In the Arms of a Stranger (11 page)

She heaved a sigh of relief.
  Everything was going to work out.  “So what do we do now?”

“We go to bed and get a good night’s sleep.
  Then somehow we’ll muddle through the rest of the weekend.  The minute he’s out of here we’ll put our heads together and come up with a plan.  Surely two brilliant strategists such as ourselves can maneuver out of this mess unscathed.”

Bri tilted her head back.
  “Such arrogance,” she teased.

“Not arrogance,” he reminded her as he unlocked the door and ushered her into the bedroom, “it’s confidence, sweetheart, confidence.”

                                                                 ***

Brianne was only half asleep when she heard the soft rustling behind her and then the slight dip of the mattress as a warm male body climbed into bed with her.
 
Jake
.  She remained perfectly still, her whole body tingling with anticipation while she waited for him to touch her.  His hand moved up over her hip, resting there for a few minutes before slowly gliding down her thigh to find bare skin and traveling back up again. 

Bri’s eyes snapped open, a cold fear winding its way from her heart to her throat
, and for a moment she couldn’t breathe.  His touch suddenly grew bolder, spurring her into action.  In one fluid motion, she rolled away from him and off the bed then snapped on the light.

Her eyes blazed with fury.
  “How did you get in here?”

Chad propped himself up on one elbow.
  “Through the connecting door, of course.”

“You couldn’t have
.  I always keep that door locked and I locked my bedroom door too.”

“I unlocked it when you were in the bathroom throwing up that swill you ate for dinner.”

In no mood to have him manhandle her or chase her around the room, Bri pointed towards the door.  “Well, you can just haul your ass back to your own bedroom so I can lock it again.”

“This is ridiculous,” he snapped.
  “I’m your fiancé.  There’s no reason I shouldn’t sleep in here with you tonight.”

Her eyes took in his bare chest and was fairly certain he was stark naked beneath the covers.
  “I’m really not up to this tonight.  I was sick earlier, remember?  And besides, we both agreed on the original plan to wait until after we were married.”

His brows drew together in a dark scowl.
  “That was before Malone started sniffing around you.  If he knows we’re sleeping together, he’ll back off and I won’t have to worry about leaving here while you two are still living together.”

Bri roped in her anger.
  It wouldn’t do any good to antagonize him or hand him an excuse to release those photos before she and Jake figured out what to do. 

“First of all, Jake is
not
sniffing around me, as you so crudely put it.  Second of all, I’m not having sex with you just to satisfy your male ego or so that you can stake your claim like I’m a piece of property you need to leave your stamp on.”  She forced herself to slow down and soften her voice, and even managed a thin smile.  “Look Chad, I don’t want my first time with you to be filled with tension and fear.  I promise I’ll give myself to you wholeheartedly once I’m your wife, but not before then.”

Chad eyed her speculatively for a minute then laid back down.
  “I’m sleeping here tonight,” he said firmly.

“What’s happened to you, Chad?
  You don’t love me and you must know by now that I don’t love you.  Why are you so insistent that we go through with this marriage?”  The indifferent gaze he turned on Bri chilled her to the bone.

“Love is overrated
,” he shrugged.  “It makes you do stupid things and give up dreams you’ve nurtured for years.  You’re a beautiful woman, Bri, and though it’s true I’m not in love with you, I
am
sexually attracted to you.  Contrary to what I’ve told you, I like it when I walk into a room with you on my arm and instantly become the envy of every man there.”

“That’s all I am to you,
a trophy you can parade in front of your friends and colleagues?”

“A trophy that needs a bit of polishing, but yes, that’s all you are.”

“Then why can’t you just find some other woman to marry, someone who suits you better and doesn’t need to be molded into your idea of a model wife?”

“Because I
have invested a lot of time in you, and I’m not about to humiliate myself by having the wedding called off when it’s only six weeks away.  Now be a good girl and come to bed.”

Bri’s anger returned with a vengeance.
  “I am
not
having sex with, Chad.  You may have me over a barrel as far as getting married but I won’t be bullied into sleeping with you before then.”

“I’m not leaving.”
  He closed his eyes as if the discussion was over.

Bri glared at him.
  He was damn lucky there weren’t any blunt objects close at hand because he was dangerously close to being bludgeoned to death. 

