by Julia James
His eyes locked with hers.
‘It’s beautiful … but you really shouldn’t have bothered,’ she said, feeling as if something inside her chest had rearranged itself. ‘It’s not as if this is a real marriage or anything. I’ll have to give this back to you when it’s over.’
‘No.’ His hand came over hers, holding the ring in place, so much so she could feel the sharp edges of the diamonds pinching her skin, his eyes dark and serious as they held hers. ‘No. I want you to keep it. Think of it as a gift for how you’re helping me.’
‘I—I can’t accept such an expensive gift from you,’ she said, twisting out of his grasp. ‘It wouldn’t be right.’
He captured her hand again and closed her fingers over her palm. ‘No, Hayley,’ he said. ‘I want you to have this.’
‘Jasper … I …’ She moistened her mouth with her tongue, her heart leaping about in her chest. ‘I don’t know what to say …’
‘How about for a change you don’t say anything?’ he suggested, pulling her a little closer.
She felt the buckle of his belt against the softness of her tummy, his strong thighs like tree trunks against the shivering leaves of hers.
‘W-what are you doing?’ she asked, trying to pull back, but her efforts only succeeded in bringing her pelvis closer to his, her yielding softness against his unmistakable hardness.
‘I’m thinking about kissing you,’ he said, his dark gaze dipping to her mouth, brushing it like a feather. ‘In fact I’ve been thinking about it for days.’
‘W-why would you want to do that?’ Her voice sounded more like a squeak than her usual even tones.
‘I kind of figure we’re going to have to do it occasionally,’ he said, still looking down at her mouth, his thumbs slowly stroking the undersides of her wrists.
Hayley unconsciously ran her tongue over her dry lips. ‘D-do what?’
‘Kiss each other.’
‘But … but why?’
‘Because we’ll be married to each other and people will expect it.’
She swallowed. ‘I don’t think we should take things to that extreme … I mean a quick peck on the cheek now and again will do … won’t it?’
‘No.’
Her stomach tilted. ‘No?’
‘If we are going to convince people this is a real marriage, then we’re going to have to put in some sort of effort to get the body language between us right.’
‘I don’t think I—’
‘You can go first if it makes you feel more comfortable,’ he suggested.
‘Me?’
‘Yes. You kiss me and then I’ll kiss you.’
Hayley’s eyes flicked uncertainly to his mouth.
‘Come on, Hayley,’ he said, the whisper of his words caressing her lips as he pulled her even closer. ‘Do it. I dare you.’
She stood up on tiptoe and pressed a brief brush-like kiss to the side of his mouth. ‘There,’ she said, her breathing a little shallow and uneven. ‘I did it.’
‘Now it’s my turn.’ His hands moved from her wrists to rest on her hips, the pressure of his hold just enough to tip her forwards as his mouth came down, as if in slow motion, until finally she felt the heated imprint of his lips along the softness of hers.
When she thought about it later, she realised there was nothing that could have prepared her for the feel of his tongue stroking the seam of her lips in its determined quest for entry. Heat exploded inside her as he thrust through when her mouth opened on her little startled gasp of response, the stroke and glide of him against her tongue sending her into a heart-stopping spiral of feeling. Her stomach began to crawl with desire, her skin prickling all over with it, her whole body alive with the need to feel more of his devastating touch. His tongue swooped and dived again for hers, calling it into a sensuous dance that mimicked the most intimate of embraces, her lower body responding with liquid warmth as he pressed her even closer to his hardness. She felt the ridge of his erection against her belly, its probing force a heady reminder of how incredibly experienced he was and how vulnerable she was to the temptation of his possession.
His hands moved from her hips upwards to settle just below her breasts, not quite touching but near enough for her to feel the aching tightness of expectation in her nipples pushing against the lace of her bra. She wanted to feel the warmth of his palms on her without the barrier of her clothes. She wanted to feel his hot, moist mouth sucking on her, his tongue rolling over each nipple in turn.
