Miranda Lee - Second Chance Proposal

Vivienne suppressed a sigh. She didn’t want to think about Daryl any more, or the new life he’d made for himself with Courtney Ellison. She’d moved on and, although his actions had hurt her badly, she was feeling better now. Much, much better.

By the time the waiter poured the wine, took their dinner orders and departed, Vivienne knew what she had to do.

First she lifted her glass of chilled Chardonnay to her lips and took a deep swallow. Then she locked eyes with Jack over the rim and said in steely tones, ‘I presume your invitation says “and partner”?’

Jack had an awful feeling he knew what was coming.

‘Yes,’ he answered warily.

‘In that case, I’d like to come with you.’

He knew it! Jack sighed his frustration. ‘I really don’t think that’s a good idea, Vivienne.’

Her eyes turned mutinous. ‘Why?’ she snapped.

‘Because you don’t know what and who you’re dealing with,’ he shot back just as sharply.

‘Yes I do. I’m dealing with a two-timing bastard who’s been allowed to get away with his disgusting behaviour up till now,’ she said, doing her best to keep her voice low so that the other people in the restaurant didn’t overhear. ‘He lied to me when he broke off our engagement. Claimed he hadn’t been unfaithful, that he was doing the honourable thing by leaving me before sleeping with his new love. And I actually believed him at the time! My God, I can’t believe I was such a gullible little fool where that man was concerned.

‘The moment I saw those photos in the paper, I should have gone after him and told him what I thought of him. I should have made him suffer a little, even if it was only discomfort at the distress he’d caused. This is the perfect opportunity for me to confront him. Look, for all I know, Courtney Ellison might not even know about his engagement to me. Daryl could have lied to her as well. I want to make sure she is well aware of what kind of man she’s planning to marry!’

‘There’s no chance in hell that Courtney doesn’t already know everything about you, Vivienne,’ Jack stated with bald honesty. ‘Trust me when I say that Daryl being engaged to you would have added to his attraction for her. Seduction is her favourite game. She went after me big time when I was building her father’s house and cornered me in one of the home’s ten bedrooms one day, as naked as a jay bird.’

Vivienne’s eyes had gone wide, showing Jack how shocked she was, her reaction to such behaviour underlining to him that she would never do such a thing. This strictly sexual fling she was having with him...it was definitely out of character for her. She was the kind of girl who would usually want marriage and children, not the role of mistress.

‘Heavens!’ she exclaimed, shaking her head. ‘And did you...did you...?’

‘No. I wouldn’t touch Courtney Ellison with a barge pole,’ he ground out.

Was that relief he saw in her eyes? He sure hoped so. Because that would show that she genuinely liked him, the way he liked her.

‘You don’t want to be around people like that if you don’t have to be, Vivienne,’ he went on. ‘They’re bad, greedy, soulless people. You’re way too good for them. Like I said, you’re much better off without someone like Daryl in your life.’

‘I dare say what you’ve just said is all true. But, on a personal level, I need to show Daryl that I’ve survived. That he didn’t destroy me. If I go to their party with you, it will be the perfect revenge.’

All the breath left Jack’s lungs at the word ‘revenge’. God, but that actually hurt. He leant back in his chair and studied her for a few moments. ‘Is that all I am to you, Vivienne?’ he asked quietly. ‘An instrument of revenge?’

‘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.