by Julia James
In fact, a part of him had been surprised to discover she had moved in as planned when he’d got home this evening. He had half expected that she might have decided she couldn’t go through with marrying him, after all.
What the hell had he been thinking of when he’d taken her on his desktop like that?
The problem was he hadn’t been thinking at all—had been driven to kiss and caress every silken inch of her, to feel her nakedness against him, to taste her.
Not what she would have been expecting when she’d only come to discuss some changes to the contract he’d had drawn up!
Changes he had spent most of the day trying to make sense of—when he hadn’t been thinking of how Casey tasted and felt, that was!
This woman—a woman he had three weeks ago cold-bloodedly decided to marry—made him feel anything but cold-blooded. Even standing next to her now, his wet shirt clinging to him uncomfortably, he knew that he wanted her. Wanted her wild and wanton beneath him as he entered her, as he felt himself engulfed by her, possessed by her, as they both reached a shuddering climax this time.
It had all seemed so simple when he’d first come up with this plan—so uncomplicated: marriage to a woman he didn’t love, who made no pretence of loving him, and both of them knowing exactly what was expected, wanted from the marriage.
After last night it didn’t seem that uncomplicated at all.
There was no way—absolutely no way—he was going to be able to share this house with her, occupy the adjoining bedroom to hers, without wanting to make love to her again.
In fact, as things stood, he wasn’t sure that he could go through with this marriage of convenience at all!
‘I need to talk to you, Casey,’ he rasped. ‘Alone,’ he added, as Josh could be heard singing happily in the adjoining bedroom.
She gave him a startled look. ‘I—we’re due to have dinner with the children,’ she reminded him.
He nodded curtly, well aware that he was the one to have suggested the arrangement. He just hadn’t realised at the time how desperately he would need to be alone with Casey.
‘Once they’re both in bed will do,’ he said.
‘I—of course,’ Casey agreed slowly, shooting him an uncertain glance as she did so.
Xander’s eyes, as he returned her gaze, were dark and unreadable—although the harsh expression on his face certainly wasn’t encouraging.
What did he need to speak to her about so urgently? she wondered, with a sickening jolt in her stomach.
Had he spoken to Brad Henderson today and worked out some sort of compromise with him?
Had Xander decided not to go ahead with their marriage, after all?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
SITTING through dinner, with Xander now looking incredibly sexy in black trousers and a black silk shirt that showed off the broad width of his shoulders and the flatness of his stomach, trying to pretend, for Josh and Lauren’s sake, that they really were going to be one big, happy family, was absolutely excruciating for Casey.
Especially when, as the minutes slowly passed, and the brooding Xander seemed to have trouble addressing even the most casual of remarks to her, it became more and more obvious he wished her anywhere but here in his home.
If he had changed his mind—if he had decided not to go ahead with the marriage—then he should have sought her out earlier today and told her so. Before she’d had a chance to actually move herself and Josh in here, Casey thought. It was going to be much harder for all of them if she and Josh simply had to move out again.
When Lauren requested that Casey be the one to put her to bed as well as Josh, Casey felt even more of a fraud, and her cheeks were flushed with anger when she returned to the sitting room minutes later, to find Xander standing beside the fireplace enjoying a glass of brandy.
‘Like one?’ He held up the bulbous glass.
‘Am I going to need one?’ she returned sharply.
‘That depends on your perspective on things!’
Casey’s mouth set unhappily. ‘In that case, I’ll have some,’ she said, before moving to stand on the other side of the fireplace to stare down sightlessly at the crackling flames as she waited for Xander to return with the brandy.
She was wearing a green off-the-shoulder dress this evening, Xander noted admiringly, glancing across at her as he poured her brandy and refreshed his own glass. The soft material clung to the pert thrust of her breasts and the slender lines of her waist and thighs.
In fact, Xander had been looking at her admiringly all evening. Casey was beautiful—more subtly, quietly so than Chloe had ever been, but it was a beauty that came from within. He didn’t doubt that in fifty years or so Casey would still be radiantly lovely.
