The Wedding Charade Page 13

  Jade continued on the devil’s advocate route. ‘What about if you get tired of me before the year is up?’

  ‘I can’t see that happening,’ he said with a glinting smile. ‘You excite me, cara, like no other woman has done before.’

  Jade felt a ripple of excitement move through her body. His eyes darkened with desire as they held hers, promising earth-shattering passion. ‘Have you ever been in love?’ she asked.

  ‘No, have you?’

  She looked down at her glass rather than hold his penetrating gaze. ‘I thought I was once but now I realise it was just a crush. Real love, the lasting sort, I suspect, is something else entirely.’

  ‘So you believe in lasting love?’ he asked as he picked up his wine glass again.

  Jade made herself meet his eyes. ‘I think it can happen, sure. I think there is probably a bit of luck involved, you know, meeting at the right time, having similar goals and values. I am sure it’s hard work at times, all relationships are, but if both parties are committed and willing to go the distance, I can see it could be a very satisfying thing.’

  ‘So once the ink is dry on our divorce papers, are you going to immediately set out to hunt down a husband and father for your children?’ he asked.

  Jade sent him a frowning look. ‘I told you: I don’t want children.’

  He smiled cynically. ‘So you say now at not quite twenty-six, but what will you say in five or ten years?’

  ‘I could ask you the same question,’ she quickly threw back.

  ‘Ah, yes, but I do not have a biological clock to worry about,’ he pointed out. ‘I can father a child, should I choose to do so, at almost any age.’

  Jade didn’t like being reminded of the clock ticking inside her. She sometimes heard it late at night when she couldn’t sleep. She worried about missing out on such a wondrous experience as giving birth to her very own child, but what sort of mother would she make? She would be as hopeless at it as she was at so many other things. It wouldn’t be fair on the child to have such an inadequately prepared mother. The child would end up embarrassed and ashamed of her even before it was of school age. There were some things you could hide from adults, but children were incredibly perceptive. She had already had a couple of close calls with Julianne McCormack’s children, who had picked up on her reluctance to perform certain tasks they took for granted in their mother doing for them, like reading a bedtime story.

  ‘You have gone very quiet, Jade,’ Nic said. ‘What are you frowning about? Have I touched on a sensitive nerve? ‘

  ‘Not at all,’ she said, raising her chin. ‘I guess not all women are cut out to be mothers.’

  He tapped his fingers on the rim of his glass as he continued to study her. ‘Has your reluctance to reproduce got something to do with your dysfunctional family? ‘

  Jade bristled defensively. ‘No, why should it? Lots of people come from broken or dysfunctional homes and they still go on to have children of their own.’

  ‘You lost your mother so young,’ he said. ‘Don’t you think that might be why you are so against having children in case the same happens to them? Perhaps you are worried they might go through the trauma and loss you did.’

  ‘Why are we even having this conversation?’ she asked, trying not to show how seriously rattled she was. ‘It’s pointless. Neither of us wants children. I don’t see why I have to be cross-examined like this.’

  ‘I am not trying to upset you, cara, I am simply trying to understand you,’ he said. ‘You are like a difficult puzzle. There are pieces you seem to be deliberately hiding from me.’

  She glowered at him resentfully. ‘As far as I see it, you know far more about me than anyone. But I don’t see the use in becoming bosom buddies as well as sex buddies.’

  The corner of his mouth lifted. ‘Is that how you see us, just as sex buddies?’

  ‘It’s true, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘We scratch each other’s itch.’

  ‘It’s one hell of an itch,’ he said with another glinting smile.

  Jade dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. ‘Would you excuse me?’ she asked, pushing back her chair. ‘I need to use the bathroom.’

  ‘But of course,’ he said, rising politely as she left the table.

