Page 21 of Consequences of Their Wedding Charade
Hence his focus on her face. He didn’t want to risk his eyes straying to more dangerous zones.
Before he could open up a dialogue on the issue of time-keeping, he decided to head back down to the restaurant because the less he saw of her in all her drowsy, ruffled glory, the better. He wasn’t sure whether it was a new phenomenon, but it seemed that his prized self-control was under threat when she was around and the worst of it was that he didn’t seem to mind anywhere near as much as he should...
‘Doesn’t matter,’ he said tautly, backing away and shuffling ever so slightly before glancing in her direction again. ‘How long should I be expected to hang around waiting for you to join me?’
That came out not at all as he had intended, and he noted the way she stiffened but, hell, he wasn’t going to apologise because he just wanted to clear off before his imagination had a chance to take over completely.
Looking at him and hearing the curtness in his voice, Jess’s voice was cool when she replied. ‘Give me half an hour. Will that do, or is that too late for someone as busy as you, Curtis?’
‘I’ll see you there.’
CHAPTER FIVE
DESPITEBEINGBUSYwith the early to ski crowd, the restaurant managed to feel calm, quiet and relaxed. No crowds forming an unruly conga line by the breakfast buffet bar. Instead, there was an attractive cornucopia of fresh fruit and a selection of every cheese imaginable, with baskets of freshly baked breads and a comprehensive menu for anyone who wanted anything of the cooked variety.
Jess spotted him before he saw her and she stopped dead in her tracks, an automatic reaction to his physical beauty as he lounged in his chair, staring at whatever held him spellbound on his cell phone.
Unremitting black suited him, she thought stupidly. She took a deep breath and headed directly towards his table and smiled as their eyes briefly met.
‘I must say, this is very different to my experience of breakfast in a hotel on a skiing trip with Year Eight,’ she told him, sliding into her chair and watching as he straightened and looked at her.
‘I imagine it is.’
Jess laughed nervously because of his thoughtful expression, so rare in someone who was essentially the very essence of light-hearted charm and teasing banter.
Wasn’t this what she had secretly longed for, though? A Curtis who moved from superficial charm to offer her a glimpse of the depths that swirled underneath?
The conversation she had demanded felt inappropriate over breakfast before taking to the slopes and there was a part of her that almost wished she hadn’t. She enjoyed their familiar routine, even if she was restricted by it, and this felt like a seismic shift in something that had been an anchor point in her life over the years.
‘You wouldn’t believe the chaos,’ she gamely carried on as coffee was poured for them and the menu inspected and discarded in favour of the cold continental options, ‘when you have twenty-odd kids scuffling to see who can make it to the bacon first...’
‘You asked about my relationship with Caitlin...’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Jess said quickly.
‘Doesn’t it? What changed overnight?’
‘As long as I don’t have to pretend to be anything we’re not, then I don’t care what sort of relationship you have with her, or whether it’s over or not.’
‘It’s firmly over, Jess,’ he told her, pausing only to give his order to one of the serving staff. ‘Why don’t you go and get whatever you want from the buffet and we can talk about this when you’re back. Get it out of the way.’
‘Honestly, Curtis...’ She leaned towards him, elbows on the table, and looked at him earnestly. ‘It really doesn’t matter. I don’t see what the problem is if you’re no longer...an item.’
‘Why did you imagine that we were?’
Instead of answering that she headed for her breakfast, giving herself time to think about his question and half hoping he might forget that he had asked it at all, but as soon as she sat back down with her plate of cheese and bread in front of her he repeated it.
‘I suppose that huddled conversation in the corner of the room last night.’ She shrugged and felt the bite of jealousy again but this time it was muted because she believed him when he told her that whatever relationship they had enjoyed was over. ‘You looked... You didn’t look like a guy who’s over a woman.’
‘How does a guy who’s over a woman look?’ he asked with genuine curiosity. He attacked his food with relish, but she could feel the focus of his laser-sharp attention firmly pinned on her, making her restless and fidgety.
‘You looked as though you still cared about her,’ she muttered, staring down at her plate. She cleared her throat and toyed with the bread and cheese, eyes flicking up to him every so often. ‘And, to be honest,’ she confessed, ‘you always struck me as the sort of person who ends a relationship without any messy, unfinished strands of it left to resurface at a later date.’
Curtis’s green eyes were thoughtful. ‘You know me well.’
‘So, if that’s the case, then how is it that you’re obviously still attached to Caitlin? How is it that you still care what she thinks?’ Jess hoped that the jealousy she was banking down hadn’t found its way into her voice, but she wasn’t convinced and when she looked at him his expression was serious and unreadable.
‘You wanted to know why we broke up.’
