Who Loves Them? (Who--? Series) (9 page)

“Go get a shower and get dressed,” Jacqueline said gently
.  “We’ll have a nice afternoon, just the two of us.”

****

They did have a nice afternoon.  The driver took them to the small town center, where they checked out the little country store.  Jacqueline found a few different types of preserves and a scone mix for her sister, and Christina found a small recipe book with different types of turnover recipes in it.  Turnovers had always been one of her favorite desserts, and although the cook never let her in the kitchen now, when she had a place of her own she could practice cooking.  She’d always wanted to learn. 
Well, that may be one good thing that might come from this disaster of a marriage,
she thought.

Over lunch, a salmon salad for Jacqueline and a grilled Gouda sandwich and side salad for
Christina, they chatted amiably. 
At least something good was coming out of this trip,
Christina thought as she bit into her sandwich.  Jacqueline acted more like one of Christina’s friends than someone her mother’s age.  Of course, she had also lived a completely different life.

“You
’ll just have to know how to manage men,” Jacqueline advised.  “I’m sure you know what I mean.”

“I really don’t,”
Christina admitted.  “I don’t really have any experience with them.”

“Well, you’ve had boyfriends of course, right?”

Christina shook her head.  “My parents were always very insistent that I never date.  Of course, now I know why.  I’ve spent time with a few boys now and then, but nothing serious.”

Jacqueline laughed
.  “And by ‘spent time’ you mean….”

“Just kissing.”

Jacqueline looked shocked.  “You mean, you’ve never slept with anyone?” She lowered her voice so no one else could hear.  “You’re twenty-one and you’ve never had sex?” Jacqueline was truly amazed.

Christina
shook her head, feeling a little embarrassed at admitting it to such a worldly, experienced woman.  She didn’t even know Jacqueline that well, she thought.  She acquiesced anyway.  “No, I’ve never…done that.  I guess it’s just never happened.  I’ve never really gotten that close with someone to feel comfortable enough to sleep with them.  Of course, there have been times when I thought maybe, but….” She thought of the karaoke bar, and wished she had left with Tommy.

“Oh my God
.  No wonder you’re so overwhelmed by Gordon.  He’s a lot for even more savvy women to handle.  Look, don’t let him see how he gets to you.  I know it’s easier said than done, but you have an effect on him too.  I know now you’re too inexperienced to see it, but you’ve caught him off guard, and that is why he’s so snappish.  He’s attracted to you, but he doesn’t want to admit it to himself.  So, when he says anything rude, just let it roll off your back and don’t let him see that he makes you nervous.  He’ll just take advantage of it in the mood he’s in.”

Christina
nodded, her appetite mostly gone now.  “I just don’t know what to say around him.  I don’t think he really wants to know me, and I don’t blame him.  I’ve upset his whole world.  I imagine he’s furious with me.  He’s always so mean.  Though I cannot really blame him, but I’m in the same situation.  I don’t have a choice in the matter either.”

“
It’s not you directly,” Jacqueline corrected.  “He’s furious with your grandfather, and his, for putting him in this position.  He might be taking it out on you, but it’s not you he’s angry with, and he’ll see that when he’s had time to adjust.  It’s not your fault, Chris.  You didn’t sign the contract.  Hell, you weren’t even born when it was written up.  It’s not Gordon’s fault either.  You were both thrown into this, and if you want it to be even remotely manageable, you will have to be pleasant to each other.  You’ve done a good job so far, and I know my nephew is being insufferable, but I do think he will come around in time.  Just give him a chance.  Try not to let it show when his rudeness bothers you, and don’t let him seduce you.  He’ll have you singing to his tune in no time and then you’ll have no ground to stand on.  You have to keep him guessing,”

“But he wants Mindy, not me.”

Jacqueline frowned.  “Mindy Harrelson is a harlot and only wants Gordy for his money.  Besides, I hear she’s dating someone else now, anyway.”

Christina raised her eyebrows in surprise
.  “Does Gordy know?  Because he seems to think they can get back together.”

Jacqueline laughed
.  “Fat chance of that ever happening.” She shook her head.  “He doesn’t know, but maybe you shouldn’t tell him.”

“Why not
?  Surely that will make him stop thinking about her?”

“I don’t know
.  I think you need to just turn his attentions onto you.  Get him interested.  You need to start a conversation.”

“Well, what can we talk about?” Christina asked
.  “I don’t even know what he likes.”

Jacqueline smiled
.  “Oh, what other men like.  Football, beer….although he does like to ski when he can, and he loves to play chess.”

“Chess?”
Somehow, Chris couldn’t ever imagine Gordon liking chess.  It seemed too disciplined for him.

“Gordon will beat you, of course,” Jacqueline added.

Chris frowned.  “What makes you think I can’t play?’

“Oh, it’s not that
.  Gordy is an expert.  He’s beaten everyone he’s ever played against.  He even has some chess trophies from when he was younger.  He doesn’t enter as many competitions as he used to, but he still loves the challenge.  Maybe you could give him a game one time?”

Chris shook her head
.  “I’m really bad.  I’ve never won a game.  My father taught me when I was younger, but I never became so confident with my ability that I would enter any competitions.  I would only make a fool of myself when Gordon would beat me.”

Jacqueline smiled
.  “Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.  It would be a helpful way for you and Gordy to connect.  Maybe he could teach you some skills?”

Chris frowned, thinking of being taught by Gordon
.  She shrugged.  “I don’t know…I don’t want him to think any less of me when he finds out I’m a sore loser.”

Jacqueline laughed
.  “You’ll find that Gordy is the same.  He hates to lose, which is why he rarely does.  There isn’t a chess set here, but I’m sure there’s one back at the house.”

Chris nodded
.  “Maybe I could read up on it.  I guess it would be good to do something with him.”

