The Earl's Outrageous Lover Page 0,66
extended his hand towards her, she wanted to shake her head and tell him ‘no’, that he couldn’t touch her and he should stay away from her. Those eyes, she thought with trepidation, were telling her right back that he wasn’t going to do anything of the sort. His wide mouth smiled slightly, as if he understood what she was feeling. And was equally determined that he wasn’t going to stay away.
“Can you stay for dinner?” Jessica asked, her chocolate eyes looking up at the man with pleading, but when he looked back down in her direction, Julianna realized that the two of them were just friends. She was actually shocked that Jessica didn’t feel the same sort of trepidation when James stepped back and put his arm around her waist.
Julianna tensed with the dinner offer, praying silently that he would turn down Jessica’s invitation, say anything and make up an excuse that he had to be somewhere else. When his blue eyes flickered her way, she quickly looked down at her glass of wine. Manners would dictate that he decline the invitation after seeing that the dinner party was already in progress. But she knew that he wouldn’t, being the crass, obnoxious man that she already sensed he was after only the ten seconds she’d been in his company.
“I thought you’d never asked,” she heard the big, blond man reply and every sense in her system came on fire. She took a sip of her cold wine, wishing it would pass along some of that refreshing coolness to her overheated skin. But nothing seemed to penetrate the heat. She even glanced at the fireplace, wondering if it were one of those automatic, gas fireplaces that could be turned off with a flick of a switch. Even the heat was conspiring against her and she felt like her cheeks were on fire as she looked up at the man who was now staring down at her as Jessica finished the introductions.
“James, this is Lady Julianna Holbrook. Be good,” she warned with a stern glance up at the man’s smiling blue eyes.
There was nothing she could do. As Jessica introduced the man, Julianna had to offer her hand although she wanted nothing to do with the man and his arrogance.
When his hand took hers, she inhaled sharply, her eyes glancing down at their hands clasped together and she tried to quickly pull her hand away. He held on though, not letting her disconnect from him so easily. As she looked back up into those crystal blue eyes, all her suspicions were confirmed. This man was dangerous. And all that danger was directed towards her and she didn’t like it. Not one little bit.
James laughed softly as he took Julianna’s cold hand in his large one. “Ah darlin’. I’m always good,” he said and caused Julianna’s cheeks to turn an even darker shade of pink at his innuendo.
“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Cavanaugh,” she lied, wishing him to purgatory for his boldness.
“The pleasure is all mine,” he replied.
Jessica poured him a bourbon over ice and they all sat back down. Unfortunately, the man took the seat next to Julianna despite there being ample room in other places around the coffee table. He even sat too close, forcing her to shift her position closer to the arm of the sofa just so their legs weren’t touching. And why in the world did he have to put his arm along the back of the sofa like that? She could actually feel his body heat along her back where that arm was resting as well as all along the side of her where his massive body was too close to hers on the cushion.
Jessica sat back down in her chair and smiled admiringly at James. “James does some weird things with real estate. Aren’t you looking at some new property in London now? I thought I remember you mentioning that while we were in Switzerland recently.”
Edward almost rolled his eyes. “James is one of the preeminent real estate developers in the world, tackling projects that others think are too risky or even impossible. I wouldn’t describe what he does as ‘weird’, Jessica.”
Julianna grasped onto that news as a way to put the man in his place. “I guess that makes your fortunes rise and fall precipitously,” Julianna stated, hoping that it was true.
Jessica laughed, her curls dancing once again right along with those gold earrings that made her eyes sparkle even more brightly. “James is