Dinner... In the continued exchange with Jarrett, she had totally forgotten they had been about to go and eat.
And that, minutes ago, she had asked this man to leave...
She looked across at Jarrett with narrowed eyes. Had he deliberately diverted the conversation for mat very reason? Had he hoped to so disconcert her that in the heat of the moment she would forget he had previously insulted her enough for her to ask him to leave?
As she met the challenge in those golden eyes, she knew that was exactly what he had hoped for...!
CHAPTER SIX
She was too astute by half, this gloriously beautiful woman, Jarrett decided with a twinge of regret He had hoped she would forget asking him to leave, but he could see by the purposeful light in her eyes that he hadn't succeeded in diverting her at all. Damn!
But he had been enjoying himself immensely, he realised with some surprise. Abbie Sutherland was an intensely satisfying woman—and he hadn't even gone to bed with her yet!
He intended to, though. Oh, yes, he definitely intended to make love to this woman. He planned a long and sensual night in bed with her—long enough to make her forget her more-than-capable-as-a-lover-husband!
It had felt like a knife being thrust into his gut, and slowly twisted, when she'd made mat comment about her marriage. He had never felt jealousy before, had no real knowledge of what it felt like, but he had known at that moment such a bunding rage it was probably as well Daniel Sutherland was dead!
What was she going to do now? Would she go through with the dinner as planned, or would she throw him out as she had wanted to do minutes ago? He hoped it wasn't the latter. Although this was turning out to be more complicated than he had imagined. Meet the woman—at last!—put the business proposition to her, and get out That was the way it should have been, the way he had always played it in the past, but if he did mat where Abbie was concerned he would probably never see her again And, at this moment, he wanted more than anything to carry on seeing her...
A silence was stretching before them, the narrow-eyed Adonis standing in the doorway watching their wordless battle of wills. Ready to throw him out, Jarrett didn't doubt, if Abbie so much as arched an eyebrow to indicate that was what she wanted.
Jarrett decided to take matters into his own hands. 'I, for one, am starving,' he announced lightly. 'How about you, Abbie?'
She met his gaze, amusement flickering in those violet-blue depths.
Because she knew damn well she only had to say the word, and he would be kicked out of here so fast he wouldn't know what had hit him! His level gaze silently dared her to say that word...
'Starving,' she agreed before turning to Tony. 'Would you tell Mrs Gregory we're on our way right now?'
Jarrett felt his breath leave him in a relieved sigh. Then he felt irritated with himself for wanting her so much. She was just a woman, for goodness' sake; she had the same body as millions of others. Once he had made love to her the mystery would be gone. Once he had made love to her...
She somehow contrived to look utterly feminine in the cream blouse and matching trousers as Jarrett followed her down the hallway to the dining-room, and he couldn't help but admire the graceful movements of her body as she walked. Abbie Sutherland wasn't just any woman, he decided; she was something special, a woman any man would be proud to be seen out with. Perhaps Daniel Sutherland couldn't be blamed for his folly of marrying a woman so much younger than himself, after all; she was the sort of woman you would want complete ownership over...
Which brought him back to the reason Abbie could possibly have married a man so much her senior. Cathy had said she was a gold-digger, and it did seem a possible explanation. So maybe his own business proposal wouldn't be so unwelcome, after all. Then the two of them could drink champagne and go to bed together to celebrate—especially the last!
'How long do you intend staying in Canada, Jarrett?' Abbie asked conversationally as they ate a thick, meaty soup.
He glanced across at her beneath long dark lashes. "That depends on you, Abbie,' he murmured.
'Me?' She looked startled, and then her creamy brow cleared. 'Oh, you mean because of this business you want to discuss with me.'
No—he meant he had no intention of going anywhere until he had got this woman out of his system! And he could mink of only one way to do it... 'Something like that,' he returned enigmatically.
Was that a blush he saw on her cheeks? Did women still do things like that? This one did, he realised incredulously. She was a mystery within a puzzle, a puzzle within an enigma. Not a comfortable combination.
Maybe he should just cut his losses and get out while he could. Maybe— He was behaving like that besotted schoolboy again. This woman controlled a multi-million-pound dynasty, had done so for some time; she was not what she appeared to be at all. He wasn't about to break all of his own rules over someone like her!
'Exactly that,' he qualified hardly, smartly breaking off a piece of bread from the roll on his plate. 'What I’m proposing, Abbie,' he bit out baldly, 'is that I buy out Sutherland Hotels.'
She stared at him speechlessly, although she seemed to be having a little trouble, he noted, swallowing down me spoonful of soup she had taken into her mouth. The blush to her cheeks owed nothing to embarrassment this rime, just as the paleness that quickly followed owed nothing to that emotion either. Abbie Sutherland was clearly stunned at his suggestion!
'I—you—I—' She seemed lost for words when she did finally find her voice.
'Drink some wine, Abbie.' He held out her glass to her. 'I did tell you Hunter's didn't need any partners,' he added as she sipped the wine gratefully. 'And you very badly need to offload Sutherland Hotels.'
