'Tis the Season Read online

Caro was finding it increasingly difficult to deny the memories of Jake that she had managed to keep at bay for at least six months of the last year.

  It hadn’t been so easy to do during the long months of her pregnancy, but since Magdalena’s birth Caro had been kept too busy caring for her baby daughter to allow thoughts of Jake to disrupt her increasingly calm existence.

  Any existence would be calm after living in the maelstrom that was Jake Montgomery’s life and consequently had become Caro’s own for the year she had been his wife.

  She had been physically and emotionally drained when she’d arrived in Majorca, but the much more relaxed lifestyle on the island, and the friendliness of the people, had eventually acted as a balm to those broken emotions.

  A balm that had swiftly disappeared a few minutes ago at the first sound of Jake’s arrogant voice!

  She shot him a narrow-eyed stare before climbing into the front passenger seat of the car. ‘Motherhood isn’t the only reason for the changes in me, Jake.’

  Cold anger blazed in the depths of his green eyes. ‘You—’

  ‘Could we just go, and get this over with?’ Caro interrupted wearily. ‘I’ve been travelling since early this morning, and what I need more than anything is a hot bath and something decent to eat.’ She leant her head back against the seat, her eyes closing.

  Jake continued to look down at her for several long seconds, his jaw clenching as he recalled the way Caro had flinched away from him just now. As if she found his slightest touch distasteful.

  What had he ever done to Caro to make her feel that way…?

  Jake’s inner frustration with the situation filled him with a need to make Caro talk to him and tell him what was wrong.

  But the obvious exhaustion on her face told him that she really was tired, that it hadn’t been at all easy travelling with a six-month-old baby.

  Not that Jake would know anything about that, of course, never having been allowed to travel with his baby daughter!

  Jake slammed Caro’s door, his expression stony as he strode round the car to get in behind the wheel, his movements automatic as he backed the car out of the parking space to drive towards the airport exit.

  They drove in complete silence for several minutes, but it was a silence Caro found oppressive rather than restful.

  ‘Jake—’

  ‘It’s the day before Christmas Eve, Caro, and the traffic on roads is insane. With you and Magdalena in the car, I really would prefer to concentrate on my driving,’ Jake cut in quietly.

  Caro gave a sceptical snort, knowing that Jake was perfectly capable of driving and talking at the same time. That he was more than capable of doing any damn thing he chose. In this case he simply chose not to.

  Her own tension from the situation was increasing by the second, and a single glance at Jake’s rigidly set face was enough to intensify that fluttering of unease in her chest. That Jake was coldly furious under his façade of icy calm she had no doubts. That the fury was directed towards her was also in no doubt.

  Because of Magdalena.

  Because Caro hadn’t chosen to tell Jake she was pregnant, let alone that he had a six-month-old daughter!

  No matter what Jake might be thinking to the contrary, that hadn’t been an easy decision to make. But, remembering her own incredibly difficult relationship with her father, she’d thought she was doing the right thing…

  ‘She’s beautiful.’

  Caro turned sharply to look at Jake, her expression becoming pained as she saw the hunger in his gaze as he shot a glance at Magdalena’s reflection in his mirror before returning his attention back to the busy road.

  Caro looked at her daughter. Magdalena was fast asleep now, her lashes long and dark against her rosily chubby cheeks, her red-gold hair in wispy curls about her face. ‘Yes, she is,’ Caro acknowledged huskily, and she turned back to look sightlessly out of the front window, her hands clenched so tightly her nails were digging into her palms.

  ‘Why Majorca, Caro?’ Jake suddenly asked as his hands tightly gripped the steering wheel.

  His emotions were in turmoil, Jake acknowledged wryly. And not just because he had met his daughter for the very first time…

  Being with Caro again, recognising the bloom mother hood had given to her beauty, being able to smell the perfume she always wore—which Jake knew he would associate with Caro until the day he died—was churning up his memories as much as he was sure his own presence was churning up Caro’s…if for a completely different reason.

  And not good memories, either, going by her recent reaction to him!

