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Maybe, as with her, he preferred to leave the current woman in his life at home, to forget about her while he found someone else to amuse him. And it looked as if that ‘someone else’ was going to be Bethany!’
Her sister had been sixteen when Sian had been dating Jarrett, and at the time he had treated Bethany like a troublesome child. That hadn’t been surprising. Bethany had always wanted to tag along with him, never left them alone for a minute when they were in the house, and at thirty-three Jarrett had already been highly sensual, his passion surpassing any other man’s she had ever known. Bethany had cramped his style, but now it seemed she was old enough to be at the receiving end of that fiery desire that had so unnerved Sian three years ago. In those days, when she was alone with Jarrett, she hadn’t been able to control her response to him, and she now feared that mindless obsession for Bethany.
Not that her sister looked as if it frightened her; she was clinging unashamedly to his arm, small and kittenish, unaware of the leashed danger in the man standing at her side, at the devastation he could wreak in a woman’s life before he walked away without so much as a backward glance.
As he had with her! Oh, she had loved him so much then, would have done anything for him. But her unreserved love hadn’t been enough for him.
‘Darling?’
She looked almost dazedly at Chris, seeing his puzzled frown. ‘Sorry?’ she said jerkily.
‘Mr King was offering us his congratulations.’
‘Really?’ She turned to look at Jarrett, unable to read his reaction now. His expression was deliberately bland, the fierce anger gone.
It was an anger he had had no right to feel in the first place! She had waited for him to come back to her, had waited a long slow lifetime for him to come back, but he never had. He had no right to feel anything about the fact that she was marrying another man.
‘But of course,’ he drawled now. ‘Why don’t you join Bethany and me and we can have a celebration dinner on your behalf?’
‘That’s very—’
‘No!’ Sian’s sharp denial interrupted Chris, and she flushed as Jarrett’s eyes narrowed to hard green pebbles, not even daring to look at Chris for his reaction to her outburst. Poor Chris must be wondering what on earth was going on! ‘We’ve already started our meal,’ she added more calmly, indicating the half-eaten melon on their plates.
Jarrett shrugged. ‘You could easily transfer to our table. It would be no trouble, I’m sure.’ He made it sound as if he would make sure it wasn’t!
‘Can’t you see that they would rather be alone, Jarrett?’ Bethany cooed up at him. ‘They probably have plans for the wedding to discuss.’
Green eyes narrowed at this suggestion, and once again Sian was given the impression that the idea of her marriage to Chris displeased him.
‘We do have the reception to talk about,’ she confirmed firmly, undaunted by that displeasure. ‘And we wouldn’t want to bore you with the details.’
‘I’m sure I wouldn’t be bored.’ Jarrett’s voice was hard, his eyes challenging as he once more met her gaze. ‘I’ve had some practice at it myself,’ he added softly.
Colour heightened her cheeks before quickly fading again. ‘It can be a tiring business,’ she told him stiltedly. ‘Especially if it turns out to be unnecessary.’
What reply Jarrett would have made to that deliberate taunt she never knew. ‘Our table is ready, Jarrett,’ came Bethany’s timely interruption.
His mouth tightened, then he gave a slow nod. ‘Very well,’ he said slowly. ‘It was good to see you again, Sian. Newman,’ he nodded abrupt dismissal of the other man.
Chris slowly sat down as the other couple moved to their table across the room, Bethany’s face animated as she spoke to the preoccupied man sitting across from her. ‘So that’s Jarrett King,’ he muttered.
Sian’s eyes widened at the open dislike in her fiancé’s voice. ‘Yes, that’s Jarrett,’ she said in a puzzled voice, wondering at Chris’s attitude. Apart from that curt departure Jarrett had been very polite. And yet Chris seemed to dislike him on sight, an unusual reaction for him. Chris seemed to get along with everyone usually. Obviously not Jarrett.
‘He isn’t what I expected at all,’ he mumbled, a frown to his dark blue eyes.
‘Expected?’ she echoed sharply.
He shrugged. ‘Everyone in Swannell has heard of the famous Jarrett King.’ He glanced over at the other couple. ‘I’m not sure Bethany should be with a man like him. I’ve heard things about Jarrett King that make him highly unsuitable as a companion for Bethany.’
Sian had stiffened now, for some reason resenting the same criticism she herself had directed at him mentally. ‘Really?’
‘She’s too young to handle a piranha like him—’
‘I think that’s going a little too far, Chris,’ she protested heatedly.
His eyes narrowed, his mouth tight. ‘Why are you defending the man?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m not defending him—’
‘No?’ he bit out angrily. ‘It sounds very much that way to me.’ He eyed her moodily.
She was very much aware of Bethany and Jarrett as they sat across the room from them, of Bethany’s sparkling charm and Jarrett’s lazy humour, almost as if Bethany’s efforts to charm him amused rather than attracted him.
