Penalty Clause (14 page)

Jill kept an eye on Rev as she refilled the bird feeders in her front yard. As usual, the dog was racing around the yard without a care in the world. If she hoped to spot any birds later today, she’d need to keep Rev in the house long enough
for the birds to come out of hiding.

Jill almost dropped the bag of birdseed a minute later when she heard Rev’s deep barking.
His happy barks were higher pitched, but once in a blue moon, Rev found something that needed to be warned off and then his deep, growling bark came out with threatening force. Like now.

Jill looked up at the unusual sight of Rev standing at the front of the yard. His whole body was launched, hackles up, teeth bared as he barked at someone in a car.

“Rev, come!” Jill called out as she started jogging toward him. The yard was deep, the house set back from the road, and that made it hard for Jill to make out the person in the car.
A woman?
The car started and drove off, leaving Rev barking behind it. As the car pulled away, Rev circled back to Jill, but he didn’t calm down. He stood with one back foot on her foot, body still coiled and ready as he watched the spot where the car had been.

“What was that all about, big guy?” Jill crouched and stroked his chest. His whole body was still tense.

Andrew came up behind her.

“What was that about? I heard him
from up in the bedroom.” Andrew had been sleeping in while Jill and Rev filled the bird feeders.

“I don’t know. He gets protective on very rare occasions but never anything like that. He’s a
Labradoodle, for heaven’s sake, not a guard dog. I don’t know what brought that on.” Jill gazed up at Andrew, confused.

“Did you see who it was?” Andrew asked.

“A woman? Maybe? I couldn’t see much. I didn’t notice the car at all until Rev started barking. Probably nothing. Someone visiting a neighbor or something.”

Andrew drew Jill into his arms, sending tingles of anticipation through her body and quickly erasing thoughts of the strange car and driver from her mind.

“Let’s go back to bed,” he whispered in her ear as he nuzzled her neck.

Andrew took Jill’s hands and tugged her back toward the house.

“Come on Revil, Devil, Demon Child. Let’s go!” Andrew called out and the dog dropped into place beside them, following them back into the house.

***

Fucking dog. Great, now I need to research sedatives for dogs. Or maybe, just kill the damn thing. Rat poison? I wonder how much rat poison I’d have to hide in a steak to kill a dog that size. 

Theresa drove away from the barking dog and pulled down the street. No wonder that whore had her claws in Andrew. They lived next door to each other and, from what Theresa had been able to find out, their families had been close for a long time. Hell, Andrew was probably expected to marry her
like in some archaic arranged marriage. He didn’t have a choice.

Theresa sighed. Sometimes it really sucked to be in love with a man from old money. They had such customs and expectations. This might make it harder to
wrestle Andrew out of the whore’s clutches but Theresa could be patient. She’d come up with a plan. Until the right time, she’d wait and gather information.

Theresa drove home and went back to work on her computer, sorting through newspaper stories for information on Andrew and Jill, looking up property records and trying to uncover more of Andrew’s holdings and accounts. The more information she collected, the better prepared she’d be when Andrew needed her.

I’m working on it, my beautiful Andrew. Just be patient and I’ll have us together soon.

As time passed, Jill realized that Andrew had not only helped her regain her confidence
, he’d brought it to new heights. Just before the holidays, the entire Sutton Capital team spent the night in New York City at a fundraising event. The event raised money for a charity that was sponsored by one of the companies Sutton Capital had a big hand in starting. Jill put her newfound confidence to work to turn the tables on Andrew.

Jill excused herself from the large round table in one of the
Ritz-Carlton Hotel ballrooms where a group of them were eating, and headed to the ladies’ room. Moments later, she walked back across the ballroom, with the small red thong panties she had been wearing under her silk gown balled up in her fist.

As Jill found her seat again, she brushed a kiss across Andrew’s cheek and pressed the scrap of lace and silk into his hand under the table. Andrew shot her a puzzled look and then looked down and opened his hand.

Jill kept a small, polite smile on her face as she talked with Kelly and Jennie, but she saw the look on Andrew’s face when he processed what she had handed him. As their entrees were served, Jill slipped her hand under the table and let her fingers trail up Andrew’s leg. She paused on his thigh, letting her fingers trace back and forth. Then they strayed upward…and found Andrew hard and ready for her under the table.

