by Joss Wood
Jess thought for a moment. Maybe it would be a good idea to dilute Luke’s overwhelming presence by spending some time with another man—give herself some distance, some perspective.
Jess could think of at least ten reasons why Luke shouldn’t even blip on her radar: she was a city girl, he was a farmer. Being open and sunny herself—today, admittedly was the exception—she wasn’t mad about brooding, private types. While he occasionally mentioned his grandfather and great-grandfathers, he refused to discuss the immediate past history of St Sylve, or explain why he and his father had been at such odds. He refused to discuss his father at all.
But there was still something about him that called to her. Jess knew that she was intrigued and curious, which was more dangerous than the sexual heat she experienced around him. She could shrug off the heat but it wasn’t so easy to ignore what was underneath the sexy package. His intellect, his dry humour, the well-hidden vulnerability in the tough, hard-nosed, reclusive man.
She wasn’t going to be stupid enough to fall for him because, really, she wasn’t a stupid girl.
The distraction of dating another man might give her some of that much-needed distance and perspective.
‘Set it up, Mum.’
Jess had to grin at the shocked silence. It was the last reaction her mother had expected and it took her a minute to take it in. ‘Are you pulling my leg?’
‘Not this time,’ Jess replied, taking the cup of coffee Luke held out. ‘Give him my mobile number and get him to give me a call.’
Jess saw Luke’s frown and ducked her head. Impulsive behaviour again, Sherwood? She didn’t want to date anyone else. She wanted to date Luke. But in her mind he was undateable, and she did need distance.
Jess tucked her mobile back into her pocket and blew across the surface of the hot coffee. She stared out to sea, knowing that Luke was staring at her.
‘You’re going on a date?’
His voice was silky-smooth and she winced internally. He didn’t sound happy...
Jess hedged. ‘Not a date date. Dinner with a second cousin...it was my mother’s idea.’
‘You allow your mother to set you up with men?’ Luke continued, in that cool, concise voice which hinted at the calm before a very big storm.
‘No—yes! Look, it’s just dinner with someone I used to play with!’
‘Then why can’t you look at me?’ Luke asked, moving to stand in front of her.
He grasped her chin in his hand and forced her eyes upward. Jess’s eyes slammed into his and she gasped at the emotion she saw churning within them. Need, power, annoyance...
‘No.’
Jess wasn’t sure whether her ears were working properly. She thought she’d heard him telling her what to do. Nobody told her what to do...
‘Excuse me?’
‘If you want to date anyone, it’s going to be me. Because we both know where you and I are heading and I don’t share. Ever. So, if you want to do the dinner-and-dating thing before we sleep together, I’m it.’
Jess, having lived with men bossing her around her entire life, didn’t appreciate Luke going all Head Boy on her. ‘You’re delusional if you think you can tell me what I can or can’t do.’
Luke’s eyes were thin, very green slits. ‘Try me. Don’t test me on this, Jess.’
Jess tossed her head. ‘And how do you think you can stop me?’
Luke grabbed the lapels on her coat with one hand and yanked her towards him. Jess held her ground and briefly wondered if she hadn’t miscalculated by challenging him. She could see that he was grinding his teeth. His lips had thinned and his jaw was set.
Luke cursed and slanted his lips over hers in a kiss that was as powerful as it was sexy. She didn’t go for the dominating, take-me-now type of embrace, but this was wild and crazy and more than hinted at the depths of Luke’s passion. He wanted her, and he’d leave her and everybody else in the Southern Hemisphere in no doubt about that.
His arm slipped around her back and she felt the power in it as he pulled her closer up to him as his kiss deepened. Thoughts, feelings, emotions pummelled her as he took exactly what he wanted from her mouth, her kiss. Then Luke did something to her mouth that short-circuited her brain. Maybe it was the scrape of his teeth against her lip, the long slide of his tongue that had her womb melting.
Jess was thoroughly into the kiss when Luke dropped his hand and took a step back. She licked her top lip and blinked hard, trying to get her eyes to focus, felt Luke grasp her chin and eventually found the courage to meet his stormy eyes.
