The Earl's Outrageous Lover (5 page)

Her father thought that, because she was a woman, the best she should aspire to in life was a well placed marriage.  Jessica hadn’t bowed to his pressure.  In fact, she’d already been accepted to the University of London on a full scholarship.  She’d defied him that day, telling him that she would attend university even if he disowned her.

This will, his dying declaration, was his final retribution for her defiance.  And boy had he gotten her with this one!  The man was positively diabolical.  She couldn’t even yell at him and express her anger and horror over his retribution because he wasn’t alive to listen.  She was well and truly trapped.

If she married, he would have his final wish and win their argument.  If she didn’t marry by his deadline, she would prove that women weren’t strong enough to handle the responsibility of business.  Although how he translated her marriage into women being strong enough was ridiculous.

She rolled over to the other side, kicking the sheets and blankets out of her way.  Either way, she lost.  All those families, all those people who would wonder how they would pay their mortgage.  Her father had preferred hurting people he didn’t even know just so he could win this argument and put his only daughter in her place.

And that thought brought her right back to Edward.

Dammit why did her heartbeat have to speed up just thinking about him?

How could she be both excited and furious at the same time about the same man?  And why did he have to be so angry all the time?  What had she done to provoke his ire in such an extreme way?  He didn’t appear to be angry when he escorted his previous lady friends to various social functions.  At least he didn’t appear angry in the photos that she’d viewed on the internet.  This was an absurd and untenable situation she was in.

No more ridiculous than her father and his horrible stipulations.  She punched her pillow and rolled onto her back.  Marriage for her or unemployment for so many families.  Her father had worked his will perfectly.  He’d tried so hard to control her while he was alive, but he’d always known she had a soft spot for anyone she’d met.  He knew she’d never let those people lose their jobs.

Her father honestly thought that a husband would keep her safe and out of trouble.  He’d known all her life that she had a rebellious nature.  He’d tried to quell it so often throughout her life.  But she’d caused too much trouble at boarding school with her antics.  Her first taste of freedom and she’d revealed her true nature, one that loved to be free and do crazy things like dancing down the hallways or building secret forts with exclusive club memberships, where she would instigate pranks on the teachers or the boys’ school down the street.

This whole mess was her own fault, she thought angrily.  If she’d only comported herself befitting her father’s wishes, she wouldn’t have this deadline, she wouldn’t have the weight of all those workers on her shoulders and she would be able to find a job, settle down and live out her life on her own terms.

Chapter 4

Jessica opened her eyes, staring at the phone on her bedside table.  Why on earth was the man calling her so early?  She stared at the name on the handset, wanting to just ignore the call and go back to sleep.  Instead, she pressed the button to accept the call.  “Hello?”  she greeted the enigmatic man who had haunted her sleep with his dangerous, all-knowing eyes.

“What are your plans for the day?”  Edward asked in a demanding, fully awake voice.

“Excuse me?”  she asked sleepily, glancing at the clock on the side of her bed.  It was barely five o’clock in the morning and she hadn’t gotten to sleep until the early hours of the night.  She wanted to sleep until noon and then figure out what she was going to do today.  She wanted to toss her phone across the room and pull the pillow over her head so she could go back to sleep.  What she definitely didn’t want to do was force her brain to work and her eyes to open at this crazy hour of the day.  Or night, she thought as she peered sleepily at her windows and noticed that the sun wasn’t even up yet.

“I asked what your plans were,” he repeated, keeping the amusement out of his voice.  He’d called her early enough so that he could shift his own schedule if needed.  “I have a luncheon today where I can introduce you to several eligible males.  Can you be ready by noon?”  he asked as he increase the speed on his treadmill.  What was it about talking with Jessica, especially when he knew that she was still warm in her bed, probably covered in thick blankets and soft sheets?  Did she perhaps sleep in the nude?  He cranked up the speed several more notches at that thought, trying to work out his frustration on the treadmill.

Jessica yawned and rolled onto her back, pushing her hair out of her eyes.  “Lunch,” she repeated, still trying to interpret the word and make sense of this conversation.  Did she have lunch plans?  She forced her mind to wake up and think about her schedule.  She had planned to learn to shoot a handgun today, suspecting that the shooting range would be filled with men who might be strong and interesting.  “Umm….no.  I don’t think I have lunch plans.”  She wasn’t positive about that though.  She sighed and rolled onto her back.  “Actually Edward, I’m not sure what my lunch plans are today.  I’m not even sure if I’m going to eat lunch.  I can’t look that up because even electronic devices don’t work this early in the morning.  They need sleep too, you know.”  She had no idea if they did or didn’t work before sunrise and had no intention of finding out.

He smothered his laughter but the amusement at her declaration came through in his tone.  “All evidence to the contrary.”

“Huh?”  she said while yawning at the same time.