  ‘Why not Majorca?’ Caro countered guardedly.

  Jake sighed heavily. ‘Did you go there because you knew it was the very last place I would think of looking for you?’

  Caro shot him a surprised look. ‘It never even occurred to me that you would want to look for me.’

  His mouth compressed. ‘Don’t be so naïve, Caro. Once I had calmed down enough to be able to think straight, of course I looked for you.’

  Her frown was pained. ‘I can’t imagine why…’

  ‘Can’t you?’ Jake grated.

  Caro’s face was very pale. ‘Gavin knew where I could be reached—’

  ‘And no amount of cajoling, persuasion or even threats of outright violence would make him tell me where that was,’ Jake revealed, his expression tight as he recalled his brother-in-law’s refusal to even discuss Caro, let alone tell Jake where she was.

  Even the threat of being sacked hadn’t shifted Gavin’s loyalty to Caro—probably because Gavin, although in a world of his own most of the time, was well aware of his own value in the world of computer software! Whatever the reason, nothing Jake had done or said had managed to shake the younger man’s resolve not to reveal his sister’s whereabouts.

  Jake could still remember the knife-thrust of Gavin’s last comment on the subject. ‘If Caro had wanted you to find her, then she would have made sure you could do so by now.’ The truth of that statement had been undisputable. And painfully final…

  ‘I’m sure that Gavin would have forwarded any correspondence to me, if you had asked him to.’

  ‘I didn’t want to write you a letter, Caro!’ Jake exclaimed.

  ‘I was referring to the divorce papers.’

  ‘There isn’t going to be any divorce,’ he said definitely. ‘Not a year ago, and certainly not now.’ He gave a pointed look in the mirror at Magdalena.

  Caro had been afraid this was going to be Jake’s reaction to knowing he had a daughter. Afraid and not a little apprehensive. She knew Jake well enough to know that once he was set on a course of action nothing deterred him from achieving his goal.

  In the same way Jake had decided two years ago—once he’d realised that Caro simply wasn’t the type of woman to have affairs—that she would have to marry him instead…

  The only problem with that, of course, had been that once Jake had physically tired of her she had still been his wife!

  And after growing up experiencing her father’s numerous affairs, not the type of wife to meekly sit back and tolerate Jake behaving in the same way…

  She drew in a determined breath. ‘Jake, I have no intention— This isn’t the way into central London!’ Caro said, as she realised Jake was driving in the opposite direction from the one she wanted to go.

  He gave a terse inclination of his head. ‘That’s because we aren’t going into the City.’

  Caro felt a shiver go down her spine. ‘Then where are we going?’

  Jake shrugged. ‘I own a house in the country.’

  She blinked. ‘You do?’ When Caro had married Jake she had simply moved into his penthouse apartment in Mayfair with him. Much as Caro would have preferred it, there had never been any suggestion of them moving out of London. ‘Why?’

  Jake raised dark brows. ‘Are you asking as my wife, or just out of idle curiosity?’ he taunted.

  ‘Neither!’ Caro snapped. ‘I…’ She moistened dry lips. />
  ‘I’m just surprised that you’ve moved out of London, that’s all.’

  ‘I said I have a house in the country, Caro, not that I actually live there,’ Jake answered coolly.

  ‘Oh.’ She gave a knowing nod. ‘Then the house is just a business investment?’

  ‘Something like that,’ he said.

  Caro eyed him warily. ‘And that’s where we’re going?’

  He raised a dark eyebrow. ‘Do you have a problem with that?’

  Now that her initial shock had worn off, Caro had a problem being there with Jake at all!

  Much as she wished it wasn’t so, Caro was totally aware of her husband as he sat beside her, wearing a casual black cashmere sweater with faded jeans. So much so that she could almost feel the lean sensuality of his hands and fingers on the steering wheel. Was totally attuned to the width of his shoulders. His muscled chest. His taut stomach. His powerful thighs and legs.

  Caro was aware of all of those things from the top of her head to the tips of her toes!

  It had been this way from the beginning, of course. Caro had been completely bowled off her feet the moment she was introduced to Jake, when she’d accompanied Gavin to a summer party at Montgomery Software.

