Vanessa swallowed. He was too good at this. He had made that sound not like the easy, practised compliment it was, but as though the admission had been torn from him. Vanessa wasn’t beautiful, she had never been beautiful, but looking into his eyes she could almost believe that Jake thought her so.
On their journey across to the bar he had neatly evaded several people who were trying to catch his attention, but now one man wasn’t taking the hint. As Jake waited for their drinks the man elbowed up beside him.
“Say, Conrad, I’ve been trying to get past your secretary for a week…” he began, but the rest of the conversation was lost on Vanessa as a pinwheel of stars went off in her head.
“What did he call you?” she asked distantly when Jake finished with the man and returned to hand her her drink.
Jake raised his eyebrows. “Did he call me something?”
“A name,” she said. “I mean, your name. What is your name?”
He looked down at her, still, unmoving. “Conrad,” he told her. “My name is Jake Conrad.”
She would not have believed it would affect her like this, just the sound of that name making her tremble inside. Vanessa gazed into the pale liquid in her glass, trying to collect herself. “How extraordinary,” she said, wondering if her voice sounded as high to his ears as it did to her own. “I knew a Conrad once, a long time ago. Jason Conrad. He was from Vancouver. I wonder if you know him?”
“Jason Conrad is my name,” he said slowly.
“It is?” she squeaked. It shook her; she looked up at the dark face, the hooded eyes more closely, as though for some evidence she might have missed. “The thing is, you do look…your eyes….” she faltered and trailed off, and began again. “There is something about you that reminds me of Jace,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t suppose you’re related to him?”
“Jace,” he repeated thoughtfully. “It’s been a long time…” He broke off. “How long ago did you know him?”
“Nearly ten years ago,” answered Vanessa. “In New York.”
“That’s a long time between visits,” he said, and for the first time his odd, crooked smile was directed at her. “What caused you to suddenly come searching for an old lover like this, I wonder?”
“What makes you think he’s an old lover?”
“Your eyes, Vanessa. They give you away.” He smiled more broadly, but his gaze was dark. “They also intrigue me. So full of mystery. Why are you coming for Jace Conrad now?”
He knows something, she thought uneasily, looking up at him. What did he know?
“I’m not coming for him!” she retorted crossly. “I’m here in Vancouver for the fashion show. Some of my designs are being shown. And it just crossed my mind that I might look him up.”
Jake’s eyes glinted down at her. “And what will your husband think of that?” he asked. She felt as though some other question were being asked, too. But she didn’t know what question.
Vanessa ran her thumb across the protective gold band she still wore. “My husband is dead,” she told him quietly.
His eyes hardened, and she knew she had answered the unspoken question, too. “Ah,” he breathed slowly. “A widow. Poor old Jace. He missed it. The beautiful widow Vanessa came for him and he missed it.”
This was unaccountable hostility. Vanessa looked up at him in perplexity. “You talk as though you know him,” she said tentatively. She could think of no other reason for his attitude; he must know the other Jason Conrad, and he must know what she had done to him. “Do you know him?” she prompted. She felt oddly confused; if he had told her then that he was the Jason Conrad she had known she might almost have believed him.
“Was?” she whispered.
He blinked pityingly down at her. “Jace Conrad is dead, too, Vanessa,” he said. “Looks like you lost them both.”
Without warning the world went black.
About the Author
Alexandra Sellers has written well over two million words for print, including articles, reviews, blurbs, short stories, and 40 novels. Her books have been translated into 15 languages. In 2009 she was awarded the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award for Series, and in 2001 for Series Romantic Fantasy.
Alexandra loves to hear from readers, who can contact her via the message board on her website, or her Facebook page.
Website: http://alexandrasellers.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexndraSellers
Facebook: http://facebook.com/AlexandraSellersAuthor
Books by Alexandra Sellers
Fire in the Wind
Season of Storm
SONS OF THE DESERT
Bride of the Sheikh
Sheikh’s Ransom
The Solitary Sheikh
Beloved Sheikh
Sheikh’s Temptation
Sheikh’s Honor
Sheikh’s Woman
‘Sheikh of Ice’ in Sheiks of Summer
Sheikh’s Betrayal
Sophie’s Sheikh
SONS OF THE DESERT: THE SULTANS
The Sultan’s Heir
Undercover Sultan
Sleeping with the Sultan
SONS OF THE DESERT: THE PRINCESSES
Sheikh’s Castaway
The Ice Maiden’s Sheikh
The Fierce and Tender Sheikh
SONS OF THE DESERT: THE JOHARI CROWN
Her Royal Protector
The Sheikh’s Love Nest
THE VENABLES
Occupation, Millionaire
Occupation, Casanova
THE MEN
The Forever Kind
The Real Man
The Old Flame
The Best Of Friends
The Man Next Door
A Gentleman and a Scholar
The Vagabond
Roughneck
Dearest Enemy
The Indifferent Heart
A Nice Girl Like You
Not Without a Wife!
Shotgun Wedding
Wife on Demand
Born Royal (Firstborn Sons)
And
Spoken Cat and Relevant Factors in Worldview