“Never mind,” he said, unable to stop the laughter.  “How about if you pull your cell phone away from your ear for just a moment and check your calendar?  I bet it might be up to the challenge of providing your schedule even this early in the morning.”

Jessica had no response to that so she did exactly as he instructed.  When she’d tapped up her calendar, she peered at the words, finally focusing enough to read what she’d entered for today’s schedule.  “I was going shooting today,” she said with yet another yawn.

There was a long silence while Edward processed that news.  “Shooting?  As in cameras?”  he clarified, pressing the incline button several times, suddenly feeling his stress level increase once again.

She tried to straighten the sheets and blankets on her bed but she wasn’t ready to come fully awake yet so she gave up the effort.

“No.  Shooting bullets, not a camera.”

Another long pause and she pictured him closing his eyes in irritation.  “Jessica, are you telling me that you are going to head out and learn to shoot a rifle today?”

She rubbed her eyes, but still wouldn’t open them up.  If the sun wasn’t up, there was no point in her being up either.  Sun and Jessica, they were a team, she thought sleepily.  “Well, handguns, actually.  I wasn’t going to tackle rifles.  At least not yet.”

“You’re going to a shooting range?”  he asked and increased the speed several more times.

Edward was not going to let her sleep.  And truth be told, she was wide awake now, picturing Edward without a shirt on, in just those tight shorts that some runners wore.  That image definitely woke her up.  “Sure,” she sat up, pushing the pillows behind her.  “I’ve always wanted to learn to shoot.  Besides, mostly men go to a shooting range, right?”  It wasn’t just to meet men, she admitted to herself.  She wanted to learn to shoot just because she thought it was interesting.  What woman wouldn’t want to break into the secret world of range shooting and experience all the testosterone in the air?  It sounded thrilling, a bit like entering an exclusive men’s club.  She knew there were many women who knew how to shoot, and she was determined to join their ranks.  Today!

Edward shook his head but knew she couldn’t see his exasperation over the phone.  “You don’t need to go to a shooting range, Jessica,” he said firmly.  “I’ll introduce you to eligible men.  Just look over your choices and see if anyone sparks any interest.”

“I’ll do that as well, but this sort of kills two birds with one stone, no pun intended,” she joked.  “I’m looking for a man and what better way to find one than to go to places where they are the main consumers?”

Edward would have sighed if he had the breath but since he was sprinting now with a fifteen percent incline, he had to concentrate.  “Jessica, just meet me for lunch.”

She smiled as her brain started waking up.  She could hear the worry in his voice and it warmed her heart.  “Look, I have less than two weeks until this tedious deadline comes to an end.  I have to maximize my time.  I can still meet you for lunch and I sincerely appreciate the offer.  But I can get to the shooting range this morning and still be ready for lunch by noon.  How does that sound?”

“Dangerous.  Just meet me for lunch,” he repeated.  “I’m not kidding, Jessica.  No shooting range, understand?”

She laughed out loud, delighted for some reason to disconcert the man who seemed so cool and collected at all times.  “You sound like my father, Edward.  Don’t worry.”  She paused, hearing a strange sound in the background.  “Why are you up so early anyway?  And what’s that sound?”

“I wake up early in order to work out.  The sound is probably my feet hitting the treadmill.  I’ll see you at noon, Jessica.  I’m serous, no shooting range.”

“Right, noon,” she said and hung up the phone.

Edward tossed his cell phone into the holder next to his water and thought about the conversation he’d just had.  He didn’t know Jessica very well, but he suspected that she would completely ignore his instruction to stay away from the shooting range.  With frustration, he picked up his phone again and dialed Alice.  “I need you to find me the shooting range closest to Jessica Mallory’s house and cancel my morning appointments,” he said when she answered.

Thankfully, Alice was too professional to question his instructions, even bizarre questions like finding a shooting range at five fifteen in the morning.  He knew that she would e-mail him the address within the next five minutes, probably along with driving instructions for Tim and various other information about cost and hours along with whatever additional information she suspected he might need.

At seven-thirty, Edward walked down the stairs, took his cup of coffee from his butler and walked out to his car.

“To the office, my lord?”  Tim asked, looking at a piece of paper in his hands.  His mind was obviously confused by the instructions he’d received from Edward’s executive assistant earlier in the morning.

Grimly, Edward shook his head.  “Alice has probably sent you the address of a shooting range.  We’ll go to the office for my eight o’clock meeting, then I’ll need you to be ready to head over to the shooting range at nine o’clock.  I don’t know what time Ms. Mallory will be there, but I need to arrive before her and inspect the weapons to ensure that she is safe and not about to kill herself with some ridiculous idea about learning how to shoot a pistol.”

Tim nodded his head, looked back down at the piece of paper, then hurriedly closed Edward’s door.  He was completely confused, but more than willing to follow orders.  He’d worked for Lord Locton for twelve years and never had the man deviated from his schedule except when he took vacations in his Caribbean or Greek homes.  And those changes to the man’s schedule were even on a schedule; the Caribbean in the springtime and the Greek house in the fall.

