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There was a glint of irritation in his eyes that warned her he didn’t like her questions, but she didn’t care.
“I am off to Retterton for some provisions. I just thought that if you were heading that way you might give me a hand,” Jess explained reasonably. “It might be nice to have a chat along the way.”
“I am not going to Retterton,” Ben replied, although didn’t tell her where he was going. “I will be back in time to do my chores. See you later.”
He slammed out of the kitchen before Jess could protest.
“He is up to something,” Jess murmured as she watched her brother disappear into the woods. She eyed the fresh, neatly wrapped package now resting on the hearth and felt her heart sink.
“He will be alright, you know,” Marcus reassured her.
She spun around with a startled gasp. She hadn’t realised he was there.
“I know,” she whispered. “I just wish my brother wouldn’t keep so many secrets.”
She tried hard not to look at him because he was so distracting she found it hard to concentrate. He made her feel things she didn’t want even to acknowledge. She felt hot, then cold, and couldn’t do anything about the wild flurry of excitement that shivered through her whenever he drew close to her.
He, on the other hand, seemed incredibly unperturbed by any emotion whatsoever. Now that he had his work to focus on there was a little more distance between them, and it was a little disconcerting.
It didn’t help her confusion when she tried to return to the dishes only for Marcus to capture her lips in a searing kiss. Passion immediately roared to life; with a ferocity that had them both clinging to each other. Marcus widened his stance so he could draw her as close as their clothing would allow. Jess stood on tiptoe to reach his towering height.
Breaths duelled, lips mated, searching hands clung to bare skin. Jess’s mind turned to mush. She couldn’t think; couldn’t breathe beyond this moment. The distance she had previously felt vanished in an instant. At that moment, there was nothing between them; physically, mentally, or emotionally. Nothing mattered to Jess but him; this kiss; the force of the attraction that was impossible to fight. Common sense didn’t exist. Their location didn’t register on either of them.
“Ahem.”
Jess jerked back, her eyes wide with shock.
Marcus groaned and buried his face in her neck. He couldn’t allow her to step back; not with the state his body. When he did look up, he looked straight into the humour-filled eyes of Mr Ball.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt, but the ale jug in the dining room is empty,” he announced blandly.
Jess stared at him, her lips burning as fiercely as her cheeks were. She felt branded by the man she was flush against, but could do nothing but stare blankly at the lodger.
“I am sorry,” Marcus replied when Jess didn’t reply. “We will make sure it gets refilled.”
Mr Ball gave them both a searching look. “I didn’t realise it was like that with you two.”
“I am her fiancé,” Marcus explained. “But, it is a secret. It is important to her reputation that the villagers see me as nothing more than a lodger. I am just here to h
elp her with some of the maintenance for a while; that’s all. The house needs repairing a bit.”
“Where do you hail from?” Mr Ball asked, ignoring the fact that he could have asked these questions while seated around the breakfast table an hour ago but hadn’t.
Marcus was willing to ignore this slight error, though. It assured him that he was right to consider the man had something to hide. He had gone from staid and almost mute to amiable and chatty in less than an hour. Not only that, but his new talkative side had revealed a slight East End accent that was condemning.
Keeping Jess safely in his arms, he looked back at the man.
“Gloucestershire. A small village called Kettleby,” he lied.
“Never heard of it,” Ball replied.
Jess had never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. She was in an intimate embrace in front of one of her lodgers, but Marcus was behaving as thought it was an everyday occurrence for her to be wrapped around him as she was.
“I am sorry,” she whispered, pushing her bedraggled hair out of her face.
Dutifully playing his part, Marcus looked down at her lovingly.
“He understands.” He turned a somewhat pleading look on Mr Ball. “I would ask you not to tell anyone. We would get shunned from the village if our association became known.”
