She could well believe that, after reading of his disrupted younger years, and the success he had made of his life since mat time, despite the odds that were stacked against him doing so. The additional, more personal information she had received on him earlier this afternoon, including the lengthy list of women he was known to have been briefly involved with, did not indicate a man who was easily deterred, either!
Her lips pursed. 'And I'm not into affairs, brief or otherwise!'
He looked unperturbed by the vehemence of her tone. 'Doesn't it get a little lonely there at the top?' he asked, that golden gaze probing.
She couldn't stop the heated colour that entered her cheeks as his barb hit home. God, yes, it was lonely! Much as she loved her daughter, delighted in her company, the evenings and nights that she spent on her own could be very long without someone to share them with. But she wasn't about to admit that to this man!
'It has its compensations,' she countered.
'Such as?' Jarrett raised questioning brows.
Her eyes flashed deeply violet. 'Such as I can do what I like, when I like, and I don't have to answer to anyone else to do it!'
He looked unmoved by her outburst. "That's an interesting comment, Abbie,' he said slowly.
Her cheeks felt warm again. Why was it interesting? Exactly what implication was Jarrett Hunter reading into her comment that wasn't there?
'Interesting coming from a woman who only yesterday evening,' he continued smoothly, 'informed me she travels all over the world, but doesn't really enjoy it. That doesn't sound like someone who does what she likes, when she likes, and doesn't have to answer to anyone else to do it!' he concluded.
She had known from the first that he was no fool, but, even so, he was far too astute for her comfort! 'Business commitments, Jarrett,' she replied. 'And until Charlie is old enough to take over the reins I have to do it for her.'
'You'll be in your mid-forties by then.'
'Is that relevant?'
'It could be, if you ever intend having a life of your own. A relationship. Other children.'
'I don't,' Abbie snapped. 'Charlie is my life.'
'And when she's grown up, and has a life of her own, what will you have then?'
'What do you have, Jarrett?' She neatly turned the conversation back on him, issuing a challenge of her own now.
"That's different,' he rejoined hardly.
'Why? Because you're a man?' she scorned, shaking her head. 'We're entering a new century, Jarrett, and goodness knows women have come a long way—'
'And pretty soon, with the advances constantly being made in artificial insemination, you won't need men at all!' he finished scathingly.
'I wasn't about to say that,' she told him softly, head back challengingly.
'But it's true, isn't it?' There was a disgusted sneer to those sculptured lips now. 'No doubt women will one day be able to just walk into a clinic, state the sex, hair colour, eye colour, brain power of the child they want, and be able to walk out again knowing they have in their womb exactly what they want. The whole process makes a damned mockery of this love and for ever thing!'
'Then I would have thought it would make perfect sense to you!' she returned heatedly. 'Besides, you're oversimplifying things, Jarrett. That medical process is geared towards couples who find it hard to conceive a child in the normal way—'
'But what I'm suggesting is the next step, isn't it?' he cut in. 'And it takes away all that messy business of "the normal way"!'
Abbie opened her mouth to retaliate. And then closed it again, her face pale, eyes huge and deeply violet.
Jarrett studied her for several long-drawn-out seconds. 'Is that how it was for you, Abbie?' he finally said huskily-
She gave him a startled look, blinking rapidly, knowing that she had briefly—briefly enough for most people not to have even noticed it!—let her guard down as she was flooded with memories of things she would rather forget.
'Was it, Abbie?' Jarrett moved closer, inches away from her now. 'Did you hate making love with your aged husband? Did he repulse you? Did you dread the times—?'
'Stop it!' Abbie flinched, her eyes haunted now, those memories she had pushed from her mind now back with a vengeance. 'Just stop it!' she repeated emotionally.
'Abbie...!' Jarrett groaned in a pained voice, reaching out to clasp her arms and pull her gently into his chest.
Her first instinct was to pull away, but something stopped her, something she couldn't explain; a warmth enveloped her, a warmth she was loath to relinquish. It had been so long since she had known the warmth of another human being beside Charlie. So very long...
'I didn't mean to hurt you.' Jarrett's hands cradled each side of her face as he looked down at her searchingly. 'I would never hurt you, Abbie,' he added before his head lowered and his lips brushed lightly over hers. 'Never, Abbie...!' he ground out, before his lips moved more intently on hers, asking for a response, but not demanding one, his arms light about the slenderness of her waist, as if he knew she would take flight if he behaved any other way.
Abbie responded. Her lips moved slowly against his, although her hands remained stiffly at her sides. But she didn't feel that driving need to escape, to back off, to run away. This wasn't Daniel, she told herself encouragingly.
But, as if just the thought of her husband had conjured him into the room, she now felt that familiar sense of helplessness, that deep well of emptiness inside her.
She wrenched her mouth away, looking up at Jarrett with disturbed eyes. Jarrett... It was Jarrett. No one else, just Jarrett. But it made no difference, the trembling beginning deep inside her, cold and hot at the same time, her hands shaking as she clasped them together, her breathing shallow and erratic.