She seemed to be ignoring what he was saying, her hand shaking as she drank her wine. And she was going to be angry with herself, Jarrett knew, for even that minor betrayal of the shock she had just received.
She gathered her battered defences together with effort, her expression vaguely contemptuous as she gazed across the width of the table at him. 'I think, Jarrett,' she said slowly, as if to a backward child, 'that you must have been imbibing too strongly before you arrived here this evening!'
Jarrett sat back in his chair, looking at her with open admiration. She was a classy lady. No matter what Cathy might have said to the contrary, no matter what she might or might not have been before she married Daniel Sutherland, she was certainly a first-class lady now. If it hadn't been for that slight tremor in her hands seconds ago...!
'Nice try, Abbie,' he drawled appreciatively. 'Almost perfect, in fact. Almost...'
Her gaze was glacial. 'I have no idea what you're talking about' She shook her head firmly. 'You told me you wanted to discuss business with me, not tell me jokes!'
Very classy. No wonder Cathy, for all of her private education, finishing-school, and lavish lifestyle, found her stepmother so overwhelming. Abbie Sutherland was the diamond, Cathy the cheap zircona.
Jarrett shrugged. 'I don't see anyone laughing, Abbie.'
'No, I’m sure you don't,' she acknowledged briskly. 'You're being more ridiculous than funny. Sutherland Hotels are amongst the most prestigious in the world, is one of the oldest family-owned groups of hotels in the world; we have hotels in most of the major capitals in the world, plus—'
'Which is why you're running yourself ragged by travelling all over the world, when you obviously would rather not,' he pointed out calmly, his expression remaining bland as she shot him a warning look. 'I've done my homework, Abbie,' he continued. 'Sutherland's is a big corporation; the hotels are only a minor part of it—'
'Sutherland's began with those hotels,' she defended hotly.
'And they've become a yoke around your throat, one that's threatening to choke you,' he returned levelly.
Angry spots of colour brightened her cheeks. 'I don't know where you obtained your information, Jarrett—'
'Reliable sources—Abbie,' he cut in, impressed—but unmoved—by her indignation. He
knew what he was talking about, never approached any business deal without being fully informed. Sutherland Hotels were in trouble, so much so they were threatening to bring down the rest of the company with them. He knew it—and so did Abbie...
She put her napkin down on the table, ringing the bell on the wall behind her. 'I'll have these dishes removed, and explain to Mrs Gregory that you had to leave before the main course—'
'Are you asking me to leave again, Abbie?' he drawled mockingly, making no effort to do so. 'If so, you're going for the record—no one has ever had to ask me to leave twice!' he stated, his jaw set in a stubborn line.
'You surprise me,' she countered scathingly, completely in control again now. 'There's a name for people like you, Jarrett,' she continued cuttingly. 'For people who believe they see a company in trouble and decide to make a ridiculous offer—'
'How do you know my offer is ridiculous?' he returned mildly, unmoved by her anger; he had heard it all before, and worse!
Glacial violet-blue eyes swept over him again, full of contempt. 'Isn't it?' she persisted.
'I—' He broke off as the young maid who had brought their soup in earlier appeared in the doorway.
'Could you clear these dishes, please, Clare?' Abbie spoke flatly. 'And ask Mrs Gregory to hold the main course—Mr Hunter is leaving.'
Jarrett didn't falter from observing Abbie's controlled features as the young girl did as instructed. Dinner was definitely over, he realised. Pity. Not because he was interested in the food, but his chances of bedding Abbies—slim though they might have been!—were definitely over too.
'As I said, Jarrett,' Abbie continued once the maid had departed, standing up abruptly, 'there's a name for people like you—'
'I've heard it,' he replied swiftly. 'Several times, in fact!'
She shook her head again in disgust. 'If I ever decided the time had come to sell Sutherland Hotels—'
'I believe it's when, Abbie, not if,' he cut in. 'You can believe what you like,' she told him. 'Whatever. I certainly wouldn't consider you as a purchaser, no matter what the circumstances!'
He raised dark brows at her vehemence, standing up himself. He didn't doubt she was really rattled by his conversation. Interesting.
'What about your copartners?' he challenged gently.
She turned back to him slowly, eyes narrowed to steely slits. 'What did you say?'
Jarrett carried on. 'Admittedly you're in control of the principal share, but I believe Catherine Sutherland, and Daniel Sutherland junior, still have a say in the running of the company?' he queried mildly.
Abbie's reaction, however, was far from mild. Her eyes darkened until they looked almost navy, the purple in them blending in with her irises, her cheeks paling to chalk-white, her mouth tightening to a thin line.
Outwardly Jarrett retained his slightly mocking air, but inwardly he was taken aback at the drastic change that had come over Abbie. For all that she looked so angry, he could again see that air of vulnerability that he found so intriguing. Whatever dislike Cathy felt towards Abbie, it was obviously returned—and more!
