Out of the Blue

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

JARED PUT HIS arm around my shoulders and squeezed me close. “Darlin’, there must be something you can do.”

Something I could do?

“Believe me, I’ve thought of little else for the last six months. Clayton won’t budge. When I threatened to veto the honeymoon, he promised I could stay at college for the next year to finish my PhD. That was the best I could do.”

Jared gently kissed the top of my head, and I leaned into him. His body heat seeped into me even through the quilt. Logic told me I should feel scared, or at the very least, disgusted. After all, I barely knew him and he’d clearly had his hands all over me last night. But I shoved logic into a cage, locked it, and snuggled closer.

“What’s your thesis on?” he asked, his tone light.

I gave a hollow laugh. “My stepdaddy thinks I’m studying nineteenth-century literary heroines. I leave copies of Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë around the house to keep up the act.”

“So, what are you studying?”

“Science. Which is not a woman’s job, according to Clayton.”

“Does he know what century it is?”

“He’s a relic from the last one.”

“Maybe you could build him a time machine and send him back there.”

A giggle escaped. “It’s not that kind of science.”

“What kind, then?”

“It doesn’t matter. If Wade gets his way, I’ll wind up serving coffee.”

He chuckled and tightened his arm around me. Why did his smile do funny things to my insides?

“You need to have more confidence in yourself. You’re clearly smart as well as pretty, and you need to make sure the world sees it.”

Words. They were only words. But my heart pounded harder as those words left his lips. Stop it, Chess. He’s just being kind. Probably to stop you from crying again. After all, Jared was just a stranger I’d bumped into by accident and done something outrageously stupid with.

His phone rang, making me jump. He snatched it up and resumed pacing. Was that his lawyer? Could he fix the problem? All I heard were a series of yeahs and okays from Jared’s end.

Then he clicked off and stood in front of me. Awkward, because that put certain parts of his anatomy right at my eye level, and they were very...distracting. Clearly, the man didn’t have a problem with nudity. Mind you, if I was a man and looked like Jared, I wouldn’t wear many clothes either.

“...agreeing to the marriage.”

I cleared my throat. “Sorry, what was that?”

He looked down, realised what the problem was, and then smirked.

“Mind on other things, darlin’?”

“Er, I was just thinking about breakfast.” I clapped a hand over my mouth as his eyes widened. “I meant the hotel breakfast.”

“Sure you did. Anyway, my lawyer figures we’ll get an annulment on the grounds of lack of understanding. All we have to do is prove that at least one of us was incapable of agreeing to the marriage.”

“How do we do that? How do we prove that we were so drunk we can’t remember anything? Isn’t that the point? We can’t remember?”

“I was with a group of friends. Bachelor party.” He grimaced. “I’m never going to live this one down. But don’t worry—they’ll all confirm I was incoherent and had no clue about anything. We submit their statements to the court, and bingo, we get an annulment.”

“How long will that take? I’m supposed to leave in...” I peered at his watch. “Twenty minutes.”

He shrugged. “A few days. Look, I’ll take care of it. Just give me your address, and I’ll send you the papers to sign.”

Oh, no. No way. “You can’t send the papers to my house. Clayton opens all the mail.” Twenty-five years old and I had no privacy whatsoever.

“Okay.” Jared’s lip twitched as he thought. Cute. “I’ll get a courier to bring the papers to you at college, wait while you sign them, then bring them back. That work for you?”

My shoulders sagged with relief. “Perfect. Thank you.”

At least it looked like we’d found a solution to this whole mess. Well, Jared found a solution. What did I do apart from fall apart? I carefully jotted down my details on a piece of hotel stationery. Name, department, a map of how to find the lab. For a moment, I got so frazzled I couldn’t remember the name of the damn building. Jared lay back in the bed while I wrote, and more than once I caught myself glancing in his direction.

Despite what had happened last night, he seemed like a mostly decent guy. Not just his looks—he’d considered my feelings and treated me like a human being. For one crazy moment, I wondered what would have happened if we’d met under different circumstances.

Then I gave myself a mental slap. I absolutely should not be thinking that way. No, I needed to get rid of Jared, pack, and go home.

