To Woo A Wife

His steely gaze never left Abbie’s face as he calmly responded, ‘There’s no mystery attached to my visit; I’m here to meet someone.’

‘Ah-hah.’ Stephen pounced interestedly. ‘Is she a cr?me caramel or an ice-cream sundae?’

‘You’re really getting into this, aren’t you, darling?’ Alison said indulgently.

‘Definitely the latter,’ Jarrett answered with a meaningful look. ‘And it isn’t what you’re thinking at all, Stephen. This meeting is strictly business.’

‘But does the lady in question know that?’ his friend asked.

‘The “lady” isn’t even aware we’re going to meet,’ Jarrett drawled.

‘This gets more and more intriguing.’ Alison sat forward. ‘Who is she?’

‘You’re in trouble now, Jarrett,’ Stephen warned. ‘Alison won’t give up until she knows the whole story!’

‘There is no story,’ Jarrett assured them dryly. ‘I told you, I’ve never met the woman. All I know is that my sources tell me she’s as cold as that ice-cream sundae you mentioned, Stephen,’ he added hardly.

‘Was that a deliberate pun, or purely coincidence?’ Stephen grinned. ‘Sauces. Ice cream,’ he explained pointedly.

Jarrett raised dark brows mockingly. ‘I think married life is clearly affecting your brain, Stephen—or else it’s all this snow,’ he amended with an apologetic glance in Abbie’s direction for his lapse into cynicism. ‘You know damn well what I meant just now about sources!’ he bit out impatiently. ‘I’ve been hunting down a meeting with this woman for months—’

‘That has to be a first!’ Stephen taunted, tongue-in-cheek.

Jarrett shook his head, his expression pained. ‘I’d forgotten just how damned annoying you could be!’ He shook his head.

‘Oh, he can be much more annoying than this,’ Alison assured him guilelessly.

Jarrett shot her an impatient look too, turning to Abbie. ‘Do you suppose it’s catching?’ he muttered irritably.

‘Probably,’ she returned, enjoying his discomfort, but also intrigued by the conversation, in spite of herself. ‘But don’t get too worried; you haven’t been around them long enough for the effect to be lasting!’

He raised those golden eyes heavenwards. ‘Let’s hope you haven’t either!’

‘You don’t get out of this that easily, Jarrett,’ Alison went on. ‘We all want to know exactly who this elusive woman is, and why you want to meet her.’

Alison was taking this joke a little too far, Abbie thought as she picked up her wine glass and took a sip, although she did have a problem herself imagining any woman piquing this man’s interest enough for him to continue the pursuit for months; after all, desserts were perishable, they all had a sell-by date—even ice cream!

Perhaps it was catching, after all...!

Jarrett relaxed back in his chair. ‘Her name is Sabina Sutherland,’ he announced. ‘She’s Daniel Sutherland’s widow. And I have it on good authority that she’s here skiing with her daughter—What the hell...?’ He gasped as Abbie choked on the wine she had been drinking, leaning forward to tap her gently on the back. ‘Come on, Abbie,’ he chided as she mopped at the tears on her cheeks with a tissue hastily supplied by Alison. ‘I wasn’t suggesting doing anything indecent with either the mother or the daughter!’

Even if he had been, he would be out of luck—because she was Sabina Sutherland, and her daughter, Charlie, was only four years old!

CHAPTER TWO

JARRETT watched with narrowed eyes as Alison and Abbie left the table, ostensibly so that Abbie could restore her make-up after her choking fit. But as far as Jarrett was concerned you couldn’t improve on perfection, and Abbie was the most beautiful woman he had seen in a decade!

He had felt as if someone had kicked him in the solar plexus when she’d walked into the bar earlier, had found himself openly staring at her as she moved gracefully across the room towards them and he had realised this was the friend of Alison’s who was joining them for dinner. Her face was absolute perfection, her skin clear and delicate, her nose beautifully sculptured; her face was dominated by eyes of violet-blue and a deeply sensual mouth, the lips full and inviting. As for her hair—! It reached almost down to her waist in a glorious cascade of midnight. And her body—

He had better stop right there, could already feel the stirring of desire in his own body just at the thought of Abbie’s!

He turned to Stephen, his mouth twisting wryly at the way the other man was watching him. ‘Stop looking so damned pleased with yourself,’ he mumbled.

