Summer Sins

‘Which won’t go to waste,’ Jasper said as he slung an arm around Hayley’s waist. He looked down at her with a sexy smile, his dark eyes gleaming. ‘I can’t wait to spirit her away and spend every day and night of our honeymoon showing her how much I worship her.’

Hayley felt hot colour storm not only her cheeks but deep inside her body as well. It seeped like a scorching flow of lava into every secret place, making her feel as if her legs were going to melt into a liquid pool on the floor.

‘Mr Caulfield—’ the waiter smiled ‘—your table is ready. And the French champagne you ordered is on its way.’

‘Thank you, Giovanni,’ he said and turning back to Myles, he said, ‘No hard feelings, mate.’ His gaze flicked to the big-breasted blonde sitting opposite, giving her a wink before returning to Myles’s goggled-eyed expression. ‘But it looks like you’re being more than adequately compensated for your broken engagement. Ciao.’

Hayley stumbled after him as he led her to their table, her ego feeling as if it had been stomped on by a pair of very large steel-capped working boots.

She sat down in the chair Jasper held out for her, her expression stormy as he took the chair opposite.

‘That went pretty well, I thought,’ he said with a twinkling smile.

She sent him a venomous glare withou

t responding. How could he be so … so amused by this? She had just been let down in the most appalling way and he was laughing about it.

He leaned closer and said in a low, deep tone, ‘Listen, baby girl, they’re watching us like hawks. Relax and act like a woman who’s been swept off her feet.’

Two big tears popped out of her eyes. ‘I can’t believe he’s having an affair with her.’ She sniffed and rummaged for a tissue, but gave up when Jasper discreetly handed her his handkerchief across the table. She blew her nose rather noisily and handed it back to him.

Jasper looked at it and grimaced. ‘No, you keep it.’

Hayley poked it up her sleeve and sniffed again. ‘She’s not even attractive. And those breasts cannot possibly be real. And she wears so much makeup she looks like a … a street worker for God’s sake!’

‘Some men are such pushovers when it comes to temptation,’ he said, shaking his head in mock dismay. ‘She’s not the first one he’s played around with either.’

She flicked her napkin across her lap viciously and continued her infuriated tirade. ‘Now I know why he was always putting off sleeping with me. He said it was because he wanted our first time to be on our wedding night. God, how could I have fallen for that? I must be stupid or something. No man wants to wait more than a date or two, let alone three months!’

Jasper frowned. ‘What? You’ve only been going out with him three months?’

‘Yes.’ She looked across at him, blinking back tears. ‘What’s wrong with that?’

He sat back in his chair and gave her an ironic look. ‘How can you possibly know if you want to spend the rest of your life with someone in three months?’

‘I knew in three days that I wanted to marry him. He wanted the same things I wanted. A white wedding, babies and a life-long commitment to making our marriage work.’

‘That’s bloody ridiculous! It’s asking for trouble tying yourself to someone you don’t know properly. He might have God knows what dark secrets in his background.’

She returned his look of irony, but added a curl of her lip. ‘Like you, you mean?’

His dark brows snapped together. ‘Shut up, Hayley. You don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘I see Miriam’s new mother-in-law occasionally, you know,’ she said with a defiant look. ‘June Beckforth comes into the salon. She tells me all about your son. The one you wanted Miriam to abort.’

His jaw tightened. ‘I did not ask her to do that.’

She rolled her eyes and affected a bored yawn, covering her mouth with her hand. ‘Oh, dear … I am so tired of that old story,’ she said.

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ he ground out in a harsh undertone. ‘I’ve got a good mind to—’

The waited approached with a bottle in his hand. ‘Champagne for you, miss?’

‘Yes … thank you …’

‘Mr Caulfield.’ The waiter turned to Jasper’s glass and poured the fizzing bubbles into it. ‘What are we celebrating this evening?’

Hayley flashed Jasper a fiery glance before smiling sweetly at the waiter. ‘We’re getting married,’ she said with a husky purr. ‘I’ve finally tamed the one man who said he was never going to get married. I think that’s worth celebrating, don’t you?’