Читать книгу Married By Christmas - Кэрол Мортимер, Carole Mortimer - Страница 7

CHAPTER ONE

‘WHO is that gorgeous-looking man over there?’ Sally gushed eagerly at Lilli’s side.

Until that moment, Lilli had been staring sightlessly at a barman across the room as he quickly and efficiently served drinks to the multitude of people attending what had so far been a pretty boring party.

Or maybe it wasn’t the party that was boring; maybe it was just Lilli who felt slightly out of sync with the rest of the people here: if the babble of noise was anything to go by they were having such a good time.

She hadn’t attended a party like this in such a long while, and so much had happened in the preceding months. Once upon a time, she acknowledged, she would have thought this was a great party too, would have been at the centre of whatever was going on, but tonight—well, tonight she felt like a total outsider, rather as the only sober person in a room full of inebriates must feel. Except she had already consumed several glasses of champagne herself, so that wasn’t the reason she felt so out of touch with this crowd with which she had once spent so much time.

As for gorgeous men, the house was full of them—gorgeous and rich. When Geraldine Simms threw a party, this a pre-Christmas one, only the rich and beautiful were invited to attend, in their hundreds. Geraldine’s house, in a fashionable part of London, was as huge and prepossessing as its neighbours, and tonight it was bursting at the seams with bejewelled women and handsome men.

Lilli dragged her gaze away from the efficient barman, obviously hired for the evening. It was time she looked away anyway—the man had obviously noticed her attention several minutes ago, and, from the speculative look in his eyes, believed he had made a conquest! He couldn’t have been further from the truth; the last thing Lilli was interested in was a fling with any man, let alone someone as transient as a hired barman!

‘What gorgeous man?’ she asked Sally without interest. Sally was the one who had persuaded her to come in the first place, on the basis that a Geraldine Simms party, an event that only happened twice a year, was a party not to be missed.

‘Over by the door—Oh, damn it, he’s disappeared again!’ Sally frowned her irritation. She was a petite blonde, with a beauty that could stop a man in his tracks, the black dress she almost wore doing little to forestall this.

Lilli had met her several years ago, during the usual round of parties, and, because neither of them had any interest in becoming permanently entangled with any of the handsome men they encountered, they often found themselves spending the evening together laughing at some of the antics of the other women around them as they cast out their nets and secured some unsuspecting man for the evening. Rather a cruel occupation, really, but it had got Lilli and Sally through many a tedious occasion.

‘He must be gorgeous if you’ve taken an interest,’ Lilli said dryly, attracting more than her own fair share of admiring glances as she stood tall and slender next to Sally, her hair long and straight to her waist, as black as a raven’s wing, eyes cool and green in a gaminely beautiful face, the strapless above-knee-length red dress that she wore clinging to the perfection of her body. Her legs were long and shapely, still tanned from the summer months, the red high-heeled shoes she wore only adding to her height—and to the impression of unobtainable aloofness that she had practised to perfection over the years.

‘Oh, he is,’ Sally assured her, still searching the crowd for the object of her interest. ‘He makes all the other men here look like callow, narcissistic youths. He—Oh, damn,’ she swore impatiently. ‘Oh, well,’ she sighed, turning back to Lilli with a rueful grimace. ‘That was fun while it lasted!’ She sipped her champagne.

Lilli’s eyes widened. ‘You’ve given up already?’ She sounded surprised because she was. On the few occasions she had known Sally to take an interest in a man, she hadn’t given up until she had got him! And, as far as Lilli was aware, her friend had always succeeded...

‘Had to.’ Sally grimaced her disappointment, taking another sip of her champagne. ‘Unobtainable.’

‘You mean he’s married,’ Lilli said knowingly.

Sally arched her brows. ‘I’m sorry to say that hasn’t always been a deterrent in the past.’ She shook her head. ‘No, he belongs to Gerry,’ she explained disappointedly. ‘As far as I’m aware, no woman has ever taken one of our hostess’s men and lived to tell the tale. And I’m too young to die!’

Lilli laughed huskily at her friend’s woebegone expression. Sally was exaggerating, of course, although Geraldine’s succession of lovers was legendary. In fact, Lilli doubted there were too many men in this room the beautiful Geraldine Simms hadn’t been involved with at some time or other during the last few years. But at least she seemed to stay good friends with them, which had to say something about the bubbling effervescence of their hostess!

Sally glanced across the room again. ‘But he is so gorgeous...’ she said longingly.

