Книга - The Eleventh-Hour Groom

The Eleventh-Hour Groom
Kathryn Ross


Eighteen months ago Elizabeth and Jay Hammond made a hasty marriage of convenience to secure her inheritance. But when Elizabeth suspected Jay was having an affair with another woman, she left him. Her expertly hidden feelings for Jay ran so deep that she fled Jamaica to make a new life for herself in London.Now Jay has come to find her– and it seems he has some unfinished business concerning their marriage merger! The trouble is, Elizabeth can't be sure revenge isn't part of his reason for tracking her down….







“Let me tell you, Jay Hammond. If you came in here with any intentions of having a roll in the sack for old times’ sake, then you can think again.”

He smiled. “And this from the woman who was begging me to marry her just eighteen months ago.”

The mocking words made her temperature rise even farther. “I didn’t beg you to marry me.”

“Didn’t you? Must have been some other raven-haired beauty.”

“I suggested a business plan,” she murmured tightly. Her cheeks felt as if they were on fire, and her blood raced wildly through her body.

“So, are you making business plans with anyone else?” he murmured derisively. “Is that the question I should really be asking?”


KATHRYN ROSS was born in Zambia, where her parents happened to live at that time. Educated in Ireland and England, she now lives in a village near Blackpool, England. Kathryn is a professional beauty therapist, but writing is her first love. As a child she wrote adventure stories, and at thirteen was editor of her school magazine. Happily, ten writing years later, Designed with Love was accepted by Harlequin. A romantic Sagittarian, she loves traveling to exotic locations.




The Eleventh-Hour Groom

Kathryn Ross





www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)




CONTENTS


CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN




CHAPTER ONE


ELIZABETH had been the one to propose marriage. So, if she had to apportion blame for the ensuing mayhem, she supposed, in fairness, that she had to shoulder some of the responsibility herself. But only a little…it was mostly his fault, of course. His fault for not loving her, for agreeing to something for all the wrong reasons.

When colleagues asked her how long her marriage had lasted and she answered six months, they always looked at her and shook their heads. ‘Fancied a big white wedding, did you?’

‘No, I just fancied him,’ she would answer wryly. ‘Big mistake.’

All those thoughts rushed through her head every time she opened her office drawer and saw the official looking manila envelope staring up at her from within. She imagined it was glaring at her reproachfully, which was rubbish, of course, how could an envelope be reproachful? Even so, she felt better after she had slammed the drawer shut on it again.

It had arrived by courier almost ten days ago and she had signed for it, thinking it was something to do with work. Only when she had really looked at it had she noticed the Jamaican postmark. Then she had recognised the handwriting.

It was from him and she was scared to open it. Scared because deep down she knew that envelope contained divorce papers.

Elizabeth Hammond, successful career girl, afraid of nothing and nobody…well, with the possible exception of heights and going to the doctor…was now afraid to open an envelope, she mocked herself. She needed to get a grip. She’d take it home tonight, pour herself a glass of wine and open it. Face her demons.

‘Elizabeth, fancy a drink after work?’ Robert asked as he passed her desk.

‘Can’t, Rob, sorry.’ She hardly looked up at him. ‘I’ve got a stack of paperwork to catch up on.’

‘Tomorrow then,’ he said easily.

The phone rang on her desk and she snatched it up, whilst at the same time glancing at her watch. She had an important meeting in ten minutes. ‘Richmond Advertising Agency, Elizabeth Hammond speaking.’ She sang the words breathily. ‘How can I help?’

‘You can help by signing the damn papers I sent you.’ The familiar American tones of her estranged husband drawled wryly.

The busy office suddenly seemed to fade into oblivion. The noise of printers and telephones, people’s voices and the London traffic outside all disappeared as if someone had pushed a mute button. Leaving only her, and Jay’s voice at the end of a line.

‘Elizabeth, don’t you dare hang up on me,’ he warned coolly as she made no reply.

The thought hadn’t occurred to her until he said it, and then she was sorely tempted.

She took a deep breath. ‘I’m busy, Jay,’ she said briskly. She was pleased at how composed she sounded, as if it wasn’t nearly twelve months since they had last spoken, as if his voice meant nothing.

‘Yes, so am I,’ he grated. ‘Why haven’t you signed the papers?’

‘I haven’t read them properly yet.’ It wasn’t entirely a lie, but she imagined she felt heat emanating from the drawer where they lay, untouched, unread.

‘Are you being deliberately awkward?’

‘No!’

‘You could have fooled me,’ he grated impatiently.

‘No one could fool you, Jay.’ She couldn’t resist the dig. ‘You’re infallible, remember?’

There was a silence for a moment and she wished perversely that she hadn’t said that. What was the point in quarrelling? She couldn’t win with Jay, anyway…never had. And maybe he was right, maybe she was being deliberately awkward. She’d known from the moment she’d looked at the envelope that it contained divorce papers, and she had consciously put off opening it. It was wrong of her, she should sign them and get Jay Hammond out of her life, once and for all. After all, they’d been separated for a year, wasn’t it time to move on?

‘Listen, Jay, I—’

He cut across her conciliatory tones. ‘What time do you finish work?’

‘What?’ She frowned. What had that to do with anything? Jay was in Jamaica; she was in London. Was he going to fax her something, she wondered in perplexity. ‘Well…five-thirty—’

‘I’ll pick you up from outside the office. Don’t be late.’

‘Jay, I—’ The dull monotone of a dead line droned in her ear now. He’d put the phone down. Panic zinged through her. It was as if someone had injected an overdose of adrenalin straight into a main artery. Jay was here in London! She felt sick with apprehension. She couldn’t see him. It was more than she could deal with. Maybe she could tell everyone she was sick and go home and hide. Lock the door, take the phone off the hook, run away.

‘You okay, Elizabeth?’ A voice seemed to be coming from a long way away. ‘Elizabeth…wakey, wakey.’ It droned on sarcastically. ‘You’ve got a meeting with the boss in five minutes. Aren’t you up to it?’

She looked up at Colin Watson. He was about thirty-five, tall and not bad-looking if it hadn’t been for the smug expression on his face. Elizabeth really didn’t like him. The guy had been gunning for her job for three months now and he was trying his best to undermine her at every turn. He’d just love her to go home and let him take over the meeting. She could just imagine him talking to their boss. Elizabeth’s got women’s troubles, he would say with a patronising sneer. I’ll take over, John. Leave it all to me. Then we can just discuss it over a game of golf next week. Yes, she knew how Colin Watson operated.

