He was dressed just as casually as Jean had said he was, the denims fitting snugly on his hips and the matching denim shirt buttoned carelessly halfway up his chest.
He looked up at her as he sorted through the letters on his desk. ‘I didn’t expect you to be in to work today,’ he said curtly.
‘I gathered that,’ she returned dryly. ‘I waited all day yesterday for you to call me,’ she added gently, still not sure if his father was out of danger or if things had gone drastically the other way.
He sat back with a sigh, his mind obviously not on what he was doing. ‘It was late last night when my father came out of the critical stage, I didn’t want to disturb you with a telephone call at two o’clock in the morning. It could have frightened you.’
‘I wouldn’t have minded, Jarrod. I wanted to know.’
His grey eyes flashed angrily. ‘Do you think I didn’t realise that?’ he snapped. ‘You had told me most definitely … you wanted to know, so I came round to your flat.’
A terrible trembling started in her lower limbs. ‘You—you did?’
‘Yes,’ he confirmed wearily. ‘It must have been three o’clock by this time. You’d already gone to bed. And you’d foolishly left your door unlocked,’ he added sternly.
‘I—I had?’ She had a terrible feeling that her ‘dream’ of Jarrod snuggled up against her hadn’t been a dream at all, in fact she felt sure it wasn’t.
‘Mm,’ a glimmer of a smile curved his mouth. ‘I—er—let myself in.’
Brooke cleared her throat in embarrassment.
‘Er— Did you? I didn’t hear you.’ She couldn’t meet his probing eyes.
‘I’m not surprised, you were fast asleep. Lucky I wasn’t a burglar. As it was, all I wanted was a bed for the night. You were still sleeping when I left at seven-thirty.’
‘I—I woke once in the night.’ She fidgeted with the strap of her handbag.
‘Ah,’ Jarrod nodded understandingly. ‘Then there’s no need for me to explain further.’ He resumed sorting through the mail.
‘I thought I’d imagined you being there.’
He looked at her sharply. ‘Did you want to imagine it?’
Colour flared in her cheeks. ‘No, I— But I couldn’t think how you came to be in my bed—in my room.’
‘I told you, you left the door open,’ he said absently.
‘It won’t happen again,’ she muttered.
‘Oh, I didn’t mind. I was too tired to go home.’ He looked up at her. ‘And you do look very beautiful when you’re asleep. Sleeping with you could become a habit.’
‘As long as it’s only sleep you have in mind,’ she attempted to make light of it.
Jarrod gave her a long hard look. ‘I wouldn’t guarantee it.’ He closed the folder containing his mail. ‘Right, that’s done. Are you ready to leave?’
‘I was going home, yes, as you seem to have made arrangements for me not to be here.’
‘I expected you to be sleeping in this morning.’
‘I still have a job to do.’
‘And I still happen to be the owner of this firm, and I don’t consider you fit for work.’ He stood up. ‘Besides, I have plans for you today.’
Her eyebrows rose. ‘And what plans are these?’
‘My father wants to see you.’ He picked up the folder in preparation of leaving. ‘I’ll just give these things to Catherine and then she can get the letters off in today’s post.’
‘Your father wants to see me?’ Brooke couldn’t help her surprise.
‘Yes.’ He opened the door for her. ‘Shall we go?’
‘Yes. But I— Your father wants to see me?’
‘I’ve just said so,’ he told her impatiently. ‘Let’s go, Brooke. I only came in at all today to deal with the post. I want to get back to the hospital. Dave had to be back on duty at ten o’clock this morning, so my mother and Angie are at the hospital alone.’
‘Of course.’
She followed him out to his secretary’s office, standing quietly to one side as he gave her instructions for the day. It gave her a chance to look at him without being observed herself. He was his usual handsome self, but the strain of the last couple of days showed in the lines etched either side of his mouth and nose, and for the first time since she had known him he looked every one of his thirty-seven years.
Brooke’s heart went out to him and she wished she could comfort him in some way. But he had made it obvious on Saturday night that he didn’t want her sympathy.