She whimpered softly as he deepened the kiss even further, his hard body pulsing against hers until her legs felt as if they were going to melt beneath her. Her arms moved to encircle his waist, her hands shaping the firmness of his taut buttocks in increasing boldness. She felt his leaping response against her, the sound of his deep groan rumbling in his throat signalling she was having much the same effect on him as he was on her.
He lifted his mouth from hers, his dark eyes glittering. ‘Well, I guess that clears up that little matter, then,’ he said with a little wry smile.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, extracting herself from his hold with cold deliberation.
‘You couldn’t possibly have been in love with Myles Lederman. You wouldn’t have responded to me like that if you were.’
She gave him a furious look. ‘For your information I’ve cried myself to sleep for the past week. I don’t think I’ll ever get over Myles’s betrayal.’
‘Well it’s about time you did,’ he said. ‘He was only marrying you because he thought you were going to inherit the bulk of my father’s estate.’
Hayley’s mouth fell open. ‘That’s a despicable lie!’
He jerked one shoulder up and down as if he didn’t care what accusation she levelled at him. ‘I’ve recently run some checks on his background,’ he said. ‘He’s up to the eyeballs in debt. It’s my guess he knew you were very close to my terminally ill father, and, since it’s been no secret in the press that I wasn’t exactly on good terms with the old man, Lederman decided to move in for the kill. He swept you off your feet within weeks, fast-tracking your wedding so he could get his hands on your inheritance.’
She swung away in disgust. ‘I don’t believe a word of this. You’re making it up.’
‘I was speaking to Max, the part-time gardener out at Crickglades,’ he went on. ‘It seems Gerald didn’t like your choice of fiancé although he didn’t think it his place to say so to you. Duncan Brocklehurst confirmed that the will had been changed a few days before he died.’
Hayley turned back to look at him in bewilderment. ‘So what you’re saying is Gerald preferred me to marry you rather than Myles?’
‘I guess he was thinking along the lines of better the devil you know than the one you don’t,’ he said. ‘One assumes he thought I wouldn’t go as far as to rip you off and break your heart in the process.’
She frowned as she tried to take it all in. ‘But Gerald knew how much we hated each other … Why would he force a marriage between us?’
‘It was probably his idea of a sick joke,’ he said. ‘He knew very well what my views on marriage are, having put pressure on me before. Even a month living as husband and wife is going to seem like a lifetime. But I didn’t have to go along with his plans; I could have walked away without a cent. Raymond would have got the lot and you and I would have been left out in the cold.’
Her eyes came back to his. ‘But you wanted Crickglades,’ she said. ‘And were prepared to do whatever it took to get it.’
‘Yes,’ he said, and reached for his keys, his jaw stiff with determination. ‘That’s exactly right. I want Crickglades.’
‘Why do you want it so much?’ she asked with a puzzled frown. ‘I thought you hated the place. You left as soon as you got the chance, hardly even coming home to visit your father more than once or twice a year.’
‘I do hate the place,’ Jasper said with emphasis. ‘It has too many memories I would rather forget.’ Memories of Eva Addington prancing about h
is mother’s beloved house and garden, changing the decorating to fit her lurid taste, flirting with anything in trousers, including himself on one occasion. The property he had loved as a child had been tainted and he couldn’t wait to bring it back to what it had been when his mother had made it a home instead of a house.
‘So what are you going to do with it when you get it?’ she asked, her tone liberally laced with censure. ‘Raze it to the ground and build hundreds of stupid town houses on it?’
‘What do you think I’m going to do with it?’ he asked with a curl of his lip. ‘Keep it for sentimental reasons?’
Hayley followed him back out to the car, her brain struggling to make sense of his motivations. Jasper wanted Crickglades but he’d made it perfectly clear he didn’t want her. She wasn’t sure why that should hurt so much. She had battled with him for years so it should be no surprise he would resent being tied to her, albeit temporarily, but it did hurt.
