Chapter Two
Jane stared at Colin, her body trembling and her breath hard to find. He was here. He was here in her sister’s parlor, standing no more than ten feet away. And God, but he was handsome. He was impeccably dressed in a black jacket that accentuated his broad shoulders and a smart waistcoat interlaced with golden thread. His dark hair was cut close and not a lock of it dared to be out of place. His harsh jaw was smooth and clean, as if he had only finished scraping his blade across any whisker that dared to make an appearance overnight.
He looked every inch the proper, upright gentleman, but then he always did even when there was no need for formality. Only once had she seen him undone and that was the afternoon he made love to her so sweetly.
She tensed her jaw and steeled herself against those thoughts. They would do her no good at present.
“Colin,” she said softly.
His expression, which had been focused so intently on her now went hard and bored. She remembered that look all too well. It was the same one that had been on his face when he’d told her she was to go to the country and not return.
“My lady,” he said, his tone as icy as his demeanor.
She hardened herself in response, pushing aside her initial thrill at seeing him and reminding herself that not only had he sent her away so callously, but also ignored her for half a year.
“You didn’t have to be so cruel to my sister’s butler,” she said, folding her arms as she glared at him. “You frightened the man half to death.”
Colin arched a brow. “I wanted to make certain my intentions were clear.”
“Well, you have done that in spades, my lord. As always, no one could possibly doubt your contempt for me. Now, what are you doing here?”
He took a step toward her and her heart stuttered. She hated herself for it. Hated herself for reacting to him at all.
“I could ask you the same thing, Jane,” he said in a low tone that was not at all gentle. “I thought I made myself very clear that you were to remain in the country.”
She shook her head. “Oh, you did, my lord. But Alicia and Charles had a baby. You know how close I am to my sister. I couldn’t stay away—I would not, no matter what orders and edicts you gave.”
His cheek twitched a little, but otherwise he remained impassive. “Perhaps you are right that I could not have expected you to stay away from your beloved sister at this happy time. Still, you could have let me know of your impending arrival.”
She caught her breath at his arrogance. He had been ignoring her heartfelt letters for months and now he acted as if she had failed in her communication?
She narrowed her eyes further. “You have not acted like a husband, Colin. Why in God’s name should I act as a wife?”
His jaw clenched and his entire body stiffened. His glare grew in intensity, sucking her into dark depths, dragging her to places she had convinced herself no longer existed. Perhaps they had never existed. And yet here she was, lost in his heat and his emotions and his obvious anger.
What she had done to deserve such censure, she still didn’t know.
“Rumors have begun,” he said after what seemed like an eternity had passed.
She let out a bark of displeasure. “Are you referring to the Scandal Sheet?” she asked.
He nodded once. “You have heard of it.”
“Alicia showed me the paper when I arrived this morning. Surely you have enough discernment to see that it is drivel, Colin.”
“Drivel or not, it does affect how I am seen. I cannot allow my reputation to be damaged. So you are correct, Jane. It is time for me to start behaving as a husband would.”
She caught her breath. When he said that and his dark brown gaze flitted over her from head to foot, he almost looked like he…wanted her. Not that it was possible. Their one torrid joining had affected her, but clearly not done anything for him. He had walked away without so much as a backward glance while she woke sweating and aching, the covers tangled around her, her body pulsing with unfulfilled need.
“What do you mean?”
His gaze grew even darker and more intense. “Prepare your things, Jane. You shall move to my home today.”
Her mouth dropped open in absolute shock and she stared at him, unblinking, as she tried to decide if she was losing her mind or her hearing.
“What are you talking about?” She choked on the words, barely able to formulate them.
“You heard me,” he said softly.
She took a long step toward him and was hit by the spicy, warm smell of his skin. Her body began to tingle, but she shoved the reaction aside before it could overwhelm her and hissed, “You haven’t wanted me near you in six months. That fact had to have caused gossip aplenty. Why do you give a damn about it now?”
“It is one thing to have a wife who remains in the country,” he growled. “It is quite another to have her in the same city as I am and not living under my roof.”
“Colin!” she ground out.
He shook his head. “This is ridiculous. Jane, you vowed to obey me—and you shall.”
She flinched at the way he threw their broken vows in her face and snapped, “We both vowed a great deal. All of that means nothing to you.”
She spun away from him, feeling his gaze hard and heavy on her back. But even though she was angry, so angry that she trembled, she recognized that arguing with him was futile. Colin got what he wanted.
If he didn’t, he could make things difficult for Alicia and Charles. She wouldn’t put it past him to do just that.
“I will go with you,” she murmured when she could find her breath again, “If you will allow that I may return and see my sister, Charles and little Matthew.”
She faced him in time to see a barely perceptible flinch cross Colin’s expression. “Matthew. The child is a boy?”
Jane nodded. “Yes. And he’s beautiful.”
A slight softness entered Colin’s face and he cleared his throat. “You may visit as often as you like,” he conceded quietly. “I will send a carriage for you and a cart for your things after lunch.”
He turned on his heel and made for the door, with her staring at him. She placed her hands on her hips. “That is all?”
Her words stopped him short at the door, one hand held out to the handle. He turned and faced her. “For now. Good day.”
He didn’t wait for her response, but marched out through the foyer, and then he was gone, leaving Jane to stare at where he’d last stood.
And wonder what the hell had just happened.
Colin urged his horse faster and clung tight to the reins so he wouldn’t deposit himself arse over head into the gutter. He was shaking so hard he probably shouldn’t have even been riding.
He’d had no intention whatsoever to demand Jane come live under his roof. He’d only come to chastise her, to see her and determine she was still the same as ever and then leave unscathed.
