Lauren was shocked by the hatred in Olivia’s voice, and could only stare at the woman in lieu of a response.
Olivia stood up and briskly crossed the room. “Then if there is no further discussion, I need to start making preparations.” She looked at Jared, then at Lauren. When no one made an objection, she motioned for Carson to follow. He patted Lauren quickly on the shoulder before he left the room in the wake of Olivia’s stiff, rustling skirts.
Lauren’s mind was in turmoil. Why was she still sitting here? She should be upstairs furiously packing. She should run away from this house at once. She stared vacantly as her thoughts ran rampant.
What were her options? She couldn’t go back to North Carolina and face William and her former guardians. She had closed that chapter of her life. Or rather, it had been closed for her.
She would live with a loveless marriage to a stranger. But not forever. She would have the means to start over when she left the Locketts and she would somehow survive the stigma of divorce. Maybe she could even pass herself off as a widow if she moved far enough away from Texas. In the meantime, she would live comfortably.
What else could she do? Briefly she thought of
Ed Travers and his kind offer to help her. Maybe he could secure her a position as a Harvey House girl. Swiftly Lauren rejected the idea. Her experience at entertaining parlor guests would not have prepared her for the dining room of a restaurant where she would have to serve food from heavily laden trays. And she would despise living in a dormitory where moments of privacy were scarce, if they existed at all.
The pros and cons paraded back and forth in her head, but the basis of her decision was the same one that Olivia had so cleverly used on Jared. Ben had wanted it.
It always came back to that. Ben had chosen her for his son. Why? It was an agonizing thought that she would never know his reasons.
Lauren had been so engrossed in her own musings that she didn’t remember until now that Jared was still in the room. He stood rigidly at the window in the same position as before, with his back to her. Why hadn’t he said anything?
She looked at the man and tried to analyze what he must be feeling. Would marriage to him be so terrible? Olivia made it clear that his bride would be only a figurehead. She would remain a bride, and never become a wife. For the marriage was not to be consummated. Lauren’s heart skipped a beat and fluttered in her breast. The mechanics of such intimacy still eluded her, but she knew that the word implied a physical avowal of the marriage.
They must speak to each other. Before she consented to this preposterous action, she must know his feelings. Timorously she vacated her chair and approached him. She cleared her throat. “Mr. Lockett?”
At the sound of her voice, his body tensed automatically. When the tremor passed, he straightened his shoulders and pivoted slowly on the heels of his boots until he faced her. He didn’t say anything, only looked at her with an aloof, cold expression in his eyes. The full, sensuous lips were set in a grim, hard line.
“I… I want to know—” she stammered before he interrupted her.
“You took their bait, hook, line, and sinker, didn’t you? You couldn’t wait for this chance, could you? All that money! And a husband! My, my, the old maid preacher’s kid has come a long way up the ladder today.”
His words were cruel and vicious and delivered with intention to hurt. Is that what he thought of her? Did he think she had known about Ben’s plans for her? Anger and shame forced unwanted tears to gather in the corners of her eyes, and she looked at him imploringly. “Mr. Lockett, you must—”
He lunged, grabbing her shoulders with his strong hands. Her head snapped back painfully and the bun at her nape began to uncoil.
Through clenched teeth, but with a voice oozing feigned charm, he growled, “I think that under the circumstances, we can dispense with the Mr. and Miss. My name is Jared. Say it!” he commanded.
His hands were unrelentingly tight on her arms, and her teeth chattered in fright, but she managed to gasp, “Jared,” before one huge tear escaped her lower lid and rolled like a sparkling gem down her cheek.
That one tear infuriated Jared further and he hissed, “I don’t know how you so completely hoodwinked and bewitched a man as smart as my father, but don’t think you can resort to tears and vapors to get to me. Those fathomless gray eyes won’t work on me, understand?” He gave her a little shake. “We’re in this together. Just stay out of my way, and possibly we’ll be able to stand it. Old Ben was famous for his clever tricks, and he seems to have played his last big joke on me. He sure found a willing partner in you.”
“No!” she cried. “I didn’t know what he intended. He only mentioned you once in passing. I didn’t—”
“Then you’re more of a fool than I thought. Did you think Ben wanted you for himself? Well, then, the joke’s on you, too, isn’t it? Were you after a nice, rich, elderly husband who would more than likely make you a rich widow very soon. Were you?” He shouted the last two words, his face inches from hers. He held her tight against him, each muscle straining and pressing into her.
His amber eyes flickered for an instant when he looked down at her appealing face. His surprised expression mirrored hers as they simultaneously realized that their bodies were touching chest to toes. It was softness against hardness, weakness against strength, femininity against masculinity. The contrast was too compelling to ignore.
Jared hadn’t planned it, had never even thought about it, but he couldn’t control taking complete possession of her mouth with a bruising kiss. He wanted to insult her, to further humiliate her, to shatter her damned poise. But her body was so female, her lips so soft, warm, virginal, that what had been hurtful and brutal became tender, seeking, questioning.
His arms went around her slowly, drawing her into an even closer embrace. He disregarded the heels of her hands on his shoulders making a weak, futile attempt to push him away. One hand went to the back of her head and held it immobile until her lips parted under the increased pressure of his. His fingers unconsciously entwined in the thick strands of hair that tumbled further down her neck.
Sweetly his tongue plundered the hollows of her mouth, unique in taste and feel from any other he had kissed. His arms tightened around her until her breasts were flattened against his chest. The feel of her taut nipples through the soft linen of her blouse clouded his judgment, and his mouth became even more avaricious.
Lauren’s mind fed on the new sensations—the scratching stubble of his beard, the coffee taste in his mouth, the faint aroma of tobacco, the feel of his lips, teeth, and tongue as they explored, the sound of a moan that came from… where?
Jared pushed her away from him so suddenly that she almost fell backward. She regained her balance and tried to assimilate what had happened. Both her hands came up and covered her mouth. Over her trembling fingertips, she looked at Jared, who appeared none too composed himself.
He stared at her, breathing rapidly, then swallowed convulsively. When he was moderately restored, he dropped the mask of indifference over his features and sneered contemptuously, “Very nice, Lauren, but I told you it wouldn’t work on me.” His lips curled cruelly and his thick-fringed eyelids lowered speculatively over the cynical eyes. “You were no doubt comparing my sexual prowess to Ben’s.” He barked a short laugh. “Well, I’ll be damned before I’ll have any of my father’s leftovers!”
It seemed that every blood vessel in her head had burst, for her whole world was washed in red fury. She advanced on him like a warrior bent on vengeance and slapped him smartly on the cheek.