It hurt a whole lot more than it should.
CHAPTER FIVE
JASPER SWUNG HIS gaze to the silent figure beside him on the way back to the salon. He felt a bit of a heel for having to be the one to burst her bubble over her ex-fiancé, but he reassured himself she would get over it in time, if she hadn’t already.
He was still feeling a little intrigued over her reaction to the ring he’d bought her. He had assumed she would have grasped at it greedily, counting the diamonds and rushing off to have it valued at the first opportunity as her mother Eva had done, but instead her eyes had shone with tears and her bottom lip had trembled as if she had been deeply affected by his gesture.
He could still taste her in his mouth, her response to him surprising him considering how much she claimed to detest him. He wasn’t so sure he was ready to examine too closely his response to her, however. He had spent years avoiding the temptation of her young womanly body, but, no matter what he did to counteract it, her ripe curves still heated his blood whenever he was within touching distance.
‘If you’re free this weekend I thought we could do a quick run down to this property I’m interested in,’ he said into the silence. ‘You can meet the Hendersons, the couple I was telling you about.’
‘Right at this point in time I don’t feel like going anywhere with you,’ she said with a little pout.
‘Listen, Hayley, don’t go shooting the messenger. I only told you what you would have found out given more time. As I said the other day, I’ve saved you a lot of future heartbreak.’
She sent him a brittle glance. ‘I bet you’re sitting there gloating right now, aren’t you? You probably think it’s been one big joke to destroy my ego in one fell swoop.’
‘I did no such thing. Besides, I would have thought I gave your ego a massive boost back there when I kissed you. I can’t remember a time when I was so turned on so quickly. It must be that perfume you’re wearing.’
Hayley refused to be mollified by his somewhat backhanded compliment. ‘I hope you’re not going to get into the habit of using me to satisfy your animal urges,’ she said.
He gave a little snort. ‘You’ve been listening to too many of my brother’s sermons.’
‘At least he has a moral code,’ she tossed back.
‘And I don’t?’
‘You’re like a lot of other deadbeat dads out there,’ she said. ‘You sow your wild oats and leave the women to reap the harvest all alone. Miriam Moorebank has struggled all her life because of what you did to her. Her mother-in-law told me how hard things are for her now.’
He flicked an angry glance her way. ‘If you want to walk the rest of the way back to the salon then carry on the way you’re going.’
‘I’d rather walk than suffer your presence,’ she said.
The car swerved to the left and before she knew what was happening he had reached across her and opened her door, his arm brushing against her breasts.
‘OK, then,’ he said. ‘Out you get.’
She sucked in an angry breath. ‘It’s at least an hour’s walk from here.’
‘The exercise will do you good.’
‘I’m not wearing the right shoes.’
‘Get out of the car, Hayley.’
‘No, I will not get out of the car!’ she shouted at him, suddenly so close to tears she felt them bubbling at the back of her throat. She brushed at her eyes but it was too late. She put her head in her hands and began to sob.
Jasper let out a stiff curse. ‘Damn it. I wish you wouldn’t do that,’ he growled as he reached out a hand to the back of her neck and pulled her into his chest, his nostrils flaring to take in more of the spring-garden fragrance of her shampoo. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.’
She lifted her head out of her hands to send him an accusatory glare. ‘Yes, you did,’ she said, hiccupping. ‘You’ve done nothing but upset me from the moment you barged into the salon and insisted I marry you. You blackmailed me, holding my business over my head until I can’t sleep at night, and then you went and … and kissed me! How the hell am I supposed to cope with all that?’
His mouth twisted ruefully. ‘I didn’t think it was that bad a kiss.’
‘You only did it to prove how weak I am.’
‘You’re not weak,’ he said. ‘Just human that’s all.’
‘I don’t even like you,’ she said. ‘I’ve never liked you.’
‘You don’t have to like me—you just have to marry me.’