Lilli gave a shake of her head. ‘Okay, I give up; where is he?’ She turned to look for the man who was so attractive that Sally seemed to be about to throw caution to the wind and challenge Gerry for him, on the other woman’s home ground, no less!

‘Over there.’ Sally nodded to the far side of the elegantly furnished room. ‘Standing next to Gerry near the window.’

Sally continued to give an exact description of the gorgeous man but Lilli was no longer listening to her, having already located the intimately engrossed couple, feeling the blood drain from her cheeks as she easily spotted the man standing so arrogantly self-assured at Geraldine’s side.

No!

Not him. Not here. Not with her!

Oh, God...! How could he? How dared he?

‘Isn’t he just—? I say, Lilli, you’ve gone very pale all of a sudden.’ Sally looked at her concernedly.

Pale? She was surprised she hadn’t gone grey, shocked she was still standing on legs that seemed to be shaking so badly her knees were knocking together, surprised she wasn’t screaming, accusing. What was he doing here? And so obviously with Geraldine Simms, a woman with the reputation of a man-eater.

‘Are you feeling okay?’ Sally touched her arm worriedly.

She wasn’t feeling at all, seemed to have gone completely numb. It wasn’t an emotion she was unfamiliar with, but she had never thought he would be the one to deal her such a blow.

Oh, God, she had to get out of here, away from the noise, away from them!

‘I’m fine, Sally,’ she told her friend stiltedly, the smile she forced not quite managing to curve her lips. ‘I—I think I’ve had enough for one night. It’s my first time out for months,’ she babbled. ‘I’m obviously out of practice. I—I’ll call you.’ She put her champagne glass down on the nearest available table. ‘We’ll have lunch.’

Sally looked totally bewildered by Lilli’s sudden urgency to be gone. ‘But it’s only eleven-thirty!’

And the party would go on until almost morning. In the past Lilli would probably have been among the last to leave. But not tonight. She had to get out of here now. She had to!

‘I’ll call you, Sally,’ she promised distantly, turning to stumble across the room, muttering her apologies as she bumped into people on the way, blind to where she was going, just needing to escape.

She had a jacket somewhere, she remembered. It was in a room at the back of the house. And she didn’t want to leave without it, didn’t want to have to come back to this house again to collect it. She didn’t want to ever have to see Geraldine Simms again. Not ever!

Where had they stored the coats? Every room she looked in appeared to be empty. One of them turned out not to be as empty as it at first appeared, a young couple in there taking advantage of the sofa to make love. But there were no coats.

She would just abandon her damn coat in a minute, would send someone over tomorrow for it, would just have to hope that it was still here.

She thrust open another door, deciding that if this room proved as fruitless as the others she would quietly leave and find herself a taxi.

‘Oh!’ She gasped as she realised she had walked into what must be the main kitchen of the house. It wasn’t empty. Not that there were any chefs rushing around preparing the food for the numerous guests. No, all the food, put out so deliciously on plates in the dining-room, had been provided by caterers.

A man sat at a long oak table in the middle of the room, his dark evening suit and snowy white shirt, with red bow-tie, tagging him as part of the elegant gathering in the main part of the house. Yet he sat alone in the kitchen, strong hands nursing what looked to be a glass of red wine, the open bottle on the table beside him, the only light in the room a single spotlight over the Aga.

But Lilli could see the man well enough, his dark, overlong hair with distinguished strands of grey at the temples, grey, enigmatic eyes in a face that might have been carved from granite, all sharp angles and hard-hewn features. From the way his long legs stretched out beneath the table, he was a very tall man, well over six feet, if Lilli had to guess. She would put his age in the late thirties.

She also knew, from that very first glance, that she had never seen him before!

She really was very much out of touch with the party scene! Once upon a time she would have known all the other guests at any occasion she went to, which was ultimately the reason they had become so boring to attend. But tonight there were at least two men present that she hadn’t encountered at one of these parties before—one she didn’t know at all, the other she most certainly did!

Her mouth tightened at her thoughts. ‘I’m sorry to have disturbed you,’ she told the man distractedly, turning to leave.

‘Not at all,’ the man drawled in a weary voice. ‘It’s quite pleasant to meet another refugee from that free-for-all out there!’

Lilli turned slowly back to him, dark brows raised. ‘You aren’t enjoying the party?’