Andrew’s lips brushed Jill’s neck as he whispered in her ear. “You’ll pay for this, sweetheart.”

Jill tilted her head and turned an innocent smile to him before returning to the conversations around the table. Jill never would have tried anything like this when she was with Jake. Heaven knows, Jake wouldn’t have been able to come up with a response that sent shivers of anticipation up her spine the way Andrew’s words had.

If anyone noticed that Andrew was a little distracted during dinner, they didn’t say anything. Jill had a feeling their friends knew what was happening when Andrew took Jill’s wrap from the back of her chair just after dessert was served. Andrew stood and took hold of Jill’s arm, her wrap strategically draped over his other arm to cover the results of Jill’s dinnertime torment.

Jill laughed as Andrew didn’t even try to come up with an excuse for the group. “Goodnight, everyone,” Andrew said as he pulled Jill from the room and steered her toward the elevators in the hall.

***

Chad laughed as he watched Andrew lead Jill from the room, clearly intent to haul her upstairs for a more private party of their own. His laughter was interrupted when he felt Jennie’s hand on his arm. Chad followed Jennie’s gaze and cursed under his breath when he saw what Jennie spotted. Theresa stood stock still across the room watching Jill and Andrew exit the ballroom. The look on her face was pure rage. Seething, undisguised and unrepentant rage.

Andrew jabbed the button to call the elevator and scowled at Jill when she laughed at this predicament.

Andrew bent to Jill’s ear and whispered, sending shivers through her body. “Laugh, sweetheart. Laugh all you want. But you’ll pay.”

When the elevator doors opened, Andrew pulled Jill inside. He pushed the button for their floor, and pressed Jill against the wall of the elevator, crushing her lips with a kiss.

“Not nice, Jill,” Andrew said as he broke the kiss. “You’ve just earned yourself hours of torture and torment.” Jill’s dress slit up to her thigh, allowing Andrew access. He growled when he found Jill wet and ready for him. Torturing Andrew at the table had turned into as much torment for her.

As Andrew stroked her and teased, nipping at her neck, he continued to whisper in her ear. “By the time I’m finished with you, sweet Jill, you’ll never misbehave again. You’ll be begging me to let you come and promising to be on your best behavior if I’ll just give you that sweet relief you need.”

Jill groaned, knowing Andrew could make good on that threat. When they got to their room, Andrew did just that. Somehow, he managed to call on a level of patience and control like Jill had never seen. He used his hands, his mouth, his teeth, to drive her close to the edge, but always pulled back just before Jill toppled over to the release she needed.

“Please, Andrew, please,” Jill cried as he pulled back yet again.

Andrew laughed. “I told you I’d make you pay.”

“I need you inside me, Andrew.
Please, I need you now.” Jill raised her hips, trying to rock against Andrew, to urge him to fill her, but he pulled back.

“Promise to be a good girl?”

“No.” Jill writhed under him.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. You have to be taught a lesson.”

Desperate, Jill pulled out the one card she held. “Andrew, I started taking the pill two weeks ago.”

Andrew stilled, his lips still touching her inner thigh. Jill knew she had his attention.

“It takes two weeks before the pill is effective, Andrew. Do you know what that means?”

Andrew crawled up Jill’s body, his forearms framing her face, meeting her gaze. All the laughter was gone from his eyes. It was replaced by a look of sheer wonder that made Jill’s breath catch in her throat.

“Please tell me that means what I think it means, Jill,” Andrew said.

Jill smiled and nodded. “No condom.”

Andrew’s groan was low in his throat as he leaned in to kiss her gently, no longer toying with her. Andrew kept his eyes on Jill’s, deepening his kiss. Then slowly, tenderly, Andrew entered her, bringing a gasp to Jill’s lips. She pressed her lips to Andrew’s shoulder and bit down as he thrust into her slowly again and again, causing the sweet pressure of orgasm to build.

