Suddenly You(84)

“Are you saying that you don’t want to do it?”

“Of course I want to do it! But what about my condition? I’ll be in confinement soon, and then I’ll have a newborn baby to care for.”

“That could be managed. Hire as many people as you like to help. There is no reason you couldn’t do most of the work at home.”

Amanda devoted herself to finishing her tea. “I would be in complete charge of the journal?” she asked. “Commissioning all articles…hiring a new staff…selecting the books for review? Answerable to no one?”

“Not even to me,” he said flatly.

“And when it is eventually discovered that a woman has been the active editor rather than Mr. Fretwell, and I become a notorious figure and all the critics have their say…you will stand by me?”

Jack’s smile faded slightly, and he came to stand over her, bracing his hands on the arms of her chair. “Of course I’ll stand by you,” he said. “Dammit, woman, that you should even ask such a thing—”

“I will make the Review shockingly liberal,” she warned, tilting her head back to look at him. Her hands touched the backs of his, fingertips venturing beneath the edge of his sleeves, brushing the coarse hair of his arms. Her brilliant smile coaxed forth an answering grin from him.

“Good,” he said softly. “Set the world afire. Just let me hand you the matches.”

Filled with a mixture of excitement and wonder, Amanda lifted her mouth to receive his kiss.

Chapter 15

As Amanda laid out her plans for the Coventry Quarterly Review, she made an ironic and surprising discovery—her marriage to Jack had given her far more freedom than she had enjoyed as a single woman. Because of him, she now had the money and influence to do as she wished…and most important, she had a husband who encouraged her to do exactly as she pleased.

He was not cowed by her intelligence. He took pride in her accomplishments and showed no hesitation in praising her to others. He prompted her to be bold, to speak her mind, to behave in ways that “proper” wives would never dare. In their private hours, Jack seduced and teased and tormented her nightly, and Amanda loved every moment of it. She had never dreamed that a man would feel this way about her, that a husband could regard her as a temptress, that he would take such pleasure in her less-than-perfect body.

A greater surprise still was Jack’s apparent enjoyment of their home life. For a man who had led an existence of relentless socializing, he seemed content to slow the busy, almost frantic pace of his days. He was reluctant to accept more than a handful of the slew of invitations that arrived each week, preferring to spend his evenings in privacy with her.

“We could go out a bit more often if you like,” Amanda had suggested to him one night as they prepared to have supper by themselves. “We’ve been asked to at least three parties this week, not to mention a soiree on Saturday and a yachting party on Sunday. I do not want you to forgo the pleasure of other people’s company out of some mistaken notion that I wish to keep you all to myself—”

“Amanda,” he had interrupted, taking her into his arms, “I’ve spent the past few years going out nearly every evening and feeling alone in the midst of a crowd. Now I finally have a home and a wife and I want to enjoy them. If you wish to go out, I’ll escort you anywhere you want. But I would rather stay here.”

She reached up to stroke his cheek. “You’re not bored, then?”

“No,” he replied, suddenly introspective. His brows quirked as he looked at her. “I’m changing,” he said gravely. “You’re turning me into a tame husband.”

Amanda rolled her eyes at his teasing. “‘Tame’ is the last word I would use to describe you,” she said. “You are the most unconventional husband I could imagine. One wonders what kind of father you will make.”

“Oh, I’ll give our son the best of everything. I’m going to spoil the hell out of him, and send him to the best schools, and when he comes back from his grand tour, he’s going to run Devlin’s for me.”

“What if we have a girl?”

“Then she’ll run it for me,” came his prompt reply.

“Silly man…a woman could never do such a thing.”

“My daughter could,” he informed her.

Rather than argue, Amanda smiled at him. “And then what will you do while your son or daughter is in charge of your store and your companies?”

“I’ll spend my days and nights pleasing you,” he said. “It’s a challenging occupation, after all.” He laughed and dodged as she went to swat his attractive backside.

The worst day of Jack’s life began innocuously, with all the pleasant rituals of breakfast and good-bye kisses, and a promise to return home for lunch after the morning’s work at his offices. A light but saturating rain fell outside, the gray sky burgeoning with clouds that promised worse storms to come. As Jack stepped into the warm and inviting atmosphere of his store, where customers were already crowding to seek refuge from the rain, a tingle of enjoyment ran down his spine.

His business was flourishing, a loving wife awaited him at home, and the future looked infinitely promising. It seemed too good to be true, that his life should have started out so badly and have come to this turn. Somehow he had ended up with more than he deserved, Jack thought, and grinned as he bounded up the flights of stairs to his private office.