Claiming His Wedding Night (7 page)

Perdita, who normally drank very little, had already enjoyed two glasses of wine and was starting to feel a little light-headed. But, trying a cautious sip, she found it tasted smooth and mellow and relatively innocent.

Even so, she decided, it might be wise to drink her coffee first.

As she picked up her cup, Sam came ambling over and, settling himself in front of her, he sat up and begged clumsily, waving his front paws as if trying to keep his balance.

‘Oh, look at him!’ she exclaimed, laughing. Then, to the dog, ‘You really are a smart pup, but I’m afraid I don’t know what you want.’

‘He wants some coffee,’ Jared told her.

‘Surely you don’t give him coffee?’

‘No, not as a rule, but Hilary does.’

Reaching over, Jared covered the dog’s big ears before whispering, ‘She’s trying to stunt his growth. Though I’m inclined to think she may have left it a little too late.’

Perdita gave a gurgle of laughter. ‘A lot too late, if you ask me.’

‘Oh, well, I suppose I’d better pour him some,’ Jared said good-naturedly and rose to his feet. ‘Otherwise we’ll get no peace.’

When the dog had been provided with a bowl of milky coffee, Jared resumed his seat and sipped his own coffee in silence.

He seemed to have lapsed into a reflective mood. But, thinking back to her earlier question and determined to get an answer this time, Perdita took a deep breath and said, ‘Now we’ve finished our meal, perhaps you’ll be kind enough to tell me exactly why you brought me here. There has to be a reason.’

A little smile twisting his chiselled lips, he said, ‘I thought you’d made up your mind that it was just to exact revenge?’

‘I can’t see what else it could possibly be.’

‘If I may say so, that shows a remarkable lack of imagination on your part.’ The merest hint of a threat in his tone, he added, ‘There are other equally interesting reasons.’

In an attempt to hide the sudden quiver that ran through her, she said challengingly, ‘Perhaps you’d like to tell me what they are?’

‘Firstly, I thought it might be time to give things a second chance.’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘Exactly what I say.’

Seeing he had no intention of elaborating, she bit her lip before returning to the attack. ‘But “giving things a second chance” isn’t the only reason?’

‘No.’ Candlelight gleamed in his eyes, turning the silver to gold. ‘There was a far more pressing one.’

‘And what was that?’ she asked, trying hard to hide her apprehension.

She was both surprised and shocked when he said flatly, ‘I couldn’t allow you to go ahead and marry Judson.’

‘
Allow
me to marry Martin!’ she choked. ‘There’s no way you can stop me.’

‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that…’ He rose to his feet with an easy masculine grace. ‘Shall we have some more coffee?’

Why
was he so set against her marrying Martin? she wondered as she watched him fill the coffee cups.

But, whatever his reasons, she told herself stoutly, there was no way he could prevent the marriage. He couldn’t keep her in the States indefinitely.

Perhaps his plan was to make
not
marrying Martin part of a deal to save JB Electronics?

If it was, where would that leave her?

Though she felt dreadfully disloyal, honesty made her admit that she couldn’t claim she would be heartbroken. But if she
was
forced to cancel the wedding, Martin was bound to be badly hurt.

No, she couldn’t—wouldn’t—do that to him. He didn’t deserve it.

Returning with the coffee, Jared suggested, ‘Suppose we move back to the loungers to drink it?’

When they were both settled in the loungers, as though he’d been given a signal, Sam came over and settled himself at his master’s side.

While Jared absently fondled the hound’s ears, determined to have some answers, Perdita asked, ‘Why don’t you want me to marry Martin?’

As he looked at her levelly, she hurried on, ‘I know there’s no love lost between the pair of you, but surely it has to be more than that?’

‘You’re quite right. In fact, I have two very good reasons. Firstly, I don’t believe you love him—’

‘I do,’ she insisted. ‘Passionately. But what can it possibly matter to you whether or not I love him?’

