The Eleventh-Hour Groom

‘They’ve made me a good offer. I think I’m going to accept it, subject to a few loose ends here—’

‘You can’t!’ She stared at him in horror.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I think you should stay here and marry me.’

She remembered the silence that had followed her words. The way Jay had looked at her, the quizzical lift of his eyebrow.

‘Call me old-fashioned, Beth,’ he drawled, ‘but, where I come from in the States, it’s usual for the men to propose to the women—’

‘Don’t be facetious, Jay. I’m proposing a business deal,’ she stipulated quickly. She remembered sounding confident, she remembered holding the darkness of his eyes with a direct gaze. ‘If you marry me, I’ll sign half the business over to you and we can share the profits.’

‘I never realised you were so business-orientated,’ Jay drawled, sitting back in his chair and staring at her as if he had never seen her before.

She shrugged. ‘Maybe you don’t really know me that well.’

‘Maybe I don’t.’

‘So what do you say?’

‘I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.’

He hadn’t even wanted her wrapped up with gifts…that had stung. Only for the rum kicking in, blocking out the pain, she might have grinned and let it go, said she’d been joking. ‘Okay, I’ll give you a sixty-forty split, seeing as you will be doing most of the work,’ she found herself saying instead. ‘That’s my last offer.’

‘So, let’s just get this straight. You are suggesting that we get married to fulfil the terms of your father’s will. Then what?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘A quickie divorce a few weeks later when the business has been signed over?’

‘No!’ She frowned. ‘We can’t do that. Dad stipulated in his will that we should live together and stay married for at least a year.’

‘Good old Henry thought of everything, didn’t he?’ Jay murmured sardonically. ‘Did he stipulate instructions for our sleeping arrangements as well?’

The heat of embarrassment seared through her. Before she could think of a suitably sarcastic reply he went swiftly on. ‘So how long do you want to play this charade for?’

‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged. ‘Do we have to put a date on it? After all, it’s not as if either of us are serious about anyone else, is it? Shall we just see how things go?’

There was a moment’s silence, a moment when he just stared at her and she felt incredibly foolish…

‘Okay.’ His agreement when it came nearly bowled her off the seat in surprise. ‘But if we get married we do it properly.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘We sign a premarital contract.’ Suddenly he was the one dictating conditions. ‘We put the terms of our marriage down in black and white.’

‘Fine,’ she agreed airily.

‘And I’ll buy into the business.’

‘There’s no need—you’ll automatically own half of it once we’re married—’

Jay cut across her. ‘I don’t want something for nothing, Elizabeth. Anyway, we can use the money to invest in the boat yard. It needs updating.’

It had only been when she had sobered up that she had wondered about the sanity of the situation.

And now, nearly eighteen months down the line, older and wiser she sat opposite him across this dinner table and wished that she had never gone through with the charade. But it was too late for regrets.

The waiter brought their food. Elizabeth toyed with the meal for a while. She had absolutely no appetite.

‘Did I tell you that Cheryl is getting married again?’ Jay said suddenly. ‘She wrote to tell me about it last week. Or rather to tell us about it… She still thinks we are together.’

Beth’s eyes widened. ‘Who is she marrying?’

Jay shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I think she said his name was Alan. She met him on a cruise.’

Elizabeth smiled. ‘Well, I’m glad she’s found happiness again. I know she missed Dad terribly.’ In fact Cheryl had felt so lonely in the house she had once shared with Elizabeth’s father that she had sold up soon after his death and moved back to the States. She was living in Florida now.

‘She’s invited us to the wedding.’ Jay told her.

‘Really? In Florida?’

Jay shook his head. ‘She’s coming back to Jamaica to get married. They’re having a wedding and honeymoon package. Getting married on the beach.’

‘Like we did.’ The words slipped out.

‘Yes.’ His eyes moved over her face thoughtfully. ‘You were the eleven o’clock bride,’ he said. ‘Do you remember? They’d posted the notice on the hotel board, between the times of the diving lessons.’

She smiled. That red-hot day in Jamaica was etched on her memory for all time. The gentle sea breeze billowing her veil behind her. The scent of the tropical flowers, the calm turquoise waters of the Caribbean lapping against the sugar-white sand. ‘Of course I remember. We both laughed about it…said we were the ones taking the deepest plunge of all.’

‘Wasn’t that deep a plunge, though, was it?’ he remarked wryly. ‘Six months. People get longer than that for robbery.’

‘We may have only been together for six months, but we’re still married,’ she reminded him, then wondered why she’d felt the need to say that.