“Fine, stay here if you want.”
  With a determined lift of her chin, she grabbed her robe and walked around the end of the bed.  “I’ll be sleeping in your room tonight,” she told him, taking a great deal of satisfaction from the shocked look on his face.  She paused by the door that connected their rooms.  “And just so there is no question in your mind, the door
will
be locked.”

 
                                                              ***

Jake woke up early the next morning but couldn’t quite make himself get out of bed.
  He lay with hands behind his head, staring up at the ceiling with a broad smile pasted to his face.  Brianne was in love with him.  He didn’t care what obstacles Donahue threw down in front of them, they would get through it.  He didn’t want to speculate what the man had come up with that was so damning it would make Bri go through with a loveless marriage, but Jake imagined it was directly related to him. 

If he had to guess, he’d say those photos of him and Bri at the hotel had surfaced and
ended up in Chad’s hands somehow.  They certainly couldn’t have popped up in any tabloids because Donahue would have come storming into the house waving them at Bri and condemning her for such immoral behavior.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting its way up from the kitchen encouraged him to give up his lethargy
; that and the knowledge Bri would be down there starting breakfast.  Dressing quickly, Jake caught himself humming an upbeat tune and had to admit he’d never been so happy in his life.  He would have to be careful not to be too cheerful around Donahue or the man would surely suspect something was up.  Better to continue to brood and act as if Bri’s marriage was inevitable. 

Wiping the smile from his face, Jake stepped out into the hall just as Brianne’s bedroom door creaked open.
  Chad emerged wearing nothing but a towel.  With a cocky grin, he closed Brianne’s door. 

“Bri got up early to make breakfast
.  I guess she thought it would be nice to let me sleep in since I didn’t get much of it last night.”  He shook his head with a little laugh.  “Where she gets her energy I’ll never know.  I hope we didn’t make too much noise, but with a woman like that it’s almost impossible…”  He stopped talking, peering at Jake with what looked like genuine concern.  “Are you feeling okay, Malone, you look like you’re going to be ill.”

Jake
did
feel sick.  The bottom had dropped out of his stomach as soon as he saw Chad coming of Bri’s bedroom and realized they had spent the night together.  He felt hurt and betrayed, his numbed mind unable to make any sense of it.  How could she do this after telling him she loved him and after what had happened in the bathroom?  It sickened him to think Bri had made love to him just hours before allowing Chad into her bed to…no, he wouldn’t let himself picture the two of them together. 

Without a word, he turned and stomped down the stairs, determined to have it out with Bri.
  If Chad overheard them, that was just too bad.  Maybe the wedding would be called off anyway once Donahue learned just what kind of woman he was marrying.

The smile on Bri’s face died when she saw the thunderous look on Jake’s face.
  “Jake, what’s wrong?”

“You look tired, didn’t you sleep well?”

The harshness of his tone made her flinch.  Had she done something to make him angry?  “No, I didn’t…I had a little case of insomnia.”

“I’ll just bet you did,” he sneered.
 

Jake grabbed a cup from the shelf and shoved Bri’s hand away when she reached for the coffee pot.
  Pain shot through her, twisting in her gut like a knife.  “Jake, I don’t understand…why are you acting as if you despise me?”

His eyes were cold as ice when he turned around.
  He could barely stand to look at her without thinking of Chad having his hands all over her body and wondering if she’d told him she loved him too.  He’d trusted Bri and she had betrayed him; that was something he could never forgive.  He believed that she wanted out of her engagement to Chad, and now he understood that she had only been using him as a means to accomplish that. 

What a chump he’d been.
  She’d known exactly what she was doing when she kept him at arm’s length these past two weeks, allowing him to kiss her now and then, building up the sexual tension until he was ready to snap.  Had she made those soft little mewling sounds when she was in bed with Chad?  Had she wrapped those silky thighs around him and told him how much she wanted him? 

Anger and jealousy settled in the fragments of his heart, obscuring the love he’d felt for Bri only a short time ago as he lay in bed planning out a life with her.
  He’d intended to come down here and demand to know why she’d done it, why she had made love to him and then turned around and slept with Chad.  But it didn’t seem to matter anymore.  Obviously, Jake was nothing more to her than an escape route from a marriage she no longer wanted, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow himself to be a part of this scheme for even one more minute. 

