The Perfect Bride - By Kerry Connor Page 0,14
for a different reason than the one you’re claiming.”
“And what would that be?”
He simply looked at her for a long moment, his eyes peering, unblinking, into hers. “You tell me.”
“I have no idea. You seem to be the one with the active imagination. Maybe you should tell me what you want me to say.”
He continued studying her with that cold, unwavering stare. With some effort, she managed to hold his gaze, refusing to back down or let the slightest weakness show.
His unyielding gaze slowly shifted, stroking over her face. Her skin burned wherever his eyes touched her, as they trailed over her nose, her cheeks, finally reaching her lips. She waited for them to move away. They didn’t, lingering on her mouth, with an intensity of focus that sent a sudden rush of heat flooding through her.
Without warning, he abruptly turned away and stalked across the room.
Straight to the doors to the balcony.
Unease shooting through her, she watched as he grabbed the handles and pushed the doors open. Night wind blasted through the fresh gap between them, blowing through his hair and molding his clothes tightly against the hard lines of his body.
It took only seconds for the cold air to reach her. She barely noticed it, her attention fixed on the balcony. She couldn’t really see it. The light flooding the room somehow didn’t manage to reach far past the doors.
Staring at the endless emptiness beyond the open doors, she shivered, the reaction having nothing to do with the wind.
One thing she knew for sure, there was no way Courtney would have been out on that balcony at night.
Turning back to her, he gestured to the doors as though presenting the opening to her. “All right, Ms. Jones. You wanted to see it. Come take a look.”
She remained where she was. He was right—it was what she’d come here for. But alone with this man, she suddenly didn’t want to be anywhere near that balcony.
She turned her focus to him. He watched her through hooded eyes, the challenge clear in them.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to scare me.”
“I’m only giving you what you said you wanted. Or were you lying about that?”
“You know, for someone who’s supposedly running a business here, you’re not exactly welcoming to paying customers. Aren’t you worried I’ll decide to leave?”
“No,” he said flatly. “Because I don’t think you will. I don’t think there’s anything I can say that could get you to leave.”
“You’re right, of course. If the idea of having my wedding in a place where another bride recently died doesn’t scare me, I’m certainly not going to be scared off by you. But that’s what you want, isn’t it? For me to leave?”
“If you’re lying about why you’re here, then yes.”
“Which you think I am. This is your property. If you want me to leave so badly, why don’t you just kick me out?”
“Meredith wants you here. She believes you.”
“It’s nice to know paranoid fantasies don’t run in the family.”
Jillian wouldn’t have thought it possible, but his expression actually darkened further. “This business means a great deal to my sister. I have no intention of letting her be hurt by someone who’s here under false pretenses and wasting her time.”
“Wouldn’t it hurt her if I left? Another canceled wedding wouldn’t be a good thing, even if the end result is less disturbing.”
“It would be better than having her hurt by you turning out to be something you’re not. So let’s have it, Ms. Jones. Who are you?”
A pang of guilt welled inside her, just for a moment, before she ruthlessly pushed it back down. Because while Meredith Sutton might be hurt, Courtney definitely had been, and she’d lost a great deal more than a business.
“Just a woman who wants to get married in a beautiful castle,” she said simply, without blinking. “Isn’t that every little girl’s dream?”
A faint smile played across his lips. “So they say.”
Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to get away. From this room, with its connection to Courtney’s death. From that balcony, which seemed infinitely dangerous.
From this man, with his cool stare that left her feeling anything but cold.
She’d had enough of this game, and wasn’t really up for fending off any more accusations—or dealing with the strange way he had of throwing her off-balance, in more ways than one.
Refusing to let him see her nerves, she squared her shoulders and held his gaze steadily. “I think I should be getting back to