She swallowed quickly, laid the banana aside and jumped to her feet. “Excellent. I’ll get started immediately.”
“You’re—you’re leaving?” He came out of his chair.
“Duties and responsibilities call,” she said briskly and snatched up both newspapers from the table. “I’ll need these.”
Brandon looked at the spot where the newspapers had lain, then up at her. “What for?”
“As I recall, the Times has the best advertisements for all those fabulous stores along Wilshire.” Jana waved her hand about the room. “Brandon, I have an entire house to decorate.”
“What about the Messenger?” he asked, gesturing lamely to the other newspaper.
“After you explained to me last night about the situation with the Messenger, I wanted to look it over, see if I can discern exactly what you mean,” Jana explained.
“But I always read the newspaper on the way to the office,” Brandon said.
“I’m sure that after our breakfast together this morning, you’ll have plenty to occupy your mind.” She flicked the tip of her tongue along her bottom lip, gave him a slow smile, and left the breakfast room.
“Jana! Wait!”
She turned back to see Brandon hurry after her. His cheeks were slightly flushed and a tiny drop of perspiration hung in his sideburn.
She’d seen those things before.
Brandon eased closer. “Does our new commitment to our duties and responsibilities include a resumption of our…marital relations?”
She frowned thoughtfully, then nodded. “Oh, you mean our lovemaking. As we used to do. You and me rolling around beneath the covers until the wee of the morning? All those delightfully sinful moments we shared?”
His breathing quickened. “Yes?”
“Hum…” Jana tapped her finger against her lips. “Perhaps we could consider that.”
“Now?”
She tsked. “Brandon, we have our responsibilities to see to today.”
“Yes, but—”
She touched his chest with the newspaper. “Let’s discuss it at supper tonight, shall we?”
“I’ll be home early,” he promised.
Jana gave him a saucy little grin and left him standing in the doorway.
“What the hell!”
Brandon’s roar rang through the house, down the hallway and into the sitting room, bringing Jana up out of her chair.
Though she felt a little guilty about her blatant flirting and not-so-subtle innuendo this morning at the breakfast table, she’d assuaged her conscience today with the conviction of her decision: if she couldn’t get him to stay home, she could never torment him enough so that he’d ask her to leave.
She glanced at the mantel clock and smiled to herself. Just past the stroke of six and Brandon was home.
So far, her plan was working beautifully.
Jana left the sitting room and found Brandon in the foyer glaring at the scaffolds, reams of wallpaper, cans of paint, tools, equipment and the dozen workmen extending down the hallway.
“Good evening, Brandon,” she greeted him, a placid smile on her face. It wasn’t easy holding that expression in place against Brandon’s scowl, even though she’d expected it in this next phase of her plan.
“What the hell is going on?” he demanded, raising his voice over the din of banging hammers and grinding saws.
“I’m decorating,” she said. “Remember? We discussed it at breakfast this morning.”
“This isn’t decorating!”
“It’s the way I decorate,” she said crisply. “I’m knocking out a few of the walls.”
“Knocking out the—what?” He gaze pinged around, then turned back at her. “Jana, you can’t knock out a—”
She drew herself up a little. “You told me this morning that I could do whatever I wanted with the house.”
He blinked. “I said that?”
“Oh, yes. My mind reeled with the possibilities. After all, you put me in charge of this project so I want to do my very best to please you. And, of course, to live up to my duty as your wife.”
Brandon’s gaze crawled over the workmen. “I never said you could do all of this.”
“But you did put me in charge of the house, correct?”
“Yes, of course, I did. But—”
“And you do expect me to take my responsibilities seriously?”
“Yes—”
“And it is my duty as your wife to take over the house, is it not?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“Good. I’m glad I have your approval. Come along. I want you to see everything I’m doing.”
Jana led the way down the hallway, skirting workmen, stepping over tools, and stopped at the doorway to the parlor. She waved her arm.
“I’m taking out those two walls, widening this whole wing of the house and lowering the floor.”
“Lowering the—”
“And wait until you see what I’m doing to your study.”
“My study?” Brandon bristled further. “My study is—”
“—part of the house, correct?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“I take the responsibilities you’ve given me very seriously, Brandon,” she informed him. “I’m reworking the entire house, which includes your study. Come, I’ll show you.”
Jana ducked under ladders and sidestepped scaffolding until she reached Brandon’s study. With the furniture pushed to the center of the wall and shrouded beneath a tarp, three carpenters stripped the walls, ceiling and floors.
Brandon pressed his palm against his forehead, his eyes wide. “What the…?”
“I’m renovating the entire room, floor to ceiling. For you,” Jana announced.
“Where the hell am I supposed to work?”
“I found you a new spot,” Jana told him. “A room off the kitchen.”