I folded the piece of paper and handed it over, but Jared didn’t move.

“Uh, I need to get dressed.”

He stayed still, but his lips quirked upwards.

“Alone.”

“Aw, I was hoping for a final show.”

Okay, maybe I’d misjudged him. He really could be an asshole like the other men in my life. “You’re not getting one. Would you please leave?”

He smiled wider and swung his legs onto the floor. “You’re cute when you get pissed. And so damned polite.”

“And you’re...” Naked. Again.

He’d dropped the pillow when he got up. I closed my eyes to block out the sight of his golden abs, with that little trail of blonde hair leading down to... No! Don’t think about it! In three weeks, I’d have to get used to Wade’s fledgling paunch and that was that.

“And I’m what?” His tone was light, teasing.

“You’re annoying.”

He sighed. “Fine. Just let me get my clothes on. Wouldn’t want to give any other ladies an eyeful, would I?”

They’d probably disagree. In fact, ladies from Texas to Toronto would pay good money for an eyeful of what Jared had to offer. He began sorting through the mess on the floor, and I breathed a sigh of relief when he picked the condom up and flushed it. I wasn’t sure I’d have dared to touch that.

A hammering at the door made my eyes widen, and I stifled a scream. Jared paused mid-hop, one leg in his jeans.

“You expecting anyone?” he whispered?

I shook my head. Unless...

“Francesca? Are you in there?”

Oh, hell. A shiver ran through me and beads of sweat popped out on my back. Jared raised an eyebrow.

“Wade,” I mouthed. And he didn’t sound happy. “Hide. Please, hide.”

Jared buttoned his jeans, and I couldn’t help sneaking one last glance at what lay inside. Then he pulled on his shoes, grabbed the paperwork and his jacket, and scuttled out onto the balcony. Heart hammering, I pulled the drapes tightly shut.

“I’m here,” I called.

“What are you doing in there?”

At that moment? Hastily pulling on a bathrobe and doing one last check for evidence. I cracked open the door. “Sorry, I overslept.”

He shouldered his way inside. “Where the hell did you go last night?”

Wade was a good-looking man, but at that moment, with his face all scrunched up in anger, he displayed his ugly soul. I followed him inside, my toes scrunching in the deep pile of the carpet, praying he wouldn’t notice the room smelled of s*x and another man. I needn’t have worried. As usual, Wade was only interested in himself.

He didn’t even wait for my answer before launching into a tirade.

“You disappeared, Francesca. When we sat down for the speeches, I was the only man with an empty seat beside him. Do realise how embarrassing that was?” He thumped the wall for emphasis, and I hoped it hurt. “Do you?”

I nodded, afraid to speak.

“So you just don’t care then, is that it? Everyone looked at me like I was a loser. Don’t you dare do that again, you hear me?”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

His eyes flashed. Apology not accepted. “You’d better be downstairs in ten minutes or your father’ll be even angrier than he is already.”

Still furious, he stormed off, slamming the door behind him.

I sank to the floor, sliding my back down the closed door and biting back tears. I had a lifetime of that to look forward to. At that moment, I understood why my sister had tried to kill herself. Death was the easy way out. If it wasn’t for Lottie, I’d do it.

The drapes caught my eye as a breeze tugged at one corner. Shoot! Jared was still on the darn balcony. Wade had a way of making me forget everything, even my own mind. I hauled myself up and crossed the room on shaky legs.

“It’s okay. He’s gone. You can—”

I whipped the drapes back and found empty air. Huh? Where did he go? I stepped out onto the balcony, but at only a few feet wide, there wasn’t anywhere for a mouse to hide, let alone a man, and Jared hadn’t been small. No, he’d been big all over, especially his... Snap out of it!

I peered down over the railing, just in case he’d fallen off, but everything was quiet on the sidewalk as tourists ambled along and the last few all-night gamblers staggered home to drown their sorrows. The balconies either side were empty too, not that I expected him to have jumped the four-foot gap between them. Where did he go?

Could I have dreamed him up? A brain’s rebellion over my imminent nuptials? Only the delicious ache between my legs told me otherwise.