Cinderella Substitute (18 page)
Read Cinderella Substitute Online
Authors: Nell Dixon
- It took her a few moments to register that the scenery outsi
- "Back to my house. Some of the papers you'll need are there.
- Jenni swallowed hard and nervously moistened the dry skin of
- Her nerve endings tingled as she caught the look on his face
- "You seemed preoccupied," he said. "And just lately I appear
- She flushed. "Well, if you weren't so darn touchy..."
- "I'm touchy!" He snorted with what sounded like derision.
- "Yes. You. Some days it's like tiptoeing through a minefield
- "This has to do with Walker, hasn't it?" He braked sharply a
- "You're still mad at me about the Christmas party."
- Jenny looked at him, bewildered. "No, Nate. This has to do w
- To her surprise, he laughed. "I couldn't agree more. That's
- Her hands curled of their own accord into tight little fists
- He lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. "Really?" he drawled, "an
- "I have a lot of things to do at home. For your information,
- He swung the car in through the gates to his house and cut t
- "Meaning that mine does, I suppose," he retorted. "The compa
- "I never said it did, Nate, but that doesn't give you the ri
- The color leached from his face as her words struck home. Sh
- Nate had already opened the front door of the house. As she
- "Nate." She called his name, desperate to take back the word
- Nate stood in the kitchen in front of the window, his back t
- "Nate?"
- He half-turned to glance at her as if he had forgotten her e
- Jenni folded her arms to hug herself against the bitter cold
- * * * *
- Nate paused in a small grove of trees. The icy air filled hi
- "What am I doing here?" he murmured.
- Rufus cocked his head to one side as if waiting for an expla
- Except he hadn't dealt with it, according to Jenni. He'd avo
- He paced up and down along the path. He had to tell Jenni ab
- He regained his composure and glanced back towards the house
- He pushed the kitchen door open to find the room empty. For
- Rufus padded in to settle himself in his dog basket with a m
- "I made some coffee. I thought you might be cold." She watch
- "Thanks, I could use a drink."
- He studied her as she took two mugs from the shelf to pour t
- This new Jenni confused him. The old Jenni would have been h
- She passed him a mug of coffee. "Nate, I should have chosen
- Pain welled up inside him and his grip tightened on the hand
- "Forget it, Jenni. It's not a subject I want to discuss." Hi
- "Well, if you want to run through the other documents with m
- He raked his hand through his hair and finished up by rubbin
- "Come through to the office. I'll get the papers." He kept h
- * * * *
- Nate pulled up outside Jenni's flat. His eyes narrowed when
- "I'll walk you in." His mouth set in a determined line.
- "It's all right, they're always hanging about." It was quite
- "I'm seeing you safely inside. Don't the police ever come an
- "All the time, but they keep drifting back."
- She clicked on the stairwell light after she opened the door
- "Someone's left you a note, Jenni." He handed the piece of p
- "You should read it upstairs." Nate suggested with a glance
- Jenni led the way up to her flat. A cold ominous sensation s
- She dropped her bag onto the floor, then sank down on the se
- "It's from Tracey, my birth mother." The message seemed conf
- "I didn't think she had your address?" Nate sounded puzzled,
- "She doesn't. At least I've never given it to her. I took yo
- "So what does she want?" The harsh tone in Nate's voice made
- "Why would she want anything?" Jenni asked. "This just says
- "How did she find out where you live? This whole thing doesn
- In her heart, she knew he had a point. Jenni hadn't given he
- "Why do you live here, Jenni?" The question she dreaded hung
- She tried to find an explanation which didn't lay her open t
- "I moved here when Mum was ill, to be near the nursing home.
- "And?" he pressed, "Why haven't you moved? I know you hate t
- She knew Nate would be determined to get to the bottom of th
- "The nursing home cost me a lot of money. I had to sell Mum
- He stayed silent for a moment. "Why didn't you tell me? I wo
- "I don't want charity, Nate. Making sure Mum was happy and c
- She hadn't been working for Nate very long when her mother h
- "So what are you going to do now?"
- Jenni blinked. "Do?"
- "Now your birth mother has your address?" He tapped the note
- Jenni stared at him. "Surely not. Maybe she simply has a lot
- Nate frowned. "Exactly. You don't know anything about her. Y
- "There must be a simpler explanation, Nate." She became awar
- "Yes, there probably is." The small crease stayed on his for
- He looked at his watch and grimaced. "I have to go, Jenni. I
- "I'm not a child, Nate. I've lived here on my own for over a
- "Just be careful, Jenni. I'll pick you up at seven, which sh
- She followed him to the door. "Okay I'll see you tomorrow."
- He paused at the top of the stairs, his expression serious a
- Something about the set of his shoulders made her heart beat
- CHAPTER SEVEN
- Jenni dressed the next morning with special care. She decide
- The morning flew by. The team from New York arrived and appe
- She and Nate had been invited to dine with Mr. Woods, the he
- "This is our chance to really show what we can do," Nate tol
- Jenni paused in her tidying. "So, how well do you think we'r
- "He seemed to love everything so far about the quality of th
- "But?" Jenni asked.
- Nate sighed. "I don't know. I have a feeling the real decide
- Jenni's confidence plummeted. She wasn't good at social smal
- "Why don't you ask Nathalie to go to the dinner tonight? She
- Nate stared at her with a frown. "Why would I want to ask Na
- Jenni flushed. "I just thought..." she faltered. Nate gazed
- "Jenni, I have every faith in you. There is nothing for you
- She shuffled the papers in her hands into a folder, intent o
- "Just be yourself, Jenni. You'll be fine."