  At the time the attraction had appeared to be mutual.

  No, it had been mutual! Whatever had followed, Caro had absolutely no doubts that Jake had initially wanted her physically. Enough to marry her, at least…

  She gave a weary sigh. ‘I can’t see that the two of us talking now is going to resolve anything, Jake. It never did in the past.’

  His jaw tightened, a nerve pulsing in his cheek. ‘You must realise the situation has now changed, Caro.’

  She closed her eyes briefly. ‘Because of Magdalena?’ She was going to kill her little brother when she finally managed to drag him away from his computer. Hang, draw and quarter him! ‘Of course because of Magdalena!’ Jake rasped his impatience. ‘You’ve obviously done a fantastic job with her so far—’

  ‘How kind!’

  Jake eyes glittered warningly as he heard the heavy sarcasm in her tone. ‘Where do you live in Majorca? How do you work to support yourself when you have a young baby to care for?’

  Her cheeks were flushed. ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business, do you?’

  ‘I’m making it my business!’

  She shrugged slender shoulders. ‘I had some money of my own saved when we separated a year ago—’

  ‘When you walked out on me, you mean,’ Jake corrected her harshly.

  Caro stared at him for several long seconds. ‘Whatever,’ she finally dismissed. ‘There was enough money to enable me to buy a small finca in a village on the west coast of the island. It’s nothing grand, but it’s perfectly adequate for the two of us.’

  Jake didn’t want just ‘adequate’ for his wife and daughter! ‘That doesn’t answer my question as to how you have continued to support yourself and Magdalena.’

  Caro’s eyes flashed. ‘How do you imagine I support myself, Jake? By taking a paying lover every night?’

  Jake’s mouth went completely dry at the thought of her taking even one lover, let alone a different one every night. Caro was his. She had always been his. Would always be his!

  To his surprise—and pleasure—Jake had been Caro’s first lover. He had every intention of being her last one, too…

  ‘I was a journalist when we met, Jake, and I’m still a journalist. I write some freelance pieces for the English newspaper on the island, and I have some money left in reserve from my savings,’ she explained. ‘I’m also thinking of writing a book. An Englishwoman in Majorca. What do you think?’ she couldn’t help asking naughtily.

  Jake scowled. ‘You really want to know?’

  ‘Probably not.’ She sighed heavily.

  ‘I think that you have a husband, Caro, and that he should be the one providing for you and Magdalena.’

  Caro eyed him mockingly. ‘To keep me living in the privileged lifestyle to which I had become accustomed?’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t need or want that lifestyle, Jake. I never did.’

  Jake’s money, and the power that went along with his wealth, had never interested Caro. All she had ever wanted was Jake’s undivided love. Something Caro knew, after learning of his affair with another woman, that Jake was incapable of giving her…

  ‘Nevertheless—’

  ‘There is no nevertheless,’ Caro interrupted him firmly. ‘I’ve managed perfectly well on my own so far, and I have every intention of continuing to do so.’

  Jake frowned heavily. ‘We’ll talk about this further when we reach the house.’

  ‘Anything to do with giving me any of your money, for any reason, is non-negotiable, Jake.’

  ‘I’ll decide what is or isn’t negotiable.’

  ‘No,’ Caro argued shakily. ‘No, Jake, you won’t,’ she repeated more decisively. ‘I wasn’t interested in your money two years ago, and I’m not interested in it now, either.’

  Jake fingers were now clasped so tightly about the steering wheel that his knuckles showed white. ‘Then what does interest you, Caro? Damn it, I’ve never understood what it is you want from me!’

  Caro was all too aware of that.

  She had been too much in love with Jake during those first few months of their marriage to realise that he had never indicated verbally that he returned the emotion. To realise that the only time Jake let down the tight control he had over his emotions was when they were in bed together.

  Caro realised now that her lack of insight was probably because for the first few months of their marriage that was exactly where they had spent most of their time together!