‘Do not test me on this, Jessica,’ Luke said again in a hard voice before dropping his hand and heading towards his vehicle parked on the opposite side of the road.
Jess closed her eyes and staggered over to the wall, ignoring the smirking looks of Sbu and the crew. They could think what they wanted...she just needed to get her breath back.
Breath, brain, composure... What the hell was that? She’d never been kissed like that before—an explosive mixture of furious and frustrated. Jess blew her breath into her cheeks and waited for her heart to stop galloping.
Thank goodness she was leaving for home on the red-eye flight tonight...some time away would be a good thing, she thought. That distance-and-perspective thing again.
Jess watched as Luke climbed into his car, his mobile at his ear, looking cool and collected and seemingly unaffected by their kiss. The man didn’t stop working. She knew that filming took a lot of time away from St Sylve and his other business interests, but instead of whining or moaning he just made the best of the situation. He followed instructions, did what he needed to do, and in between shoots and set-ups, he jumped on his laptop or mobile to do what else needed to be done.
She knew that he was under enormous pressure, but nobody would suspect it. Luke just put one foot in front of the other and kept moving forward without fanfare and without drama. He did what he needed to do and she respected that—respected him.
D.I.S.T.A.N.C.E.
Pers...pec...tive.
She now had two mantras: No acting on the attraction—ha, ha! As if that was working—and Keep your distance, find your perspective.
She didn’t think saying mantras was working. Stupid New Age thinking.
* * *
Three hours, a shower and a smart suit later and Luke was still annoyed. And his annoyance concealed a healthy layer of panic. Where had his caveman response to her dating someone else come from? It had been basic, automatic, primal...a reflex rather than a chosen thought...and he didn’t like it. Hell, he hated it.
He’d never felt so jealous, so out of control, so plainly ticked as he had...did...at the thought of Jess with another man. He hadn’t enjoyed the illogical reaction he’d had to the idea—hadn’t appreciated the instinctive roaring in his head that had said this was his woman, his mate. Millions of years of evolution and he was still dragging his knuckles on the ground.
Maybe it was life jabbing him in the ribs? He’d been amused at the thought of Jess being a little green-eyed over the model—it had certainly stroked his ego. He hadn’t once thought that he might be equally...okay, a thousand times more jealous.
Dammit to flipping hell and back.
But date someone else? He didn’t think so.
Luke scowled and took a sip from his glass of ’87 Merlot. Jess, dressed in a short, ruffled black dress and do-me shoes, was across the room, talking to Piers Hanson the food critic. Flirting with Piers Hanson the food critic... It was, Luke decided with a scowl, as natural to her as breathing.
And enough to make him go all caveman again.
There was no way he was going to watch her flirt with anyone else, he decided, even if the man was old enough to be her grandfather. Luke took a last sip of his wine, placed it on the table next to him and excused himself from the group of men around him—friends of his father who were recounting stories that he didn’t want hear. He was a great vintner, an excellent raconteur, the life and soul of the party...<
br />
Yeah, you didn’t have to live with him, dude.
Luke walked between the guests, exchanged comments but didn’t get drawn into conversation. He approached Jess from behind and put a hand on her lower back, loving the feminine dip where her back met her buttocks. She knew his touch, Luke decided with satisfaction, because she instinctively stepped closer to him before remembering that they weren’t talking to each other.
‘Luke—Piers was just telling me that he’d love a tour of St Sylve,’ Jess told him, and he saw the warning in her eyes. Be nice, agree. He’s important.
Luke nodded. ‘You’re welcome at any time, of course, but it’s winter and the vines are resting. St Sylve is beautiful in spring and summer.’
‘I think it’s stunning year-round,’ Jess said fervently.
Luke heard the truth in her voice and felt warmth in his gut. He knew it had nothing to do with him. He’d often caught her looking at the buildings, touching the doorframes, staring at the mountains.
Piers tipped his bald head and his bright blue eyes were shrewd. ‘You don’t look like your father.’
Here it comes, Luke thought. Another worshipper at the altar of Jed Savage.
