“No, I’m not just saying that.”
She’d fluttered about for a moment, then blurted out, “It cost so much money! And all the underthings, and the gloves—”
“Don’t be an ass, Jules. I thought I told you to leave the money to me.”
Even now, in the middle of the Saxtons’ parlor, knowing he should have himself well under control, he wanted to lean down and kiss her white throat, and her shoulders, and the soft swell of her breasts. Lord, he wanted . . .
“You’re looking lost to this world, Saint,” Chauncey said. “Come, have a glass of sherry.”
He pulled himself together and forced himself to look at his wife without the greed of desire in his eyes. “Would you like some sherry, Jules?”
“I’ve never tasted it before,” Jules said, looking shyly up at her husband.
I want you so much, he wanted to tell her. Instead he said, “Just a little, Chauncey. I don’t want a drunken bride.”
The Newtons arrived a few moments later. Horace eyed Jules with an experienced connoisseur’s eye and nodded. “Well done, my boy. Aggie here told me what a pretty filly she was, but she didn’t go far enough.”
“I feel like a racehorse,” Jules said, and everybody laughed.
Agatha hugged her briefly. “You’ll have to get used to all the gentlemen looking at you like you’re a new dessert, my dear. Just wait until Tony and Dan arrive.”
Tony Dawson, a journalist to his fingertips, hadn’t, unfortunately, heard about Jules’s background, and asked her over the first course of terrapin soup how she’d managed to tie herself to a big oaf like Saint.
Saint felt her stiffen beside him. She sent him an agonized look, her tongue frozen in her mouth.
“Jules comes from one of the Hawaiian Islands, Tony,” he said easily. “I knew her when she was a skinny little girl. I must admit, age has brought some astounding changes.”
“Hawaiian Islands,” Tony repeated, his interest aroused. “However did you get together again?”
Chauncey said brightly, “Haven’t we some champagne, Del? Agatha, won’t you try one of Lin’s delicious rolls? Dan, some more peas?”
I can’t sit here like a puppet, Jules thought, and let everyone protect me. “I came to San Francisco and we met again, Mr. Dawson,” she said in a clear voice.
“I see,” Tony said. “Call me Tony. Everybody does, you know.”
“My father is a minister in Lahaina, Maui,” she continued, seeing that he was as confused as ever, but too polite to probe. “Michael was a doctor there.”
“Michael?” Tony said, clearly startled, and thankfully turned his attention to that new tidbit.
Saint sighed. “That’s right, Tony. But please, I feel more comfortable with ‘Saint.’ ”
“It fits so well,” Del said.
Dan Brewer, Del’s partner, who had been told of Jules’s experiences, said quite gently, “You’re a fortunate lady, Mrs. Morris. We hope you will be happy here. The weather, I’m certain, isn’t as Edenish as Maui, but nonetheless, I think you’ll find it pleasant most of the time.”
“Edenish?” Tony repeated, a brow arched. “I’m the writer at the table, Dan. Please confine yourself to simple words and lending out money.”
There was general laughter, and Jules relaxed. So did Saint. He would speak to Tony later. In fact, he thought, he’d been a fool not to realize that something like this was likely to happen. He caught Tony’s eye and gave him a simple nod.
Saint found himself looking again and again at his wife’s lovely throat and shoulders. He said suddenly to Jules, “You need a necklace—emeralds, I think. Del,” he continued, “tell me where I can find some jewelry for my wife.”
“Oh no,” Jules said, aghast at the thought of the cost. “I don’t want . . . that is, I don’t need—”
“Certainly,” said Del Saxton. “Emeralds, with perhaps some sapphires, would look lovely on you, Jules, particularly with that gown.”
“I agree,” Chauncey said. “Diamonds are too harsh, I think. Yes, emeralds and sapphires. Vibrant and warm.”
“It’s settled, then,” Saint said, reaching under the table to squeeze his wife’s hand. “I’ll come see you in the morning, Del.”