Dangerous Attraction Romantic Suspense Boxed Set (86 page)

As Mrs. Poole set dinner out on the table in the dining room, Jack asked his aunt how she was settling in and made small talk about things at the office. But Kelly’s attention was only half on the conversation. Her mind and her eyes kept wandering to Jack and the strong cut of his jaw, the short growth of stubble that had grown over the course of the day. She didn’t think she would ever get tired of watching him.

Kelly raised her fingers to touch her lips where Jack’s lips had been a moment before and marveled that she could still feel them burning in response to his touch. When Jack was near, her whole body seemed to vibrate as if pulled by some invisible force.

Kelly was drawn out of her thoughts as they sat down to eat and she took note of the raised eyebrow on Aunt Mabry’s face when Mrs. Poole joined them for dinner. Kelly didn’t care. She wasn’t used to being waited on and she enjoyed Mrs. Poole’s company so Kelly was going to make sure Aunt Mabry didn’t have a chance to change the way things happened around the house. She turned to Mrs. Poole and included her in the conversation. The two were chatting about new recipes to try when Aunt Mabry cut in.

“I was thinking that we should host a party to celebrate your marriage. The reception you never got to have. Something out on the lawn by the water would be lovely. A summer cocktail party, perhaps?”

“That’s a great idea,” Jack said, surprising Kelly. “How about three weeks from now? Is that enough time to plan things, Mrs. Poole?”

Jack didn’t know why Aunt Mabry made the suggestion or what she had up her sleeve but he figured that the more they went along with Aunt Mabry, the faster they’d convince her to back off and leave them alone.

“Sure,” Mrs. Poole said. “We’ll need to get invitations out ASAP, but if Kelly can work on that, I can coordinate with caterers and take care of renting tents and lighting. An early evening party would be lovely, with tents and lights all over the lawn as the evening comes on. Kelly and I can do a tasting with the caterers this week and decide on a menu.” Mrs. Poole quickly rattled off details while Jack turned to Kelly.

“This will give you an excuse to go shopping and buy yourself some new things. You’ll need a cocktail dress. You have my card?” Jack turned to his aunt and continued.

“Aunt Mabry, maybe you can take Kelly into New York this week and help her find a dress?” Jack wasn’t really sure why he pushed for Kelly to go shopping with his aunt. He knew Kelly wouldn’t use his credit card on her own and he was beginning to like buying her things and seeing a smile on her face. With his aunt watching, he knew Kelly wouldn’t have any choice but to use his card and buy herself something nice.

* * *

After dinner, Aunt Mabry, Kelly, and Jack decided to watch a movie. Jack pulled Kelly down next to him and wrapped his arms around her waist snuggling her into him. She tensed for a moment but as the movie began, Jack felt her relax and she eventually even rested her head back on his shoulders.

Jack was struck by the irony of his fake life with Kelly. No woman had ever come close to inspiring the kind of feelings in Jack that his father and mother had shared. With, Kelly, he found that he really liked his fake life with her and wanted more of it. It was just his luck that the first time he was feeling anything more than base sexual attraction was with a woman he was paying to be his temporary wife.

Jack had known it would feel good to have Kelly in his arms but he had no idea how good. He was actually glad to have his aunt in the house; to have an excuse to wrap himself around Kelly, to kiss her and touch her as he would if she were really his wife. The smell of her shampoo was enticing; a mixture of Jasmine and something else he couldn’t identify. It made him think of summer nights and he found himself wanting to bury his head in the scent of her and nuzzle her neck. With her curvy figure fitting perfectly against him, he had difficulty focusing on the movie. Instead, Jack’s mind was assaulted with images of her in his bed, entwined in his arms, under him, over him, looking down from on top of him with her beautiful curly waves of hair framing her face above him. He felt like he was under attack and he seemed to be defenseless against this woman.

Jack could feel Kelly’s breathing speed up and knew she was feeling the same things he was. He stifled a laugh when Kelly hopped off the couch half an hour into the movie and yawned.

“I’m more tired than I thought I was. I think I’ll head up to bed early. Good night, Aunt Mabry. Good night, Jack,” Kelly said as she slipped from the room.

“Good night, sweetheart,” Jack barely managed to get out before she was gone.

