‘What? No, no, of course not. How can you possibly say that after all I’ve done with you? None of that was revenge. It was...it was... Well, it was just lust,’ she finished, her face flushed and flustered.
‘Just lust,’ he repeated, not feeling particularly happy with that little phrase either. Though it was a lot better than revenge.
‘Jack, trust me, I am over Daryl, and our sexual relationship has nothing to do with him.’
‘Can’t say I’m convinced, but I’ll take you to the party if that’s what you really want.’
‘That’s what I really want,’ she told him.
‘In that case, I have one proviso.’
‘What?’
‘Once you’ve shown your face and had your say, we leave straight away. I have no intention of spending my leisure time with people like that. I’d much rather be somewhere else. With my gorgeous mistress,’ he added, then smiled at her.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
JACK’S WICKEDLY SEXY smile did things to Vivienne which were even more wicked. It constantly amazed Vivienne how quickly Jack could turn her on. A moment ago, her mind had been focused on what she would say and do at Daryl’s engagement party. A split second later, she could think of nothing but being with Jack, her body liquefying as various erotic images danced in her head.
Time to go to the ladies’ room, she decided, making her excuses just as the waiter arrived with a plate of delicious looking herb-and-garlic bread.
‘Don’t be too long,’ Jack said as he reached for a slice. ‘Or this will all be gone.’
She wasn’t long. Just long enough to cool her overheated body, and to change her mind about going to Courtney Ellison’s engagement party. It surprised Vivienne to find that she cared about Jack’s feelings more than her own need to confront Daryl. She hated Jack thinking that she was using him for revenge. Because she wasn’t.
‘You’ll be pleased to know,’ she said as she sat down again and reached for one of the two remaining slices of bread, ‘that I’ve decided not to go to that party after all.’
Jack did not seem as pleased as she thought he’d be.
‘Oh? And why’s that?’
‘You obviously don’t want to take me. And I don’t want to risk spoiling what we have together.’
His eyebrows lifted.
‘Look, Daryl’s dead and gone as far as I’m concerned,’ she went on firmly. ‘Let’s leave him that way.’
Jack didn’t believe that for a moment. Darling Daryl wasn’t dead and gone in Vivienne’s mind. He was still there, influencing everything she did. His dumping her so cruelly for another woman was undoubtedly one of the reasons she’d jumped into his bed. Maybe not out of revenge, but there had to be an element of rebound in her actions. Okay, so there was lust, too—though Jack preferred to think of it as passion and need. Vivienne was obviously a highly sexed girl who enjoyed making love in all its forms. No doubt she’d always had a very active and imaginative sex life with Daryl.
Damn it all, but he didn’t like thinking about her doing the things with that bastard that she’d done with him!
Still, her being so darned sexy was one of the things he liked about her. That and her undeniable strength of character and courage. If she really wanted to go to that party then who was he to say no?
‘I appreciate your concerns, Vivienne,’ he said. ‘And I love it that you don’t want to risk spoiling our relationship.’ Such as it is, he thought ruefully. ‘But I’ve had a few moments to think about the situation from your point of view and I now believe it would be a good idea to go to that party. Otherwise, you’ll never have closure on the matter. You need to have the opportunity to tell your ex what you think of him. And prove to yourself that you’re not a coward,’ he added for good measure.
He’d surprised her. No doubt about that.
‘Then you’re happy to take me?’
‘Absolutely. Ah, here’s our dinner.’
Vivienne had actually forgotten what kind of spaghetti Jack had ordered, her mind having been elsewhere when they’d first arrived at the restaurant. Fortunately, she was not a fussy eater and she loved Italian food. The plate of spaghetti marinara placed before her was a huge serving, with a wide variety of seafood as well as the fish pieces: mussels; prawns; scallops; calamari.
‘Goodness!’ she exclaimed as she picked up her fork. ‘It’ll take me all night to eat this.’