‘It matters quite a lot.’

About to challenge him on that, she chickened out and instead asked, ‘And what’s the second reason?’

‘He’s not good enough for you.’

Feeling the need to defend Martin, she cried, ‘Let me tell you that as well as being loyal and faithful, he’s one of the nicest, kindest men I’ve ever met. He’s straightforward and honest. He hasn’t a nasty bone in his body.’

Jared’s white teeth flashed in a mirthless smile. ‘I’m afraid you’re deluding yourself. He’s cunning and deceitful, and a liar to boot.’

‘How can you make such accusations?’ she stormed. ‘They’re just not true.’

‘They’re true enough.’

‘I don’t know what makes you think that. Martin’s incapable of lies and deceit.’

His voice full of bitterness, Jared said, ‘If only you’d championed
me
like that.’

‘I would have done if you’d been worth it,’ she flashed, and saw his face turn pale, as if the words were rocks she’d hit him with.

Suddenly she would have given a lot to have left them unspoken, and she felt the quick prick of tears behind her eyes.

When she had succeeded in getting her emotions under control, she made an effort to battle on. ‘Let’s suppose I agreed to call the wedding off…Is that all you want?’

A razor-sharp edge to his voice, he said, ‘Not by a long chalk.’

There was, she saw, a complete change in his manner. Before she’d spoken those fatal words, though always the man in command, he had appeared relatively relaxed and easy.

True he had been a tough, challenging opponent, but an attractive, charismatic one.

Now he was wholly formidable and frightening, a man who would have no mercy and give no quarter.

All his previous hardness was back, and it showed in the
tightness of his jaw, the ruthless set of his lips, and the silvery-grey eyes that were as cold and bleak as any glacier.

She shivered. But if she let him see she was afraid, she would be lost.

That thought in mind, she said with far more boldness than she felt, ‘I think it’s about time you stopped playing games with me and told me in words of one syllable just what it is you
do
want.’

‘In words of one syllable, I want
you
.’

She sat mute and frozen, trying to tell herself she had misheard but knowing she hadn’t.

‘It seems to have come as a shock to you,’ he observed sardonically.

Somehow she found her voice. ‘But you told me you were married.’

‘I
am
married.’

Stammering a little, she said, ‘Then I…I don’t…I just don’t understand.’

‘Is
I want you
so very difficult to understand?’

‘In spite of the fact that you have a wife, you’re asking me to share your bed?’

His dark, handsome face looking cold and implacable, he told her, ‘I’m not
asking
you anything. I’m
telling
you.’

‘You must be joking,’ she said shakily. ‘What would your wife say if she…’

Something about his expression alerted her, and the words faltered and died on her lips as, belatedly, realization began to dawn.

The last remnants of colour draining from her face, she stared at him in startled silence.

‘I can see you’re finally getting there,’ he said with grim satisfaction.

Unwilling to believe it, she whispered, ‘You can’t mean that I’m…?’

‘Still my wife? That’s exactly what I mean.’

Through stiff lips she accused, ‘You didn’t have our marriage annulled, after all!’

‘No, I didn’t…’ he said evenly.

It had been a whirlwind affair in a small chapel just outside Las Vegas, a marriage that was no marriage, that had never been consummated.

‘And, while our wedding wasn’t particularly romantic,’ he went on flatly, ‘it was legal and binding. We’re still man and wife…’

So that was why he couldn’t let her marry Martin.

As though reading her mind, Jared reached for her hand and, slipping off her engagement ring, dropped it into his shirt pocket. ‘Which means it’s high time we got rid of this.’

Still struggling to take in what he’d told her, she failed to protest.

In truth, the huge diamond solitaire on its platinum band had never meant half as much to her as the gold ring Jared had given her, with its pale turquoise stone that, he had told her, matched her beautiful eyes.

But that had been a long time ago, and so much had happened since then to spoil a love she had once considered perfect.

