Читать книгу Mediterranean Tycoons: Wealthy & Wicked - Jacqueline Baird - Страница 15

PHOEBE barely slept, and when she did a tall dark man haunted her dreams. She awoke with a start to find Ben standing by the bed. She glanced at the clock—six-thirty in the morning. Watching Ben scramble up on to the bed, demanding she get up, she laughed and gave him a cuddle—but inside she was worried sick at the thought of how his young life might change with the arrival of Jed Sabbides.

As for her life—the very idea of Jed sweeping in and out of it for heaven knew how long didn’t bear thinking about. Having to see him on a regular basis visiting Ben was not something she looked forward too, but after a long, restless night she realised she would eventually have to give Jed more than supervised visiting rights to his son. Subjecting Ben to a custody battle was a pointless exercise. As his mother, she had no doubt she would win full custody, but the courts would certainly give Jed partial rights anyway. The only alternative offered—to marry the man—was completely out of the question. She had trusted Jed once with her heart and soul, and he had destroyed her trust. A marriage might work without love if there was respect and friendship between the couple, but without trust there was no hope.

Phoebe would never trust Jed again, and she could think of no hell on earth worse than being married to a man her own innate honesty forced her to admit she had little to no power to resist on a sexual level. That was something else she had learned last night as she awoke from a dream, her body hot and throbbing with frustration.

For years, sex or the lack of it had not bothered her—yet Jed in no time at all had reduced her to a sensually needy female with an ease that scared her. No way was she putting her head in that noose again.

In that moment Phoebe made her decision. She would tell Jed she was willing to amend the conditions on his visiting rights and allowing him to see Ben. At first it would be in her presence, but later, once Ben was comfortable with him, on his own. It was a big concession on her part, which meant eventually gifting Jed a modicum of trust, but not yet—and she wasn’t going to tell him today…

Today she was going to take Ben to the caravan they owned at a holiday park on the edge of Weymouth Bay. They spent all their holidays there and Ben loved the place. They could pick up the wallpaper for his bedroom in the home decor shop in Weymouth, and over the weekend go searching for fossils at Lyme Regis before closing the caravan up for the winter. The autumn half term holiday was usually the last time they used the caravan until the next year. She wasn’t really running away…

Maybe it was cowardly, Phoebe admitted, but she did not feel like facing Jed again quite so soon—not after so helplessly falling apart in his arms last night. She needed time to regain her emotional balance, and this was the perfect solution. At least she could avoid him for a couple of days.

Her car was parked at the end of the drive, the case with their clothes was in the boot, and they were almost ready to leave.

Phoebe glanced around. It was beautiful crisp autumn morning, the sun was shining, and she took a deep breath, her spirits rising. She was warmly dressed in a blue ribbed wool sweater and grey trousers, her cashmere jacket was already in the car, and she glanced at her son.

‘Right, Ben, have you got everything? Rucksack and wellies for the beach?’ she prompted, and she smiled as he held up his bright red wellington boots and bag. ‘Good—put them in the car, and then we can go.’ Holding open the rear passenger door, she watched as he tightened his grip on the boots in one hand and the small rucksack containing tools and toys in the other.

Suddenly the roar of a car engine shattered the silence and she froze, but with a glance up the road she recognised Julian’s red Ferrari and heaved a sigh of relief. The car drew to a growling halt and Julian leapt out and strolled towards her, a broad grin on his attractive face.

‘Hi, Phoebe—Ben my favourite godson.’ He gave Ben a high five. ‘Going fossil-hunting I see.’ It was Julian who had introduced Ben to the hobby, and given him the small rucksack with the child-sized tools.

‘Yes.’ Ben grinned happily up at Julian, and then moved to place his things on the floor of the car.

‘How are you, Phoebe?’ Julian asked, his silver gaze resting on her.

‘Fine.’ She smiled as he looped an arm around her shoulders.

‘You don’t look it. Dark circles under the eyes…what have you been up to?’ he joked.

‘Nothing m—’ But the roar of another car engine drowned out her response.

Unbelievable. She groaned as the black Bentley coming from the opposite direction swerved across the road to pull up a foot in front of the Ferrari, effectively blocking her drive.

