Harlequin Desire December 2012 - Bundle 1 of 2: One Winter's Night\The Deeper the Passion...\Staking His Claim by Brenda Jackson

Author:Brenda Jackson [Lewis, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-12-01T00:00:00+00:00

Seven

Vicki didn’t know where to look. She wanted to run fast and far. Had Jack heard her entire conversation with Leo? She’d rather die than have him know she was flat broke. He’d pity her, and that would be a fate worse than death.

He’d obviously heard the last part because he walked toward them, slid a proprietary arm around her waist and squeezed her. “Everything okay, angel?”

The odd, affectionate term made her blink. “Uh, yeah. I was just heading back to the boat.” She supposed she should introduce Leo, but because Leo was obviously a nutcase, he might take that as a cue to invite himself to dinner at Jack’s house. Being rude seemed more sensible.

“Jack Drummond.” He thrust the arm that wasn’t around her waist toward the shorter man. Apparently Jack couldn’t resist digging deeper. “Are you a friend of my fiancée?” He dug her ribs a little bit on the last word.

She felt color rising to her cheeks—and that didn’t happen often.

“We are friends. I had no idea she was engaged.” Leo looked flustered, probably wondering why she hadn’t mentioned this before.

Jack’s gaze scorched the side of her face. “It was a very sudden engagement. We don’t even have our rings yet. We’ve loved each other for years, of course.” Jack wasn’t doing a good job of hiding the humor in his voice. “Vicki’s come to live with me here on my houseboat.”

If she weren’t trying to prop up this pretense, she’d have slapped him and said she’d rather live in a tent in the Gobi than on a houseboat with him. Instead, she said, “I’ve always loved the water,” and managed a simpering smile.

She could feel a chuckle of laughter rising in Jack’s mighty chest, which was pressed against her side.

“Well, little lady, we’d better get back on the boat so you can rustle us up some dinner.” He squeezed her again. She fought the urge to shove him off the dock into the water. “It was nice meeting you, Mr….”

Leo apparently realized he hadn’t managed to introduce himself. “Parker. Leo Parker.” His voice sounded a little shaky. This was not going at all according to plan for him, thank goodness. Jack was cheeky to insist on getting his name.

Hmm, maybe he was jealous?

That thought brightened her dark mood.

Leo Parker shrank away, and Vicki heaved a sigh of relief as Jack guided her back to the boat. Once safely on board, she turned to make sure Leo was nowhere around. She saw his dejected form climbing into a large black SUV in the marina parking lot. “Hey, I never got my coffee.”

“That guy had no idea we were engaged.” Jack turned to her, eyes sparkling with amusement. “Funny thing is, neither did I.”

“That guy’s a creep. I was trying to get rid of him.” Did Jack overhear the part about her father going bust? She certainly wasn’t going to ask. “I hope he didn’t follow me down here.”

“How could he know where to find you?”

She shrugged. “I did get my mail forwarded.

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