In Separate Bedrooms (13 page)

‘You know!’ he finally stopped his impersonation of a goldfish—his mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out—long enough to gasp incredulously.

‘Of course I know,’ she said snippily. ‘Ha ha, very funny.’ She grimaced. ‘Satisfied?’

Jack still looked completely stunned. ‘But I—How—? When—?’

‘Your mother. This morning,’ she answered the unfinished questions. ‘Does this happen very often?’ she teased, realizing there was really no point in the two of them falling out; the beautiful Sharon Keswick or not, they still had this evening to get through with the rest of Jack’s family.

He blinked. ‘What?’

‘A speechless Jack Beauchamp!’ she replied with satisfaction.

His gaze narrowed. ‘You’ve known the truth since this morning …?’

‘The early bird catches the gossip,’ she misquoted.

‘Hmm,’ Jack mused suspiciously. ‘My mother didn’t mention any of this when I spoke to her earlier this afternoon.’

He must have gone to see his mother after Mattie had disappeared to the beauty salon …

‘Well, she wouldn’t have done, would she?’ Mattie retorted, slipping her arm into the crook of his. ‘Your poor mother had no idea I ever believed Tina, Sally, Cally, and Sandy were anything other than your four younger sisters!’ She gave him an overbright smile.

‘Of course not,’ Jack conceded slowly, his gaze narrowed on the insincerity of her smile. ‘So that was the reason for your unexpected—friendliness, earlier when I returned from the airport; you were playing with me, Mattie Crawford,’ he realized ruefully.

‘At your own game, Jack Beauchamp,’ she acknowledged dryly, thankfully latching onto this explanation; she had been playing with him earlier, but her feelings for him were very real. And she didn’t want him to even guess at those!

‘Touché.’
He gave an inclination of his head, his eyes gleaming with laughter as he draped his arm casually about her shoulders. ‘In that case, let’s go and say hello to the clan!’

‘The clan’, as he called them, were only too pleased to meet her, all his sisters warm and friendly, the men teasingly congratulating Jack on catching himself such a lovely girlfriend.

Mattie was grateful for the warmth of their compliments, needed all the ego-boosting there was going after that confrontation with Sharon Keswick.

In contrast, Sharon’s brother, Thom, was charming and friendly, with none of that brittle hardness that was such a part of his beautiful sister’s nature.

‘Has Mattie realized yet that you’re a workaholic, Jack?’ Thom teased his future brother-in-law.

Jack’s arm tightened about Mattie’s shoulders.
‘Maybe that will change now that I have Mattie,’ he answered suggestively.

‘Or that you’re a lousy golf player?’ Ian, Cally’s Scottish husband, joked. ‘He has a handicap of twenty-four,’ he confided in Mattie disgustedly.

‘I’m better suited to indoor sports,’ Jack returned smoothly.

‘In that case, has Mattie realized yet that you snore—? Ouch!’ Jim gave an aggrieved look in the direction of his wife, at the same time rubbing the ankle Tina had just kicked.

Mattie had been smiling from the beginning of this teasing of Jack, but now she couldn’t help bursting out laughing; poor Jim, he really did have a way of putting his foot in his mouth!

‘I really am sorry for the way I barged into your evening last night,’ Tina told her self-consciously. ‘I don’t know what you must have thought of me. And I kept poor Jack awake for hours with my emotional ranting and raving,’ she confessed.

No wonder he had looked so tired when he’d returned from the airport earlier …

‘Don’t give it another thought.’ Mattie squeezed the other woman’s arm understandingly. ‘That’s what families are for. Besides, it’s all settled now. And I understand congratulations are in order …?’ She looked at the newly expectant parents.

‘Thank you,’ Tina accepted glowingly. ‘And just ignore this idiot of a husband of mine,’ she added, at the same time moving closer to Jim to smile at him lovingly. ‘His brain very often doesn’t connect with his mouth!’

‘So that’s what his problem is,’ Jack mused affectionately. ‘And I thought he was just socially inept.’

‘That too,’ Tina agreed.

‘When the two of you have quite finished discussing my shortcomings …!’ Jim protested.

‘We haven’t even started yet!’ Jack warned him.

‘Time we were all making a move, I think,’ Betty put in softly, she and Edward having spent the last few minutes chatting with Thom’s parents.

The Keswicks looked like nice, ordinary people too, both short and slightly plump, making Mattie wonder how on earth they could have produced a daughter like Sharon … and not just her beautiful looks!