His mouth quirked into a humourless smile, and he took a swallow of the wine before answering. ‘Not particularly,’ he dismissed disgustedly. ‘If I had known—!’ He picked up the bottle and refilled his glass, turning back to Lilli and raising the bottle in her direction. ‘Can I offer you some wine? It’s from Gerry’s private stock,’ he explained temptingly. ‘Much preferable to that champagne being served out there.’ He waved the bottle in the direction of the front of the house.

Gerry... Only Geraldine’s really close friends shortened her name in that way. He also knew where Geraldine kept her cellar of wine.

Lilli looked at the man with new interest. He obviously was—or had been—a close friend of Geraldine Simms. And, while Geraldine might remain on good terms with her ex-lovers, she certainly didn’t give them up to another woman easily...

Lilli entered the kitchen fully, aware of the man’s gaze on her as she moved across the dimly lit room, able to tell by the cool assessment in those pale grey eyes that he liked what he saw. ‘I would love some wine,’ she accepted as she sat down at the table, not opposite him but next to him, pushing a long swathe of her dark hair over her shoulder as she did so, turning to look at him, green eyes dark, a smile curving lips coloured the same red as her dress. ‘Thank you,’ she added huskily.

‘Good.’ He nodded his satisfaction with her answer, standing up to get a second glass.

Now it was Lilli’s turn to watch him. She had been right about his height; he must be at least six feet four, the cut of his suit doing nothing to hide the powerfully muscled body beneath. It also did nothing to mask his obvious contempt for these elegant trappings of civilised company!

She had no doubt that Sally would also have described him as gorgeous!

Her smile faded somewhat as she vividly brought to mind that image of the other man Sally had called gorgeous tonight; her last vision had been of Geraldine Simms draped decoratively across him as the two of them talked softly together.

‘Thank you,’ she told the man as he sat down beside her to pour her wine, picking up the glass when it was filled to swallow a grateful gulp. She could instantly feel the warmth of the wine inside her, merging with the glasses of champagne she had already consumed.

‘Patrick Devlin.’ The man held out his hand.

‘Lilli.’ She shook his hand, liking its cool strength, his name meaning absolutely nothing to her.

He raised dark brows, still retaining his light hold on her hand. ‘Just Lilli?’

Her gaze met his, seeing a wealth of experience in those grey depths. Some of that experience had been with Geraldine Simms, she felt sure. ‘Just Lilli,’ she nodded, sensing his interest in her. And she intended to keep that interest...

‘Well, Just Lilli...’ He slowly released her hand, although his gaze still easily held hers. ‘As we’re both bored with this party, what do you suggest we do with ourselves for the rest of the evening?’ He quirked mocking lips.

She laughed softly, well versed in the art of seduction herself. ‘What do you suggest we do?’ she encouraged softly.

He turned back to sit with his elbows resting on the table, sipping his wine. ‘Well...we could count how many patterned tiles there are on the wall over there.’ He nodded to the wall opposite.

Lilli didn’t so much as glance at them. ‘I have no interest in counting tiles, patterned or otherwise,’ she returned dryly, drinking some of her own wine. He was right—this wine was much nicer than champagne. It was taking away the numbness she had felt earlier, too.

‘No? Oh, well.’ He shrugged at the playful shake of her head, refilling her glass. ‘We could swap life stories?’

‘Definitely not!’ There was an edge of bitterness to her laugh this time.

He pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘You’re probably right,’ he said. ‘We could bake a cake? We’re certainly in the right place for it!’ He looked about them.

‘Can you cook?’ Lilli prompted; he didn’t look as if he knew one end of a cooker—or Aga!—from the other!

He grinned at her, showing very white and even teeth—and unlike most of the men here tonight, she would swear that he’d had none of them capped. ‘No one has yet complained about my toast,’ he drawled. ‘And I’ve been told I pour a mean glass of orange juice!’

She nodded as he gave her the answer she had expected. ‘And a mean glass of wine.’ She raised her glass as if in a salute to him.

He poured the last of the wine into her glass. ‘I’ll open another bottle.’ He stood up, moving confidently about the kitchen, walking to the cupboard at the back of the room, emerging triumphantly seconds later with a second bottle of the same wine.

Which he then proceeded to open deftly, refilling his own glass before sitting down next to Lilli once again. ‘Your turn. To make some suggestions,’ he elaborated huskily at her questioning look.

His words themselves were suggestive, but at this particular moment Lilli didn’t care. She was actually enjoying herself, and after the shock she had received earlier this evening that was something in itself.