“It will be a great way to bond.”

Christina nodded, feeling like she might have a little more leverage.  “I’ll try.”

Jacqueline nodded
.  “Sometimes we are forced to do things that we don’t want to do, but in the end, we have to remember it’s in our best interests, and that we can learn to deal with them.  Learning how to play chess would be a great thing to do, Chris.”

Christina
smiled.  “I’m sure it’s not going to be as bad as it seems.  I think I am worrying too much about it.  Plus, I have other worries to deal with.”

“Oh?”

Chris hesitated in telling Jacqueline about Lilly, but she felt like she was isolated here, and Jacqueline was the only person she had who she could call a friend.

“You’
ve probably met Lilly before, Lilly Baltimore.  My father and her father get along quite well.  They are involved in a few business transactions together.  Anyway, Lilly considers herself a bit of a spinster.  She has no plans of getting married at any age, and I think my arranged wedding is getting her nervous.”

Jacqueline nodded
.  “I am pretty sure I met Lilly a few years ago…she must have been sixteen or seventeen, still in school.  She seemed uninterested in any social gathering, even when there were fewer adults and more people her own age.”

Christina
smiled.  “That is my Lilly Pad.  I’m worried about her.  Her parents have frozen her accounts and disinherited her.  I don’t think they will unfreeze them until she gets married.  You see, she’s their only child, and I don’t think they are planning to have any more children, so they’ve set up an arranged marriage, just like my father did.  I just don’t know how to help her.”

“Why doesn’t she just get married?”

Christina shook her head.  “It’s not as simple as that.  You see, Lilly is...”

Jacqueline
’s phone rang, and she answered it quickly, cutting off Christina’s sentence.  After a few moments she signaled for the check and paid, standing up and retrieving her things.  “Come on, Chris.  Let’s go back and see what my crabby nephew is up to.”

****

Gordon had spent most of the morning staring morosely at the pile of papers on the desk, not really noticing what they said.  He kept thinking about Chris the night before, the way her arms had felt under his hands, so slender, so delicate.  How her mouth had felt, yielding under his, opening up so that his tongue could slide inside.  How her hair had tangled around his fingers.  How she had felt pressed against him, her small breasts rubbing against his chest through his t-shirt.

He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated
.  He couldn’t get any work done, and it drove him up the wall.  He couldn’t remember any woman ever affecting him this way.  And out of all the women, why did it have to be her?  He wanted so badly to despise her.  And in a way, everything about her annoyed him.  The way she brushed aside her hair, the way she scratched her nose, the way she sipped her tea.  He wished she were uglier.  Then he could marry her, do his duty to his family, and then divorce or ignore her once she had a son.  He couldn’t do that if she kept making him feel like this, distracting him like this.

It was just lust, he decided
.  It had been a while since he’d had sex, and the odd chemistry between them was just affecting him.  He’d seduce her, the lodge was a romantic enough place, and by the time they went home, he’d be free of her grasp and able to focus on other things while she planned the stupid wedding with her mother.  He would get her out of his system, and then he could ignore her.  He’d show up and say the words and then he’d go about the business of living his life, without worrying about his wife.

Maybe Mindy would even forgive
him and he could charm his way back into her bed.  He tried to picture Mindy, her tanned skin, flat stomach, and acres of lush blonde hair, her perfect breasts, perky and filling out his hands.  She was physically perfect.  He tried to picture her, but he kept seeing Chris, her slender body, the way her wild auburn hair tangled around her face, the way her blue eyes widened when she thought about something intensely, how her pale pink lips had looked last night, just begging him to kiss them.  He’d never liked girls like her, the slim tomboyish types with few curves.  He liked women who were curvy and slender at the same time, which usually meant finding naturally thin women with fake breasts.  He’d never cared.  Fake meant rich, and rich women didn’t care that his family, no matter how illustrious his mother’s side happened to be, was a shambles in the society they were supposed to be a part of, his father a disgrace.  They didn’t care, because he was handsome and charming and attentive in bed.  Mindy hadn’t cared.

Chris
wouldn’t care either
, the little voice inside of his head whispered.  “You don’t know that,” he growled to himself, clenching his fist.  Damn it!  Why couldn’t he get her off his mind?  Mindy was much more attractive, but Chris seemed to pop into his head every few seconds.

“Don’t know what?” Jacqueline asked cheerfully, whisking into the study.

“Damn it, Jacqueline, don’t you know how to knock?”

She shrugged off his anger with aplomb
.  “You couldn’t have been doing anything terribly important.  Chris will be down to meet us in here for drinks in a couple hours, so you should probably think about getting changed soon.  And, you should consider being a little nicer.”

“You should probably watch that,” Gordon sneered
.  “We cannot have her falling all over herself every night like that.”

Jacqueline put her hands on her hips
.  “You listen here, Gordon.  Stop talking about her like that.  It’s not her fault that this happened any more than it is yours.  It’s her grandfather’s yours, and your father’s faults.  She’s not responsible, and she’s stuck just as much as you are.  Do you think she wants to marry some man she doesn’t know and who doesn’t even seem to like her?  She’s not the enemy, Gordon, so stop treating her like she is.”

Gordon grinned
.  “Don’t worry,
Jackie¸
I intend to be
very
nice to Chris from here on out.”

Jacqueline frowned
, not liking the innuendo in his voice.  “Well, see that you do.  I know this isn’t the best situation, but you’ll just have to get through it.”

Gordon frowned
.  “And why should I?  Nobody told me I had to marry that little girl.  She’s so…immature!”

“You don’t even know her, Gordy
.  She’s a lovely girl who is probably feeling scared and alone right now.  You need to comfort her….break the ice a little.  Why don’t you teach her how to play chess?  She said she was keen on learning, so she could get close to you.”