In the Arms of a Stranger (7 page)

Juliette’s frown did nothing to mar her beauty but he couldn’t help feeling a sense of urgency to make it go away.
  He’d felt that same frantic need to bring Brianne’s smile back when he was in her room earlier. 

“I’ll get it out of her, but it’s going to take some time.
  How long do I have before Donahue comes back for a visit?”

“Two weeks,” Phillip answered irritably, “and he’s planning on staying for a week.”

A sly smile replaced Juliette’s frown.  “Surely there will be pressing matters at the home office that won’t allow him to be absent for so long?”

Jake chuckled at her quiet deviousness.
  “I believe you would do just about anything to keep your daughter from marrying Chad, wouldn’t you?”

“If only she were as easy to manipulate as our other daughter was,” she sighed.

Jake almost choked on the wine he’d just sipped.  “I thought Brianne said Miranda married her boss.”

“Who do you think arranged for her to work for Holt?”

His eyes widened.  “Holt Devlin?  I heard the rumor he finally settled down but didn’t really believe it.  I have to say, if Miranda is anything like Bri, he’s a very lucky man.”

“Miranda and Bri are as different as the sun and the moon,” Juliette told him, “but we knew Holt was the right man for her.
  She needed someone who would draw her out of her shell and he needed a woman with a gentle touch, someone who could steal quietly into his heart before he suspected what was happening.”

Jake grinned.
  “You’re quite the little matchmaker.  So what went wrong with Brianne and Chad?”

Juliette scrunched her nose in disgust.
  “We didn’t have anything to do with that.  If we thought for a moment Bri was getting serious about him, we would have interceded immediately.”

“By the time we found out,” Phillip added, “it was too late and she
had already accepted his proposal.  We thought it would burn out because Bri is so headstrong and Chad is so…well,
Chad
.”

Jake was thoughtful for a moment. 
“I take it you had someone else in mind for Bri?”

Phillip cast a furtive glance at his wife before answering.
  “As a matter of fact we did.”

“We were very selective,” Juliette said.
  “We chose a young man who has the same creative nature as our Bri, but who we thought would be able to…tame her outspoken manner without breaking her spirit.  She needs someone with a sense of humor, someone who will keep that brilliant smile on her face and love her as unconditionally, as we know she will love him.  He’s the perfect choice.  I know they will have a wonderful life together.”

Jake nodded, biting back his disappointment.
  “I know I have no right to interfere with your plans for Bri, but…” he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders, “but I’m afraid I can’t go along with you on this.”  He rushed on before either of them could interrupt. 

“Look, I know you think you’re doing the right thing
.  Obviously, you were very successful in hand picking Miranda’s husband, but like it or not, I am going to do everything in my power to make Brianne see she belongs with me.  I realize you probably don’t believe I could love your daughter after knowing her for such a short period of time, but I do.  I’m not going to lose her,” he said firmly.  “You can fire me, blacklist me, whatever you think is necessary but I won’t give up until Brianne is mine.”

Phillip rubbed his chin.
  “Juliette, would you like to respond to this one?”

She spoke to Jake, but her eyes lingered on her husband.
  “You were right, I am a romantic.  I would have to be when my own life has been somewhat of a fairytale.  I knew the moment Phillip and I were introduced that we were destined to be together.  I fell madly in love and married him in the span of one week.  So you see, I
do
believe that you love Bri.”

“If you believe me then why are you even considering introducing her to this other man?”

Juliette smiled softly.  “We’re not just considering it, we have already done it.”

Jake clenched his jaws.
  “It’s Andy Sutton, isn’t it?”

Phillip covered his wife’s hand with his own.
  “Juliette, have a heart and put the poor boy out of his misery.”

“Okay, okay,” she sighed then looked at Jake accusingly.
  “This is really all your fault.  If you had been available for the project we did in Colorado last year we wouldn’t have had to rush to get this one going so that you and Bri could…”

Jake started laughing.
  “My God, you are truly gifted at this matchmaking thing, Mrs. Carrington!  So tell me…just how long have you been plotting my demise as a confirmed bachelor?” 

 
                                                             ***

Brianne chose a simple black dress she purchased in town the night before
.  She wore her hair up, although the style was much more flattering than the sever bun she’d had it in during the meeting.  Her encounter with Jake still preyed on her mind as she left her room to join the others for dinner.  She’d made up her mind not to let temptation for him interfere with the decision to marry Chad but wasn’t completely confident she could pull it off.  He was like a magnet; drawing Bri to him as if she had no will of her own.  And if what happened this afternoon was any indication of Jake’s feelings for her, that magnetic effect worked both ways.

