His Untamed Innocent. Sara Craven

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СКАЧАТЬ tensed, and felt the warning pressure of Jake’s hand on hers.

      He said, smiling, ‘Thank you, Graham. We’d both be delighted. I’d love Marin to see the house, and the gardens must be looking fabulous.’

      ‘Well, that’s splendid,’ Graham Halsay said a mite too heartily. ‘First class, in fact. Really look forward to seeing you next Friday evening—both of you.’

      Marin stood in silence, watching him go. When he was out of earshot, she said huskily, ‘So what excuse do I invent—summer flu or food poisoning? If I blame the lobster mayonnaise, he may feel too guilty to ask any questions.’

      Jake’s mouth was set in a hard line. He said brusquely, ‘No excuse will be necessary. I accepted the invitation on behalf of us both, and we will be spending next weekend at Queens Barton together. Let that be clearly understood.’

      ‘No way.’ Marin, startled, tried to pull her hand free and failed.

      Jake leaned forward, his mouth smiling as he trailed a fingertip down the curve of her cheek, his eyes like chips of ice. His lips brushing her ear, he whispered, ‘This is not up for public discussion, sweetheart. So save the argument until we’re alone.’ He paused. ‘Now, smile back at me as if you have nothing on your mind but bedtime.’

      And just how, exactly, do you do that? Marin wondered, producing a dutiful grimace and hoping it would pass. Especially when your bedtimes generally involved pyjamas and a good book.

      Seething, she collected her wrap and walked downstairs with him in silence, climbed into the back of the taxi and huddled herself into the opposite corner to him while she tried to marshal her thoughts.

      ‘So,’ he said at last. ‘What’s the problem?’

      She touched the tip of her tongue to her dry lips. ‘I—I don’t want to be involved in this. Not again. Not after this evening.’

      Her voice shook. ‘I may look younger than my age, and be called a child by the Queen of Diamonds back there, but that doesn’t make me an idiot. And you were using me tonight as a decoy to fool her husband, because you’re involved with—her. With Mrs Halsay. There’s never an excuse for breaking up a marriage. So, never again, thank you.’

      ‘Is that the case for the prosecution?’ he asked, and there was a note of amusement in his voice which scraped along her nerve-endings.

      She said stormily, ‘It’s all a joke to you, isn’t it? A game with peoples’ lives—peoples’ hearts. You don’t care that there are innocent parties in all this who are going to be hurt.’

      ‘Actually, I do care,’ he said. ‘Quite a lot. Particularly when the innocent party is myself.’

      She gasped. ‘You’re pretending that you’re not having an affair with Mrs Halsay?’

      ‘I’m pretending nothing,’ he said calmly. ‘Yes, Diana and I were lovers for a time, but that was eighteen months ago, while she was still Diana Marriot. Only she was looking for a rich husband, and I wasn’t interested in marriage, as I made quite clear from the first. She assumed she could make me change my mind; I knew she wouldn’t. She thought if she issued an ultimatum and walked out, I’d come after her. She was wrong about that too.’

      It’s done with a great deal of charm, but it’s still over. Lynne’s words, thought Marin. And clearly no idle comment.

      ‘But she was the reason I was with you tonight,’ she flung back at him. ‘You can’t deny that.’

      ‘I won’t even try,’ he drawled. ‘You see, when Diana finally realised that I’d meant what I said, she looked around for a replacement and found Graham, who was just getting over a nasty divorce and wanted to prove it to the world with a glamorous new wife. Naturally, I wasn’t asked to the wedding, but after a couple of months she wangled an invitation to a reception she knew I’d be attending.

      ‘She was perfectly frank with me. Said she’d only married Graham because I wasn’t available, but now could quite understand why his first wife had ditched him for someone younger and more fun in bed. And, on those very grounds, she suggested that our former relationship should be quickly and quietly resumed.

      ‘She added that we’d need to be ultra-discreet, because Graham, due to his past problems, had a jealous streak, and regarded any of her previous involvements with suspicion.

      ‘However, when I said a blunt and unequivocal “no” to her flattering invitation, she first of all didn’t believe me. Insisted that she knew I still wanted her.’

      Marin’s throat tightened. ‘And did you?’

      ‘You’ve seen her,’ he said laconically. ‘And I’ve never professed to be made of stone. On the other hand, I’ve always known she could be big trouble. And her offer simply confirmed that.

      ‘So I stayed politely adamant, and she got angry. Said that no one turned her down a second time, and that she was going to make me sorry for the way I’d treated her.

      ‘That it would be quite easy for her to make Graham think that I was sniffing round her again, trying to restart our affair, and how would I like to see the Torchbearer Insurance account go up in smoke, as it were, as a consequence.’

      He paused. ‘However, she also suggested that under the circumstances I might like to rethink the whole situation, and fast. See sense, as she put it, and remember how good we’d been together.’

      He added, ‘Since then I’ve taken damned good care to be accompanied by a female companion at any events where she’s also a guest. And, although it hasn’t the slightest appeal for either of us, sweetheart, that’s why you’ll be accompanying me to Queens Barton next weekend.’

      He took out his wallet as the cab drew up at its destination. ‘We’ll discuss the details over a nightcap. I presume you know how the coffee machine works?’

      ‘You’re—coming up with me?’ She couldn’t keep the dismay out of her voice. ‘That won’t be necessary.’

      ‘I think it probably will,’ he said. ‘Unless you remembered to put Lynne’s key in your bag before you left. No? I thought not.’

      A mistake, she thought as she accompanied him mutinously up to the flat and waited resentfully for him to unlock the door, that she would try not to make again—like so many others.

      ‘I’m going to have a brandy with my coffee,’ he told her when they were back inside. ‘May I get you one?’

      ‘No,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

      ‘And I like my coffee filtered, black and without sugar,’ he continued. ‘As the world now believes we have breakfast together on a regular basis, that’s something you’ll be expected to know, and need to remember.’

      ‘Then the world must be blind as well as stupid,’ Marin said curtly. Do you imagine any man would want a skinny, ugly little bitch like you? For a moment, her memory blazed with the pain of those words.

      She forced herself to add calmly, ‘As for your ex-girlfriend, I’d bet good money that she wasn’t fooled for a moment.’

      ‘Then СКАЧАТЬ