Jed Sabbides was not in the best of moods. The first call he had made after discovering Ben was definitely his son yesterday had been to Leo, the head of the security firm that guarded the Sabbides family, to arrange for his operative Sid in England to watch over Phoebe and Ben—with a few added precautions. One of which had been to inform him if they left their home. He had no intention of letting Phoebe run out on him again. Which was why, when he’d received the call this morning in the middle of breakfast, he had left immediately. And had arrived, from what he could see, just in time.

Phoebe, with her long hair swept back in a ponytail and wearing a figure hugging blue jumper and grey pants, looked stunning, and his body reacted with instant enthusiasm even as he frowned at the sight of her companion.

What the hell was Julian Gladstone doing here so early? And with his arm around Phoebe…Whatever they’d had going before, Jed did not want to know. But as of last night Phoebe was his again, and the sooner the man understood that the better.

He let none of his anger show as he stopped his car and got out.

Phoebe tensed, her blue eyes widening as Jed exited the car. Cleanshaven, he was wearing the same black leather jacket as yesterday, and underneath a white rollneck sweater. His long legs were encased in blue denim jeans, and if anything he looked more wickedly attractive than he ever had before. Maybe because a vivid image of him standing in the middle of her living room, his great body stark naked, his bronzed skin gleaming moist in the aftermath of sex, flashed inconveniently into her mind…

Julian bent his blond head to murmur in her ear. ‘Ah, now I understand the dark circles.’ Straightening, he called out in his cut-glass English accent as Jed walked towards them. ‘Good morning. Jed Sabbides, I believe. You are a long way from home, old man.’

Phoebe was expecting fireworks as Jed approached, but she could not have been more wrong. He stopped a foot in front of them.

‘Hi, Phoebe.’ He gave her a brief frowning glance before dropping gracefully to his haunches and adding, ‘Hello, Ben,’ his frown vanishing as he grinned at the boy.

Phoebe glanced down at the two heads almost on a level and heard her son’s joyful response. Her gaze wandered to where the faded denim of Jed’s jeans was pulled taught across muscular thighs, outlining his sex in stark detail. Hastily she looked away, appalled at where her thoughts were taking her, and was relieved when Jed stood up and turned his attention to Julian.

‘Good morning, Julian Gladstone, isn’t it?’ He returned Julian’s greeting.

For a long moment Phoebe simply stared at the scene before her. They were like two stags at bay—both big, powerful males, leaders of the pack. She recognised the macho confrontation. But then to her amazement Jed held out his hand to Julian, who automatically slipped his arm from her shoulders and took the offered hand.

Jed nodded his head in the direction of the road.

‘Nice car you have there, Gladstone—the latest model Ferrari.’

To Phoebe’s astonishment, both men turned to admire the red car.

‘I took delivery of the same model two weeks ago, but I have not had a chance to drive it yet. How does it handle?’ Jed asked.

For the next five minutes Phoebe might as well have been invisible, and in one way she was grateful. Jed’s brief hello had told her clearer than more words that making love—no, not love, having sex—last night meant nothing to him, whereas she, for some inexplicable reason, after years of celibacy never bothering her, had only to look at the man to start thinking about sex…

The tableau was surreal, and she shook her head to dispel her wayward thoughts and simply watched, speechless, as Julian and Jed, with her beloved Ben in tow, strolled to the side of the road. Ben was allowed to sit in the passenger seat of the Ferrari while the men entered into a serious discussion—she presumed on the relative merits of the cars.

By the time they returned to her Jed and Julian appeared to be friends, and Ben had a serious case of dual hero-worship…

‘Mum, Jed has a new Ferrari the same as Uncle Julian’s at his home in Greece. Do you think we can have a new car soon?’ her son asked, casting a disdainful look which reminded Phoebe startlingly of his father at her old Mini Cooper and then a hopeful look up at her.

‘Yes, of course you can. I’ll buy a new one,’ Jed answered before Phoebe could open her mouth. ‘I gave that car to your mum for Christmas long before you were born. I’m amazed she still has it.’ He gave Phoebe a mocking smile that was enough to make her blood pressure rise along with her anger.

‘Did you really?’ Julian inserted. ‘You never told me that, Phoebe.’ And after a shrewd glance at the two adults he finally grinned. ‘Obviously I had it wrong about you two.’ Patting Ben on the head, he said, ‘Have a good time, sport, I’ll see you later. And good luck Jed.’ Then his blue eyes held Phoebe’s for a moment. ‘Have a good day, Phoebe. I’ll be in touch.’ And he left.