It was going to be impossible to keep any distance between them while they worked on the project since their jobs overlapped in so many areas, but she planned on avoiding him at all costs when they weren’t working together.
  If she wasn’t able to control herself when they were alone, then the obvious solution was to make sure that didn’t happen. 

Tomorrow she
would be moving into the rental house her father had procured for the month, which would alleviate the close proximity of their current living arrangements at the hotel.  After the project was completed, she and Jake would go their separate ways.  It was best thing for everyone involved.  Well, everyone but her that is. 

Her smile felt plastic as she made her way across the room, nodding and greeting people as if everything was simply wonderful, as if her heart wasn't breaking right in two.
  She took her place at the table beside Jake who looked so handsome in a black tailored suit she found herself constantly fighting the urge to turn in her chair and just stare at him. 

It was disappointing to discover that he seemed to have no trouble at all keeping his eyes off
of her.  He barely acknowledge her when she sat down and immediately jumped back into a conversation with her father, occasionally asking her mother’s opinion while carefully avoiding directing any questions towards Bri. 

She might have been invisible for all the attention he paid her and even the few attempts she made to converse with him were met with short, clipped responses.
  It hurt like hell but she couldn’t really blame him after the way she’d kissed him then made it perfectly clear she was marrying another man.  Bri finally gave up trying to talk to him.  She spent the next thirty minutes shuffling the food around on her plate and contemplating throwing herself under the next bus she encountered when something her father said made her head snap.

“What did you say?”

Phillip smiled indulgently.  “I was talking about the house you’ll be staying in while you’re in Jackson.  Your mother liked it so much we decided to buy it so we can vacation here whenever we want.  You and Jake will love it.”

That’s the part she was hoping she
had heard wrong.  “What do you mean?”

“It seems silly to rent a second place for Jake when we just purchased this big, beautiful house,” her mother said with an innocent smile.
  “Believe me, darling, there is plenty of room for both of you and it would make it so much more convenient working together if you didn’t have to travel from one place to another to meet.  Besides, I will feel much better if you had a nice, strong man in the house to watch out for you.”

Bri stared at her in disbelief.
  “I don’t need someone watching over me and I’m sure Jake would much rather have a place of his own.”  She turned to Jake, feeling certain he would agree, especially after the way he had ignored her all evening.

“Actually,” he drawled, “I think it’s a great idea.”

“You can’t be serious,” Bri croaked.

“Why not?  We’re both adults, and like your mother said, it’s a big house and will be a lot more convenient than moving all our paperwork and things back and forth.”

“Convenient
, yes, but I hardly think Chad will appreciate me shacking up with another man for a month regardless of the reason.”

“I already discussed it Chad,” her father said.
  “He didn’t have a problem with it.  As a matter of fact, he said he trusts you implicitly and thought it would be nice to stay there with you when he comes to visit instead of having to get a hotel.”

Bri’s eyes darted from one to the other as the color slowly drained from her face.
  “He doesn’t expect to…I mean, we agreed to wait until after the wedding to…to share a room.”

“Of course not,” Phillip assured her.
  “Chad was perfectly amenable to having his own room while he is there.”

Thank God
, she thought with an audible sigh.  It would be awkward enough for all three of them to live together during Chad’s visit without him thinking she would have sex with him while Jake was there.  She had no choice but to go along with her parent’s arrangements.  If she put up any more of a fuss, they might suspect something was going on between her and Jake, so she mumbled something about how thoughtful they’d been in discussing it with Chad first.

Jake pushed his chair back and stood up.
  “Now that we have that settled, I’m sure you won’t mind if I steal your daughter for a dance or two.”

“Not at all,” Juliette said before Brianne could decline.

Bri took the hand he offered and let him lead her out onto the dance floor, wondering how things could have gone from bad to worse so quickly.  So much for her plans to keep him at a safe distance, she thought despondently as Jake took her in his arms.  How was she going to make it through the next month when she would be living with him?  And how was she going to survive a visit from Chad with Jake right there to witness the demeaning way he treated her?  There was a small chance Chad would refrain from chastising her in front of Jake, but it was more likely he would swing in the other direction and be doubly hard on her just to prove he was the dominate one in their relationship.  It would be miserable for her, but Bri could see no way out of it.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Jake commented.