* * *

Kelly sprinted up the stairs and tried to clear her head of the images of her and Jack together, wrapped around each other on the couch, but when she slid in between the sheets after getting ready for bed, she groaned. She had forgotten that she was getting into Jack’s bed and now she was once again surrounded by his scent.

As Kelly had sank into Jack’s arms when they sat on the couch watching the movie, she fought to remind herself that this wasn’t real, that Jack was only putting on a show for his aunt. The hard part was dealing with how incredibly aroused she was as she leaned against Jack’s hard chest. She had smelled his aftershave, a slightly spicy but clean smell that wasn’t overpowering. Kelly’s brain began to feel like scrambled eggs when Jack absentmindedly started to rub his thumb in small circles on her arm. She began to wonder what his hands would feel like on the rest of her body – what those small circles would do if applied to the right place. Kelly had a feeling Jack would know just where to touch her, just how to touch her, to make her melt. If she didn’t do something about this soon, she’d be crawling all over him.

Kelly had fought to focus on the movie and ignore his scent, his presence, the hard feel of his strong body underneath her. But no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t stop the flood of arousal between her legs, the tingling need in her breasts as she ached to feel his hands on her without her clothes on and without someone else in the room. In the end, she had to flee the room or risk letting him know what a fool she was, how attracted to him she was. She didn’t want Jack to know that she didn’t have it in her to fake it around his aunt, or that she was falling for real and didn’t know how much longer she could control herself.

Chapter Fifteen

The morning after her first night in Jack’s bed, Kelly woke to find that Jack had already left their bed. She had heard him come into the room the night before and held her breath as she listened to him get ready for bed. She feigned sleep as he brushed his teeth and slipped out of his clothes. When he slipped between the sheets in nothing but boxer shorts, Kelly thought she would burst but she focused on keeping her breath steady so she wouldn’t have to face Jack.

With a sigh, Kelly slipped from the bed and showered and dressed, and headed downstairs for breakfast. She found Jack, Aunt Mabry, and Mrs. Poole in the kitchen.

“Good morning, dear,” Mrs. Poole called out cheerfully, making Kelly smile. Jack and Aunt Mabry looked up and Kelly wished for a moment that the smile that came to Jack’s face as he looked at her was genuine and not for Aunt Mabry’s sake.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Jack said as Kelly joined them at the breakfast nook with her coffee.

“Morning,” Kelly smiled shyly at Jack across the table. She smiled and nodded at Mrs. Poole as she put a plate of eggs and toast in front of Kelly.

Kelly’s eyes dropped to the stack of newspapers Jack read every morning. There was one from their local area, two from New York, and several European papers. One of the New York newspapers sat on the table with the word “No Ransom Calls, Families Hopeless” above a string of photos showing five smiling and seemingly carefree women. Kelly pulled the paper closer to read the article.

“I thought we might have lunch today,” Jack said to Kelly across the table. Kelly continued to eat her breakfast and didn’t look up from the paper.

“Kelly?” Jack said, a laugh in his voice and a smile on his face.

“Hmm? Oh, me?” Kelly said looking up.

Jack laughed openly at that. Aunt Mabry listened to their exchange with a smug look on her face. “Yes, you, my beautiful wife. I thought we might go to Le Petite Morceau for lunch today. They have a new chef who’s supposed to be amazing. Unless you have plans?”

“Uh, no. I mean, no plans. I’d love to go to lunch,” Kelly said as she eyed Aunt Mabry nervously, knowing that Mabry was tracking every word, every interaction.

“Great,” Jack smiled. “I have a conference call this morning but I’ll do that from home. We can go around one o’clock?”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then,” she said but she felt like an idiot. I’ll see you then? Who the hell says that when their husband asks them to lunch? I sound like an idiot.

* * *

Mabry knew perfectly well as she watched Jack and Kelly that the two of them were no more married than she was and she certainly wasn’t married the last time she checked. As soon as they finished breakfast, Mabry began to hatch a plan. She didn’t know what Kelly was getting out of this marriage – she assumed it was money – but she believed she could drive a wedge between them.

If she could put a big enough wedge there, maybe she could offer to pay Kelly enough money to admit that the marriage was fake. Once the marriage was exposed for what it was, Mabry would go to the board and show them their CEO was a fraud and a liar. And then, the company would be hers.

