Smoothing down my hair, I straightened my shoulders and met Jasper’s hooded expression with a bright, all-knowing one of my own.
Neither of us spoke for at least a minute as Judy buzzed around the breakfast table and rearranged the cutlery. As she left, Jasper pursed his lips thoughtfully. I raised an eyebrow, not saying a word. Didn’t they say, less is more?
Taking a sip of my coffee, I could feel his laser beam eyes on my face. A yawn erupted from somewhere, and I tried to shield it by lifting my coffee cup.
Of course, Jasper saw it. And why was I tired? Probably because I’d spent most of the previous night fucking Reed’s brains out. My heart thumped with inappropriate thoughts as I sat before my fiancé.
“This is the part where you tell me where you were last night?” Fuck, talk about cutting to the chase.
Shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly, I explained, “I told you where I was going,” and took a sip of water. I could feel Jasper’s eyes reading every crease on my face like he was a fricking detective. “You know I was out.” I’d been perfectly frank as to when the costly date with Reed was taking place. It was like Jasper was trying to trip me up. It made me think I had done something wrong, and I had, but he didn’t know that. Well, not for certain. I imagined the fact that I didn’t come home the previous night was a huge fucking red flag. But he’d only just arrived himself? Had he asked one of my staff? Either that or he was having me watched, again. Then I remembered Find My Phone.
I then wondered if Jasper was the one who leaked Reed’s location to the national press. That would satisfy two hidden agendas. One, it would show the people of Newport what a good sport Jasper was by allowing his fiancée to auction herself for charity, but it would also ensure an all-eyes-on-us scenario. That would reduce the risk of anything intimate happening between Reed and me. Oh dear, that hadn’t worked so well.
I quickly added, “I was with Reed Prescott, remember?”
His glasslike eyes narrowed. “Of course, the date. Where did he take you?” His tone was the same as always, like we were discussing the weather, but with less emotion, if that’s even possible.
“The beach.” In theory, that wasn’t a lie; we had been to the beach.
Pushing back in his seat, Jasper regarded me over his coffee cup. “And how did it go?
It was mind-blowing, but I couldn’t confess that, so I went with a low-key reply. “It was fine.” Played that fucker right down.
Jasper lowered his cup to the table and cut me a look. “Just fine, with the love of your life? That’s disappointingly unremarkable.”
Drumming my fingers on the table, I threw back. “I never said Reed was the love of my life.”
“You don’t have to say it, Storm. It’s obvious,” Jasper snorted with a head tilt.
If I gave the man an inch, he’d take a mile. I needed to be careful. I had a sneaking suspicion that he was setting me up for a fall.
“It isn’t obvious to me, Jasper, so I doubt you know me better than I know myself.” My tone was tarter than usual, and his nostrils flared as he picked up on that, showing a glimmer of annoyance. Fuck I was supposed to be getting him on side, not winding him up.
“I know denial when I see it.”
Judy appeared at that moment with my breakfast. I thanked her as she placed it in front of me. My appetite had suddenly dried up.
“So where did you go after your trip to the beach? I heard Prescott whisked you away on some motorcycle,” he said, picking up his glass of water and taking a sip.
I picked up my knife and fork and started to cut into my toast. “So, you have been spying on me?”
“Of course. I need to protect my investment. Where’s your ring?” he stated, looking down his lofty nose towards my finger.
I stopped shredding the food on my plate and pointed out with a wave of my fork. “I took it off when I showered; it’s in my room.”
As my eyes met his, I saw his gaze narrow. “And not where it should be. A bit like you last night.”
I studied his face across the table, the tired, handsome angles of it, and another wave of doubt filled me. “You had me followed, you know where I went last night.”
“Yes.”
I placed the cutlery down, the pretense of eating gone. “So, why ask the question then?”
Jasper shrugged, leaning back into his seat. “To fill in the blanks. Did you spend the night with Prescott at The Ritz Hotel?”
“What makes you say that?”
It was a game of cat and mouse, and I was getting tired of it. “Because that’s where your car was all night.”