‘Let me see...’ She made a show of giving it some thought, happily playing along with the game. ‘Do you play chess?’

‘Tolerably,’ he replied.

‘Hmm. Draughts?’

‘A champion,’ he assured her confidently. ‘That’s the one with the black and white discs—’

‘Not draughts, either,’ Lilli laughed, green eyes glowing, her cheeks warm, whether from the effect of the wine and champagne, or their verbal flirtation, she wasn’t really sure.

And she didn’t care, either. This man was a special friend of Geraldine Simms’, she was sure of it, and at this moment she had one hundred per cent of his attention. Wonderful!

‘Snakes and ladders?’ she suggested lightly.

‘Yes...’ he answered slowly. ‘Although my sister always said I cheated when we played as children; I used to go up the snakes and down the ladders!’

Lilli laughed again. Either the man really was funny, or else the wine was taking effect; either way, this was the most fun she had had in a long time. ‘I used to do that too,’ she confided, lightly touching his arm, instantly feeling the steely strength beneath his jacket. ‘And there’s no way we can play if we both cheat!’

‘True,’ he agreed, suddenly very close, his face mere inches away from hers now. ‘You know, Just Lilli, there’s one game I have an idea we’re both good at—and at which neither of us cheats!’ His voice was mesmerisingly low now, his aftershave faintly elusive, but at the same time completely masculine. ‘What do you say to the two of us—?’

‘Patrick!’ A feminine voice, slightly raised with impatience, interrupted him. ‘Why aren’t you at the party?’

He held Lilli’s eyes for several seconds longer, a promise in his own, lightly squeezing her hand as it still rested on his arm, before turning to face the source of that feminine impatience. ‘Because I prefer to be here,’ he answered firmly. ‘And, luckily for me, so does Lilli.’

‘Lilli...?’ The woman sounded startled now.

So much so that Lilli finally turned to look at her too. Geraldine Simms! She looked far from pleased to see the two of them sitting so close together, Patrick’s hand still resting slightly possessively on Lilli’s.

Lilli looked coldly at the other woman. ‘Geraldine,’ she greeted her hardly.

‘I didn’t realise you were here,’ Geraldine said faintly.

She could easily have guessed that! ‘Sally Walker telephoned me earlier and persuaded me to come with her.’ Lilli finished abruptly, ‘Wonderful party,’ her sarcasm barely veiled.

‘So wonderful Lilli and I were just about to leave.’ Patrick stood up, lightly pulling Lilli to her feet beside him, his arm moving about the slenderness of her waist now. ‘Weren’t we,’ he prompted.

As far as Lilli was aware—no, but it did seem like an excellent idea.

She turned her head slightly to give Geraldine a triumphant look. ‘Yes, we were just about to leave,’ she agreed brightly.

‘But—’ Geraldine looked flustered, not at all her usually confident self. ‘Patrick, you can’t leave!’ She looked at him beseechingly, not at all certain of herself—or him.

His arm tightened about Lilli’s waist. ‘Watch me,’ he stated determinedly.

‘But—’ Geraldine wrung her hands together. ‘Patrick, I threw this party partly for you—’

‘I hate parties, you know that.’ There was a hard edge to his voice that hadn’t been there when he’d flirted with Lilli. ‘I’ll come back tomorrow when all of this is over. In the meantime, I intend booking into a hotel for the night. Unless Lilli has any other ideas?’ he added, looking at her with raised brows.

‘Just Lilli’ had realised, from the conversation between these two, that the original plan must have been for Patrick to spend the night here. And, considering Geraldine’s intimacy with the man she had been draped over in the other room, that was no mean feat in itself; what did this woman do, line them up in relays? Whatever, Patrick had obviously decided he would rather spend the night with her, though the house she shared in Mayfair with her father was not the place for her to take him; she felt hurt and betrayed, but not that hurt and betrayed!

‘A hotel sounds fine,’ she accepted with bravado, green eyes challenging as she looked across the room at Geraldine.

The other woman’s stare relaxed slightly as she met that challenge. ‘Lilli, don’t do something you’ll regret,’ she cautioned gently.

Geraldine knew she had seen the two of them together, knew why she was doing this! All the better; there was no satisfaction in revenge if the person targeted was unaware of it...!

Lilli turned slightly into Patrick’s body, resting her head against the hardness of his chest. ‘I’m sure Patrick will make sure I don’t regret a thing,’ she said huskily.

