The Marriage Merger (12 page)

He downed half the contents in one gulp.
“Damn traffic,” he muttered. He appeared to notice Mark for the
first time. “You’d better get a move on or you’ll be eating at
midnight.”

Then his gaze switched to Jenna as she walked
over to him.

His eyes glittered, blue flecks magnifying,
boring fiercely into hers.

“Are you going or not?” he bit out.

Jenna stepped back. Was he deliberately
trying to upset her? Or had something happened? She was tempted to
ask him if anything was wrong with Alicia but knew she couldn’t do
it in front of Caitlin. She longed to soothe the frown lines from
his forehead, kiss the scowl from his brows, taste the heady
euphoria she’d found in his lips, his tongue, but the ill temper
blazing in his eyes stopped the delicious trembling her thoughts
were creating.

She stood silent, her gaze locked with his,
her need for him creating an almost palpable aura around her. Tiny
beads of sweat formed on his forehead, his jaw tightened. Like a
man losing a battle with his inner demons he wrenched his gaze
away.

“Yes. We’re going,” she said softly.

“Mark, this place is wonderful.”

Jenna’s worry over Braden was swept aside by
the view before her. The restaurant perched on a rocky cliff
overlooking the ocean, the entire sea-front wall comprised of
windows and sliding glass doors opening out onto a wide
balcony.

The night was warm, with only a gentle
breeze, and the retractable roof had been left off the balcony so
they were literally dining beneath the stars. Moonlight reflected
on the waves crashing on the rocks below them. The cliff fell away
to a small bay with a white sand beach and houses and apartment
buildings scattered along the tree-strewn shoreline.

Jenna sipped her lemon squash and savoured
the magic of the evening, and tried to stop wishing it was Braden
sitting opposite her. Mark was quite attractive, but her mind kept
seeing hair as dark as midnight and grey eyes that had shot blue
fire at her tonight.

“What do you do for a living, Mark?”

“I write and install computer programs for
small businesses. I usually stay for a few days instructing the
employees on how to use them. That’s why I’m away so much. Though I
try to plan it that I do as much in the one area as possible to cut
down on travelling time.”

“Do you travel far?”

“Usually a four hundred kilometre radius is
the limit but sometimes I’ll go further than that.”

The waitress quietly served their entree,
fresh prawns with sweet lychees and a small avocado salad. After
they’d eaten and the dishes were cleared, Mark gave Jenna an
assessing look.

“Tell me how you ended up as Braden
Fleetwood’s housekeeper, Jenna.”

She gave a precis of what had occurred since
she had first met him and explained why she agreed to stay and look
after Caitlin. He was easy to talk to, asking interested questions
on her qualifications and career choices. She had just finished
telling him about the mishap with the two young sailors when their
main meal arrived. For the next few minutes there was little
conversation as they savoured the delicate piquancy of quail with a
tangy mango sauce and lightly steamed organic vegetables.

Jenna had just finished her last mouthful
when Mark asked

“Does Braden know you’re in love with
him?”

“What?” Had it been so obvious? Flustered,
she stared at him in confusion. If someone who was virtually a
stranger had been able to read her feelings, what about Braden? Had
he guessed?

“Please don’t be upset, Jenna,” Mark’s
pleasant face was contrite. "I'm sure Braden has no idea how you
feel about him. I wanted to come up to see you after that first day
we met, but I thought you would have been spending all your time
with Jeff. Then when you turned up on my doorstep, all wet,” he
smiled, “I entertained the hope that I could get to know you better
- I find you extremely attractive.”

Jenna found the colour rising in her cheeks
again. Mark smiled and patted her hand as it clenched around her
glass.

“Don’t worry. I realise you don’t see me in
the same light. Braden is rather formidable opposition, I’ll
admit.”

“Why...why do you think I’m in love with
him?”

“I saw the look on your face when you
realised what he was obviously thinking when he found us together
the other day. And when I asked you out - you wanted him to forbid
you from saying yes, didn’t you.”

Jenna shrugged her shoulders. “Why would I
want that?”

“Because it would have shown that he cared,
that he minded you going out with another man. And tonight, the
vibes between you two were so strong you almost created static
electricity.”

