The Marriage Merger (22 page)

“Companies?” she echoed, puzzled. "But I
thought ...”

He gave her a peculiar look. “What did you
think, Jenna?”

It wasn’t making sense. Veronica had said ...
No, Veronica had insinuated that the merger was of a different
kind.

“You had mentioned once ... a marriage
merger...”

“You thought I was going to marry Veronica?”
His laugh echoed around the room. “I might be a bit of a fool,
Jenna, but I’m not masochistic. Veronica is a tarantula. She’d eat
me up and spit me out when she’d finished with me. I’m not in her
league.”

“She said the same thing once about me.”

A speculative glint came into his eyes. “Did
Veronica say we were going to be married?”

“No, not in so many words. She said you were
going to announce your merger at the dinner party and she didn’t
mention anything about companies. Quite the opposite. She said how
‘suitable’ you two are together. She implied ...” Jenna’s rising
colour left him in no doubt as to what Veronica had implied.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I
have never slept with Veronica?”

Jenna had never seen him look more earnest.
His grey eyes were bright with pleading, his hands reaching out to
her, then lowering hesitantly. She believed him. Not only because
she wanted to believe him, but because he was an honourable man, a
caring man.

“Yes, I believe you.”

A deep breath escaped him, as though he had
been holding it in for far too long. Jenna knew the feeling. From
the moment she’d found him in the room with her all her feelings
had gone on hold. She was frozen inside, desperately trying not to
feel the pain that the very sight of him was bringing, desperately
trying to protect herself from the greater anguish when he
left.

“And did what Veronica say have anything to
do with the way you acted towards me when I came home the evening
after we’d made love?”

She shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to
admit the hope that had blossomed in her heart only to be killed by
Veronica’s poison. Instead she went on the attack.

“I saw your face after we’d ... made love,
Braden. You were horrified. It might have been what your hormones
had been wanting but when it actually happened you realised what a
big mistake you’d made.”

“The only horror I felt about that night,
Jenna, was the fact that I had been so carried away with wanting
you that I didn’t use any protection. I know you love children, but
I didn’t know if you wanted to have my child.”

She turned away from him then, not daring to
let him see the spark of joy his words had caused. Not daring to
let him see the hope that even now his child could be growing
inside her.

“And what about you Jenna. Were you horrified
that at last you had let go your iron-clad principles and made love
with me?”

He had walked up silently behind her, his
breath touching her hair, his hands lowering tentatively onto her
shoulders. Her body betrayed her. The shiver of desire, the tiny
moan of immense longing that escaped her lips gave their own
reply.

Then he was turning her into his arms,
folding her against him, kissing her eyes, her cheeks, her lips in
quick soft kisses before claiming them with a passion that echoed
in her own body. She was lost, gloriously lost, drowning in him,
giving herself up to the ecstasy only he could give. Just another
night, she bargained with herself, just one more night in his arms.
I know he won’t stay but I’ll have one more memory.

She felt the sharp pang of loss as he drew
back from her.

“No, not yet.” His voice was husky. “We still
have more to discuss and if we start what I’m thinking it will be
morning before we say another word.”

She blushed at the deep passion in his words.
Her mind was telling her to bid him a quick farewell and leave with
her pride intact. If she spent the night with him it would be twice
as hard to say goodbye, double the anguish she was now feeling at
the thought that this was probably the last time she would ever see
him.

But like the kangaroo caught in the hunter’s
spotlight she stood mesmerized by the fierce glow of passion in his
eyes that gentled now to a soothing tenderness. Still holding her
gaze, he took her hands.

“You’ve run away from me once, Jenna. Promise
me you’ll listen to me now. I’m not good at admitting I’ve been all
kinds of a fool, but it seems I’m a first class idiot in some
departments - at least Caitlin seems to think so.”

“Caitlin does?”

“Yes. She said you love me. Is it true,
Jenna?”