- The phone rang. He took his hands from her shoulders as she
- * * * *
- Back in her bedroom after a long luxurious soak in the bath,
- Gloomily, she studied her options. A black dress she had wor
- She pulled the red dress out of the closet. It had been one
- She stared at it for a few more minutes, then looked again a
- By the time Nate rang her doorbell at precisely eight o'cloc
- Jenni's mouth gaped open when she opened the door. He wore a
- "Wow Jenni! You look fantastic."
- This time there could be no doubt about his opinion of her i
- Her pulse still beat wildly as she checked in her coat at th
- The elevator doors opened. The Americans appeared. Jo Marcha
- To her relief, the meal went well. Mr. Woods, or Sam as he r
- After coffee, Sam suggested they adjourn to the residents' l
- Jenni stood in front of the marble-topped basins and ran coo
- "I hope you don't mind my asking a personal question," Jo sa
- Jenni paused. A great spear of jealousy pierced her heart. S
- "Mmm, I see. That must have been terrible for him."
- "He doesn't like to talk about it." Jenni's dismay grew as s
- Jo smiled. "Two years is a long time alone for a guy as good
- "He loved Cerys very much." Jenni felt compelled to defend h
- "Maybe he needs to meet the right woman." Jo suggested. She
- The rest of the night passed in pure agony for Jenni. Jo's t
- Jenni remained lost in her own thoughts and oblivious of her
- "I am, actually. It's been a great evening and a real pleasu
- "I'll take a taxi home, Nate. I don't want to be the party p
- "No, I'll take you home. It's late. This close to Christmas,
- A sneaky part of her was glad he didn't want to stay with Jo
- "Actually, Jo and I are ready to call it a night, too. We've
- The roads gleamed white with frost when they left the hotel.
- "That went well, don't you think?" she asked as Nate cleared
- "Not bad. You were great. Sam is a bit old-fashioned when it
- "Is he right?" Jenni asked. "Has he ever had his fingers bur
- Nate laughed. "No, Sam Woods is a shrewd judge of people. He
- "I see." She longed to ask him what he thought of Jo Marchan
- Her mind ran back over the conversation she'd had with Jo. T
- The pavement outside Jenni's flat looked deserted for once,
- "Thank you for everything today, Jenni. You've been fantasti
- "No problem, truly. I know how much the contract means to yo
- He lifted his hand to stroke a stray tendril of her hair and
- The blood rushed in her ears as her pulse moved up another n
- * * * *
- Rufus greeted him with unabashed relief on his return home a
- Jenni didn't stray too far from his thoughts as he remembere
- While the girls had been in the powder room, Sam Woods had t
- "You're a lucky man, Nate!" Sam had remarked, as he'd puffed
- The deep shameful sense that he had betrayed Cerys' memory f
- It had to be Jenni, but she deserved love, deserved a man wh
- * * * *
- Jenni wasn't sure what to expect from Nate when she arrived
- Bitterly, she almost wished Jo Marchant luck. Almost, becaus
- Mike Walker waited by Lorna's desk as Jenni arrived. She smi
- "Wow, Jenni, you look fabulous. I wanted to tell you yesterd
- "Thank you, Mike." Something in her tone caused Lorna to loo
- "When you've quite finished swapping gossip, Jennifer, we do
- Jenni swivelled on her heels, Nate never called her Jennifer
- CHAPTER EIGHT
- Mike disappeared towards the lift. Lorna found a pressing er
- "That was uncalled for, Nate." Jenni's heart thumped wildly
- "Maybe, but there seems to be too much time wasted in idle g
- "In that case then, I'll collect the mail and make a start,"
- "I take it everything's ready for the party next week?"
- Jenni took a deep breath, struggling to keep her cool. He kn
- "Of course, I ran everything past you a few weeks ago, I'm s
- He looked as though he was about to try to think of somethin
- "Mayer Holdings, may I help you?" She half-turned to lean ov
- "I would like to speak to Jennifer Blake, please."
- Jenni didn't recognize the voice, but that wasn't unusual. "
- "This is Tracey, I sent you a note the other day?"
- Nate stepped to her side so he could hear the conversation,
- "Yes, I got it. You said things were difficult for you at th
- "I can't see you until after Christmas. It's too difficult f
- Nate took the phone from her and placed the handset back in
- "Was it Tracey?" he asked.
- Jenni's mind whirled. It had sounded as if her birth mother
- "Come on, we'll talk about this upstairs." Nate slipped a ge
- "What did she say?" Nate's deep voice rumbled in her ear. In
- She repeated the conversation to Nate word-for-word.
- "What do you think?" she asked.
- To her dismay, he didn't give her an immediate answer. In fa
- "Well?" she demanded, after a couple of silent and awkward m
- "I didn't want to tell you this, because I knew you wouldn't
- "What are you talking about?" Today had turned into a bad dr
- "I was worried for your safety after the note got pushed thr
- Indignation at his actions fought with fear for her mother's
- "I was concerned about how she might have got hold of your h
- Dumbfounded, she looked at him. The impact of his words seep
- Strong arms held her tight and a man's voice murmured reassu
- Dazed, she opened her eyes. "I never faint," she protested.
- "For someone who never faints, you make quite a habit of it,
- She pushed herself up into a sitting position, taking care n
- "Stay still until the dizziness wears off," he advised.
- "I'm okay now, really." She wasn't sure if it was the faint
- He pulled out his office chair and made her sit down on it.
- "I just panicked. It all seemed so extraordinary. A bit like
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