The Earl's Outrageous Lover (4 page)

He finally released Julianna’s hand and glanced back towards Jessica.  “Of course!”  he answered with relish.

As she poured the amber liquid into a tumbler, she explained to Julianna and Edward, “James does some weird things with real estate.  Aren’t you looking at some new property in London now?  I thought I remember you mentioning that while we were in Switzerland recently.”

Edward almost rolled his eyes.  “James is one of the preeminent real estate developers in the world, tackling projects that others think are too risky.  I wouldn’t describe what he does as ‘weird’, Jessica.”

“I guess that makes your fortunes rise and fall precipitously,” Julianna stated, her blue eyes suddenly lit by an inner fire that hadn’t been there before.

Jessica laughed, her curls dancing once again right along with those gold earrings that made her eyes sparkle even more brightly although she had no idea what was going through Edward’s mind.  He tried to push the anger aside and focus on the evening but from the moment the blond man had entered the room, Edward’s anger had grown exponentially.  Especially witnessing the easy going camaraderie he shared with Jessica.

He didn’t want to have that with the brunette, he told himself angrily, so why was he so furious with the other man?  He preferred the calm nature of Julianna versus the exuberance of Jessica.  Despite those thoughts in his head, he couldn’t he pull his eyes away from Jessica’s lush figure and beautiful, smiling face.  And why was he so furious that another man was touching her?  Touching her exactly how he’d like to be doing.

Well, not exactly.  He’d like to be doing a whole hell of a lot more than just hugging her, he thought grimly.

Jessica handed James the glass, then came back around the bar to resume her seat.  “James is the only one I know of that can take a risky project and consistently make it profitable.  Investors beg for the opportunity to do business with him even though many of them don’t understand the complexities of the project themselves.  They just know about his track record and don’t care about the risks.  James can overcome just about any challenge.”

James was uncomfortable with her praise, so he decided to change the subject.  He took a seat next to Julianna and questioned Jessica about her marriage predicament.  “Tell me how many hearts you’ve broken since last we met,” he said as he took the offered drink.

Jessica glanced over at Edward, then quickly away and sighed.  “Alas, I’ve been a very good girl since we last met.”

James lifted an eyebrow in her direction.  “Why do I find that hard to believe?”

She grinned right back at him, refusing to admit she’d done anything inappropriate.  “Perhaps because you have a very suspicious mind?”

He laughed and he shook his head.  “That’s true enough, but I’ve also witnessed you in action.  Those men in Belgium were fawning over you left and right and you didn’t even notice.”

Jessica waved that aside.  “You’re being ridiculous, James.  No one fawned over anyone.”

He looked at her with concern.  “You really don’t know how many men were in love with you, do you?”

She blushed and rolled her eyes.  “You’re exaggerating.  Tell me about the house you’re building in Aruba.  Last time we were talking you said that you were having problems with the pool.  Have you been able to resolve that issue?”  she asked changing the subject because the last one was making her uncomfortable and causing Edward to become even angrier for some reason.  Did he think she’d just been sitting back and waiting for the men to come to her?  She had a deadline!  The man needed to understand that his uncle had gone out of his way to introduce her to as many men as possible.  He had no right to judge her in that way.

They spoke about various problems with adding a pool to an arid environment such as what Aruba experienced most of the year.  Jessica had to laugh at the foibles James was having with some of the workers.  Apparently, James wanted to help with the building of the house but the workers were horrified that someone who was paying them would want to do the work as well.  James had all three of them laughing at his hilarious stories of the workers’ expressions and their dismay when he started doing manual labor right alongside each of them.  Only Jessica knew that James had made his start in life by working as a construction worker in high school, which eventually moved him into creating his own real estate company.

“Dinner is ready,” Beth said from the doorway once the laughter died down.

Jessica looked over at the kind housekeeper and sighed.  What might happen over dinner, she wondered.  “Thank you Beth,” she replied with more enthusiasm than she felt right at the moment.  She wished she could stay right here and listen to James talk about his funny stories and ignore Edward’s grim expression.  She’d snuck a peek at Edward often and thankfully he was chuckling over the tales.  She loved to see him laugh, even his eyes crinkled when he laughed which she suspected was very seldom.

