At any rate, they had broken up, but he couldn’t just let her go and damn the consequences. For starters, he feared she might do something rash because she fundamentally held herself in low esteem, however deceptive appearances might have been, and a sense of responsibility also meant that he was concerned for her welfare, whatever lies she had told.
He had continued to check in on her, irregularly but enough to know that she had kept up the therapy. But he had gently held her at arm’s length when she’d begged for a reconciliation. He couldn’t bring himself to reject her completely and he’d been thankful that she had pulled back to let him get on with his life because he would have had to reject her eventually had she not.
Seeing her the night before had been a stark reminder that sometimes the best laid plans did not necessarily go the predicted way.
He hadn’t had contact with her for at least three months. Despite his initial alarm when he’d spotted her last night, he had been reasonably hopeful that there would have been no unfortunate scene.
But she had clocked the situation with Jess, had shrewdly deduced that old friends didn’t suddenly turn into new lovers.
Had this reignited a need to have him back? Where she had been happy enough to adhere to his No Trespassing signs when he had dated other women after their split, she had not been happy when he had informed her that he and Jess were serious about one another. Maybe she had been simply biding her time while he went out with other women, but Jess, someone she knew to be an old friend, had suddenly felt more of a threat.
‘I’ll bet your godfather’s thrilled,’ she had chirped, watching him carefully. ‘He didn’t like me—didn’t think I was good enough for you. The second time we went there, he couldn’t stop talking about the girl next door. So I guess he’s over the moon that you two are a serious item...’
He had set that snide observation to one side because the need to demonstrate that he wasn’t up for grabs had been more important. She hadn’t got over him as he’d hoped, and he was astute enough to realise that she had the potential to become obsessive, which he knew would damage her far more than it could ever damage him.
He would normally never reveal any of this, but Curtis realised that he had to share enough to explain to Jess why he had touched her that way, a first for them both. He had the weirdest sensation of having done something outrageously taboo. Worse, he hadenjoyedit... That in itself was even more shocking to him, and it was something else he had no intention of revealing.
Jess tried to glean what he wasn’t telling her but she had no idea. What he had said was so revealing and yet it raised more questions than it answered.
He was a closed book and she knew that that was probably what gave him some of the incredible authority he wielded in the world of business. He gave nothing away, and right now he was only offering her a selected sliver of a bigger picture. She didn’t know why she was so sure of that, but she was.
‘So, to recap,’ she said slowly, dragging each and every syllable out and, for once, not at all discomfited by those green, green eyes pinned to her face, ‘Caitlin is here. She’s been a thorn in your side and it’s a nuisance, I’m sure, that she’s going to be around for the next couple of days, but I don’t understand why that would pose such a problem. And Ireallydon’t understand why all of a sudden you had to give the impression that we reallyarean item when that was never part of the deal.’
Which neatly brought them back to square one. Curtis signalled for a refill for both of them. The beautiful room had also emptied out and she realised that time had flown past since they had begun talking.
A morning aggressively attacking the ski slopes looked to be going down the tubes.
‘She doesn’t buy that we have a relationship.’
‘Do you really care? Does it matter if she thinks you’re fair game now?’ Jess was still so confused but she managed a weak grin. ‘And here I was thinking that you were a big boy who wasn’t scared of anything.’
Curtis burst out laughing, his eyes warm with amused appreciation. He sobered up to say, ‘I mentioned Caitlin has had an unfortunate background...’
‘You did.’ Jess frowned. ‘Why are you finding it so hard to have this conversation, Curtis?’ Then, voice a shade cooler, she added, ‘I realise it must be agony being a tiny bit open with me...’
‘I’m more open with you than any other woman I’ve ever known,’ he pointed out.
Jess wondered whether she was expected to take that as a compliment because on no front did it feel like one. Did he mean that he was so utterly unaware of her sexually that he found it easier to confide in her? Was she the equivalent of the hairdresser, who was confidante of many whilst being significant to none? At any rate, if he thought that he was truly open with her then he had no idea what it meant to confide, to share.
She wondered when she had started thinking this way, which made her think of Caitlin and she fixed him with a cool, silent stare.
Curtis hesitated. ‘Caitlin is mentally...fragile,’ he said quietly. ‘I’m telling you this because I don’t feel I have a choice, not at this particular moment in time. She wants to rekindle something that isn’t there. I thought she was over me but, meeting her yesterday, it would seem not. She doesn’t think that we could possibly be going out...’
‘Why? Because we’ve known one another for a hundred years, or is it because of the way I look?’
‘What does that mean?’
Jess shook her head and backed away from a contentious conversation at speed. ‘Nothing.’
‘No, talk to me. Tell me what you’re trying to say.’
‘I’m not tiny and blonde, Curtis.That’swhat I’m trying to say! Of course she doesn’t think we’re actually going out, because she doesn’t believe that you couldactuallyever take an interest in me!’ Raw hurt surged through her and she wanted to stand up and walk away but that would have been giving away too much, would have shown him just how much of an effect he had on her.
‘Maybe,’ he mused, ‘she doesn’twantto believe it.’ He sounded a little surprised, as though this was a thought that was only now occurring to him. ‘Maybe,’ he continued, thinking aloud, going with the flow, ‘she was never threatened by the women who came after her but with you...’ He looked at Jess narrowly and she flushed. ‘Yes, we’re old friends...but you’re smart, you’re witty and you’re sexy. Maybe she seesyouas the threat she doesn’t want to face. At any rate, whatever the reason, this weekend should be all about John and Philippa. The last thing I need is for Caitlin to dominate proceedings by trying to commandeer me, and she’s unpredictable enough to not care how much of a disruption she causes.’ He paused. ‘I’m not sure what I would have done had John forewarned me of her presence on the scene but I’m guessing it never occurred to him that it might be a problem. He knows that I don’t harbour grudges, and am pretty comfortable meeting women I’ve dated in the past. Either that or he wanted my presence and so diplomatically decided not to raise the subject.’ He grinned. ‘I’m inclined to believe the latter. A hedge fund analyst knows how to gamble for the desired outcome...’
Jess’s brain had stopped whirring at that word,sexy.Had he actually described her assexy?
Suddenly the atmosphere felt close and claustrophobic and the recollection of his hand on the nape of her neck was imbued with all sorts of different, more dangerous connotations.
