A Bad Enemy (24 page)

'What the hell are you talking about?' Lisle whirled round, facing him furiously, her rounded breasts rising and falling stormily under the force of her emotions.

'I'm talking about Grayson, of course. I'm going to break his bloody neck!'

She stared at him, really seeing him, seeing the grey tinge to his skin, the deep shadows under his eyes, the tense, strained lines round his mouth. She thought, 'He looks almost worse than I do.'

She said slowly, 'Oliver? You were expecting to see Oliver? But that's ridiculous!'

'Is it?' His voice sneered, the dark face full of bitter challenge and he looked at her. 'Why else would you engage in this conspiracy of silence—sneak off to this romantic little love nest, if not to be with him—or someone else? Don't play the innocent, Lisle,' he added roughly. 'I'll find, him, if I have to tear the place apart, and when I do…'

'But you won't,' she said. 'Because he isn't here. I'm quite alone. That's how I wanted it, and that's how it is.'

He laughed. 'I said before you were a good actress, beauty. But you can drop the role-playing now. You've condemned yourself out of your own mouth.' He took a folded paper out of his pocket. 'Remember this?'

She frowned. 'It looks like the note I left for Gerard. But how…?'

'How did I get hold of it? He gave it to me. Oh, he didn't want to,' he added, his mouth twisting. 'He was most reluctant. Even inclined to blame himself to some extent for your—proclivities.'

Lisle said, 'I don't understand one word of this. I don't see why Gerard should have shown you my note, but on the other hand there was nothing in it that you shouldn't see.'

His brows lifted. 'No? Perhaps you'd better refresh your memory.'

He handed it to her, and she unfolded the paper, her eyes flicking wonderingly over the few brief lines. She knew them by heart, of course.

'Dear Gerard,' she'd written, 'Please don't worry about me. I need to get out of London for a while and so I'm going away.

'Don't try to look for me. Lisle.'

It was on the second reading that she realised incredulously that someone had added the damning words with Oliver' at the end of the first paragraph. Someone…

She went very white. She said. 'This isn't what I wrote. It's been doctored.'

'Of course,' he sneered. 'And the fact that Grayson was leaving your flat the night of my mother's dinner party, and you were saying goodbye to him half-dressed, is just sheer coincidence. And so, I suppose, is the way you just happened to meet at Harlow Bannerman a few days ago, and the curious circumstance that he hasn't been at the office since. He rang in claiming to have a virus.' He added, his mouth curling, 'What kind of a fool do you think I am?'

She said desperately, 'I've never thought that, Jake. Oliver was at the flat that night—yes—because he found Gerard and brought him there. No other reason. And I did talk to him the other day, but only for a few minutes. I've no idea where he's been since, or what he's doing. You have to believe me.'

'I've tried to believe you.' His voice sounded grim and defeated. 'Over and over again, I've kept hoping. I even told myself that the withdrawal I sensed when you were in my arms was shyness—even innocence. But you soon disillusioned me about that, beauty.'

She looked at him, stunned, remembering, but at the same time conscious of the first stirrings of anger deep inside.

She said, 'Search the place if you want. I won't stop you, I couldn't anyway. But how dare you accuse me? Who gives you the right to operate a double standard?'

'What the hell are you talking about?'

'Your—friend,' she burst out. 'Miss Leighton. It didn't take long for you to get together again. I suppose you met her while you were in America too.'

'No.' The grey eyes narrowed searchingly. 'So it was you. I noticed the taxi across the road as I came out, and wondered why it took off like a rocket a minute later. Was this cosy few days with Grayson your notion of revenge?'

'I don't need revenge,' she said stonily. 'It's immaterial to me what you do. I—I came to the flat that day to tell you I'd decided not to marry you. So we're both free now—to live in any way that we want. Perhaps in the circumstances you'll leave.'

'I'll leave when I'm good and ready,' said Jake on a snarl. 'You're determined to make a mess of your life, aren't you, Lisle?'

'By not marrying you?' She gave an uneven laugh. 'What a king-sized ego you have! Miss Leighton's devotion must have gone to your head.'

'We'll leave Cindy out of this, if you don't mind.' The level voice held a steely note. 'We're discussing your relationship with Oliver Grayson.'