Elizabeth looked at him now and wanted to swear. But Elizabeth Hammond never swore. She went home and took a few herbal relaxing tablets and sweated herself into a lather of work—work that, thankfully, was always a hundred times better than his.

She forced a smile to her lips now. She’d have to be dying before she let chauvinistic Colin get one over on her. ‘I’m just on my way, Colin,’ she said brightly, collecting her work. ‘It’s all in hand.’

The meeting should have lasted an hour, but dragged on for three. Elizabeth’s ideas on the new soap powder advertising campaign were thrashed out as if they were talking about a cure for cancer, though she managed to refrain from looking at her watch until it was all finished. If John had seen her even glancing at the time he’d have thought she was less than one hundred per cent committed. And that was the biggest crime anyone could perpetrate as far as her boss was concerned.

Only when she had packed everything away did she dare look at the time. Nearly five o clock. If she hurried, she could leave early and avoid Jay. She couldn’t see him today. Her head was pounding and she was exhausted. Besides, she should really open that envelope and study the contents before talking to her husband. She’d have to acquaint herself with the terms of their divorce before she could agree to anything.

She zipped up her laptop in its travel case and tucked a few papers and her mobile phone in with it. ‘I’m going to go home, John.’ She tossed the words casually over at him. ‘I want to study these details in the peace and quiet of my own office.’

He nodded. ‘Fine. See you eight-thirty tomorrow. Perhaps you’ll have the draft on the Menda account finished by then?’

Elizabeth recognised the words as a command, not a request. She knew her boss well enough to know he would expect that work on his desk first thing.

‘No problem.’ She smiled at Colin as she swept past him. Despite his numerous attempts to hijack her presentation, it had gone well. She knew that just by looking at the disgruntled expression on his face.

She picked up the manila envelope from her drawer and pushed it into her case with the rest of her work. Tonight, not only had she to read divorce papers, she had to prepare another account. And all she really felt like doing was going to bed and drawing the covers over her head.

Don’t be pathetic, Elizabeth, she told herself angrily. Your marriage was over before it started. Paperwork isn’t going to change anything.

Before leaving the building she visited the cloakroom. Re-applied perfume and lipstick, then studied the pallor of her reflection whilst running a comb through her short dark hair.

So what if her personal life was a disaster area? she told herself briskly. At least she had a successful career.

So why did she feel so heavy-hearted? Why did the envelope in her briefcase seem, metaphorically speaking, to weigh a ton? Maybe it was because it was her thirtieth birthday tomorrow, and thirty did sound so much older than twenty-nine. She was getting old and getting a divorce all at the same time. It was a bit depressing.

She put on her long grey overcoat and lifted up her briefcase. Endings were always painful, she told herself. That was all it was. She didn’t love Jay any more. She’d face the end and then start afresh with someone else, someone who loved her. And she’d look on her thirtieth birthday as a new beginning.

She ran to catch one of the lifts waiting in the corridor, just managing to get in before the doors swished shut. She glanced again at her watch as it descended the six floors to ground level. She was twenty minutes early. She’d avoid Jay, catch the tube and then lock the front door of her apartment. And if he did come round she wouldn’t answer the bell, no matter how many times he pressed it. She’d see him when she was ready, not before.

The doors opened smoothly into the marble and glass foyer. And there he was, standing like a sentinel by the front exit into Oxford Street.

First of all she felt shocked. Then she felt numb as their eyes met. Anger and pain were suspended in a brief moment when she found herself acknowledging how handsome he was. So attractive that she felt her heart go into overdrive, just like it used to do in the days when she’d had a major crush on him.

He had dark hair and was tall, well over six feet, with a broad athletic build, that was somehow accentuated by the dark overcoat he wore over his suit. His tanned skin was in stark contrast to the grey February day. The dark eyes that seemed to pierce into hers made her blanch.

She wondered if she could pretend she hadn’t seen him and step smartly away from him through the side door. Once into Oxford Street she could merge with the crowds. He’d never catch her.

‘Ms Hammond, you have a visitor,’ the receptionist called out, bringing her back to reality. ‘I was just about to phone up to your office.’

‘Okay, thanks.’ Elizabeth smiled wanly at the woman and walked across towards her husband on legs that felt decidedly wobbly.

His gaze seemed to take in everything about her in those few moments. Her smart grey business suit, the silk stockings, the height of her heels, before sweeping back to catch and hold her blue eyes.

‘Hello, Beth,’ he said smoothly.

‘Hi.’

There was silence then, silence when all she could hear was her heart beating in her ears. She wished he wouldn’t look at her like that. As if he could see straight into her soul and know the truth.

You’re nearly thirty, she told herself, trying to get a grip on her emotions. This man should no longer be able to make you feel like a tongue-tied adolescent. You don’t love him any more.

Some other members of staff came out of the lifts behind them.

‘Bye, Elizabeth,’ they chorused as they passed her. ‘See you in the morning.’

‘Yes…bye.’ She glanced over at them, the distraction helping to ease some of the tension inside her. They were secretaries from her office, but they weren’t looking at Elizabeth, they were looking at Jay, open admiration shining from their eyes.

Some things never changed, she thought wryly.

‘Right, well shall we go?’ Jay asked suddenly.

She looked back at him. ‘Go where?’

‘I thought we’d have dinner together, talk in a civilised manner.’

Talk over dinner? Elizabeth wanted to laugh. She felt so self-conscious around him that it was an effort to even breathe, never mind pretend to force food down her throat. ‘What are you doing here, Jay?’

‘You know why I’m here.’

He took hold of her arm and with a polite smile over at the receptionist who was watching them with avid curiosity, steered Elizabeth out through the revolving doors.

The cold blast of the winter day was biting after the central heating in the office. She pulled her coat further around her slender body, and made to turn away from Jay. He wouldn’t release her arm. His grip was so tight that it hurt.

‘Will you let go of me?’ she whispered furiously, her eyes blazing as she looked up at him.

‘We’re going for dinner.’ He steered her towards a car waiting by the kerb on double yellow lines.

‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’

‘Yes, you are.’ He opened the door and stood waiting for her to get into the passenger seat.

‘You’ve got a damn nerve, Jay Hammond, turning up here out of the blue and expecting me to just fall in with your wishes. Let me tell you that I’ve got more important things to be doing.’

‘Yes, I’m sure you have. But I’ve flown halfway around the world to talk to you.’

‘Well that’s your problem. And will you let go of my arm? You’re hurting me.’

‘Sorry.’ He released her immediately and she rubbed her arm, glaring at him reproachfully.