‘What’s the matter: frightened that your stepmother might contest the will because we didn’t stay together for the stipulated twelve months?’ he drawled wryly.

‘Don’t be ridiculous; Cheryl wouldn’t do something like that. She was never interested in the boat yard, anyway.’

‘Which was why you felt you could safely leave after six months I suppose.’ There was a hard, mocking edge to Jay’s tone. ‘You had it all figured out, didn’t you, Beth?’

He made her sound so calculating, but nothing could have been further from the truth. She had taken a gamble when she had married him, a gamble that one day he might feel something for her, fall for her the way she had for him. It had been a wild, impossibly romantic dream destined to just bring her pain. She shook her head. ‘No, Jay. That was the problem,’ she told him quietly. ‘I didn’t have anything figured out. I just made a mistake. Marriage is too important to reduce it to a mere business venture.’

His features were impassive, his eyes dark, remote. ‘You’ve got some cool nerve to lecture on the principles of marriage, Beth. May I remind you that the “business venture” was your idea. You proposed it, talked me into it, then walked out on it.’

‘Because it was a mistake.’ She held his gaze for as long as she could, then had to look away.

What was he thinking? she wondered. Probably about the fact that, financially, she had done all right out of the situation.

She shrugged. Maybe it was best to leave his opinion of her where it was. Better that than him knowing how much she had loved him, she thought suddenly. He’d find that really amusing.

She reached for her wine and took a hasty sip. ‘Anyway I’ll have to write to Cheryl, tell her we’ve split up,’ she continued briskly. ‘I’ve been meaning to write for quite some time, but I keep putting it off.’

‘I’ve brought her letter with me.’ Jay reached into his inside jacket pocket and brought out the letter, passing it across the table to her. ‘I thought you’d want to read it. Her new address and telephone number are on there as well.’

‘Thanks.’ She put it away in her handbag. Then went back to toying with her food.

She felt somehow mollified when she noticed that Jay hadn’t eaten much of his meal either. He must be tired, she thought suddenly. The jet lag travelling from the Caribbean to Europe was quite bad.

‘How long are you planning on staying?’ she asked him abruptly.

‘Long enough for you to sign the papers.’ He looked over at her pointedly. ‘I want to bring them back with me.’

She nodded and straightened her cutlery on the plate, giving up on the pretence of eating. ‘I’ll sign them tonight.’

‘Thanks.’

So that was it, then, she thought, it was the end of the marriage. And it had been reasonably civil: no shouting, no recriminations…well, not many. Just a stack of paperwork to sign. Somewhere inside she felt like crying.

‘Would you like pudding, or a coffee?’ Jay asked as their plates were taken away.

‘No thanks.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I should be going. I really have got work to do.’

‘I’ll drive you home.’ Jay raised his hand to gain the waiter’s attention.

They didn’t speak again until they were back in the car, driving along the darkened streets. Things were quieter now, the rush hour over, the hectic scrabble to get out of the city finished.

She directed him to her home, trying not to let her mind skip ahead to the future. Once the divorce papers were signed, would she ever see him again?

He stopped the car outside the mews where she had an apartment and looked over at her.

Silence hung heavily between them. He noticed how the streetlight played over her features. She looked incredibly pale. The Elizabeth he had known had always had a golden tan. It had been a surprise to see how fair her complexion was, quite a beautiful contrast against the raven darkness of her hair.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the softness of her lips. She moistened them.

Did he make her nervous? he wondered suddenly. Did he still have the power to turn her on?

‘You’ve got something in your hair,’ he murmured, reaching out to brush a finger through a wisp of her silky hair at an imaginary speck.

He watched how she reacted to his touch, noting the faint blush that appeared high on her cheekbones, the almost imperceptible shiver as his fingers made contact with her skin.

He pulled back, a curl of satisfaction stirring inside him. The idea that he still had some power over her senses pleased him. Why was that? he wondered. Was it because he was still angry with her for walking out so soon after their marriage? She had certainly dented his pride when she had left, and there was a small part of him that would like to settle that score.

‘Are you going to invite me in?’ he asked softly.

He noticed how she swallowed nervously.

‘That way, I can wait while you sign my papers.’

He watched her very carefully; there was a flicker of annoyance in the bright blue of her eyes before she swiftly turned her head away. He smiled. If he played things carefully, maybe he could have a little sporting pleasure before ending things. Do a little damage to her pride.

