Irresistible Desire

We'll marry in a week

It took her a few minutes to pull
herself together enough to start
preparing something that tasted
edible.
As soon as Jacob arrived downstairs,
there were two bowls of oatmeal
waiting for him. The aroma of the
warm mixture filled the kitchen. It
seemed so intimate, almost too
intimate for someone who was
merely eating.
That looks delicious."
She looked up at him in surprise.
"You like oatmeal?
"Very much." His dark eyes twinkled
with amusement.

She watched Jacob pick up a spoon.
She watched his lips as he spooned in
the meal, and somewhere along the
way her desire to know if he enjoyed
her cooking was Overcome by the
urge to taste his lips. To try and see if
she could come out of sexual deep
freeze.

"Good."

"We'll marry within the week, Jacob
said after she'd taken a few bites, his
tone matter-of-fact.
Her mouth felt fuzzy with nervous
tension, but she managed to ask,
"Won't a sudden marriage look odd?'"
He raised a brow. "We've been
secretly seeing each other for
months, not wishing to be dogged by
paparazzi."

Clever.

He acknowledged the compliment
with a wry smile. "My sister, Vanessa
did something like that when she
decided she was ready for marriage.
That lasted about six months - a
record even in my family."

"How is your sister anyway?"

"I don't know. Haven't seen her for
months."

"Don't you care?" She couldn't hide
her disapproval.

"My family is not close like you and
Simon." His clipped response didn't
encourage further conversation on
that topic. Strung taut as she was,
she didn't have the inclination to
pursue it today. "I believe we can be
married by Tuesday"

Tuesday." She put down her fork.

"Registry?" A twinge of pain arrowed
through her heart. Despite the
nature of their bargain, she didn't
want this marriage to start out so
very practically, devoid of any hint
of hope.

"Only if that is what you wish."

"What do you mean?"

She looked up,
wondering at the change in Jacob's
speech rhythms. As usual, it had
happened without warning. At first,
she'd thought it was caused by strong
emotion, but that couldn't be true,
because he was very calm. Whatever
it was, the more Italian he sounded,
the worse her self-control became.

"There is an isolated farmstead about
an hour out by helicopter. It is often
used as a wedding venue. I've
checked and we can have it for Tuesday if we want."

"But it's Sunday today! We couldn't
organize everything by then... could
we? Hope blossomed.

His beautifully shaped lips gentled
into a smile. "If we could, do you
want the farmhouse?"

"Of course. I'd like to invite some
friends."

In the next few hours,Grace learned
about the power of money and
charisma. Shops opened just for
them, caterers called in relief staff,
florists ordered shipments of flowers
in special air packages and a
couturier flew in from a weekend
retreat to show her his wedding
collection.

"Come in, come in."The little artiste
waved them through to his upstairs
showroom.

Flustered, she looked up at the
darkly beautiful man who was her
companion. "Jacob?"

"Hmm." He bent his head a little,
hand on her lower back. She'd
always guessed that he was a
possessive man and he'd let her see
that side of him today. No one who
met her was in any doubt that she
was now Wolfe's woman.

Grace felt ambivalent about the
claiming. Part of her was delighted.
But, another part of her, the lost,
lonely, abandoned girl, was terrified.
Yes, he was claiming her now but
there was a time limit on their
relationship. If she didn't give him
what he wanted, he'd abandon her,
just like everyone else. The brutal
truth was that this was nothing
more than a business deal.

Faced with the couturier, she was
lost. "What am I supposed to do?"
she asked Jacob, her voice a whisper.
She had never been a rich girl, in
spite of Kenny's wealth. He'd never
treated them to any luxury, and had
begrudged them every penny he did
spare.

Jacob's hand curved over her hip,
blatantly proprietary. "You're a very
valued customer. 'Take only what
appeals." The caress in his voice
touched her deep within, even
though she tried to remain
unmoved. How could she hope to
resist the one man who'd never let
her down?

"But he came all this way for us."

"He knows I'll remember that when
we need a wedding dress for one of
the new movies in the works.
Dont worry, cara, he will get his
payment."

Bolstered by his confidence, she
started to look through the many
beautiful creations brought out for
her inspection.Jacob spent a lot of
time on his mobile phone, checking
on security details for their
wedding.

It was while he was standing by the
window, phone to his ear, that she
found the dress she wanted.

"How very lovely."

She picked up the
smooth satin-silk fabric, which
looked like it had been embedded
with pearls crushed to the
consistency of the finest white sand.

The dress had a cowl neck Which
would drape softly over her breasts,
before the sleek material swept
gracefully down her body. The bias
cut ensured it would hug her curves
and swish gently around her ankles.

"Td like to try this on."

She glanced
over her shoulder to ensure Jacob
wasn't looking her way.

"I don't want
him to see it before the wedding."

The little man was delighted to help
in her conspiracy. "Use the back
fitting room and if you like it, Ill box
it up out of his sight."

It was a perfect fit, as if it had been
made with her in mind. The
couturier gave her a shimmering
gossamer veil to go with the dress,
and even found a pair of shoes.Jacob
simply raised a brow at her
secretiveness but paid for the purchase with a gold card.

"It's costing you a lot," she said, in
the car.

"It's my choice, Grace. It's my
wedding, too."

That didn't make her feel much
better. "I don't understand," she
burst out, raw from the evidence of
his wealth and her lack of it.

"What do you get out of this? There are so many women out there who
wouldn't hesitate to bear you a
child."

Women who weren't flawed,
she thought. Women he wouldn't
have to rid himself of after a year.

"I get you and I get Simon, two
people whose loyalty will be mine
without question. In this business,
loyalty like that is priceless." His
tone was forceful.

"And, I may get to father a baby, who I know will have a good mother there aren't many women whom I'd trust with that responsibility."

Jacob could see that Grace wasn't
convinced, but he knew that she
wouldn't protest. Not when Simon's
future was at stake. He barely
understood his own need, need
which had been hidden for so long
that it was starving for a taste of her.

He just knew that he had a chance to
make Grace his and he was taking it.
She saw herself as without passion,
damaged. He saw in her the promise
of a magnificent woman. He wasn't a
saint and he wanted her. But neither
was he a brutal man who would
force compliance. That didn't mean
he wouldn't try to find the sensual
woman in Grace, the one who made
him feel things he hadn't felt for so long he'd thought them dead.