Sex, Lies and Contracts

Chapter Six

Julianna crossed to Thames Street and arrived at Christie's Restaurant. She chatted with some local acquaintances before being led to a table on the back deck. The breeze barely stirred, and she smoothed out some loose strands from her chignon. Her casual white sundress left her shoulders bare, and matching white sandals completed the outfit. She ordered a glass of Chardonnay and waited for Bryce.

Almost a week had passed and they’d seen each other every evening. They dined, shared conversation, and he politely kissed her goodnight. Then she went home to Jack and spent the hours before dawn making love.

Julianna tapped one peach-tinted nail against the edge of the table. A decision needed to be made. Fast. Bryce was to leave next week, and she sensed a question would be posed.

What was she going to do?

She sipped the cold, dry liquid and tried to gather her thoughts. Jack was the perfect summer affair. He knew she dated someone, but refused to question her daily activities. He gave her multiple orgasms and didn't ask for anything back. With his work completed tomorrow, he'd soon move on until he decided to return to England and run the family business.

The problem was, she was beginning to want more.

The nights on his boat had taken on a dreamlike quality. Her body knew every touch, every tone, and every look. She belonged to him, as he reminded her each evening.

But he couldn't give her what she needed.

The Cliff House. The fulfillment of a promise to her dying father. Jack Wolfe lived in the moment, but never looked beyond the day. When he left, he’d be taking a piece of her. But she had to be rational about her decision.

Julianna looked up and smiled as Bryce greeted the waiter and sat down. He made a charming face. “I’m late again.”

“You’re always late,” she teased back. “That’s why I already ordered a drink.”

“I love an independent woman.” They skimmed the menu and ordered, then relaxed and took in the scenery. “Maybe after dinner you can show me your home. I’ve been dying to see it.”

Guilt made her voice sharp. “Oh, not tonight. I’m having some work done and it’ll be better tomorrow night.”

“Outside or inside?”

She took a bite of bread and pushed the basket toward him. “Outside. Try this—the hummus is delicious here.”

“Hmm. You have to be careful with those contractors. Do you have one you trust?”

Julianna wondered if she was losing it, or if he was studying her face as intently as she thought. Like he waited for something. She concentrated on her plate. “Sure, he’s fine. He’ll be gone tomorrow.”

“Well, good. Then it’s a date for tomorrow.”

“Fine. Now I think…” Julianna’s gaze caught on a tall, familiar build and she trailed off, her attention completely focused on the couple across the room. A young woman with short blond hair, a slim build, and a killer smile bent forward and rubbed her companion’s knee. He smiled back and leaned in to tell her something, forming an intimate circle which seemed to delight her. Julianna felt the room go still, then spin and throw her completely off kilter. She shook her head hard as if to clear it, noting Bryce’s sudden worried frown and her inability to form any words.

Jack.

With another woman.

“What is it, Julianna? Are you ok?”

She forced a smile and tore her gaze away. Her heart pounded in a frantic rhythm, but she spoke calmly. “Nothing. I thought I recognized someone I knew. Now, tell me about your day.”

She listened to him half-heartedly and snuck glances at her lover. They seemed intent on their own conversation, ignoring the waiter when he delivered the food. Jack had ordered a bottle of wine. Was it expensive?

He wasn’t wearing his usual attire of jeans and t-shirt. He’d dressed for this occasion, in a button-down blue shirt with navy cotton pants and leather shoes. His hair glistened in the dying sun and turned some strands a golden blonde. Who was she? He seemed less physical with this woman, yet interested in her words. Was he sleeping with her?

Even worse, was he courting her?

She attacked her shrimp with a ruthless intensity, but Bryce didn’t comment. Occasionally, he glanced over his shoulder as if wondering what distracted her. Julianna cursed under her breath, using a few choice words Jack taught her. This was ridiculous. He was a free man. For God’s sake, she was probably getting married! It was for the best.

Julianna finished the meal and refused to look at the couple across the room.

The waiter delivered a tall crystal goblet filled with fresh strawberries and whipped crème. She grabbed her spoon, lifted it to her mouth, and stopped dead.

Something brilliant caught the light and sparkled amidst froths of whipped cream. Slowly, she took the spoon away and tapped the object.

A ring.

The waiter stood back from the table, a delighted grin on his face. Bryce reached over and took her hand. His dark eyes glinted with purpose and seriousness as he plucked the princess-cut diamond ring from the top of the fruit. He cleaned the cream off with a napkin, then held the ring out to her.

“Julianna, I think we can make each other very happy. Will you marry me?”

An eerie silence settled around her. A slight roaring attacked her ears, and she realized everyone was staring at their table, holding their breath.

