Rescued by the Brooding Tycoon (15 page)

‘That’s right. Time for bed.’

On the way up in the elevator he slipped his arm around her. ‘Did you enjoy it?’

‘Oh, yes, it was lovely. Everyone was so nice to me, especially your father.’

‘Yes, I saw the two of you dancing.’

‘I couldn’t believe it when he asked me, but he was terribly gallant and charming.’

‘You should beware my father’s charm,’ Darius said wryly.

‘Oh, I know he was just being polite but…I don’t know…he was nice. He asked me about my antique shop, said he understood antiques were very profitable these days. I had to admit that it’s as much of a souvenir shop for tourists as an antique shop. He laughed and said that was life and nothing was really the way it seemed, was it? Hey, careful. Don’t squash me.’

‘Sorry,’ he said, relaxing the arm that he’d tightened sharply about her. Listening to her innocent pleasure when he knew how misguided it was brought a return of the rage that had attacked him earlier. But now it was a million times more intense, nearly blinding him with the desire to lash out against her enemy.

From the start he’d known of her strength, her defiance, her ability to cope, essential in a lifesaver. Suddenly he was discovering her other side, the one that could be slightly naïve, that believed the best of people, the side she hid behind cheerful masks.

But the face she turned up to him now wore no mask. It was defenceless, the mouth soft, the eyes wide and trusting. He knew it would be a sin to betray that trust by kissing her, no matter how much he longed to. So he contented himself with brushing her cheek with his fingertips, and felt her relax against him.

What he might have done next he never knew, for the elevator reached their floor, the doors opened and the world rushed in on them again.

Now she was smiling brightly in a way that set him once more at a distance.

‘Sleep tight,’ he told her at her door. ‘We have to be up with the dawn.’

‘I’ll be there,’ she promised. ‘Goodnight.’

He thought she would give him a final look so that the sweet connection they had established might live again. But he was facing a closed door.

Inside her room, Harriet stood in darkness, listening as his footsteps moved away to his own door.

Her heart was heavy. Midnight had struck and Cinders had been forced to leave, not running away and leaving a shoe, but escorted by the Prince who’d been tempted only briefly before his common sense had rescued him.

It’s over. All over. Finished. Done with. Get undressed, go to bed, and stop indulging in fantasies. Didn’t you learn anything from last time?

Switching on the bedside lamp, she stripped off her beautiful attire with ruthless fingers and replaced it with plain cotton pyjamas. Her packing was done at top speed, and then she was ready for bed. Defiantly, she got under the duvet and switched out the light.

There was a knock at the door.

‘Who is it?’ she asked without opening.

‘It’s me.’

CHAPTER NINE

H
ARRIET
opened the door a crack and saw him. He’d removed his jacket and bow tie and his shirt was torn open at the throat.

‘Can I talk to you?’

She stood back as he went past her. She would have turned on the bedside lamp but he stayed her hand.

‘Better just let me talk. I owe you an apology for my behaviour tonight.’

‘Do you? You didn’t offend me.’

‘That’s very sweet of you, but I got a bit possessive in a way that I promised not to. Just friends we said but I didn’t really stick to that, did I? I hadn’t expected you to look so beautiful—’

‘Thanks,’ she said wryly.

‘No, I didn’t mean that,’ he said hastily. ‘Oh, heavens, I’m making a mess of this. I only wanted to say that you were a hundred times more wonderful than I’d dared to hope and…
Harriet!
’

Then his arms were around her, pulling her tightly against him, and all the sensible restraint drained out of her as she received the kiss she’d been longing for, never completely admitting her own desire. Now there was no chance of denying it to herself or him. She felt herself soften and fall against him, reaching out so that he was enfolded in her arms as she was enfolded in his.

Her hands were exploring him, the fingers weaving into his hair before drifting down to his face. He raised his head from hers, looking down with a question in his eyes, as though wondering if he only imagined her passionate response.

‘Harriet,’ he whispered, ‘why have we…?’

‘Shh!’ She silenced him with her fingertips over his mouth. ‘Don’t speak. Words are dangerous. They mean nothing.’

