Jaci looked around the thick foliage of the grotto, the scent of summer, of sultry heat wrapping around her, the scent of the man sinking into her. And she weakened. He wasn’t Cam, but he knew her. He wouldn’t betray her or deliberately hurt her. And she was tired—tired of being alone and wishing for things she couldn’t have. Tired of dreaming of one man and regretting one night.
Finally, she nodded. A slow, hesitant movement, a part of her holding back, the other part reaching out for him.
His smile was slow, confident, and for a moment Jaci wondered if she had somehow just stepped into something she didn’t have a chance of handling.
“You can’t change your mind. ” He caught her hand and drew her back along the path.
Rather than heading back into the ballroom, he drew her instead to a glass door that opened into the private wing of the house.
“I need to let Courtney know I’m leaving,” she said as they moved through the short hall and into the kitchen and formal dining room, before turning into the foyer.
“Matthew will let her know. ” He drew her to the front door where the butler stepped from the small room that connected to the private wing as well as the main mansion.
“Mr. Falladay. Miss Wright. ” Matthew nodded his head politely.
“Matthew, please let Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair know we’ve left. Tell Ian I’ll contact him tomorrow about those files. ”
“Of course, Mr. Falladay,” Matthew acknowledged impassively. “I’ll inform them immediately. ”
He stepped forward and opened the door for them, his brown eyes flickering with curiosity as they passed him.
Matthew was the scourge of Courtney’s life, and the bastion of the male-only club Ian Sinclair owned—the one Courtney wasn’t allowed in. The one Jaci had been hired to redesign, along with the private wing and main mansion. The Sinclair home was being turned over to the club itself, while Ian and Courtney would be moving into the new home they were building out of sight of the club, on the other side of the estate.
“Courtney’s going to skin us both,” she warned
him as she lifted her dress and moved down the stone steps to the driveway beyond.
“I promise to protect you. ” He flashed a smile over his shoulder, his gaze wicked.
“Who will protect you, though?” She laughed, allowing him to pull her to the curb of the circular driveway as a vehicle’s lights moved around the drive.
“Quick service,” she murmured, as the Jaguar pulled to a stop in front of them and the valet driver jumped from the car.
“Matthew’s a very efficient man. ”
He opened the door and helped her into the passenger seat before moving around the front of the car.
Jaci watched him move. He didn’t hurry. He strode with determined steps, with powerful coordination. A wolf in elegant sheep’s wool, she thought with a smile. And he did look elegant.
A second later he was moving into the driver’s seat, pulling the door closed, and accelerating away from the brightly lit mansion.
“Where was Cam tonight?” She turned to stare at his profile, unable to forget that Cam was back at that party. She could have seen him. At least from a distance. Perhaps spoken to him.
He turned and flashed her a quick look. “He was looking for Ian when I caught sight of you. By now, they’re likely deeply involved in a business discussion. ”
Had they changed that much over the past seven years? Despite Chase’s words, perhaps Cam had forgotten about the immature little virgin who had dared to tease him, then ran away from the truth she didn’t want to face.
“He didn’t even want to stop and say hello to me?” She didn’t want to admit that it hurt, that he had known she was there and hadn’t stopped to speak.
“I slipped away with you. ” There was no smile this time.
His jaw seemed to tighten, a fine sense of tension invading the interior of the car.
Jaci turned her head and stared through the windshield again. There were so many questions raging inside her, so many emotions.
She felt off balance, meeting Chase like this, unprepared for it, not expecting him.
“Courtney’s been excited over the design project Ian approved,” he spoke into the silence. “I bet it took her two months to talk him into those plans. He wanted to give the mansion over to the club, but I don’t think he was certain about allowing a woman to do the designing. ”