A Yuletide Seduction. Carole Mortimer

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СКАЧАТЬ Felicity gave another tired yawn.

      ‘Will you please go to bed, Fliss?’ her husband said firmly. ‘I’ll just see Jane out, and then I’ll join you,’ he promised.

      And Jane wanted to leave; of that there was no doubt. But she had felt a chill inside her at Felicity’s last statement. What had the other woman done to give a ‘helping hand’?

      ‘Okay,’ Felicity concurred sleepily. ‘And I do thank you so much for doing this for us at such short notice, Jane. You’ve been wonderful!’

      ‘My pleasure,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘But I can’t help but feel curious as to why you should think Mr Vaughan and myself will meet again,’ she persisted.

      ‘Because he asked for your business card, darling,’ the other woman supplied happily. ‘He said it was so that he could call you when he gave his next dinner party, but I have a feeling you’ll hear from him much sooner than that! Don’t be too long, darling.’ She smiled glowingly at her husband before finally going upstairs to their bedroom.

      ‘I’m sorry about all that nonsense, Jane,’ Richard said distractedly, running agitated fingers through the thickness of his blond hair. ‘Fliss has been so worried these last few weeks, and that isn’t good for her in early pregnancy. But take it from me: Gabe Vaughan is the last man you should become involved with,’ he added grimly. ‘He would gobble you up and spit you out again before you had a chance to say no!’

      Gabriel Vaughan was the last man she ever would become involved with!

      She had been frozen into immobility since Felicity’s announcement of having given Gabriel Vaughan her business card, but she moved now, hurriedly putting on her jacket. ‘I didn’t realise Felicity was pregnant,’ she said slowly. The other woman was so slim and elegant, the pregnancy certainly couldn’t be very far along yet, and Felicity hadn’t mentioned it. She had no doubt this happily married couple were pleased about the baby, but at the same time she realised it had probably happened at a bad time for them, what with the uncertainty about Richard’s business.

      ‘Only just.’ Richard gave what looked like a strained smile. ‘Felicity is longing to give me a son. Although at this rate there will be no business for him to grow up and take over!’ he added bleakly. He shook his head self-derisively. ‘Much as I also appreciate all that you’ve done this evening, Jane, unlike Felicity I think it’s going to take a little more than an exceptional meal to convince Gabriel Vaughan that my company is worth saving rather than being gathered up into his vast, faceless business pool!’

      Jane was inclined to agree with him. From what she knew of the ruthless American, he wasn’t into ‘saving’ companies, only taking them over completely!

      She certainly didn’t envy Richard Warner his meeting with the older man tomorrow!

      She reached out to squeeze his arm understandingly. ‘I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you,’ she told him softly before straightening. ‘Now I have to be on my way—and I think you should go upstairs and give your lovely wife a hug! There’s a lot to be said for having a loyal wife and a beautiful family like you have, you know,’ she added gently, having no doubts that Felicity would stand by her husband, no matter what the outcome of his meeting with Gabriel Vaughan.

      Richard looked at her blankly for several seconds, and then he laughed softly. ‘How right you are, Jane,’ he agreed lightly. ‘How right you are!’

      She was well aware that it sometimes took someone outside the situation to remind one of how fortunate one was. And, no matter what happened tomorrow, this man would still have his beautiful wife and daughters, and their unborn child. And that was certainly a lot more than very many other people had.

      And sometimes, Jane remembered bleakly as she left the house, all the positive things you thought you had in your life could be wiped out or simply taken away from you And a prime example of that had been this evening when Gabriel Vaughan had turned out to be the guest of honour at the Warners’ dinner party! She had worked so hard to build up this business, to build something for herself—she would not allow it all to be wiped out a second time!

      It had not been a good evening for Jane. First that broken cup—which she would replace, despite Felicity’s protests that it wasn’t necessary—then Gabriel Vaughan coming into the kitchen: the very last man she’d ever wanted to see again! Ever! And Felicity, poor romantic Felicity, had given him Jane’s business card!

      What else could possibly go wrong tonight?

      She found that out a few minutes later—when her van wouldn’t start!

      CHAPTER THREE

      JANE almost choked over her morning mug of coffee! As it was, her hand shook so badly that she spilt some of that coffee onto the newspaper that lay open on the breakfast-bar in front of her, the liquid splashing onto the smiling countenance of the man’s face that had caused her to choke in the first place!

      Gabriel Vaughan!

      But then, nothing seemed to have gone right for her since meeting the man the evening before. It had been past one o’clock in the morning when she’d discovered her van wouldn’t start, and a glance towards the Warners’ house had shown her that it was in darkness. And, in the circumstances, Jane had been loath to disturb the already troubled couple. Besides, she had decided, if Richard Warner had any sense, he would be making love to his wife at this very moment—and she certainly had no inclination to interrupt that!

      But it had been too late to contact a garage, and there had been no taxis cruising by in the exclusive suburb, and finding a public telephone to call for a taxi hadn’t proved all that easy to do, either. And when she’d come to leave the call box after making the call it was to find it had begun to rain. Not gentle, barely discernible rain, but torrents of it, as if the sky itself had opened up and dropped the deluge.

      Tired, wet and extremely disgruntled, she had finally arrived back at her apartment at almost two-thirty in the morning. And opening her newspapers at nine o’clock the following morning, and being confronted by a photograph of a smiling Gabriel Vaughan, was positively the last thing she needed!

      This was the time of day when she allowed herself a few hours’ relaxation. First she would go for her morning run, collecting her newspaper, and freshly baked croissants from her favourite patisserie on the way back. She had made a career out of cooking for other people, but she wasn’t averse to sampling—and enjoying—other people’s cooking in the privacy of her own home. And François’s croissants, liberally spread with butter and honey, melted in the mouth.

      But not this morning. She hadn’t even got as far as taking her first mouthful, and now she had totally lost her appetite. And all because of Gabriel Vaughan!

      She would never see him again, she had assured herself in the park earlier as her feet pounded on the pathway as she ran, slender in her running shorts and sweatshirt, her hair tied back with a black ribbon. As far as she was aware, the man had only paid brief visits to England over the last three years, and just because he had rented an apartment for three months that didn’t mean he would actually stay that long. Once his business with Richard Warner had reached a suitable conclusion—to Gabriel Vaughan’s benefit, of course!—he would no doubt be returning to America. And staying there, Jane hoped!

      But this photograph in this morning’s newspaper—of Gabriel with a dazzling blonde clinging to his arm—had been taken while at a weekend party given by a popular politician. It seemed to imply that his rare visits СКАЧАТЬ