She tried to pull away from him, but he
gripped her hands tightly. She became aware of the tension in him,
his body tight like a steel spring, his gaze suddenly fierce with
anxiety.

“Please, Jenna. Tell me the truth.”

She was tempted to lie, gather all her
courage to laugh in his face and walk out, but something stopped
her. The faintest sheen of moisture had gathered in his eyes, and
an unsuccessfully repressed fear lurked in their grey shadows. She
remembered his self-deprecating statement that she didn’t love him
either. He knew his mother hadn’t loved him, was sure his father
hadn’t, how could she compound his conviction that he was
unlovable?

In spite of the agony in her heart, the fear
that she would be making a fool of herself, exposing herself to his
ridicule, she took a deep breath and answered.

“Caitlin’s right. I do love you. I realise
you don’t love me, so please don’t feel embarrassed or under any
obligation to spare my feelings.” She swallowed the painful lump in
her throat, aware her own tears were close. “If you will please let
my hands go I’ll leave now and save you any further
embarrassment.”

“I should have realised when you made love
with me ... you’d said you couldn’t have sex with someone you
didn’t love.” His voice was raw with emotion.

Dear God, what had she done now? Was he
feeling guilty that he had forced her into having sex with him when
he couldn’t reciprocate her love?

“Please, Braden, don’t concern yourself. You
didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to. I’m a big girl, I can
look after myself.”

Finally he dropped her hands, but rather than
standing aside to let her leave he gathered her in his arms and
hugged her tightly, pressing his face into her hair.

“If Caitlin hadn’t told me,” he finally
whispered close to her ear, “I would have gone on believing that
you loathed me.”

“Why would you think that?” she asked,
bewildered.

He drew back a little from her then, but
still kept her encircled in his arms.

“The way you reacted to me the night of
Veronica’s dinner party. You bit my head off. You couldn’t bear me
touching you. Even so, I hoped I could change your mind about me.
But then you left - not even a note, nothing. I thought you hated
me.”

“No, I’ve never hated you. I thought you were
going to marry Veronica and that you resented making love to me.
And then I made you miss the dinner party and you were so angry
with me ...” She knew she hadn’t mistaken the fury on his face that
evening.

He looked surprised. “I wasn’t angry with
you. I was angry because I felt so helpless. You could have died
before I reached a doctor and there was not a thing I could do to
prevent it. Afterwards I was angry with Veronica. Wretched woman
could have killed you. When I think how close you came to dying
...” A deep shudder shook his large frame and he pulled her tighter
against him. “I couldn’t bear to lose you, Jenna.”

No, she couldn’t be hearing correctly. He
couldn’t possibly be saying what he appeared to be saying. He
couldn’t want her, love her. Could he?

“What do you mean, Braden?” It was a
tentative whisper, her heart caught up in every word.

He held her apart from him then. The shadows
had left his eyes, they gleamed brightly, the blue flecks larger,
more intense.

“I’m not very good at saying this, Jenna, I
haven’t had any experience, but I love you. I didn’t want to, I was
afraid to, but when I finally admitted it to myself it was the most
wonderful feeling I’d ever felt. Apart from making love with you.”
The look in his eyes told her more than his words. “Making love
with you shocked me to the core. No-one, ever, has made me feel the
way you do. Marry me, Jenna. Please.”

Now she was truly stunned. He was saying the
words she never thought she’d hear, and she couldn’t believe him.
The joy that had flooded through her at his words was quickly
replaced by doubt.

“But ... you told me ... you were going to
make your peace with Veronica.”

He shook his head, and that wayward lock of
hair danced onto his forehead. Her heart twisted in her chest and
she instinctively reached up and smoothed it back. His skin burned
beneath her palm and her body reacted in such an outrageous manner
she nearly didn’t listen to his reply.

