Bound By Marriage(24)

"I have a feeling you had a lot to do with that, too." Jess had a very good idea of Mrs. Kilpatrick's social reach.

The other woman brushed off the words but a pleased blush lit up her features.

"Let's get you to the hotel. It's eleven now so you'll have plenty of  time to get ready for the opening. Richard did tell you he decided to  push it back to seven?"

"Yes." Jess nodded, though she felt curiously detached from the whole thing.

"What about Gabriel? Is he taking a later flight, or flying himself up?" Mrs.

Kilpatrick unlocked the trunk of her rental car and Jess put in her small case.

"He isn't going to make it." She tried not to betray her disappointment. "He's so busy right now."

"Oh, that's unfortunate but I do know how it gets."

The drive from the airport to the hotel passed by easily enough and Jess  was in her room within the hour. Soon after that came lunch at the  hotel restaurant, where she met Richard for the first time.

He was as charming and as intelligent in person as he'd been over the  phone and on e-mail. She found her trust in his judgment solidifying  into genuine liking.

A feeling that he apparently shared if his farewell comment was anything to go by.

"My dear, sweet Jess, I think we're going to have a long and exciting  relationship." Smiling, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Having a  chance to nurture a talent like yours is what makes me have faith in my  work."

The compliment boosted her professional confidence, but emotionally, she continued to feel off-kilter. Lost. "Thank you."

When he left to finalize things at the gallery, she went back up to her  room and hung out the dress she planned to squeeze into for the opening.  The red dress, rich as wine and dark as blood. It was already almost  too snug with the way her body was changing, so this would be her last  chance to wear it for a while. And wear it she would. Too bad if her  husband couldn't be bothered to show up.                       
       
           



       

After popping out for a quick shopping trip to pick up some things she  couldn't get in Kowhai, she returned to get ready, as Richard wanted her  at the gallery an hour early. The phone came to life a minute into her  preparations, making her heart stutter. Maybe Gabe had changed his mind.

"Hello?"

"Jessie, guess where I am?"

The dawning smile was wiped off her face. "Damon." She sat on the bed. "Aren't you supposed to be in Hawkes Bay?"

"I was but I called home last night and heard you were having a show. I  couldn't miss my Jessie's first show. My mom called someone and they  called Mrs.

Kilpatrick and now I'm on the guest list." He chuckled. "I'm in Hamilton  right now, should make it to Auckland before your party starts."

"What about Kayla and Cecily?"

"They're at home. Kayla didn't want to drive up with the baby."

"Of course she didn't. Cecily's too young for such a long drive."

A pause. "I thought you'd be happy. We haven't had a chance to see each other since the hospital."

"You have a wife and a child, Damon." She wondered if he was hearing  what she was trying to say. "Get back in that car and go home to them or  maybe Kayla will stop waiting for you."

"Like you, Jess?" The volume of his voice dropped. "Have you stopped waiting for me?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I'll always be your friend."

"I sure screwed up when I let you go."

"No, you didn't." He could have never made her happy, something she'd  finally begun to understand. "You married a woman who loves you and you  have a beautiful daughter. Don't throw that away."

Another pause. "I guess I got selfish, wanting to be loved by you, too. But that's gone isn't it?"

"Yes," she said. "It's gone." She wasn't sure it had ever really  existed. And that scared her, because for her to question what had once  been an absolute truth meant that something far more powerful had taken  its place. Something stronger, more enduring and infinitely more real  than the fading illusion of a teenage dream. "You take care of your  family, Damon."

"And you be careful, Jessie. He's not-"

"Shh." She shook her head-some loyalties were set in stone. "Have a safe trip home."

He didn't bring up the subject again. "I hope you become rich and famous."

Hanging up, Jess dove back into her interrupted preparations. If she  didn't think about what had just occurred, about her devastating insight  into the nature of her feelings for Damon, she wouldn't have to  consider the reason behind it … wouldn't have to look into the vibrant  heart of an emotion so raw and potent, it eclipsed everything that had  come before.

Jess walked into the gallery feeling like an imposter. Taking off her  coat to hang on the coatrack, she caught a glimpse of herself in the  mirror hanging near the entrance. The color of the dress went  beautifully with her hair, but it was the way the fabric hugged her body  that was truly extraordinary.

She should have felt sexy and confident, yet she couldn't help but think  that the man she most wanted to see her wasn't going to be here  tonight. She wasn't important enough for him to bother. Pain cut rivers  into a heart she'd tried so desperately to harden.

"Jess!" Richard's face lit up the second he saw her. "You look ravishing." He offered her his arm.

She let him lead her into the gallery space. "Should I have tried for a  more arty look?" All three of his assistants were wearing head-to-toe  black, though Richard himself was dressed in a beautiful dove-gray suit.

"Affectations like those," he whispered under his breath, "will make you  blend in. And you, Jess, are meant to be a star." Releasing her arm, he  settled her unbound hair carefully around her shoulders. "Did I tell  you that it's a by-invitation-only shindig tonight? No starving art  students who're just here to eat."

Her laughter came from the same part of her that couldn't seem to stop believing

in hope. "How much are you asking for my paintings?"

"Lots."

"Will people pay that for an unknown?"

"They'll do as I say." His eyes gleamed. "I'm offering them a chance to  get in at the bottom floor with someone I predict will become huge, and  I've never been wrong."

Jess expected his prediction to buoy her up, but even when the guests  started arriving and more compliments began flowing, she felt strangely  disconnected.                       
       
           



       

Her body might be in Auckland, but her mind was in the Mackenzie  Country. The reason why wasn't something she particularly wanted to  consider.

She'd just managed to extricate herself from a chatty young couple when  Richard slid an arm around her waist. "If you're in the market for a  rich old husband to fund your work, Mr. Matthews thinks you're a walking  work of art."

"Tell Mr. Matthews that this work of art is taken."

Jess froze at the sound of that deep male voice, hardly aware of  Richard's arm slipping away. And then it was being replaced by a harder,  more muscular one.

Everything in her thrilled to life.





Chapter 15





Richard took a step back. "Jess, honey, tell the gorgeous shark by your side that I was joking."

Snapped out of her semi-shocked state, she smiled. "Richard, meet my husband, Gabriel."

Gabe's hand moved on her hip and she bit back a responsive gasp. "Richard."

She stood by while the men shook hands, her heart melting. She forgave  Gabe everything-he'd come to support her despite having had made it  clear that he was far too busy to do so. Surely that could only mean one  thing.

"I see a potential sale over there." Beaming, Richard excused himself.

Jess shifted to face Gabe without breaking his hold. "You came." That  was when she noticed the rigid angle to his jaw, the tension in the body  pressed against hers. Her smile faded.

"What are you doing, Jess?" Something close to disappointment threaded through the anger. "Where is he?"

"Who?" Hope ebbed out of her drop by slow drop.

His expression grew darker. "Kayla is hysterical. She called me begging that I ask you not to take her husband."

She felt her face blanch. "I guess that answers the question of why you  bothered to show up," she whispered, so hurt that she was numb.

"Jess, my dear." Mrs. Kilpatrick's voice was a welcome benediction. "Can  I steal you away from your husband? I want to talk to you about a  possible commission."

"Of course." She grabbed the opportunity to move out of Gabriel's hold.  But no matter the lack of physical contact, she was aware of him on the  most visceral level.