‘Look, I realise that you are a busy woman. I know it’s probably a shock my turning up like this. But I need to talk to you, Beth…it’s urgent.’

She hesitated.

‘So, what do you say?’ he murmured. ‘Will you give me a few hours of your time…please?’

Hell, he wasn’t going to start being nice to her, was he? She could handle his disdain, his arrogance, but she couldn’t hack it if he started to be kind. That led to all sorts of dangerous grey areas.

Her eyes moved over the handsome face. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, his features were impassive.

She sighed. ‘Okay, but I’ve only got an hour. I’ve got work to do.’

‘Thanks.’ He smiled. ‘I appreciate it.’

He held the door for her as she got in. She told herself she was only doing this to avoid a scene. Her work colleagues would be coming out at any moment and she didn’t want them asking her questions tomorrow.

He slammed the door and then came around to join her.

She watched as he fastened his safety belt then checked his mirror before pulling out into the steady stream of traffic.

This was really weird, she thought. If anyone had told her this morning that Jay would pick her up from work she would have looked at them as if they were mad.

‘So…you haven’t really come all this way just to see me…have you?’ she asked cautiously.

He glanced over at her. ‘Yes. I have.’

She wanted to ask why, but she couldn’t. She was too afraid he was going to say the dreaded D word. But of course that had to be the reason. What other one was there? He wanted a divorce.

She noticed the familiar tang of his aftershave. It made a curl of remembrance stir painfully inside her. She squashed it immediately.

‘Where did you get the car?’ she asked, more for something to say than anything else.

‘I rented it.’

‘Where are you staying?’

‘I don’t know. I haven’t booked in anywhere yet.’

She frowned. ‘You mean you’ve just arrived?’

He nodded. ‘Yep. I rang you from the airport.’

‘Oh!’ She wished she could think straight.

She watched as he drove into an underground car park. Watched the reflection of the neon lights as they played over the hard contours of his face.

He parked and then turned to look at her. ‘I’ve booked a table at a restaurant around the corner.’

‘You’ve booked a restaurant but you haven’t booked a hotel?’

He shrugged and grinned. ‘I can think better on a full stomach.’

She stared at him, trying to work this out. But her brain was befuddled with confusing, sidetracking thoughts, like how his smile lit up his eyes, how his lips were firm and yet sensual, how the shape of his face was hard-boned and square, giving him a look of arrogant determination.

Sometimes in her dreams she had imagined seeing him again, had imagined what it might be like. Sometimes she had thought that she would feel nothing and sometimes her body had twisted with an empty kind of longing. Now she didn’t know what her body was telling her, except how wonderful he looked…and that was crazy.

‘Elizabeth.’ His eyes seemed to be resting on her lips. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Of course I’m okay.’ She wrenched her gaze away from him. Picked up her briefcase and opened the car door. ‘I’m hungry,’ she lied. ‘Like you, I can’t think on an empty stomach.’




CHAPTER TWO


THE restaurant which was one of the best in town was a place that Elizabeth had only ever visited when she had been entertaining clients for the firm. And even then she hadn’t got one of the tables in the private side booths; they were always reserved weeks in advance.

‘How did you get this table?’ Elizabeth asked as the waiter disappeared with their coats and they settled themselves opposite each other in the private alcove.

‘I just bribed the head waiter,’ he answered nonchalantly.

Her eyes widened. ‘Really? I didn’t see you.’

He grinned as he handed her a menu, and she realised he was teasing her.

For a moment their eyes held. Then she felt his gaze sweeping over her, assessing the heart-shaped face, the sophisticated style of her raven-dark hair, the slender lines of her figure.

‘You’re looking well,’ he murmured.

‘Thanks.’ She gave him a strained smile. ‘So are you.’ They sounded like two strangers, she thought. Who would believe that they had once promised to love, honour and stay together, forsaking all others? Her lips twisted wryly as she reminded herself what a sham that had been.

‘You’ve cut your hair,’ he remarked.

She put a hand self-consciously to the short, urchin cut, remembering that he had once told her how much he liked her waist long hair. ‘It got a bit hard to manage.’

A glimmer of a smile lit his dark eyes. ‘Pity…I always liked your hair.’

Meaning he didn’t like it now? Well, she didn’t care, she told herself crossly. In fact part of the reason she’d had cut it was because she knew he had liked it. She had finished worrying about what Jay did and didn’t like. That game was over long ago.

‘It’s been a long time…hasn’t it,’ he remarked casually. ‘Must be what…nearly a year?’

It was over a year, but she wasn’t about to admit she was counting. ‘Something like that. How are things in Jamaica?’

‘Hot.’ He smiled. ‘Do you miss it?’

Of course she missed it. Although she was originally from England her parents had moved to the Caribbean when she was just nine. In her heart Jamaica was still home. But she wouldn’t admit to Jay that she felt homesick. She had moved away because of him, because of their sham of a marriage. She had to put a brave face on things. So she just smiled and shrugged. ‘Sometimes,’ she said easily.

The wine waiter interrupted them to ask what they’d like to drink.

‘Would you like wine, or something stronger?’ Jay asked her.

‘A glass of white wine would be fine, thank you.’

Jay ordered a bottle, then settled back in his chair again.

She shouldn’t really drink, she told herself. She needed to keep a clear head.

He looked remarkably fresh and healthy considering he had just made a ten-hour transatlantic flight, she thought.

He leaned back in the chair, stretching his long legs, looking the epitome of well-honed manhood, muscular, yet trim, broad and strong, arrogantly relaxed. She was pleased to note a few grey strands amid the dark thickness of his hairs.

He was getting older, she told herself. Good…maybe one day women would stop finding him so attractive. If there were any justice in the world, maybe one day he would know what unrequited love felt like. And serve him right, she told herself darkly. He might even look back on his life and say, If only I hadn’t let Beth go. She was the only woman who truly loved me. And meanwhile she would be living with a hunky guy who worshipped the ground she walked on. And she would laugh and say. I’m glad I left Jay.

He leaned forward, and Beth snapped out of the ludicrous daydream, feeling foolish. Jay was only thirty-seven, and losing his looks was probably something he would never have to worry about. There was no justice in the world. What was more, he was the one who wanted a divorce, which must mean there was someone else in his life…someone serious.

Was he planning to marry Lisa? The question twisted painfully inside.

‘So, I take it life in London is as wonderful as you thought it would be?’

‘Better than wonderful,’ she found herself gushing. ‘I absolutely adore it.’

