Lucky Stars (Ghosts and Reincarnation #5)(96)

Olive joined them for dinner and would intervene, often hilariously, when Joy’s chattering started to become frantic. Although Belle never laughed, Rachel and Lila did.

Miles had switched from being wooden to being overtly charming which was, unfortunately for him, just as unconvincing as his apology had been.

Jack noticed all this vaguely. His attention was devoted to alleviating Belle’s obvious discomfort. This he did by holding her hand on the table between courses and engaging her in quiet, private but short conversations.

He also touched her face once, when, even at his request, she didn’t meet his eyes. Gently, he put his fingers to her jaw and turned her to face him as she continued to speak to his shoulder.

When he did this last, Jack caught Miles looking at them. He clearly saw Miles’s irate glare before his brother gained control of his expression.

At any other time, seeing that, Jack would have thrown him out.

With everyone on edge and his mother desperate for a brotherly reunion, Jack did not.

However, he did escort Miles to the door directly after coffee.

“I hardly need to be shown the door as I’ve been using it since I could walk,” Miles informed him as Jack pulled open the door.

Jack, having already lost his patience, ignored his comment and replied, “It’s only fair to warn you, Miles, you aren’t doing very well proving you wish to change.”

At Jack’s words, Miles’s mouth went tight. Without speaking, Miles lifted his chin to Jack and walked out the door.

Jack immediately put his brother out of his mind and went in search of Belle so they could walk the dogs.

Belle’s attitude altered the minute she knew Miles was gone. Their walk was long, and for the most part, comfortably silent. They held hands the entirety of it and Jack found it an immensely pleasant excursion.

Upon their return, however, Joy informed Jack that Yasmin was on the phone saying she urgently needed to speak to him.

Jack left Belle with Joy and spent the next half hour listening to Yasmin who had apparently been informed of the evening’s activities by Rachel, unnecessarily warning him that Miles couldn’t be trusted.

He knew that. He knew his brother was planning something.

And he hated it.

He hated it that their relationship had deteriorated to this point and he hated knowing Miles intended to use Belle to destroy it beyond repair.

He hated that his hands were tied for, with Miles’s current submissive behaviour, Jack had no choice but to let it play out or he ran the risk of upsetting his mother. Thus, considering how Joy was accepting Belle and her family into the fold, this meant that eventually, when Miles made his play, Miles and his mother’s relationship would also be destroyed beyond repair.

Jack was making quick and immensely satisfying progress in winning Belle but he knew he had to take care not to do anything to damage her fragile trust.

Further, she was pregnant with his child but hell bent on helping Myrtle and Lewis all the while coping with significant life changes.

Therefore, with recent events, he hated it that he also had to protect her from his f**king brother.

Jack watched as she stopped beside the bed. He leaned forward and took her hand, gently pulling her into their bed and his arms. He rolled to his back, taking her with him so that her torso was resting mostly on top of his.

When she lifted up on an elbow and looked down at him, his hand came up and he tucked her hair behind her ear.

When he did this, her eyes slid to the pillow beside his head and she asked, “What did Yasmin have to say?”

Jack ignored the direction of her gaze and answered honestly, his words bringing Belle’s eyes quickly back to his and they’d grown wide.

“She told me not to trust Miles.”

“She did?”

“She did,” Jack replied and he saw her head tilt in confused enquiry.

“I thought you were all close,” Belle said.

“We were, once,” Jack answered. “Yasmin’s mother was a good friend of Mum’s. They were here often. When Yasmin’s Mum divorced her Dad, Yasmin was still very young. Her Mum moved them from London down here, a few miles away. We grew up together.”

“What happened to make you not close?” Belle asked.

Jack didn’t want to talk about what happened. Not at that moment. Not when Belle’s clothes were hanging in his wardrobe, her tubes and bottles were in his bathroom and her warm, soft body was in his bed.

Instead, he slid a hand up her spine and into her hair. He cupped the back of her head and put pressure there until her lips where on his. Softly, he touched her mouth with his own then rolled so she was on the bottom and his torso was mostly on hers.

He lifted his head and told her, “It’s a long story, poppet, but it’s not for tonight. I’ll tell you some other time.”

“Why don’t you tell me now?” she queried and he smiled before he dipped his face closer to hers.

“Because, now, I’d rather welcome you to your new room.” He gave her another brief kiss before continuing, “We started the day well and it went to hell. I intend to salvage the night.”

He watched her eyes grow warm and felt her hands glide along his skin as she wrapped her arms around him.

Then she whispered shyly and very sweetly, “Okay.”

Jack smiled again before he kissed her, not briefly this time and, after that, together, delightfully, they salvaged the night.