She pulled her coat further around her body. His impatience to finish things grated on raw nerves. She wondered if his sudden haste to get a divorce meant he was planning on marrying again straight away.

She thought about asking him, but then couldn’t bring herself to form the question.

A few snowflakes twirled down onto the windscreen from the darkened sky. Maybe he was just in a hurry to get back to Jamaica, she thought. And really she couldn’t blame him.

‘Come on in,’ she said resignedly. ‘I’ll make us a coffee.’ She reached for her briefcase.

‘Oh, hell!’ She scrabbled frantically in the dark space at her feet.

‘What is it?’

‘My briefcase isn’t here!’ She scrabbled even more frantically, her fingers locking on nothing more than her handbag.

‘Don’t panic, it has to be somewhere.’ Jay switched on the overhead light. ‘Did you bring it into the restaurant with you?’

She closed her eyes, willing herself to remember. ‘Yes…yes, I did.’ She remembered putting it under the table. Then she remembered picking it up as they made to leave. She frowned. ‘I think I put it down when the waiter helped me on with my coat. I must have left it in the restaurant! How stupid of me.’

She couldn’t believe she had done such a thing. She was usually so methodical, so level-headed. But her mind had been on Jay, on the divorce. Her eyes widened. ‘The papers you want me to sign are in there.’ She remembered suddenly.

His eyes narrowed. ‘Are you doing this on purpose?’ The soothing note had gone from his voice now, she noted.

‘No, of course not. My laptop computer is in there as well.’ She groaned. ‘And my mobile phone. What a nightmare!’ She reached for the door handle. ‘I better ring the restaurant, see if they still have it.’

Jay locked the car and followed her through the green Georgian door into her ground-floor apartment.

She was glad she had tidied up this morning before going to work. The pretty apartment with its terracotta carpets and cream furnishings looked immaculate as she flicked on the side lamps.

She took out the phone book and flicked hurriedly through it, aware as she did so of Jay wandering around the lounge, picking up some framed photos on the mantelpiece. Some were old ones, taken when her mum was alive. Some from more recent years were of her father and Cheryl’s wedding day.

Her phone call was answered and she turned her attention to the foreign accent at the other end.

Jay wandered over to the other side of the room, noting the fact that there was a kitchen, a bathroom and just one double bedroom. His eyes lingered for a moment on her bed, lit by a single shaft of light from the open doorway.

For a moment he found himself remembering her words in the restaurant, Marriage is too important to reduce it to a mere business venture. She hadn’t thought like that when she had given herself to him in the marital bed, he reflected angrily.

He turned around and watched her as she spoke on the phone. He noted her long, slender fingers were devoid of the plain wedding band she had once worn.

She smiled at him and covered the receiver with her hand. ‘They have my briefcase, Jay,’ she said happily.

‘Well, what a relief!’ he drawled sardonically.

‘Yes…isn’t it?’ She glanced away from him uncertainly, and continued with her conversation.

‘They close at twelve,’ she said a few minutes later as she put the receiver down. ‘And I said I’d collect it tonight.’

Jay glanced at his watch. ‘I’ll collect it for you.’

‘Would you?’ She met his eyes gratefully, wondering if she had imagined the derisive tone in his voice a few moments ago. ‘It’s just that if I set out to do it I’ll have to take two tubes across the city.’

‘It’s no problem.’ He nodded. ‘There will just be the small fee of a coffee and the use of your phone so I can book a hotel room.’

‘You’ve got yourself a deal.’ She took off her coat and walked through to the small, modern kitchen. ‘Help yourself to the phone book,’ she called to him.

When she brought the tray of coffee back through to the lounge Jay was just putting the phone down.

‘Did you find a hotel?’

‘Yes, I got the one I stayed in last time.’

She wondered if he had been on his own the last time he’d come to London on business. Maybe he had brought Lisa? She was his secretary…amongst other things. He could have combined business with pleasure…he was good at that.

She veered her mind away from that particular direction. ‘It’s snowing pretty heavily outside now,’ she remarked lightly as she put the tray down.

‘Yes.’ He stood with his back to her looking out of the window. ‘Let’s hope we don’t get snowed in.’

‘I don’t think there is much chance of that.’ She went to stand beside him. ‘It doesn’t usually stick.’

He looked down at her. ‘Pity,’ he drawled, a teasing light in his eye. ‘We could have warmed ourselves by the fire and reminisced over the good old days.’

‘What good old days?’ She tried to make her voice flippant.

‘Oh, come on, Beth.’ He shook his head and turned to face her. ‘We did have some good times together,’ he said gently. ‘Surely you haven’t forgotten?’