Finding they were still married had been a shock, scattering her wits like a shotgun blast scattered starlings and jarring her mind so that it seemed incapable of functioning.

After a moment, from amongst the welter of confusion, one thing that had been niggling at her, painful as a sore tooth, suddenly surfaced.

Lifting her head, she said slowly, ‘You told Sally we were still married. That’s the reason she agreed to help you.’

‘It was one of the reasons.’

Though the last thing Perdita had wanted or expected was to find herself still tied to Jared, it was a relief to be able to acquit a woman she had grown to like and respect.

After a moment, she gathered herself and said, ‘I don’t understand
why
you didn’t have the marriage annulled. It had never been consummated, and I sent you all the necessary papers and sworn affidavits.’

‘I didn’t want an annulment,’ he said evenly. ‘I wanted my wife back.’

Her normally low, slightly husky voice sounding high and shrill even in her own ears, she cried, ‘Now I understand. But if you think for one instant that I’d be willing to come back to you, you’re crazy.’

‘If I am,’ he said grimly, ‘it’s because you’ve made me that way. But, crazy or not, they are my terms. If you want to save your father any further worry and stress and keep his company afloat, you’ll need to agree to them.’

‘Well, if this is your idea of
negotiating
, you’ve been wasting your time. I’ve absolutely no intention of agreeing to them.’

‘As always, it’s up to you,’ he said evenly. ‘But there’s quite a lot at stake, so you might want to think about it before you refuse.’

He was right about there being a lot at stake, but she couldn’t sink her pride and go back to him, she just
couldn’t!

He stayed silent, giving her time, and after a minute or so she asked, as he had surely known she would, ‘And presumably you would still want a controlling interest in the company?’

He shook his head. ‘I’ll settle for fifty per cent of the shares.’

‘So what exactly are you offering in return for me and fifty per cent of the shares?’ Her voice shook, making her attempt at sarcasm a miserable failure.

His manner businesslike and to the point, he said, ‘As soon as I have your agreement, I’ll buy the shares at the full market price and pay off the mortgage on your father’s house as well as all the bank loans and overdrafts.

‘I’ll also provide an immediate injection of cash.’ He named a sum that made her blink. ‘And if I judge that the new
projects you mentioned are worth it, I’ll provide ample funds to finance them through to completion.’

Trying to take it in and feeling a little dazed, she asked, ‘Would you mind saying all that again?’

He repeated word for word what he had just said.

It was a much more generous offer than she might have dared to expect or hope for, and the consequences of refusing would be dire.

The company her father and Elmer had spent a lifetime building up would go down the drain. Their loyal employees would lose their jobs and, instead of her father and Elmer being able to retire comfortably, they would end up bankrupt and without a roof over their heads.

Common sense told her that Martin and Elmer would be able to weather the storm somehow, but in her father’s case it was bound to put a serious strain on his heart.

Yet how could she bring herself to live with a man she no longer loved? A man she was more than half afraid of? A man from whose dark spell she had struggled so hard to escape…?

While turbulent thoughts tumbled through her mind, she stared blindly at the hands clasped tightly together in her lap, desperately seeking a solution when common sense told her there wasn’t one.

His eyes fixed on her down-bent face, Jared finally broke the silence to ask, ‘Well? Have you decided?’

Lifting her head, she took a deep shuddering breath and, trying to sound firm but only managing to sound panic-stricken and desperate, said, ‘I can’t give you an answer straight away. I need time to think about it.’

‘Very well. I’ll give you twenty-four hours.’

Twenty-four hours wasn’t long, but it was at least a breathing space, a temporary reprieve from having to make such a traumatic decision.

W
HILE
P
ERDITA
had been caught up in a maelstrom of turbulent thoughts, the last traces of evening had flown and a starlit night had taken its place.

Though the air was still soft and balmy, a faint breeze had sprung up and was stirring the tendrils of the flowering vine that hung close by, sending its perfume drifting seductively.