  Sex—even the incredible, mind-blowing sex she and Jake had shared—wasn’t enough to keep a marriage together. Especially after Caro had learnt even that wasn’t exclusive! After growing up with a constantly straying father and a thoroughly humiliated mother, she had sworn she’d never repeat their mistakes and remain in a miserable, faithless marriage. So when she’d learnt about Jake’s infidelity she’d left him immediately.

  ‘Nothing, Jake,’ Caro told him flatly now. ‘There’s absolutely nothing you have that I could possibly want.’

  They would see about that, Jake decided grimly.

  Because he had absolutely no intention of letting Caro leave his life for a second time…

  CHAPTER THREE

  ‘LET ME,’ JAKE INSISTED, as Caro would have unstrapped Magdalena from the baby-seat before lifting her out of the car.

  Magdalena had woken up the moment Jake parked the car in front of a mellow stone manor house, and the deep green of her eyes was now fixed steadily on Jake as Caro reluctantly stepped aside to allow him to take their daughter from the back seat.

  A lump caught and held in Jake’s throat as one of Magdalena’s tiny starfish hands came to rest on the broadness of his shoulder as he straightened with her in his arms. She was heavier than he had expected, but warm, and her gaze was so trusting and open as she looked at him—in a way so reminiscent of the way Caro had once looked at him—that Jake just wanted to bury his face in the softness of her red-gold curls. To at last hold his daughter close and never let her go.

  ‘We should get this conversation over with—snow is forecast for later today,’ Caro reminded him huskily, after a brief glance at the grey and overcast sky.

  Jake straightened, his gaze completely unreadable as he turned to watch her take Magdalena’s changing bag from the boot of the car. ‘I’ll get the rest of your luggage later.’

  ‘We won’t be staying long enough to need any of the other luggage,’ Caro insisted quickly as she slung the bag over her shoulder.

  Jake gave her a pitying glance before striding off towards the house with Magdalena still in his arms.

  Caro’s unease returned with a vengeance as she hurried to follow him up the stone steps to the huge oak door. But she was prevented from questioning him about that pitying look as the door was immediately
opened by a beaming middle-aged woman.

  ‘Mr Montgomery!’ the woman, obviously the housekeeper, greeted him cordially as the three of them stepped inside the warmth of the house. ‘And this must be Mrs Montgomery.’ Her smile widened to encompass Caro. ‘And little Magdalena.’ The woman’s face softened completely as she looked at the baby Jake held so confidently in his arms.

  Caro felt her trepidation deepen as she realised that the older woman had obviously been expecting her and Magdalena to arrive here with Jake this afternoon…

  What had he told the housekeeper about them? What possible explanation could Jake have given for the sudden arrival of his wife and baby daughter?

  Although, knowing Jake’s arrogance, he probably hadn’t bothered to give an explanation at all!

  Besides which, he had told Caro that he didn’t actually live here…

  So what were they doing here now? Why had Jake brought them all the way out here to—wherever—when it would have been so much easier for them to have talked in London?

  The housekeeper’s next comment answered some of those questions. ‘The linen and the cot have been delivered, and the cot’s already made up in Magdalena’s room,’ she told Jake. ‘I’ve put the highchair in the dining room, and the other things you ordered to be delivered are in the drawing room.’

  Caro’s eyes were wide as she turned to look at Jake. He’d had a cot, a highchair and ‘other things’ delivered here since speaking to Gavin earlier this morning and learning of Magdalena’s existence…?

  ‘Thanks, Mrs Weaver,’ he answered the housekeeper briskly. ‘I’m sure Mrs Montgomery would appreciate a cup of tea, if it’s not too much trouble?’

  ‘Of course.’ The housekeeper gave Caro another beaming smile. ‘I won’t be long.’ She bustled off to wards the back of the house, where the kitchen was obviously situated.

  Caro waited only long enough for the plump and motherly woman to disappear through the door at the end of the hallway before speaking. ‘Jake, what’s going on?’

  ‘I’m sure we’ll be more comfortable in the drawing room, Caro,’ he evaded, before striding off to enter a room to the right of the spacious entrance hall.