‘I’m afraid I couldn’t get any time off,’ she said, deploring her newfound facility for spur-of-the-moment concoction. ‘I have to be at work tomorrow. Of course, Zac doesn’t have to leave too.’
‘You could ring through and ask for another couple of days,’ Zac suggested smoothly.
‘The sooner you get back, the sooner you can start on the wedding arrangements,’ said his grandfather. The gaze he rested on Jessica’s face was deliberative. ‘Will your parents want to be involved in the arrangements?’
More lies coming up, she thought unhappily, searching her mind for some adequate response.
‘In the circumstances, I think it’s going to be simpler all round if we handle it ourselves,’ Zac put in.
‘No Register Office,’ Henry asserted. ‘Brady was married in church, the right and proper way!’
Zac’s face remained impassive. ‘I understand church weddings have to be booked months in advance.’
The expression that flickered across the older eyes gave Jessica the impression that he’d actually forgotten the shortage of time for a moment or two, though he sounded quite steady when he answered.
‘It seems the Register Office it might have to be, then.’
He left it at that, to Jessica’s relief. She couldn’t have taken very much more without blurting out the truth.
‘This is going from bad to worse!’ she berated when she managed to get Zac in his own for a few minutes. ‘Your grandfather’s no fool. If he isn’t already suspicious, he’s going to be before long!’
‘He doesn’t have long,’ Zac reminded her. ‘His heart could give out any minute.’
‘And if by chance he continues to defy the odds?’
‘Then I’ll simply have to face the music. What time were you considering leaving?’ he added with irony.
Jessica made a helpless gesture. ‘I don’t know. Two? Three?’
‘Let’s make it three. We should be in London by six-thirty—seven at the latest. Plenty of time to find you a hotel.’ He reached out unexpectedly to smooth a stray curl of chestnut hair into place, his smile mocking her involuntary reaction. ‘Then it’s goodbye.’
‘Yes.’
She could think of nothing else to say. In a few hours he would be gone from her life. She could tell herself she was glad of it, but it wouldn’t be wholly true. Faultless he wasn’t, unforgettable he might very well prove to be.
Henry was quiet over lunch, his thoughts obviously turned inward. It couldn’t be easy to come to terms with the knowledge of impending death at any age, Jessica reflected. Personally, she would prefer to be left in ignorance.
Taking her leave of him later, she could hardly bring herself to look him in the eye. When he kissed her cheek, and thanked her for taking the time and trouble to make the trip, she felt like a traitor.
‘This has been the worst experience of my life!’ she said with feeling in the car.
‘I’d have thought finding Paul in bed with another woman ran it pretty close?’ Zac returned.
The anticipated stab failed to penetrate very deeply. She hadn’t thought about Paul much at all this past couple of days. There had been far too many other things on her mind.
‘That was different,’ she declared. ‘It’s also history.’
‘No chance then, of you going back to him?’
‘None,’ she said flatly. ‘Why the interest anyway?’
Zac’s shrug was brief.
His seeming indifference stung. Yet what else might she expect from him? Jessica asked herself. Despite what he’d said last night, her role had only ever been temporary.
As predicted, they were in London by six-thirty. Zac insisted on booking a room at the Savoy for two nights. They took their leave in the foyer. Jessica forced a level tone.
‘I can’t say it’s been a pleasure, because it hasn’t.’
The expression that sprang in the grey eyes was a warning in itself, but short of creating a scene, there was no escape. It took everything she had to stay unresponsive to a kiss that stirred every vital inner part of her.
Zac said nothing when he released her at last, but simply turned on his heel and headed for the main doors. She didn’t wait to see him disappear through them.
Chapter Four
THE double room was luxurious, the bathroom big enough to hold a dance in. Under other circumstances, Jessica would have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of staying in one of the city’s top hotels. As it was, it meant little.
Unpacking was no priority. Especially when she’d only be here a couple of days. Reluctant to venture downstairs to eat, she ordered a light meal from room service. Looking back while she waited for it to arrive, she regretted giving up her job in Gloucester. Seeing Paul and her replacement together had been humiliating, true, but she should have stuck it out.
The evening wore on. She ate the beautifully prepared prawn salad and watched a little television, although she couldn’t have said just what she was watching. The hunger growing in her had nothing to do with food. It was Zac she craved for.
When the knock came on the door, she assumed it must be a valet or someone calling to see if there was anything else she needed. She went reluctantly to answer it, heart leaping into her throat on seeing who was standing there.
Zac didn’t wait for an invitation, kicking the door shut behind him as he took hold of her. Jessica melted into the passionate embrace, returning fire for fire, all rational thought suspended. She leaned against him helplessly when he finally lifted his head.
‘I couldn’t do it,’ he said roughly.
‘Do what?’ she managed.
‘Let you go.’ He put his lips to her temple where the hair clung. ‘Not with so much to be resolved between us.’
Jessica made a supreme effort to bring her mind to bear on the words rather than the actions.
‘Such as what exactly?’ she whispered.
‘The future,’ he said. ‘Our future.’
‘We don’t have a future.’
‘We could.’ His tone softened. ‘Marry me, Jessica.’
The shock of it struck her dumb for several moments. She gazed at him blankly.
‘What game are you playing now?’ she got out.
‘I’m serious,’ he said. ‘I want you to marry me.’
Green eyes darkened. ‘Just to make sure of a few shares?’
Zac shook his head. ‘Not just the shares. Not just to satisfy grandfather either.’
‘Oh, then it must be love, of course!’ The sarcasm was a defence of sorts. ‘Three days to fall head over heels!’
‘The time is irrelevant,’ he said. ‘We belong together.’
‘You can’t say that!’ Her voice had a crack in it. ‘You know almost nothing about me!’
‘I know all I need to know.’ The determination was there in his eyes, in the set of his jaw. ‘I won’t give up on this, Jess. The way you responded just now, you can hardly claim to have no feelings at all for me.’
‘There are feelings and feelings,’ she said, battling her weaker instincts. ‘What we have isn’t love.’
Something