Reeling in shock that first Ben and now Julian had fallen for Jed’s easy charm, Phoebe bitterly resented the fact—never mind his revelation about her car and his audacity in saying he would provide a new one.

‘What did you say to Julian?’ she demanded of the tall dark figure beside her.

‘I told him the truth—I spent an informative and intimate evening with you last night—and thanked him for being a good godfather to Ben.’ Jed shrugged his broad shoulders.

He didn’t see the need to inform Phoebe of everything they had discussed. Julian had been hostile at first, and had brought up his wanting Phoebe to terminate her pregnancy. Jed had told him bluntly exactly what he had actually said to Phoebe at the time. He had then suggested man to man that the mind of a woman was a mystery to most logically minded males, and the interpretation they could put on a few words might be totally illogical and contrary to what a guy actually meant. Julian had agreed with him, but somehow Jed knew repeating the conversation to Phoebe would almost certainly end with her calling him a male chauvinist pig again, and he didn’t need the hassle.

He had enough of a problem trying to persuade her to his way of thinking as it was. He had thought last night their sexual compatibility would do the trick, but no such luck. He realised she did not trust him an inch, and until she did he was never going to get Ben.

Last night he had called his British lawyer and told him the whole story, and Phoebe’s take on it. In his opinion Jed had little chance of winning custody of his son in an English court unless he could prove she was a totally incompetent mother—which from what Jed had told him she was not. She was a respected schoolteacher, financially viable, who owned her own home and had an aunt as a built-in babysitter. Jed didn’t have a leg to stand on. The lawyer’s advice was to reach an amicable arrangement with Phoebe if possible, and if not then to get the pair of them to Greece. He stood a much better chance in a Greek court.

With the lawyer’s advice in mind, Jed had formed a plan to spend as long as it took with Phoebe and behave like an old friend rather than a lover while getting to know his son. Provided he could keep his hands off Phoebe, his no-sex, friendly but firm ploy would work. He knew she wanted him, and once he got her to trust him a little it should be no problem getting her to visit Greece and agree to marry him. If not, he’d go to court…

With that in mind, he wasn’t going to give her the chance to argue. ‘Phoebe, you go and get the things you need out of your car and put them in mine, while I put Ben in his seat. He’s told me we are going out for the day, and my car will be much more comfortable for all of us.’ Jed gave her a brief smile and saw the fury in her eyes. Looking down at Ben, he added, ‘Isn’t that right, Ben?’ He wasn’t above using his son to back him up, and, taking the boy’s hand, he headed for the car.

Phoebe, her face scarlet with embarrassment and anger, simply stood open-mouthed at the turn of events. She was mortified at the thought of Jed implying to Julian they’d had sex, and furious at his arrogant assumption he could take over her plans for the day. At least he obviously assumed it was just for the day, which was lucky for her—because with Ben skipping along at Jed’s side towards the car, his hand trustingly in the man’s, she knew she could not argue with him.

Fighting with Jed in front of her son would only result in Ben resenting her interference. Maybe that was what Jed was hoping for? Biting her lip, she retrieved her jacket, the rucksack and wellington boots from her car, and, thankful for small mercies, ignored the suitcase in the boot and locked the car. She closed the gates behind her and slid into the back seat of the convertible without saying a word. Then to her horror Ben piped up…

‘Mum, you’ve forgotten the case with all our stuff for the weekend.’

Jed glanced over his shoulder, his dark gaze narrowed. ‘I thought you had planned just a day out? Ben said we are going hunting for dinosaurs—not something I have done before. But the whole weekend sounds much better. Where exactly were you planning on staying?’ he demanded silkily.

‘In our caravan by the sea. You can stay with us if you like. Can’t he, Mum?’ Ben spoke up yet again, and for the first time in her life Phoebe felt like strangling her own son.

‘No, Ben we are only going for the day now,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Jed is a very important man, and we could not possibly impose on his valuable time for more than a few hours,’ she said, sarcasm lacing her tone as she shot her nemesis a filthy look. ‘We are wasting time. Drive on.’ But he didn’t

‘No, Phoebe. I could not possibly deprive you of a weekend away. I have time to spare and would love to spend it with you both.’