Walking around to the driver’s seat, Tim went through all the times the man’s schedule had changed and could count those instances on one hand with fingers left over.  With a smile, he started the car and pulled out from the driveway.  This Ms.  Jessica was going to be good for Lord Locton, but he suspected there would be fireworks before it was all said and done.

Jessica bit her lower lip, looking up at the sign above the building.  It was just a shooting range, she reminded herself.

And this feeling of nervousness, it made her feel alive!  She had no idea what was inside that building.  It looked benign, but anything could happen.  She played this game when she was nervous about something new.  She would imagine the worst possible thing, then scoffed at where her ridiculous scenarios would take her.  For instance, the worst possible action from her walking into the shooting range was for someone to turn around and shoot her for entering.  Since this was a business, and the owners wanted people to come inside and learn to shoot, to use their range in order to increase their skills, she doubted that anyone would shoot a newcomer to their business.

Having gone through that ridiculous scenario, she reached for the handle of her car door, then just about jumped a foot from her seat when someone knocked on her window.

She looked out and saw Edward, surprised and excited despite her admonitions to forget about him after this morning’s call.  He’d sounded grumpy on the phone and he looked even grouchier now.  Looking at him, though, had her mind spinning out of control with crazy ideas about beds and kissing and all sorts of silly things that never should be considered.  How could a girl help it though?  The man looked like a well dressed Adonis with his expensive suit and Italian blue silk tie knotted precisely at his neck, not even a peek of his white shirt above the knot.

When her lungs were burning, she gasped out, remembering to breathe as he waited for her to open her car door.

“What are you doing here?”  she asked, grabbing her purse from the passenger seat and slinging it over her shoulder.  She’d dressed for the luncheon today in a red and blue patterned wrap dress with small red earrings and a small, red and blue beaded necklace at her throat.

“I’m here to make sure you don’t get killed trying to learn to shoot a gun,” he griped and took her arm, pulling her into the building that housed the shooting range.  “You’re going to have to go home and change before we head to the luncheon anyway.”

Jessica looked down at her dress, then back up to him.  “Why do I have to change?”  She thought the dress was perfect for meeting various men at an old boy’s networking luncheon.

He paused at the doorway to glance back down at her lush figure, then pulled his eyes away again.  The dress clung lovingly to her full breasts, then tied at her tiny waist before clinging to her sensuous hips.  It didn’t leave too much to the imagination, in his opinion.  He’d seen other women wear dresses like that in the office before but they’d never sparked this kind of lust in him.  But then again, no woman sparked this kind of a feeling in him other than Jessica, so it could just be her and had nothing to do with the dress.  “That one is too sexy,” he growled out before pulling the glass door open for her.  He was very proud of himself for not glancing down at her adorable bottom, perfectly on display in that red and blue dress.

He approached the cashier at the counter who was obviously intimidated by the tall, powerful looking man approaching him with a grim expression.  “We need two pistols and ammunition,” he said to the man behind the counter.  “What do you have in a nine millimeter Beretta and…” he paused and picked up Jessica’s hand, looking at her fingers and palm, “and maybe a Glock Seventeen?”

The man recognized an authority figure in Edward and quickly reached for the two weapons and two boxes of ammunition.  “Do you know how to load these?”  he asked, his eyes wide with concern.

“Yes.”  Edward took one of the weapons, field stripped the piece and laid each part out on the counter while he examined the parts.  Once he had seen all the pieces, he re-assembled the pistol and did the same to the other one.  The whole time, Jessica stood by, watching in fascination as Edward’s hand worked the weapon.

She knew it was primal, but there was just something erotic about a man who could handle a weapon so confidently.  She supposed it was survival of the species.  If a man knew how to use a weapon, he was more likely to be able to protect his offspring, ensuring that the species continued.  But Jessica wasn’t a fan of gun ownership.  She didn’t want one in her house, nor would she ever own a gun.  This was all an effort to find a man to marry with the unexpected insight into yet another aspect of Edward’s personality.  And there was the added adventure of learning a new skill.

“Hold this,” he said and handed her the smaller Glock pistol.”

Jessica took the black, dangerous looking weapon, then glanced down at the larger Beretta.  “Why can’t I have that one?”  she asked.  “It looks more interesting than this one.”

Edward refrained from rolling his eyes.  “You have a smaller hand.  The Beretta is too big for your grip.”

She peered over his arm at the larger weapon, then back down at the one she was holding.  “I still think the other one would be more…”

“Pay attention, Jessica,” Edward commanded and slapped the empty magazine into the magazine well.  He pulled the slide back and examined the parts carefully.

She knew when to leave well enough alone, but smiled conspiratorially at the man behind the counter.  He immediately smiled back, even blushing slightly and shuffled his feet nervously.