“Oh, Jill,” Andrew groaned. His voice seemed to fade away as if he couldn’t find words. Jill knew just how he felt. The feeling of being with Andrew with nothing separating them was so intimate. At that moment, Jill felt closer to Andrew than she’d ever felt to anyone. There were no words to describe what she was feeling physically or emotionally as she and Andrew climaxed together moments later.
 

The end of November came and Jill and Andrew joined family and friends for Thanksgiving at Jack and Kelly’s house.
They picked up Nora and Lydia and brought them along to join Kelly’s family, Chad and Chad’s mother, Mabry, were already gathered. Jennie planned to stop by for dessert later in the evening. Once again, Jill found herself surrounded by love and comfort and she absorbed as much of that as she could.

Kelly’s family was wonderful.
Kelly’s mother and sister, Jessie, wanted to hear all about the plans for the wedding. They had some great ideas since they had just been through the wedding planning process with Jack and Kelly. Nora and Lydia jumped into the wedding daydreams as well and Jill had to remind everyone that they wanted something small and understated. If she wasn’t careful, she would end up renting out the Waldorf-Astoria in New York with five hundred of Andrew’s and hers closest friends.

In traditional Thanksgiving manner, the men gathered in the living room to watch football. The women gravitated to the kitchen and pitched in to help Mrs. Poole, Jack and Kelly’s housekeeper, finish up the Thanksgiving dinner.

When it was time to sit down to eat, Jack asked Kelly’s dad to carve the turkey and then heavily laden platters of food were passed around. Wine glasses were filled and finally grace was said before everyone began to eat.

Jill had been a bit sad that she wouldn’t be with her own family this Thanksgiving
– she and Andrew planned to go see her parents at Christmas this year – but the minute she tasted Mrs. Poole’s cornbread stuffing and turkey, more tender than even her own mother’s, Jill forgot most of the sting of being away from home.

Toward the end of the meal, Jack rose and cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. When a hush fell on the group, he began to speak.

“As all of you know, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I found my beautiful, incredible, sexy wife and somehow convinced her to spend the rest of her life with me.” The love Jack held in his heart for Kelly shone in his eyes as he looked at her and Jill saw Kelly tear up at his words, that also raised a slight blush on Kelly’s cheeks when Jack hit the word ‘sexy.’

“We were blessed to get Kelly back safe when she was kidnapped. Instead of losing her and my happiness along with her, I was given a second chance
– thanks to her quick thinking, Jessie’s brains, and Chad and his people. I owe you guys everything,” Jack said as he looked at them. Jack’s voice was thick with emotion and Jill found herself tearing up as well.

“I also have a second chance at a relationship with my Aunt Mabry, who I have missed more than I realized over the years.” Jack nodded toward his aunt who beamed at him.

“And I am very happy to tell you all that Kelly and I are now expecting our first baby.” The table exploded with congratulations and cheers from everyone. But Jill’s heart felt a small pang and as she raised her eyes to Andrew’s she saw his were locked on her as well. Jill knew they were both thinking about the children they had lost and perhaps thinking about the children they might have in the future.

It was in that moment that Jill could no longer deny what she had been trying so desperately to push aside
: she loved Andrew. With all her heart and all she was, she loved him. As she sat, a new realization swept over her – all while she tried to keep up appearances, congratulating Kelly and Jack and nodding in agreement when Kelly’s mom said how wonderful the couple’s baby news was... Jill realized that she couldn’t marry Andrew.

Jill looked down at the tablecloth and blinked furiously, pushing back the tears burning in her eyes. She couldn’t be in a marriage like she had been in before. A one-sided marriage where Jill was in love but her husband was not. It didn’t matter that she believed Andrew would never leave her. What mattered was that she would always know why he stayed. If she married Andrew, Jill would know he stayed true to her because of the penalty clause, the money. Not because of love. And, that, she realized was something Jill couldn’t bear to live with.

***

Andrew watched Jill across the table. He knew she must feel a flash of pain at the news of Jack and Kelly’s baby, but as he watched her,
he thought something more was going on. He and Jill went from sharing a small, unspoken thought about their lost children, to something different. She wouldn’t meet his eye and she seemed quiet through the rest of the meal, as if she had withdrawn into herself.