Her mouth was tight as she turned back to Chris. ‘I agree with you that he is totally unsuitable for Bethany,’ her tone was abrupt, ‘but I don’t agree that he’s a piranha.’
His eyes flashed deeply. ‘Not even after the way he walked out on you?’ he rasped.
All the colour drained from Sian’s face, leaving her eyes looking huge and haunted. ‘What do you know about that?’ she choked, crumbling the bread roll on her plate to destruction.
Chris’s mouth twisted. ‘Only what the people in this town felt I should know when we became engaged.’
She swallowed hard, having no idea he had been told the gossip about her. ‘Then perhaps they told you wrong!’
‘He left with another woman, didn’t he?’ Chris scorned.
‘Yes.’ Her voice was pained at the truth of that.
‘Let’s eat, Sian,’ he muttered as their main course arrived. ‘This is hardly the place for this discussion.’
She didn’t think anywhere would be the right place for discussing what was basically a private matter between herself and Jarrett. He had left with Nina Marshall, yes, but only because he found more pleasure in being with her than with Sian.
All enjoyment in the meal had gone for her. All she was aware of was Chris’s brooding anger, and Jarrett and Bethany’s obvious enjoyment in each other’s company, the sound of Jarrett’s husky laughter beginning to grate on her nerves by the time they got to the coffee stage of their meal, and she refused any of the strong brew, as did Chris.
‘Shall we go?’ he asked tersely.
She had never seen Chris like this before; she was more used to his easy charm and gentleness. This side of him was completely new to her, and she wondered if jealousy of Jarrett could have prompted this reaction. She could have told him he had no reason to feel anything over Jarrett; any love she might have felt for him had died when Nina Marshall returned to Swannell, also dismissed from his life. In time she could have perhaps forgiven his loving the other woman more than her, but when Nina returned a couple of weeks later without him it became obvious that neither of them had meant that much to Jarrett.
As they walked past Jarrett’s table his hand came out to grasp Sian’s wrist. She looked down with a gasp; Chris had gone on ahead to pay the bill and so not witnessed this intimacy. But Bethany had, and her embarrassment was all the more acute because of her sister’s wide-eyed stare.
‘Let go of me,’ she ordered between gritted teeth, very conscious of her hip pressed against his arm, could feel the warmth of his body through his shirt.
He made no effort to release her, his thumb moving rhythmically against the delicate veins in her wrist. ‘I have to talk to you,’ he told her throatily, his eyes intent.
‘I’m sorry,’ she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. ‘If you’ll excuse me … ?’
‘No!’ He stood up, towering over her as he always had, as powerfully built as ever. ‘Sian, I need to talk to you.’ He clasped her forearms.
‘Why?’ she asked flatly. ‘Isn’t it a little late for talking between us? I thought we’d said it all three years ago.’
‘Sian—’
‘Darling, are you ready to leave?’ Chris had paid the bill, coming back for her as he realised she hadn’t followed him out, and his irritation fanned to anger as he saw the way Jarrett was touching her. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, King …’ He pulled Sian to his side, a reckless challenge on his face. ‘It may have escaped your notice,’ he added tauntingly, ‘but Sian wears my ring now.’
She gasped at this deliberate provocation, seeing Jarrett’s eyes narrow to steely slits.
‘Sian never wore my ring,’ he answered in a mild voice—too mild! ‘We never needed such affectations as rings to know she belonged to me.’
Sian felt herself sway, forcing herself to remain standing as Chris’s hand crushed hers. But she couldn’t speak, knowing she would choke if she even attempted it.
Chris was white with fury. ‘Well, she doesn’t belong to you now,’ he snapped. ‘So just stay away from her!’
Jarrett’s jaw had tightened ominously at this, a pulse beating steadily there. ‘I’ll stay away from Sian if she tells me to—and if I think she really means it,’ he added tauntingly. ‘So don’t give me orders, Newman,’ he grated. ‘Sian could tell you—only too well—how much better I respond to—persuasion.’
‘Why, you—’
‘Could we please leave, Chris?’ Sian had finally found her voice; this last provocation had been too much. She looked at Jarrett with cold hazel eyes. ‘And I do ask you to stay away from me, Jarrett—as I ask you to stay away from Bethany.’
Her sister coloured painfully, her embarrassment acute. ‘Sian, you can’t—’
‘I agree, she can’t,’ Jarrett drawled, bestowing a smouldering smile on the besotted Bethany. ‘And you didn’t mean that, Sian,’ he looked back at her with mocking eyes. ‘I always knew when you were telling the truth—and that wasn’t it.’
Her mouth twisted, her hand through the crook of Chris’s arm now. ‘How unfortunate I was never as perceptive where you were concerned,’ she was deliberately insulting, ‘then I would have known from the first what sort of man you are.’
‘And that is?’ he bit out harshly, all amusement gone now.