They went down in the lift together, deciding to drive their respective vehicles back to Brooke’s home and carry on together in Jarrod’s car from there. She parked her car before joining him.
He turned in his seat to look at her. I noticed you’re not wearing your ring. Go and get it,’ he ordered coldly.
She was angered by his tone. ‘I’m not longer engaged to you. I was going to return your ring and the other gifts, including the car, at the earliest opportunity.’
He leant his arms on the steering wheel. ‘Get the ring, Brooke. Our personal vendetta can wait until later. My family believes us to be still getting married.’
‘You haven’t told them we’ve argued?’
He gave a taunting smile. ‘The weekend was hardly the time to tell them.’
‘I suppose not.’ She opened the car door to get out. ‘I won’t be a moment.’
‘I didn’t intend leaving without you,’ he returned dryly.
Brooke didn’t respond to his sarcasm. They were both under great strain and an argument between them wouldn’t help matters. She got the ring from the back of the drawer she had locked it in. Not that this little lock would stop a burglar if he were really determined, but she couldn’t think what else to do with it. At least she had made sure Jarrod had the other jewellery.
He looked at her hand with satisfaction as she got back in beside him, starting the car without another word.
His silence angered Brooke. ‘I’m only wearing this as a temporary measure,’ she told him stiffly. ‘As soon as we leave your family you can have it back.’
He gave her a cold look. ‘You’ll wear it for as long as my father can be hurt by the knowledge that the wedding is off.’
‘I—-’.
‘You’ll wear it, Brooke! You may be a flirt and a little cheat, but for the moment I don’t think it would benefit my father to know that. He likes you,’ he added grimly.
‘I like him too.’ Tears shimmered in her eyes at the reputation she had deliberately earned herself with the man she loved.
‘Then do this for him if for no one else. He just isn’t strong enough to take the news, he won’t be for several weeks. No shocks or disappointments, the doctor said.’ Jarrod drove the car into a hospital parking space. ‘And he’ll be both of those things if we call off the wedding, shocked because he believes us to be genuinely in love, and disappointed because he thought I was going to settle down and give him grandchildren.’
‘I told you it was a mistake from the beginning to involve your family. It was bad enough that you insisted on maintaining our engagement to your friends, but—’
‘I had a reason for that,’ he cut in abruptly, pulling his leather jacket out of the back seat.
‘Oh, I know that, your arrogant pride! I’d played a trick on you and no one is allowed to get away with that,’ Brooke said fiercely.
‘Precisely.’ He got out of the car and opened her door for her. ‘Now forget your tantrums and act the loving fiancée.’
She shivered. ‘I couldn’t!’ How could she put on an act when it was a reality, a reality that Jarrod must never see? How easily she had nearly fallen for his charm on Saturday night, and how Jarrod would relish the added knowledge that she loved him.
His face was a shuttered mask. ‘Just try not to cringe when I touch you.’
‘I’ll try,’ she whispered huskily.
Once inside the hospital Jarrod ordered his mother and sister back to his apartment for a shower,
a change of clothes and something to eat. His mother was very reluctant to leave, but Jarrod was adamant.
Brooke couldn’t help but feel shocked by just how ill his father looked. His skin was grey, his eyes sunken into his head and his body almost looking shrunken. But although he looked ill the blue eyes were keen enough, his face lighting up with pleasure as he saw the two of them.
The greetings over, they sat beside his bed, Jarrod conversing easily about everyday things. Brooke listened to them silently, a slight curve to her lips for his father’s benefit.
Clifford Stone turned to look at her, smiling even in his pain. ‘You’re very quiet, Brooke,’ he said gently. ‘You mustn’t let all this disturb you,’ he indicated the heartbeat monitor and the trolley of instruments in one corner of the room. ‘It’s all for show.’
She knew it wasn’t, but she returned his smile. ‘I’m just glad to know you’re feeling better, Mr Stone.’
‘Well enough for your wedding not to be postponed next month. I may not be able to be at the actual ceremony, but the reception can be held at the house, I can enjoy that.’
‘Oh, but—’
Jarrod’s warning glare silenced her. ‘Don’t worry, Dad. We knew how you would feel about it, so we have no intention of postponing the wedding.’