‘Really?’ His voice held a hint of dry irony. ‘Well, I’m glad you haven’t been disappointed.’

Beth’s eyes narrowed. ‘This is all very cosy, Jay, but, at the risk of sounding rude, I’m sure you haven’t come all this way to make idle chit-chat with me. Do you want to cut to the bottom line?’

‘You know the bottom line. I want you to sign those papers,’ he said calmly. ‘Why haven’t you?’

She avoided his eyes. ‘I just haven’t got around to it, that’s all.’

The waiter brought their wine and poured it for Jay to taste, before filling up their glasses.

A piano struck up at the other side of the room, a relaxing romantic melody that blended with the gentle hum of conversation around them, but was at discomforting odds with their situation.

‘Are you ready to order?’ Jay asked as another waiter approached.

‘Yes.’ She ordered with the briefest glance at the menu, choosing a salad, her usual preference when she came here on business.

Then she snapped the menu closed and handed it back with a smile. She would pretend this was a business deal. She could handle those. ‘I’m surprised you remember London well enough to select this restaurant. How long ago is it since you were here?’

‘About seven months.’

She’d expected him to say seven years, because she knew he had visited London before they first met. It was a shock, therefore, to know he’d been here and hadn’t looked her up.

‘Oh?’ She took a sip of her wine. Well, why should he look her up? she told herself. He’d only do that if, like now, he wanted something. It wasn’t as if he missed her, or that they were even still friends.

‘I was here on business. I’m designing a craft for the round the world yacht race.’

‘The boat yard is doing well, then?’ she asked idly.

He frowned. ‘Beth, you are still a sleeping partner in the business. I send you cheques every quarter, direct to your bank account. You know how the business is doing.’

She shrugged. In truth she never looked at that money; she didn’t want it. It felt like blood money.

‘You don’t have to pretend. I know how much that money means to you,’ he grated quietly. ‘And I suppose the reason you won’t sign my papers is monetary as well.’

‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, Jay, but I don’t need your money. I’m an independent, successful career woman.’

‘Well, you like to play at being one, anyway,’ he said suddenly, impatiently.

‘I’m not playing, Jay. I am independent.’

‘May I remind Elizabeth Hammond that she wouldn’t be where she is today if it wasn’t for my help,’ he grated mockingly.

‘And you wouldn’t be where you are today if it wasn’t for my help,’ she retorted, her eyes flashing fire. ‘Our arrangement was to our mutual benefit, and don’t you forget it.’

‘Well, that took all of, what, fifteen minutes?’ He glanced at his watch. ‘And we are right back to the same argument we were having a year ago.’

‘You started it,’ Beth murmured.

‘No. You started it when you proposed marriage to me,’ he reminded her grimly.

‘I didn’t propose marriage; I proposed a business merger.’ With difficulty she kept the colour from flooding into her face. ‘And I wouldn’t have done it except for the fact that I was desperate and I thought you were my friend. I also thought you were a gentleman. It seems I was wrong on both counts.’

‘Maybe I’m not much of a gentleman.’ He shrugged and sat back in his chair. ‘But I was your friend.’

She noted his use of the past tense and felt her heart heavy against her chest. She had ruined everything. Once upon a time Jay had liked her. They had been friends. Now he looked on her with contempt. He thought she was money-orientated; he thought she had used him. She supposed she was guilty of being greedy, but her greed had nothing much to do with money. Her greed had been to want more than Jay’s friendship. She had wanted him to love her, as she had loved him. But because of her pride she had gone about it the wrong way. Used the terms of her father’s will to provide a convenient excuse.

She remembered clearly the day she had made the outrageous proposal. They had been sitting at the beach bar. She had ordered a rum punch, downed it quickly and ordered a second.

‘It’s not like you to drink in the middle of the afternoon,’ he had remarked softly. ‘I know you are upset about your dad’s death, but this isn’t the answer.’

‘So what’s the answer then?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know. Henry’s death is a shock; you must still be reeling from it. Coming to terms with his will on top of that must be hard.’ Jay shook his head. ‘I can’t believe that he actually went ahead and made out his will the way he did.’

‘Can’t you?’ Elizabeth’s tone was dry. ‘You know what a strong character he was. How stubborn he could be when he got an idea in his head. He always made it clear that his dearest wish was for you and I to get together.’

‘Yes, I suppose he did,’ Jay said thoughtfully. ‘In the two years I worked for him, I don’t think a day went by without him mentioning your name in a very positive way to me.’ For a moment a gleam of humour lit Jay’s dark eyes. ‘We used to find his matchmaking antics amusing, didn’t we, Beth? But this is going some even by his tenacious standards.’

‘Let’s not go through all that.’ Beth cut across him hastily, cringing with embarrassment. Jay might have found her father’s matchmaking attempts amusing but they had always flustered her. They’d been too near the mark, too near what she wished for secretly in her heart. Whether her father had realised her feelings or just thought their union would make sound economical sense, she had no idea; she just hoped that Jay didn’t perceive how she felt. That would be too humiliating by far.

Elizabeth tried to sound cool and objective. ‘The fact is that he did make his will out with the clear purpose of pushing us together, and if I don’t marry you within seven weeks the boat yard, plus a substantial sum of money, go to my stepmother, along with everything else.’

‘Cheryl will probably see that you are well provided for. I’m sure your father will have left her very well off. The boat yard is just a tiny proportion of your father’s assets.’

‘Cheryl will be all right. But that’s not the point is it?’ Beth retorted, hurt beyond words. ‘I shouldn’t have to ask for what is rightfully mine.’

‘Well, there’s not much you can do about that, is there?’

‘Aren’t you worried about your job?’ Beth tried a new track. If he wasn’t worried about her, maybe he was worried about his own position.

‘Not really. I suppose Cheryl will keep me on.’

‘If she has any sense.’ Beth tried to implant some doubt in his mind. Though she knew full well that her stepmother was well aware that without Jay the boat yard would go downhill fast. Not only was he a talented designer, he ran the place with extreme efficiency. Her father had tried to get him to buy into the business on many occasions, just to keep him there, but Jay had always refused the offers.

‘Anyway I’ve been offered another job,’ he said suddenly.

‘What?’ Beth sat straighter in her chair. ‘Where? Here, on the island?’

Jay grinned. ‘No. The Bahamas.’

Those words shocked her more than her father’s will. The thought that Jay would leave was unbearable.

‘They’ve made me a good offer. I think I’m going to accept it, subject to a few loose ends here—’

‘You can’t!’ She stared at him in horror.