'Sit,' Jarrett instructed smoothly, even as he eased her down into one of the armchairs. 'Bend forward. That's it,' he encouraged as she collapsed forward heavily. 'I'll pour you a whisky,' he stated grimly as he moved away. She swallowed hard, her throat feeling tight. 'I don't drink whisky,' she managed to reply.
'You will now,' he told her firmly. 'It's the only thing I can think of to counteract a panic attack!'
Panic attack...? Was that what this was? God, how stupid, how utterly, utterly stupid. Jarrett Hunter was the one man she should never have allowed near her, and not only had he held her and kissed her, he had witnessed her reaction to those intimacies. And somehow she had to regain her shattered coolness, that barrier that kept all but Charlie at a distance.
She straightened in her chair, flicking back the dark fringe of her hair, forcing an expression of haughtiness to her face as Jarr6tt returned with the promised reviving alcohol. 'I really don't drink whisky, Jarrett,' she told him evenly as she ignored the glass he held out to her. He continued to look at her for several long seconds, and then he lifted the glass and drained the contents himself. 'But I do,' he told her as he placed the empty glass firmly down on the table. 'Now would you like to tell me what the hell all that was about?'
Once again, he was too close, so much so that Abbie could feel the warmth emanating from his body.
She stood up abruptly, moving away from him, relieved to find the trembling in her knees had stopped, her movements quite fluid in the circumstances. 'It wasn't about anything, Jarrett,' she told him with feeling. 'You kissed me. It wasn't to my liking—'
'That's a damned lie!' he cut in swiftly. 'It wasn't me you were frightened of, it was someone else entirely—'
'You're right about one thing, Jarrett: I'm not frightened of you,' she said bravely. 'I just don't like to be—'
'Manhandled!' he finished scathingly. ‘I didn't "manhandle" you, Abbie, I kissed you. And you liked it’
She took a sharp intake of breath, swallowing hard. He was right, she had liked it...
Her mouth twisted into a smile. 'I think your ego may be getting in the way again, Jarrett,' she told him. 'You just can't seem to accept that every female you meet isn't going to fall willin
gly into your arms!' She was deliberately insulting, knew that at this moment it was her only defence.
'I'll admit I was curious for a while, Jarrett, but—despite what you may have thought—my husband was a more than capable lover. His age, his previous marriage, his years as a bachelor after his first wife died meant that he knew exactly how to please a woman.' Her gaze was coolly steady on Jarrett's now angry face. 'No other man could ever take his place in my Me.'
'I don't want to take his place!' Jarrett visibly recoiled. 'You already know my views on marriage—'
'And you already know mine on affairs,' she cut in lightly. 'I believe that brings us to impasse?'
His eyes darkened with annoyance. 'Hell, Abbie, you know I only wanted to—'
'Yes, I believe I know exactly what you wanted, Jarrett.' She was back under control again now, that momentary lapse put firmly behind her. 'And I've told you, quite honestly, that it isn't possible. The only agreement we may come to is on a business level—and even that I find unlikely. Sutherland's isn't in need of a partner any more than I am.'
He didn't look at all happy with her change of subject, scowling darkly, but as business was supposedly the reason he was here at all...! Although Abbie was no longer sure about that, had a distinct feeling Jarrett Hunter had decided to mix business with pleasure. Something Daniel had warned her never to do; emotions were complete anathema to business.
Jarrett recovered with effort, his mouth set in a thin, dissatisfied line. 'Hunter's isn't in need of partners, either,' he finally rasped.
'Then what do you need from Sutherland's?' she returned coolly.
'I don't need—' Jarrett's explosive response was cut short as Tony entered the room after the briefest of knocks.
And Jarrett looked far from pleased at the interruption, glaring at the younger man, Abbie noted before turning enquiringly to her assistant.
'Dinner is ready to be served in the dining-room,' Tony informed her, even as he eyed the other man suspiciously.
Really! Abbie registered the two men's aversion to each other with amusement. One wasn't welcome, the other an employee, and yet they were both acting in a proprietorial manner towards her, treating each other with open disdain. Tony's behaviour she could mainly understand: it was part of his job to protect her. But Jarrett Hunter's behaviour, on so short an acquaintance, especially so volatile an acquaintance, was inexplicable. As well as being inexcusable!
'Thanks, Tony,' she accepted with casual acknowledgement. 'We'll be through in a moment,' she assured him. Although the thought of another couple of hours spent in Jarrett Hunter's disruptive presence wasn't exactly conducive to relaxation!
'He isn't joining us, is he?' Jarrett muttered once the two of them were alone again.
If Jarrett weren't here, then the likelihood was that she and Tony would have shared their evening meal together, but they usually discussed business as they ate, and it wouldn't have been the proper dinner she had ordered to be prepared for this evening, but would have consisted of a snack that wouldn't interfere with the business they were working on.
