Читать книгу Bride For A Year - Kathryn Ross, Kathryn Ross - Страница 7

CHAPTER TWO

‘I CAN’T believe that you are faced with the prospect of selling this place,’ Rosie said with heartfelt sympathy in her voice.

‘It’s just unfortunate.’ Paige tried to play down her emotion on the subject as she poured her friend another cup of coffee.

They were in Paige’s kitchen at the vineyard. It was getting up towards midday and Paige had a million jobs waiting to be done. She had shelved them all very gratefully when Rosie arrived, glad of a chance to talk and relax for a while.

‘But what will you do? Where will you go?’

Paige shrugged. At the back of her mind Brad’s offer lay...too scary to think deeply about, too intriguing to forget. ‘I might go to Seattle. One of my friends has got a flat up there and apparently some contacts if I want to start looking for a job.’

‘Seattle!’ Rosie sounded shocked. ‘That’s a hell of a long way away... Who lives up there? Not that guy you were friendly with...Josh Summers?’

Paige smiled. ‘No, not Josh. He was just a friend, you know, Rosie... There was nothing romantic between us.’

‘No, but he would have liked there to be. I saw the way he looked at you when he came up here for that long weekend.’

‘He was just a fellow student. I had a card of sympathy from him when he heard about my father’s death...but I certainly have no plans to move in with him, I can assure you.’ She leaned back against the windowsill and sighed. ‘Strange, but Brad jumped to exactly the same conclusion when I told him I might share a flat with a friend. He asked if it was a male friend.’

‘Did he, now?’ Rosie looked extremely interested in this. ‘When did you see Brad?’

‘He came over here last night.’ For a moment there was silence as Paige grappled with her conscience over whether or not to tell Rosie about Brad’s outrageous proposal.

Paige had been friends with Rosie Jefferson for years. They used to sit together in school, and had shared many secrets and dreams over the years. Even though they had been separated while Paige was away at college, and Rosie got married, they were still as close as ever.

But now, for the first time, Paige found she didn’t want to confide in her friend. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Rosie, it was more that she didn’t want to voice the extremely personal nature of Brad’s proposal—the fact that he had suggested a relationship based purely on business reasons hurt in some strange way. She tried to tell herself that it was her pride that was hurting, but deep down she wasn’t too sure.

‘Have you forgiven him over the money?’ Rosie asked, her eyes moving over the pallor of Paige’s skin.

She shrugged. ‘I suppose if, I’m honest, I can’t really blame him totally... What is it they say? Never a lender or a borrower be?’

‘I’m sure if he could have afforded to let your father’s loan ride he would have,’ Rosie said with a nod. ‘He’s a decent guy.’

‘Yes...’ Deep down Paige wanted to believe that. But the fact that Brad had openly told her he could afford to let the loan ride and had chosen not to did still grate rawly. Her father had been so broken up just before he had died... The memory was pitiful and it tore at Paige.

‘I’m glad that you two are friends again,’ Rosie continued briskly. ‘Brad must be pretty upset at the moment, anyway. I believe he and Carolyn Murphy have split up.’

‘He mentioned something,’ Paige said noncommittally.

‘Apparently she has ditched him for Robert Hicks.’

‘Really?’ There was complete amazement in Paige’s voice now. Strangely she hadn’t for one moment considered the fact that Carolyn might have been the one to finish with Brad.

Rosie grinned. ‘I knew that would surprise you. You’ve always had a soft spot for Brad, haven’t you?’

‘That’s in the past.’ Paige tried to sound firmly convinced and ignore the little whispering voice inside her that wanted to argue with that.

‘Sure.’ Rosie wasn’t at all taken in by Paige’s reply. ‘But you’re right, Carolyn must have been crazy to finish with Brad; he is gorgeous. If I weren’t a married woman, and didn’t adore my Mike, I’d be interested myself.’

‘How do you know that Carolyn finished with him? Did Brad tell you that?’

‘No, of course not. Mike sees a lot of Brad these days as he’s going to be managing Brad’s campaign for mayor. But I don’t think they discuss things like that... Well, if they do, my husband certainly hasn’t repeated it to me. No, I met Carolyn in town a while ago and she told me herself.’ Rose wrinkled her nose. ‘She’s extremely confident, you know, and I must say she looked fabulous. Made me wish I’d stuck to my diet last year.’

‘You don’t need to diet, Rosie,’ Paige said quickly. Rosie Jefferson was an extremely attractive blonde. She wasn’t fat, she just had a curvaceous figure.