She felt her heart miss a beat, felt suddenly breathless as she met the velvet darkness of his eyes. Then she looked hurriedly away, confusion clouding any memories.

He reached out a hand, tipping her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

The touch of his hand on her skin made her tremble. Very slowly he allowed his hand to move caressingly down the side of her neck.

The sensation made a shiver of awareness tingle through her body. She felt rooted to the spot, unable to think, unable to even breathe properly.

She felt his gaze resting on her mouth. It was almost like a physical caress, she could feel her lips tingle with anticipation, feel his breath warm against hers.

His eyes moved to the scoop neck of her top, noting the creaminess of her skin over the ripe soft curves of her breast, before moving back to her face.

The idea of seduction ran tantalisingly in his mind, just as it had done these last few months as he had drawn up the papers for her to sign. It would be good to possess her one more time, look down into her eyes as he enjoyed her. Then walk away without a backward glance, just as she had done, his papers signed.

It would be the ultimate retribution for the way she had so nonchalantly broken their bargain.

He looked into her eyes. They seemed incredibly blue, incredibly large for her small face. He bent closer.

‘Jay, stop it.’ Her voice was a whisper. There was no forceful rejection, just a husky, ragged plea.

It tore at his heart. He frowned, his hand dropping to his side as he moved back, the idea of retribution melting, like the snow outside on the pavement.

‘Perhaps you’re right.’ He shrugged, his lips curving in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘Perhaps we should forget the past.’

She didn’t answer.

‘So, tell me, are you seeing someone else?’ His bantering tone lashed against fragile senses.

‘I don’t really think that is any of your business, do you?’ She tried to compose herself, tried to forget the sudden rush of need that had assailed her just moments ago.

‘I’m just curious.’

‘It’s none of your business.’ She flared again. She shook her head. How dared he come here with his divorce papers, and then bait her about old times, with that gleam of seductive charm in his eye? ‘And let me tell you, Jay Hammond. If you came in here with any intentions of having a roll in the sack for old times’ sake, then you can think again. I wouldn’t want to go to bed with you if you were the last man left alive in the universe.’

He smiled. ‘And this from the woman who was begging me to marry her just eighteen months ago.’

The mocking words made her temper rise even further. ‘I didn’t beg you to marry me.’

‘Didn’t you? Must have been some other raven haired beauty.’

‘I suggested a business plan,’ she murmured tightly.

‘Ah, yes, the wonderful business plan, that you were deriding over dinner in holier than thou tones…it’s all coming back to me.’

Her cheeks felt as if they were on fire, her blood racing wildly through her body. ‘So, are you making business plans with anyone else?’ he murmured derisively. ‘Is that the question I should really be asking?’

‘No! But I am seeing someone else. Someone very special.’ She flung the words at him.

‘Well, good for you.’ In contrast to her he was perfectly cool. ‘I hope you’ll be very happy, Beth. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy.’

She wanted to say, Is that why you screwed your secretary behind my back? But she held her tongue, furious with herself for losing her temper in the first place. She would never lower herself to make a comment like that, or show in any way that she cared one damn about his affair.

Silence fell between them.

‘You’d better go,’ she told him heavily.

He nodded. ‘I’ll fetch your briefcase and drop it into the office for you to pick up in the morning. If that’s all right with you?’

‘Perfectly.’

She walked to the door with him. Now he was going she wished even more that she hadn’t lost her temper. And what had been the point in lying about her private life? He probably didn’t give a damn who she was seeing, anyway. He wanted a divorce, for heaven’s sake!

Pride, that was why she had lied, she told herself as she watched him put on his coat. Pride had always been her downfall. It was the reason she hadn’t told him the truth when she’d asked him to marry her; it was the reason she hadn’t told him the truth when she’d walked out on him. It was a dreadful emotion, yet she couldn’t help it.

She didn’t want him to think she cared. And she didn’t want him to know that no one had taken his place, either in her heart or her bed.

‘Leave my briefcase at the reception area of my office in the morning. I’ll sign the papers and send them on to you,’ she told him stiffly.

‘Okay. Goodnight, Beth.’

‘Goodnight.’ She watched as he walked towards his car, got in and drove away. All that was left were the tyre marks on the virgin white snow. Was that it? she asked herself. The end of a marriage? The last time she would ever see Jay Hammond?

She closed the door firmly and leaned back on it. I don’t care, she told herself fiercely. But no matter how many times she said those words they still rang hollowly inside her.