The Marriage Merger

by Sandy Curtis

  Caitlin nodded and looked expectantly at Jenna. She was trapped. The way she felt she would have given anything not to be in close proximity to Braden today. Her instincts had warned her not to let her feelings for Braden become so deep. She should have listened to those instincts - he was obviously involved with Veronica. But if she refused to go Caitlin would be disappointed, and it would also be defeating Jenna’s own resolve to get Caitlin mixing with people again.

  Well, she'd just have to concentrate on Caitlin and the scenery. Perhaps ignoring Braden was the way to cope with her wayward yearnings.

  Braden’s silver BMW purred softly past gleaming white sand and clear green-blue water.

  The rolling surf looked inviting, but Jenna knew she would have little opportunity to sample its pleasures. Even though Caitlin’s leg was improving and it no longer dragged, she would not yet have the strength to stand up in the crashing waves. Braden must have seen the longing in Jenna's gaze.

  “When you feel up to tackling a few waves we’ll have to bring Jenna down to the beach for a swim, won’t we, Caitlin?” he said.

  The girl nodded in agreement. Jenna was surprised at his perception. And his tact. His phrasing of the question was designed to make Caitlin feel that she would be doing Jenna a favour by becoming strong enough to swim in the surf. It certainly gave the girl a goal to strive for.

  As they drove, Braden pointed out various places of interest, interspersing his commentary with anecdotes about the buildings his companies had constructed. He was amusing and interesting, and Jenna found herself relaxing and enjoying his company in spite of her intentions to ignore him.

  They passed beach after beach, each one as impossibly beautiful as the previous one, before swinging away from the coast and climbing higher and higher until Braden drove up a street that ended at a lookout. He stopped the car and they got out.

  “This is Laguna Lookout,” he explained. “To the east you can see Noosa National Park - over 400 hectares of grasslands and rainforest. North is Noosa Heads and the Noosa River.”

  The National Park was the green oasis Jenna expected but what amazed her was the amount of trees and shrubbery still visible in the built-up areas. This was no concrete jungle. She turned to Braden in amazement. “There are no high-rise buildings. I thought Noosa was the tourist mecca of the Sunshine Coast?”

  The smile he gave her was one of genuine pleasure. “Noosa has a conservation edict ‘that no building shall be higher than the trees’ so wherever you are down there you can always look up and see the trees of the National Park or Noosa Hill.”

  “Don’t you find that rather restricting when you want to carry out any major development work here?”

  “No. I’ve always believed that man should live in harmony with nature. I’ve seen too many places in the world where development has turned a delightfully natural spot into a rat-race of the worst kind. Luckily the Sunshine Coast has grown at a slow enough pace to enable sensible decisions to be made regarding the future lifestyles of the residents as well as the tourists.”

  A warm glow spread through Jenna. That a man of Braden’s wealth was concerned with the environment and lifestyle of ordinary people was a refreshing discovery.

  “I think that’s wonderful,” she agreed.

  Although he turned his head away quickly, she caught the pleased look which crossed his face. He was a complex man - cold and hard, warm and loving - a combination of opposites. An intriguing, exciting combination. A combination she longed to know more about. But the Caution sign flashed through her mind once more.

  As Braden drove slowly down Hastings Street, the main street of Noosa Heads, he watched Jenna gaze at the chic sidewalk cafes, restaurants and designer boutiques nestled between low-rise luxury resorts, motels and apartment buildings.

  "Aren't the colours fascinating? Peach, green, apricot, lilac, blue, cream - it's like watching a concrete fruit salad," she laughed.

  Braden smiled at her enthusiasm. He tried to analyze why he was so inordinately pleased that Jenna approved of him, or at least his stance on development. It had never occurred to him before that a woman’s approval could cause this swelling in his chest, this grin that kept appearing on his face for no apparent reason.

