Bound by Their Love (17 page)

‘Jeff, wait.'

He stopped and turned, not realising he'd put quite a bit of distance between him and Greta. Once she reached his side, she took hold of his hand.

‘I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted that way.'

‘Why did you?'

‘I don't know. I just,' she paused, as if searching for the right words to say. ‘I just need to be cautious, okay?'

Jeffrey didn't understand why, but he didn't want to fight with her. He wanted to have lunch and then take her back to the house. Take her back to his bed where he could lose himself in her body again. Then maybe he'd show her his studio. The place where he'd spent countless hours pushing away the pain of his injuries, and the guilt that he'd caused the death of a woman he'd once cared about.

Jeffrey placed his cup on the saucer as Greta tried to stifle another yawn but couldn't hold it in.

‘I think it's time I took you back to the house.'

She looked up. ‘Sorry, I'm just so tired all of a sudden.'

‘It's okay Angel, we're finished anyway.'

Jeff pushed his chair away from the table and went around to pull hers out.

As they made their way back to his car, she leaned into his hard strength. He slipped his arm around her, enjoying the feel of her pressed against him.

‘I won't be offended if you fall asleep in the car on the way home,' he said as he opened the door for her.

‘That's good to know.'

Soon they were on the road, and within minutes of them hitting the highway Greta had fallen asleep. She was so beautiful when she slept. Her neck long and graceful. He could imagine her wearing some long diamond earrings, earrings that kissed her neck when she walked.

The creative juices that had been dead since Greta had broken the news of her pregnancy to him flared back to life. The need to get back to his studio almost had him pressing his foot down on the accelerator. Then he remembered who he had in his car. He had the woman he was coming to care for. The woman who was pregnant with his baby. There was no way he was going to take any risk with the precious cargo he had sitting beside him.

Needing to touch her, assure himself she was okay, he reached over and placed a hand on her leg, stroking the soft skin.

A sigh escaped her lips and he smiled. Yes, he could get used to touching Greta on a daily basis.

Greta woke and found herself lying in Jeff's bed. She had no recollection of how she got there. The last thing she remembered was getting into Jeff's car. She stretched and looked over at the clock on the bedside table.

She yelped when she saw it was after four o'clock. Why had he let her sleep so long? It wasn't like she was on holiday up here. She had a job to do. God, what would Dad think if he knew she'd been sleeping the afternoon away?

Thinking of her father almost had her leaping from the bed, looking for her purse to retrieve her phone. After what Jeff had said about Luciano meeting with Dad, she just knew he was going to call her. Or send her a million emails about what she was doing with the campaign. Part of her didn't want to get her phone. The need to keep herself free of her father's drama was strong. Up here, far away from him, was something she could get used to very quickly.

However, obligation to her job had her pushing aside those thoughts. There was no way around it; she would have to spend most of the night catching up with work. She hadn't even unpacked her laptop. She'd been so focused on Jeff and sleeping with him that all thought of work and her responsibilities had fled her mind, again.

Her father would have a field day with all of this. He'd be telling her
I told you so
over and over. Women can't be in a relationship and hold down important jobs.

Frustrated that her purse didn't seem to be anywhere in the room, she opened the door and stormed down the hallway.

‘Jeff?' she called out, waiting to hear an answering response. Her voice echoed around the house.

‘Dammit, Jeff, where are you?' This time she yelled it. Still no response as she made her way into the kitchen. As she entered the room, the backdoor slammed open and Jeff stood in the doorway, clutching at his leg.

‘Is everything all right, Angel? Are you sick? Is the baby okay?'

‘Why did you let me sleep so long?'

Jeff walked into the kitchen with a slight limp. ‘I didn't see it as a problem. Clearly you needed to sleep.'

‘No,' she said through a clenched jaw. ‘I need to work. Where's my handbag? I have to find my phone. If you have wi-fi, could I have the password so I can log on, get my emails and start working?'

‘God, Greta is that all you can think about, work?'