‘Why not?’

‘Because I think you should stay here and marry me.’

She remembered the silence that had followed her words. The way Jay had looked at her, the quizzical lift of his eyebrow.

‘Call me old-fashioned, Beth,’ he drawled, ‘but, where I come from in the States, it’s usual for the men to propose to the women—’

‘Don’t be facetious, Jay. I’m proposing a business deal,’ she stipulated quickly. She remembered sounding confident, she remembered holding the darkness of his eyes with a direct gaze. ‘If you marry me, I’ll sign half the business over to you and we can share the profits.’

‘I never realised you were so business-orientated,’ Jay drawled, sitting back in his chair and staring at her as if he had never seen her before.

She shrugged. ‘Maybe you don’t really know me that well.’

‘Maybe I don’t.’

‘So what do you say?’

‘I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.’

He hadn’t even wanted her wrapped up with gifts…that had stung. Only for the rum kicking in, blocking out the pain, she might have grinned and let it go, said she’d been joking. ‘Okay, I’ll give you a sixty-forty split, seeing as you will be doing most of the work,’ she found herself saying instead. ‘That’s my last offer.’

‘So, let’s just get this straight. You are suggesting that we get married to fulfil the terms of your father’s will. Then what?’ His eyes narrowed. ‘A quickie divorce a few weeks later when the business has been signed over?’

‘No!’ She frowned. ‘We can’t do that. Dad stipulated in his will that we should live together and stay married for at least a year.’

‘Good old Henry thought of everything, didn’t he?’ Jay murmured sardonically. ‘Did he stipulate instructions for our sleeping arrangements as well?’

The heat of embarrassment seared through her. Before she could think of a suitably sarcastic reply he went swiftly on. ‘So how long do you want to play this charade for?’

‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged. ‘Do we have to put a date on it? After all, it’s not as if either of us are serious about anyone else, is it? Shall we just see how things go?’

There was a moment’s silence, a moment when he just stared at her and she felt incredibly foolish…

‘Okay.’ His agreement when it came nearly bowled her off the seat in surprise. ‘But if we get married we do it properly.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘We sign a premarital contract.’ Suddenly he was the one dictating conditions. ‘We put the terms of our marriage down in black and white.’

‘Fine,’ she agreed airily.

‘And I’ll buy into the business.’

‘There’s no need—you’ll automatically own half of it once we’re married—’

Jay cut across her. ‘I don’t want something for nothing, Elizabeth. Anyway, we can use the money to invest in the boat yard. It needs updating.’

It had only been when she had sobered up that she had wondered about the sanity of the situation.

And now, nearly eighteen months down the line, older and wiser she sat opposite him across this dinner table and wished that she had never gone through with the charade. But it was too late for regrets.

The waiter brought their food. Elizabeth toyed with the meal for a while. She had absolutely no appetite.

‘Did I tell you that Cheryl is getting married again?’ Jay said suddenly. ‘She wrote to tell me about it last week. Or rather to tell us about it… She still thinks we are together.’

Beth’s eyes widened. ‘Who is she marrying?’

Jay shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I think she said his name was Alan. She met him on a cruise.’

Elizabeth smiled. ‘Well, I’m glad she’s found happiness again. I know she missed Dad terribly.’ In fact Cheryl had felt so lonely in the house she had once shared with Elizabeth’s father that she had sold up soon after his death and moved back to the States. She was living in Florida now.

‘She’s invited us to the wedding.’ Jay told her.

‘Really? In Florida?’

Jay shook his head. ‘She’s coming back to Jamaica to get married. They’re having a wedding and honeymoon package. Getting married on the beach.’

‘Like we did.’ The words slipped out.

‘Yes.’ His eyes moved over her face thoughtfully. ‘You were the eleven o’clock bride,’ he said. ‘Do you remember? They’d posted the notice on the hotel board, between the times of the diving lessons.’

She smiled. That red-hot day in Jamaica was etched on her memory for all time. The gentle sea breeze billowing her veil behind her. The scent of the tropical flowers, the calm turquoise waters of the Caribbean lapping against the sugar-white sand. ‘Of course I remember. We both laughed about it…said we were the ones taking the deepest plunge of all.’

‘Wasn’t that deep a plunge, though, was it?’ he remarked wryly. ‘Six months. People get longer than that for robbery.’

‘We may have only been together for six months, but we’re still married,’ she reminded him, then wondered why she’d felt the need to say that.

‘What’s the matter: frightened that your stepmother might contest the will because we didn’t stay together for the stipulated twelve months?’ he drawled wryly.

‘Don’t be ridiculous; Cheryl wouldn’t do something like that. She was never interested in the boat yard, anyway.’

‘Which was why you felt you could safely leave after six months I suppose.’ There was a hard, mocking edge to Jay’s tone. ‘You had it all figured out, didn’t you, Beth?’

He made her sound so calculating, but nothing could have been further from the truth. She had taken a gamble when she had married him, a gamble that one day he might feel something for her, fall for her the way she had for him. It had been a wild, impossibly romantic dream destined to just bring her pain. She shook her head. ‘No, Jay. That was the problem,’ she told him quietly. ‘I didn’t have anything figured out. I just made a mistake. Marriage is too important to reduce it to a mere business venture.’

His features were impassive, his eyes dark, remote. ‘You’ve got some cool nerve to lecture on the principles of marriage, Beth. May I remind you that the “business venture” was your idea. You proposed it, talked me into it, then walked out on it.’

‘Because it was a mistake.’ She held his gaze for as long as she could, then had to look away.

What was he thinking? she wondered. Probably about the fact that, financially, she had done all right out of the situation.

She shrugged. Maybe it was best to leave his opinion of her where it was. Better that than him knowing how much she had loved him, she thought suddenly. He’d find that really amusing.

She reached for her wine and took a hasty sip. ‘Anyway I’ll have to write to Cheryl, tell her we’ve split up,’ she continued briskly. ‘I’ve been meaning to write for quite some time, but I keep putting it off.’

‘I’ve brought her letter with me.’ Jay reached into his inside jacket pocket and brought out the letter, passing it across the table to her. ‘I thought you’d want to read it. Her new address and telephone number are on there as well.’

‘Thanks.’ She put it away in her handbag. Then went back to toying with her food.

She felt somehow mollified when she noticed that Jay hadn’t eaten much of his meal either. He must be tired, she thought suddenly. The jet lag travelling from the Caribbean to Europe was quite bad.

‘How long are you planning on staying?’ she asked him abruptly.