  Alicia had always approved of him, no matter what he did, a fact that sometimes annoyed him. Occasionally he wished she would develop some backbone and stand up for herself. She was so compliant all the time. Even with her husband. Luckily David, a quiet, gentle man, had doted on her. Braden had never heard a cross word pass between them. He sighed. Perhaps if Alicia had a bit more backbone she would have been able to cope with David’s death and Caitlin’s injuries.

  He glanced again at Jenna. Her face was animated, green eyes sparkling in delight as she gazed at the sights before her. The swelling in his chest lowered to his groin as his eyes caressed the fullness of her lips, the curve of her breasts against the soft fabric of her blouse.

  For some reason he thought of Veronica and for the first time the thought irritated him. When Veronica looked at him he always felt like the dollop of cream that had been added to the caviar on the cat’s dish. It had never worried him before; he knew Veronica saw him as the perfect addition to her already perfect, wealthy lifestyle. And because one of his companies often worked in tandem with one of hers and she was a useful business contact, he rarely refused any social invitations she offered.

  He had no illusions as to her interest in him. She was a woman with a voracious sexual appetite, but a shrewd business brain, honed by a father whose early death left her in charge of his multi-million dollar empire, dictated that her sexual encounters never interfered with her acquisitive goals.

  Her immediate goal was to merge one of her companies with one of Braden’s in equal partnership. There was a lot to be gained by the merger, but Braden knew the gain would be more his than hers and it was this knowledge that bothered him. She had invited him to stay behind after the dinner party last night to discuss the merger. He'd considered her proposals without comment, cautious not to let her see he was in any way concerned about her more than generous offer.

  In the intimacy of her study she had made it obvious that she would have welcomed him if he had indicated he wanted to stay the night. There was an ache in his groin that needed assuaging but he knew instinctively if he took what Veronica was offering the ache would still be there in the morning. So he had kissed her politely and left.

  Since the first moment he had seen Jenna a heat had invaded his body. An itchy, unscratchable heat that had given him more cold showers than he’d ever had in his life before. When he’d kissed her the blood had roared in his head, spinning him crazily into an arousal of unprecedented proportions.

  And she’d smelled of lavender. He couldn’t believe it. No woman he knew smelled of lavender. He had become so used to the heavy, exotic perfumes of the women of his acquaintance that it was like being thrust into a bright Spring morning after a long, bleak winter.

  He caught a slight scent of lavender again as Jenna leaned towards him to watch something on his side of the street. His grandmother! He hadn’t thought of her in years. She had been a haven of love and caring in his childhood. An infrequent haven, sadly. His father had taken him and Alicia to their grandmother’s home in Cairns every school holidays in the years before her death when Braden was eleven.

  Happy memories of cuddles and baking and story-book reading immersed him in a flood of nostalgia. The big old Queenslander home with its wide verandahs and the backyard of enormous mango trees and hiding places. Their grandmother had let them build a cubby-house from old timber and it had become a fort, a ship, a castle, in their childish imagination. And she always smelled of lavender. Of lavender and love.

  A wave of sadness washed over him. His Grandmother’s death had been as grievous as his mother’s leaving. With one he had lost the only motherly love he had ever known, with the other he had lost all chance to gain her love. If there had ever been any there to start
with, he thought bitterly.

  He shook his head to clear his thoughts and swerved into a parking spot.

  “The ice-creamery is a couple of shops down.” His voice was slightly husky but neither Jenna nor Caitlin seemed to notice.

  They sat under a shady tree and watched swimmers and surf board riders enjoying the perfect rolling waves of Laguna Bay. A light breeze, fresh with the ocean’s salt, cooled them and melted their ice-creams as fast as they could eat them. Braden bit into his cone, his eyes watching Jenna’s tongue as it slid around the melting ice-cream, drawing the thick liquid into her mouth.