  Jade let out a breath of air when she got to the ladies’ room. Her face was flushed with colour and her skin felt tight all over. She took a few minutes to gather herself. Nic was pushing on buttons she didn’t want pushed. She didn’t understand his motives. He was adamant their relationship was finite. Why then badger her with questions that were so deeply personal? It was unsettling to have to face such interrogation. She was so frightened she would betray herself by confessing her love for him. Making love with him made it almost impossible not to whisper the words. She had come so close so many times. He made her flesh sing and her heart ache with the weight of the love she felt for him, but telling him would make things so much worse for her. It would drive him into another woman’s arms for sure.

  Jade came out of the ladies’ room and was halfway back to the table when a hand came down on her arm. She stopped in her tracks and looked at the man who had stalled her. Her heart gave a sickening thud in her chest and her mouth went completely dry.

  ‘Jade,’ Tim Renshaw-Heath said with a sleazy smile. ‘Long time no see. What, it must be over a year now, right? How are you? Are you here with someone?’

  ‘Yes,’ she said, pulling her arm away. ‘I am here with my husband.’

  Tim’s blond brows rose. ‘Married, huh? Somehow I didn’t see you as the settling-down type.’

  Jade flicked her gaze to their table, but Nic was scrolling through his text messages on his phone. She tried to move away but Tim blocked her with his short but stocky frame. ‘Hey, don’t rush off,’ he said and reached into his jacket pocket and held out a business card. ‘Call me if you get sick of your husband or if he’s out of town some time. I can fill in for him if you know what I mean. I’m still at the same apartment in London. Maybe this time you won’t stand me up, eh? ‘

  Jade felt sick to her stomach at his crude suggestion. She ignored the business card and gave him an icy look. ‘I am not interested in betraying my marriage vows.’

  His porcine eyes gleamed. ‘I think I could get you to change your mind.’ He fanned open his wallet in front of her face. ‘Perhaps this is what I should have offered you the first time around, eh? How much, Jade? How much to sample that delectable body of yours?’

  Jade hadn’t heard Nic approach but she saw Tim take a step backwards as he hurriedly stuffed his wallet back into his pocket.

  ‘If you ever insult my wife again, I will personally see to it that you never step into this or any other five-star hotel in any country in Europe,’ Nic said through clenched teeth. ‘Do you understand or do I need to press home my point some other, shall we say, more physical way?’

  Jade put her hand on Nic’s tensely muscled arm. ‘Nic, no, please, it’s not worth it. He’s not worth it.’

  ‘Ah, but you are, cara mio,’ Nic said before turning to glare at the other man with eyes as cold and hard as green and brown flecked marbles.

  Tim moved away, or slunk away was probably a more accurate description. He seemed to shrink even further in height as Nic’s tall figure towered over him in an intimidating manner.

  ‘We’re leaving,’ Nic said, taking her by the hand with firm fingers.

  Jade didn’t bother arguing. She couldn’t wait to get away from the curious glances they had attracted. She felt thoroughly ashamed of her past and wished she could make it all go away. How had she been so lacking in self-esteem and self-worth to flirt with someone as boorish as Tim Renshaw-Heath? It disgusted her that she had such skeletons in her closet. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t slept with him or even half of the men the press had made out. The way Tim and his ilk treated her made her feel as if she had, and that, for some reason, was far worse.

  Nic didn’t speak until they were back at the villa. Jade glan
ced at him a couple of times but his mouth was set in a flat line and his eyes were still flashing with fury, his fists clenching and unclenching as if he was mentally landing a punch on the other man’s face.

  The door closed with a resounding echo as he slammed it once they were home. ‘You should not have spoken to him,’ he said through tight lips. ‘You should have ignored him as if you didn’t know who the hell he was and come straight back to me.’

  Jade swallowed to clear her blocked throat. ‘I’m sorry—I didn’t see him until he put his hand on my arm. I didn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of the restaurant.’

  He glared at her. ‘Damn it, Jade, is this how it’s going to be for the next year?’

  She felt her back come up. ‘Aren’t you being a little hypocritical here, Nic? After all, you’ve had numerous lovers. It’s just as likely we will run into one or two or more of them while we are married, especially as you insist on me travelling with you.’