'I have no relationship with him!' Her voice rose angrily. 'And he's not here. Look round if you don't believe me.'

There was a long heavy pause, then he went past her and up the stairs.

Lisle's legs were shaking. She backed to a chair and sat down.

She heard him moving around, then his footsteps on the uncarpeted staircase.

She didn't look up.

He said quietly, 'I accept that you're alone here, Lisle. Why, then, did you tell your brother you were coming away with Grayson? For Pete's sake, why?'

She said wearily, 'I didn't Gerard must have added that bit himself. Apparently he's been blaming you for losing him Carla Foxton. Showing you my note with embellishments must have been his idea of getting his own back.' She added stonily, 'He thought, you see, that we were still going to be married.'

'And so we are,' he said harshly. 'I won't take no for an answer, Lisle.'

'You'll have to.' Her eyes were fierce and bright as they met his. 'Because I was so lacking in pride when I agreed to this charade initially it doesn't mean I'm prepared to tie myself legally to some other woman's man.' She threw her head back. 'I don't need your charity, Jake. I'll make out somehow. You keep pushing my relationship with Oliver—perhaps I'll ask him to take me to the States as his assistant.'

He said softly, 'You go anywhere near him, and there'll be no job in the States. I'll see to that.'

'Oh, you're a bastard!' Her voice shook. 'Now will you get out of here, and leave me in peace.'

'Peace!' Jake repeated, and gave a short laugh. 'There's been no peace for either of us ever since we met. I can't think straight, I can't work, I can't sleep, and it's all down to you, beauty.' The grey eyes went over her. 'Even if you won't marry me, I think you owe me some kind of recompense for the hell of the past few weeks.' He reached for her, pulling her to her feet.

She said huskily, 'Take your hands off me.'

'That tremulous note is wonderfully authentic,' he said. 'But this time it isn't going to work. I want you, and I'm going to have you, so keep the virginal reluctance for some other fool. We both know that it doesn't mean a damned thing.'

He kissed her savagely, forcing her lips apart with his.

For a moment she struggled, her hands beating in a frenzy against his shoulders, and the unyielding wall of his chest, then, with a little moan, she capitulated, responding helplessly to the harsh demand of his mouth.

At once his kiss gentled. His lips moved on hers with an aching, passionate tenderness which made her tremble as her arms went slowly round his neck to hold him close.

He cupped her face in his hands, the grey eyes very brilliant.

He said softly, 'The battle's over, Lisle. We belong together, and I won't let you go.'

He was shaking too, and although his hands were gentle, his touch seemed to scorch her to the bone.

He unfastened her coat and slid it from her shoulders, tossing it on to a nearby chair. Then he walked to the cottage door and locked it with a kind of cool deliberation.

Lisle stood very still. The rushing of the nearby stream sounded almost thunderous in the enclosed quiet of the room. Or perhaps it was only the sound of her own blood she could hear as Jake came back, swiftly and silently, to her side.

He picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the sofa, holding her close while he kissed her softly and sensuously, his mouth brushing her temples and cheekbones, the line of her jaw and the tender lobes of her ears.

She clung to him with a kind of desperation, trying to ignore the little voice inside her which was reminding her where all this was inevitably leading.

Jake said gently, 'Relax, darling. We're making love, not war, remember?'

She looked up at him, trying to smile, wondering if the sick panic within her was showing in her eyes.

She said insanely, 'We—we can't… It's broad daylight!'

His own expression was wry. 'So it is. Does that make a difference? Or is it another ploy to keep me at arm's length.'

'No—at least—I don't know.' She drew a deep, quivering breath. 'Oh, you wouldn't understand.'

'Try me,' he invited quietly.

She moved away from him, out of his arms, putting space between them. She didn't look at him.

She said, 'I know what you think about, me, Jake— about the way I've led my life. I know what you've always thought. But it isn't true—not any of it.' She tried to smile. 'It could have been, I suppose, but that wasn't what I wanted. Or perhaps I just wasn't capable… Gerard used to laugh at me,' she added painfully. Jake said something under his breath and Lisle winced, turning her head away. 'Oh, I knew you wouldn't believe me.'

