It took all of Jacob’s concentration to focus on Beth, chatting to her about her nursery plans, resolutely ignoring Holly as she moved around the table clearing the dinner plates. His resolve weakened as he sensed her reach the back of his chair and it shattered when she bent to retrieve his plate and fanned a warm breath of air against his ear. It was all he could do to keep a straight face as a violent shiver racked his body.
Then, before disappearing into the kitchen, Holly turned and threw him a sultry wink.
Jacob stared at the closed kitchen door. She had assured him nothing significant had happened in his absence. She had fibbed.
In five mystery minutes, she had transformed from an overwhelmed young woman into a raging siren. And despite himself he was enthralled. Under that haughty façade lurked a hell-cat just waiting to claw her way out. It could be a lot of fun unlocking the door to that particular cage.
Jacob blinked his eyes back into focus to find Ben red-faced and shaking with laughter and Beth wiping tears of mirth from her cheeks.
And the truth dawned on him.
‘She knows.’ Jacob threw his napkin on the table in defeat.
‘She knows,’ Ben admitted. ‘Shouting and hitting from you is nothing compared with the combined wrath of those two.’
‘So,’ Beth asked, her voice playful, ‘are you going to propose to her now or after dessert?’
From the kitchen, Holly was glad to hear laughter.
She was about to return to the dining room to retrieve the cutlery when the kitchen door flapped open and Jacob joined her, cutlery in hand.
‘Oh.’ She took a step back, swamped by the man’s considerable presence in the small kitchen. He leant past her to place the silverware in the sink, the sleeve of his dark grey suit jacket brushing against her arm. The sensation of the roughened wool against smooth bare skin was electric.
‘I’m happy to clear. Go sit back down.’ She waved him away with a flourish, and took two steps back leaving her flush against the kitchen cupboards. She desperately hoped he would leave her alone. But hoping did not make it so.
‘Actually, I’m here to talk. The cutlery was just an excuse.’
‘Oh,’ she murmured again.
‘That was some act you put on in there.’
Her blush was back. ‘Your performance wasn’t so bad either.’
He lowered his voice so that it washed over her as a soft rumble. ‘Though I don’t know that I can outdo your last turn—not with an audience, anyway.’
Gulp.
‘So how about we call it even?’ He held out his hand. ‘Truce?’
Holly stared for several moments before reaching out and clasping it. His hand was soft and strong and she was thankful his palm was as warm as hers. When she let go she ran a nervous finger around the neckline of her dress.
‘And I also wanted to apologise for that morning on the street.’
Holly’s finger stopped, mid tug.
‘That was atypical behaviour for me,’ he said. ‘And though I was jet-lagged, that was no excuse for bad manners.’
He stopped talking and Holly realised he was waiting for her to say something next.
‘You didn’t tell Ben that, did you?’ she blurted out. Or Ben would have told Beth for sure and there would be no living it down. ‘You didn’t let on we had met before? That we met that way?’
‘Ah, not as far as I remember.’
‘Then don’t. Please. For reasons inexplicable and uninteresting I would rather our first meeting stay our little secret.’ ‘Sure.’
Holly blinked. She had expected it to be harder than that. According to her theory he was supposed to be obstinate and unyielding.
‘And one more thing, just to clear the air,’ Jacob said.
‘Go for your life.’ So glad she was safe from Beth’s karma and kismet conversation, Holly was ready to tell him anything.
‘Do you mind telling me why you think you need Ben’s help to find a husband?’ He leant his large frame against the cupboards at her side and she had to look up to meet his eye.
‘Oh,’ she said for the third time in as many minutes, the blush now spreading all the way to her toes. ‘Isn’t that a littlepersonal?’
Jacob laughed. ‘Personal? You were ready to marry me before seven o’clock tonight.’
Holly’s hands flew from where they gripped the cool kitchen sink to cover her fast-reddening cheeks. ‘Don’t remind me, please.’
She slowly lowered her hands from her face, thinking it must have been hot in the small room. His cheeks were as pink as hers felt. She wasn’t just imagining it.
Then without warning Jacob raised his hand and ran a finger over a stray lock of hair that had escaped its confines. He slid it back into place behind her ear, his fingertip resting by her cheek for a few lingering moments. And during those long drawn-out seconds she could not have dragged her eyes away from his for all the world.
The scraping of a chair in the dining room brought Holly out of her reverie and she spun around to face the plates of dessert she had been preparing. Jacob cleared his throat and walked from the room without another word.
Holly went to pick up two plates and saw that her hands were shaking. She carefully placed the plates back onto the bench and took a couple of deep breaths.
‘He’s the enemy, remember,’ she said aloud. ‘The anti-husband. He was put on this earth to test you. If you can resist him, you can resist any of his kind.’ She glared at her hands, demanding they not shake as she took the plates into the other room.
Hours later Holly helped Beth up to the master bedroom and left the men to say their goodnights downstairs. As Beth got into bed she said, ‘He’s a sweetie, Holly.’
‘Of course he is or you wouldn’t have married him.’
‘I mean Jacob, you dope.’
Sweet’s the last word I’d use, Holly thought. ‘Yeah, well, the jury is still out on that one.’
‘Promise me you’ll give him a chance.’
Not likely. ‘Sure, honey. For you, anything.’ ‘Good … goodnight …’
Holly kissed her sleepy friend on the cheek and headed quietly downstairs. The men’s voices wafted up the stairwell. Holly stopped halfway down, her heart beating so loudly in her ears she was sure they would hear it too and know she was there.
‘Give her a chance,’ she heard Ben say. It made her smile, thinking how alike Ben and Beth were. But her smile soon faded at Jacob’s response.
‘Give me a break, Ben, I’ve been back in the country for a few days, and haven’t even found the time to acquire a housekeeper. Besides which I have no idea how long I’m staying this time and you know my views on marriage. What were you thinking?’
She knew it! In that first instant when they had crashed together on the street she had seen it. She sensed this guy was the epitome of the inaccessible male. He was the antithesis of kind, committed Ben. Her theory had been right all along.
Holly strained to listen when there was a brief pause in the conversation.
‘Unless of course she’s handy with a feather duster … then both of our problems would be solved in one fell swoop.’
Charming! She waited for Ben’s protest—which never came.
‘Not likely, I’m afraid. A bit of a princess, our Holly.’