She recalled such a lovely night years ago in San Jose. A perfect starlit, romantic night when, having told her father she was sleeping over with a friend, she had slipped away from the party early and gone to Jared’s house.

After they had eaten supper on his patio, he had surprised her by slipping a ring onto her finger and asking her formally to marry him.

Her heart overflowing, she had accepted, with the proviso that they kept their engagement a secret for the time being at least.

Until then, because of her father’s opposition, their relationship, though passionate, had been confined to kisses and caresses, and talk of “being together” once her father was well enough.

Since their first meeting, Jared had treated her as the innocent she was, but that night, as they sat together on the swing seat, eager to be his in every sense of the word,
she
had made the running.

After undoing his shirt buttons, she had slid her hands inside, running them over his muscular chest, finding the sprinkling of crisp body hair and the small leathery nipples.

When she’d felt him get restive beneath her touch, she’d started to unfasten the clip on the waistband of his trousers. Catching hold of her hands, he had held them away and asked with mock severity, ‘I hope you know what you’re doing?’

‘I’m turning you on,’ she had answered daringly. ‘Or, rather, I’m trying to.’

‘You’re succeeding,’ he had warned her grimly. ‘So, unless you’re prepared to take the consequences…’

‘Yes, please,’ she had whispered, lifting her face for his kiss, and hand in hand they had walked into the house.

It had been the most wonderful night of her life, a night that had seen her transformed from a naive girl into a woman.

Though a complete innocent, she had tendered passion for passion with a joyous abandon that had filled Jared’s heart with gladness.

Afterwards, lying in his arms, his ring on her finger, her happiness and contentment had been complete. He had proved to be a marvellous lover, not only masterful and heartbreakingly tender, but skilled and experienced.

That last thought had brought a slight cloud of unease and jealousy with it. Though he was the right type to be a good lover—generous, unselfish and passionate—she was well aware that all his skill and experience had needed to be
acquired
.

Biting her lip, she had tried hard to push that sudden doubt to the back of her mind.

The following morning before she went home, he had bought her an antique gold chain with a chunky gold locket that opened to hold the ring. Fastening it round her neck, he had said, ‘Now you can wear it next to your heart until we can tell the world.’

He had added that he would always love her and promised to be faithful, and she had believed him.

More fool her.

All the old bitterness and disillusionment returned in full force, reminding her, if such a reminder was necessary, just why she couldn’t face the thought of going back to him.

A fresh rush of agitation brought her to her feet. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d like to go to bed now,’ she said jerkily.

Though he frowned a little, as if he’d been following her train of thought, he agreed levelly, ‘It’s been a long day so I think I’ll join you.’

She stiffened. Suppose he meant that literally?

But he had turned away and was snapping his fingers at the dog. ‘Come on, Sam. Bed time.’

They made their way into the house and Jared closed and locked the glass panels before shutting Sam in the kitchen.

Unable to judge from Jared’s expression exactly what his intentions were, Perdita held her breath as he escorted her along to her bedroom.

Having opened the door for her, he made no attempt to follow her inside but simply said, ‘Goodnight, Perdita. Sleep well.’

‘Goodnight,’ she answered huskily.

She was about to turn away when he lifted her chin and kissed her lightly on the lips. Though he wasn’t holding her in any way, that sweetest of caresses kept her rooted to the spot.

Even when he lifted his head and walked away, she stayed exactly where she was, still as any statue, until the sound of his bedroom door closing brought her back to life.

Forcing her weak knees to carry her into her own room, she shut the door behind her and slumped limply against it.

If he’d taken her in his arms, deepened the kiss…

But he hadn’t.

She felt a quick surge of what she tried to tell herself was relief.

But mingled with that relief was a tingle of something she recognized as regret, and she was forced to admit that at some fundamental level she still wanted him.

No! she corrected herself quickly, she
couldn’t
still want him after all that had happened. That strong physical attraction must simply be because she had suppressed her basic needs for so long that her body was starting to rebel.