‘Long enough for you to sign the papers.’ He looked over at her pointedly. ‘I want to bring them back with me.’

She nodded and straightened her cutlery on the plate, giving up on the pretence of eating. ‘I’ll sign them tonight.’

‘Thanks.’

So that was it, then, she thought, it was the end of the marriage. And it had been reasonably civil: no shouting, no recriminations…well, not many. Just a stack of paperwork to sign. Somewhere inside she felt like crying.

‘Would you like pudding, or a coffee?’ Jay asked as their plates were taken away.

‘No thanks.’ She glanced at her watch. ‘I should be going. I really have got work to do.’

‘I’ll drive you home.’ Jay raised his hand to gain the waiter’s attention.

They didn’t speak again until they were back in the car, driving along the darkened streets. Things were quieter now, the rush hour over, the hectic scrabble to get out of the city finished.

She directed him to her home, trying not to let her mind skip ahead to the future. Once the divorce papers were signed, would she ever see him again?

He stopped the car outside the mews where she had an apartment and looked over at her.

Silence hung heavily between them. He noticed how the streetlight played over her features. She looked incredibly pale. The Elizabeth he had known had always had a golden tan. It had been a surprise to see how fair her complexion was, quite a beautiful contrast against the raven darkness of her hair.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the softness of her lips. She moistened them.

Did he make her nervous? he wondered suddenly. Did he still have the power to turn her on?

‘You’ve got something in your hair,’ he murmured, reaching out to brush a finger through a wisp of her silky hair at an imaginary speck.

He watched how she reacted to his touch, noting the faint blush that appeared high on her cheekbones, the almost imperceptible shiver as his fingers made contact with her skin.

He pulled back, a curl of satisfaction stirring inside him. The idea that he still had some power over her senses pleased him. Why was that? he wondered. Was it because he was still angry with her for walking out so soon after their marriage? She had certainly dented his pride when she had left, and there was a small part of him that would like to settle that score.

‘Are you going to invite me in?’ he asked softly.

He noticed how she swallowed nervously.

‘That way, I can wait while you sign my papers.’

He watched her very carefully; there was a flicker of annoyance in the bright blue of her eyes before she swiftly turned her head away. He smiled. If he played things carefully, maybe he could have a little sporting pleasure before ending things. Do a little damage to her pride.

She pulled her coat further around her body. His impatience to finish things grated on raw nerves. She wondered if his sudden haste to get a divorce meant he was planning on marrying again straight away.

She thought about asking him, but then couldn’t bring herself to form the question.

A few snowflakes twirled down onto the windscreen from the darkened sky. Maybe he was just in a hurry to get back to Jamaica, she thought. And really she couldn’t blame him.

‘Come on in,’ she said resignedly. ‘I’ll make us a coffee.’ She reached for her briefcase.

‘Oh, hell!’ She scrabbled frantically in the dark space at her feet.

‘What is it?’

‘My briefcase isn’t here!’ She scrabbled even more frantically, her fingers locking on nothing more than her handbag.

‘Don’t panic, it has to be somewhere.’ Jay switched on the overhead light. ‘Did you bring it into the restaurant with you?’

She closed her eyes, willing herself to remember. ‘Yes…yes, I did.’ She remembered putting it under the table. Then she remembered picking it up as they made to leave. She frowned. ‘I think I put it down when the waiter helped me on with my coat. I must have left it in the restaurant! How stupid of me.’

She couldn’t believe she had done such a thing. She was usually so methodical, so level-headed. But her mind had been on Jay, on the divorce. Her eyes widened. ‘The papers you want me to sign are in there.’ She remembered suddenly.

His eyes narrowed. ‘Are you doing this on purpose?’ The soothing note had gone from his voice now, she noted.

‘No, of course not. My laptop computer is in there as well.’ She groaned. ‘And my mobile phone. What a nightmare!’ She reached for the door handle. ‘I better ring the restaurant, see if they still have it.’

Jay locked the car and followed her through the green Georgian door into her ground-floor apartment.

She was glad she had tidied up this morning before going to work. The pretty apartment with its terracotta carpets and cream furnishings looked immaculate as she flicked on the side lamps.

She took out the phone book and flicked hurriedly through it, aware as she did so of Jay wandering around the lounge, picking up some framed photos on the mantelpiece. Some were old ones, taken when her mum was alive. Some from more recent years were of her father and Cheryl’s wedding day.

Her phone call was answered and she turned her attention to the foreign accent at the other end.

Jay wandered over to the other side of the room, noting the fact that there was a kitchen, a bathroom and just one double bedroom. His eyes lingered for a moment on her bed, lit by a single shaft of light from the open doorway.

For a moment he found himself remembering her words in the restaurant, Marriage is too important to reduce it to a mere business venture. She hadn’t thought like that when she had given herself to him in the marital bed, he reflected angrily.

He turned around and watched her as she spoke on the phone. He noted her long, slender fingers were devoid of the plain wedding band she had once worn.

She smiled at him and covered the receiver with her hand. ‘They have my briefcase, Jay,’ she said happily.

‘Well, what a relief!’ he drawled sardonically.

‘Yes…isn’t it?’ She glanced away from him uncertainly, and continued with her conversation.

‘They close at twelve,’ she said a few minutes later as she put the receiver down. ‘And I said I’d collect it tonight.’

Jay glanced at his watch. ‘I’ll collect it for you.’

‘Would you?’ She met his eyes gratefully, wondering if she had imagined the derisive tone in his voice a few moments ago. ‘It’s just that if I set out to do it I’ll have to take two tubes across the city.’

‘It’s no problem.’ He nodded. ‘There will just be the small fee of a coffee and the use of your phone so I can book a hotel room.’

‘You’ve got yourself a deal.’ She took off her coat and walked through to the small, modern kitchen. ‘Help yourself to the phone book,’ she called to him.

When she brought the tray of coffee back through to the lounge Jay was just putting the phone down.

‘Did you find a hotel?’

‘Yes, I got the one I stayed in last time.’

She wondered if he had been on his own the last time he’d come to London on business. Maybe he had brought Lisa? She was his secretary…amongst other things. He could have combined business with pleasure…he was good at that.

She veered her mind away from that particular direction. ‘It’s snowing pretty heavily outside now,’ she remarked lightly as she put the tray down.

‘Yes.’ He stood with his back to her looking out of the window. ‘Let’s hope we don’t get snowed in.’

‘I don’t think there is much chance of that.’ She went to stand beside him. ‘It doesn’t usually stick.’