CHAPTER TEN
‘WHAT wedding next month?’ Brooke demanded of him.
They had arrived back at her flat five minutes earlier, after spending an hour with Jarrod’s father. Jarrod would be returning to the hospital shortly, but he had made it obvious her presence wasn’t needed.
‘Jarrod, I said what wedding?’ she repeated impatiently.
He gave a taunting smile. ‘Ours, of course.’
‘But there isn’t going to be a wedding! I already told you I have no intention of remaining engaged to you a moment longer than necessary. As for getting married!’ She shook her head. ‘That’s totally out of the question.’
‘You can’t stand to be near me, is that it?’
‘Exactly.’
‘Funny,’ he mocked her. ‘You gave a totally different impression Saturday night.’
‘That was Saturday night,’ she said crossly, her cheeks fiery red.
‘I see. And things have changed since then, in two days?’
The cynical hardness of his eyes mocked her in that way that she found so annoying, almost as if he were secretly laughing at her—again. ‘Two days can sometimes seem a lifetime. And may I remind you that I wasn’t engaged to you on Saturday night.’
‘Exactly,’ he repeated her word of a few minutes earlier, but with such sarcasm that she couldn’t misunderstand his implication.
She blushed again. ‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning I wasn’t engaged to you. As I wasn’t last night when you snuggled into my arms as if you did it every night of your life.’
‘I didn’t know it was you! I—’ She broke off as she realised how damning that sounded.
Jarrod’s mouth turned back in a sneer. ‘Don’t incriminate yourself any further, Brooke. I already know you for what you are. And don’t ask me to explain that too.’
She looked the other way. ‘That won’t be necessary.’
‘I didn’t think it would be.’
‘Your being insulting doesn’t solve the problem of what we do about this expected wedding.’
‘Expected is all it will be. We have plenty of time to get out of it.’
‘You call four weeks plenty of time!’ She looked sceptical. ‘God, the whole thing will be arranged before you can call it off. Couldn’t you just tell your mother the truth? She wouldn’t have to tell your father, but it would save us all the embarrassment of having to cancel everything.’
‘You selfish little bitch! Does nothing matter to you but your own embarrassment?’ Jarrod demanded fiercely. ‘No, of course it doesn’t. Why should it matter to you that my mother is as worried as hell about my father? As long as you don’t have any embarrassment to face you’ll be happy. And that’s all that matters to you, your own happiness.’
‘That isn’t true! I—’
‘Don’t give me that, Brooke,’ he interrupted coldly. ‘Your actions since we first met have all been self-centred. You involved me in this engagement because you felt insulted, announced our forthcoming marriage to Selina because of a conversation you’d taken exception to. You took a liking to my brother, so you decided to have him anyway, regardless of the consequences of such action amongst my family. Well, now you can do something for me—you can damn well behave yourself and keep your mouth shut. And you won’t see Dave again until this thing has been settled.’
‘You can’t tell me what I can or cannot do,’ she retorted angrily. ‘If I want to see Dave I will.’ Although she had no inclination to do any such thing. She and Dave had nothing left to say to one another.
‘You’ll see no one but me until I say you can.’
‘Why, you arrogant—’
Jarrod came towards her, a determined glint in his eyes. ‘It seems there’s only one way of silencing you.’ He pulled her roughly against the hard immovability of his body and she felt the first stirring of his desire against her thighs. ‘And if I enjoy it too why should I give a damn that you’re nothing but a lying little cheat? Why should I give a damn!’ he repeated with a groan.
His dark head bent and his mouth covered hers in utter possession. Her head was forced back and he held her immovable by one hand threaded savagely in her hair. There was no tenderness in the taking of her lips, only anger and passion and a contempt she just couldn’t bear from him.
She wrenched away from him. ‘No, Jarrod! Stop it! I won’t allow you to treat me like this!’