Fifty years or so…
Where would he be in fifty years?
Still here at Fraser House, he suspected, with Lauren and Josh having left long ago to make their own way in the world. Casey would be gone too, once there were no children to bind them together. So it would be just Xander, rattling around in a house that would no longer have a family in it to make it a home.
The thought of growing old alone had never bothered him. His marriage to Chloe had been over for years before she’d actually left, and he had long been used to being alone.
Alone was good. Alone was undemanding. Alone was the freedom to do what he wanted, when he wanted. Alone was uncomplicated.
Alone sucked!
He crossed the room to hand Casey her glass of brandy, a frown creasing his brow as he noted the way she deliberately avoided her hand coming into contact with his.
She could no longer even bear for him to touch her casually!
He took a swallow of his own brandy before speaking. ‘Casey—’
‘I’m sorry to interrupt, Mr Fraser—’
‘Not now, Hilton!’ Xander growled, and he turned to glare at the manservant standing in the doorway.
Damn it, he had never realised what an intrusion household staff could be until Casey came into his life! Every time he tried to talk to her, it seemed for one reason or another Hilton came in and interrupted.
Except yesterday evening, in Xander’s study…
It was probably just as well that the butler hadn’t walked in on that particular scene!
The elderly man had the grace to look apologetic. ‘I really am sorry for the interruption, Mr Fraser, but Mr Henderson has called—’
‘Tell him I’ll ring him back later,’ Xander instructed, not at all interested in yet another confrontation with his ex-father-in-law.
‘You misunderstand me, Mr Fraser,’ Hilton persisted. ‘When I said he had called, I meant that he’s here—at the house.’
‘Here?’ Xander repeated, with a scowl. ‘Now?’
‘He’s waiting in the hallway, sir.’
Xander looked at Casey, noting that her eyes were wide with an apprehension she couldn’t hide. ‘If you would rather go upstairs while I talk to Brad…?’
He was offering her a way out, Casey realised. A chance to escape any further insults from his ex-father-in-law.
She straightened her shoulders, her chin rising. ‘No, I don’t think so, thank you,’ she refused quietly, surprised when Xander reached out and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
‘Good girl,’ he murmured approvingly, before turning back to the waiting butler. ‘Show Mr Henderson in, Hilton.’
Casey was aware of Xander’s hand still holding hers when Brad Henderson was shown into the room. The older man’s gaze narrowed immediately as he took in that outward show of intimacy.
Which was probably why Xander had done it, Casey thought.
Obviously the two men hadn’t come to any compromise after all—so what had Xander needed to talk to her about so urgently earlier on?
‘Brad,’ Xander greeted him curtly, once the three of them were alone.
‘Xander,’ the older man acknowledged with a nod. ‘Mrs Bridges,’ he added, surprisingly.
‘Casey will do,’ Xa
nder was the one to suggest.
Brad Henderson gave a brief smile. ‘I—I believe the two of you are to be married tomorrow?’ he began awkwardly.
‘Yes, we are,’ Xander replied firmly.
Yes, they were? Casey thought, relieved.
Xander hadn’t changed his mind about the marriage, after all?
Or was he just saying the wedding was going ahead for the other man’s benefit…?
‘Yes. Well.’ Brad Henderson looked decidedly uncomfortable. ‘I—’ He broke off, breathing heavily.
‘Can I get you a drink, Brad?’ Xander offered gently. ‘You look as if you could do with one.’
The older man quirked a rueful brow. ‘That obvious, is it?’
‘Yes,’ Xander drawled, releasing Casey’s hand to move across the room to the drinks cabinet. ‘Bourbon on the rocks?’
‘Thanks,’ the other man accepted, glancing at Casey once Xander had handed him his drink. ‘I believe I owe you an apology, Mrs—Casey,’ he amended stiffly.
