Aunt Lucy's Lover. Miranda Lee
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house she had ever seen. Painted cream, with a green pitched iron roof and huge wooden verandas all round, it stood on the crest of the hill with a stately grandeur and dignity that were quite breathtaking.
Jessica was surprised, both by its elegant beauty and its effect on her. She’d heard of falling in love at first sight, but she’d always thought of that in connection with a man, not a house.
A sudden movement on the veranda snapped her out of her astonished admiration. Someone had been sitting there and was now standing up and moving towards the front steps. A man, dressed in shorts and nothing else, holding a tall glass in his hand. A young man with shoulder-length fair hair.
He stopped and leant against one of the posts at the top of the steps and watched as Evie brought the car round to a halt at the base of the front steps.
Jessica frowned at him through the passenger window. This couldn’t be Mr. Slade, surely. She couldn’t see the details of his face—it was in shadow—but that was not the body of a middle-aged man. Or the hair.
Maybe he was a workman. A gardener, perhaps. Or the man who mowed the lawns. There were plenty to mow, she’d noted, the house set in huge rolling lawns. There was quite a bit of garden, as well, beds of flowers underneath the verandas, backed by multicoloured hibiscus bushes.
‘I see Sebastian made it back from fishing in time to greet you,’ Evie said, shattering Jessica’s delusion over the man’s identity.
He straightened as the car braked to a halt, lifting the glass to his lips and at the same time taking a step forward out of the shadow of the veranda. Jessica sucked in a sharp breath as sunlight fell upon silky golden locks and smooth bronzed shoulders. He continued drinking as he walked slowly down the steps, taking deep swallows and seemingly unconscious of his quite extraordinary beauty.
A couple of drops of water fell from the base of the frosted glass onto his almost hairless chest, Jessica’s fascinated eyes following them as they trickled down to pool in his navel, which was sinfully exposed above the low-slung white shorts.
Jessica found herself swallowing, her throat suddenly dry. Her eyes dropped further as he continued his measured descent, taking in every inch of his leanly muscled legs. They lifted at last to once again encounter his face, no longer obscured by the glass.
It was as disturbingly attractive as the rest of him, with a strong straight nose, an elegantly sculptured jawline, bedroom blue eyes and a far too sexy mouth. As he drew nearer, Jessica’s stunned fascination gradually turned to a simmering fury.
Hadn’t seen thirty in many years, my foot! she thought angrily. Even if he did look young for his age, he could be no more than thirty-five. If that!
Before he reached the bottom step she’d flung open the car door and stepped out, drawing herself up to her full height and glaring scornfully into that now treacherously smiling face. No one had to tell Jessica what sort of man he was. She hadn’t come down in the last shower.
His smile faltered, then faded, his narrowed blue gaze staring, first into her cold black eyes, then down over her stiffly held body and up again.
Was he taken aback by her obvious contempt for him? Had he imagined for one moment that he could fool her, too?
Jessica almost laughed. Sebastian Slade was everything she’d feared when she’d first heard of him. And possibly more.
Despite all this, she swiftly and sensibly decided to hide her feelings, smoothing the derision from her face and stepping forward with her hand politely stretched out. There was no need to be overtly rude to him. She knew the score now. Why make her stay more awkward than it would already be?
She would endure his undoubted hypocrisy for the next month then send him packing without anything to remember her by, except a few parting shots. Oh, yes, she would tell him what she thought of him on that final day. And she’d enjoy every word!
He hesitated to take her hand, staring at it for a few seconds before staring into her face. His expression reminded her of the way Aunt Lucy had stared at her that day. What was it about the way she looked that was so surprising? Okay, so she didn’t look like her mother, but she was very like her father, who’d been tall, with dark eyes and hair.
Jessica was beginning to feel a little unnerved by his intense regard when Evie joined them, laughing.
‘You should see the look on your face, Sebastian,’ she said as she swept the empty glass out of his hand. ‘Yes, Lucy’s niece is a striking-looking woman, isn’t she? Not exactly what you expected, eh what?’
‘Not exactly,’ he said, a rueful smile hovering about his sensually carved mouth.
She found herself glaring at that mouth and wondering caustically if it had pressed treacherous kisses to her aunt’s lips. It would be naive of her to think that a woman in her fifties would not take a lover twenty years her junior. It happened a lot in the name of lust. Lust for a beautiful young male body on her aunt’s part. Lust for money and material gain on Mr. Slade’s.
‘Welcome to Norfolk Island,’ he said formally at last, taking her hand in his. ‘And welcome to Lucy’s Place. How do you like it?’
I’d like it a lot more, she thought crossly, if you’d let go my hand. And if you’d go put some more clothes on. Damn, but the man was breathtakingly attractive. On a rating of zero to ten, his sex appeal would measure twenty.
‘It’s lovely,’ she said truthfully, but stiffly.
‘Do you think you might change your mind about staying on and living here, then?’
‘No, I can’t see that happening,’ she replied, despite feeling a definite tug at her heartstrings. Anyone would love to live in such a beautiful house. But a house did not make a home, and life on Norfolk Island was not for her, however sweet their customs.
Was that relief she glimpsed in his eyes, or disappointment? Actually, it looked more like frustration. Jessica’s brain began to tick over. Did Mr. Slade have some secret agenda where she was concerned? Did he need more than a month to achieve his goal?
And what could that goal be? she puzzled. To move on to the next victim, perhaps? To seduce his dearly departed lover’s heiress?
Jessica shuddered at the thought.
‘She’ll change her mind,’ Evie said confidently, and moved up the steps. ‘Her case is on the back seat, Sebastian,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘Flex your muscles and bring it inside. I’ll go rustle up some lunch.’
At least he released her hand then. And moved away.
Jessica was annoyed with herself for letting him get under her skin, even a little. Still, she had to admit that his physical charisma was incredible. It was as well she was on her guard against him.
‘I won’t, you know,’ she said tartly when he returned with her case.
‘Won’t what?’
‘Stay on and live here. There’s nothing you can say or do to change my mind.’
‘What makes you think I’d want to change your mind?’
The coldness in his voice surprised her, as did the scorn that flashed across his face. It was hardly the way a man would act if he had seduction on his mind.
‘I promised Lucy I would make your month’s stay as enjoyable as possible,’ he went on, just as coldly, ‘and that I would show you what the island has to offer. But I can see already you’re not the sort of girl to appreciate simple things or a simple lifestyle, so I won’t overtax myself playing persuader.’
‘You’re too kind,’ she countered, matching his icy tone.
His top lip lifted slightly, just short of a sneer. ‘Tell me, Miss Rawlins. What’s the sum total of your reason for coming here? Are you interested at all in finding out about your heritage and your roots? Or is this simply a matter of money?’
Jessica began