He took a sip of his coffee, forcing his hand to remain steady when he set it back down on the counter.
  Then steeling his heart against the anguished look in her eyes, he calmly spelled out the consequences of her actions.

“I
changed my mind.”

Air hissed from her lungs.
  “Wh-what about?”

“About everything; helping you get out of your engagement with Chad, dealing with whatever he’s blackmailing you with.”
  He leveled his gaze on her, careful to keep his voice low and devoid of emotion.  “Me and you.”

She shook her head in denial and took a few steps towards Jake but her legs suddenly seemed incapable of holding her up.
  Blinded by tears, she reached for the counter and braced herself, but the entire world was tilting on its axis and she felt dizzy and sick to her stomach. 

“I don’t understand,” Bri choked out, “last night you said…”

“Last night I wasn’t thinking straight.  Hell,” he laughed bitterly, “I’d just had the best sex of my life, what did you expect?  Last night, I thought you were worth fighting for.”

Bri clutched at her chest.
  “And now you don’t?”

His eyes filled with disgust.
  She was playing her role so well Jake could almost believe he was breaking her heart.  “Let’s just say I got slapped with reality this morning.” 

He closed the distance between them, ignoring the violent trembling of her body and the look of utter hopelessness in those beautiful blue eyes of hers.
 

 
“You made your bed,” he said coldly, “now you can lay in it.  It just won’t be with me.”

She couldn’t breathe. 

It just won’t be with me
,
it just won’t be with me, it just won’t…
  Oh, God, Jake didn’t want her!  No, it was worse than that, much worse.  He’d been so venomous, so hateful, and the way he’d looked at her as if she was some sort of disease he needed to rid himself of…it made her blood run cold.

She couldn’t really blame him for not wanting to stick around, especially once he’d considered that his own reputation was on the line, but did he have to cut her off so completely, as if she’d meant nothing
at all to him?  Or maybe she really
hadn’t
meant anything to him.  Maybe he only made those promises last night because his mind was still foggy after having great sex just as he’d told her.

Bri squeezed her eyes shut, a genuine physical pain mercilessly stabbing at her.
  She tried to draw in air and ward off the panic attack that was slowly suffocating her but it was too much.  She opened her eyes, looking wildly around her, the wheezing in her lungs alarming her even more.  She heard Chad call out her name but it seemed to be coming from far away.  And then he was there, lifting her in his arms and hollering for Jake. 

Tears streamed down the sides of her cheeks as Chad’s face faded in and out of focus.
  Bri grabbed at her throat which had constricted so that not even the minutest amount of air could be drawn in, her mouth opening and closing in a silent cry for help.  She could feel her body start to convulse, and for those few brief moments before darkness consumed her, Bri prayed that she was dying.

It was the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor that registered first in her mind when she regained consciousness.
  Gradually, she became aware of other things going on in the room; the hushed whispers of Chad and another man whose voice she didn’t recognize, the soft rustling of curtains being opened, the warmth of the sunlight as it fell across her face.  Her eyelids felt as if they were made of lead and her throat was on fire, but that wasn’t what made her groan in pain as the grogginess started to lift.  It was the image of Jake’s hardened expression when he told her he’d changed his mind and the memory of him leaving her standing there all alone while her world collapsed around her.

“Bri?
  It’s Chad, can you hear me?”  Slowly, her eyelids opened.  “That’s it, honey, wake up for me.”

“Water,” she croaked.
  A nurse was instantly by her side, lifting her head just enough so she could sip the water through a straw. 

“You scared me to death,” Chad said after the nurse had gone.
  He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead.  “The Doctor is going to check you over, but I’ll be right here.”

He stepped away from the bed and Bri found herself looking up into the face of a portly gentleman whose kind smile instantly warmed her to him.
 

“I’m Dr. Bloomberg.
  Your fiancé is right; you gave us all quite a scare.  And since all the tests we’ve run so far haven’t been able to give us any indication as to why you’ve been playing Sleeping Beauty for three days, maybe you can tell me what symptoms you were having before Mr. Donahue found you.”

Bri’s eyes widened.
  “I’ve been here for three days?”