Her gaze cut across the room.

Jack stared back at her. Whiskey colored eyes mercilessly caught and held her prisoner. Raw anger carved out his face, his jaw locked tight, his fingers clenched into fists at his side. Pure masculine rage flew at her like shards of glass, and she flinched.

“Julianna?”

Her throat stuck. She made an effort to speak, but only managed a squeak. The walls closed in, and Julianna realized with horror she was having an outright panic attack. Her plan had worked. She had a chance to keep her promise, and also marry a man she had legitimate feelings for. Maybe friendship could grow. Maybe this was the best decision of her life.

She watched Jack whisper something to his companion. The woman looked over in confusion, and then Jack rose from his seat. And began to walk with deadly purpose toward her.

One second. Two. A decision.

“Julianna?”

She saw her future across the table. She saw the love of her life walking toward her. And she chose.

“Yes. I’ll marry you.”

Bryce let out a breath and slid the ring onto her finger. The waiter clapped, and surrounding patrons murmured happy approval. Champagne was uncorked and poured into two glasses. Julianna closed her eyes in brief prayer that Jack would go back to his table. If she let him, surely he would do the same for her?

“Hello, Julianna.”

She opened her eyes and swallowed. His gaze was hard, accusing, and dangerous. The game had been played and the final deal was on the table.

Ante up.

“Hello, Jack.”

She was surprised at the raw tension and open competitiveness of the look the two men shared. Almost as if there was something else going on she had no knowledge of. But then they nodded at each other as if a decision had been made.

Julianna cleared her throat. “Bryce, this is Jack Wolfe. He’s finishing up the work around the Cliff House.”

Bryce sat back in his seat with an amused look. “Wolfe, huh? I always did respect hard labor. Julianna seems satisfied with your work. I’ll check it out tomorrow when I see the Cliff House.”

She blinked at the obvious gloat in his tone, feeling like she was missing something crucial in this exchange.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” Jack said. “I’m surprised. Didn’t think you had known each other for long.”

Bryce grinned. “Long enough, old pal.”

“Yes, so it seems. Long enough.”

The men stared each other down. Julianna shifted in her seat, desperate to end the whole evening.

“Will this be a long engagement?” Jack asked.

Bryce gave a wink. “Don’t think so. No need to wait, right, sweetheart?”

Julianna shook her head to clear it. “We haven’t discussed dates yet. Umm, thanks for stopping by, Jack. I think your companion is waiting for you.”

Jack nodded as if he had made his own important decision. “Yes, she is. Enjoy your night.”

He turned and strode away without a glance back. He whispered something to his date. Within minutes, he paid the bill and walked out with her hand in hand. The woman was laughing.

Julianna knew he would make love to her tonight. Enveloped by rage and betrayal, he’d feel there wasn’t another choice. He’d strip her naked and plunge inside of her and call someone else’s name.

“Interesting guy,” Bryce commented. “Seems like he knows you better than a contractor would. Did you ever date?”

Julianna told the truth. Her voice was whisper soft when she spoke. “No, we never dated.”

How about a walk by the marina?” Bryce asked. “We can discuss plans. We have some decisions to make.”

“Yes."

Her heart shattered piece by piece as she took her fiancé's hand and accompanied him out of the restaurant.

Jack sat in the darkened bedroom and waited.

Silence closed around him. He sank deep into the stillness and let his thoughts take control.

He’d underestimated his cousin’s thirst for power. Now Jack would pay for his mistake, and pay dearly. He’d met Angela on one of his jobs and immediately asked her out. After all, his purpose in Newport had been to find a wife. A wife who wanted him for the person he was, and not for the money she’d inherit. Angela was sweet and sexy. A lunch date had turned into dinner. He felt there was potential in the relationship, that it might go further, but most of the time he compared her to Julianna.

When he left the restaurant, he’d intended to sleep with Angela. She was willing and ready, but her body was long and thin and almost boyish. Her taste was a bit tangy rather than the smooth caramel sweetness of Julianna’s mouth. Everything felt wrong, so he’d claimed exhaustion and put her off for another evening.

His short, meaningless affair had wrecked him for anything else. And now Julianna was going to marry his cousin.

After Angela left, Jack made the necessary phone calls. He pulled rank and discovered Bryce had come to town shortly after Jack arrived. Seemed his private investigator had done his dirty work for him. Somehow, Bryce knew about his plan to disappear and find a wife. Of course, he couldn't know about the special clause in his father's will, or his cousin would have married immediately. No, he was playing a dangerous head game. Bryce liked to toy with his prey before moving in for the kill. He’d probably discovered Jack's interest in Julianna and intended to halt the relationship before it went any further. Not sure what the final goal was, but Jack needed to find out.

