A Little Crushed (28 page)

“Oh my! This is so
Austin Powers
.” Awe-struck, she stepped into the retro ‘shag pad.’

“Yes.” Max winced. “Taste isn’t quite my father’s forte.”

“I think it’s great.” Rebecca peered into what she presumed to be the master bedroom. “Where are the mirrors?” She squinted up at the ceiling.

“I see you haven’t lost that caustic wit with which you tortured me. Anyway, my dear Rebecca, I think you need to rest.”

He looked pensive, as if he didn’t know what to say to her.

She looked down at her feet. “I’ll be fine. You’re right. I am tired. I’ll rest a bit, and then I’ll be out of your hair. It’s just I thought…I don’t know what I thought, or what I hoped for.” Grit tears burned, reminding her she hadn’t slept for hours. Disappointment raked at her gut, and she wanted to die. “It’s okay.” Mustering the remaining vestiges of her dignity, she dumped her holdall on the rose brocade sofa. “You go now. You must be busy. I mean, I know you’re a businessman now, so of course you’re busy. I’m sorry about your dad and everything. I hope he’s getting better, and I’m trying not to cry, although I am feeling pretty stupid right now and I—”

“Rebecca, shut up.” Gentle laughter creased the corner of his eyes.

“I’m glad you find me so amusing.” She rubbed at her eyes, anger momentarily booting out her misery. “I always knew I should have stuck to hating you.”

“Rebecca, darling, please don’t cry.”

“I’m not crying.” Tears spilled unchecked, and she was too exhausted to check them. “What I am is confused. Were you bored? Was I just deluding myself? You can tell me, you know. I’m not a child. I can handle it. But even if you didn’t love me, I thought we were, at least, friends, so why leave like that? Okay, I understand about your father. Mrs. Black explained, but you could at least have told me yourself. I always thought you were many things but never a coward…oh...” Palms on her burning cheeks, she faltered. “You called me darling.”

“Yes, I did.” Taking hold of the lapels of her coat, he drew her face close to his. Warm lips, as sweet as she remembered, brushed against hers. “My sweet, tough, gorgeous Rebecca, don’t you know how it ripped out my heart leaving you? You have to understand. I felt I had no choice. Do you really want to know why I left the way I did?”

His cool whisper caressed her senses.

“You’re all grown up, you say, so here’s a grown up answer. You were not wrong. I had fallen in love with you, Rebecca. It’s as simple as that. I think I first realized it when I took you home after that crazy river stunt you pulled. You were so damn vulnerable then, and I felt as if I’d kill anyone who hurt you. After that, well, I saw how you looked at me, and it thrilled the hell out of me. I was out of my depth. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. That first kiss sealed it, the first touch of your mouth…” He seemed to struggle to breathe. Hands cupped her face, his thumbs stroked a line from her cheeks to her lips. “It was torment; so sweet, so electrifying. I didn’t know what to do. All reason deserted me. And then, I received the call about my father, and the decision was taken out of my hands. At the time, I thought it was providence, some divine power warning me to let you be to live your life. You were so young, college on the horizon. What could I do?”

“You could have asked me what I wanted.” Rebecca trembled beneath his caress.

“I knew what you wanted.”

He kissed her again, a slow, sweet kiss that did nothing to steady her racing pulse.

“But did you want it, too?” Elated at the emotion registering in his eyes, she grew bold and wrapped her arms around him. “Did you want me?”

“Yes,” he murmured. “You don’t know how much. I’ve missed you. I still can’t believe you’re here. Look…” He broke free from her arms. “I hate leaving you, especially when I can see you’re upset, but I have to be at the hospital. My father isn’t good. He suffered another massive heart attack two nights ago, and my mother needs me. She isn’t coping very well.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She felt such a fool. “It must be awful for her—to see her husband lying there.”

He touched her cheek. “It’s nice of you to be so sympathetic, my sweet, but the only reason my mother is upset is because her precious dogs have been banned from the hospital. I’m afraid my father’s illness is just one big inconvenience for her. My mother gave up caring for my father a long time ago.”

“That is sad.” Rebecca rubbed at her nose before yawning.