He wasn’t ever looking at her, though.  He kept his eyes on James or Julianna the whole time, avoiding her as if she were some sort of ugly duckling that was abhorrent to him.

With a sigh, she stood up to indicate that they should move into the dining room.  James immediately stood and took Julianna with him and, as Jessica watched him pull the blond woman out of the room, she felt as if her only friend had just abandoned her.  She’d hoped to have a private word with James, ask for a bit of help in pushing Julianna and Edward out the door since their presence wasn’t really helping and only hurting her the longer they stayed here.  She’d rather just hurry up to her room and lick her wounds, start to heal and find a way to overcome her fascination with a man who didn’t want her and was currently in love with another woman.

“I’d like a word with you, Jessica,” Edward said, taking her elbow and stopping her when she started to follow behind James and Julianna.

He waited until they were alone before turning to look down into her brown eyes.  “Keep away from James,” he said as soon as the others were out of ear shot.  “He’s not marriage material and you have a deadline.  A very short deadline, I might add.”

Jessica was instantly offended that he would assume she was in any way interested in James.  “James is a good man and a great friend.  I really don’t want you saying anything disrespectful about him.”

Edward glared right back down at her, moving into her space in an effort to intimidate her.  “You heard me, Jessica.  He’s not right for you.  Stay clear.”

“Or what?”  she challenged, turning to face him and giving as good as she got.

“Or I’ll make sure that you are unavailable for him.  He won’t marry you,” he said.  “You have a mission and I’m here to ensure that you accomplish that mission.  If you’re going to give up on that and just let your inheritance go to charity, then let me know right now so I can move on to other issues.  If not, then you’ll heed my warning and steer clear of the man.”  Edward had no idea if James was marriage material or not, but he didn’t like him hanging around Jessica.  There was just something about the man that irked him.

“You can’t decide who I marry, Edward.”

He leaned down with a growl.  “Want to bet?”

“Yes!”

“As executor of your father’s will now, I have approval authority over the man you finally marry.  And I’m telling you right now that James Cavanaugh is not acceptable.  Forget about him.”

His words infuriated her, especially since she and James were just good friends.  “You are an arrogant jerk!”  She poked him in the chest but he didn’t back up an inch.  “For your information, he’s already proposed!”  She didn’t mention to him that she’d laughed off James’ proposal which she hadn’t taken seriously.  She knew that James would marry her if things came close to the deadline.  She just had to ask and he’d be there for her.  But she didn’t want to go down that route, knowing that he would soon fall in love with someone and become a wonderful, loving husband to a lucky lady.  She just wasn’t interested in him that way.

“So you’re resorting to name calling?”  He backed her up a step, wrapping his arm around her waist and trapping her against the chair.  “Why would you even consider marrying a man who doesn’t make you feel something more than friendship?”  he asked.  “Look for someone who…” he started to say one thing, then changed his mind and said, “makes you feel pretty and desirable.”  He looked down into those soft, vulnerable eyes and swallowed.  “You need someone with a firm hand to keep you in line, but also someone who is willing to put up with your somewhat unconventional way of attacking life.”

She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t look away.  The way he was looking down at her, with reverence and…wonder?  It was almost as if he were wishing that he was the kind of man who could put up with her temperament.

When he reached up and slid a finger down her cheek, she couldn’t stop the shiver.

Jessica looked up at him, startled out of her anger by his touch.  As he looked down at her, she knew that he was feeling the exact same thing.  She looked up, their eyes caught and she held her breath, wondering if he would lower his head and kiss her.  For that moment, she wondered what it would be like to be kissed by him, to feel his mouth cover hers with the intent she could see in his eyes.

Just as abruptly as it started, Edward released her and stepped back.  He continued to stare at her and Jessica wasn’t sure what he was thinking.  She thought she saw the surprise in his eyes but it could just be wishful thinking on her part.

