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Jack Reilly. Her husband.
CHAPTER TWO
JACKSTAREDDOWNat the woman he hadn’t seen in almost a year, stunned at the impact of her. He’d been prepared for this meeting. He left nothing to chance. Yet still she caught him by surprise.
It took only one raking glance to discover she was more alluring than he’d let himself remember.
She wasn’t the most conventionally beautiful woman he’d known but something about Elisabeth set her apart. Her newly acquired tan complemented her dark hair and emphasised the brightness of her unforgettable cognac-coloured eyes. Eyes wide with shock.
That gave him a buzz of satisfaction. After the shock she’d dealt him in Paris it was good to return the favour.
Anger and outrage at her desertion had been constant companions. They were there still, but now they were eclipsed by something more primal.
He felt it as a low pulse deep in his body, his heartbeat slowing to a ponderous beat. At the same time there was an effervescence in his blood, a tingling awareness that made him feel more alive, more vital, than during any recent business triumph.
Her slender limbs glowed golden and her deep red dress skimmed her delectable body. The way the silk fitted across her bust and the fact it was held up merely by two thin straps tied at the neck, was pure provocation.
Once she’d have dressed like that to tantalise him. She knew he enjoyed unwrapping her body before sharing the phenomenal sexual pleasure that had been the hallmark of their marriage.
But now... She hadn’t known he’d be here. Had she worn that piece of silken temptation for another man?
His jaw clenched as he swiftly scanned the group. But Michael and the two other men were here with their partners, all currently engaged in conversation.
‘Hello, Jack.’ Elisabeth’s voice was husky, trailing fire from his chest down his abdomen to his stirring groin.
He took a slow breath, revelling in the knowledge she was affected at the same visceral level. For despite her flattened mouth and pugnaciously tilted chin, her nipples budded against the rich fabric. And that hoarse note in her voice betrayed sexual awareness.
Jack’s mouth curled. To his surprise she’d been a virgin when they married, which meant he was the only man who knew that betraying note in Elisabeth’s voice.
A shadow darkened his vision. Unless, of course, she’d shared herself with someone else since him. An ache wrapped itself across his chest and right around his shoulder blades.
But whatever she’d been doing for the past ten months, the connection was still there between them, the desire.
He could work with that.
She got to her feet with that innate grace he’d noticed from the first. Because she felt at a disadvantage sitting? The lustrous fabric caught the light, shimmering over the lean length of her thighs and the curves of her breasts and hips.
Jack’s palms prickled. He wanted to stroke her slender body, reacquaint himself with every inch, though he already knew it by heart. His need sang in his veins and tightened his flesh.
‘I hadn’t expected to see you here. I hadn’t realised you and Michael were so close.’
Was that accusation in her tone? Yet her expression was placid so their companions would notice nothing wrong.
She’d always been excellent at projecting serenity and ease. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen her as his wife. That quality made her valuable for his networking, and after his childhood experiences of volatile emotions he’d had no interest in tying himself to a woman of extremes.
‘We had a lot to do with each other during the development of a joint project. We discovered a lot in common.’ Jack paused. ‘You introduced us, remember?’
‘I remember.’ She glanced at the others and lowered her voice. ‘You were eager for the connection. I’m glad to hear it paid off for your business.’
Jack stiffened. She saidbusinessas if it were a dirty word. Instead of the source of funds that had kept her in luxury and bailed out her father when bankruptcy loomed.
Of course he’d been interested in her social network. Elisabeth’s family, despite her father’s financial instability, was part of Europe’s elite. Her father was an English aristocrat and her mother had been related to prestigious families and powerbrokers across multiple countries. Elisabeth’s cousin Freya was related on her father’s side to the Danish royal family and when Freya took up with a European prince, interested in innovative energy solutions for his country, Jack had seen a major opportunity.
‘Thank you. Business is booming.’ Which had been some small solace, given the disaster she’d made of their marriage. ‘I’m pleased to count Michael as a friend.’
A knot formed in the centre of her forehead as if she couldn’t quite believe that.
Not surprising since he didn’t make friends readily. For years he’d been too driven to have time for a personal life. And he may initially have cultivated the friendship as a means of keeping an open door to Elisabeth’s cousin Freya. For when Elisabeth had walked out she’d disappeared. To Jack, used to being in control of his world, her disappearance had made him feel like he’d stepped off a precipice into thin air. It was only through Michael that he’d heard she was alive and well and somewhere far away.