The long fingers captured her chin, making her face him. 'Why do you say that? As it happens, I do believe you. It makes sudden sense out of the muddle which has always existed between us. But why didn't you tell me before, Lisle? And why are you telling me now?'

'Does it matter?' She spoke unevenly.

'If it didn't, I wouldn't be asking,' he said rather grimly.

The intensity of his gaze was overwhelming, and she closed her eyes, swallowing weakly.

She said, 'Because at first, it didn't matter. I didn't care what you thought of me…'

'And now?' His hand caressed her soft throat, seeking the tumult of her pulse. 'Look at me, sweetheart.'

She obeyed on a little indrawn breath as she saw the look in his eyes.

Jake said softly, 'I love you, Lisle. And I'm beginning to hope—to believe that you love me. Could that be why all this matters so desperately to both of us?'

She said with a kind of desperation, 'You don't love me—you can't—when there's Cindy Leighton, and those others…'

'Dear heavens!' Jake groaned. 'You make it sound as if my life has been an unending rake's progress. Perhaps it's time this burst of honesty became mutual. Yes, Cindy and I were lovers—but only for a short time, and it was over before you and I ever met. However, we parted amicably and have remained friends.'

'Friends?' Lisle pushed away his caressing hand. 'How can you say that? I saw you together, and she was living with you at your flat before she went to America.'

'Yes, she stayed at the flat, but not with me. There was a short lapse of time between the giving up of the lease on her own place and her actual departure, and she asked if she could stay at the flat.' He gave Lisle a level look. 'Perhaps she was planning a romantic interlude as a farewell, but I wasn't interested in finding out. I moved out, and went to stay at a hotel.' He stroked her cheek with his finger. 'If you want to verify it, you can.'

'But she came back from America,' Lisle protested feebly. 'She told the newspapers she was going to "pick up the threads". I thought...'

'I can guess what you thought,' he said. 'But Cindy's overriding interest at the moment is her abortive career in films. She contacted me because she wanted a shoulder to cry on, admittedly, but I told her I had troubles of my own. However, I think she could make a success in films, given the right opportunity, and I promised her I'd introduce her to a friend of mine who could help. That's where I was taking her when you saw us—to join his house party in Surrey, and discuss the possibility of a hew contract. As far as I know, she's still there.' He smiled at her. 'Now, do you believe me? Do you believe that since the moment I first saw you, I've wanted no one else?'

Her lips parted helplessly. 'But you thought all those things about me. You despised me.'

'I wanted to. When Murray first broached the idea of a marriage between us, I was all set to reject it out of hand. I didn't even want to meet you. Then his illness forced us together, and I was lost no matter how hard I tried to fight it. And I did try.'

'Yes,' her voice shook. 'I've been so unhappy…'

Jake drew her back into his arms. 'It's probably no consolation, darling, but I've been wretched too. Particularly when you kept flaunting Oliver Grayson at me. I was terrified that you were going to elope with the poor devil.' He grimaced. 'I thought that was what— this,' he gestured at the sheltering walls around them, 'was all about. Driving down here was the worst journey of my life.'

Lisle said, 'Poor Oliver. Neither of us has been very fair to him.'

'We haven't been fair to each other.' He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing each finger in turn. ' You aren't wearing your ring.'

She said shyly, 'It's upstairs. I felt it was wrong to wear it when everything was so—uncertain.'

'But you're not uncertain any more?' He gave her a long, searching look. 'And you'll marry me as soon as I can get a licence?'

'Oh, yes!' She smiled up at him, all concealment fled, love for him luminous in her green eyes. 'And don't you think this would make a wonderful place for a honeymoon?'

'It might at that.' He glanced round, smiling faintly. 'Do you want me to see if it can be arranged?'

She said on a little catch of her breath, 'But there's nothing to arrange. You're here and so am I. What else do we need for a honeymoon?'

Jake was very still for a moment, then he said slowly, 'Nothing at all.' He cupped her face in his hands, the grey eyes warm and steady as he looked down at her. 'You're sure you wouldn't prefer to be virtuously driven back to London to wait for the wedding—the ceremony, the ring, the champagne, the whole bit?'

'Quite sure.' She put her arms round his neck, drawing him down to her, her body melting as she sensed his mounting hunger. 'I love you, Jake. Isn't that all that matters?'