‘Well, that's why I'm here. And don't tell me your work isn't important to you. Because I know you'll be lying.'

‘No, you're right, my work is important. But so are you. I heard you yelling my name and thought something was wrong. I came rushing in here fearing the worst, only to find all you want to do is berate me for letting you sleep and not waking you so you could work.'

It was then she noticed he was still rubbing the top of his leg. She'd seen the scars. She knew he'd been hurt. She'd also seen him grimace sometimes when he moved after being still for a while. Remorse at her selfishness filled her. Maybe she was more like her father than she thought she was. Wasn't she always complaining that he seemed to put work first and not think about anyone else?

Greta made her way over to where Jeff stood and wrapped her arms around him. His arms immediately closed around her, pulling her tight against him. It felt so right to be in his arms.

She looked up at him, tilting her head so she could see him. She leaned up and kissed his lips softly. ‘I'm sorry. I'm sorry for causing you pain and scaring you.'

His hands grasped either side of her face. ‘Don't do it to me again.' He then lowered his head and kissed her. She surrendered to his touch. Her mind may have been thinking about work, but it was clear her body was thinking only of Jeff.

Opening her mouth beneath his, she let his tongue take ownership of her mouth. God he felt so good. Suddenly his mouth wrenched from hers and a groan of anguish came from him, his hands immediately going to his leg.

‘What's wrong?' This time it was she who was alarmed and worried.

‘Shit. Cramp.'

Greta wrapped her arms around him, knowing he was going to be heavy but needing to help him. ‘Put your weight on me. I'll take you to your room so you can lie down.'

‘That won't help, I need to keep moving.' He went to move away from her but she tightened her hold on him. ‘I'm too heavy for you. I don't want to hurt you.'

‘Well, then we'll walk up and down the hallway. I'm not letting you go.' She angled her head so she could look up at him. ‘Let me help you now. You don't have to do this alone.'

‘Angel,' he whispered the word out as he cupped her cheek. She would never, ever get tired of the soothing gesture. ‘Thank you.'

As they walked slowly across the room and down the hallway to his bedroom, Greta was starting to understand what Sheree was saying when she said she had no problem giving up her career for the people she loved.

Love
.

She let the word flow around her mind. Was she in love with Jeff? They'd only known each other for such a short time it didn't seem possible that she could be in love with him. But part of her knew if she walked away from this place, never to see him again, breathing, living and surviving would be impossible.

Yes, she was falling in love with Jeff. He was the father of her child. How could she not feel something for him? As she'd developed her advertising campaign, not knowing that the man she'd spent time with was the man she was creating the campaign for, Jeff had not been far from her mind. She'd dreamed about him every night, waking up aching to see him one more time. And now she had him in her arms and, from the way he acted when he rushed into the kitchen, he was starting to care for her too.

It was exciting and scary all at the same time.

Part of her also wanted to run. Run as far away from Jeff and the love growing inside of her. What if he rejected her? What if he hurt her? What would happen to the child they shared? How would she feel if he found someone else to love?

Greta almost collapsed at the thought of Jeff loving another woman.

‘I told you I was too heavy.'

Jeff pulled himself away from her and leaned against the wall, his breathing heavy. Clearly his leg was still bothering him.

‘You weren't heavy, I just stumbled a little.' They were standing outside his room. ‘Do you have any massage oil at all, Honey?'

He snapped his attention to her and stopped rubbing his leg at hearing her endearment for him. Why should it be so unusual? He'd called her
Angel
the first day he'd met her.

‘Massage oil?' she prompted, when he kept staring at her.

‘I don't know. There might be something in the bathroom cupboard.'

‘Right, well let's get you on the bed and out of those trousers. I'm going to give you a massage.' All thoughts of work and her father gone from her mind. Her sole focus was on Jeff and helping to release the pain in his leg.

‘I could go for a massage,' he waggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

Greta swatted his arm. ‘A massage on your legs and that's it, Mr Courteux. Now let's get you in your room.'