‘The sort of man I don’t like dating my sister!’ She turned away from the angry flame of his eyes. ‘I’ll talk to you later, Bethany,’ she warned.
Her sister looked sulky. ‘I’m not a child, Sian,’ she snapped.
‘I agree—you aren’t,’ Sian said tightly. ‘Which is precisely the reason I think we should talk.’
‘Still trying to be the conscience of your whole family, Sian?’ Jarrett derided.
She looked at him coldly. ‘Still caring for my family, yes, Jarrett. But caring is something you know nothing about. Excuse us.’ This time she and Chris managed to get out of the restaurant undisturbed.
‘Arrogant bastard!’ Chris rasped as he opened the car door for her to get in, closing it with a decisive slam.
Sian knew how disturbed he had been by the encounter by the fact that he swore; Chris never used strong language. But about this she couldn’t blame him. She could quite cheerfully have sworn herself!
Jarrett was arrogant, more so than ever before. And he was out to cause trouble. Why, she had no idea; he had hurt her badly enough in the past without wanting to cause a strain between herself and Chris. But the strain was already there, with Chris driving recklessly back to her home.
‘I’m coming inside.’ There was a determined glitter to his eyes. ‘We need to talk.’
She could see that, knew that Chris deserved some sort of explanation. But about tonight she didn’t have one; she had no idea why Jarrett was acting as he was, had no idea what he was doing back in Swannell. He was a little young to be retracing his roots!
Her father was still up when they got in, so she went and made them all a cup of coffee, giving a barely perceptible shrug of her shoulders to Chris, seeing by the stubborn set of his mouth that he intended staying as long as it took for her father to go to bed. He was determined to have that talk with her tonight.
Sian felt totally confused as she prepared the coffee. She had no idea why Jarrett should want to talk to her about anything – especially while he was dating her sister! She couldn’t let Bethany be hurt as she had been hurt, she had to protect her sister against herself if it came to it.
‘Have a nice evening?’ Her father took the cup of coffee she handed him, oblivious of the strained atmosphere between the engaged couple.
‘We went to the Raven.’ Sian avoided giving him a direct answer, the reputation of the restaurant such that he was sure to think they had enjoyed themselves.
‘You didn’t happen to see Bethany, did you?’ he enquired casually.
‘We—’
‘You know the Raven isn’t her sort of place,’ she interrupted Chris’s reply, knowing by his angry scowl that he was about to say more than she wanted him to. But again she had avoided telling a deliberate lie. The Raven wasn’t Bethany’s sort of place.
‘No,’ her father chuckled, very comfortable and relaxed in his casual and old trousers and tattered worn cardigan, his usual attire after his formal clothing of the day at his office. ‘She’s more likely to be at the Swan, they have a discothèque there.’
‘Not on a Wednesday,’ Sian told him absently, aware of Chris’s glowering impatience.
‘Oh well, I suppose she’s just out with one of her friends,’ her father shrugged. ‘She left in such a hurry she didn’t have time to tell me. I doubt she’ll be too late.’
‘No,’ again Sian answered, when it became obvious Chris was going to make no effort at conversation.
‘There was a good Western on television tonight,’ her father told her happily. ‘I enjoyed that.’
Sian smiled indulgently, Westerns were her father’s passion. ‘John Wayne?’ she teased, knowing the Duke was her father’s favourite cowboy.
‘Randolph Scott,’ he named his second favourite, and put down his empty cup. ‘Well, I’m off to bed now. I’ll see you tomorrow, I suppose, Chris?’ he smiled at the other man. Liking and respect existed between the two of them, a deep contrast to what her father had felt for Jarrett; he had never quite trusted him. And that mistrust had been justified!
‘I’m sure you will, George.’ Chris roused himself enough to be polite.
Sian stood up to kiss her father affectionately goodnight, a habit from when she was a child, a pleasant habit. ‘See you in the morning,’ she smiled.
‘Mm,’ he touched her cheek. ‘And don’t be too late to bed,’ he frowned. ‘You’re looking a little peaky today.’
‘Pre-wedding nerves,’ she joked.
Her father smiled. ‘Both of you, by the look of it,’ he teased Chris’s tense expression.
‘It’s a hectic time,’ Chris mumbled.
‘I agree,’ her father laughed. ‘But it will soon be over, and I’m sure the honeymoon will be worth it,’ he added with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
‘Dad!’
He could still be heard chuckling as he went up to his bedroom, having no idea of the fraught tension he had left behind him, sure that they would be in each other’s arms the moment he left the room.
‘Is there still going to be a wedding?’ Chris finally rasped. ‘Or a honeymoon, for that matter?’
Sian gave him a startled look, paling. ‘What do you mean?’
He stood up forcefully, as if the inactivity of sitting down made him impatient. ‘Don’t try telling me that meeting King again hasn’t unsettled you,’ he scorned.
‘I found it a little—strange,’ she chose her words carefully, ‘but that’s all.’