‘Just what else did you and my mother talk about when you met this morning?’ Jack enquired as they all strolled over to the Eiffel Tower. ‘Besides inadvertently telling you exactly who Tina, Sally, Cally, and Sandy are, she obviously told you about Tina’s pregnancy too.’

Mattie raised innocent brows. ‘I find your mother very easy to talk to.’

‘Unlike me.’ He grimaced.

Oh, she found Jack easy to talk to too. Too easy. Which was why she had to be constantly on her guard not to reveal exactly how she felt about him.

Mattie hesitated. ‘I—’

‘It really is so good to see you again, Jack,’ Sharon Keswick drawled suggestively as she strolled over to walk on his other side, unhesitatingly linking her arm with his. ‘I do hope you’ll excuse us,
Mandy
.’ She leant around Jack to show perfect white teeth in another of those insincere smiles. ‘But Jack and I are old friends,’ she explained, looking up at Jack beneath those incredible lashes now. ‘Isn’t this just the most romantic place on earth, Jack?’ she exclaimed breathlessly, those violet
eyes wide and beguiling as she gazed up at the starlit sky.

Mattie—Mandy?—couldn’t help wondering just how ‘old’ the friendship between Jack and Sharon was …?

She also distinctly disliked the way the other woman kept touching Jack with every opportunity she had, as if she had a perfect right to do so. Which was ridiculous; it was really none of Mattie’s business who touched Jack. Or, more importantly, who Jack allowed to touch him. Because, despite his earlier comments, he wasn’t exactly fighting the other woman off
now
, was he?

Which was why Mattie wasn’t exactly surprised when Sharon managed to manoeuvre herself into the seat on the other side of Jack at the huge round table they were all seated at for dinner.

She wasn’t surprised—but she was furious. With Jack. With Sharon Keswick. But most of all with herself—for having been so foolish as to fall in love with a man who was so out of her reach!

‘I
REALLY
wouldn’t worry too much about my little sister, if I were you,’ Thom, seated on Mattie’s other side, reassured her some time later.

Mattie turned to give him a strained smile, her head pounding, her appetite for the first course they had already been served almost nil, her appreciation for the illuminated romantic Paris skyline even less. And all because of, as Thom had guessed so rightly, his sister Sharon.

Despite Jack’s attempts to include Mattie in the conversation, the other woman had completely dominated Jack’s attention since they’d sat down. If Mattie heard Sharon begin one more sentence with, ‘Do you remember, Jack, when we’, she truly believed she was going to scream!

Just what sort of old friends were Jack and Sharon?

Not that it took two guesses to find the answer to that! Which made Jack’s reasons for dragging Mattie all the way here all the more—

‘He isn’t interested, you know,’ Thom spoke again, softly.

Mattie’s smile was scathing this time; Jack had certainly been interested at some time in the not-so-distant past!

‘He really isn’t, Mattie,’ Thom insisted, his hand resting
briefly on hers as she shredded the bread roll on her side plate into inedible pieces.

Mattie glanced down impatiently at the mess that had once been the roll, rubbing the crumbs from her fingers back onto the plate. ‘I would hate to see what he looks like when he is interested, then,’ she said disgustedly, at the same time shooting Jack’s partially turned shoulders an irritated glance as Sharon continued to monopolise him.

Thom laughed. ‘Try looking at him when he’s with you,’ he suggested gently. ‘I’ve certainly never seen Jack looking as relaxed and happy as he was with you when we were all chatting together earlier.’

Mattie frowned her puzzlement at this comment. ‘But I’ve only ever seen Jack relaxed and happy,’ she said slowly.

‘Exactly,’ his future brother-in-law said.

Mattie really had no idea what Thom was talking about. Jack was a man completely sure of himself, of who he was, and where he was going. But, then, Thom also didn’t know that her being here with Jack at all was just an act on his part …

Which just went to prove what a good actor he was!

For all the good it had done; Jack had spent most of the evening talking to Sharon Keswick, anyway. Mattie’s presence here really was superfluous.

She gave a shake of her head. ‘I appreciate your concern, Thom, but it really isn’t necessary.’ Her smile made her face ache. ‘Jack and I don’t have that sort of relationship.’ They didn’t have a relationship at all! After this weekend she very much doubted she would ever see him again.

Thom shrugged. ‘Then perhaps you should.’