She was right, he realised with a sense of relief. Words were nothing when he had her body against his. He could feel the cheap cotton against his hands and wondered how any woman could feel so lusciously desirable in those almost masculine pyjamas. They taunted him, hiding her beautiful body while suggesting just enough of it to strain his self-control.

Harriet felt as though she had lived this moment before, earlier that evening when he’d allowed his hand to drift indiscreetly behind her dress, but then been forced by propriety to restrain himself. She hadn’t wanted restraint either in him or herself, but she’d had no choice.

But she had choice now. She could choose to be warm, intimate, seductive, enticing, passionate. Anything but restrained. Her breathing came fast as he kissed her again and again, little swift kisses covering her face, her forehead, her nose, her eyes, mouth, then sliding lower to her neck.

He was so skilled, she thought in delirious delight. They might have been one person, so sensitively did he know the right way to rouse her—to make her want him—want him more—

‘Make sure you keep her for good…’

Without warning, the words screamed at her. Frantically, she fought them off but they danced in her consciousness.

‘You’re a clever man…’

She’d known that but never thought what it meant—until now—

‘Keep her for good…the clever thing to do…the clever thing to do…’

‘Kiss me,’ he whispered. ‘Kiss me as I kiss you…please…’

The clever thing to do.
The words went through her like ice, quenching the storm within her.

‘Kiss me…’

‘Darius, wait…please wait…’

‘I don’t want to wait any more—Harriet, let me…’

She drew back to meet his eyes, and what he saw in her cooled his ardour as mere words could never have done.

‘This wasn’t part of the bargain,’ she said calmly. ‘Friends, remember?’

‘The bargain,’ he said slowly. ‘Ah, yes, the bargain. How could I have forgotten?’

‘Exactly. You, of all people, should know about bargains.’ As she said it she even managed a faint smile. ‘Let’s not complicate things by breaking ours.’

She could feel him shaking but he brought himself under control and stepped away.

‘You’re right, of course. I’ll say goodnight…er…sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

The door closed behind him, too quietly to hear, and then there was only darkness.

It was a long night. Darius spent it trying to order his thoughts, dismayed that they were suddenly rebellious, going their own way instead of obeying him as in the past.

Now he was alone he could admit that he was troubled by what he’d learned that night. How painful Harriet’s secrets must be for her to conceal them so determinedly. How sad must be her inner life. And he’d imagined that he knew her.

She had come into his arms, physically and, he’d hoped, emotionally, only for that hope to be dashed when she’d hastily retreated. The message was clear. Briefly she’d weakened, but then her husband’s ghost had waked and that was the end. As, perhaps, it would always be.

He opened his window and stood listening to faint noises from next door. Her movements sounded restless, but what was she thinking? And would she ever tell him?

After a while he heard her window close, and then there was nothing to do but go to bed.

Harriet arose next morning with her mind made up. Cool, calm and collected, that was it. But also with a touch of their usual humour, to emphasise that nothing had changed.

In contrast to her glamour of last night, she donned a pair of functional jeans and a plain blouse. Her reflection stared back at her, asking if she really wanted this no-nonsense look when she could have something more enjoyable?

But I can’t! It’s a trap. No-nonsense suits me fine!

Not any longer. Never mind, it would have to do.

A waiter served breakfast in her room, and as he retreated Darius appeared at the door with a bread roll in one hand and a coffee in the other.

‘Glad to see you up,’ he said cheerfully. ‘I was afraid the evening might have tired you too much.’

‘I’m always up with the lark,’ she assured him. ‘Sit down. I’ll be ready in a moment. I’ve packed up the jewellery ready to go back,’ she said, indicating the box. ‘Perhaps you’d better check it.’

Looking intent, Darius fingered the contents of the box until he came to the diamond pendant, which he lifted out.

‘Not this,’ he said. ‘It’s yours.’

‘But it can’t be. You hired this stuff.’

‘Everything else, yes, but—oh, dear, did I forget to mention that I bought this one?’

‘You certainly did.’

‘Well, it’s done now. Put it away safely.’

His expression was too innocent to be convincing, and she stared at him, open-mouthed with disbelief.

‘Who do you think you’re kidding?’ she demanded.

His face was full of wicked delight. ‘Not you, obviously.’