  His imagination took over and the hairs on his body rose as he imagined her tongue tracing warm trails over his body. He moved abruptly as more than his hairs rose and he had to force his mind to concentrate on less erotic thoughts. Hell, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  When he’d seen Jenna’s grumpiness this morning he had regretted his impulse of the previous evening to make her jealous. He wondered how she would react if she knew he had spent a boring and frustrated night making small talk while his thoughts were occupied with the exquisite memory of her beautiful body emerging from his swimming pool.

  As they drove back through Noosa after exploring the shops and having lunch Braden casually asked, “Would you mind if we call in at Veronica’s home? She has some paperwork I really should take down to Brisbane with me tomorrow.”

  Jenna looked sharply at his profile, but there was no teasing glint in his eye. If anything, he looked almost apologetic. And this was the first time he had mentioned going back to Brisbane. Did he have an ulterior reason for wanting to call in on Veronica? Or was he just so anxious to see her after last night that it didn’t matter that Jenna and Caitlin were with him. Jealousy warred with common sense and politeness but finally she replied, “Caitlin’s tired, but if it won’t take too long, I suppose it will save you an extra drive back here.”

  “Thank you. I promise we won’t be long.”

  It was precisely because Jenna and Caitlin were with him that made Braden decide to pick up the paperwork now, rather that come back on his own in the evening. Veronica was becoming more blatant in her sexual overtures and he knew she was not a woman to be put off easily. But with the merger agreement still in the discussion stage he was loathe to reject her outright. She could cause a great deal of trouble for him if she chose to do so. Not that he would run from a fight with her, but at the moment he had a large project pending and it was more expedient to keep her on side.

  Braden gave his name into the intercom and the electronically controlled gates swung open. The high steel fence backed by thick shrubbery completely surrounded Veronica’s house at Sunshine Beach. Jenna felt all her old qualms coming back as Braden pulled up in front of an imposing double story house which looked like it had been transported from the movie set of ‘Gone With The Wind’.

  The impression deepened as the three of them walked up the curving concrete steps, past tall marble colonnades, through a huge carved wooden door opened by a maid, and into a marble floored foyer. A foyer larger than Braden's penthouse lounge-room, with twin staircases circling down from the upper story.

  Jenna had stopped to re-tie Caitlin’s sneaker lace and was partially obscured by a large marble statue on a stand. A movement at the top of the staircase caught her attention. Veronica stood, poised like an eagle planning to swoop on its prey, on the top stair. Her outfit was an exquisite blend of sky blue, aqua and lemon, beautifully tailored to emphasize her svelte figure, her hair a smooth cap of gold around a flawless face.

  “Braden, darling.” Her voice, husky and eager, floated down. “How lovely to have you come ...” Annoyance followed surprise across her features as Jenna stood and Veronica focused on her and Caitlin. But she swiftly regained her beguiling smile and glided down to them. “I see you’ve brought Caitlin and ... Jennifer.”

  “Jenna.” Braden corrected, a faint tinge of annoyance in his tone. “I thought I might pick up those papers we were discussing last night. I’ll take them back to Brisbane with me and give them my full attention.”

  Jenna wondered what else he had been doing that he wasn’t able to give his full attention to them last night.

  “There are a few details I’d like to go through with you first, Braden.” Veronica turned away from Braden and Jenna saw the swiftly disguised loathing in her eyes as she looked at Caitlin. “Perhaps Caitlin and ... Jenna ... would be more comfortable on the patio. I’m sure they’d find all this business talk boring.”

  Before anyone could protest she waved over the maid who had been standing nearby and issued orders to take Jenna and Caitlin to the patio and provide them with refreshments. Then she took Braden’s arm and led him away.

  The maid escorted Jenna and Caitlin through a large room reminiscent of an old English banqueting hall. A table large enough to seat at least twenty people dominated one end. Statues on pedestals, paintings in gilt frames, luxuriant green plants in huge brass pots surrounded the walls and left a large floor space suitable for dancing.