  His eyes hardened as they tethered hers. ‘It’s not the same thing at all. My relationships had some context, some meaning, even if they were not long term.’

  Jade straightened her spine. ‘Just what exactly are you saying?’

  His expression was dark and brooding with tension. ‘I think you know what I am saying.’

  ‘Actually, I don’t,’ she said, defiantly meeting his gaze. ‘Why don’t you spell it out for me?’

  He raked a hand through his hair, his throat moving up and down over a lumpy swallow. ‘I don’t like the thought of you being spoken to by men like that sleaze ball back there,’ he said. ‘I don’t like the thought of men like him treating you as if you’re some sort of high street whore. You’re not and you never have been.’

  Jade felt tears bank up in her eyes. He was showing a depth of protection and care she could not have hoped anyone would have shown towards her, let alone him.

  Nic’s frown cut into his forehead. ‘Why are you crying, cara?’

  Jade brushed at her eyes. ‘B …because you don’t think I’m a slut … ‘ Her voice tripped over a little sob.

  He came over and enveloped her in his arms, resting his head on the top of hers. ‘Mio piccolo,’ he said softly. ‘Of course I don’t think you are any such thing.’

  She looked up at him but kept her arms wrapped around his waist. ‘It’s not like you think, Nic,’ she said. ‘I didn’t sleep with Tim or even half of the men the press have reported I’ve been with. I let everyone think I was a tart but deep down I hate that label. I wish I could make it go away.’

  He took out his handkerchief and gently blotted the tears coursing down her cheeks. ‘I have things in my past I would like to forget about too—everyone does, I would imagine. The thing is to show the world you don’t care. If you ever meet someone from your past, ignore them, move on without engaging in idle chit-chat. They will want to drag you down to their level but they can only do that if you let them. Hold your head high, tesore mio. You deserve respect. You’re beautiful and talented and have a caring, gentle nature when you’re not too busy pushing everyone away.’

  Jade placed one of her hands on the side of his face, stroking his cleanly shaven jaw. ‘I wish there were more men like you in the world, men of quality and decency.’

  He gave her a rueful smile. ‘You wouldn’t be calling me decent if you knew what I was thinking right now.’

  She smiled coyly up at him. ‘What are you thinking?’

  He brought her close to his growing erection, his hands warm and strong as they cupped her bottom.

  ‘How is that for a clue?’ he asked with a dangerously sexy look.

  ‘I think I’m more or less getting the message,’ she said, moving against him, delighting in the way his eyes darkened in response.

  His mouth came down to meet hers in a kiss that was blisteringly hot. Jade’s lips felt like fire as he plundered her mouth, his tongue sweeping against hers, calling it into a sexy duel that made all her senses sing with delight. Her whole body erupted into flames of longing, her inner core pulsing with the need to feel his hard presence moving inside her.

  He scooped her effortlessly into his arms and carried her upstairs to the master suite. He laid her on the bed and then stood and stripped off his clothes, his eyes never once straying from hers.

  Jade could feel her excitement building. Her blood began to speed through her veins as her eyes went to his aroused length. She licked her lips and scrambled onto her knees on the mattress, wriggling out of her dress and lacy bra and knickers and tossing them over the side of the bed. She went to undo the pendant from around her neck but Nic’s hand came out and stopped her.

  ‘No, let me make love to you wearing nothing but diamonds,’ he said and kissed the valley between her breasts where the pendant hung in sparkling brilliance.

  There was something decidedly decadent and yet affirming about being pleasured whilst wearing priceless jewellery, Jade decided. She felt like a princess, a person of worth instead of the trashy home-wrecking whore she had been portrayed as in the past.

  Nic’s mouth closed over one of her breasts, his tongue teasing her nipple until she was arching her spine in rapture. He worked his way from her nipples to the sensitive undersides of her breasts, stroking and gently nipping with his teeth, making every atom of her being crave his final possession.