She managed a thin smile.  “I’m just tired.”

“Are you upset about the living arrangements?”

“I should think you would be more upset about it than me.”

“Why would I be?”

“Come on, Jake, you hardly said two words to me at dinner.  You must think I’m a total flake for throwing myself at you then telling you I still plan on marrying Chad.”

“I don’t think you’re a flake.
  What I think is that you’re a beautiful, intelligent woman who has gotten herself into a situation she doesn’t know how to get out of.  Talk to me, Bri.  I can help you, I know I can.”

Her lip trembled.
  If only it was that easy.  “You can’t help, nobody can.”

“What is he using to pressure you into this marriage?
  Have you committed a crime?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then what is it?”

“It doesn’t matter.
  You can’t fix it, Jake.”

It was killing him to see her look so miserable but pushing for answers was getting him nowhere.
  “All right, I’ll leave it alone for now, but if you change your mind…I’m here for you.”

Bri tried to hold back the tears
, but like everything else in her life right now, she seemed incapable of controlling it.  “I’m sorry,” she sniffed, “all I’ve done since we met is cry on your shoulder.”

“I’ve got pretty broad shoulders, I can handle it.”
  Keeping her tucked close to his side, Jake walked her off the dance floor.  “Come on, I’ll take you to your room so you can fall apart in private.”

She felt immeasurably better knowing he was on her side
, even if he couldn’t do anything to change her situation, and was grateful he was trying to lighten up her mood.  They were silent during the walk across the lobby and on the elevator ride, and she was grateful for that too because it gave her time to pull herself together.  She experienced a moment of déjà vu when she opened her purse and fished for the cardkey to her room then opened door and turned to tell him good night.

“Thanks for…everything.”

“I haven’t done anything yet, but I do care about you, Bri, and I want to help.”

Tears flooded her eyes.
  “Here I go again,” she said with a tremulous smile.

“My shoulders are still at your disposal if you don’t feel like being alone right now.”

She looked away, uncertain.  “I don’t want to be alone, but…”

“Then don’t be.”
 

It was encouraging that she let him in, but knowing how vulnerable Bri was at that moment
, he vowed not to take advantage of her.  She balked when he took her hand and led her past the living room and into the bedroom, her eyes round and fearful.  Was she afraid of him or just how he made her feel?  He drew her into his arms, felt the trembling of her body and knew she was fighting the same turbulent emotions he was.  He spoke softly, running his hand slowly up and down her back in a soothing gesture. 

“Why don’t you want me staying at the house with you?”

Bri closed her eyes, for the moment feeling secure in the warmth of his arms.  “You know why.”

Jake’s mouth quirked.
  “Tell me anyway.”

“Because of this, because of the way I feel whenever I’m anywhere near you, and because I don’t seem to have a rational thought in my head when you hold me or kiss me.”
  She looked up at him, knowing in her heart that this was the man she was meant to be with for the rest of her life.  “I’m scared, Jake, really scared.”

“Why, because you think I’ll try to seduce you once I have you all to myself?”

“No, it…it’s because I’m afraid you wouldn’t have to.  I would come to you…willingly, any time you wanted me.”

Jake sucked in air between his teeth.
  “Your honesty is killing me, sweetheart.”

“So what do we do?”

The desperation in her voice just about did him in.  What he wanted to do was take her to bed and spend the rest of the night making love to her.  When they woke in the morning, he wanted to move into the house with her just as he and her parents had planned and take the next month making her fall so hopelessly in love with him that she wouldn’t even consider marrying that poor excuse of a man, Chad.  But first he had to find out why she was so determined to go through with the wedding, and to do that, Bri needed to know she could trust him. 

“What if I proved to you we c
an live in the same house without falling into the temptation of a sexual relationship?”

She eyed him skeptically.
  “And how do you propose to do that?”

“By sleeping with you tonight.”

Brianne would have laughed if he hadn’t looked so deadly serious.  “So you think having sex again will cure both of us of any desire for each other?”

“I’m not talking about having sex
.  I’m talking about sleeping together.  Just sleeping.  Well…maybe one small, friendly kiss good-night too, but that’s all.  If we can do that, then we can certainly live under the same roof with separate bedrooms and not give in to our baser instincts.”

“Are you that strong, Jake, because in all honesty I can’t say that I am.”

“You’re stronger than you think you are and this will prove it to both of us.  Look, if either of us can’t handle it, I promise I’ll go back to my own room and tell your parents in the morning that it was my decision not to stay at the house with you.”