‘Isn’t that great, Mum?’ Ben asked, and after her brilliant son had informed Jed the caravan was huge, with two bedrooms and a sofa that made a bed, she did not even have the excuse that there was no room for the manipulative devil. Mentioning that Jed had not packed was a waste of time, as the damn man said he could buy anything he needed…

Then with a cynical smile he insisted on taking her car keys and retrieving the suitcase from her car. Phoebe, running out of excuses to refuse, was stunned into horrified silence.

Short of dragging her son out of the car and telling the hateful man to get lost she had no choice but to go along with the pair of them.

How in heaven’s name, she asked herself, had her planned escape from Jed ended up with him spending the whole weekend with them—in the caravan of all places?

It would be one hell of a culture shock for the stinking rich Greek, that was for sure. She doubted he even knew what a caravan was…

He looked at her in the rearview mirror, his dark eyes gleaming with laughter. ‘Right, Phoebe, where are we going and which way?’ he demanded with a broad smile.

For an instant she was reminded of the first time they’d met, and the brilliance of his smile that had so captivated her. Her lips quirked at the corners in the beginnings of a smile, but she clenched her teeth instead as she realised he had good reason to smile, but she did not. Jed had got his own way yet again…

‘Weymouth,’ she said abruptly. ‘Your sat-nav will guide you.’ And, turning her head, she looked out of the window and tried to ignore him.

A while later the big car finally stopped in front of the barrier at the entrance to the caravan park.

‘Wait here while I check in at Reception and get the pass.’

Phoebe had endured an hour of near silence, which unfortunately had given her a lot of time for her gaze to stray to the back of Jed’s head and remember running her fingers through his thick black hair and a lot more last night. Consequently she was hot and bothered, and could not get out of the car fast enough.

Five minutes later Phoebe returned and handed the pass to Jed through the open window of the car.

‘What took you so long?’ he asked.

‘It is Saturday morning and next week is the half term holiday—the last school break before Christmas. That is why it is busy,’ she snapped.

‘Ah, I understand. Jump in and tell me which way to go—I want to see where we are sleeping tonight.’

His comment, and the sensual curl of his lips as he smiled, made Phoebe’s temperature almost reach boiling point, and she slid in to the back seat silently fuming.

Her temper did not improve when they reached the caravan and Jed deftly parked the car alongside. Within seconds he had lifted Ben out and ascended the steps to the balcony, waiting impatiently for her to open the door.

Instructing Ben to unpack his bag in his usual bedroom, she tried to persuade Jed to leave—telling him straight that she did not want him there, and that a man like him, accustomed to luxury, would hate the place. But all to no avail. He astounded her by saying he had driven across America in a Winnebago in his youth, and this was bigger.

With Ben running in on the argument, grabbing Jed’s hand and insisting on showing him around, she had to give up…

Contrary to Phoebe’s expectations, the day was not a complete disaster. After lunch in a fish restaurant on the harbour, the afternoon had been good. They had driven out to Portland Bill to see the lighthouse and take the tour of Portland Castle, and Jed had taken countless photos with his cellphone—one great one of Ben sitting astride a cannon.

But that had been after she had got over a nasty shock when they went shopping in the morning—and if she was honest one hell of a wake-up call…

Ben hadn’t been able to decide which wallpaper he liked best, and had demanded both cars and dinosaurs. She had agreed, though she knew to adult eyes two walls decorated in one print and two in another was not ideal.

Jed had asked the shop-owner when they would do the work, suggesting that afternoon and evening would be good. What had happened next opened her eyes once and for all to the wealth and power of the man.

Phoebe had given Jed a condescending smile and told him the shop did not do the decorating—she was going to do it herself next week. But he had simply looked at her and said, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ A few telephone calls later he was demanding her house keys and handing them over to a burly-looking man called Sid, along with the bags…

Apparently Sid was her son’s bodyguard, as of yesterday, and he was going to stay at her home to take care of things while the decorators did their work over the weekend. The timing was ideal.

Now, showered and changed into a blue velour V-necked jumpsuit, Phoebe sat on the bed watching her sleeping son and was forced to face that, no matter how much she protested over the idea of a bodyguard, Ben’s life was changed for ever. Jed had simply pointed out that Ben was his son and the fear of kidnap was an ever-present threat. That had shut her up…

Leaning forward, she brushed a few curls from his brow and dropped a soft kiss on his cheek. Standing up, she squared her shoulders and quietly left the bedroom.