James didn’t say anything else but Jenna was conscious of wishing she had not needed to tell him about dining with Graham Wilde. He had rung her during the afternoon to tell her about the chairs, and when he had suggested dinner that evening she had demurred at first, but then, realising how late she would have to work, had changed her mind. She had enjoyed his company. He was very knowledgeable about antiques without forcing his views on her, and the time had gone past very quickly.
She knew that Graham was very attracted to her, but he knew that she was on the point of getting married and so she felt that the friendship between them was a safe one. An unusual experience for her, which was probably why she had been able to relax with him so much without wondering how she was going to get rid of him at the end of the evening.
It was still light when James stopped his car outside her apartment at nine o’clock. Jenna didn’t ask him in, she intended to go straight to bed, since she had to be up so early in the morning for their eight o’clock flight.
‘I’ll pick you up at quarter to seven,’ James reminded her as he leaned over to close the door. ‘Sleep well.’
Her luggage was already at his apartment: all she had to do now was get ready for bed and then sleep. Sleep…how she ached for it Jenna thought tiredly as she locked her front door behind her. A tiny smile curled her mouth as she wondered how many brides had spent their wedding night apart from their husbands like this. Not very many.
She showered and then went to bed, lying there reliving the events of the day for several minutes. There had been no doubt about Lucy’s and Sarah’s pleasure in the marriage. Lucy was a changed girl. It was amazing how uninvolved emotionally Jenna felt in what had happened—she could almost have been a bystander at the wedding and not a major participant in it. She didn’t feel married. She didn’t feel anything, she acknowledged sleepily, she was far too tired.
* * *
Jenna groaned as the alarm went off. Struggling against sleep she had a momentary but vivid memory of her dreams. In one she had been trapped in the arms of her fantasy lover from the portrait and then disturbingly his face had become James’s, his hands…Jenna pushed the memory firmly aside and got out of bed. Less than an hour to get ready in before James arrived.
She showered quickly putting on new cool cotton underwear, in readiness for the heat of the Caribbean. James had suggested that she wear something comfortable to travel in and she had picked out a new cotton skirt in a pale, soft yellow, with a matching slightly off the shoulder tee-shirt in yellow and white. As a precaution against the air-conditioning in the plane she had with her her fleecy-lined summer jacket. Low-heeled white canvas shoes completed her outfit. Her hair was still damp from the shower. If she left it it would dry with a natural curl and save her time.
She made some filter coffee and removed the grapefruit she had prepared for herself from the fridge. The sharp, tangy taste set her teeth slightly on edge, but she preferred it like that without added sugar.
She was just pouring her second cup of coffee when she heard the bell. She glanced at her watch, the same rather old and tatty one she had been wearing since she first started working, and reflected wryly that it was high time she bought a new one. James was five minutes early.
She went to let him in and saw that he was dressed as casually as she was herself in cream canvas jeans and a soft blue and cream striped short-sleeved shirt. Unlike her he was already tanned. She would look awful on the beach, Jenna reflected wryly, her skin tanned very slowly and she had stuffed her cosmetics case full of sun filters and expensive protective creams.
‘Coffee?’
‘Please.’ He pulled out a stool and sat down at her breakfast bar while Jenna poured it for him. They could have been any married couple Jenna thought as the sunlight glinted on the new gold of her wedding ring.
‘By the way, I forgot to give you this yesterday.’ James was carrying a canvas jacket that matched his jeans and he pulled a small long package out of it and tossed it over to her.
‘A wedding gift,’ he said when she frowned slightly.
Instantly, Jenna flushed. ‘James, you shouldn’t have bought me anything,’ she told him. ‘I never thought to buy something for you.’
‘Does a gift always have to be repaid with a corresponding present? Open it,’ he told her.
She did, momentarily stunned by what she found in the jeweller’s box. It was one of the most beautiful watches she had ever seen, the delicate oval face framed in gold and set with diamonds and emeralds. It had a gold bracelet strap and was so delicate that Jenna felt almost afraid to wear it.
‘I should leave it behind on this trip if I were you,’ James suggested. ‘It isn’t exactly beachwear!’
‘No, I’d hate to dive into the pool and find I was still wearing it.’ Jenna shuddered at the very thought.
‘It wouldn’t be the end of the world. It’s insured!’
‘Yes, but…’ Jenna stopped, realising how foolish she would sound if she said it wasn’t so much the value of the gift that concerned her although she had little doubt that it was expensive, it was more the thought of destroying her wedding gift actually on her honeymoon. Of course, that would sound ridiculously sentimental to James, and no wonder. No doubt to him the watch was just something he had noticed she needed, and he had bought it for her because it was the thing to do. There was no sentiment attached to it as far as he was concerned. Nor any where she was concerned either, she was quick to tell herself, but then she looked up and he was watching her, the look on his face so close
to the one she had seen that night in her dreams that her whole body went tight with shock and fear.
James seemed not to notice. He glanced at his own watch and said briskly, ‘Time we were leaving. I’ll wash these while——’
‘No, you can leave them,’ Jenna told him. ‘Maureen will be coming round later to clean everywhere up.’ Jenna intended to sub-let her apartment and had already found someone to take over the lease from her but they would not be moving in until after she and James were back from the Caribbean.
* * *
‘It’s okay, we’re airborne, you can relax now.’
Flushing angrily Jenna detached her fingers from the warmth of James’s. She had always loathed flying although she hadn’t told him this and in that stomach-lurching second when she felt the plane start to lift off the ground she had reacted automatically, burying her head in his shoulder and clinging tightly to his hand.
His obvious amusement to her reaction only served to increase her own feeling of embarrassment. ‘Would you like a drink?’