Brand of Possession

‘It’s public knowledge.’

Brad shrugged. ‘Then it’s wrong.’

Stacy looked unsure. ‘But he— Do you deny that there is a Mrs Weston?’

He shook his head. ‘Was a Mrs Weston.’

Stacy gulped. ‘You mean he was telling the truth when he said he isn’t married?’

‘Yes. His wife is dead.’

‘Oh dear,’ she said weakly. So she had misjudged him, he had been telling her the truth all the time. Oh, why had she listened to Juliet! Her friend had warned her she could be wrong.

‘I’m his lawyer, Stacy, and I can say with certainty that he’s no longer a married man. And it’s because I’m a lawyer that I don’t take circumstancial evidence as proof. You came out of Jake’s bedroom, but that doesn’t mean he slept in there too.’

‘He did,’ she admitted. ‘But in the chair.’

‘And I believe you.’ He smiled. ‘But even if you had slept together it’s nothing to do with me.’

‘You’re very kind,’ she smiled shyly.

‘Kind, hell! If it had been me instead of Jake you sure wouldn’t have slept alone.’

She giggled at his teasing manner, liking this man in spite of his outrageousness. She was still smiling when Jake came back into the suite, but her humour slowly died at the scowl on his face.

He threw the dress at her. ‘Here,’ he snapped curtly.

She stood up. ‘I—I won’t be long.’ She wanted him to look at her, but he seemed to be avoiding doing so.

‘Don’t rush on my account.’ Still he didn’t look at her.

‘You can rush for me,’ Brad said easily. ‘I’ll be devastated without you.’

‘Go and dress!’ Jake ordered abruptly.

Stacy went. Jake was angry and distant with her, just at a time she had found out she had no reason to be distant with him. He wasn’t married, so there was nothing to stop her going out with him if he asked her to. Although his attitude just now hadn’t pointed to him wanting to do any such thing.

When she came back out of the bedroom Brad had left. Jake was sitting alone on the sofa drinking black coffee. Stacy blushed as she remembered the way he had touched her only minutes earlier, although there was no sign of their recent passion on his cold hard face.

‘Brad had to leave,’ he informed her tersely.

‘Oh,’ she said dully, unsure if he wanted her to go immediately or if he expected her to have breakfast with him.

He gave her a narrow-eyed look. ‘Does that bother you?’

She met that cold assessing look for several seconds before turning hurriedly away again. ‘Why should it?’

He shrugged. ‘You seemed pretty friendly when I came back just now.’

She couldn’t believe it, Jake was actually jealous of the other man! If only he knew, he need never be jealous of any man where she was concerned, she was totally his. ‘Brad’s an easy man to be friendly with,’ she told him lightly.

‘Brad?’ he questioned harshly. ‘It didn’t take you long to get on a first name basis with him.’

As the lawyer had called her Stacy it hadn’t occurred to her to call him Mr Delmain. ‘It just seemed to come naturally,’ she excused herself.

‘I’m sure it did,’ he said with a sneer. ‘Haven’t you learnt yet that it doesn’t pay to take men at their face value? He could be another Boston Strangler for all you know.’

‘But he isn’t, he’s a lawyer.’