A British Bride by Agreement (21 page)

He grabbed the sides of her face to kiss
her. “You scared me to death.”

Jonathan took blankets from the captain
and swathed her trembling form. He then lifted her into a sitting position and
wrapped his arms around her.

She was crying and trying to talk at the
same time. “I was so scared. I was afraid you—you’d never come back. When that
thing touched my foot, I thought I was going to die.”

Jonathan brushed her hair from her
forehead and kissed her there, wanting to absorb her fears into his own body.
How could he have left her on her alone on the deck? He should have insisted
she come down to the main deck with him. “It’s okay. You’re safe.” He murmured
into her ear. “I’ll never let you get hurt again.”

She pulled back and touched her face. A
red welt was forming on her right cheek all the way up to her lips. “This is
throbbing.”

Jonathan stared at the swelling wound.
Jellyfish.
“Captain!”

“Yes, Mr. Steller.”

“My wife has been stung by a jellyfish.
Do you have any medicine on board?”

The first mate rushed up, opening a
bottle of water. “We could use this to rinse it off. That might help.”

Jonathan grabbed his arm as he was about
to pour the liquid on his wife’s face. “That is the worst thing you can do. Do
you have any vinegar or shaving cream?”

“I do.” The captain scooted back to the
lower deck.

Emma touched her red lips. “They’re
swelling and burning.”

“I’m so sorry, darling.” Jonathan dabbed
at the sea water still clinging to her face. When he finished smoothing the
shaving cream on the wound, the yacht slowed down as it approached the dock.
“We’ll get a doctor to you right away.”

Emma moaned as he helped her stand. “I
feel sick, quite dizzy…” She started to press her hand to her chest. “My heart
is—I can’t breathe,” she gasped. “I can’t breathe,” and then she wilted in his
arms.

Jonathan shook her. Was she dead?

***

Emma woke up to the pungent odor of
ammonia

“She’s coming around.” A dark-skinned
man hovered over her.

Emma blinked and tried to sit up.

 
“Em, take it easy. I’m here. You’re all
right.” Jonathan eased her back on the pillow.

She scrunched her brow. “Where did I go?
”
 
Her lips hurt when
she talked.

The dark- skinned man leaned over and
gave her a shot in the arm. “As we like to say in Belize, sometimes it is the
jellyfish who welcomes you first.” He stood and tucked away the syringe. “That
antibiotic should help with the pain, but here are some pain pills and more
antibiotics. Call me if her symptoms worsen.”

“Thank you, Doctor
Larubeya
,”
said Jonathan.

Emma touched her lips as she watched
Jonathan walk the doctor to the door. They were grossly swollen. She must look
like a freak.
So much for a romantic trip.

“How are you feeling?” Jonathan knelt
down beside her.

“Like a side show at a fair.”

He shook his head. “When you fainted, I
thought you were dead.”

“I’m sorry for causing so much trouble
on your trip.”

Jonathan leaned in and kissed her
forehead.

She closed her eyes and savored the feel
of his soft lips touching her. An ache rose in her chest. This was going to be
the time when she told him how much she cared about him. How she didn’t want an
agreement between them, but a real marriage.

Jonathan stood and looked at his watch.
“Nick should be here any minute.”

Emma frowned. “Nick
?
 
Why is he coming?”

“I can’t leave you alone like this when
I go to work.”

“But I can take care of myself.”

“I want him to watch over you.”

She sat up. “Like I’m some child?”

“Why are you so upset about Nick? Has he
done something?”

She fell silent, unable to quite put her
finger on it, but she didn't trust Jonathan’s assistant. Nick had some agenda,
something he was working towards that made his actions and his words seem
insincere. Besides, this trip was meant to be just the two of them. “No, it’s
just that I was looking forward to—” Jonathan had never said anything to make
her believe he cared for her beyond a wife by agreement. He had been most
solicitous on the yacht, and on their honeymoon, deeply caring, but all those
days in St. Louis, when she barely saw him…

Jonathan was still staring at her,
expecting a reply.

 
“I was looking forward to going shopping with
you.”

He frowned for a minute. “Well, Nick can
take care of you until you feel better.”

Her heart tumbled down until it felt
bruised and torn.

“We will have to sleep together.” He
sighed. “Nick will take the other bedroom and the third room is for the cook
and the housekeeper.”

“Oh.” Emma tried not to smile, because
it hurt her lips, but deep inside her hope rose.

“Can I help you to bed?”

Her eyes widened. Was he in a hurry? But
a quick look outside at the darkened sky made her realize it was already night
time. Her heart beat sped up. If only he would crawl into bed and wrap his arms
around her.

As Jonathan helped her stand, searing
pain radiated through her face and lips.
“
Ooo
.”

“Pain?”

She nodded.

Once she got in bed, he gave her an
antibiotic pill, but after five minutes she felt herself melting into the
sheets. Drat.
A sleeping pill.

***
          
The annoying buzz of someone
talking woke Emma. She tried to ignore it by flipping over on her stomach, but
as soon her cheek hit the sheets, pain seared through her.

“Breakfast in
bed, Mrs. Steller.”

Emma looked up to a maid in a crisp grey
and white uniform setting a tray on the night stand. Nick was peering over her
shoulder. She looked around the teak, canopy bed but Jonathan was gone. “Thank
you,” she slurred her words. Emma seized the cup of tea, her morning must-have.
But she when she went to sip it, it merely dribbled the liquid down her front.

Nick sat on the bed. “Wants some help
with that?”

 
“No.” Emma frowned.

Nick whipped out a straw.
“Maybe this?”

