Читать книгу Last Stop Marriage - Emma Darcy, Emma Darcy - Страница 8

DESPITE the time differential between the countries, various communication problems with officialdom, and a lot of persuasive effort on her part, Jayne tracked Dan Drayton to an apartment in Casablanca.

The long hours of tension, of holding herself together until her goal was reached, resulted in a sense of light-headedness when she heard the receiver of his telephone lifted from its cradle.

‘Mmmh?’

Had she done it, or hadn’t she? ‘Am I speaking to Dan Drayton?’ she asked, her voice almost cracking under the pressure of her need to know.

‘Mmmh…’

It was a lazy, disinterested sound, but definitely not negative. Maybe she had woken him from a nap. An afternoon siesta was common in Mediterranean countries such as Morocco. Jayne took a deep breath, trying to calm the quickened tempo of her heartbeat. This was a terribly important business call. She had to get it right.

‘Dan…’ She hesitated. How would he react to her name? Irrelevant, she decided. ‘Dan, it’s Jayne. Jayne Winter. Your ex-wife.’

Ex-wife wasn’t technically correct since neither of them had bothered getting an official divorce, but it was factually correct. Jayne didn’t think Dan would quibble about it.

There was a long, disconcerting silence before he answered. Then to disconcert her even further, he spoke in his soft, sensual voice. ‘I remember. What can I do for you, Jayne?’

It brought back memories that pierced the shield she’d put around her heart. So many times he had said those words, wanting her to be content with him, not seeing or understanding her need to find some self-fulfilment. They never stayed in one place long enough for her to settle to anything productive and interesting.

But that was over for her. She had to take control of this call, forget the past. ‘I work for Monty Castle. I’m his personal assistant. He asked me to call you on his behalf.’

Another silence. Jayne hoped Dan was taking in that this was purely business, nothing personal at all. She heard some indistinct sounds that suggested someone else was with him, but she was totally unprepared for what came next.

‘It’s okay, Baby,’ Dan murmured. ‘Nothing to get disturbed about. This is the Jayne who was with me long before you came along. Here now, you can listen, too.’

The soothing, sexy drawl had a mind-shattering effect. The indulgent tone conjured up a baby-doll woman curled up to him, their heads sharing the same pillow. Jayne couldn’t bear to dwell on what other level of intimacy they were sharing.

It didn’t help at all to tell herself it was only natural for Dan to have found some other woman, or any number of them, to ease his sexual needs. She didn’t want to hear the evidence of it. She remembered all too well how voracious his need for her had been when they were first married.

And for him to have told this current woman about her, about their marriage, felt like the worst kind of betrayal. What they had shared was private. Couldn’t he have left it that way? As she had?

‘So what’s the problem, Jayne?’

She gritted her teeth and forced her mind back on to business. ‘We’re in China,’ she blurted out, defensively emphasising the distance between them.

‘Fascinating country.’

‘Mr. Castle was called in as a consultant on the new Denjing city project.’

‘I know.’

Had the two men discussed it? Perhaps Dan had recommended Monty after he himself had turned the contract down. Was that why Monty had chosen Dan to replace him?

‘The construction could be threatened by a mudflow,’ she hurried on.

‘Nasty things, mudflows.’

‘The threat has to be diverted,’ Jayne explained, struggling to get her thoughts focused on the main issue.

‘The right explosives in the right place. Simple.’

If only it was! Jayne took a deep breath, savagely berating herself for feeling so unreasonably…distracted…at discovering Dan was occupied with a woman on a level that was certainly not strictly business.

‘A few big booms. That’s what you like best, isn’t it, Baby?’ he went on, evoking a spluttering that sounded like a smothered giggle.

Jayne was not amused. Monty could be in danger of having another stroke, a fatal one, while Dan Drayton was playing stupid games with his Baby. Although to be fair, he couldn’t know how tasteless this conversation was until she told him.

‘Monty Castle had a stroke a few hours ago,’ she stated bluntly.

Another silence. A sobered silence, Jayne hoped, fiercely clamping down on the stupid churning stirred by Baby’s intrusive presence. Dan was entitled to do whatever he wanted. She had claimed the same right. It was just that it was…demeaning to be replaced by some brainless bimbo.

‘How bad?’ came the serious question, his voice deeper, sharper, driving her wandering mind back to the horror of Monty’s grey face and stricken body. She desperately hoped the effects of the stroke would not last long. Monty was only in his fifties and one of the most vital people she had ever met.

‘I don’t know,’ she answered, her concern for him uppermost as she explained further. ‘He was still conscious and talking when he was taken to the hospital, but he’d lost control of his left side. He asked me to contact you. He said you’d take over the consultancy for him and fulfil the contract.’

There! It was all said now. How Dan reacted and responded was entirely up to him. She had done her part. Although a niggle of conscience told her she could do more. And should do more if more was needed to get Dan here. It was not only for Monty’s sake. Lin Zhiyong had to be satisfied, as well.

‘Give me your location and the name of the hospital.’

She complied with the demands, bridling at the thought that Dan intended to check the facts she had given him before making a decision. His next statement stunned her.

‘I’ll get there as soon as possible.’