‘You do,’ Xander agreed, before Casey could think of an appropriate reply. ‘You were extremely rude to her three weeks ago,’ he pointed out as he moved back to stand at Casey’s side.
One thing was becoming very clear to Casey—Brad Henderson had had some sort of change of heart. Perhaps it meant the wedding didn’t even need to take place.
It was what she had feared from the beginning, of course. The reason she had insisted on meeting Brad Henderson three weeks ago—to ascertain that his threat was genuine.
Although the reasons for her misgivings now were no longer the same as they had been then!
She had fallen in love with Xander over the last three weeks.
She wanted to marry him.
She wanted to wake up beside Xander every day for the rest of her life. Wanted to have more children with him. Wanted the two of them to watch all their children grow up together. Wanted to grow old with him…!
Brad tried to smile. ‘I’m afraid I wasn’t quite myself when we last met, Mrs—Casey,’ he offered.
She inclined her head graciously. ‘It was perfectly understandable, following your recent loss.’
‘Perhaps,’ he accepted.
‘It wasn’t understandable at all after what Casey had already been through,’ Xander refuted. ‘You were bloody insulting, Brad,’ he added grimly. ‘To both Casey and myself.’
The other man had put him in an unacceptable position because of his threats concerning Lauren, and Xander, for one, didn’t intend letting him get away with it that easily.
Brad ran a hand through the thickness of his hair and he looked shame-faced. ‘I was, wasn’t I?’ he acknowledged with a grimace. ‘I really do apologise, Casey,’ he turned to tell her gruffly. ‘I—if you and Xander have managed to find some happiness together out of this mess, then I sincerely wish you well.’ Brad raised his glass and took a huge swallow of his bourbon. ‘I may have been an over-indulgent father, Xander, but I wasn’t blind. I always knew that you and Chloe weren’t particularly happy together—’
‘We weren’t happy together at all,’ Xander said bluntly, welcoming Brad’s apology.
‘No. Well.’ Brad gave a shuddering sigh. ‘I knew that, of course. But she was my daughter, Xander,’ he appealed. ‘And despite everything I loved her.’
‘Of course you did.’ Casey was the one to answer him soothingly.
‘But that’s no excuse, is it, Xander?’ Brad looked across at him regretfully. ‘I put you in a terrible position three weeks ago, with my threats concerning Lauren.’ He gave a self-disgusted shake of his head. ‘If it’s any consolation, I’ve come here this evening to eat humble pie.’
Xander watched as Casey moved gracefully across the room to Brad’s side, to place her hand lightly on his arm. ‘Why don’t you sit down for a while, and perhaps the three of us can talk quietly together?’ she invited.
She really was the most incredible woman, Xander acknowledged with growing wonder. Most women in the same position, having previously been insulted and ridiculed, would have told Brad just what they thought of him. Chloe certainly would have done. But Casey, being Casey, was being gentle and understanding.
He could only hope for that same gentleness from her when the two of them talked together, once Brad had left.
Brad was just as amazed. ‘I can’t believe someone like you was ever married to that complete—’ He broke off, realising he was about to be rude again. ‘Insulting the man isn’t going to bring Chloe back,’ he acknowledged shakily.
Xander felt for him, he really did, and his own anger faded. He knew what it must be costing the other man to come here this evening and abase himself like this.
Brad continued. ‘I want you both to know that I’d no idea Bridges was even married until I called to see Chloe one weekend and Bridges’ son Josh was actually staying there with them. Chloe didn’t tell me that the two of them setting up home together had broken up two families, not just one. And even once I knew about Josh, Chloe assured me that the marriage had been over long before she’d entered Bridges’ life. But that wasn’t true either, was it?’ He sighed.
Casey felt so sorry for this man. She knew that he must have faced some harsh realities about his daughter in the three weeks since he had met her, and Xander had told him the truth about the break-up of her marriage.
‘No, it wasn’t.’ Xander was the one to answer the other man harshly. ‘I told you three weeks ago what really happened.’