She swallowed at the sight of it. She
was dying for the taste of her morning cup of tea. Snatching the straw, she
sucked down the hot beverage. After a few more sips, she began to feel more
herself. “I must admit, you have saved me.”

“I love to help ladies in distress.”

“How long have you been here?”

Nick hid a laugh behind his hand. “Oh, my,
that is pretty bad.”

“What?”

“Your lips are the size of tires.”

Emma scooted to the edge of the bed and
begrudgingly accepted Nick’s help to the dresser mirror. She gasped at what she
saw. She looked like a clown. And the swollen red stripe on her face didn’t
help either. “I am going back to bed.”

She slept on and off most of the day,
having to, at one point,
ask
Nick for more pain
medicine. She had to admit, she was glad he was here. He was very gentle with
her and very caring.

Around four in the afternoon, the desire
for more tea got her out of bed. As she paced to the kitchen, she noticed Nick
going through Jonathan’s files. Had Jonathan asked him to find something? Then
Nick pulled out his phone and took pictures of some of the paperwork.

“What are you doing?” Emma gripped the
doorframe.

Nick looked up, tucking his phone in his
pocket. “How are you feeling? Do you want me to get you more tea? I know how
you English babes love it.”

“Why were you taking pictures of
Jonathan’s paperwork?”

“Oh, that, just some business stuff.”

“For who?”

“Jonathan, of
course.
I do all kinds of things for him. We’re family.
Practically
brothers.
We’ve both risen in this company together. I don’t think you
need to question the things you see me working on. I do everything to make sure
Jonathan looks good for his father.” He flashed his brilliant smile. “Look,” he
came around and led her to the kitchen table. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll
make you something to eat and I can tell you all about it.”

Emma glanced around the spacious
kitchen. “Where is the cook?”

“I sent her to the market. There was no
pasta, no way to make spaghetti sauce, bruschetta,
carbonara
.”

Emma tried to smile at the Italian lilt
to Nick’s voice, but it hurt her cheek. Why did she question him? He was obviously
a very a smart fellow, and was taking good care of her. But she must be sure to
tell Jonathan about the picture taking.

Nick set the kettle to boil. “What are
you hungry for?”

Emma touched her lips.
“Shrinking potion.”

“That is going to take days to heal.” He
leaned in to look more closely and grimaced.

Emma slouched, all hopes for romance
with Jonathan ruined.

“Cheer up, Jonathan called me and said
he’d be back by dinner.”

“Did he ask about me?”

“No, I’m sorry, he didn’t. You have to
realize that to Jonathan work will always come first. It is what is expected of
him by our family. You need to be content with just being with him when he has
time for you.
Which will become less and less as he chases
his dream to climb the Steller ladder.
”

She nodded and moved to sit in a chair
in front of a vast window with a full ocean view. She sat mesmerized by ocean
waves crashing and pulling back. That was exactly how her heart felt. Full of
mounting hope and then those hopes would be dashed over and over. He would
never truly turn
around,
never want this marriage to
work like she did. But hadn’t she prayed? Hadn’t she believed that the Lord was
leading her to do this
?
 
A weight of stone welled up in her chest. How could God lead her
into another loveless marriage?

Tears streamed down both sides of her
cheeks, but they burned when they hit her swollen lips. She dabbed her sleeve
at them to dry them off. Why would such a handsome, confident man want her
anyway? She had been financial disaster from the start. Now she was an ugly mess.
An unwanted ugly mess.

Nick handed her a cup of tea, and set
down plate of cookies and a small bowl of yogurt. “I didn’t know how hungry you
would be.” Concern etched his tone.

She looked up at his handsome face. She
had judged him wrongly. “Thank you, Nick. You make an excellent nurse. And I’m
sure you do just as well working for Jonathan.”

“I’m happy to help. I know marrying a
Steller has brought an incredible change to your life. So, if I can assist you
in any way, I want to.” He patted her shoulder. “I’m glad you trust me.”

Emma blinked. The note of sincerity in
his voice surprised her. “Yes…”

“Everything I
do,
is to make him look good to Uncle Hans.”

“And what exactly are your aspirations?”

Nick turned his back and headed for the
kitchen and started washing up. “Oh, I’m sure when the time is right, Uncle
Hans will promote me.”

***

Intercepting the money sent to the two
charities, and then hiring known swindlers to call the charity, hadn’t been as
hard as Nick thought. Although being here in Belize, and seeing the orphaned
children in the streets, did tug at his heart, he had, had a similar childhood,
with a non-existent father and a drunk for a mother. If it hadn’t been for
Uncle Hans and Aunt Babsy, he’d still be running the streets of Lower Stondon. They
had seen to his high school education at a boarding school in England and then
he came to St. Louis to work for the company.

Any mistake Jonathan made, he’d quickly
sent to his uncle just to, “keep him in the know.” And as Jonathan continued to
flounder as a charity director, surely his uncle would promote him instead of
his son. Nick might have less pure Steller blood in his veins being a cousin,
but Uncle Hans had always been foremost a business man.

And with the sleeping pill ground up in
Emma’s yogurt, she would go back to sleep and he would get back to work.

He looked over at her with her tousled
hair sipping her tea. The thought of drugging her and slipping into bed with
her had crossed his mind. But there was something about her.
Something
peaceful, something almost godly that he didn’t want to cross.
Although
he had run across something about Emma’s past, that would really tarnish that
pure reputation. He’d already handed it off for someone else to tell Jonathan.
Maybe this would be the thing that would ruin marriage, and send Jonathan over
the edge.