‘You deceived me.’

‘Yes, and I made a pretty good job of it too,’ he said, defiantly unrepentant.

‘You know I wouldn’t have let you buy me anything as expensive as this.’

‘Ah, well, I’m not used to people telling me what they’ll let me do. It doesn’t suit my autocratic, overbearing nature. I just do what I want and they have to put up with it. So there you are.’ He assumed a grim expression. ‘Put up with it.’

‘You…you…’

He sighed. ‘I know it’s a great burden, but you’ll learn to endure it.’

‘It’s…it’s so beautiful,’ she sighed. ‘But you shouldn’t have done it.’

‘Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t do.’

‘Yes, but—’

‘Stop arguing. That’s an order.’

It might be an order but it was delivered with a grin that made her heart turn over.

‘Stop bullying me,’ she demanded.

His grin broadened. ‘I shall bully you if I want to. Now, put it away safely and don’t lose it, otherwise I shall have to bully you even more by buying another.’

She ducked her head quickly so that he shouldn’t see she was on the verge of tears.

Darius drank his coffee and went downstairs to pay the bill, congratulating himself on having tricked her into accepting his gift without risking the emotion that would have made her reject it.

When he returned she was on the phone to Phantom.

‘I’m coming home, darling—see you later today—’

But by now Darius had himself in hand and could cope.

A car took them to the airport, where they boarded the helicopter and were soon soaring to the south and over the ocean, where the brilliant sun made the little waves sparkle.

‘I love this time of year,’ Harriet said, looking down to where Herringdean was just coming into view. ‘The island is at its best.’

‘I don’t suppose you get called out on the lifeboat so often,’ Darius observed.

‘It depends. There aren’t so many storms, but the fine weather tempts more people out in boats, so things still happen.’

Now they were crossing the coastline, covering the island until they reached the far side, and there below was the beach where they had first met.

‘Look who I can see,’ Darius said.

‘Phantom!’ she cried joyfully.

They could just make out the dog racing madly along the beach in pursuit of a ball thrown by a middle-aged woman, bringing it back to her, begging for it to be thrown again, which it always was.

‘That’s my neighbour, Jenny Bates,’ Harriet said. ‘She’s wonderful with him. Hey, what’s he doing now?’

Suddenly Phantom had changed course and raced into the sea. Mrs Bates ran to the water’s edge and called him but he took no notice.

‘Oh, no!’ Harriet wailed.

‘He’ll be all right,’ Darius said. ‘He’s swum often enough.’

‘Yes, when I was with him. But without me he’ll do something idiotic like going too far. Oh, look how far out he is!
Come back, you stupid dog!
’

‘Land as close to the beach as you can,’ Darius told the pilot quickly.

Down they went, finishing in almost the same place as on that first day, a lifetime ago, leaping out and running down onto the beach where Mrs Bates was wailing, ‘I can’t swim, I’m sorry—he’s never done that before—’

‘No problem,’ Darius said. ‘I’ll go and—’

He’d been about to say that he would go after Phantom, but Harriet was way ahead of him, powering her way through the waves, calling Phantom urgently. He heard her and looked around, woofed in delight and began to paddle back to her. They met in deep water, greeting each other ecstatically with much crying and barking.

Darius remained where he was, knowing he wasn’t needed.

As they emerged from the water Phantom recognised him, yelped joyfully and began to charge up the beach, spraying water everywhere. Quick as a flash, Harriet hurled herself onto the hound, taking him down to the sand.

‘Oh, no, you don’t,’ she said breathlessly. ‘Let the poor man have at least one suit that you don’t ruin.’ She looked up at Darius. ‘You’d better run for it. I can’t hold him much longer. Hurry up! Go quickly. Thank you for a lovely time, but go before he gets away from me.
Go!
’

There was nothing for it but to do as she said, so he returned to the helicopter. As it took off he looked down and discovered that history was repeating itself in that she was totally absorbed in Phantom, without even a glance to spare for himself.

It was only when he reached home he discovered that he still had her luggage. Briefly, he considered returning it in person, but settled for sending it in a taxi. He knew if he took it himself she would greet him politely while longing for him to be gone so that she could be alone with the one she really cared about.