In the Australian's Bed: The Passion Price / The Australian's Convenient Bride / The Australian's Marriage Demand. Miranda Lee

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СКАЧАТЬ ‘Wow, you’ve really become the master of the polished line, haven’t you? But you can save the flattery for another occasion, Jake. I’ve already decided to have lunch with you on Saturday.’

      The dead silence on the other end of the line gave Angelina some satisfaction that she’d been able to knock him speechless. Unfortunately, now that she’d voiced her decision out loud to him, the reality of it shook her right down to her half-painted toes.

      But the die had been rolled. No going back.

      ‘Great!’ he said, sounding much too happy for her liking. ‘I’m already looking forward to it. But does—er—Alex know?’

      ‘I spoke to him earlier this evening. We talked about you.’

      ‘What did you say? I’ll bet you didn’t tell him how we first met.’

      ‘Alex already knows all about you, Jake. There are no secrets between us.’

      ‘And he agreed to your going to lunch with me?’

      ‘Why should he object to a platonic lunch between old friends?’

      ‘Old flames, Angelina. Not old friends.’

      ‘Whatever. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, Jake.’

      ‘I’ll bet you didn’t tell him everything I said to you today.’

      What could she say to that?

      ‘You didn’t, did you?’ Jake continued when she remained silent. ‘No man—not even your pathetic Alex—would willingly let his girlfriend go to lunch with another man who’d declared his wish to make her his woman.’

      Angelina could not believe the passion in Jake’s words. And the power. How easy it would be to forget all common sense and tell him that she had changed her mind, that she would not only go to lunch with him on Saturday, but she would also stay at his place on the Saturday night.

      Dear heaven, she was going to make a fool of herself with him again. Or she might, if she went to lunch with him on Saturday as things stood. If he could do this to her over the phone, what could he do to her when she was alone with him in the big bad city?

      She had to tell him about Alex. Right here and now. It was the only way she could protect herself against her susceptibility to this man.

      ‘Jake, there’s something I have to tell you,’ she began, then stopped as she struggled for the right words. He was going to be shocked out of his mind. And furious with her for playing word games with him. How she could possibly explain why she’d done such a thing? She was going to look a fool, no matter what she said, or did.

      ‘Alex doesn’t know you’re going to lunch with me at all, does he?’ Jake jumped in.

      ‘Er—no. He doesn’t.’

      ‘You realise what that means, Angelina. You’re finished with him, whether you admit it or not. You’re not the sort of girl to two-time a guy.’

      ‘I don’t consider lunch a two-timing act,’ she argued, panicking at the way this conversation was now going. Instead of finding sanctuary in the truth, she was getting in deeper. And deeper.

      ‘It is when you know that the guy you’re having lunch with wants more than to share a meal with you,’ Jake pointed out ruefully.

      ‘But what you want is not necessarily what I want,’ she countered, stung by his presumption.

      ‘That’s not the impression you gave me today. We shared something special once, Angelina. It’s still there. The sparks. The chemistry.’

      ‘Men like you share a chemistry with lots of women, Jake. It’s nothing special. Which reminds me, is there some current girlfriend who should know that you’ve asked another woman out to lunch?’

      ‘No.’

      ‘Why not?’

      ‘I’m between girlfriends at the moment.’

      She laughed. ‘Am I supposed to believe that?’

      ‘You sure are. I’m a lot of things but I’m no liar.’

      ‘Such as what? What are you, Jake Winters, that I should worry about before daring to go to lunch with you?’

      ‘You don’t honestly expect me to put myself down, do you? I’m no saint but I’m not one of the bad guys, either. I don’t lie and I don’t cheat. There is no other woman in my life. But I am a confirmed bachelor. And I aim to stay that way. Which should please you, since you’re not into wedding bells and baby bootees. Or did I get that wrong?’

      ‘No. No, you didn’t get that wrong.’

      If I can’t marry you, then I don’t want to marry anyone.

      The thought burst into her mind. Shocking her. Shattering her. This couldn’t be. This wasn’t fair. Not only that, but it was also crazy. He’d only been in her life a few short hours this time.

      She couldn’t be in love with him again. Not really. She was being confused and corrupted by the romance of the situation. And by desire. His, as well as her own. She wasn’t sure which was the more powerful. Being wanted the way Jake said he wanted her. Or her wanting him.

      Angelina still could not believe the feelings which had rampaged through her when he’d simply touched her hand.

      Wilomena was probably right. She was a one-man woman.

      And Jake was the man. Impossible to resist him. She could go to lunch with him next Saturday, pretending that it was a reconnaissance mission to find out what kind of man he was. But that was all it would be. A pretence.

      ‘Tell me about your job,’ she said, valiantly resolving to put their conversation back on to a more platonic, getting-to-know-you basis. ‘What kind of lawyer are you?’

      ‘A darned good one.’

      ‘No, I mean what kind of people do you represent?’

      ‘People who need a good lawyer to go in to bat for them. People who’ve been put down and put upon, usually in the corporate world. Employees who’ve been unfairly dismissed, or sexually harassed, or made to endure untenable work conditions. I have this woman client at the moment who’s in the process of suing her boss. She worked as his assistant in an un-air-conditioned office with him for years whilst he chain-smoked. She repeatedly asked him to put her in a separate office but he wouldn’t. Yet he was filthy rich. She now has terminal lung cancer and she’s only forty-two. We’re suing for millions. And we’ll win, too.’

      ‘But she won’t,’ Angelina said. ‘She’ll die.’

      ‘Yes, she’ll die. But her teenage children won’t. She told me she’d die happier if she gets enough money to provide for them till they can provide for themselves. Her husband’s an invalid as well. That’s why she had to work and why she stayed working for that bastard under such rotten conditions. Because the job was within walking distance of her house, and she didn’t СКАЧАТЬ