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He gave a little snort. ‘You’ve been listening to too many of my brother’s sermons.’
‘At least he has a moral code,’ she tossed back.
‘And I don’t?’
‘You’re like a lot of other deadbeat dads out there,’ she said. ‘You sow your wild oats and leave the women to reap the harvest all alone. Miriam Moorebank has struggled all her life because of what you did to her. Her mother-in-law told me how hard things are for her now.’
He flicked an angry glance her way. ‘If you want to walk the rest of the way back to the salon then carry on the way you’re going.’
‘I’d rather walk than suffer your presence,’ she said.
The car swerved to the left and before she knew what was happening he had reached across her and opened her door, his arm brushing against her breasts.
‘OK, then,’ he said. ‘Out you get.’
She sucked in an angry breath. ‘It’s at least an hour’s walk from here.’
‘The exercise will do you good.’
‘I’m not wearing the right shoes.’
‘Get out of the car, Hayley.’
‘No, I will not get out of the car!’ she shouted at him, suddenly so close to tears she felt them bubbling at the back of her throat. She brushed at her eyes but it was too late. She put her head in her hands and began to sob.
Jasper let out a stiff curse. ‘Damn it. I wish you wouldn’t do that,’ he growled as he reached out a hand to the back of her neck and pulled her into his chest, his nostrils flaring to take in more of the spring-garden fragrance of her shampoo. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.’
She lifted her head out of her hands to send him an accusatory glare. ‘Yes, you did,’ she said, hiccupping. ‘You’ve done nothing but upset me from the moment you barged into the salon and insisted I marry you. You blackmailed me, holding my business over my head until I can’t sleep at night, and then you went and … and kissed me! How the hell am I supposed to cope with all that?’
His mouth twisted ruefully. ‘I didn’t think it was that bad a kiss.’
‘You only did it to prove how weak I am.’
‘You’re not weak,’ he said. ‘Just human that’s all.’
‘I don’t even like you,’ she said. ‘I’ve never liked you.’
‘You don’t have to like me—you just have to marry me.’
‘I don’t know what Gerald was thinking of leaving things like this,’ she said brushing at her eyes. ‘It’s not as if I was expecting anything out of his will, but this is crazy. I feel like a pawn in a stupid game.’
Jasper looked at her while she was occupied with mopping up her tears. Could his father have been right after all? What if Hayley was completely different from her mother? What if she was as sweet and innocent as Gerald had always believed her to be? If so she was in danger of being hurt even more than Myles had hurt her when their temporary marriage came to its inevitable end. He didn’t intend staying married to her any longer than he had to.
That was the deal.
Four weeks of living with Hayley to get back what was stolen from his mother. And even though she was no longer alive, he owed it to her to restore the house and garden to its former glory; then, and only then, would he feel that the avaricious presence of that slut Eva Addington would be finally eradicated.
‘If there was any other way of achieving my goal I would do it, Hayley,’ he said heavily. ‘But this is the only way.’
‘This is going to be the longest month of my life,’ she said with another pout.
Jasper settled back in his seat and put the car into gear as he responded dryly, ‘You and me too, baby.’
Hayley had fully intended to refuse to accompany Jasper to the country property on the following Sunday, but every time she went to pick up the phone to cancel she caught sight of the engagement ring he’d bought her and changed her mind. It suited her hand perfectly, the diamonds catching the light with every movement of her fingers. She still didn’t understand why he’d gone to the trouble of buying her such a beautiful ring when everything about their relationship was so ugly.
There had been a time when she had dreamed of being married to Jasper for real, but such foolishness had long been put aside. She knew he was wary of commitment, his playboy lifestyle suggested he wasn’t interested in marriage and babies—even the one he’d fathered—while lately she had been thinking of little else. Her biological clock had been ticking quietly in the background until her last birthday, when the volume had gone up to a deafening roar, keeping her awake at night in writhing fits of panic that time was running out.
She wondered now if that was why she had rushed into her relationship with Myles, clutching at the lifeline with both hands, knowing deep down that if she didn’t do something she would end up doing nothing. She’d thought she had loved him, she had certainly enjoyed his company and he had seemed to want the same things in life as she di