Mabry went upstairs to get started splitting the happy couple up. It wouldn’t be hard with all of Jack’s exes out there. After all, the man was hardly the settling down type. Anyone who read the tabloids knew that he had a different woman on his arm every weekend.

Mabry knew just the woman to help put her plan into action. She picked up the phone and dialed Caroline Harridan. Caroline had dated Jack for a month the previous year and Mabry knew that Caroline had done all she could to sink her claws into him. She wanted to marry Jack Sutton in the worst way and Mabry had witnessed Caroline throw herself at Jack repeatedly at public events since he had broken up with her.

“Caroline? Hello, darling. It’s Mabry Thompson,” she said into the phone when Caroline answered.

“Mabry? Hello! How are you? I haven’t heard from you in ages,” Caroline gushed on the other end of the phone. Mabry rolled her eyes. Caroline fell all over herself whenever she talked to Mabry but Mabry knew it was an attempt to get information or back in Jack’s good graces.

“Yes, dear. Well, you know. Been busy and all that,” Mabry said dismissively. “I can’t talk long because I have to meet Jack for lunch over at La Petite Morceau at one o’clock and I have a million things to do before then. I thought I’d call and see how you are. It’s been so long.” Mabry knew if she dropped the name of the restaurant and the time Jack would be there, she could count on Caroline to just ‘happen’ to be there as well. Mabry could sit back and let Caroline do the work for her.

“I’m fine, thank you. Oh!” Caroline practically squealed into her ear. “La Petite Morceau? I’ve been dying to try that place. I hear the new menu is to die for.”

Mabry couldn’t take Caroline’s inane chattering or the sound of the woman’s voice any longer. The seed was planted and that was all that was needed.

“Caroline, I have to run. I’ve got to get to my hair appointment before lunch. It was lovely to talk with you again.” Mabry couldn’t get off the phone fast enough but if Caroline noticed, she didn’t seem to mind. Mabry knew she was probably already in her closet picking out what to wear when she ‘casually’ ran into Jack at the restaurant.

Chapter Sixteen

Kelly and Jack sat at a corner table at La Petite Morceau a few hours later. Kelly looked around and felt out of place in such a fancy restaurant. She wasn’t used to having lunch at a restaurant that had floor-length tablecloths and wait staff that wore ankle-long formal aprons. Sure, she had been to that type of place for dinner on occasion but not for lunch on a random Saturday when there was no special occasion to be celebrated.

Kelly looked at Jack. He seemed totally at ease and comfortable…but then again, Jack always looked totally at ease and comfortable no matter where he was. The only time she’d ever seen him looking the slightest bit uneasy was when she had walked into his office and pretended to be his fiancé in front of his aunt and cousin – but even then, he had covered his surprise easily and recovered quickly.

Kelly would love to be that confident and in control all of the time. With Jack around, she didn’t feel confident or in control at all. She felt like her body was constantly humming when she was around him. One look from him, or a casual touch and she was embarrassingly aroused. When he took the contact further and kissed her, she felt like he could see into her and he would know her secret – that she wanted him more than she had ever wanted any man.

Jack carried the conversation, chatting about the new menu and a fundraiser he had attended at the restaurant when the old chef was there and what they should do the rest of the weekend. They ordered their meals and just as they handed their menus over to the waiter, Kelly heard a sexy, sultry voice from across the room.

“My, my! Jack Sutton. Is that you, sweetheart?” said the voice at an embarrassingly loud volume. “I haven’t seen you in ages, darling,” Kelly heard as she watched a tall, blond goddess approach the table. The woman was stunning, with exotic green eyes and her pale hair pulled in an elegant French twist. She wore a beautiful black pantsuit and looked like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine.

Kelly did a double take. The woman
had
stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. It was Caroline Harridan, the fashion model. The woman graced the pages of
Vogue
and
Elle
magazines on a regular basis.

Kelly looked at Jack as Caroline approached the table and saw a pained look on his face. Caroline completely ignored Kelly as she swooped in on Jack and planted an extremely friendly kiss on his lips. Kelly felt as though she were completely invisible and almost wished she was. They clearly had a relationship that was more than just friendly and Kelly knew she couldn’t hold a candle to this woman as she sat there in her dowdy strappy sundress and sandals.