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His gaze swung back in her direction. ‘You’re not my usual type. However—’
‘Why? Because I’ve got a brain?’ she cut him off scornfully. ‘Your last three girlfriends had shoe sizes bigger than their IQ’s.’
‘So you’ve been doing a little research on me, have you?’ Jasper asked with a secret smile.
She gave him a disgusted look. ‘You’ve been described in the press with three s words: shallow, self-serving and sexy.’
‘Well, there you go,’ he said. ‘At least you know what you’re getting in a husband.’
‘You’re not going to be my husband, not really.’
‘That’s another thing I’ve been thinking about,’ he said. ‘Have you told anyone our relationship is not the real deal?’
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. ‘I told Lucy because she’s a close friend, but that’s all.’
‘Good. I think it’s best if we maintain an illusion of normality. For one thing you don’t want your ex-fiancé to suspect anything’s amiss, and secondly I have a big property negotiation I’m working on in the Southern Highlands. The couple who own the land I’ve got my eye on are pretty old-school. They’ve been married for fifty-odd years and don’t want to sell their land to just anyone. They’ve been cagey about the deal for weeks but as soon as they heard I was engaged their entire attitude changed towards me. They even want to meet you.’
Hayley looked at him in consternation. ‘Do you think that’s a good idea? I mean, I’m not sure I’ll be able to be that convincing.’
‘It’ll be a pushover,’ he reassured her. ‘All you have to do is gaze up at me adoringly like you used to do when you were a teenager.’
Hayley found her memory drifting back to when the five years that separated them had seemed such a huge amount of time compared to now. She had still been sleeping with her collection of soft toys while he had been sleeping with any number of local girls, his reputation as a bad boy spreading far and wide. He had been in and out of trouble so many times she suspected he had done it deliberately to punish his father for having left his mother for hers.
When Kathryn Caulfield had been killed in a car accident a few weeks after Gerald had married her mother, Eva, Jasper had disappeared for months on end, cutting off all contact with
his father.
Jasper brought the car to a halt and came around to open the door for her. ‘Welcome to what will be your home for the next month,’ he said.
Hayley unfolded herself from the car and looked around. His residence looked even more impressive than the gossip pages had indicated. The house was huge, built on three levels as far as she could make out, the garden beautifully landscaped to make the most of the spring sunshine, the sun dappling the surface of the lap pool like sparkling diamonds. A grass tennis court dominated one corner of the generous block and as they moved into the house itself the views over the harbour brought her breath to a standstill.
‘It’s … fabulous …’ she breathed in wonder, turning around to look at the open-plan layout.
Plush leather sofas that seemed bigger than her entire flat were positioned to make the most of the view and a well-stocked bar was to one side of the massive entertainment system that lined one wall. The kitchen and dining area flowed into one, the space accommodating at least twenty if not more.
‘It’s all right I guess,’ he said tossing his keys onto the nearest surface.
‘All right?’ She gaped at him. ‘This is the most wonderful house I’ve ever seen!’
‘Don’t get too attached to it,’ he said as he bent down to retrieve something off the marble-top coffee-table. ‘It’s only for a month, remember.’
‘I haven’t forgotten,’ she responded tartly.
He came over with a small velvet box in his hands and handed it to her. ‘I thought since we’re pretending this is all above board you should have an engagement ring.’
Hayley stared down at the tiny box in her hands and slowly opened it, her breath catching when she saw the bright glitter of a cluster of diamonds nestling in amongst the royal-blue velvet.
She wasn’t sure what to say. It was surely an unnecessary expense given their marriage was to be temporary, but, in spite of that, she felt incredibly touched that he had chosen such an exquisite ring for her.
‘I’m not sure if it will fit.’ His deep voice broke the silence. ‘I had to guess the size.’
She slipped it over her knuckle with ease. ‘It does,’ she said, looking up at him with amazement. ‘That was a good guess.’
His eyes locked with hers.
‘It’s beautiful … but you really shouldn’t have bothered,’ she said, feeling as if something inside her chest had rearranged itself. ‘It’s not as if this is a real marriage or anything. I’ll have to give this back to you when it’s over.’
‘No.’ His hand came over hers, holding the ring in place, so much so she could feel the sharp edges of the diamonds pinching her skin, his eyes dark and serious as they held hers. ‘No. I want you to keep it. Think of it as a gift for how you’re helping me.’