“I’ll admit there’s some attraction there.”
Jenna conceded, anxious not to show how deeply her emotions were
involved.

Mark leaned back in his chair. Clouds scudded
across the moon and cast rippling shadows over the balcony.

“I’m not meaning to pry, Jenna. I’m sorry if
I upset you. I just thought it might help to talk about it. You’ve
been distracted and on edge since we left tonight.”

At the concern in his kind brown eyes Jenna
was instantly regretful. She realised that in expressing his
attraction to her, and his acknowledgment that she did not
reciprocate that attraction, he had relegated his role to that of
friend, if she was willing to accept it.

“I haven’t wanted to fall in love with him,
Mark. I’ve tried to keep our relationship on a strictly
professional basis, but I can’t seem to prevent the way I
feel.”

“Yes, sometimes it’s pretty hopeless, isn’t
it.”

“It is in this situation,” Jenna said, then
as Mark waited patiently, she explained about Braden’s attitude to
love and marriage.

When she finished Mark smiled gently.
“Braden’s the kind of man who’ll go down fighting. He’ll resist
every good feeling he has about you because it’s the only way to
keep his guard up and not allow himself to be vulnerable.”

Jenna agreed with his opinion, despairingly
sure that Braden’s stubborn determination would never allow him to
back down from his stance on marriage. She declined dessert, opting
instead to share a fruit platter with Mark. They lingered over the
selection, delighting in some of the more exotic fruits as well as
the mangoes and paw-paw for which Queensland was famous. And
because he was so easy to talk to she found herself telling him
about her lover who had mistaken his gratitude to her for love. He
made no comment because it became obvious that in the telling the
last of the pain and uncertainty was erased.

“From one friend to another,” Mark smiled
gently as the elevator rose smoothly up to the penthouse, “don’t be
afraid to take another risk just because you’ve been hurt once
before. It seems to me that Braden could do with someone as warm
and loving as you. It sounds as though his life has been fairly
barren of love so far.”

Jenna looked into Mark’s face. “Perhaps
that’s the way he wants it, Mark.”

“No, Jenna. No-one really wants to live
without love. But fear of loss, of rejection, can make a person put
up barriers and block out the very thing their heart longs
for.”

Jenna knew that what he was saying was right,
but she knew no way to change Braden’s attitude to love and
marriage. And she couldn’t compromise herself and settle for a
relationship based on sexual attraction alone.

The elevator came to a smooth halt and the
door opened.

“I won’t come in,” Mark said as Jenna went to
speak. “But if you need to talk to a friend at any time just come
down. My door will always be open to you.”

Her lips brushed his cheek. “Thank you for a
wonderful evening, Mark.”

“My pleasure, Jenna.”

The lounge-room light was still on. Jenna
tossed her handbag on the lounge and walked into the kitchen. It
was late, but she wasn’t tired. It had been a surprising evening.
She had only gone out with Mark to pique Braden but had instead
found a friend who she knew would always be there if she needed
him.

She made a cup of hot chocolate and stepped
out into the dark courtyard. Still night air wrapped her in its
quiet mantle. She walked to the railings and looked down at the
river. Soft sounds of its swirls and eddies filtered up to her.
Odours of decaying vegetation from the mangroves on the opposite
shore mingled with the river’s brine, contrasting sharply with the
heady perfume of tropical blossoms from the gardens below.

Her eyes lifted to the stars gleaming in the
ebony sky. A smile curved her lips as she made out the Southern
Cross. After two years of northern hemisphere skies it was
wonderful to see familiar constellations.

“Cat got the cream, did she?”

Jenna whirled around in alarm, then cried out
as the hot chocolate spilled on her hand. Braden was sitting in the
leafy area outside his study. She heard the clink of glass on
concrete then he was striding towards her.

“What the hell have you done to yourself?” He
took the cup from her hand and grabbed her wrist. She could smell
the alcohol on his breath and wondered if he had spent the night
out there, drinking. His hand on her was unnerving, it recalled
memories of how it felt on her skin, her breasts. She shivered at
the betraying reaction of her body.