She looked at Jarrett. 'Would it bother you if he were?' What a stupid question; resentment emanated from every arrogant pore of his body every time he so much as looked at the younger man!
Maybe he still half believed that assumption he had made initially concerning Tony and herself—with a few modifications, of course!
'No, of course he isn't joining us,' she told Jarrett impatiently as he continued to glare. 'Why should he?'
'He seems to go everywhere else that you do,' he observed scornfully.
'Not everywhere, Jarrett,' she disagreed. 'And minutes ago you were implying my life was a lonely one,’ she reminded him tauntingly.
"There's a vast difference between paying someone to be there and having someone there by choice!' Jarrett rasped.
Her cheeks became inflamed at his remark. 'Tony's conditions of employment are very specific, Jarrett,' she bit out 'And they do not include keeping me happy in bed!' Her eyes flashed deeply violet.
'I'm already aware of that,' he drawled mockingly.
'Oh?' she prompted defensively.
'Mm,' he confirmed with a smile. 'Or, if they do, then he's failing in his duty,' he added. 'You don't have the look of a woman who is kept satisfied in bed!'
Her indignant gasp was purely involuntary; she was rendered temporarily speechless by this man's sheer audacity. No one had ever spoken to her in this insultingly familiar way before! Not even—
'May I point out, Mr Hunter,' she replied caustically, 'that you were the one to seek out this meeting?' There were bright spots of angry colour in her cheeks now. 'Unfortunately, I am going to be the one to end it I can see no purpose in continuing this conversation between us, find it—and you!—completely insulting! I would like you to leave now,' she told him with quiet dignity, her head held high. 'I will obviously not say anything to Alison and Stephen about the abruptness of this meeting, but—'
'Why "obviously", Abbie?' Jarrett drawled, completely unmoved by her outburst. In fact, if anything, he looked amused by it!
She shot him a furious glance. 'They're friends of yours—'
'And yours,' he put in, his eyes glowing golden with laughter—at her expense!
Her mourn tightened. 'I'm trying to point out that I won't let this affect your years of friendship with Stephen—'
'This"?' Jarrett taunted softly.
She drew in a harshly ragged breath. 'You are being deliberately annoying, Jarrett—'
'Not deliberately, Abbie.' He shook his head, his gaze warm on her flushed face. 'Where you're concerned I really don't need to try!
Why do you think that is, Abbie?' he prompted huskily.
'Oh, please!' she muttered impatiently. 'You're right, Jarrett—you don't need to try! You're nothing but a pain in the—'
'Tut, tut, tut,' he cut in. 'There is a child in the house, you know.'
'I do know,' she snapped at him. 'And I was about to say "rear"!'
'Of course you were,' Jarrett soothed.
'Don't patronise me, Jarrett!' She was becoming infuriated by his calm mockery.
'Okay, I won't' He folded his arms across the broad width of his chest, eyes dancing with amusement—at her expense!
'You're still doing it!' Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides in an effort to stop herself from actually hitting him.
He shrugged. 'One of the advantages of having two younger brothers. If you think I'm annoying, then you should meet Jonathan and Jordan. I know.' He grimaced at Abbie's raised brows. 'My mother thought it would be amusing to name her sons so that they all had the same initial.'
The mother who had walked out on them all when her husband went bankrupt... Abbie couldn't help wondering what she felt about them all now, especially her eldest son, who had made such a financial success of his life, at least...
'That must have been interesting on Valentine's Day,' she returned almost humorously, her anger starting to recede now.
'Not really.'
Abbie snorted. 'I suppose the cards were all for you!'
'Jonathan, actually,' he returned. 'He's the good-looking one in the family.'
More good-looking than Jarrett? She found that hard to believe! Although he wasn't good-looking in the full sense of the word, had a power and forcefulness to his personality that added to his attraction. He—
What on earth was she doing? She remonstrated with herself. There was nothing about Jarrett Hunter she found in the least attractive. Absolutely nothing!
'Is he unmarried too?' she probed.
'We all are.' Jarrett's eyes had narrowed to tawny slits. 'Our home life as children wasn't conducive to developing trust in the fairer sex,' he explained harshly. 'In fact, it's probably debatable whether we share the same father or not!' His amusement had completely gone now, his expression grim.
Abbie was at once contrite, knowing as she did, from the information she had been sent
on him, a little of his family background. His mother, by all accounts, had been far from faithful in her marriage, and in the end had betrayed both her husband and three sons by walking out on them when the going got too tough. Oh, no—she couldn't start to actually feel sorry for Jarrett! That would be positively the worst thing she could do. And he wouldn't thank her for it, either—
'Don't feel sorry for me, Abbie.' He seemed to read her thoughts. 'My mother probably did us all a favour when she walked away from her marriage and us!'
'I—'
'Abbie.' Tony had entered after another brief knock. 'Mrs Gregory says the dinner is spoiling,' he said apologetically.
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