For a moment, Jayne couldn’t take it in. Dan was coming. Just like that. Just as Monty said he would. The assurance should have lifted a huge burden off her shoulders but it didn’t. She felt the pressure of her mettle being tested, and Dan wasn’t even here yet. It took an enormous effort of willpower to rise above the uneasy prospect of coming face-to-face with him again and concentrate on the more immediate problems to be resolved.

‘How soon will that be?’ She was amazed at how matter-of-fact she sounded.

‘Mmmh…a little tricky. I was about to close a deal with Sheikh Omar El Talik, whom I don’t care to offend.’

He could offer Baby as a candidate for the sheikh’s harem, Jayne thought, then silently castigated herself for the shockingly sexist idea. She excused herself on the grounds that she needed Dan Drayton without any other ties. Monty needed him, she swiftly corrected, frowning over her muddled thinking. The faster Dan could come and go, the better.

‘We should be there within a week,’ came the considered estimate.

That made things easier. Lin Zhiyong’s seven-day limit could be met. ‘That’s great! Thank you.’

She quickly explained the concerns of the Chinese official and passed on the invitation to the festival party, privately congratulating herself on coming to grips with the situation with growing aplomb.

‘We’ll be there,’ Dan Drayton assured her decisively.

The repetition of we finally sank in. ‘Are you bringing someone with you?’

‘Baby goes everywhere with me. Wouldn’t dream of leaving you with anyone else, would I, cuddlepie?’

Another bubbly splutter.

It was sickening. A ghastly vision leapt into Jayne’s mind; a simpering nymphet clinging onto Dan’s arm as he surveyed the mudflow problem with a bevy of intense Chinese engineers.

‘There isn’t going to be much time for entertainment once you’re here on the job,’ she warned, her mouth tightening, her stomach tightening at the thought of him turning up at Lin Zhiyong’s party with another woman. How on earth would she save face in those circumstances?

‘Don’t worry about Baby. I’ll look after her. Just book us a room in the best hotel there is in Xi’an.’

‘It isn’t five star international,’ she said tartly. Surely Dan couldn’t be serious about a woman he called Baby.

‘I don’t expect Baby will notice. A roof over her head, food to eat, me to love her…’

A bed was probably the only requirement, Jayne thought waspishly. ‘Could you please send a confirming fax of your agreement to take over from Mr. Castle? It will prevent any problems from developing here.’

‘Give me your fax number.’

She did so, trying to quell her irritation that he would not be as single-minded as she in completing the project for Monty. If Baby caused complications or delays…Jayne shook her head. She had no choice but to accept the situation and do what she could to circumvent any distractions from getting the project completed on schedule.

‘Which way will you be coming in?’ she asked. ‘From Tokyo or Hong Kong?’

‘On Dragon Air from Hong Kong.’

‘I’ll have someone waiting for you at Hong Kong airport with the necessary visas, letters, et cetera for entry.’

‘Thank you, Jayne.’

Her skin prickled at the sensual caress in his voice. She had forgotten how he could evoke responses like that simply with an expressive change of tone. It was something she would have to guard against.

She should probably ask for Baby’s name, but it could be filled in on the paperwork before the flight into China. If it was something like Peach Bubbles, she would probably throw up.

‘Please keep me posted on your journey,’ she said stiffly. ‘I’ll be at Xi’an airport to meet you.’

‘No need for that. We’ll see you at Lin Zhiyong’s party. Baby and I will look forward to it.’

A heated breath hissed between Jayne’s teeth. How could any woman stand being spoken of in such a patronising manner? Did having a free meal and travel ticket compensate for such de-meaning paternalism? Was Baby’s brain dulled by a sexual drive that consumed any rational thought?

‘Is there anything else you want done before you arrive here?’ she asked, keeping her tone crisp and level. ‘Mr. Castle instructed me to give you every assistance with the job.’

‘Yes, I thought he would. Is that hard for you, Jayne?’

‘Not at all,’ she tossed off as blithely as she could.

‘I wouldn’t want to make your life miserable again.’

‘Different circumstances, aren’t they?’ she grated, furious that he would imply such a thing in front of the woman he was bringing with him.

‘Of course,’ he agreed. ‘Then we shall meet once more under a full moon. As I recall, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated when the moon is at its fullest and brightest.’

The line was disconnected before she could make a comeback. Not that she had one. Better not to acknowledge the memory he had evoked anyway. It was in absolutely rotten taste for him to allude to the heady romance of their very first meeting when he was not only carrying on an intimate affair with another woman, but escorting that woman to Lin Zhiyong’s full-moon party!

She crashed the receiver down on its cradle and glared at it with gathering turbulence. Her lips compressed. Dan Drayton had better keep his mind completely focused on work when he was with her. As fond as she was of Monty, her loyalty to him did not extend to tolerating insidious remarks about the past. If Dan Drayton once tried to put anything on her that was inappropriate to the situation, he would get a demonstration of Dragon Lady the like of which no one had ever seen before!

The fax machine signalled an incoming message. Jayne pushed herself to her feet and crossed the office to watch the transmission roll out. It was the official confirmation she had requested for the purpose of satisfying Lin Zhiyong and the team of Chinese engineers that the replacement expert was on his way.

The prime objective had been attained.

She had, indeed, got Dan Drayton.

The only question was whether she would get past this encounter, unscarred, unscathed and unhitched from the man she had once thought she would love forever.