‘I don’t know what Gerald was thinking of leaving things like this,’ she said brushing at her eyes. ‘It’s not as if I was expecting anything out of his will, but this is crazy. I feel like a pawn in a stupid game.’
Jasper looked at her while she was occupied with mopping up her tears. Could his father have been right after all? What if Hayley was completely different from her mother? What if she was as sweet and innocent as Gerald had always believed her to be? If so she was in danger of being hurt even more than Myles had hurt her when their temporary marriage came to its inevitable end. He didn’t intend staying married to her any longer than he had to.
That was the deal.
Four weeks of living with Hayley to get back what was stolen from his mother. And even though she was no longer alive, he owed it to her to restore the house and garden to its former glory; then, and only then, would he feel that the avaricious presence of that slut Eva Addington would be finally eradicated.
‘If there was any other way of achieving my goal I would do it, Hayley,’ he said heavily. ‘But this is the only way.’
‘This is going to be the longest month of my life,’ she said with another pout.
Jasper settled back in his seat and put the car into gear as he responded dryly, ‘You and me too, baby.’
Hayley had fully intended to refuse to accompany Jasper to the country property on the following Sunday, but every time she went to pick up the phone to cancel she caught sight of the engagement ring he’d bought her and changed her mind. It suited her hand perfectly, the diamonds catching the light with every movement of her fingers. She still didn’t understand why he’d gone to the trouble of buying her such a beautiful ring when everything about their relationship was so ugly.
There had been a time when she had dreamed of being married to Jasper for real, but such foolishness had long been put aside. She knew he was wary of commitment, his playboy lifestyle suggested he wasn’t interested in marriage and babies—even the one he’d fathered—while lately she had been thinking of little else. Her biological clock had been ticking quietly in the background until her last birthday, when the volume had gone up to a deafening roar, keeping her awake at night in writhing fits of panic that time was running out.
She wondered now if that was why she had rushed into her relationship with Myles, clutching at the lifeline with both hands, knowing deep down that if she didn’t do something she would end up doing nothing. She’d thought she had loved him, she had certainly enjoyed his company and he had seemed to want the same things in life as she di
d. On their very first date he’d mentioned kids and kittens and puppies, which had worked like a charm; she never could walk past a pram or a pet shop without a quick adoring peek.
The sound of Jasper’s powerful car pulling up outside reverberated through the thin walls of her flat and she twitched the curtain aside to sneak a look at him. He unfolded his tall frame from the car, his black hair shiny in the bright spring sunshine, his white casual shirt teamed with dark blue jeans emphasising his spectacular fitness. His skin was a deep olive tan, which never seemed to fade in spite of the cold winter Sydney had just experienced. No doubt he’d been sunning himself at a tropical resort with a host of bikini-clad women while his father had drawn his last breath, she thought with a deep twinge of resentment.
She turned from the window and, scooping up her bag and cardigan in case the light breeze grew cold later, opened the door just as he was climbing the stairs to her floor.
‘Nice to know how eager you are to see me,’ he said with a teasing light in his dark eyes.
She gave him a quelling look. ‘Actually,’ she said in a lowered tone, ‘my neighbour is a nurse currently on night duty. Your car made enough noise without you ringing the doorbell as well.’
He led the way to the car and waited until they were on their way before he spoke again. ‘I’ve spoken again to Raymond about the ceremony.’
‘Oh?’
‘Apparently he’s got another wedding to do but I can’t help feeling he’s relieved he doesn’t have to be a party to this set-up.’
‘I guess he’s right in a way when you think about it,’ she said. ‘We’re not exactly doing this for the right reasons. Marriage is meant to be for life.’
‘What a pity your mother didn’t share your view,’ Jasper said with a curl of his lip.
He felt her stiffen as if the mention of her mother upset her and, flicking a quick glance her way, felt his chest tighten again when he saw what those small white teeth were doing to her bottom lip.
‘Sorry,’ he said after a lengthy pause.