Fast.

He could have called out his cousin’s charade in the restaurant, in front of Julianna. Instead, he’d protected both their identities. It wasn’t the place or time to tell Julianna the truth. Did she think she loved Bryce? Or was she so intent on marrying for wealth, she’d chosen to ignore her heart?

Gut instinct told him there was a deeper connection between them than sex. He’d intercepted her shocked look when she spotted his companion. He watched the naked jealousy on her face, along with her struggle to contain her emotions. The woman was so skilled at grooming herself to hide any messy feelings that it took him a while to learn her expressions. But now he understood them. Hours in the bedroom and talking through the night had bonded them, and he knew her more intimately than anyone who might have come before him.

Bryce would want to sleep with her.

Sickness lurched in his gut. He couldn’t let that happen. Couldn’t let this marriage happen. He had one shot at changing her mind and convincing her to take a chance on her heart. For God’s sakes, she must have enough money from her parents’ estate. Why did she want more?

She needed to choose.

He’d fought his feelings, but he knew he’d made the right choice. If she did the same, he’d tell the truth. Then she’d have it all, and he'd finally know she loved him enough to take a chance on him.

He'd changed. He quoted poetry as he worked. He looked for her in the gardens and hoped she'd pass the window so he could steal a quick peek. Her image burned in his mind. Her eyes gleaming with desire when she glanced at him, humming under her breath as she did chores around the house, or bathed in sunlight while she sat in the gardens with a novel in her lap. He loved watching her hair fly wildly in the ocean breeze when they sailed, and her laugh of delight when they caught a dolphin dancing behind his ship.

He was in love with her.

The door opened. Footsteps led straight to the bedroom and paused in the doorway. He kept hidden in the shadows as her gaze probed the room and settled on his figure.

“I didn’t think you would show.”

Her voice tore at him, slightly ragged and confused. Dark tendrils of hair escaped her topknot and framed her face. She breathed in and out in a nervous rush, and her tongue licked her plump lower lip, then nibbled. The strapless white dress barely clung to her plump breasts, sliding low enough to give him a glimpse of a red nipple. He wondered if Bryce had kissed her goodnight and pulled down her top. Wondered if she let him slide his hand under the gauzy material and touch her through her panties.

Jack reached down deep to connect with the emotional part of him that wanted to sit down and tell her his feelings. The civilized, rational man who ran a shipping company and sailed boats and knew how to court women with politeness.

Instead, he felt an animal rage and possession shake through his body and tear at his muscles. A need to stake his claim one last time.

He crossed the room and stood before her. Her rich brown eyes widened as she recognized the danger and took a step back with sheer survival instinct. He caught her hard around the waist and pulled her in. His mouth stopped inches from hers and he spoke his words directly against her lips.

“Did you let him fuck you?”

She gasped. Temper replaced fear as she pushed his chest. “No!”

“Good. You belong to me.” His gazed raked her face. “Maybe you need a reminder.”

He kissed her. She opened to his savagery with her own crazed need, meeting every rough thrust of his tongue and giving back with all she had.

He dropped one hand to his belt buckle, deftly unbuttoned and unzipped his pants. His erection sprang out and he felt her shudder in his arms. He tore his mouth from hers, gripped the back of her neck, and forced her down on her knees. He used his other hand to rip the pins from her hair until the waves tumbled loose over her shoulders. She breathed hard and unevenly, and his cock felt the warm puffs of her breath against his straining erection.

“Suck me. And don’t stop unless I tell you to.”

He waited for the fight, but a mad glitter of lust lit her eyes, and with a low moan, she opened up her lips and took him in.

He murmured his approval and loosened his grip on the back of her neck. She needed no more urging—her mouth held the perfect suction as she wrapped him tight and sucked, her tongue swirling around the base and licking the tip as daintily as a kitten licks cream. To Jack, she reminded him more of a lioness than a kitten, her bold strokes and suction creating the perfect balance and slowly driving him out of his mind. He arched upward and gave her more. Her hand cupped his scrotum and lightly raked her nails along the underside, eliciting a moan from his lips. She pushed him toward the edge with every stroke and lick and bite until he exploded in her wet channel, crying out her name in the silent room as she accepted every drop of him.

Julianna released him and looked up. Her lips wet from his semen, her eyes unfocused and blurred with need. Jack scented her raw arousal and knew she was moments from orgasming herself.

“Keep licking me gently.”

She obeyed, caressing him with talented fingers and soft breaths as he grew hard again. When he was ready, he guided her off her knees and pointed to the bed.

