A Countess For Christmas

CHAPTER TWO (#u542eece7-fbea-57c5-b94b-eb5db2f3d2c5)

JACK WESTWOOD KNEW he’d made a monumental mistake the moment he heard the collective gasp of the crowd in the room behind him.

What the hell had he just done?

It wasn’t like him to lose his head, in fact he was famous in the business circles in which he presided for being a cool customer and impossible to intimidate, but seeing Emma again like this had shaken him to his very soul.

It occurred to him with a sick twist of irony that the last time he’d acted so rashly was when he’d asked her to marry him. She’d always had this effect on him, messing with his head and undermining his control until he didn’t know which way was up.

Logically he knew he should have stayed away from her tonight, just until he was mentally prepared to see her again, but after finding he couldn’t concentrate on a word anyone had said to him after he’d spotted her earlier his instinct had been to search her out, then jump in to defend her when he’d seen Fitzherbert trying to kiss her.

She was still his wife after all, even if they hadn’t had any contact for the last few years—that was what had prompted him to do it. That and the fact he hated any kind of violence towards women.

The searing anger he’d felt at seeing this idiot being so rough with her still buzzed through his veins. Who did he think he was, forcing himself on a woman who clearly wasn’t interested in him? And it was obvious that Emma wasn’t. He knew her too well not to be able to read her body language and interpret her facial expressions, even when she was trying to hide her true feelings.

‘Emma, are you okay?’ he asked, turning to check her face for bruises. But it seemed all that was bruised was her pride. At least that was what the flash of discomfiture in her eyes led him to believe.

‘I’m fine, thank you, Jack. I can handle this,’ she said, laying a gentle hand on his arm and giving him a supplicatory smile.

Unnerved by the prickle of sensation that rushed across his skin where she touched him, he shook the feeling off, putting it down to his shock at seeing her again mixed in with the tension of the situation. Nodding, he took a couple of steps backwards, allowing Jolyon to push himself upright, and watched with bitter distaste as the man brushed himself down with shaking hands and rolled back his portly shoulders.

‘I’d like you both to leave,’ Fitzherbert said, his voice firm, even if it did resonate with a top note of panic.

Jack turned to see Emma looking at Fitzherbert with a pleading expression, making him think that leaving was the last thing she wanted to do. Why on earth would she want to stay? Unless they were together as a couple?

The thought of that made him shudder. Surely she couldn’t have stooped so low as to have attached herself to a playboy like Fitzherbert. He knew she’d been brought up living the high life, was used to being taken care of by other people, but this was beyond the pale.

‘Jolyon, please, this is just a misunderstanding. Can we talk about it—?’

Fitzherbert held up a hand to halt her speech and shook his head slowly, his piggy eyes squinty and mean.

‘I don’t want to hear it, Emma. I want you to leave. Right now. The other girls can cover for you. From what I’ve seen tonight that’s already been happening anyway. Whenever I’ve looked for you, you’ve been skulking in the kitchen.’

‘I’ve been orchestrating the party from there, Jolyon—’

He held up his hand higher, his palm only inches away from her face.

Jack experienced a low throb of anger at the condescension of the act, but he kept his mouth shut. He didn’t think Emma would appreciate him butting in right now. He’d let her handle this.

For now.

‘Didn’t you hear me, Emma? You’re fired!’ There was no mistaking Fitzherbert’s tone now. Even though he was drunk, his conviction was clear.

Fired? So she was working for him? Jack found this revelation even more shocking than the idea that they’d been a couple.

She went to argue, but Fitzherbert shouted over her.

‘I specifically requested the agency find me a housekeeper that wasn’t married so there wouldn’t be any difficulties with priorities. I need someone who can work late into the evening or on short notice without having to check with a partner first. I’ve been burned by problems like that before.’

He glanced at Jack now, his expression full of reproach. ‘A decent chap doesn’t want his wife working for a bachelor such as myself.’

By that, Jack assumed what Fitzherbert actually meant was that he’d wanted the option to pursue more than just housekeeping duties with his employees without the fear of a husband turning up to spoil his fun, or, worse, send him to the hospital.

A prickle of pure disgust shot up his spine at the thought.

‘You said in your application that you were unmarried,’ Fitzherbert went on, apparently choosing to ignore Jack’s balled fists and tense stance now.

‘You lied. So I’m terminating our contract forthwith. I don’t want a liar as well as the daughter of a wastrel working in my house.’

Shock clouded Emma’s face at this low jibe and Fitzherbert smiled and leaned closer to her, clearly relishing the fact that he’d hit a nerve. ‘Yes, that’s right, I know all about your father’s reputation for spending other people’s money. I make sure to look up everyone I employ in order to protect myself.’

He jabbed a finger at her. ‘I gave you the benefit of the doubt because you’re a hard worker and easy on the eye...’ his snarl increased ‘...but who knows what could have gone missing in the time you’ve been here?’

That did it.

‘Don’t you dare speak to her like that!’ Jack ground out.

Emma turned to him with frustration in her eyes and held up a hand. ‘Jack, I said I can handle this. Please keep out of it!’

‘No wonder you’ve kept your marriage to her a secret if that’s the way she speaks to you,’ Fitzherbert muttered, slanting Jack a sly glance.

‘Oh, go to hell, Jolyon,’ Emma shot back, with a vehemence that both surprised and impressed Jack. ‘You know what, you can keep your measly job. I was going to leave at the end of the month anyway. Your wandering hands had got a bit too adventurous for my liking.’

And with that, she pulled an apron that Jack had not noticed she was wearing before from around her middle and dropped it on the floor at Fitzherbert’s feet, then spun on her heel and strode towards the front door.

Glancing back into the room, Jack saw that a large crowd of partygoers had gathered to watch their tawdry little show and every one of them was now staring at him in curious anticipation.

It suddenly occurred to him that they were waiting for him to chase after his wife.

Damn it.

Now the secret was out, he was going to have to find a way to handle this situation without causing more problems for himself. The last thing he needed was to catch the attention of the gutter press when he was just finding his feet again here in England. Knowing Emma as he did, he was aware that it would be down to him to handle the fallout from this, which was fine, he was used to dealing with complex situations in his role as CEO so this shouldn’t be much of a stretch, but he could really do without an added complication like this right now.

Throwing Fitzherbert one last disgusted glance, Jack turned his back on the man then went to grab his overcoat from the peg by the door. Following Emma out, he caught her up as she exited into the cold mid-November night air.

She didn’t turn round as she hopped down the marble steps of the town house and out into the square.

‘Emma, wait!’ Jack shouted, worried she might jump into a cab and he’d lose her before he had a chance to figure out what he was going to do about all this.

‘Why did you have to get involved, Jack?’ she asked, swinging round to face him, her cheeks pink and her eyes wild with a mixture of embarrassment and anxiety.

The sight of it stopped him in his tracks. Even in his state of agitation he was acutely aware that she was still a heart-stoppingly beautiful woman. If anything she was even more beautiful now than when he’d last seen her six years ago, with those full wide lips that used to haunt his dreams and those bright, intelligent green eyes that had always glowed with spirit and an innate joy of life.

Not that she looked particularly joyful right now.

Shaking off the unwelcome rush of feelings this brought, he folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her.

‘I wasn’t going to just stand by and watch Fitzherbert manhandle you like that,’ he said, aiming for a cool, reasonable tone. There was no way he was going to have a public row in the middle of Sloane Square with her. What if there were paparazzi lurking behind one of the trees nearby?