Summer Sins

‘I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about any of this,’ he said, still frowning as he released her. ‘I wouldn’t want you to get your hopes up for a happy ever after with me because it’s just not going to happen.’

‘I know the rules, Jasper. This is a temporary arrangement. Besides, once it’s over I might even take Myles back.’ She knew this was completely untrue, but it would disarm Jasper, giving her a chance to recover her thoughts.

He stared at her with shock widening his eyes. ‘You’re surely not serious?’

‘Why not?’

‘Because he doesn’t love you, that’s why.’

‘Nor do you.’

‘That’s completely beside the point,’ he said. ‘You can’t possibly be thinking of tying yourself to a man who used you in such a despicable way.’

She gave him an ironic look. ‘You know, your brother Raymond said almost the very same thing about you.’

His eyes narrowed in anger. ‘I have at least been honest with you about my intentions,’ he said. ‘You knew the score when you agreed to marry me.’

‘I really had very little choice in the matter, if you remember,’ she said. ‘You made it pretty clear I would suffer some rather unpleasant financial circumstances if I didn’t agree to go along with your plans. I always knew you were a pretty ruthless sort of man but this time you took it to a whole new level.’

‘Don’t worry, you’ll be more than adequately compensated for your trouble,’ he said, turning to the mini bar and pouring himself a liqueur.

‘But Duncan Brocklehurst said no money was to change hands,’ she said. ‘You’re not supposed to pay me to be your wife.’

He tipped back his head and downed the contents of his glass before he turned back to face her. ‘There are other means of compensation other than money,’ he said.

Hayley couldn’t read his expression. It made her feel distinctly uneasy not knowing what he had planned.

‘I suppose that’s why you bought me such a flashy expensive engagement ring, was it?’ she asked, ‘A little consolation prize for agreeing to be your temporary wife, just like this expensive honeymoon, no doubt to make me think twice about asking for half of your assets when we divorce.’

His expression twisted in cynicism. ‘That’s really why you went ahead with it, wasn’t it, Hayley? It wasn’t about your finances at all. You could have got a temporary line of credit to tide you over if things had got tough. The truth is you wanted to marry me so you could take revenge for what happened when you were sixteen.’

Hayley felt her cheeks flame with shame as the memory of that night flooded her brain. He had humiliated her for attempting to seduce him, the dressing down he had given her had made her hate him for years. He was right in that she had agreed to marry him for revenge, but how could she tell him she had changed her mind?

‘I know how your mind works, Hayley,’ he continued. ‘You’re like a lot of other women I’ve had dealings with. One whiff of rejection and you’re immediately after blood.’

‘That’s not true,’ she said. ‘I don’t want anything from you, or at least not for myself.’

‘I suppose I won’t be able to test the truth of that statement until we file for divorce,’ he said.

‘You’ll just have to wait and see, then, won’t you?’ she tossed back. ‘But if I take anything off you I will give it straight to your son, who surely deserves it more than me.’

His expression became masklike. ‘Have you ever met him?’ he asked after a short but tense silence.

‘No.’

‘How well do you know Miriam Moorebank?’

She found it hard to hold his probing gaze. ‘Not that well,’ she admitted. ‘She was a few years ahead of me at school so we weren’t exactly close friends. I felt sorry for her after … after what happened. She was a bright student who had to give up everything because she chose to keep her baby.’

‘It was her choice.’

Hayley frowned at the cool detachment of his tone. ‘She could have done anything she liked, Jasper,’ she said. ‘She was a straight A student. Do you know what she does now?’

He didn’t answer, but his expression told her he wasn’t the least bit interested. That really annoyed her. How could he treat the mother of his child with such callousness?

‘She cleans at a cheap, sleazy motel in the suburbs,’ she informed him coldly. ‘She could have done medicine or law for God’s sake, and yet she cleans motel rooms for a living. Don’t you feel even the tiniest bit guilty about that?’

His brown-black eyes met hers without flinching. ‘No, I don’t.’