Within minutes Jeff was lying face down on the bed,
sans
trousers. She'd changed out of her work clothes, not wanting to get oil on them, and was now wearing yoga pants and a tank top.

She poured some of the oil she'd found in his bathroom cupboard on her hands. She'd never given a massage before but she'd had a couple. She recalled that the therapist had rubbed the oil in her hands to warm it. Greta did that and then placed her hands over his scarred flesh.

‘I'm sorry,' he mumbled, once her hands started moving.

‘Sorry for what?'

Not wanting to hurt him, she kept her touch light as she rubbed her hands up and down his upper thigh.

‘Sorry that you have to touch the scars.'

‘Honey, I don't find them offensive at all. They're a part of you. They've moulded you into the man you are today. I hope that soon you'll feel comfortable telling me what happened to cause them.'

A grunt as she started to knead her fingers into his taut muscle was the only response she got. Greta knew it was a lot to ask him about what had happened to get the network of scars. Had he ever shared it with anyone? She sensed that whatever had happened burdened him greatly.

Not wanting to press the issue and shatter the calmness that had settled over them, she continued working on loosening his muscles. Hoping she wasn't causing him more pain and problems with her novice attempt at a massage.

Minutes passed and with Jeff's even breathing reaching her ears, Greta wondered if he'd fallen asleep.

‘It happened on a mountainside in Switzerland.'

Chapter 19

Greta's hands stilled on his legs, unsure whether she should continue or stop. Jeff rolled over and made the decision for her. Grabbing hold of her hands, he pulled until she fell onto the bed next to him.

It should've been awkward, him in his underwear and her fully dressed. But it felt right. Like this was how it was always supposed to be between them. Jeff almost stripped bare as he shared something, she knew, was going to be extremely painful to share.

‘What happened?'

‘To make sense of it all I have to go back to when I first arrived in France. I had just finished my degree and knew jewellery design was where I wanted to end up. I had designed a few things for friends, and they loved them. I'd heard of this family of French jewellers who had been passing down design and cutting techniques for generations. They don't normally share their knowledge outside of the family but for me they made an exception. Maybe it was my French heritage. I don't know. Anyway, they allowed me to have a mini apprenticeship for six months.'

He paused and grabbed her hand, his thumb stroking over the top of it; the small touch causing her body to melt. To want more than just a light touch.

‘Anyway, I must have shown some flair or something because six months extended into eighteen months. I soon found myself creating designs under the name of “Jeff Court”.'

Greta stiffened at the name. It was the name he'd used the day they'd met. She went to pull her hand away from him. Her desire flickering out as quickly as it had ignited.

‘Don't, Angel.' He kissed her hair. ‘I'm sorry I used that name the day we met. I've grown wary that my name can appeal more to a woman than me as a person.'

While she could understand that, it didn't mean she had to like it. But they'd come so far. Why dwell on something that, in the scheme of things, really didn't matter?

She leaned back into his arms, hoping he understood the action for what it was—a sign she accepted his explanation and was putting it behind her. His arms enveloping her against his warm chest told her he accepted her unspoken words. Maybe actions did speak louder than words.

‘As time went on, I was starting to develop a good reputation in France and was slowly expanding into other European countries, particularly Switzerland. By then I'd also met Kelly. She was born in America but moved to France when she was five. I was smitten with her.'

Greta tried not to let the spark of jealousy at Jeff mentioning another woman's name take hold. She may not have had a lot of long relationships, but she hadn't exactly been a virgin when they'd met. She'd had her fair share of men. Her jealousy was irrational.

‘I thought she was smitten with me too,' he continued on, oblivious to the turmoil and fight she had going on inside of her. ‘After a while, I found she was smitten with the fact that I knew royalty and the European upper class. Knowing me got her into all the right parties. It all came to a head when we were in Switzerland. I'd been commissioned to create a piece of jewellery for an anniversary celebration. The family invited us to ski at their chateau. Kelly came on to their son. Right in front of me and the rest of his family. I wasn't prepared to confront her in front of the family; after all, they were being very welcoming in having us in their home.'