he caught his breath. He felt suddenly as if he’d been stabbed in his solar plexus. His involuntary reaction stunned him, the surge of heat invading his lower body feeling like a fire in his gut.
His response was totally unexpected. Not to say inappropriate, as well. He didn’t do lust, but that was what he was feeling at that moment. Dammit, she was Sean’s girlfriend; he’d said so. And just because they’d apparently had a lovers’ tiff didn’t mean he had the right to pick up the slack.
But she was striking. High, rounded breasts, pointed nipples clearly outlined by the thin cotton of her tee. Her thighs were slim and shapely, and she had the kind of legs that seemed to go on for ever.
Thank God for his baggy cargo pants. He had the feeling he had more than his reaction to hide. He almost broke out in a sweat at the possibility that Sean might notice.
He couldn’t believe this was why Lisa had been so keen for him to open the door. Yet, wasn’t it just the kind of quirky thing she would do? She’d enjoyed baiting him in life and she still enjoyed baiting him now.
Of course, Sean’s girlfriend was nothing like Lisa. Lisa had been petite, blonde, bubbly. And okay, yes, she’d been flirtatious. But judging by the look he was getting from this girl, she was anything but flirtatious. She was regarding him with cool—what? Indifference? Contempt? As if she’d guessed exactly what was going through his mind.
Right.
Stepping back, he made room for them to come into the house, and Sean quickly made the introductions.
‘Grace Spencer, meet Jack Connolly,’ he said cheerfully, and, despite the look from her amazingly green eyes, Jack was obliged to take the hand the girl reluctantly offered him.
‘Hi,’ he said, aware that her slim fingers were cool against his suddenly sweating palm.
‘Hello.’ Her voice was as cool as her expression. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but Sean asked me to come with him, to show him how to get here.’
‘I— No. Of course not.’
Jack frowned. He detected a slight local accent. Did she come from this area? If so, how on earth had she met Sean?
Realising he’d been silent for too long, he said awkwardly, ‘Do you know the area, Grace?’
‘I was born here,’ she began, but Sean didn’t let her finish.
‘Her parents own the village pub,’ he said quickly. ‘Grace left here when she went to university, and she’s been living in London since then.’
Jack nodded. At least that explained the connection. The last he’d heard, Sean had been working in London, too.
‘But I’ve left London now,’ Grace inserted flatly, giving Sean what Jack thought was a warning look. ‘My mother’s ill and I’ve decided to move back to Rothburn to be near her. Sean is still living in London. This is just a flying visit, isn’t it, Sean?’
There was no mistaking the accusation in that question. Jack felt his eyes go wide, and his inhibitions about this visit increased. Whatever was going on here, he didn’t want to be part of it. But they were evidently not the happy couple Sean was trying to convey.
‘We’ll see,’ Sean said now. Then, squaring his shoulders, he forced a grin for Jack’s benefit. ‘I bet you were wondering how I found you out.’
‘You could say that.’
‘Well, when Grace’s pa said an Irishman had bought this old place, I never dreamt it might be you,’ Sean continued. ‘It wasn’t until they mentioned your name that I put two and two together. Small world, eh?’
‘Isn’t it?’
Jack inclined his head. He hadn’t tried to hide his identity from the locals. But no one really knew him here; no one knew about Lisa.
He just hadn’t expected Sean Nesbitt to turn up.
‘So...’ Jack tried to inject a note of interest into his voice now. ‘Do you come up here every weekend to see Grace and her family?’
‘Yes—’
‘No!’
They both spoke at once, and Jack could see the sudden rush of colour that stained Grace’s cheeks.
‘I come as often as I can,’ amended Sean, his pale blue eyes darkening with sudden anger. ‘Come on, Grace, you know your parents are pleased to see me. Just because you’re feeling neglected, that’s no reason to embarrass Jack like this.’
GRACE WAS ANGRY.
She knew she shouldn’t have let herself be persuaded to come here with Sean, but what could she do? Apart from the obvious misconceptions it created, she didn’t like arguing with him in public. With Jack Connolly looking on, she felt hopelessly embarrassed. He was not the kind of man to be fooled by Sean’s lies.
The trouble was her parents expected her to marry Sean, and they would certainly have suspected something was wrong if she’d refused to come with him. For now she had to accept the situation. But she refused to let Sean make a fool of her.
It had been so different in the beginning. When she’d first met Sean, she’d been fascinated by his easy charm. Okay, she’d been young, and naïve, but that was in the days when she’d taken everything he said as gospel; when just being around such a popular older student had given her a feeling of pride.
How wrong she had been.
Her first mistake had been bringing him to meet her parents. With Sean’s promises of easy money, her father had been persuaded to mortgage the pub to help finance Sean’s fledgling website.
Grace had tried to stop him. Even though she’d believed she was going to marry Sean, she’d known the website was a huge gamble and her father knew little about websites or their uses.
But Tom Spencer hadn’t listened to her. He’d thought he was investing in her future and she’d loved him for it. But even then she’d had some sleepless nights worrying about what would happen if the website failed.
And it had. Like so much else where Sean was concerned, the dream hadn’t equalled the reality. Even now, her parents had no idea that Sean had lost their money. Which was why Grace had to do everything in her power to get it back.
Even if it meant lying about her relationship with Sean.
Her parents were still labouring under the illusion that Sean was only staying in London to advance his business. She knew they thought she should have stayed with him, but Grace had had enough. She’d stopped short of telling them about the scene that had finally ended their relationship. Until her mother had recovered her health, she couldn’t lay that on them, as well.
She’d let them think that she had been homesick. When the sickness she had felt had been of a different order altogether.
But Sean knew their affair was over.