In between dessert and dinner, he found a moment alone with her and pulled her into his arms.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Andrew whispered into Jill’s ear. He tried to let Jill feel how much he loved her, how much she meant to him through his embrace.

“
Mmm hmm. I’m okay. Just tired.” Jill nodded and pressed her head into his chest, laying her cheek on him. Andrew wanted to believe her but something felt off and he couldn’t shake that feeling the rest of the evening.

They got through dessert, helped with cleanup, visited a bit more with everyone, but then Andrew wanted to get Jill home. Get her back to where it was just the two of them in their own little world, a safe cocoon so he could find out what was bothering her.

They drove home with Lydia and Nora maintaining most of the conversation. Andrew dropped the two older women at Nora’s and walked them up to the door, g extra cautious with Nora since her hip had only recently been declared ‘healed.’ Then he drove Jill and himself next door to her grandmother’s house.

He
was quiet in the car, preferring to wait until they got inside to press her for answers, to find out what was going on. Jill was sad. And he wasn’t convinced that it was just because she had been reminded of the baby she had lost.

The minute he closed the front door, Andrew opened his mouth to talk to her
but Jill wrapped her arms around him and pressed her lips to his in a kiss of such deep longing, such sweet perfection, it almost knocked him to his knees.

“Make love to me, Andrew,” she whispered
against his lips, before taking his hand in hers and pulling him toward the bedroom.

Their lovemaking was sultry and sweet and seemed endless to Andrew. But there was an emotion playing just underneath the surface that he didn’t like. There was
a sadness to it and as he lay in the aftermath with Jill in his arms, he suddenly knew.

She was leaving him.

“Why did that feel like goodbye, Jill?”

Andrew felt Jill’s tears on his chest and he lifted her chin so he could see her eyes. He knew he was right. The pain that gutted his chest and made him feel empty and broken told him he was right.
 

“Tell me what’s going on. Tell me why you’re leaving me,” Andrew whispered. He was surprised how calm he
sounded, when inside, he felt anything but. Andrew ached for Jill, ached to absorb her pain and her fear – to find a way to soothe her. But when she spoke and confirmed his fears he was desperate to make her stay.

“I can’t, Andrew. I thought I could but I just can’t,” Jill began.

Andrew felt so many emotions when his worst fear was confirmed. Anguish, sorrow, anger. He was ashamed to say, there was a lot of anger. Jill slipped from the bed and pulled her robe on but Andrew stayed where he was, trying to take measured breaths, to will away the urge to lash out at her for causing him this pain.

“Why, Jill? Why can’t you?” Andrew’s voice sounded so calm, but on the inside he was anything but. Suddenly, despite the fact that he had never thought of Jill as being like
Blair, that was all he could think. Jill was leaving him just like Blair had.

Andrew tried to remember that Jill was hurting and sad and he wanted to reach out and comfort her. But she was also the one causing him so much pain, tearing his future apart the same way Blair had. Taking away the happiness that had been in Andrew’s grasp only hours before.

Jill shook her head as tears began to flow and she pressed her hand over her mouth. “I just can’t go through that again,” she said, her voice small and quiet.

Andrew’s anger flared. He rose from the bed. “How could you think I would be anything like him? That I would leave you? I’ve done everything,
everything
, Jill, to show you I won’t leave. What more can I do?” He was yelling at her now as he pulled on his clothes in jerky, quick motions.

Fuck! How had this happened?

“I’m sorry, Andrew. There isn’t anything you can do. It isn’t you. I just can’t do this.”

Andrew needed to get away from Jill before he lashed out at her and said something he couldn’t take back. As he turned to leave, Jill called out his name and he turned to see her holding his ring out to him.

In a moment that would bring him unending shame later, Andrew growled at Jill and swatted her hand away, sending the ring flying across the room. Andrew stalked out of Jill’s house and away from the second woman to take his love and shred his heart with it.

***

Jill managed to hold herself up until she heard the door slam and Andrew’s car pull down the driveway. Then she let the flood of tears, anguish and heartache come as she sank to the floor. The pain she felt was so much greater than the pain she had felt when Jake left her.

Rev came and crawled into her lap
– all eighty pounds of him – and she fisted her hands into Rev’s soft curls, buried her face in his neck and cried.