Be polite, Luke reminded himself.
‘It’s said that I look more like my mother.’
‘You do. Your mother was a beautiful woman,’ Piers replied and Luke felt his heart clench.
It took a lot to keep his face impassive. ‘You knew my mother?’
‘I did. I have two of her paintings,’ Piers said. ‘Such an amazing artist—and a lovely person. Threw herself away when she married your father.’
Luke’s eyebrows rose at Piers’s frank statement. He felt Jess’s hand on his arm and was grateful for the contact. ‘Uh—’
What was he supposed to say to that?
‘Sorry, but unlike a lot of people in the industry I didn’t like your father.’ Piers shrugged thin shoulders in a dark grey suit.
Well, this was interesting. ‘Why not?’
Piers looked around to check who was listening before continuing. ‘I thought he was arrogant, condescending and generally a conceited ass.’ He looked up at Luke and pulled a face. ‘Sorry. I knew him for a long time.’
Luke’s mouth kicked up. Finally, here was a man who saw Jed clearly. He wouldn’t verbally agree with him—that would be disloyal—but inside he was cheering him on.
Piers sighed and shook his head. ‘My late wife would be jamming her elbow into my side now, telling me to keep my mouth shut. God, I miss her.’
‘How long were you married?’ Jess asked, changing the subject.
‘Forty-five years. Five kids.’
Wow. The mind boggled. That was what he’d wanted...one woman, one life, one marriage. Lots of kids. Now he knew that some dreams weren’t supposed to come true. He didn’t know how to do marriage and family—after all, he hadn’t any experience of one and his father had been an anti role model.
Piers looked over Jess’s shoulder and smiled. ‘And here comes one of my favourite shopkeepers, purveyor of some very fine wines.’
And Luke’s some-time, part-time lover.
Oh, crap on a cracker. Since Jess’s arrival he hadn’t given Kelly much thought—okay, any thought—and the notion that she might be at this wine-tasting hadn’t even crossed his mind. They’d had an easygoing, no-hassle...thing...going for many months; Kelly was his go-to person when he needed a date, or sex—or even on occasion an ear. He’d meant to contact her and explain things, but with one thing and another—mainly Jess—he’d forgotten. And the thought of introducing a woman he’d recently slept with to a woman he wanted to sleep with made his skin prickle.
It was so Jed.
Luke, thinking that this day couldn’t get any worse, quickly excused himself and stepped up to Kelly. Gripping her elbow, he steered her away from Jess.
‘Kel, I—’
Kelly laid a hand on his arm and sent him a warm smile. ‘Luke, sweetie, take a breath. It’s all good.’
‘You don’t understand. I need to—’
‘Call it quits?’ Kelly’s warm blue eyes crinkled up at him. ‘Luke, when I heard via the grapevine that you had a blonde staying with you I kind of caught a clue. Honey, I’m ten years older than you. I’ve been expecting this for a long time. Besides, didn’t we agree that we’re just friends who occasionally sleep together?’
Luke shoved his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. ‘Uh...okay, then. Well...’
Kelly laughed. ‘You are looking very flustered. Tough day or tough girl?’
‘Both. She drives me nuts.’
Kelly stepped forward and dropped a kiss on his jaw, holding her cheek against his to talk into his ear. ‘Good. You deserve a girl who will drive you nuts. It makes for very interesting sex.’
If we ever get anywhere near the bedroom, Luke thought darkly as Kelly drifted back to Piers and Jess.
Piers took Kelly’s hand and pulled it into the crook of his arm. ‘It’s so nice to see you, Kelly, and if these two lovely people don’t mind, I’m going to steal you away to taste a rather nice Cab from Chile. Not as good as yours, dear boy, but palatable.’
When they’d left, Jess tipped her chin up to look at him and Luke felt like a bug under a microscope. She sipped her wine and just went on looking at him, her brown eyes wary.
‘So, that was interesting.’
Jess’s voice was so bland and so even that Luke knew she was seriously ticked. Joys of joys. Would this day never end?
He resisted the urge to tug at his collar. ‘Uh...’