Rosie shrugged as if she didn’t agree but wasn’t going to argue about it today.

‘So what did Carolyn say?’ Paige reached to pick up her coffee from the table.

‘Get this.’ Rosie’s eyes twinkled with good humour. ‘She said, and I quote, “I’ve finished with Brad. He was getting rather tiresome. Robert has asked me to marry him and I’ve accepted.”’

‘Marry him!’ Paige’s eyes widened. ‘She’s marrying Robert Hicks!’

‘Just goes to show you can’t take anything for granted.’ Rosie nodded. ‘I think we were all convinced that Carolyn would marry Brad. They seemed like the perfect couple, didn’t they?’

‘Yes, they did,’ Paige agreed quietly.

‘Of course, Robert comes from an extremely wealthy family. They own a lot of property in San Francisco. Carolyn was telling me that they are going to live there after the wedding.’

Paige wondered if deep down Brad was heartsore about the whole thing.

‘Anyway, the coast is now clear. As far as I can make out Brad isn’t seeing anyone at the moment...not a girlfriend on the playing field.’

‘I’m sure that won’t be the situation for very long.’ Paige sipped her coffee then met the gleam in her friend’s eye. ‘Don’t look at me like that. I’m not in the slightest bit interested any more,’ she said staunchly.

Yet despite the strong words, despite everything that had happened to turn her against Brad, she knew very well that she was far more interested than she should be. She wondered if the fact that Carolyn had finished with Brad had triggered his decision to propose to her. Perhaps he had been counting on Carolyn to be by his side during the elections and now that the love of his life was going to marry someone else he had decided just to cut his losses and make a marriage purely for business reasons. ‘Anyway, once this place is sold I shall be moving away. So it’s irrelevant who Brad is seeing or isn’t seeing,’ she said firmly, trying very hard not to care.

Rosie frowned. ‘You aren’t really serious about leaving the valley, Paige? Surely you could find a job around here? You’ve only just graduated from college; you’ve got bags of qualifications.’

Paige shook her head. ‘I’m going to make a fresh start,’ she said with gentle determination. ‘I couldn’t bear to stay around here and see this vineyard being run by someone else. It would just break my heart.’

‘I don’t want you to leave, Paige...’ Rosie looked over at her, a sudden serious light in her eyes. ‘Especially now.’

‘Believe me, I don’t want to go—’ Paige broke off and frowned at her friend. ‘Why especially now?’

‘I was going to ask you to be godmother to our baby.’ Rosie smiled, happiness radiating through her every word.

‘Rosie! You’re not!’ Paige put her cup down and squealed with delight.

‘I am.’ Rosie nodded. ‘Four weeks pregnant.’

Paige moved to throw her arms around her friend.

‘It just seems that everything is going right at last,’ Rosie said, her eyes misting with sudden tears.

‘Oh, Rosie, it’s wonderful news. I’m so happy for you both.’ Paige squeezed her friend warmly before drawing back.

‘So you can’t go away...not now,’ Rosie said earnestly. ‘I want you to stay. I want you to settle down here and be as happy as Mike and I are.’

‘I don’t think that’s possible,’ Paige said with a tremor in her voice.

‘Anything is possible,’ Rosie said with strong conviction.

The sound of a car driving up outside made Rosie break off. Paige went to glance out of the window. A bright red Porsche had pulled in alongside Rosie’s old car and her Jeep.

‘It’s Brad,’ Paige murmured, her body filling with sudden apprehension.

‘Anybody home?’ His voice, strong and decisive, filtered through from the front hallway a moment later.

‘He acts as if he owns the place already,’ Paige said with annoyance. ‘Just barges on in when it suits him.’

Rosie smiled. ‘We are in the kitchen. Brad,’ she called out cheerfully.

A few seconds later he appeared in the kitchen doorway, looking tanned and powerfully attractive in his jeans and a navy blue polo shirt. ‘It seems I’ve arrived just in time,’ he grinned, eyeing the coffee pot on the table.

‘You certainly have.’ Rosie was the one who got out another cup and poured the drink for him. ‘Good to see you, Brad.’

‘It’s good to see you too...and looking so well.’ He smiled and kissed the side of Rosie’s cheek as he passed her. ‘I’ve just come from your house. Mike was telling me the good news. Congratulations.’

Rosie’s cheeks flared a bright pink. ‘Thanks.’

Brad glanced over at Paige and for a moment his dark eyes lingered contemplatively on her face.

She felt heat licking through her veins as she remembered their last meeting, the way he’d kissed her...his proposal.

She looked hurriedly away from him, but she was still acutely aware of the way he was watching her, the way his eyes had travelled away from her face and down over the slender lines of her figure in the pale blue sundress.

Rosie handed him his coffee. ‘Actually, I was just leaving,’ she said, looking from him towards Paige.

‘You don’t have to dash off on my account,’ Brad said sipping his drink.

‘No, no, I was going anyway.’ Rosie finished her coffee. ‘Perhaps you can talk some sense into Paige. She’s talking about going to live in Seattle, you know.’

‘Seattle?’ Brad looked at Paige with a frown.

Silence hung heavily in the air for a moment before Rosie said with a gleam of mischief in her eyes. ‘She won’t admit it, but I’m sure it’s that guy she met at college trying to talk her into going up there. Probably hoping she’ll agree to live with him.’

‘Rosie!’ Paige’s eyes widened at such a blatant untruth.

‘It isn’t good to make such a radical decision while you are still in mourning for your father, Paige... You’re not thinking clearly,’ Rosie continued totally unabashed by the look of disapproval on her friend’s face. She reached to pick up her handbag. ‘Anyway, I’ll leave you two alone. As I said, perhaps you can talk some sense into her Brad...?’

‘Thank you, but I don’t need anyone to talk sense into me,’ Paige murmured uncomfortably. ‘I am quite capable of managing my own life.’

Rosie shook her head. ‘I’ll phone you later, Paige. Let’s have lunch one day next week?’

Paige nodded and made to walk to the car with her friend, but Rosie waved her hand. ‘I can find my own way.’

The silence in the kitchen was loaded with tension once the back door closed behind her.

‘Seattle?’ Brad said again, and shook his head. ‘You know it does nothing but rain up there, don’t you?’

‘It will make a refreshing change, then, won’t it?’ Paige said briskly. She finished her coffee and put the cup down on the pine kitchen table, her eyes moving to the perfect blue sky outside.

‘Is there some man waiting in the wings for you up there?’ Brad persisted.

‘I’ve told you once, that’s none of your business,’ Paige replied staunchly. She had too much pride to admit that it wasn’t the truth. Let him think there was someone else who wanted her... and not for the cold-blooded business reasons he had propounded.

‘Rosie is right in a way, you know; you shouldn’t make such radical decisions at the moment. You’re still in shock from your father’s death.’

She glanced over at him. ‘Is that your way of telling me that you have changed your mind about us getting married?’

‘No, my...offer still stands.’ His voice was low, velvety and seductive.

Paige couldn’t find her voice to say anything for just a moment. She wouldn’t have been surprised if he had come over here to tell her the whole idea was a mistake; that he hadn’t been serious about his proposal. She shook her head, trying to dismiss the notion that she was relieved he hadn’t changed his mind, trying to clear the madness of this whole thing from her heart. ‘How come you think it would be a folly for me to rush up to Seattle while I’m, as you and Rosie like to put it, “not thinking clearly”, but it would be OK for me to rush into a marriage with you?’ Her voice was dry.

‘I’d rather you made a mistake with me than with somebody else.’ There was a gleam of humour in his dark eyes, a lopsided tug of a grin on the firm line of his lips. Something about it made her heart twist painfully. Brad’s droll sense of humour had always struck a chord inside her; she loved that wry glint, the effortless ease with which he could make her smile back at him. She fought the impulse now; this was too serious a discussion to laugh away lightly.

‘At least you honestly admit it would be a mistake,’ she said with a shake of her head. ‘I can’t believe you aren’t joking. So you honestly think my options are to stay here and have you take advantage of me, or go to Seattle and have someone else exploit me?’

‘I’m not about to take advantage of you, Paige,’ he said slowly. His eyes were perfectly serious now. ‘But I can’t vouch for the other guy—can you? Who is it, anyway? Not that guy you brought back here in the summer holidays last year?’

‘I’m not about to discuss my boyfriends with you.’

‘Spoilsport.’ He leaned back against the counter top. His eyes lingered on the softness of her lips. ‘I suppose what you’ve got to ask yourself is, do you want to keep your family home or is the guy in Seattle worth giving everything up for?’ he drawled lazily.

‘Oh, this is ridiculous.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m not listening to another word. We can’t get married; it’s preposterous.’

‘I think it would be a good deal for the both of us.’

‘A good deal!’ She was outraged. ‘How can you talk about marriage in those terms?’

‘If I talked in other terms...talked about love... would you be interested?’ he asked calmly, a hint of mocking sarcasm in his voice.

‘I’m not interested in any terms.’ Her heart slammed against her chest.

‘So you are going to run away to Seattle.’

‘I’m not running away.’ She denied that firmly. ‘I’m starting over again.’

‘You can start again here,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘I know how much this place means to you. You can have it all back in twelve months.’

Her skin flared with heat.

‘You’ll feel a lot better and clearer in twelve months.’

‘Or a lot worse.’

‘It’s a calculated risk. At least you’ll have your home back. You can’t lose.’

Paige doubted those words very much. ‘On the contrary, I think I could lose a great deal. My freedom...my sanity.’

One dark eyebrow lifted at that. ‘I don’t think living with me will be that bad!’ he said dryly.

‘That’s a matter of opinion.’ She glared at him.

‘Well, if that’s how you feel I’ll just ask someone else.’

The audacity of his words made her heart thump wildly. ‘Yes, you do that. What about Carolyn?’ She flung the words at him, wanting to see his reaction, wanting to know how he felt about Carolyn finishing with him.

‘I told you. Carolyn no longer figures in my life at all.’

His words were firm, the darkness of his eyes showing no hint of indecision or emotion on that point.

She pushed a hand through the length of her hair. ‘Are you by any chance on the rebound, Brad?’

He looked surprised by the question, then he laughed. ‘Certainly not. Carolyn wanted more from me than I was prepared to give.’

Paige thought about that for a moment before she said softly, ‘But she finished with you...didn’t she?’

‘Does it matter who finished with whom?’ he countered. He glanced at his watch. ‘Look, I haven’t come over here to discuss my past affairs. I was wondering if you would have lunch with me? I think it would help if we could sit down and discuss things in a mature manner.’

She shook her head. ‘I can’t honestly believe that you think we have anything to discuss. You know how I feel about you.’

‘You and I have always got on extremely well.’

‘Until I found out what you are really like.’

He shrugged. ‘I’ve always thought very highly of you, Paige. I like your sparky manner...’ His eyes slipped down to her figure. ‘Among other things.’

‘Don’t try to flatter me, Brad,’ she told him shakily. ‘I mean it. I’m not going along with this business deal of yours. I’m a romantic. When I many, it will be for love, not business.’

‘I can send roses,’ he said casually.

‘It would take more than roses to win me around now,’ she said bluntly. ‘After the way you treated my father.’

‘Let’s not go through that again. Your father’s problems were of his own making,’ he said derisively.

‘I’m sure you would like nothing better than for what you did to be forgotten,’ she said abrasively. ‘But that isn’t going to happen. I’ll never forget nor forgive how you stabbed my father in the back. He died a broken and bitter man and you contributed to that... I hate you for it—’

‘For hell’s sake, Paige, grow up.’ He cut across her words with contempt. ‘Your father was a foolish man; he ruined himself...’ He leaned across the table, meeting the fierce glitter of her eyes. ‘Shall I tell you why his finances were in such a bad state? Shall I tell you the truth?’

She frowned, her heart thudding overtime. ‘What do you mean? I know everything there is to know.’

For the briefest second she saw indecision in his dark eyes. Then he shrugged. ‘Your father was weak, Paige, and the sooner you face up to that the better.’

‘He didn’t have very many good words to say about you either,’ she said succinctly. ‘He said you were hard and ruthless. And, judging by the offer you are making me, I’d say he was right.’

His eyebrows rose. ‘If offering to write off the money still owing to me, offering to rebuild and invest in this vineyard then hand it back to you in twelve months is your opinion of cold and ruthless, then there is no point in us talking any further.’ He put his coffee cup down on the table.

‘Just tell me this, Brad.’ She stopped him as he made to move towards the door. ‘How come you can afford to write off my father’s loan now and yet when we begged you for some extra time to pay you back you refused flat?’

He stopped and looked at her. ‘I had very good reasons for doing what I did, Paige. I’m asking you to take my word for it.’

There was something about his tone that rang with sincerity. She felt confused suddenly.

He saw the shadows in her eyes, the grief, and he moved towards her.

‘Don’t, Brad.’ She moved back from him. ‘Don’t touch me. I mean it when I say I hate you.’

‘No, you don’t.’ He shook his head. ‘You’re scared of the future and you are desperately grieving for your father, but you don’t hate me.’

‘I’m not scared of anything,’ she told him staunchly.

His eyes moved gently over her pale skin, the soft, vulnerable curve of her lips. ‘I’ve known you since you were thirteen years of age, Paige Jackson, and I know every expression that flits across that beautiful face almost better than I know my own reflection in the mirror. I know you are hurting now...and I want you to believe that I want to make things better for you.’ He touched her face, raising it so she was forced to look up at him. ‘I want to kiss those trembling lips and hold you and tell you that you are never going to have to worry about anything again.’

She bit down on her lip. The strange thing was that despite everything she had been telling him she wanted him to kiss her, to hold her. She was so bewildered by the range of emotions inside her that she didn’t know what to think any more.

His thumb brushed the softness of her skin. ‘I’m sorry I said the things I did about your father, about him being weak. I shouldn’t have said anything.’

‘No, you shouldn’t have.’ Her eyes ached suddenly with the effort not to cry.

‘I want you to believe me when I say I always liked your father, Paige. I certainly wasn’t out to ruin him.’

Paige didn’t answer; her heart was beating so fiercely against her chest that she felt sure he would be able to hear it. His closeness was making all sorts of strange emotions surface with an intensity she couldn’t stem.

‘We won’t talk about the past again, all right?’ He lowered his voice to a gentle, persuasive tone. ‘The future is all that matters now. Let’s go out for lunch and discuss it together in a positive manner.’

Paige frowned. What was her future? Leaving everything and everyone she had ever known and loved, and that included Brad Monroe, starting again in a strange town? But if she stayed and married Brad, how would she feel in a year’s time when the marriage was over? She would have her home back, but would she really be able to pick up the pieces of her life, forget that she had shared a year with Brad, forget that she had shared his bed and act as if nothing had happened? She didn’t think she was capable of that, but then going away seemed an equally harsh solution.

‘Say you’ll marry me, Paige, and I’ll look after you.’

‘I don’t need looking after,’ she said fiercely. ‘I can look after myself.’

‘OK. say yes and we’ll work out the details later.’ He grinned at her. Then he leaned down and kissed her.

The sweetness of his lips against hers sent a shock of pleasure spinning deep inside her. She made no attempt to pull away from him; instead, some deeper, stronger instinct seemed to take over and she found herself reaching out, resting her hands against the warmth of his chest. He smelled wonderful—of expensive soap. She could feel the heat of him emanating through her, warming the coldness that had gripped her since her father’s death. She closed her eyes and found that she wanted to lean against him weakly, that she wanted just to give in and say, Let’s give it a go.

When he pulled back from her she looked up at him, feeling totally dazed. ‘Can you hear ringing?’ she murmured, feeling disorientated.

He smiled. ‘I think you’ll find it’s your phone.’

‘Oh!’ She stepped back from him. He sounded so...together, unaffected, and she felt so totally opposite to that, it was embarrassing. With difficulty she gathered herself together and crossed to pick up the phone.

‘Paige? It’s Ron Harrison here, Brad’s estate manager. Sorry to disturb you, but is he there?’

‘Yes...yes, he is.’ Paige held out the phone to Brad. ‘It’s for you.’

The slightest touch of his fingers against hers made her pulses start to quicken again.

‘Yes?’ His voice was brisk. Then he glanced at his watch. ‘OK; no, it doesn’t matter. I’ll come back and deal with it right away.’ His tone was businesslike.

He put the receiver down and turned to look at her. ‘I’m sorry, Paige, I’ll have to skip lunch. Problems at the vineyard.’

‘That’s OK.’ Paige shrugged and felt compelled to try to restore her protective barriers against him. ‘I wasn’t going to have lunch with you anyway.’

He smiled as if he didn’t believe that for a moment, as if he knew dam well he had got under her skin with that kiss. ‘We’ll have dinner instead,’ he asserted. ‘I’ll pick you up tomorrow night, seven-thirty.’

‘I don’t think so, Brad.’ She sounded as emotionally torn as she felt.

He grinned. ‘I won’t be late, so make sure you are ready on time.’ Then he swung out of the house. Paige watched him strolling towards the car, confident, very self-assured.

Her heart was thumping as if she had been running a race. She was still in love with Brad Monroe; the truth was very stark, very obvious in that moment and she hated herself for it.

This was the man who had betrayed her father, she told herself, but hidden behind the feelings of guilt and disloyalty to her father’s memory there was a longing so deep, so intense, she couldn’t suppress it.