptitiously watching proceedings. When she and Jack approached the fence just a few metres away from them, Sean put his fingers to his mouth in a shushing gesture.
'I just put the mare in with him. He immediately looked around to see where any people were so we skedaddled back here. Try to keep out of his direct line of vision.'
Courtney moved along the fence slightly till the stable blocked them from the horse's view. Jack moved with her, standing just behind her, his arms encircling her in what was really a very intimate and possessive position. Both Ned and Sean exchanged a knowing glance but Courtney decided not to make a fuss. They had to know how the land lay between her and Jack sooner or later, and she'd rather they too think her marriage was a lovematch.
'Where did you get the mare from, by the way?' Courtney called over quietly, her stomach churning with
nerves now that the moment of truth was at hand. She wanted Goldplated to perform quite desperately. It was no longer a matter of money, given Jack had come to the party, but a matter of pride. And justice. She wanted to stick one right up the ear of that person who'd done the dirty on Goldplated—and her mother—in the first place.
'Ned rustled her up from a neighbour. She's just a stockhorse. She's had five foals, and her owner says when she's in heat she's a right little tramp.' '
'Good,' Courtney said. 'The trampier the better.'
'I just love the way you talk,' Jack whispered in her ear.
Courtney glanced up at him over her shoulder. 'This is business, Jack, not pleasure.'
'Yeah, right,' he said, smiling back at her.
'You'll see for yourself shortly. If we're lucky...'
The four of them fell silent whilst they watched. Initially, Goldplated was hesitant, and agitated. He wouldn't even go near the mare.
But she wasn't having any of that, the little flirt. She sidled over to him, sniffing him, then angling herself so that he could sniff her.
Goldplated must have got a good whiff of her hormone-laden scent, for, suddenly, he reared up and whinnied. Not in fear or panic, but in excitement, if the immediate state of his mating equipment was anything to go by.
'Good God,' Jack gasped.
'Shh,' Courtney reprimanded, but she too had been startled. Goldplated was obviously not one of those racehorses suffering from steroid overload. He was prime breeding material. A stud, in the most basic meaning of the word.