Summer Sins

‘No. Why should I?’

He looked at her for three or four pulsing seconds, his expression contemplative. ‘Mmm … seems I was right,’ he said musingly. ‘You couldn’t possibly have been in love with Myles. Isn’t he worth a big chunk of Mississippi Mud Cake at the very least?’

Hayley sucked in her tummy and reached for the dessert menu perched between them. ‘You’re right,’ she said with a defiant toss of her head. ‘To hell with the calories; it’s not as if I have to look fabulous on my wedding day now.’

He laughed, the deep, rich rumble doing far more damage to Hayley’s tummy than any amount of Mud Dake could ever do.

‘That’s my girl,’ he said, winking at her. ‘You always were a pushover when it came to temptation.’

She bent her head to the menu again, doing her level best to ignore the racing of her heart at the thought of being tempted by him on a daily basis for a month.

Four weeks living with him—alone.

How on earth was she going to stand it?

CHAPTER FOUR

‘YOUR FIANCE IS here to see you,’ Lucy informed Hayley a week later.

Hayley looked up from the paperwork she’d been trying to sort out for the last hour. ‘Myles?’

Lucy’s brows lifted slightly. ‘Er … actually, no …’ she said. ‘The new one: the gorgeous totally sexy and irresistible Jasper Caulfield one.’

Hayley felt her colour begin to rise and lowered her gaze back to the accounts and shuffled them absently. ‘Oh, that one …’

Lucy perched on the edge of Hayley’s desk. ‘Are you really going to go through with it?’ she asked. ‘I mean, a marriage of convenience is still a marriage, right?’

‘Only on paper.’

Lucy looked doubtful. ‘You reckon you and he won’t be tempted somewhere along the way to make it a real one?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Hayley insisted, wondering if she had answered a little too quickly and adamantly to be convincing. The truth was she hadn’t slept properly for days thinking of what she had agreed to in entering a temporary marriage with Jasper. But as far as she saw it there really wasn’t much choice in the matter. She’d run her own checks and found out he did in fact now own the entire block of real estate where her salon was situated, which meant his threats of a hefty rent increase were now disturbingly real.

‘Have you told anyone apart from me that it’s not going to be a proper marriage?’ Lucy asked.

‘No, and I

’d appreciate it if you kept it a secret for as long as possible. I don’t want Myles to find out. I want to grind his pride in the dust like he did to me. God, when I think of that woman—grrrrrr!’

‘You know, I never did think he was right for you,’ Lucy said examining her French manicured gel nails for a moment.

‘What makes you say that?’

Lucy’s expression was serious when she returned her gaze to Hayley’s. ‘I know you probably don’t want to admit it, but ever since I met you when we started at the beauty academy together you’ve been craving security. I guess it comes from never having a father and your mum being so …’ she blushed faintly and went on ‘… well, you know what I mean. You’ve told me enough about her for me to know how hard it was for you growing up with her flitting between unsavoury men all the time. Myles was more like a father-figure to you than a life partner.’

Hayley gave her bottom lip a little nibble before releasing a tiny, barely audible sigh. She wasn’t sure she needed her best friend to agree so harmoniously with her worst enemy. ‘I’d better go and see what Jasper wants,’ she said rising to her feet.

‘You know, I’m really starting to like him,’ Lucy said. ‘Apart from his great looks he seems to have a brain instead of an ego between his ears.’

Hayley gave her a wry glance. ‘He’s certainly got an ego, but I can assure you it’s definitely not between his ears.’

* * *

Jasper looked up from the magazine he was reading when Hayley came out to Reception. He tossed it to one side and got to his feet, his sudden increase in height making her feel minuscule in spite of her three-inch heels.

‘Hi, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘Fancy a quick coffee with your favourite fiancé?’

‘I’ve got clients booked all afternoon,’ she said, surreptitiously placing her right hand over the appointment book where her afternoon had been blanked out so she could see to the most pressing accounts.