He looked down at her. ‘Pity,’ he drawled, a teasing light in his eye. ‘We could have warmed ourselves by the fire and reminisced over the good old days.’

‘What good old days?’ She tried to make her voice flippant.

‘Oh, come on, Beth.’ He shook his head and turned to face her. ‘We did have some good times together,’ he said gently. ‘Surely you haven’t forgotten?’

She felt her heart miss a beat, felt suddenly breathless as she met the velvet darkness of his eyes. Then she looked hurriedly away, confusion clouding any memories.

He reached out a hand, tipping her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

The touch of his hand on her skin made her tremble. Very slowly he allowed his hand to move caressingly down the side of her neck.

The sensation made a shiver of awareness tingle through her body. She felt rooted to the spot, unable to think, unable to even breathe properly.

She felt his gaze resting on her mouth. It was almost like a physical caress, she could feel her lips tingle with anticipation, feel his breath warm against hers.

His eyes moved to the scoop neck of her top, noting the creaminess of her skin over the ripe soft curves of her breast, before moving back to her face.

The idea of seduction ran tantalisingly in his mind, just as it had done these last few months as he had drawn up the papers for her to sign. It would be good to possess her one more time, look down into her eyes as he enjoyed her. Then walk away without a backward glance, just as she had done, his papers signed.

It would be the ultimate retribution for the way she had so nonchalantly broken their bargain.

He looked into her eyes. They seemed incredibly blue, incredibly large for her small face. He bent closer.

‘Jay, stop it.’ Her voice was a whisper. There was no forceful rejection, just a husky, ragged plea.

It tore at his heart. He frowned, his hand dropping to his side as he moved back, the idea of retribution melting, like the snow outside on the pavement.

‘Perhaps you’re right.’ He shrugged, his lips curving in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘Perhaps we should forget the past.’

She didn’t answer.

‘So, tell me, are you seeing someone else?’ His bantering tone lashed against fragile senses.

‘I don’t really think that is any of your business, do you?’ She tried to compose herself, tried to forget the sudden rush of need that had assailed her just moments ago.

‘I’m just curious.’

‘It’s none of your business.’ She flared again. She shook her head. How dared he come here with his divorce papers, and then bait her about old times, with that gleam of seductive charm in his eye? ‘And let me tell you, Jay Hammond. If you came in here with any intentions of having a roll in the sack for old times’ sake, then you can think again. I wouldn’t want to go to bed with you if you were the last man left alive in the universe.’

He smiled. ‘And this from the woman who was begging me to marry her just eighteen months ago.’

The mocking words made her temper rise even further. ‘I didn’t beg you to marry me.’

‘Didn’t you? Must have been some other raven haired beauty.’

‘I suggested a business plan,’ she murmured tightly.

‘Ah, yes, the wonderful business plan, that you were deriding over dinner in holier than thou tones…it’s all coming back to me.’

Her cheeks felt as if they were on fire, her blood racing wildly through her body. ‘So, are you making business plans with anyone else?’ he murmured derisively. ‘Is that the question I should really be asking?’

‘No! But I am seeing someone else. Someone very special.’ She flung the words at him.

‘Well, good for you.’ In contrast to her he was perfectly cool. ‘I hope you’ll be very happy, Beth. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy.’

She wanted to say, Is that why you screwed your secretary behind my back? But she held her tongue, furious with herself for losing her temper in the first place. She would never lower herself to make a comment like that, or show in any way that she cared one damn about his affair.

Silence fell between them.

‘You’d better go,’ she told him heavily.

He nodded. ‘I’ll fetch your briefcase and drop it into the office for you to pick up in the morning. If that’s all right with you?’

‘Perfectly.’

She walked to the door with him. Now he was going she wished even more that she hadn’t lost her temper. And what had been the point in lying about her private life? He probably didn’t give a damn who she was seeing, anyway. He wanted a divorce, for heaven’s sake!

Pride, that was why she had lied, she told herself as she watched him put on his coat. Pride had always been her downfall. It was the reason she hadn’t told him the truth when she’d asked him to marry her; it was the reason she hadn’t told him the truth when she’d walked out on him. It was a dreadful emotion, yet she couldn’t help it.

She didn’t want him to think she cared. And she didn’t want him to know that no one had taken his place, either in her heart or her bed.

‘Leave my briefcase at the reception area of my office in the morning. I’ll sign the papers and send them on to you,’ she told him stiffly.

‘Okay. Goodnight, Beth.’

‘Goodnight.’ She watched as he walked towards his car, got in and drove away. All that was left were the tyre marks on the virgin white snow. Was that it? she asked herself. The end of a marriage? The last time she would ever see Jay Hammond?

She closed the door firmly and leaned back on it. I don’t care, she told herself fiercely. But no matter how many times she said those words they still rang hollowly inside her.




CHAPTER THREE


JAY was caught up in the early-morning traffic when the phone rang. He frowned and looked around the car in some confusion. Where was that ringing coming from? He didn’t have a mobile phone with him. It took him a moment to realise it was coming from Elizabeth’s briefcase.

Checking in his mirror, he switched lanes and pulled to a standstill next to the kerb before opening the case to answer it.

Just as he got it out, it stopped. ‘Damn things,’ he muttered, and was about to put it away when it rang again.

He pressed the button and connected the call. ‘Hi, it’s Lucy.’ A warm and very attractive voice said in his ear. ‘We’re still on for tonight, aren’t we?’

‘I don’t know,’ Jay drawled with amusement. ‘That depends on where you are planning to take me?’

‘Sorry.’ There was confusion in the voice now. ‘I seem to have the wrong number.’

‘Are you looking for Elizabeth?’ Jay asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Then you haven’t got the wrong number, just the wrong person. I’m Jay…Elizabeth’s husband.’

‘Really?’ The voice sounded alert and amazed now. ‘Are you two getting back together? Gosh, that’s so good to hear. I do like a happy ending. When did you arrive in London? Beth hasn’t said a word.’

‘Only yesterday—’

‘Well, listen, I’m glad you’ve answered the phone,’ she gushed on without pausing for breath. ‘You know it’s Beth’s thirtieth birthday today?’

‘Yes—’

‘Well we’re having a surprise party for her after work. It’s at the Mayfair Tower Hotel. I’m calling for her at the office at six-thirty. She just thinks we’re going for a few quiet drinks, so it’s going to be a great surprise for her…well, I hope it is. She isn’t suspicious, is she?’

‘Not to my knowledge,’ Jay said truthfully.