‘How long have you been sleeping with her?’
Luke took a deep breath as he prepared to explain that he wasn’t sleeping with her any more, that they were just friends, that he had no intention of resuming their arrangement.
Smart girls. Dammit, you just couldn’t get anything past them.
* * *
Jess, with Ally asleep in the passenger seat, turned into the gates of St Sylve and steered her SUV down the long driveway. She’d deliberately not thought about Luke while she was away, and being insanely busy had helped. There’d been decisions to be made at work, projects to give input on, meetings to take. She’d had drinks with a potential client and dinner with another, and had returned to the office around ten to put in another couple of hours’ work.
Luke and St Sylve had been put on the back burner, but now she was back and she had to deal with them. Luke had told her he wasn’t sleeping with Snow White... The woman looked exactly like the popular children’s character: black hair, white skin, blue eyes. Curvy. He had been, but he wasn’t any more. That was all the explanation he’d given her and she admitted that it was all she was entitled to. But she wanted to know more. How long had they been together? How had they met? Had he ever loved her?
Why did she even care? It wasn’t as if she had any claim on the man—she wasn’t in love with him. She liked him—a lot—but she liked a lot of men... She just didn’t want to have hot sex with any of them but Luke. She couldn’t possibly be thinking about him as being something more, someone important...could she?
If she was, then she didn’t have an IQ higher than a tree stump. She didn’t want a relationship, and he certainly didn’t want anything more. Did she have to draw herself a picture to explain the concept of going nowhere? Honestly...
Jess parked her car in the empty garage and switched the ignition off. Ally woke up, stretched and yawned. ‘Are we here?’
‘Mmm-hmm.’ Jess tossed her sunglasses onto the flat surface of the dash and rubbed her eyes. ‘Luke’s not back yet. His car isn’t here.’
Ally released her seat belt and opened the door, greeting Luke’s two dogs as she hopped out. ‘So where does Owen live?’
Jess rolled her eyes and pointed to the stable block. ‘Luke converted the stable block into a two-bedroom apartment for him.’
Ally squinted at the building and then back at the manor house.
Jess rolled her eyes befor
e laughing at her friend. ‘Yeah, the walk of shame won’t be that long,’ she teased.
Ally looked completely unabashed. She’d come to St Sylve to sleep with Owen, and the poor guy didn’t stand a chance. Jess opened the back door and pulled out her suitcase and then Ally’s. Ally had a very masculine way of looking at sex and men: bag ’em, tag ’em and toss them back.
Love and feelings didn’t form part of the equation.
Jess still couldn’t work out whether she found that sad or smart.
* * *
Jess hummed softly as she padded her way to the kitchen door. She was exhausted, and it felt as if every muscle in her body was protesting against Ally’s idea of heading to a pub this evening and ‘par-tay-ing’. Jess draped her shoulder bag over the back of the chair and headed straight for the kettle, suddenly desperate for a cup of tea.
‘Head up the stairs. Second room on the left. I’ve put you in the room next to mine,’ Jess told Ally.
‘How old did you say this place was?’ Ally asked.
‘Early eighteen hundreds.’
‘Encountered any ghosts yet?’
Jess knew that Ally was pulling her leg about the fact that she believed in ghosts and wanted to see one. Like Luke, Ally was a firm non-believer.
She wrinkled her nose. ‘Nothing. A house like this should have a ghost or two.’
‘And it probably would, if ghosts existed,’ Ally responded. ‘Up and left?’
‘Tea?’ Jess asked.
‘God, no,’ Ally responded. ‘Wine. Got any?’
‘I’m currently living on a wine estate...’ Jess looked around. ‘Actually, I don’t. Nor do I have any food. We might have to raid Luke’s kitchen.’
Ally leaned against the doorframe. ‘Do you do that often?’
‘More than I should,’ Jess admitted.
‘Oh, baby girl, you have it bad,’ Ally said before disappearing upstairs.
Jess poured water into a cup and poked at the teabag with her teaspoon, thinking of Luke and wondering how today’s filming had gone.