‘Lilli—’

‘Gerry, just butt out, will you?’ Patrick told her impatiently. ‘Go and find your ageing lover and leave Lilli and me to get on with our lives. I’m not a monster intent on seducing an innocent, and you aren’t the girl’s mother, for goodness’ sake,’ he added disgustedly.

Lilli looked at the other woman with pure venom in her eyes; she had never disliked anyone as much as she did Geraldine Simms at that moment. ‘Yes, Geraldine,’ she said flatly. ‘Please go back to your lover; I’m sure he must be wondering where you are.’

‘We’ll go out the back way,’ Patrick suggested lightly. ‘Unless you want to fight your way out through the chaos?’

‘No, the back way is fine.’ Her coat didn’t matter any more; no doubt it would be returned to her in time!

‘Patrick!’ Geraldine had crossed the room to stop them at the door, a restraining hand on Patrick’s arm now. ‘I realise you’re angry with me right now, but please don’t—’

‘I’m not angry with you, Gerry,’ he cut in contemptuously. ‘No one has any ties on you; they never had!’ His face was cold as he looked down at her.

‘This isn’t important just now,’ the beautiful redhead dismissed impatiently. ‘Anyone but Lilli, Patrick,’ she groaned.

So the woman did have a conscience, after all! Unless, of course, she just didn’t want Lilli, in particular, walking off with one of her men...? In the circumstances, that was probably closer to the truth.

‘Please don’t worry on my account, Geraldine.’ Lilli deliberately used the other woman’s full name. The two of them had never been particularly close in the past, although Lilli did usually call her Gerry; but after this evening she hoped they would never meet again. ‘I know exactly what I’m doing,’ she affirmed.

Geraldine looked at Lilli searchingly for several long seconds. ‘I don’t think you do.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘And I’m absolutely positive you don’t, Patrick,’ she added firmly. ‘Lilli is—’

‘Could we leave now, Patrick?’ Lilli turned to him, open flirtation in the dark green of her eyes. ‘Before I decide snakes and ladders is preferable!’

He looked at her admiringly. ‘We’re leaving, Gerry,’ he told the other woman decisively. ‘Now.’

‘But—’

‘Now, Gerry,’ he insisted, opening the back door for Lilli to precede him. ‘Enjoy your party,’ he called over his shoulder, his arm once more about Lilli’s waist as they stepped out into the cold December evening.

The blast of icy cold air was like a slap on the face, and Lilli could feel her head swimming from the amount of champagne and wine she had drunk during the evening. In fact, she suddenly felt decidedly light-headed.

‘Steady.’ Patrick’s arm tightened about her waist as he held her beside him. ‘My car is just over here. Don’t you have a coat?’ He frowned as she shivered from the cold while he unlocked the doors of his sleek black sports car.

She suddenly couldn’t remember whether she had a coat or not. In fact, she was having trouble putting two thoughts together inside her head!

She gave a laugh as he opened the car door for her to get in, showing a long expanse of shapely leg as she dropped down into the low passenger seat. ‘I’m sure you’ll help me to get warm once we reach the hotel,’ she told him seductively.

His mouth quirked. ‘I’ll do my best, Just Lilli,’ he assured her, the promise in his voice unmistakable.

Lilli leant her head back against the seat as he closed her door to move around the car and get in behind the wheel. What was she doing here...? Oh, yes, she was getting away from Geraldine and him!

‘Any preference on hotels?’ Patrick glanced at her as he turned on the ignition.

Hotels? Why were they going to a hotel...? Oh, yes...this man was going to make love to her.

She shook her head, instantly wishing she hadn’t as it began to spin once again. ‘You choose,’ she said weakly.

She wasn’t actually going to be sick, was she?

God, she hoped not. Although she had no idea where they were going as Patrick turned the car out onto the road. And at that moment she didn’t care either. Nothing mattered at the moment. Not her. Not him. Not Geraldine Simms!

‘All right?’ Patrick reached out to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

She didn’t think she would ever be ‘all right’ again. She had felt as if her world had shattered three months ago; tonight it felt as if it had ended completely.

‘Fine,’ she answered as if from a long way away. ‘Just take me somewhere private and make love to me.’

‘Oh, I intend to, Just Lilli. I intend to.’

Lilli sat back with her eyes closed, wishing at that moment for total oblivion, not just a few hours in Patrick Devlin’s arms...