But the moment he laid eyes on her, everything in his world had changed. He’d spent half a year pretending Jane meant nothing to him. Six long months trying to make that lie into the truth. But seeing her here, even more beautiful than ever, smelling her lemony scent and feeling her warmth when she came near…well, he couldn’t deny that he still wanted her.
That desire was dangerous, of course. Desire had made many a man commit terrible mistakes. But one could take desire and never allow it to control one.
Feelings were another thing entirely. And that was what made this situation with Jane worse. He saw her and he wished so desperately that he could go back in time. Back to before he saw her on the terrace with another man on their wedding night. Back to when he looked into her eyes and saw his future.
Those were feelings he did not want.
He turned his horse down a familiar lane and onto the drive of Arthur’s home. He’d canceled their meeting through his butler earlier in the day, but now he needed to see his cousin. Arthur had always been a voice of reason when it came to women. When it came to Jane.
He needed that now.
He was let in by Arthur’s butler and paced the room as he waited his cousin’s entrance. When the door opened, he turned in time to see a scowl on Arthur’s face. One that evaporated almost instantly as he stepped into the room, hand outstretched.
“Colin,” he drawled, calling him by his first name, as always. Arthur had never called him Wharton or my lorded him. “I thought you wouldn’t be joining me this afternoon.”
Colin shook his hand and nodded. “Yes, I know. Something happened and I thought I wouldn’t be good company. But I have swiftly realized I need a friend’s ear and you have always been one of the best to me.”
Arthur’s cheek twitched slightly and then he smiled. “I always shall be, Colin. Come, sit down. Tell me what has happened.”
They took their places in front of the fire and Colin leaned forward, draping his forearms over his knees as he stared at the floor. “Jane is back in London.”
He heard Arthur suck in a breath and looked up to see a troubled expression on his face.
“I had hoped you hadn’t seen that particular item in the Scandal Sheet,” Arthur said.
“I did.” Colin scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I went to see her.”
Arthur jumped up at that, nearly flipping his chair over in the process. “You did what?”
“I rode to her sister and brother-in-law’s house,” Colin admitted, his voice a moan. “God, it was stupid, I know, but I almost couldn’t help myself. Knowing she was here, a few miles away, I had to see her.”
“Why?” Arthur asked, his tone tense and shrill.
Colin shook his head. “She’s my wife.”
“Hardly,” Arthur huffed out. “Need I remind you what she did on your wedding day of all days?”
Colin ground his teeth. “Of course not. I recall everything that happened that horrible day with perfect clarity, I assure you. But damn it, Arthur, it was six months ago. She has stayed in the countryside, just as I demanded, without so much as a peep to defend herself or demand anything. Word from my estate is that she has taken on her role as lady there with great gusto and purpose. The tenants and staff adore her.”
Arthur arched a brow. “I’m sure they do, especially the male ones.”
It was Colin who pushed out of his seat now and took a long step toward his cousin before he realized what he was doing. He stopped, the two men nose to nose, and his lips parted. “I’m…sorry. I should not vent my anger at you,” he whispered. “You have every right to be so harsh considering what she did and how you’ve had to watch me suffer.”
Arthur nodded slowly. “Yes. Your suffering has brought me no pleasure, cousin, I assure you. And I admit, I’m shocked that you would even consider seeing her again. Let her visit her sister and go back where she belongs.”
Colin sighed and walked away from Arthur. He stared out the window, a hand clenched against the glass. “I told her she should come and stay at my home while she is in the city.”
Arthur let out a great gasp and rushed up to Colin, grabbing his arm and spinning him around. “No!”
Colin wasn’t surprised at his cousin’s reaction, though the strength of it certainly set him back a pace. “The Scandal Sheet shall make the entire ton talk endlessly,” he explained, even though the words seemed hollow to him. “My best course of action is to reduce their whispers by making it seem as though I want Jane here. That this is an invitation of my making, rather than a surprise sprung on me by my wayward wife.”
“You and your reputation,” Arthur spit out, his tone far harsher than Colin had thought it would be.
He held up his hands, almost as a defense. “My reputation is all I have, isn’t it? It’s how I manage to influence those in the House of Lords, it’s how I generate respect and initiate change in Society.”
Arthur rolled his eyes and Colin bit his tongue. While he took his duties to country and kingdom, as well as to those with less power than himself, very seriously, he knew Arthur thought him a fool. His cousin had often told him that if he held the title of viscount, he would do things very differently.
Arthur let out a long, put-upon sigh. “I know those things are important to you. But I worry about you in this situation, not whatever causes you have taken up this week. If Jane is coming to stay in your house, that doesn’t mean you should soften your position toward her. Keep your distance, Colin. Don’t get caught in her trap, for I’m certain she will try to seduce you with her wiles.”
Colin tensed at the thought of Jane using her “wiles” against him. A very pleasing thought that was, actually. He often thought of the afternoon after they wed, when he’d stepped into her dressing room and dismissed her servant, and the two of them had passionately consummated their union.
He’d often dreamed of doing that very thing again, despite how angry he was at her.
And the fact was that she was his wife. He could certainly exercise his husbandly rights with her without forgetting what she truly was at her core. Perhaps it was his duty to do so, or so his mother kept reminding him by going on about heirs and Jane and the future.
“I won’t fall into her trap,” he murmured, as much to himself as to respond to Arthur’s words.
His cousin seemed relieved at that statement and clapped him on the shoulder gently. “Excellent.”
But as Arthur retook his seat and Colin did the same, he knew one thing for certain.
He didn’t intend to keep his distance from Jane either.