“They’ll want to know why.”

“Then I’ll make something up.  I’ll say Brandy threw a hissy fit about it so I agreed to get a place of my own.”

Brianne drew away from.
  “I thought you said she broke it off.”

Jake chuckled,
pleased by the spark of jealousy in her eyes.  “She did, but your parents don’t know that.  As far as they know, Brandy left because she had to get back to her own job.”

Bri couldn’t help herself.
  “Let me guess, she’s a lingerie model.”  Jake’s grimace made her laugh.  “Tell me something, Malone, have all the women you dated been so vacuous?”

“I’m not sure,” he said with a grin.
  “I never cared enough about any of them to carry on an actual conversation.  Besides, they were just fillers until the right woman came along.”

“Jake…”

“I know, I know.  I promise to behave myself for the rest of the night.”

“I haven’t agreed to spend the night with you yet,” she reminded him.

“You will.”

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re arrogant?”

“Not arrogant, sweetheart, confident.
  There’s a difference.”

“Okay, so what makes you so
confident
that I’ll invite you to sleep with me tonight?”

“First of all, because you want me to.
  If you didn’t, you would have kicked me out already.  Secondly, because you know if we don’t prove we can keep our hands off each other, we won’t be able to live under the same roof and one of us will probably have to back out of this project.  Now, I know I’m not willing to bludgeon my own reputation by breeching a contract, especially with a company as big as Carrington Cosmetics, and I’m fairly certain you don’t want your reputation damaged either.  Granted, as Phillip’s daughter you would be off the hook as far as the job goes, but you would suffer from guilt and remorse if you let your father down.”

“Guilt and remorse, huh?”

“Horrible amounts of it,” he said straight faced.  “You might never recover.”

His logic was a little warped, but she did have to give him credit for creativity.
  “I can see now why you’re so successful in the Marketing field.”

Jake just smiled.
  He knew he’d won.  After all, it was his job to know his objective and formulate a sound strategy.

 
                                                               ***

“Objectively speaking, do you think it’s wrong for us to share a bed even though we’re not doing anything?”

Jake stared at the darkened ceiling and carefully considered Bri’s question before answering.  “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with two friends offering each other comfort.  If it was one of your girlfriends who had bunked with you tonight, I’m sure you wouldn’t think anything of it.”

“True, but none of my girlfriends make me think of stripping naked and spending the night kissing and…”

“Stop!” Jake ordered hoarsely.  “Finish that sentence, Miss Carrington, and I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

Brianne giggled.
  It felt good to be curled up next him and it felt even better to know they could laugh and joke with each other like true friends.  That wasn’t to say her thoughts didn’t stray now and then or that it wasn’t a struggle to keep her hand from moving across his chest.  And, yes, she was tempted to tilt her head back and collect the kiss she was dying for, but they were having such a wonderful time just talking, she didn’t want to do anything to spoil it.

Bri shook off her rambling thoughts and veered towards a safer topic. 
“What made you go into marketing?  It’s not exactly an easy field to go into let alone be as successful as you’ve been.”

“Actually, I started out working part-time for my father in his advertising firm while I was still in high-school.
  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I continued working there when I started college.  I dabbled a bit in journalism and communications and even took a few courses in engineering, but it was the research projects my father assigned me to that really drew my interest.”

Bri knew exactly what he meant.
  “It wasn’t the research so much with me, but analyzing the data and figuring out how to use it to my advantage.  Daddy always gave me free rein with my creativity, which is probably why I love my job so much.”

“I guess that’s why I decided to strike out on my own too,” Jake said.
  “I didn’t want anyone stifling my creativity or telling me what I was doing was too risky.”

“Do you allow your employees that same freedom?”

“I’d like to think I do.  Of course, I have to consider my company’s reputation before approving anything, but I have gained a lot of recognition and respect because of the innovative marketing techniques we use so I try to be pretty open minded with my employees.”

“I think I
would like working for you,” Bri said dreamily.

Spending her days pouring over research with Jake, plotting their course of action, creating a market attack plan; it sounded exciting, and it hit her hard that once this project was over he
would move on to the next job.  He would be working side by side with another Public Relations Director, maybe another woman, one who was free to give herself to him and didn’t constantly burst into tears or make a complete fool of herself, as she had done.  Jake would forget all about her and fall in love with someone else.  He would get married and have a house full of children who looked just like him; beautiful babies with their father’s dark eyes and raven hair and that heart-stopping smile.