But what else?
‘Stop worrying so much,’ Xander murmured close to her ear as he pulled out a dining room chair for her to sit down. ‘It will all work out—you’ll see,’ he promised.
Would it? Casey wondered, slightly disconcerted by the warmth of his breath against her neck. Would it really?
The fact that the high-ceilinged, ornately decorated dining room was formally set for two—the third placing having been hastily removed, no doubt—didn’t exactly instil her with confidence, either. She couldn’t help but notice that the snowy white napkins, cut-glass wine goblets and the silver candelabra with candles already alight were a complete contrast to her own cramped kitchen, where most of their last conversation had taken place.
Once again Xander watched the play of emotions that flittered across Casey’s telling face. He looked up to give Hilton a frowning glance as the other man returned carrying a silver tray with the requested bottle of champagne and two glass flutes.
‘Just leave it on the side there, Hilton,’ he said impatiently. ‘I’ll deal with it myself,’ he added less harshly, shooting the butler an apologetic glance as he did so; after all, it wasn’t the other man’s fault that Xander’s bride-to-be was becoming jittery now that she had actually committed herself to the marriage.
‘Very well, sir,’ the elderly man acknowledged with an inclination of his silvery head, before quietly leaving.
Xander crossed the room to pick up the chilled bottle wrapped in a white linen napkin and loosen the cork; perhaps if Casey got some champagne inside her she might start to relax again.
The sparkling wine poured, he moved across the room to hand her one of the two-thirds-full glasses before raising his own glass. ‘To us,’ he toasted huskily.
Casey swallowed hard, her fingers tight around the delicate champagne flute. ‘To us,’ she echoed awkwardly, before taking a grateful gulp of the bubbly wine.
Except it didn’t quite work out that way. The chilled wine hit the back of her throat, which was tight with nervousness, and then refused to go down!
She began to cough and choke as the bubbly liquid went up her nose, causing her eyes to water, too, holding the glass away from her so that she shouldn’t spill the rest of the champagne down herself or over the ornate Aubusson carpet.
She couldn’t even see properly when Xander took the glass from her unresisting fingers, patting her lightly on the back as he stood in front of her to use one of the snowy white napkins to wipe away the tears that were now streaming down her face.
This was just too embarrassing, too awful, on top of everything else! What on earth was Xander going to think of her? That she was too gauche even to drink champagne properly without—
Casey became suddenly still as, the choking stopped, her cheeks wiped, she found herself standing only inches away from Xander, looking up into the handsome ruggedness of his face.
Her breath felt strangled in the tightness of her throat and she was completely captured by the sensual heat of Xander’s gaze, her heart starting to beat so loudly that she was sure he must be able to hear it, too. She felt so sensitised, so aware, that it seemed as if she could feel the blood rushing through her veins.
She must look a fright, an absolute mess—her eyes teary, her nose red, her cheeks flushed—
None of which seemed to bother Xander in the slightest as he slowly lowered his head and his mouth claimed hers.
Casey melted against him as his arms moved about her waist to pull her into the hardness of his body, and the soft flick of his tongue against her lips encouraged them to part so he could deepen the kiss.
Her own arms moved up, her hands gripping his shoulders to feel the ripple of muscles there, the promise of power as he tensed beneath her touch—a leashed power that she sensed could be so easily released, overwhelming her…
One of his hands caressed the length of her spine as his mouth continued to plunder hers, fingers light against her before his hand cupped the curve of her bottom and drew her even closer against him.
She could feel his body, that leanly muscled force, hard with desire, pulsing against her thighs, filling her with the warmth of her own rising need—a need that was rapidly spiralling out of control—
‘Mr James is on the telephone from New York, Mr Fraser,’ a voice interrupted them regretfully.
Casey drew back guiltily and turned to look at the butler, standing so stiffly in the open doorway. She couldn’t miss seeing the amusement in Xander’s gaze before she pulled abruptly away from him to move over to the window and stare out sightlessly into the darkening evening.
What was she doing?