Stephen openly smirked. ‘I was merely wondering what you thought of the “paper-bag job” now.’

‘Very funny!’ Jarrett didn’t appreciate being reminded of his earlier disparaging remarks. ‘Who the hell is she, Stephen?’

The two men had been friends since their schooldays, and although they often didn’t see each other for months at a time, for years on one occasion, the easy friendship continued between them.

Stephen shrugged. ‘We’ve already told you, she’s a friend of Alison’s from their modelling days together.’

Jarrett shook his head. ‘If that woman had ever graced the catwalk, then she would have taken the world by storm!’ he said with certainty. Abbie carried herself with a natural grace, would look good in anything—or nothing!

God, he was off again; he wouldn’t be able to stand up when the ladies returned to the table if this carried on! He couldn’t remember reacting this strongly physically to a woman, just on sight, since his teenage years, and that was twenty years ago.

‘But she did, Jarrett,’ his friend assured him mockingly. ‘For two years she was the most sought-after model in Europe. You probably weren’t aware of it because you were busy making your millions in Australia!’

‘The last I heard, Australia was still part of the world,’ he said dryly.

‘It’s not the location that’s relevant, Jarrett,’ Stephen said softly.

No, making his fortune had been his driving force for the last twenty years, the people he had associated with picked out for their own influences, or otherwise, in the business world he mixed in. Models—even ones as beautiful as Abbie!—hadn’t been of any interest to him whatsoever. Hadn’t been... Because he was certainly interested in Abbie now.

‘What happened to her after those two years of acclaim? ’ he probed softly, eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

‘She gave up modelling,’ Stephen supplied unhelpfully.

Most unhelpfully, as far as Jarrett was concerned. He hadn’t been this interested in a woman in years, and the fact that she seemed so damned elusive—A sudden thought struck him. ‘She isn’t married, is she, Stephen?’ he grated harshly. It would be just his luck if she were; married women were definitely a no-no for him.

His own mother’s alley-cat behaviour, and the pain it had caused his father, had made him decide long ago that he would never interfere in another couple’s relationship. His parents’ turbulent marriage was also the reason he had decided he would never fall in love, never marry. If any man tried to intrude on his marriage, he knew he wouldn’t react as mildly as his father had done all those years, that he—

What the hell was he doing even thinking about marriage? It was complete anathema to him, as evidenced by his earlier conversation about desserts, and the attraction of each of them.

He recalled with pleasure how Abbie had answered all of his derisive comments with a jibe of her own. Abbie...! Damn it, he was doing it again. If only she weren’t so damned intriguing...!

‘Would it bother you if she were married?’ Stephen answered his question, his expression deliberately bland.

‘Not at all,’ Jarrett snapped, impatient with himself for dropping his guard enough to let Stephen know how interesting he found the enigmatic Abbie; he should have remembered earlier what a damned nuisance Stephen could be when he got an idea in his head. And the last thing Jarrett needed at the moment was a matchmaking Stephen! ‘Just because you’re in the throes of newly married bliss at the moment,’ he scorned, ‘doesn’t mean the rest of us have to join you!’

Stephen chuckled at Jarrett’s aggression, not fooled for a moment, turning slightly in his chair to look across the restaurant. ‘Ah, here come the ladies now,’ he said admiringly. ‘Don’t they make a striking couple? And for the record, Jarrett,’ he leant forward to murmur softly when he received no response from the other man, ‘Abbie isn’t married!’

‘I told you, it doesn’t—’ Jarrett broke off his angry retort as the women reached their table, his frown turning to a scowl as he stood up and noticed a man, seated alone a couple of tables away, who couldn’t seem to take his eyes off Abbie.

Damn it, the woman drew admiring male looks like a magnet! Any man stupid enough to become involved with her would need a chain attached to her ankle to make sure she didn’t—God, he was doing it again; he had no intention of becoming involved with her, so why should he give a damn about any other idiot who did?

‘Excellent timing,’ Stephen told the two ladies as they all sat down and their first course was served to them.

Jarrett took one look across the table at Abbie, and as quickly looked away again. God, no woman should have a mouth as sensuous as hers! And the peach lipgloss she had applied to those pouting lips only made him want, to kiss her all the more.