“Don’t worry about my mother. She’s perfectly happy with her life but enough of the Jackson family saga for now. Go and have a bath and then go to bed. I know it’s tough with jet lag, but at least try and relax.” Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her brow. Not quite the passionate embrace she craved, but it spoke words. “I’ll try to hurry back, and then we’ll talk.”

He left her feeling alone and vulnerable. No point crying again. She went in search of the bathroom, her aching muscles desperate for a long, hot soak.

The bathroom was almost as big as the living room back home, the bath a mini-swimming pool. It really was quite vulgar, but as she turned on the gold dolphin head taps and poured in a good measure of what was undoubtedly wickedly expensive bath oil, she decided that, for once, she could cast her principles to one side. She slid into the warm, scented water. Yes, she mused, she could do capitalist decadence if she put her mind to it.

So, all in all, she felt rather pleased with herself. She was in Sydney, in Max’s house, and he loved her. She’d got it right. Closing her eyes, her imagination ran riot. Guilt set in. With Max’s father lying in hospital so ill, it was hardly the time to be thinking about what she was thinking. Still, with a man like Max, it was rather difficult not to.

Reluctantly, she stepped out of the bath; she was so tired there was a strong possibility she’d doze off. Wrapped in a bathrobe that would have drowned someone three times her size, she wandered back into the living room—only to stop dead in her tracks. ‘Miss Steele’ was busy laying food out on the kitchen table.

She turned and smiled. “Sorry for barging in, but Max asked me to look in on you. He said you’d probably be hungry, especially if you flew economy.”

Recognising the hand of friendship, Rebecca offered a smile in return. “It’s very kind of you.” A wonderful aroma of steamed chicken and vegetables tantalised her nostrils, and her stomach growled in complete agreement with her nose. Max got that right. In-flight meals were not inspiring at the best of times, even at a thousand quid a ticket.

“My name is Peggy, by the way.”

Still clutching the robe around her body, Rebecca couldn’t take the offered hand. Self-conscious, she caught Peggy’s appraisal of her.

“I must say, Max did not exaggerate. You are very, very pretty and so young.”

“Max told you about me?” Fingers like chipolata sausages, she fumbled with the cord.

“My dear Rebecca, Max is like a son to me. There’s nothing much he doesn’t share. I know you’ve stolen his heart. Sit.” Peggy pulled out a chair. “The food is getting cold.”

“How?” Head and heart spinning, Rebecca speared a juicy piece of chicken and popped it into her mouth. It was delicious. Peggy gave her a cheeky wink, and at once, Rebecca realized she was nothing like Miss Steele. Her grey eyes emitted warmth and humor.

“Because I could read it on his face. When I told him you were waiting outside his office door, it was as if a light switched on, and don’t you dare tell him I said that. Actually, he told me quite a lot about you…how you met and so forth. Interesting but also tragic. I’m sorry for what you went through. Sometimes men can act like savages, but you came through it, and that is what counts.”

“Yes, I did.” Rebecca gave a rueful nod. “Because of Max. He was my light at the end of a very dark tunnel. But tell me, how is it you know Max so well?”

Peggy joined her at the table, glass of wine in hand. “I have been with Max’s father since he started up his first newspaper, and no, I am not nor have I ever been his mistress. That’s not to say he didn’t try, but I don’t believe in mixing business with pleasure, plus I have always had too much respect for Max and his mother.”

 “You make his father sound like quite a…” Rebecca tried for tactful.

 “A lech? Well that is exactly what he was…is, I should say. The old bugger’s not left us yet. But, as fond as I am of my boss, I’m afraid to say he has always been a man of excess. He was a terrible husband and an even worse father. Max is nothing like him, I hasten to add. He is a good man.” Leaning back, she twirled the glass in her hand, studying Rebecca with her mature, watery eyes. “Max is like a son to me, Rebecca, and I’m glad that you are here. But your timing is unfortunate. I doubt, this time, Robert will pull through. Max is going to have to deal with some major changes in his life. He’s only had a small taste of what is to come.

“Max is the only son and heir. Everything will pass to him. He will be at the helm of the whole kit and caboodle.”