“Dinner is waiting,” he said softly and turned to face the doorway.  As the ultimate gentleman, he extended his arm and waited patiently while she decided to take it or ignore it, apparently unconcerned what her decision might be.

Jessica declined his arm and started out of the room, refusing to give in to his feigned manners.  If the man was going to be a cad, he needed to be consistent.

Dinner was delicious, but she sensed a great deal of tension although she wasn’t sure why it was so thick or how to dissipate the feeling.  She refused to look at Edward, smiling graciously in Julianna and James’ direction as they discussed the weather, recent travels, various neighbors and friends who all were acquainted with.  There wasn’t a single subject of consequence uttered during the entire meal and Jessica was relieved when Beth finally brought in dessert, a fluffy chocolate mousse with a raspberry syrup drizzled over the top.

Unfortunately, no one really did justice to the dessert and by the time coffee was served, the tension had increased exponentially.

“I’m sorry to leave so early,” James said around ten o’clock.  “But I have an early meeting that I need to prepare for.”  He set his coffee cup and saucer on the low table and stood up.  “Will you see me to the door?”  he asked.

Edward immediately stood as well.  “I’m afraid we have to head out as well, Jessica.  But thank you for an interesting evening,” he said politely.  Jessica thought he hesitated at the word ‘interesting’ but wasn’t sure.

With a sigh, she walked everyone to the door, thanking them for coming to dinner.  When the door closed, she leaned against the thick wood and looked up at the sparkling chandelier that had graced the foyer for decades.  “What am I going to do now?”  she whispered to the empty room.

Jessica trudged to the dining room and smiled at Beth.  Afraid to reveal too much, but needing the advice of the older woman, she decided to get help, at least on how to handle a man who was a completely mystery to her.  “So what did you think of Edward?”  she asked softly as the two of them cleared the table of the dessert plates.

Beth smiled and picked up the tray.  “I think he was a very handsome gentleman.”

“And horrible.”

Beth shook her head as she shouldered her way into the kitchen area.  “I wouldn’t be too hasty to dismiss the man.  I noticed the anger as well, but I don’t think we should jump to conclusions about the man.  Also, I’m not so sure he’s completely committed to his relationship with the very lovely Lady Holbrook.”

Jessica didn’t want to hear things like that.  She wanted Edward to be marrying the woman tomorrow so that these odd feelings of anger and jealousy, not to mention all those other strange feelings that confused her whenever he was around, would just go away.  She mulled the situation over in her mind while the two of them washed the dishes and set the house back to order.  Jessica wished she could dismiss Edward, but there was just something about the man that got under her skin.

Lying in bed that night, Jessica went through all the other men she’d met, thinking of any that she might have dismissed prematurely because she was just too preoccupied or might have been comparing the man to….not to Edward, but perhaps someone along the same lines as Edward.  Unfortunately, of the ones she remembered, none lived up to her hopes for a man of integrity and strength combined with that shocking awareness.  She knew that Edward might be brusque and probably a bit more chauvinistic than she would prefer, but he really was the only man she’d ever met who made her body tingle just from being in the same room with him.  She hadn’t even known that feeling existed until she’d met him earlier today.

Which didn’t bode well for her future marital bliss.

How was she going to do without that spark of excitement?  She’d have to double her efforts because she had less than two weeks left.  Maybe she should just pick a man and get it over with.  Surely there was someone out there who might be interesting?  Someone who could give her the same sense of excitement without the disapproval and angry disposition?  Or maybe she should just marry a friend with an agreement that they would simply be friends without the intimacy of a normal marriage.

She rolled over and sighed into the darkness.  She could do that if she had to, but her sense of right and wrong made that option unpalatable.  Marriage wasn’t something one went into with that kind of attitude.  But did she have an option?

She remembered the day her father had picked her up from school.  She’d been eighteen and he’d taken the two hour drive back home to explain that he’d selected her finishing school, after which she would be perfectly prepared for a good marriage.  He even had her prospects picked out for her.