into—blackmailed her into!—coming away with him this weekend under false pretences. Why, she had no idea. What she did know was that he was a lying, conniving, double-talking, blackmailing—!
At the moment Mattie was too angry to think of any more expletives she could hurl at him. But no doubt by the time she saw him again she would have thought of a few more. Because she no longer intended leaving today, after all.
Jack had lied about needing her to replace the original woman he’d intended bringing here in an effort to avert Sharon’s attention—because he had never intended bringing a woman here with him in the first place.
For some reason—as yet unknown!—he had brought her to Paris under false pretences, and in her eyes that made him just as guilty as she had initially been concerning those cards on the flowers. It would be interesting to see how
he
liked having to pretend in front of his family that everything in his world was hunky-dory—knowing as Mattie now did their hopes about this relationship!
‘Would you excuse me—Betty?’ Mattie added her name awkwardly, and stood up. ‘I think I would like to go back to the hotel now. I think perhaps Jack and I cansort out this little problem, after all,’ she declared decisively.
‘Oh, I do hope so.’ His mother beamed. ‘The family is so looking forward to meeting you.’
Again Mattie felt that twinge of guilt. But Jack was the one who should feel guilty, not her, she instantly told herself; if his mother was anything to go by, then his family were delightful, and he had no right deceiving them in this way. For whatever reason.
‘But I’m afraid you won’t find Jack back at the hotel just now,’ Betty explained. ‘He’s gone to the airport to meet my eldest daughter’s husband,’ she added with a frown. ‘As you know, Tina arrived here last night declaring she had left Jim. She has always been hotheaded, I’m afraid.’ Betty shook her head. ‘But this time she’s gone too far. And Jim is such a nice young man.’
So Jack had gone to the airport to meet his brother-in-law, had he? Which was why the suite had been so quiet when she’d left earlier. It was probably also the reason Jack had been so desperate to talk to her at two-thirty this morning; he had wanted to sort out this situation between them before Mattie could do a disappearing act while he was away at the airport, and so leave him with egg on his face where his family were concerned.
Well, he no longer needed to worry about that happening; Mattie didn’t intend going anywhere but back to the hotel.
What Jack did have to worry about, though, was how Mattie was going to behave for the rest of this weekend. Because if Jack had enjoyed making a fool of her the last few days, then it was time he learnt exactly what it felt like to be on the receiving end!
‘I’m sure they will work things out,’ Mattie assured Betty Beauchamp. ‘After all, this is Paris,’ she encouraged as the older woman still looked doubtful.
‘So it is.’ Betty brightened. ‘And I’m so glad you’ve changed your mind about leaving.’
Mattie felt another prick of conscience at the other woman’s genuine pleasure in her decision to stay on, after all. But, she instantly reasoned, Jack was the one who should have the guilty conscience. The fact that she now knew the real identity of the recipients of the flowers Jack sent to those four women made no difference to the fact that he had always intended passing her off to his family as his girlfriend. And considering, as Mattie now knew, he had never brought even one of his friends to meet his family before, he should have known exactly what conclusion they would all come to.
The only thing that had really changed was that Mattie now knew the truth about those four women in his life …
‘Er—perhaps it would be better, Betty, if neither of us mentioned this particular conversation to Jack?’ Mattie looked at the older woman. ‘I’ll tell
At the moment Mattie was too angry to think of any more expletives she could hurl at him. But no doubt by the time she saw him again she would have thought of a few more. Because she no longer intended leaving today, after all.
Jack had lied about needing her to replace the original woman he’d intended bringing here in an effort to avert Sharon’s attention—because he had never intended bringing a woman here with him in the first place.
For some reason—as yet unknown!—he had brought her to Paris under false pretences, and in her eyes that made him just as guilty as she had initially been concerning those cards on the flowers. It would be interesting to see how
he
liked having to pretend in front of his family that everything in his world was hunky-dory—knowing as Mattie now did their hopes about this relationship!
‘Would you excuse me—Betty?’ Mattie added her name awkwardly, and stood up. ‘I think I would like to go back to the hotel now. I think perhaps Jack and I cansort out this little problem, after all,’ she declared decisively.
‘Oh, I do hope so.’ His mother beamed. ‘The family is so looking forward to meeting you.’
Again Mattie felt that twinge of guilt. But Jack was the one who should feel guilty, not her, she instantly told herself; if his mother was anything to go by, then his family were delightful, and he had no right deceiving them in this way. For whatever reason.
‘But I’m afraid you won’t find Jack back at the hotel just now,’ Betty explained. ‘He’s gone to the airport to meet my eldest daughter’s husband,’ she added with a frown. ‘As you know, Tina arrived here last night declaring she had left Jim. She has always been hotheaded, I’m afraid.’ Betty shook her head. ‘But this time she’s gone too far. And Jim is such a nice young man.’
So Jack had gone to the airport to meet his brother-in-law, had he? Which was why the suite had been so quiet when she’d left earlier. It was probably also the reason Jack had been so desperate to talk to her at two-thirty this morning; he had wanted to sort out this situation between them before Mattie could do a disappearing act while he was away at the airport, and so leave him with egg on his face where his family were concerned.
Well, he no longer needed to worry about that happening; Mattie didn’t intend going anywhere but back to the hotel.
What Jack did have to worry about, though, was how Mattie was going to behave for the rest of this weekend. Because if Jack had enjoyed making a fool of her the last few days, then it was time he learnt exactly what it felt like to be on the receiving end!
‘I’m sure they will work things out,’ Mattie assured Betty Beauchamp. ‘After all, this is Paris,’ she encouraged as the older woman still looked doubtful.
‘So it is.’ Betty brightened. ‘And I’m so glad you’ve changed your mind about leaving.’
Mattie felt another prick of conscience at the other woman’s genuine pleasure in her decision to stay on, after all. But, she instantly reasoned, Jack was the one who should have the guilty conscience. The fact that she now knew the real identity of the recipients of the flowers Jack sent to those four women made no difference to the fact that he had always intended passing her off to his family as his girlfriend. And considering, as Mattie now knew, he had never brought even one of his friends to meet his family before, he should have known exactly what conclusion they would all come to.
The only thing that had really changed was that Mattie now knew the truth about those four women in his life …
‘Er—perhaps it would be better, Betty, if neither of us mentioned this particular conversation to Jack?’ Mattie looked at the older woman. ‘I’ll tell
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