His hold wouldn’t be broken and he grinned down at her struggles with devilish satisfaction. ‘I’m not asking you to allow me to do anything,’ he mocked her throatily. ‘I’ll take you any time I please.’ He let her go abruptly, glancing tersely at his wrist-watch. ‘But right now I don’t have the time.’ His eyes slid over her body with barely concealed contempt. ‘Or the inclination,’ he added dryly.
‘Neither do I,’ she choked, rubbing her hand roughly across her mouth. ‘I despise you!’
‘Really?’ He took a threatening step forward. ‘Would you like me to prove differently?’
She backed away. ‘No—no, don’t! I—I can’t stand to have you near me.’
His only answer was a deep mocking laugh before he turned towards the door. ‘I have to get back to the hospital now, but I could be back later this evening.’
‘I shouldn’t bother!’ she snapped.
‘I only said I could be. If it’s late I’ll—’
‘You’ll go home,’ she finished for him. ‘Don’t expect my door to be left unlocked tonight.’
He grinned. ‘I couldn’t wish for such luck two nights running.’
‘I’ll make sure you don’t,’ she vowed vehemently.
Jarrod opened the door in preparation of leaving. ‘Don’t go in to work tomorrow, I may need you during the day.’
‘Then you can damn well need, because I have every intention of going in to work. I told you, I have a job to do.’
‘Okay, you’re fired,’ he said arrogantly.
Brooke gasped. ‘You can’t do that!’
‘I know that,’ he agreed calmly. ‘But by the time you’ve sorted it all out my father will be out of hospital and you can go back to work any time you want to.’
‘But that’s not—’
‘Fair?’ Jarrod finished. ‘So, it’s not fair, but it gets me what I want.’
‘You’re a selfish—’
He grasped her arm roughly, pulling her against him with a fierce intensity. ‘If I’m selfish I hate to think what you are,’ he ground out savagely. ‘If my father wants to see you again I want you where I can reach you with relative ease. I don’t want to have to go to the trouble of having to wait while you find yourself a replacement on the desk. Understood?’
He was shaking her so
hard her teeth rattled. ‘U-understood,’ she quivered.
Jarrod pushed her away so suddenly she almost fell over. ‘For once you aren’t going to argue any more.’ He shook his head. ‘Amazing.’
‘Goodbye, Jarrod,’ she said stiffly, her eyes violet with dislike. ‘I’ll be here if your father asks to see me, other than that I don’t want to see you.’
‘Try and stop me, Brooke. I still mean to take you.’
She gave a choked laugh. ‘You have the nerve and conceit of the devil if you think that I would ever let you touch me again!’
He smiled at her anger. ‘You can’t help yourself, Brooke,’ he scorned. ‘You may keep denying it, but once I touch you you don’t deny it for much longer.’
‘Get out of here, Jarrod,’ she ordered, her hands clenched tightly at her side. ‘Just go away!’
She didn’t hear him move, but she knew he had left, her senses told her that much. She sank down into the nearest armchair, all fight leaving her body. She couldn’t go on like this much longer, she just couldn’t take much more.
The most awful thing of all was that Jarrod was right, her love for him made her weak and pliant in his arms and forgetful of all the self-respect that had been inborn in her. No man who felt about her as Jarrod did should be allowed to affect her this way. He treated her as he would treat any of his casual women, Selina Howard remaining the love of his life.
She groaned. Selina Howard had a perfectly good husband of her own, a man who was charming, handsome and very rich, so why couldn’t she leave Jarrod alone? Because Jarrod had a sensuous magnetism that was completely his own and would attract women all his life, that was why. Selina Howard just happened to be the woman he had given his love to, it didn’t stop him wanting other women.
Brooke pummelled the cushion in the chair, angry and frustrated at the same time. She wanted Jarrod for herself, wanted and loved him, but she Wouldn’t have him under the conditions he wanted her, knowing that all the time Selina Howard was the woman he would go back to when her own challenge had wained. And that was all she was to Jarrod, a challenge.
The trauma of the last couple of days took its toll with her and she fell asleep in the chair. The sleep was just as drugged as the night before and she felt sure that the person hammering loudly on her door must have been doing so for some time before they finally woke her.
Engaged to Jarrod Stone Page 16