Dr. Bloomberg smiled reassuringly.
  “Don’t worry.  Other than sleeping like a baby, you haven’t displayed any other medical complications.  Do you remember what happened?”

“I…I’ve been under a lot of stress lately.
  I started feeling short of breath and…panicky.”

“Her face was blue when I found her,” Chad said shakily.
  “As long as I live I’ll never forget how you looked, Bri.  I thought…” he shook his head remorsefully. “It’s my fault it happened.  I shouldn’t have put so much pressure on you.”

Bri couldn’t help but feel sorry for him
even though she knew how ludicrous it was, especially after the stunt he’d pulled the night before.  Yes, his guilt was justified because he certainly contributed to her stress level, but it was Jake’s announcement that he no longer wanted her that had been the final straw.  Dr. Bloomberg asked her a few more questions but seemed satisfied that the mystery of her brief coma had been cleared up.  He checked her vital signs and assured her she could go home that evening if she felt up to it, then he left her alone with Chad.

“I’m so sorry,” Chad apologized when he returned to her bedside.

His faced was lined with concern, and Bri noticed for the first time just how tired and drawn he looked.  She’d never seen him like this before, and despite the horrible way he’d treated her lately, she found it difficult to completely harden her heart against him.  Maybe it
was
stress that caused her to collapse but in her heart she knew the reason she didn’t come out of it right away was because she hadn't wanted to wake up.  Waking up meant facing the fact that she'd lost Jake forever and she just hadn't been ready to deal with it.  She still wasn't ready, Bri thought dismally, as Chad continued to tell her how sorry he was.

“Honey, I swear I had no idea how upset you were or that it would affect you this way.
  You’ve always been so strong, so self-reliant, it just never occurred to me…”  Chad’s voice trailed off for a moment.  He took her hand and held it gently in his own.  “There’s no excuse for what I did.  Can you ever forgive me?”

“Of course
, I forgive you,” Bri said, and meant it. 

The tension
began to ebb from his face.  “I said some awful things to you, and I’ve treated you so poorly these past few months.  I’m sorry for that too.  Watching over you the last three days, knowing I was the cause…it made me take a long, hard look at myself.”  He started talking faster, as if he was afraid she would interrupt him.  “I’ve changed, Bri, I swear I have.  No more talking down to you or trying to change everything about you, and I promise not to pressure you into sleeping with me until after we’re married.”

“Chad…”

“Please, honey, give me another chance.  Let me prove that I’m sincere and can be the kind of husband you deserve.”

She looked away from him, painfully aware
 that it was Chad who had remained by her side while she was here, not Jake.  Had Jake come to see her or even called to inquire if she was okay?  Maybe she didn’t love Chad, but at least he had been here for her and obviously realized how deplorable he’d behaved. 

And it wasn’t as if Jake was waiting in the wings to offer her marriage.
  Judging by the way he’d spoken to her, he probably couldn’t wait for the project to be finished so he could wash his hands of her permanently.  He’d made it perfectly clear he didn’t love her and that whatever they’d begun was over and done with.  There was nothing left for her to do but let him go.  With a heavy heart, Bri turned her eyes back to Chad’s anxious gaze.

“All right,” she said dully, “We’ll give it another try.”

He smiled down at her.  “You won’t regret it, honey.”

Bri just nodded.
  She already regretted it, and something deep inside told her she would regret it for the rest of her life.

 
                                                                ***

When t
hey arrived at the mansion late that afternoon, Bri was almost relieved to see Jake’s jeep wasn’t there.  She wasn’t ready to face him yet, although it was inevitable they would have to speak sometime so he could get her up to speed on what was happening with the project. 

Except for a dull headache, she felt fine and was looking forward to jumping back into her work, if for no other reason than to keep her mind off of Jake.
  Not that it would be easy since they would still have to pull together on certain aspects of the project, but they were both adults and professionals at that, so they would find a way to get through the next two weeks.

“I hate to leave you so soon after getting out of the hospital,
” Chad said as they entered the foyer, “but if I stay any longer Phillip might start to wonder if something is wrong.”