But, if that was the case, why had she kept Martin, a man who thought the world of her, at arm’s length?

She sighed and, in an endeavour to stop herself thinking, went through to the pleasant bathroom and prepared for bed once more.

When she had slipped beneath the light duvet, she closed her eyes and made an effort to empty her mind, but sleep steadfastly eluded her.

Trapped once more on the endless treadmill of thought, it was the early hours of the morning before her weary brain stopped working and she finally fell into an uneasy doze.

She awoke to a strange room filled with sunlight. For a moment or two her mind was a complete blank, and then everything that had happened the previous evening came back in a rush.

She was still Jared’s wife. Nominally. And in a matter of hours she would have to decide whether or not to go back to him.

Every nerve in her body tightened and a rising panic threatened to engulf her. Forcing it down, she climbed out of bed and pulled back the light muslin curtains. The sun was riding high in the sky, and a glance at her watch showed it was almost midday.

When she had showered and dressed in a blue and white striped shirtwaister and sandals, she brushed out her long hair and pulled it back into a loose gleaming knot.

It had been her intention to leave by way of the veranda,
but the glass door refused to open and the lock was empty, so she made her way through the silent house.

There was no sign of the housekeeper, but the complete absence of dust and the bowls of fresh flowers suggested that that good lady had been busy.

On the opposite side of the hallway a door leading on to the far veranda was standing invitingly open, and crossing to it, Perdita stepped out into the fresh air.

From here she got a panoramic view over a wide swathe of picturesque countryside. In the distance, lush and green, she could see row upon row of vines while a crop-spraying helicopter, with a trail of fine spray suspended beneath it like a cloud, clattered noisily up the valley.

As she walked along the veranda looking at the adobe walls and the tubs of bright flowers, mingling with the sweet scent of the flowers she became aware of an appetizing smell of grilled bacon and percolating coffee.

When she reached the south side of the house and the pool area, she descended the veranda steps into the blazing sun. The house and the veranda had been relatively cool and only then, standing looking around her, did she appreciate just how hot it was.

She had always enjoyed the heat and, after a long cold winter in London, it was very welcome.

All traces of the previous evening had been cleared away and by the pool a white table, shielded from the full strength of the sun by a canopy of vines, had been set for brunch.

On the side trolley was a tall glass jug of orange juice, a basket of newly baked rolls, a tub of butter and a selection of preserves, while several covered dishes and a pot of coffee were keeping warm on the hotplate.

Sam ambled over to greet her, languid in the heat, and offered her a huge clumsy paw before returning to his post by the table, where an empty bowl waited to be filled.

Jared was in the water, doing lengths in a fast effortless crawl. He was in the middle of a racing turn at the far end of the pool when he saw her.

Levering himself out in one smooth movement, he shook the water out of his eyes and walked towards her, his smile a challenge.

He was stark naked and very male.

A betraying heat ran through her and her stomach clenched as, unable to tear her gaze away, she watched him approach.

The sun gleamed on his smooth skin and rivulets of water ran down his muscular body. With broad shoulders, lean hips and long supple limbs, he had a classical beauty that—though the concept was hackneyed—she had always thought of as godlike.

Every inch of his skin appeared to be deeply tanned and, with the dark hair curling on his chest and the gleam of his white teeth as he smiled at her, he could almost have been Greek.

‘Good morning. Sleep well?’

Forcing herself to take a breath, she lied, ‘Very well, thank you.’ Then, looking anywhere but at him, ‘Brunch by the pool, I see.’

‘Naturally. You’re in sunny California now.’ He surveyed her dress critically. ‘Though, to enjoy it to the full, you could do with rather fewer clothes.’

Her eyes skittering nervously past his nakedness, she hoped he didn’t mean what she thought he meant.

Reading her unease and interpreting it correctly, he laughed and added, ‘A bikini, for example.’

