protect her mother and that it should be the other way around, but he didn’t. Because it wasn’t really any of his business.
For some reason that simple truth filled him with despair.
Sliding her phone back into her bag, she gave him a grateful nod for waiting and started walking back to the car. He stood rooted to the spot for a moment, watching her go, and as she reached the edge of the garden he had an overwhelming urge to try and reassure her that everything would be okay.
‘Emma.’
She stopped under a large tree strung with twinkling fairy lights and turned back to face him, her expression one of open interest.
He walked quickly up to where she stood. ‘I wanted to say thank you,’ he said, taking another step towards her, closing more of the gap between them.
‘What for?’ Her brow crinkled in confusion.
‘For being so honest with me just now. It’s obviously still hard for you to talk about.’
She glanced away, then back at him with a small smile of gratitude.
He took another step towards her, standing so close now he could smell the intoxicating, floral scent of her.
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and bright with unshed tears.
‘I also wanted to say thank you for what you did today, standing up in front of my parents like that,’ he said, putting a hand on her arm, his breath hitching as he felt her tremble under his touch. ‘It was brave of you.’
Glancing up, he realised there was a sprig of mistletoe hanging from a branch above them, tied in amongst the glimmering lights.
Without thinking about what he was doing, he lifted his hand and slid his fingers along her jaw, cupping her face and rubbing his thumb across the flawless skin of her cheek.
Her eyes flickered closed for a second and she drew in a small, sharp breath as if his touch had burnt her.
‘Emma?’ he murmured, dropping his gaze to her beautiful, Cupid’s-bow-shaped mouth. A mouth that he had a sudden mad urge to kiss.
His insides felt tangled, as if she’d reached inside him and twisted them in her hands.
He wanted to do something to take away the pain and uncertainty he saw in her eyes, but intellectually he knew that kissing her now would only make things more complicated between them.
Clearly she was feeling vulnerable and there was no way he was going to consciously make that worse.
So he dropped his hand to his side and took a step away from her. Then another.
‘We should get back on the road so we miss the rush-hour traffic,’ he said gruffly, concerned at how wild the look in her eyes was and how flushed her cheeks were.
The stress of their situation must be getting to her too.
‘Okay,’ she said roughly, nodding and glancing away towards where John, their driver, stood leaning against the car, his face turned towards the late autumn sunshine.
When she looked back her eyes seemed to have taken on a glazed look.
Perhaps she was just tired.
Giving her a nod and a smile, which he hoped would go some way towards reassuring her that he was with her in this, he gestured for her to lead the way.
He watched her walk back towards the car, stumbling a little on the uneven gravel.
If they were going to get through this without getting hurt again he was going to have to be very strict with himself about how close he let himself get to her again. From this point on he would do everything in his power to make her life easier and make sure that she was as secure and happy as she deserved to be.
But he’d be doing it from a distance.
WHEN EMMA WOKE up the next morning she felt as if she hadn’t slept a wink.
The memory of the way Jack had looked at her with such warmth and understanding yesterday, after she’d opened up about what she’d gone through after her father died, had haunted her dreams.
Standing under that mistletoe outside the pub, she’d thought for one heart-stopping moment that he was going to kiss her. It had actually scared her how much she’d wanted him to, but judging by his swift withdrawal apparently she’d been crazy to imagine that he’d wanted it too.
But she could have sworn...
Ugh! This was all so confusing.
She was better off on her own anyway—at least that way she could keep full control over her life and keep her heart in one piece.
Rolling out of bed, she went over to the window and peered out at the street below, this time making sure to keep well hidden behind the curtain. There were still a few photographers lurking down on the street, but the majority of journalists seemed to have gone.
They must have grown bored with trying to get information about her. That was a relief.
After taking a quick shower and pulling on another one of the beautiful dresses that Sophie had brought over for her, this time in a flattering, draped soft green fabric that swished around her legs and clung gently to her torso, she clomped downstairs, steeling herself to face Jack again.
She had absolutely no idea what to expect from him today. What she did know was that she sure as heck wasn’t going to hide from whatever was going on between them.
Walking into the kitchen, she spotted him sitting at the table with his broad back to her looking at something on his laptop.
The worry about how they were going to be with each other this morning evaporated the moment he looked round and she saw the flash of panic on his face.
‘Emma, I didn’t hear you come in.’
‘What are you looking at?’ she asked, already knowing she wasn’t going to like the answer.
Snapping the laptop shut, he gave what she suspected was meant to be a diffident shrug. ‘Nothing of any consequence.’
Folding her arms, she gave him a hard stare. ‘Jack, there’s no point in trying to hide anything from me. I’ll see it sooner or later.’
He swallowed, then nodded towards the computer in front of him. ‘The press found out who you are,’ he said, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
Sitting down next to him, she slid the laptop towards her and opened it up to look at what he’d been reading.
All the blood seemed to drain from her head as she saw numerous links on the screen, all with her family name slashed across them with a variation on the theme of her family’s money scandal and their exile from high society as well as Jack’s name and title.
Gold-digger