He’d told her on the drive home that he hadn’t informed her parents she was in the hospital because he didn’t want to worry them.
  She was fairly certain it had more to do with his own guilty feelings than not wanting to upset her Mom and Dad, but she was glad he hadn’t told them.  He’d explained his extended stay and Bri’s absence from work by saying they needed a few days to firm up some of the wedding plans and her parents had apparently believed him.

After helping Bri to her room and apologizing again that he couldn’t s
tay, she assured him she would be fine.  His concern for her was touching, but she was both physically and mentally drained, and was relieved when he finally headed out for the airport.  His good-bye kiss had been soft and sweet, indicative of those first few months of dating when she’d convinced herself she was in love with him.  Maybe in time she could learn to love Chad for real, or at least grow fond enough of him that they would have a harmonious marriage, if not a loving one.

To pass the time until Jake came home, Bri took a shower
and then settled down at the dining room table to look over any new documents he’d placed there since Sunday.  Their time here was limited as it was and she felt bad that he’d had to carry the load by himself the past two days, even if he was indirectly responsible for her absence. 

She
 felt foolish now for the harsh reaction she’d had to his rejection, especially since it didn’t seem to have bothered him in the least.  She knew this because the nurse had given Bri a sympathetic smile when she told her the only one who had been there was Chad.

It was after seven o’clock when Jake finally strolled in looking dead tired.
  He stopped abruptly when he saw her sitting at the table then continued upstairs without so much as a civil hello.  Bri was thankful he took so long to shower and change because it gave her time to get her emotions under control and calm the queasiness in her stomach.  She heard him rattling around in the kitchen and assumed he was fixing himself something for dinner because it was another half hour before he joined her.

“I wasn’t sure you
would be coming back,” he said evenly.

Bri kept her eyes glued to the contract she’d been
attempting to read.  “I have never walked out on a job before and don’t intend to do so now.  I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help, but I’m sure you understand why I was unable return sooner.”

Jake’s features hardened.
  “And why is that?  Where you and your fiancé having such a cozy little impromptu vacation that you couldn’t be bothered long enough to grace me with a phone call?”

Bri looked up him, shuddering at the icy glare and acidic tone of his voice.
  “Giving you a courtesy call would have been a little difficult considering I was lying in bed unconscious for three days, don’t you think?” 

His jaws flexed
, and for a moment she actually wished she was back at the hospital, still lost in the dark abyss she’d fallen into for those few days.  His hands were balled into fists and she had never seen him look so angry, or so dangerous.  It didn’t occur to her until now that Chad hadn’t told him she was in the hospital because she assumed Jake was still in the house when she had the panic attack.  She distinctly remembered Chad hollering for him but she didn’t actually recall whether Jake responded or not.  Bri started to explain, but he cut her off before she even opened her mouth. 

“You’re really something else, lady” he said derisively.
  “You run out on the job and leave me holding the bag, then just pop back in to inform me you and Donahue spent three days in bed!”

“Jake, please let me…”

His eyes flashed dangerously.  “Don’t you dare try to con me into believing any more of your lies!  You said you wanted to break off your engagement and then turn around and hop in the sack with him.  Did you honestly think that once he’d gotten you into bed it would cure him from wanting to marry you?”

“No,” she squeaked, “you don’t understand, I…”

“You’re right, I don’t understand,” Jake growled.  “I don’t understand how I could have ever thought I was in love with a conniving little bitch like you.  It turns my stomach just to look at you.”

Bri drew in a sharp breath.
  She didn’t deserve this, not any of it.  Hurt and angry, she stood up slowly, advancing on him like a panther going in for the kill.  He didn’t move, didn’t say a word, but the clenched jaws and narrowed eyes made his obvious disgust with her even more evident.  The pain in her heart was almost unbearable but she refused to back down.  Whatever they’d once had together was already lost, but she would be damned if she was going to walk away and let Jake think she’d done something so low just to spite him.  Gathering her courage, she jabbed her finger into his chest.

“You’ve had your say,
Malone, now it’s my turn!  First of all, I didn’t say I spent three days in bed with Chad, I said I was lying
unconscious
in bed for three days.  And in case you didn’t catch the subtle difference, that means I was in the
hospital,
not shacked up in some fancy hotel.”

Jake recoiled as if he’d been slapped.
  “Hospital?  Why? What happened?”  He gripped her arms, his eyes moving over her, searching for signs of an injury.