‘I haven’t owned a bikini, or a swimsuit of any kind, since I left California,’ she told him.

‘Well, after we’ve had brunch we can easily remedy that, and a little sunshine is all you need to banish that winter paleness.’

It was an enticing thought. But the last thing she wanted to do was wear any kind of swimsuit in front of Jared.

Though she loved the sun, she had always been inhibited
about baring her body, and it was he who had first encouraged her to strip off and enjoy the feel of the sun on her bare skin.

And she was lucky. Unlike the pale, ultra-sensitive skin of a lot of natural blondes, her skin tanned well and easily to a pale burnished gold.

Picking up a towel from one of the poolside sunbeds, Jared knotted it casually around his lean waist before leading the way to the table, leaving wet footprints on the decking.

He settled her in one of the white chairs before taking a seat opposite and asking cheerfully, ‘Juice to start with?’

‘Please.’

Sitting in the dappled shade, she sipped the freshly squeezed juice and, finding it deliciously cool and sweet, murmured, ‘Mmm…I don’t know why, but that tastes so much nicer than we get in London.’

With a quick grin, he suggested, ‘Perhaps it’s because, unlike California, they don’t grow oranges in London.’

Smiling back spontaneously, she agreed, ‘You could be right.’

Watching that smile light her face and bring it to life, Jared observed a shade huskily, ‘You should smile more often. It suits you.’

Flicked on the raw, she retorted, ‘I haven’t had a lot to smile about just recently.’

Instantly regretting her own sharpness, she was pleased when he seemed disposed to ignore it.

When their glasses were empty, he helped her to crisp bacon, scrambled eggs and waffles, before pouring the fragrant coffee.

Seeing the play of muscles beneath his smooth tanned skin, she felt her heartbeat quicken. With his hair still wet and rumpled, his broad shoulders and chest and the strong column of his throat bare, he looked so disturbingly sexy that she was finding it difficult to breathe, let alone eat.

But it was more than just his looks. It always had been.
Watching his face, a face she knew as well as she knew her own, she remembered how it was when they had first met and got to know each other.

For her, they had been weeks of discovery, of delight. Slowly, she had learnt that he was never dull, never disappointing, never mean or small-minded, never at a loss.

They had been in perfect harmony. He seemed able to read her mind and know what she was thinking, and if he wasn’t with her he was one step ahead, waiting for her to catch up.

But, best of all, she’d discovered she could be herself with him. Neither her shyness nor her inhibitions, her occasional short bursts of temper or the fact that at times—having been overindulged and pampered all her life—she was unwittingly selfish, bothered him. He accepted her faults as gracefully as he welcomed her merits.

Knowing him had freed her from the suffocating restrictions of her childhood, and turned her into a well balanced adult, able to think for herself.

Well balanced? Able to think for herself? Was that really a true picture?

The last three years seemed to suggest it wasn’t. She was still following her father’s lead, still allowing him to influence and mollycoddle her.

And if she
had
married Martin, as her father’s chosen ambassador,
he
would have carried on where the older man had left off…

Suddenly becoming aware that Jared had said something she hadn’t caught, Perdita glanced up in confusion. ‘I’m sorry?’

‘I said, if we’re to buy that bikini I’d better get showered and dressed.’

‘I don’t need a bikini, really I don’t.’

‘You prefer to swim and sunbathe in the nude?’

Grinning at her horrified expression, he said briskly, ‘So
you need a bikini, or at least a costume of some kind. Give me ten minutes and we’ll have a trip into Napa.’

Hoping to deflect him from his purpose, she protested, ‘But you promised you’d take me round the winery, and I’d much rather do that.’

Not taken in for a moment, he said lightly, ‘Don’t worry, we can do both.’

When he returned, well within the promised time, looking casually elegant in well-cut lightweight trousers and a midnight-blue silk shirt, he was carrying a high factor sunscreen and a spare pair of sunglasses.