Minutes ago she had realised that any relationship between herself and Xander had to be clearly defined—that they would both need to know exactly what each would expect from the other during their marriage—and that it wouldn’t include any sort of physical relationship between the two of them.
What had happened between them just now only increased the urgency for that conversation!
‘I’ll take the call in my study, thanks, Hilton,’ Xander said. ‘That will be all,’ he added, dismissing his servant and waiting for the other man to leave before turning back to Casey. ‘We—’
‘Please go and take your call, Xander,’ she told him shakily, without turning.
Xander stared in frustration at the rigidity of the slender back Casey kept so firmly turned towards him.
Maybe kissing her hadn’t been the most sensible thing in the world. But, no matter what she might be thinking now, it hadn’t been the worst thing that could have happened, either. The two of them were getting married, for goodness’ sake, and if their response to each other just now was anything to go by then it didn’t have to be a celibate marriage. For either of them.
‘Casey—’
‘Would you please go and take your call, Xander?’ Her voice was brittle with the tension obvious in her expression as she turned to face him. ‘And then I think it would be a good idea for us to discuss the—details of our marriage, when you come back,’ she told him coolly.
Details of their marriage?
She had mentioned something about those details earlier, too, hadn’t she…?
And, if that determined look in her face was any indication, Xander didn’t think he was going to particularly like them!
CHAPTER SEVEN
CASEY had her emotions, and herself, firmly under control by the time Xander returned to the dining room ten minutes later.
It had just been a kiss, she tried to persuade herself. A kiss that shouldn’t have happened, and must never be repeated, but nevertheless still just a kiss. And once she and Xander had discussed the terms of their marriage she need never worry—fear?—that it would happen again!
Xander seemed to have put the incident behind him too, as he moved once again to hold a chair for her to sit down at the dining table. ‘I think we should start to eat some of this delicious meal my cook has prepared for us, don’t you?’ he suggested, before taking his own seat opposite hers at the twelve-foot-long table.
It would certainly be easier with Xander seated so far away for her to gather her chaotic thoughts together. To start the discussion that had been interrupted twice already.
But she took a sip of the white wine the butler poured to go with their smoked salmon and waited for the man to leave before attempting to do so. ‘I think it might be better if there were some sort of formal contract drawn up between us before we marry,’ she told Xander, her long lashes fanning over her cheeks as she looked down at her food, rather than down the table at him.
‘A formal contract…?’ Xander repeated guardedly.
‘Yes.’ She chanced a glance at him, and as quickly looked away again as she met the hard glitter of his gaze. ‘I think that would be best,’ she added nervously. ‘So that we both know where we stand and what—what to expect of each other.’
A silence heavy with tension stretched out between them. She really wasn’t going to be able to eat any of this lovely food at all if Xander continued to look at her so fiercely, his mouth unsmiling, his jaw clenched.
‘A prenuptial agreement, you mean?’ he finally bit out.
‘Something like that, yes.’ Casey nodded, relieved that he was the one who had actually given it that label. For her to have done so would have sounded—well, rather materialistic, perhaps.
But it wasn’t just her future she was talking about, was it? She had Josh to consider, too. In fact, if it weren’t for her young son she would never have considered Xander’s businesslike offer of marriage in the first place.
Besides, she had no idea why he was so obviously displeased by this conversation when the marriage of convenience had been his idea. After all, there had to be guidelines, didn’t there? For both of them. Otherwise the whole thing would just be a mess.
And so it began, Xander acknowledged with weary cynicism as he leant his elbow on the table and took a swallow of his wine. He somehow hadn’t seen Casey Bridges as mercenary, but he really should have known better. He hadn’t met a woman yet who wasn’t.
‘And what exactly do you have in mind for the contents of this prenuptial agreement?’ he asked, almost pinning her to her chair with the force of his piercing gaze.
She made a fluttering movement with her hands. ‘I don’t know—Well, I would obviously like something in writing concerning the security of Josh’s future,’ she amended quickly, as Xander raised dark, mocking brows at her prevarication.