Abbie swallowed hard 'You know Cathy and Danny? You've spoken to them?'
Jarrett still watched her, choosing his words carefully. 'I don't actually know them,' he said deliberately. Which was true; he had met both Cathy and Danny, decided they were both extremely shallow individuals, and not worth his attention. 'And they aren't my reliable sources, either, if that's what you're thinking.' He had already known about the problem with Sutherland Hotels long before he'd spoken to either Cathy or Danny; it was his business to know such things!
Some of the tension left Abbie's shoulders, although she still looked far from relaxed, a certain paleness clinging to her cheeks.
'Your sources weren't reliable at all, Jarrett,' she insisted scornfully. 'So you've been wasting your time, chasing after me for months.'
She reminded him of last night's conversation with Alison and Stephen. 'Sutherland Hotels are not for sale!'
'Don't be too hasty, Abbie—'
'I'm not being hasty, Jarrett,' she rejoined. 'I'm merely advising you not to waste any more of your time on this. As you've already stated, I control the major share of Sutherland's—'
'On Charlie's behalf,' he amended. 'This isn't about you and me, Abbie—'
'It most certainly isn't!' she confirmed emotionally.
This woman was something else! Okay, he was a cynic, she had even called him a misogynist last night, but as far as he was aware he had never left a woman with any false expectations, had always chosen his relationships carefully for just that reason. That Abbie held him in contempt he didn't doubt, and it infuriated him to the point where he couldn't think straight.
She was cold as ice cream, he had decided yesterday evening without even being aware that Abbie was Sabina Sutherland—but Abbie had done little, since he had become aware of her true identity, to allay that description!
But ice melted, didn't it...? And he had taken enough of her contempt over the last twenty-four hours!
'But it could be, Abbie,' he grated, reaching out to pull her roughly into his arms. 'In fact,' he added harshly, 'I think it already is!'
She stood stiffly in his arms. 'Let me go, Jarrett,' she ordered.
'Not this time, Abbie,' he told her determinedly, arms tightening like steel bands about her slenderness.
She was so thin he felt as if he might crush her. Or break her in two. He didn't want to do either of those things to this beautiful woman. He wanted to hold her, to make love to her—
Hell, he had to make love to her, had been wanting this since the first moment he set eyes on her!
'Abbie!' he groaned low in his throat before his head lowered and his mouth claimed hers.
Her skin was like satin as he restlessly caressed her face and neck with his hands, wanting closer contact with her, wanting full contact with her.
The thought of her naked in his arms sent him spiralling out of control, bending Abbie to his will, wanting her to want him too. She had to want him. He would go quietly out of his mind if he didn't soon make love to her.
Her hair tumbled loosely down her back now, wild and free, and Jarrett wanted that hair wrapped about him. Her touch would feel like velvet, and those wonderful long legs of hers would be entwined about him, her face alight with pleasure as he took them both to heights they'd never known before, her violet-blue eyes dark with excitement, the—
Abbie had gone limp in his arms!
He had been so aroused, so lost in the touch and smell of her, that he hadn't realised, hadn't known—
He looked down at her worriedly. Her eyes were closed, her breathing erratic; she was still motionless in his arms, and yet he was sure she hadn't actually fainted, that somehow she had just retreated to a world where he couldn't touch her...
As her lashes fluttered open he was sure of it, those eyes totally blank of emotion as she looked up at him. And that was worse than anything she had ever said to him, the lack of life in her eyes twisting like a knife hi his stomach. 'Abbie, what—?'
'Jarrett, just go. Please,' she told him flatly. 'The car is waiting for you outside—'
'Damn the car!' he burst out explosively. 'Abbie, talk to me! Tell me what—'
"Three times surely says it all, Jarrett.' She gave the ghost of a smile.
She was referring to the fact that she had asked him to leave that many times...
It did say it all, he agreed, and yet earlier he'd also been sure that briefly—oh, so briefly!—she had actually responded to him.
He drew in a ragged bream. 'I know I've bungled things,' he acknowledged. 'I just—'
"There was nothing to bungle, Jarrett' She gave a dismissive, vague wave of her hand. ‘And there's nothing more to be said.'
There was nothing more to say. Nothing he had to say that this woman wanted to hear. He had never felt so impotent in his life, didn't want to leave, but at the same time knew he had no choic
e in the matter... He slowly released her, sighing heavily as me warmth
and softness of her left him. He felt chilled suddenly, that coldness seeming to creep right into his bones.
Almost as if he would never feel warm again. Which was ridiculous. The car he would be driven in would be heated, as was the hotel, and yet he knew it wasn't that sort of warmth that had gone...
Abbie Sutherland had lit a fire inside him, and now she had extinguished it again.
What ever did that mean?
Jarrett's lips thinned as he pushed those disturbing thoughts to the back of his mind. 'I won't say goodbye, Abbie—'
'I should,' she bit back. 'And if you do need to contact me again, for anything, it may be better if you sent one of your brothers to talk to me.'
To Woo A Wife Page 8