‘Yes.’ Brad Henderson nodded. ‘But even then I couldn’t believe it—couldn’t accept that Chloe had done such a thing. It was only after I spoke to you on the telephone in New York, when you insisted you were telling me the truth, that I sat down and realised how wrong I’ve been. You’ve never lied to me in the way that Chloe did, Xander. I want you to know I’m not going ahead with any custody battle over Lauren. I—she’s better off with you. And Casey,’ he added, with a brief smile in her direction. ‘I had better go now.’ He stood up abruptly to drain the last of his bourbon, before placing the empty glass on the coffee table. ‘I hope that some time in the future you will be able to forgive me for the trouble I’ve caused, and that—that you will let me see my granddaughter from time to time.’ He gave Xander a hopeful look.
Casey looked at Xander, too, willing him not to remain angry with the older man.
At the same time she recognised that Brad Henderson backing down on the custody battle now meant that Xander definitely didn’t need to marry her!
CHAPTER TWELVE
‘WELL…that was pretty traumatic, wasn’t it?’ she said over-brightly, once Xander had returned from walking Brad out to the door.
Xander looked at her from between narrowed lids, pleased that Brad had backed off from a custody battle over Lauren, and more than happy to forgive the man and assure him that of course he could see his granddaughter—any time he wanted to.
It was the fact that there was now no reason for Casey to marry him that was causing him to frown.
Causing him to frown? He wanted to hit something!
‘Another brandy?’ he offered.
‘I think I’ve already had enough, thanks,’ Casey declined. ‘Well, what do we do now?’ she asked, in that bright voice that grated Xander’s already frayed nerves.
‘What do you want to do?’ he asked cautiously.
‘I don’t think that’s up to me, do you?’
‘Who else is it up to, then?’ Xander challenged.
Casey smiled wryly. ‘I suppose we should cancel the wedding. Move my own and Josh’s things back to the house. You see—it was just as well that I didn’t put it on the market.’
She could look a little less happy about this, Xander fumed, wanting to wipe that smile right off her face.
Her heart was definitely breaking, Casey decided, as Xander took his time in answering her. Probably trying to find the words that would cause the least awkwardness, she acknowledged leadenly.
There was nothing he could say
that wasn’t going to hurt her!
He no longer had any need to marry her. She wasn’t going to have more children with him that they could watch grow up together. She most certainly wasn’t going to grow old with him!
‘It’s a little late for Josh and I to move out this evening, so if it’s okay with you I think we’ll leave it until the morning,’ she suggested, trying desperately to keep her voice steady.
‘No, that most certainly isn’t okay with me!’ Xander snarled.
‘You want me to wake Josh up and take him away from here tonight?’ Casey gasped, and she stared across at him incredulously.
Surely he couldn’t be that cruel? It was going to be difficult enough explaining to Josh why there was no longer going to be a wedding, or a stepsister and stepfather, without waking him up to tell him that in what was the middle of the night to him!
‘No, of course I don’t want that,’ Xander almost roared.
She gave a dazed shake of her head. ‘I don’t understand…’
Xander’s mouth tightened. ‘We had—have a deal, Casey. We get married, and I provide for Josh’s future, remember?’
Well, of course she remembered. But with Brad Henderson’s visit, his apology, surely the reason for their marriage had now been removed…
‘Don’t worry, Xander, I’m not going to hold you to any of that.’ She shrugged. ‘After all, neither of us have signed the contract, so there was never actually anything in writing, was there? Besides, the fact that the marriage isn’t going to take place makes that contract null and void anyway.’
Xander’s expression was stormy. His hands clenched at his sides in an effort to control his rising temper.
Casey was being so damned calm about all of this. So understanding. So unconcerned!
He drew in a ragged breath. ‘You don’t think we should consider going ahead with the marriage, anyway?’ he finally managed to bite out through gritted teeth.
Her eyes widened. ‘Why on earth would we do that?’
Because the thought of her just walking out of his life tomorrow was totally unacceptable! Because he wanted to marry her!