“When I said I was going to make my peace
with someone, I meant my father. After we’d made love and I’d
recovered from my shock at not having used protection, I realised
that I loved you. I was going to tell you the next evening, and
then I nearly lost you.” His face hardened. “I’ll never forgive
Veronica for what she did to you. I never knew the woman was so
obsessive about me.”

He grimaced. “I realised after I spoke with
Ian Barclay that Veronica must have put wine in your drink. After I
saw my father I confronted her. Apparently she saw the merger of
our two companies as a way of trapping me into constant contact
with her that she hoped would lead to marriage. She saw you as an
obstacle to that. She reckoned she only put the wine in your drink
to make you sick. She didn’t realise just how badly you would
react.”

A warm glow swept through Jenna’s body. The
concern and caring in Braden’s eyes was balm to all the pain she
had suffered. As the realization that he did, indeed, love her,
sank into her confused mind she felt a happiness that she had
thought would forever be denied her. It bubbled up within her and
exploded into a wild euphoric joy.

But there were still loose threads to be tied
up.

“So after you left me that morning you went
to see your father, not Veronica.”

“I phoned Dad that morning and said I needed
to talk to him. He was flying to New Zealand that afternoon so I
drove down to Brisbane straight away. I didn’t want to leave
you...” his hands cupped her face and he allowed himself one soft,
sweet kiss before he reluctantly dragged his lips from hers, “but I
would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to him
while he was away and I hadn’t made things right between us.”

“Oh, Braden, I’m so pleased!”

“So you should be,” he chuckled. “You were
right about Dad - he has always loved me, he just didn’t know how
to tell me. I guess I didn’t make it easy for him, though.”

His lips returned to hers, his teeth gently
nibbling at their softness.

“Marry me, Jenna. A proper marriage. No
pre-nuptial agreement, no merger, no contract. All I ask is that
you love me and you’ll let me love you for the rest of our
lives.”

“Always, my darling,” she whispered as she
surrendered to his increasing urgency, his body pressed against
hers in mute appeal.

For several minutes she was lost in the
ecstasy of loving him and knowing his love in return.

“Braden,” she finally whispered, anxious to
have only honesty between them, “there’s something you should
know.”

“Nothing,” he breathed as he allowed her to
pull slightly away, “will make me change my mind about marrying
you.”

Oh, the joy of his words! She took his hand
that rested on her cheek and kissed the palm, and felt desire
shiver through him. “It might need to be an early wedding.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, his lips
slanting back to hers. Her mind started to slide into her body’s
non-thinking bliss.

She gave herself a mental shake so she could
concentrate on what she needed to say.

“I could be pregnant.”

That stopped him! She watched the dazed
expression on his face.

“You mean ...” he faltered.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I wasn’t
prepared.”

“That makes two of us! Well, I was hoping
we’d give Caitlin some cousins. It just might be a bit sooner than
I thought.” He looked suddenly worried. “You don’t mind, do
you?”

The smile she gave him was dazzling. She
wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed into his eyes,
delighting in the knowledge that he loved her.

“As long as you love me, my happiness is
guaranteed,” she said.

“That’s a life-time guarantee, Jenna, my
love.”

###

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sandy Curtis writes contemporary romance for
Ormiston Press’s Lavish Novels line, and is also the author of
seven romantic thrillers published in Australia and Germany, two of
which have been finalists in the Romantic Book of the Year
Award.

Sandy has presented many writing workshops
including 10 days teaching creative writing at the University of
Southern Queensland McGregor Summer Schools, given library talks,
and been a panellist at writers’ festivals.

She is a member of many writing
organisations, and has organised the Bundaberg writers festival,
WriteFest, since its inception in 2005.

In 2010 she was awarded the Regional Arts
Australia Volunteer Award for Sustained Contribution to the arts in
regional Queensland, and in December 2012 she was selected by the
Queensland Writers Centre to receive the Johnno Award for
outstanding contributions to writing in Queensland.

OTHER TITLES

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

No Cure For Love

A Tender Deception

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE