Читать книгу Man-Hater - Пенни Джордан, Penny Jordan - Страница 7

SHE worried about the weekend when she should have been thinking about her work. There had been something in Jeremy’s manner which suggested that he might be contemplating forcing the issue. A visit to her bedroom uninvited, perhaps? It had happened before—albeit not with Jeremy. And if she refused the invitation, how would Sue feel? Sue who had lost her longed-for baby before it was even born.

Kelly fretted over the problem for most of the day and left the office feeling jaded and tense.

She was half-way down a tube escalator when the advertisement caught her eye: ‘Need a companion? An escort?’ it asked. ‘Phone us—we can provide either, male or female—to accompany you to that special function which you simply can’t attend alone.’

Was it genuine, or was she being naïve? What was the matter with her? she asked herself as she hurried on to the tube. Surely she wasn’t considering hiring an escort? But why not? It would be one way of keeping Jeremy at bay; and without the complications taking any other escort with her might involve. She had many male acquaintances, but there wasn’t one of them who wouldn’t leap immediately to the wrong conclusion if she suggested they spend the weekend with her.

She toyed with the idea all evening, alternately dismissing and re-assessing it. It was ridiculous, farcical, but wasn’t it also the ideal solution? There was nothing to be lost in simply making enquiries.

She dug out a telephone directory and searched through it. The agency had a surprisingly good address, a fairly new office block that Kelly knew quite well. She had contemplated taking a suite in it herself until she had received the offer from the insurance company for her present offices. Chewing her lip, she contemplated her alternatives. She could either go alone to Sue’s and risk being proved right about Jeremy’s attentions, or she could try and avert any unpleasantness by making enquiries at the agency and, if everything went well, employing one of their staff to accompany her.

Simple! So why should she be so wary and full of doubt? Was it because the idea of actually paying someone to accompany her smacked of a lack of femininity and—even worse—an admission that she could only attract male attention by paying for it? What did it matter? No one other than herself and the agency need know. Her motives were quite legitimate, and surely it was worth sinking her pride if it meant saving Sue pain and herself possible embarrassment. She had nothing to lose by simply calling at the agency and enquiring, had she?

As luck would have it, she had an appointment that took her in the vicinity of the agency’s offices. She emerged on to the pavement from the impressively externally-mirrored building that housed the latest addition to their client list, sufficiently buoyed up with the success of obtaining a new and prestigious client to pluck up the courage to cross the busy street and walk purposefully into the marble foyer of the building opposite. There was no commissionaire in evidence, but a quick glance at the nameplates by the lift confirmed that the agency was on the third floor. Feeling considerably more nervous than she had done at her previous interview, Kelly waited for the lift, smoothing the skirt of her new Jaeger suit anxiously. The suit wasn’t something she would normally have chosen. Maisie, her assistant, had persuaded her into it for the meeting this morning. In a rich amethyst velvet, the skirt fell in soft gathers from a neat waistband. The jacket was faintly mediaeval, with a cropped close-fitting collarless bodice and slim slightly puffed sleeves, quilted with gold thread.

She was wearing a new blouse with it, cream silk with a large collar worn outside the jacket, and an amethyst velvet ribbon tied in a bow at her throat.

Somehow the outfit made her look faintly vulnerable rather than efficient; it even seemed to rob her chignon of something of its normal formality. Wisps of hair had escaped to curl round her temples, and Kelly toyed nervously with her pearl earrings as she sent the lift to the third floor.

She saw the entrance to the agency the moment she stepped out of the lift. The door to the foyer was open and there was a man with his back to her bending over a desk.

He straightened up as she knocked and walked in, turning to study her with lazy appreciation. Much to her chagrin, Kelly felt herself flushing with anger as his glance slid potently over the length of her legs in the sheer amethyst stockings that matched her outfit, pausing almost thoughtfully before moving upwards, assessing the slenderness of her waist encased in a broad suede belt, the full curves of her breasts beneath the velvet jacket, coming to rest with amused comprehension on her taut and angrily flushed face.

‘My apologies,’ he drawled in a voice that, Kelly told herself unpleasantly, sounded like all the very worst television commercials, and was very obviously less than sincere.

‘Don’t apologise if you don’t mean it,’ she snapped. ‘Insulting me once was enough!’

‘Oh? And how did I do that?’ The husky voice hadn’t changed, but Kelly had the disconcerting feeling that somehow she had angered him.

‘By looking at me as though I were a piece of merchandise you were considering buying. That was your first insult,’ Kelly told him scathingly. ‘Your second was expecting me to be deceived by your less-than-sincere apology.’

‘Oh, I wasn’t apologising for looking,’ she was told softly. ‘What I was apologising for was embarrassing you.’

‘Embarrassing me!’ Kelly stared at him in fury. Did he actually think she had been embarrassed by his insulting scrutiny? ‘You didn’t embarrass me in the slightest,’ she told him coldly, ‘you merely annoyed me. How would men like it if women stared at them as though…’

‘As though they were pieces of merchandise they were considering buying?’ he quoted mockingly. ‘I don’t know what brings you here, Miss…’

‘Mrs Langdon,’ Kelly supplied for him coldly, watching his eyes narrow as he glanced at her left hand as though seeking confirmation of her statement. ‘I’m here for the very simple reason that I wish to avail myself of the services of this agency,’ she went on tautly. Now that she was here, confronting this arrogant specimen of manhood, she was beginning to have grave doubts about her intentions.

‘The agency?’ He glanced at the door, frowned, tapping thoughtfully on the desk, while he subjected her to a provokingly intense study. ‘You mean the escort agency, I take it?’

‘Is there any other?’ Kelly snapped, her patience worn thin by his manner and his scrutiny. He was completely unlike the species of male she had grown accustomed to over the years; they, well primed as to her reputation and her wealth, were normally either obsequious or respectful; sometimes flirtatious, but never, never did they regard her with the cool disdain of this man, whose grey eyes seemed to take her apart muscle by muscle, assessing each and every part of her as he did so. His hair was dark and brushed the collar of his jacket—too long, she thought scornfully, but doubtless there were some women who found him attractive. As far as she was concerned, he was far too chocolate-boxy to appeal; he looked like one of the actors one saw on television, driving lorries and eating bars of chocolate, or performing death-defying acts on skis to deliver them. Some of her contempt showed in the withering glance she gave him, determined not to let his manner overset her.

‘Umm…you’re attractive enough, I suppose,’ he ventured calmly, ‘but I scarcely think your manner is likely to win you friends or influence people. If you really want a job I would suggest that…’

‘I want a job?’ Kelly broke in furiously, two hectic spots of colour burning in her preciously pale face. ‘I haven’t come here for a job, I’ve come here for an escort!’

‘An escort?’ If he was as stunned as he had sounded, he covered it up very quickly. ‘I see, and just what sort of escort do you require, Mrs Langdon?’ he asked smoothly, sitting down in the leather chair behind the desk, and pulling open a drawer. ‘You must understand that this is a highly reputable agency, we don’t…’

Kelly’s furious gasp reached him as he straightened up, staring coldly at her. ‘You’re a married woman,’ he pointed out.

‘I’m a widow,’ Kelly contradicted him, ‘and I want to see the manager.’ She threw the last comment at him through gritted teeth.

‘By all means,’ he agreed suavely, ‘but you’ll have to come back next week. He’s on holiday at the moment.’

Next week! That would be far too late!

‘Look, suppose you tell me your requirements… Do you need an escort for some official function?’

‘Not exactly,’ Kelly replied hesitantly, strangely reluctant to admit to this infuriating man exactly what she did want.

‘I see. Well, perhaps if you were to tell me exactly what you do want…’ He removed what looked like an application form from the desk and bent his head over it. His hair was thick and dark and possessed a glossy, healthy sheen, Kelly noticed absently. Why on earth had she come here? She longed to turn tail and run out, but simply didn’t dare. His face was perfectly composed and polite, and yet Kelly had the suspicion that inwardly he was laughing at her. Well, let him laugh, she thought angrily, she didn’t care what he thought.

Quickly she told him an edited version of her story.

‘I see,’ he said slowly, when she had finished. ‘You wish to hire an escort to accompany you to a friend’s home for the weekend. Your friend is married and you feel that a threesome might be awkward?’

That was what Kelly had told him, and she had no intention of saying any more.

‘And you don’t have any male friends who could accompany you?’

‘Sue, my friend, is inclined to matchmake,’ Kelly told him quickly, not without some truth. ‘I thought it best if I took a complete stranger—to avoid complications later.’

‘I see.’ His expression told her quite plainly that he did not, but Kelly had no intention of enlightening him. However, several minutes later she realised that she had underestimated him when he said softly, ‘This escort wouldn’t be more of a bodyguard by any chance, would he?’

‘Bodyguard?’ Kelly looked at him sharply. ‘Look, if you don’t want my business, just say so.’ She was beginning to lose her temper. Something about this man unleashed a powerful wave of antagonism she hadn’t experienced in years. It must be something to do with the sexual magnetism that almost oozed from him—part of his stock and trade, she reminded herself scathingly, wondering what part he played in the agency.

‘Not at all,’ he responded smoothly, ‘I was merely trying to discover exactly what you had in mind. You must appreciate that a legitimate agency such as ours sometimes receives enquiries it isn’t equipped to handle.’

Kelly went brick red as the meaning of his carefully chosen words sank in.

‘All I want is a male escort for the weekend,’ she ground out with loathing. ‘Nothing else!’

‘Well, in that case, Mrs Langdon,’ he continued with a briskness that belied his earlier words, ‘if you will simply give me the details I’m sure we’ll be able to sort out something.’

Coolly and concisely, Kelly told him. She thought she saw him hesitate when she gave him her address, and wondered cynically if he was mentally adding another nought to the bill she would be presented with. If so, he was in for a rude awakening.

‘Will you require a car?’ he said formally.

‘I have my own,’ Kelly told him shortly. ‘Can you provide someone?’

She was filled with distaste for what she was doing, but she had come too far to back down now, and she faced him with dogged determination, trying to ignore the embarrassment and anger she was experiencing.

He studied her for a moment, then said slowly, ‘How important is it to you that we do?’

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that it wasn’t important at all, but somehow she found herself saying huskily instead, ‘Very important.’

‘Yes.’ The grey eyes held hers intently. ‘Yes, I thought it must be. Now, what time do you want our man to be at your apartment?’

Quickly Kelly told him, only too glad to escape from the office ten minutes later, filling her lungs with steadily deep breaths as she stepped outside on to the pavement, only too glad to have the ordeal behind her. What was the matter with her? She had faced formidable Boards of Directors without flinching, and yet in front of that one man she had been reduced to a shivering, trembling wreck. Why?

For the rest of the day she found it difficult to concentrate. She had told Maisie that she intended to be away for the weekend.

‘Take a couple of extra days off,’ Maisie urged. ‘You could do with the break. Go out and buy yourself a new dress.’

‘I don’t need one,’ Kelly told her briefly, only somehow she found herself leaving the office earlier than usual, and as it just happened to be a late shopping night, she found herself wandering through the Knightsbridge stores; something that she hadn’t done in ages.

She saw a dress that caught her eye on one of the racks. In crêpe satin by Calvin Klein, it was a deceptively simple wrap-round dress in a brilliant shade of pink.

Somehow she found herself in the changing room with it over her arm, discarding her velvet suit in order to try it on. The neckline plunged almost to the waist, the long tight sleeves hugging her arms in much the same way as the satin hugged her body, the fabric caught up in a knot just above the waist. It was hideously expensive and not the sort of thing she wore at all, and yet somehow she found herself buying it, even though she told herself that she was mad and it was simply not the sort of thing to wear for a quiet dinner in the country.

Sue rang her while she was still recovering from the shock of her spending spree.

‘You are still coming, aren’t you, Kelly?’ she pleaded. ‘I’m so looking forward to seeing you. I’ve been so miserable!’

Kelly could tell that tears weren’t far away, and hastened to assure her friend that she would indeed be there.

‘Jeremy will be glad too. I sometimes think lately that he finds my company very boring,’ she heard Sue saying wistfully. ‘Since the baby I’ve felt so down, and Jeremy always enjoyed the company of lovely women. I feel such a failure, Kelly… Here I am and I can’t even produce a baby, and you…you have a fantastic career, the whole world at your feet…

‘Sue, you’re not to think like that,’ Kelly told her.

‘I know—pathetic, aren’t I? But I just can’t help it. I feel so alone, Kelly, so frightened somehow. When do you plan to arrive?’

‘Well, actually, it isn’t just me,’ Kelly told her hesitantly. ‘Is it okay if I bring a friend?’

For a moment there was silence and then Sue asked excitedly, ‘A man? Kelly darling, tell me all about him!’

Kelly laughed. ‘Wait and see.’ Well, she could hardly describe a man she hadn’t yet met, could she?

Her information seemed to have had a dramatic effect on Sue’s mood, she bubbled and chattered in a way that reminded Kelly of a much younger Sue, and by the time she had rung off, Kelly was convinced that she had made the right decision, no matter what the cost to her own pride. She only hoped that the agency managed to produce someone presentable. She was a fool really, she ought to have asked to see a photograph and some background details, but she had been too flustered and angrily aware of her companion to do so.

Saturday morning came round all too quickly. The arrangement was that her ‘escort’ would present himself at her apartment on Saturday morning at nine o’clock. Kelly was dressed and packed by eight-thirty, her stomach fizzing with a nervous dread she hadn’t experienced since…since Colin, really.

She inspected her reflection in the mirror once again. She was wearing her velvet suit, but this time her hair was caught back in a pretty gold-threaded velvet snood she had found in Liberty’s and which added to the mediaeval effect of her outfit. It also had a softening effect on the severity of her hairstyle, and Kelly was frowning slightly over this when she heard her doorbell.

Picking up her case and bag and checking that she had her keys, she headed for the hall, opening the door and coming to a full stop, her mouth opening in a round ‘Oh’ of surprise as she recognized the man leaning indolently against the wall.

‘You!’

He smiled as he took her case from her slackened grip and locked the door for her with the keys she had dropped in her agitation.

‘What are you doing here?’ Kelly demanded acidly, furious with herself for letting him take the initiative and treat her like a demented child.

‘You wanted an “escort” for the weekend—here I am.’ He shrugged casually and glanced at his watch, completely impervious to her anger. ‘Shall we go? We’ll make better time if we miss the morning traffic. The roads are practically empty at the moment. Are these your car keys?’ He extracted them from the ring, handing her back her door keys with another smile, deftly pocketing the keys for her car as he motioned her towards the lift.

This couldn’t be happening, Kelly thought dazedly. She wasn’t used to men taking control of her life in this way, especially men like this one—men who cashed in on their physical attractions in order to make a living. The sheer discrimination of her own thoughts shocked her, but they couldn’t be denied; somehow it was different for women to exploit their looks in order to make a living than it was for a man. Telling herself she was being ridiculous, she headed for the lift, wishing the agency had sent anyone but this man. She had disliked him almost at first sight that day in the agency’s offices, and now she felt a resurgence of her dislike, hating the calm way he was taking over, robbing her of the control she always had of her own life.

When the lift stopped he stepped forward first, and Kelly seethed impotently, longing to push past him, but lacking the sheer brute strength, and sudden colour flooded her angry face as she realised he was simply ensuring that she wouldn’t be caught in the lift doors. The expression in his eyes as she swept past him told her that he had guessed the direction of her thoughts, and she flushed again. The weekend had promised to be difficult enough as it was, now it threatened to be intolerable.

‘Why didn’t you send someone else?’ she muttered through clenched teeth to him as she entered the underground car park. ‘Or was the money too much of a temptation?’ she asked nastily.

She couldn’t see his face, but the fingers cupping her elbow tensed suddenly and his smooth, ‘You find man’s very natural desire to provide himself with a living contemptible? How odd. Or is it simply the means by which I earn mine?’ silenced her. She had been betrayed by her own emotions into making a judgment that was completely biased, and he had underlined that fact.

‘It seems to me,’ he remarked pleasantly, as she headed for the silver-grey Mercedes convertible she had bought the previous year, ‘that you have a chip on your shoulder where the male sex is concerned. I wonder why?’

‘Then don’t!’ Kelly snapped. ‘That’s not what I’m paying you for.’

‘You like reminding me of that fact, don’t you?’ he continued evenly. ‘Does it help to cancel out the old wounds, Kelly, knowing that now you can make the male dance to your tune?’

His words shivered across her skin, too close to the truth for comfort, but she refused to acknowledge their accuracy, or the danger emanating from the man standing at her side. How could a man like this possibly be dangerous? He was simply someone whom she was using to prevent herself from being trapped in a potentially difficult situation. But he had used her name with an easy familiarity that had shocked her; and not just shocked. Hearing it on his lips had started a curious yearning ache deep inside her she could neither define nor analyse.

‘I was the only suitable candidate the agency had available,’ he told her coolly, as they came to a full stop by the car. ‘If you wish to change your mind and cancel the contract—then go ahead.’

Damn him, Kelly thought bitterly, he knew quite well she couldn’t.

‘Very well,’ he continued, taking her silence for consent. ‘In that case perhaps I’d better introduce myself properly. I’m…’ he hesitated momentarily, ‘Jake Fielding.’

‘Jake.’

Somehow she found herself taking the hand he offered, her fingers curling instinctively at the first touch of the vibrantly male flesh against them.

He must have noticed her recoil, and she saw the speculation in his eyes as he bent to unlock the car door—the passenger door, Kelly noticed, as he swung it open and waited.

She looked up at him.

‘You don’t expect me to let you drive?’

‘Why not? I have a current driving license, if that’s what’s worrying you. You look tense and overtired,’ he added unkindly. ‘I thought you might enjoy an opportunity to relax before meeting your friends. Obviously you aren’t looking forward to the weekend…’

‘How did you know that?’

He looked surprised by her vehemence and shrugged. ‘It’s obvious, if you didn’t need to feel on the defensive in some way you wouldn’t have felt it necessary to hire me.’

There was no way Kelly could argue against such logic, and somehow she found herself slipping into the passenger seat while Jake put their cases in the boot and then came round to join her.

Whatever else she could say about him, she had to admit he was immaculately dressed, she thought, watching him discard the Burberry he had been wearing and toss it casually into the back of her car.

The fine beige wool trousers and toning checked shirt were exactly what one would expect to find a top executive type wearing in the country, as was the cashmere sweater he was wearing over the shirt, and Kelly had to repress a strange pang of pain as he started the car. It seemed so wrong somehow that with all her success and wealth she had to pay someone to accompany her to Sue’s. What had gone wrong with her life?

Nothing, she told herself stoutly as the engine fired. She had everything she wanted; everything. Love was a chimera, she knew that; it didn’t exist. God, she only had to look around her at her friends!

The automatic seat belt device proffered the belt and Kelly reached for it automatically, shocked by the tingling sensation of hard male fingers brushing her own as Jake performed the small service for her.

She looked unwillingly at his hands. Dark hairs curled disturbingly against the wafer-thin gold wristwatch he wore. A present from a grateful customer? she wondered nastily, hating herself for the thought, and hating even more the strange pain that accompanied it.

‘All set?’

She nodded briefly, reminding herself that Jake was simply a means of protecting herself against Jeremy—nothing more.

AS JAKE HAD PREDICTED, they were early enough to miss the morning traffic and once they were free of London the roads were clear enough for Kelly to be able to appreciate the beauty of a countryside slowly awakening to spring. She had driven down to Sue’s before, but never along this route, which seemed to meander through small villages and open countryside and when she commented on this fact, Jake merely said that since they were driving to the New Forest the drive might just as well be as pleasant as possible. He praised the car and asked her how long she had had it, and yet there was no envy in the question; if anything, his tone was slightly amused and, nettled, Kelly responded coolly that she had bought it six months previously—as a birthday present.

She knew the moment the boastful words left her mouth that they were a mistake.

‘You bought it for yourself?’ The pity in his eyes made her long to cause him a corresponding pain, but caution prevailed. What did it matter what he thought? After this weekend she would never see him again, and yet even though she closed her eyes and feigned sleep she kept seeing over and over again the pity in his eyes.

‘We’ll soon be reaching the Forest.’

The quiet words were pitched low enough to rouse her without waking her if she had been deeply asleep, and Kelly lifted her head, glancing through the window, entranced to see the massed bulk of the Forest ahead of them.

‘Would you like to stop for lunch?’

‘Sue is expecting us,’ Kelly told him curtly. She didn’t like the way he kept insisting on taking control. She was the one in control. Ever since Colin she had had a dread of anything else.

His shrug seemed to indicate that it meant little to him, and Kelly felt rather like a sulky child being humoured by a tolerant adult.

‘Tell me a little more about your friends,’ Jake instructed as the new spring greenery of the Forest closed round them. ‘How long have they been married? Do they have a family? I’ll have to know,’ he added when he saw her expression. ‘If they’re to accept me as a genuine friend of yours they’ll expect me to know something about them.’

Grudgingly admitting that he was right, Kelly explained about Sue’s miscarriage and consequent depression.

‘Umm, but that still doesn’t explain why you felt the need for a male companion. It obviously isn’t to boost your reputation with your friend or score off against her in some feminine way.’ He reduced speed, and glanced thoughtfully at her with cool grey eyes. ‘Something tells me there’s something you’re holding back.’

‘I’ve told you all you need to know,’ Kelly denied, uncomfortably aware of the assessing quality of his gaze and the hurried thudding of her own heart. She couldn’t admit the shameful truth; that she was using him as a barrier to hide behind, because for all her much vaunted independence, there was no other way she could get it through Jeremy’s thick skull that she was totally uninterested in him.

Sue and Jeremy had an attractive brick-built house not far from Ringwood. The Mercedes pulled up outside it shortly after one, and as Kelly climbed shakily out of the car, the front door opened and a plump, pretty blonde girl came rushing out, enveloping her in a warm hug.

‘Kelly, love, you look fantastic!’ Sue beamed up at her. Barely five foot two, her lack of inches was something Sue constantly bemoaned; that and her tendency to put on weight.

‘And this…’ she began appreciatively, glancing from Jake to Kelly.

‘Jake,’ Kelly introduced hurriedly. ‘I hope you don’t mind…’ Her voice trailed away, high colour touching her cheekbones as Sue grinned delightedly, ‘Mind? Kelly, you know me better than that. But why haven’t you told me before? I know you must be someone special,’ she confided to Jake, oblivious to Kelly’s agitation and embarrassment. ‘Kelly would never have brought you down here otherwise. I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever known her spend a weekend with any of her… Ah, here’s Jeremy,’ she broke off as the front door opened again and Jeremy emerged.

‘Darling, come and say hello to Kelly and Jake,’ Sue smiled, and Kelly heard the note of uncertainty in her voice; heard it and shivered with apprehension when she saw the expression in Jeremy’s eyes.

‘Kelly.’ He reached for her, his eyes hard. ‘I suppose I can’t kiss you properly with your friend here looking on.’ He contented himself with a light peck, but Kelly was conscious of Jake’s interested scrutiny. He was too astute, she admitted uneasily, and there was something about the way he watched her that she found unnerving. Perhaps he was an out-of-work actor simply studying human reactions, and yet there was something in the look he gave her as Jeremy released her and turned to shake hands with him that told her his interest had been specific rather than general.

‘Come on inside,’ Sue encouraged. ‘Lunch is ready—a cold buffet meal, that’s all, but I’ll take you upstairs to your room first.’

Their room! Kelly froze and heard Jeremy saying smoothly behind her, ‘I’ve finally managed to persuade Sue to join the twentieth century and to realise that consenting adults don’t want separate rooms.’

He had done it deliberately. Kelly could see it in his eyes. She wanted to protest; she felt like a trapped animal and knew that Jeremy was waiting for her to retract, and then, astoundingly, Jake was slipping an arm round her waist, drawing her back against his body. She could feel the even beat of his heart against her back, her body enveloped in a protective warmth that made her eyes sting with tears as he lowered his head and murmured against her hair, ‘What delightfully tactful friends you have, my love! I confess I hate wandering about in the darkness looking for the appropriate bedroom door!’