 Rebecca put down her folk, her appetite gone. In her mad rush to get to Max, she hadn’t given much thought to what the future might hold. She certainly had not expected to be thrust in the middle of such a crisis. She pushed her plate away. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m feeling a bit tired. I think I’ll lie down.”

 “But of course.” Peggy stood up and crossed to her side. To Rebecca’s surprise, she kissed her on the cheek. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but I’m going to anyway. I’m glad Max broke it off with Kate. She isn’t a bad person but just not suited for Max. She would have made his life hell. Now off you go and enjoy your sleep. I’ m sure Max will be back soon. He won’t want to be away from you for too long.”

 Rebecca watched her leave. She liked this Australian version of Miss Steele. She carried her plate into the kitchen and then headed for the bedroom. The huge bed beckoned, but when she slipped between the cold cotton sheets, she shivered, wishing that Max was there to hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right.

Max watched his mother as she sat by his father’s bedside, head bent over the latest Dick Francis. She appeared calm, but then, as she’d said, she’d resolved her feelings for the all-powerful Robert Jackson a long time ago.

It wasn’t so easy for him. So much unresolved pain. His childhood was a haze of unpleasant memories. With a child’s unquestioning devotion, all he’d ever craved was his father’s love and approval, but it had never been forthcoming. He’d grown up believing he was never smart enough, never quite tough enough to meet his father’s high expectations.

On impulse, Max leaned over and planted an affectionate kiss on his mother’s cheek. He’d accepted long ago she had moved on with her life, but it didn’t upset him. Both of them had learned to be independent people. They’d had no choice. But, unlike her, he’d always surrounded himself with friends but never really needed anyone until Rebecca.

An image of her beautiful face danced before him. He still couldn’t believe she was here. He brooded over his relationship with Kate. In those first few months since he’d left England, they’d tried to rekindle the spark between them, but it had already been too late. He had fallen out of love with her. This made him sad. They had, after all, been together for a long time. They’d shared many happy moments, but even in those first throes of passion, something was missing. He and Kate had never really truly connected the way he felt he did with Rebecca. Kate had always wanted so much more than he could give her.

Rebecca was different, so alive and vibrant. She could be a bloody pain in the arse at times, but God did she make him laugh. He realized, for the past eight months, he’d only been half-alive, but now she was back in his life, and he would die before he lost her again.

“You’ve got that daft look on your face.” Turning down the corner of a page, his mother closed her book. “You’re thinking about that girl.”

“That girl, mother dear, is here, safely tucked up in my bed in the company apartment as we speak.”

“She flew all this way to find you,
and
she got through Jackson security? What an enterprising young woman she must be. I’d like to meet her. She sounds quite a character.”

“She is.” Max patted her hand. “You will get on like a house on fire. When it comes to animals and being impulsive, you have so much in common.”

“Max…” she hesitated. “Rebecca, isn’t it? She’s very young and just finished school, I recall you saying.”

“What are you getting at, Mum?” Max swiveled in his chair and folded his arms.

“Please don’t give me that Max glint.” His mother, slapped at his knee. “All I am saying is, well, if you are planning on building a relationship with her, you need to think long and hard about how it could affect her. If she wants to be with you, then she’s going to have to move to Sydney and give up her studies, or at least start over at a college here. Long separations can affect a relationship. Isn’t that one of the reasons why you and Kate grew apart?”

“A very, very small one,” he growled, not at all liking this conversation and the direction in which it was heading.

“All I am trying to say is you’d better be totally honest with her, Max. It’s hard being married to a newspaperman. At least let her know what it is she’ll be letting herself in for.”

“I am not Dad,” he said. “I would never neglect her the way he neglected us.”

“Maybe not,” His mother calmly reopened her book. “At least, not intentionally. If her happiness is important, then you need to make some hard decisions.”

Max stared at her. “What are you suggesting? That I give it all up and just walk away? Give our rivals the chance to knock us off the top spot? God knows they’ve been trying for years.”

“Well I wouldn’t cry. As far as I’m concerned, Jackson Media can go down the drain tomorrow. I will even pull the plug myself and put out the flags.”

Her revelation stunned him, but before he could respond, his father’s body suddenly went into spasms, and a barrage of alarms sounded out.

“Max…” She grabbed his arm. Together they stood, as the room filled with doctors and nurses.