  He went from her breasts over the flat plane of her belly, his tongue circling then diving into the little bowl of her belly button. Her nerves twitched and danced under the ministrations of his lips and tongue, her mind becoming vacant of everything apart from how he made her feel.

  He moved lower, taking his time as he separated her tender folds. His tongue tasted her nectar, the intimate action sending sparks of electricity up and down her spine. Her toes curled, her belly flipped and flopped and her heart raced, her breathing becoming choppy as he intensified his caresses, his jungle cat-like licks making her edge closer and closer to the release she wanted so badly. Her fingers dug into his thick hair in an attempt to hold herself steady in a sea of sensation that was pitching and rocking her about like a bit of flotsam.

  She cried out when the first ripples of her orgasm rolled through her, the sheer force of it as it gathered momentum making her mind go blank.

  He moved back up her body, his need for her so obvious she couldn’t help but reach out to stroke him, to feel the pulse of his blood as it extended him so powerfully. He groaned as she moved her hand harder and faster, and then, with another muttered imprecation, he sought her moist warmth, driving into her with a slick thrust that sent a shower of fireworks off in her brain.

  He set a fast pace but she quickly caught his rhythm, moving her pelvis in time with his, accepting each of his hard thrusts with a clutch of her inner muscles until he shouted out loud as he came. She felt the pumping action of his body, the hot spill of his life force anointing her as she lay there quivering in reaction.

  His face was buried against her neck, his breathing hot and hectic against her skin. ‘Am I too heavy for you?’ he asked.

  ‘No,’ she said, smiling to herself as his big, strong body pinned her to the bed. She loved the weight of him; it made her feel sensuous to have her limbs entwined so intimately with his and to have his maleness encased in the secret feminine vault of her body.

  He came up on his elbows and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. ‘You are beautiful, do you know that?’ he said.

  Jade wasn’t vain. She knew she had inherited from her mother high cheekbones, a neat, slightly uptilted nose, gloriously thick long hair and unusually green eyes, but she had never truly thought of herself as beautiful because she couldn’t do the things she most wanted to do, the things most people took for granted. Perhaps beauty and brains didn’t go together, after all, she thought. She had certainly missed out on the latter.

  ‘Hey,’ Nic said, taking her chin between his finger and thumb. ‘What is that serious look for?’

  Jade tried to smile but it didn’t quite work. ‘I w
as just thinking how I am going to miss this when it’s over,’ she said truthfully.

  His brows moved together and his chest rose and fell as he let out a sigh. He rolled away and looked up at the ceiling, not speaking for a long minute. ‘I know,’ he finally said in a husky-sounding voice.

  Jade waited for a few beats before she turned on her side to look at him. ‘Will you miss me?’ she said. ‘I mean when we finally part company? I’ll probably go back to live in London or maybe I’ll go to Australia. I’ve always wanted to go. Have you been?’

  He got off the bed and snatched up his trousers, his eyes moving away from hers. ‘Yes, it’s a great place to visit. I wish I’d had more time when I was there. You should go. The press wouldn’t know who you were out there. You would have a chance at the fresh start you said you’d like to have.’

  Jade couldn’t read his expression. It was like a mask, and his voice had been curt, brusque and to the point, as if he didn’t want to continue the conversation any longer than he had to. ‘Nic?’

  ‘What?’ he asked, still frowning darkly as he faced her after shrugging himself back into his shirt.

  She bit her lip, stung by the way he was shutting her out. ‘Nothing,’ she said.

  ‘Look, Jade,’ he said, scoring a rough pathway through his hair with his splayed fingers. ‘You know the score. I have been totally honest with you about how far I am prepared to go. Don’t go changing the rules, OK?’

  She rolled her lips together and slowly lowered her gaze. ‘I’m not changing the rules,’ she said softly. ‘I was merely saying I would miss what we’ve had when it’s gone.’

  ‘What do you want me to say, for God’s sake?’ he asked in a biting tone. ‘That I will miss it too?’ She brought her gaze back to his. ‘Will you?’ His eyes held hers for a throbbing second or two. ‘I