  Caitlin stared around her with interest as they followed the maid through French doors out onto an enormous tiled patio. It had to be straight from a movie set, Jenna decided. Elegant wrought iron tables and chairs, pale blue, white-fringed patio umbrellas, lush plants in built-up garden surrounds terraced down to a swimming pool which was a smaller replica of the one at the Taj Mahal, complete with spraying fountains. A surrounding expanse of manicured lawn overlooked the ocean.

  Far from feeling the inadequacies she thought she would, Jenna felt like laughing. It was so ostentatious, so lacking in subtlety, that Jenna realised that Veronica would always use her wealth to dominate and put people down. For a fleeting moment she felt sorry for the woman, then thoughts of her in Braden’s arms made any pity swiftly dissipate.

  They had just finished their cold drinks when Braden appeared. He noticed Caitlin’s head drooping and quickly gathered the child in his arms and carried her to the car. Veronica didn’t see them off and Jenna wondered what had passed between her and Braden. She hoped it was only business, then chided herself for even allowing such wishful thinking. It was obvious Braden and Veronica were involved, and if Jenna let herself fall in love with Braden she would surely end up being hurt.

  The long day out had exhausted Caitlin. Braden laid her down on her bed and Jenna took off her sneakers. For a minute they both stood gazing down at the sleeping child and Jenna had a wonderful sense of family intimacy. In one short week she had come to love this small child. She murmured dreamily. “She’s so like you, Braden. Don’t you wish that one day you’ll fall in love and get married and have children of your own?”

  Jenna’s jaw dropped at the anger that suffused his face. He whirled and strode out of the room.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Jenna gathered her wits and walked after him. What had caused that reaction? It was meant as a rhetorical question. She had never suspected that he might not want to have children, but surely someone who loved Caitlin the way he did would want children of his own?

  He was standing in the courtyard, gazing out towards the opposite bank of the river, his long legs apart, his stance rigid. As she walked up to him she could see a muscle twitching in the tight line of his jaw. Something in what she had said had obviously touched a raw nerve. Hot-tempered though she was, Jenna would never knowingly cause pain to anyone. She placed a tentative hand on his arm.

  “Braden?”

  He didn’t move or acknowledge her presence. His eyebrows were drawn together as though he was searching for something in the far off distance. The tendons under her hand were hard as steel and she realised his hands were clenched into fists.

  She repeated his name.

  Suddenly he turned and glared at her.

  “When I marry, it won’t be for a reason as ridiculous as love. There will be no illusions to be shattered. The woman I marry will know exactly what she’s getting and I intend to make sure I know exactl
y what I’m getting. I have no intention of making the same mistake my father did.”

  For a brief flickering moment, pain flared across his face. Who had hurt him so badly Jenna wondered. She could feel the raw emotion emanating from him.

  “And what mistake was that?” she asked softly.

  His lips thinned into a grim line.

  “He married my mother for love. Unfortunately it wasn’t reciprocated. My father was quite well off when they were married but she wanted more. She finally got it by running off with another man - one with four times the money my father had. The fact that she had abandoned her two children didn’t seem to bother her. Then she had the gall to screw my father for all she could get when she divorced him.”

  Jenna wondered about Braden’s father. It wouldn’t have been easy for a man to have been left with two young children.

  “How did your father cope?”

  Disgust vied with derision across grim lips and glacial eyes. “He coped by turning Alicia over to the latest housekeeper and sending me to boarding school. His love for our mother didn’t include his children.”

  Jenna shuddered. “How old were you?”

  “Twelve.” He spat out the word.

  Twelve. A very impressionable age in a young boy’s life. And judging by the pain and anger Braden obviously found so difficult to control it had left a deep scar on his psyche. Compassion stronger than she’d ever felt flooded Jenna’s being.

  “So the woman I ask to be my wife will have to be financially independent before we marry.” Braden’s voice was cold. “At least that way I know her attraction to me is not based on avarice. She will be a woman who can cope with the fact that I won’t be available when business matters keep me away from home for days and weeks at a time; she will be a suitable hostess for the dinner parties I have to give; and she will agree to have my children.”