Mattie’s eyes widened. Not that she was a prude or anything, but it sounded rather odd having Jack’s future brother-in-law advising her to advance her relationship with Jack onto a physical one.

Not that she hadn’t thought about it, but—

‘I wouldn’t want you to make the same mistake I did with Sandy five years ago, Mattie,’ Thom continued candidly. ‘We dated for a while then,’ he explained at Mattie’s questioning look. ‘I knew I loved her, that she was the only woman I could ever marry—I just forgot to tell her that! Needless to say, someone else came along and told her all the things she needed to hear. Before I knew what had happened, she was married to that someone else.’ He sighed. ‘I had to wait another four years for her to decide she had made a mistake, for her to be free so that I could finally tell her how I felt about her.’

That was hardly the case with Mattie and Jack, was it? She might be in love with Jack, but he certainly didn’t feel that way about her, would probably run a mile in the opposite direction if she were to tell him she was in love with him—

‘What are you two talking about so seriously?’ Jack broke into her troubled thoughts.

Although the hard glitter in those dark brown eyes in no way reflected the friendliness of his tone! In fact, he looked distinctly angry. Because she was talking to Thom? Well, that was ridiculous when he had spent the majority of the evening so far talking to Sharon!

‘I—’

‘I was just telling Mattie—’ Thom spoke decisively
over what was going to be Mattie’s sharp reply ‘—that I lost your sister five years ago because I was too stupid to tell her how I felt about her.’ He looked challengingly at Jack.

Mattie felt embarrassed colour enter her cheeks; Jack was going to wonder how on earth she and Thom could have got onto such a personal subject in the space of a few minutes!

Jack steadily returned Thom’s gaze for several long seconds. ‘Really?’ he finally drawled.

‘Yes—really,’ the other man echoed firmly.

For goodness’ sake, this was supposed to be a family celebration—and Jack and Thom were eyeing each other as if they were sizing each other up for a fight!

‘And I was just saying how romantic it all was that they have finally got together,’ Mattie put in brightly.

‘Women are very big on romance, Jack,’ Thom pronounced. ‘You should try it some time,’ he added dryly.

Jack’s expression darkened. ‘With a family like mine that can sometimes be rather difficult,’ he returned tightly.

Enigmatically, as far as Mattie was concerned. All she did know was that she had to break up this conversation—challenge? After all, they were here to celebrate Thom and Sandy’s engagement.

But Sandy joined in the conversation before she could say anything else. ‘After the complete mess you made of sending our Easter flowers, Jack, you’re lucky any of the female members of this family is actually speaking to you,’ she admonished her older brother. ‘Luckily we all have a sense of humour! It was really rather funny, Mattie,’ she turned to confide. ‘Jack sent us all flowers,
but with all the wrong cards attached. Think of the fun it would have been if we had all been his girlfriends instead of his sisters!’

Jack looked nonplussed. ‘Yes—just think.’ He gave a challenging glance in Mattie’s direction.

Mattie, who just wanted to crawl under the table and hide!

She was also aware that Thom was studying her closely, that he could no doubt see the embarrassed expression on her face, the warning glare she had just shot in Jack’s direction.

‘It’s just as well you’re a one-woman man, isn’t it, Jack?’ Thom murmured slowly.

‘Isn’t it?’ Jack returned noncommittally, his gaze still holding Mattie’s.

‘Whereas we all thought it was a scream.’ Sandy chuckled.

‘It does sound rather—amusing,’ Mattie acknowledged hollowly.

‘That depends how you look at it,’ Jack derided.

‘He didn’t muddle the card up on your flowers too, did he, Mattie?’ Sandy continued mischievously. ‘You really would have thought it strange if you had received flowers with a card on to Tina, Sally, Cally, or Sandy!’

Mattie gave a weak smile, knowing it was best not to mention that she hadn’t received any flowers at all—just blackmail threats!

‘I think we should stop teasing poor Jack,’ Thom cut in. ‘You haven’t told us what you do for a living, Mattie?’ he asked interestedly, blue eyes gently probing as he looked at her.

‘What makes you think she does anything?’ Sharon,
obviously deciding she had been excluded from the conversation quite long enough, put in scathingly. ‘After all, Jack is a very wealthy man, aren’t you, darling?’ She once again looked at him beneath those long, dark lashes.

Thom shot his sister a dismissive glance. ‘Because most women prefer to work nowadays, Sharon,’ he told her patiently.