“Lie down and spread your legs.”

She raised her knees and let him look at her. The bodice of the sundress had dipped to her belly and exposed her full naked breasts, already swollen and sensitive. Her skirt was hiked up above her legs, and her pussy spread open to his ravenous gaze. Wetness gleamed in the dim light. He moved to the bed and knelt between her open legs. His tongue flicked out to gently lick around her swollen clit, parting her labia and then stroking the surface with teasing strokes. She arched off the bed in response and cried out, looking for more, but he kept her there for long minutes, stretching out her pleasure until sensation was so intense it bordered on pain.

She begged and pleaded. Finally, he sucked on her engorged clit, the ripe flesh blossoming against his lips, her heady scent swamping his senses. She slid toward orgasm, the convulsions beginning, and he quickly removed his mouth and plunged deep inside her with his cock.

Julianna screamed and climaxed hard. He took all she had, every thrust a reminder her body and soul and mind belonged only to him. Her body embraced the knowledge and then she shuddered again, a flow of mini-orgasms that milked his cock and pushed him one final time to spurt inside of her.

The clock ticked as they lay together in a tangle of sheets. Her breathing slowed, and Jack rolled over to face her in the darkness. He reached deep inside himself for the strength to reveal his emotions, not knowing the outcome.

“Don’t marry him.”

Her hands cupped his face. He felt her fingers lightly touch his lips, trace the curve of his cheekbone, his jaw. Smooth out his brows. He watched as a mix of emotions flickered in her inky eyes.

“What have you done to me?” she whispered.

“I’m breaking our deal.” He placed a hard kiss on her lips. “I lied. I don’t want you to belong to me every night. I want days. Weekends. Holidays. I want it all.”

“Jack—”

“I love you.” His heart squeezed in fear and hope and astonishment at the truth. “I want you to marry me instead. I want to sail my boat with you and make love to you and listen to you quote poetry all day. Choose me.”

Despair leaked into her voice. “This was supposed to be about sex.”

“Yes. But it became more for me. Now I need to know if you feel the same.”

His gut told him she’d choose him. They understood and connected with each other on a basic scale he’d never discovered with another woman. He had to believe it was more than sex. He had to believe she’d choose him over the money. He felt as if his whole life had led up to this moment. Not only had he found a woman he loved, but by marrying her, he’d complete his destiny and finally claim the company and his heritage on his own terms.

“I love you, Jack.”

Triumph coursed through him. He reached for her, but she held out two hands in an effort to ward him off. He finally caught the sheen of tears in her eyes. The slight tremble of her lips. And he listened to her words while he felt his world slowly break apart around him.

“But I can’t marry you. I have to marry Bryce.”

A deep freeze settled over him. He studied her with a hard, assessing glare. “Is this about money?”

She flinched, but stayed her course. He gave her credit. She looked at him straight on and nodded. “I made my father a promise before he died. The Cliff House is the only family legacy left to us. We lost everything with the medical bills, upkeep, mortgage. The money’s all gone. My father asked me to do anything in my power to keep our home. I looked for loans from anyone. Time was running out and the house would have foreclosed. I can’t let that happen, Jack. Even if I have to marry for it.”

She took a deep ragged breath and sat up in the bed, the sheet tightly clutched to her breasts. “You made me fall in love with you. But if I don’t marry Bryce, I’ll break the only promise I ever made to my father. I can’t do it. So I can’t choose you.”

He let the words wash over him and permeate each layer of his body until they reached the beat of his heart. He felt as if something died deep inside. There was no happily ever after. Bad sometimes wins over good.

Still, he needed to live with no regrets. Now he understood why she needed the money. The final puzzle piece locked into place and the reality lay before him. She’d never craved money for her own needs. Her promise to her father was key. Jack realized the woman before him had given over her entire life to promises she’d made to other people. None for herself.

He needed her to trust him, to reach deep inside and let herself go in order to give them a shot at having something real. So, he choked on his pride. “I’m asking you to choose me over your father.” His body burned with urgency, mentally screaming for her to pick him so they could share a life together. He picked his words carefully. “You may not think I have much, but I can take care of things, Julianna.”

He’d give her no more. He needed her to choose with a clear conscience. For love. Not money.

She bowed her head, and her glorious umber hair slid over her face and teased the tips of her breasts. When she looked up, he watched one lone tear skate down her cheek. But her face was carved from stone. “I can’t marry you, Jack,” she said softly.

Silence descended. He nodded and rose from the bed. After dressing quickly, he paused by the door and took one last glance at her. Said farewell to the one woman who’d stolen his heart, but didn’t want it.

“Good night, Julianna.”

Then he left.