“You need cold water on that,” he said
gruffly. “Come on.” He began to pull her back to the penthouse.

“I’ll be all right,” she protested, but he
took no notice. In the kitchen he poured cold water into a bowl and
growled at her to put her hand in it. She realised that he was in
no mood to listen to her protestations that her hand would be fine
so decided to do as he demanded.

He leaned back against the bench, crossed one
long leg over the other and shoved his hands deep into his pockets.
She could feel the tension in him. He’d changed into denim shorts
and a black sleeveless shirt that hung unbuttoned, exposing the
dark hairs that curled in a narrow vee into his waistband. Her eyes
followed their tantalizing journey, her body wakening with desire
as her imagination ran riot.

“Did Caitlin go to sleep all right?” she
blurted out, trying to focus her mind on something less disturbing
than the thought of Braden’s naked body.

“No, not easily. I had to keep reassuring her
that you were coming back. Kids don’t like to feel abandoned by
someone they love.”

“I did not abandon Caitlin.” Jenna’s voice
was even, controlled, but her temper was bubbling close to the
surface. If he hadn’t wanted her to go out and leave Caitlin why
hadn’t he said so?

“She didn’t see it that way.”

“Caitlin didn’t? Or you didn’t?”

His body stiffened, a scowl narrowing his
eyes. Every muscle in her body tensed as Jenna watched him walk
slowly towards her. When he was so close she could sense his body
heat and the tautness in the long lines of his body he stopped. A
muscle twitched under his clenched jaw. His eyes had darkened,
steel-grey shuttered by long, dark lashes; his sensuous lips
thinned to a grim line.

Jenna’s heart thudded. He looked so
forbidding, if she hadn’t been so angry herself she might have been
frightened.

“What do you mean?” It was a growl more than
a question but Jenna was too furious to be intimidated.

“Perhaps if you could stop seeing every woman
in the same light as your mother you might realise that she was the
exception, not the rule. Few mothers abandon their children. Most
would rather die than do that. You...you just happen to be one of
the unlucky few.”

As she spoke the last few words her fury
evaporated in a surge of compassion for this man who used anger to
disguise his pain. She reached out and touched his cheek.

“Let it go, Braden. Don’t let the past
destroy your chances for the future. And subconsciously you could
pass on your feelings to Caitlin. You don’t want to risk that, do
you? She needs all the support she can get if she’s to relate well
to Alicia again.”

His skin burned beneath her hand as his eyes
bored into hers. The seconds ticked by. His expression didn’t
change. Anxiety curdled in Jenna’s stomach. Finally, without
shifting his gaze from hers, he reached up and placed his hand on
hers, then slowly brought it down to his mouth.

His lips were soft and warm on her palm as
they feathered gentle kisses in a slow circle, his eyes never
moving from hers. It was disturbingly erotic. She could feel the
heat building up in her body, the prickling sensations on her skin
as she longed for more of his touch. His eyes were glittering,
cheeks flushed with desire.

She knew she should move, knew she should
wrench her hand away, run while she was still capable of escaping
the desire she could read in his face, his body. But her body
betrayed her. Instead of stepping back as her mind told her to, she
leaned towards him, breathing in his musky male scent mingled with
the scotch he had been drinking.

His lips slipped unhurriedly from her palm to
her ear, then tantalized their way down her cheek. As they claimed
her mouth with surprising gentleness she relaxed into him with a
sigh, moulding her body to meet his, ignoring the risk her heart
was taking.

Her eyes closed. The soft gentle nibbling of
his lips and teeth on her slightly parted mouth changed, becoming
more urgent. She felt him tremble with suppressed desire, his hands
gliding softly around her shoulders, holding her protectively
against him. She eased her burned hand from the bowl, barely aware
of its wetness, its coldness, and joined the other in touching his
face.

It was as though she had struck him. His body
went rigid, his lips stilled. She opened her eyes, drugged from the
bliss she had found in his arms.

His eyes were wide, sweat beading on his
forehead. He jerked back from her, disgust clearly evident on his
features. She cringed. What had she done now? Did he think her
compassion for him was just a ruse, a woman’s wiles to get at his
precious money? Before she could utter a word his face
hardened.