There was a moment’s silence, a moment where Jay could almost hear the other woman’s mind ticking over.

‘Seeing as we are having this friendly chat, maybe you could tell me about the guy Beth is seeing,’ Jay said nonchalantly.

‘What guy?’

‘She says she’s seeing someone and it’s quite serious.’

He heard the woman swallowing nervously at the other end of the line as she realised she had made a big mistake and a huge assumption. ‘You’re not getting back together, are you?’

‘Not quite. But don’t worry about it, Lucy.’ Jay took pity on her. ‘And your secret is safe with me. Thanks for the invitation, by the way.’ Then he hung up.

For a moment he sat at the edge of the traffic and thought about things. Was there someone serious in Beth’s life? Her friend hadn’t seemed to know what he was talking about. On the other hand, she couldn’t know much about Elizabeth if she could assume so easily, from him answering a phone, that they were back together.

Jay reached for a piece of paper and scribbled down the address she had given for the party tonight. Maybe he’d check it out.



‘The report you wanted from Marketing.’ Robert put the stack of papers down on top of the manila envelope. ‘Cheer up, Elizabeth.’ He leaned over and grinned at her. ‘It might never happen.’

‘I hate it when people say that,’ Beth murmured.

‘Yes, so do I,’ Robert admitted with a laugh. ‘Because it usually does happen…well, it does to me, anyhow.’

She smiled at him.

She’d always liked Rob. He was a couple of years younger than her, a pleasant guy, always helpful at work. He wasn’t bad looking either, she supposed. Tall with dark hair that fell forward over his forehead like an absentminded professor. She knew he liked her; it was obvious from the way he kept asking her out. But, although she thought he was a nice person, she didn’t feel any attraction for him.

Maybe she should try and make herself feel an attraction. There hadn’t been anyone in her life since she had left Jay. She needed to change that, get on with her life. Next time he asked her out, she’d accept, she thought suddenly.

But for the first time ever, Robert hurried away without issuing his usual invitation for a drink. She sighed. Maybe it was just as well. Getting involved with a work colleague could lead to complications.

She picked up the report he had left. Beneath it the manila envelope stared at her, heavily foreboding.

Jay had dropped her briefcase at the reception early this morning. Now it was late afternoon and she still hadn’t got around to looking inside that envelope. Nor had she got around to having any lunch. The day was turning out to be even more hectic than usual.

Wonderful way to spend a birthday, Elizabeth thought as she rushed off to another meeting. Still, at least she could look forward to having a quiet drink with Lucy after work.

The last meeting of the day overshot and it was almost six-fifteen by the time Elizabeth managed to finish.

She raced to the cloakroom to freshen up. Changed out of her work blouse into a sparkly halter neck top. Re-applied some deep red lipstick. Fluffed up her hair and then bent closer to the mirror to examine herself with a critical eye.

Not marvellous, but she’d do, she decided, putting on her black jacket. She picked up her bag with the divorce papers tucked safely inside and made her way out of the building. Nobody was around. Most people seemed to have left early today for some reason.

Lucy wasn’t in the reception, but had left a message saying she was caught up at work; could they meet outside the Mayfair Tower Hotel?

Sounded as if Lucy’s day had been as hectic as hers, Elizabeth thought as she hailed a taxi.

Lucy was waiting inside the foyer when Elizabeth arrived. She was twenty-nine, blonde and extremely attractive. She was also great fun. They had been friends ever since Beth had handled an advertising contract for Lucy’s dating agency eight months ago.

‘Happy birthday, you old codger!’ she said now, reaching to kiss her.

‘Wait until it’s your turn.’ Beth grinned.

‘So how are you?’ Lucy asked casually as they made their way through the busy foyer.

‘Don’t ask.’

‘That good eh?’ Lucy slanted a look over at her. ‘Any news?’

Elizabeth shook her head. ‘Apart from my husband asking me for a divorce, you mean?’

‘Oh, hell!’

‘Never mind. I’m over all that now.’ Elizabeth smiled and linked her arm through her friend’s. ‘In fact I’m so over it that I’m going to buy all the drinks tonight by way of a celebration. What are we doing here, by the way?’

‘Someone told me about a new bistro, so I thought we’d try it.’ Lucy explained airily as she led the way down a corridor.

Elizabeth frowned; she hadn’t heard about a new bistro here.

‘You’re not setting me up on a blind date, are you?’ she asked, suddenly very suspicious as they stopped outside one of the function suites.

‘Would I do that to you?’ Lucy teased, opening the door and stepping back for her to enter the room first.

‘Yes—’ Elizabeth walked into a darkened room with a frown.

‘Surprise!’

Lights flooded over her and a chorus of voices sang ‘Happy Birthday’. She looked around the room in a daze as her friends and work colleagues came across to slap her on the back.

Someone took her jacket; someone else pressed a drink into her hand.

‘Many happy returns,’ John, her boss, said with a grin. ‘Sorry I worked you so hard today.’

‘That’s okay.’ Elizabeth wasn’t sure if she was pleased or horrified by all this fuss. She cringed as she saw the banner saying ‘HAPPY 30’ hanging over the table of food. She had been hoping to keep her birthday quiet.

‘I’ll kill you, Lucy,’ she murmured to her friend, and then had to smile. ‘But, thanks, anyway.’

Then she saw Jay standing at the far side of the room and her heart seemed to do a forward roll. He was standing slightly apart from the crowd. Two secretaries from her office were engaging him in conversation. He raised his glass to Elizabeth as their eyes met across the room.

‘What’s he doing here?’ she asked, horrified.

‘Who?’ Lucy followed her gaze across the room.

‘Jay,’ Elizabeth enlightened her, then fixed her with a level stare.

‘Oh, Beth!’ Lucy looked truly horrified. ‘I’m really sorry,’ she hissed. ‘I didn’t think he’d come, not really—’

‘He’s coming over.’ Beth downed the drink someone had given her in one gulp. It wasn’t wine, it was some sort of punch and it tasted awful.

She noted the purposeful expression on Jay’s face as he headed towards her. He wasn’t going to ask her for those divorce papers, was he? she wondered in panic. Surely even Jay had more sensitivity than to do that at her birthday party.

‘Happy birthday, Elizabeth.’ He stopped next to her.

‘Thanks.’ She tried not to let her gaze wander over the expensive cut of his dark suit, the colourful tie. He looked good, she had to admit, somewhat grudgingly. But, then, he always looked good. ‘At the risk of sounding rude, Jay, why on earth are you here?’

‘Lucy invited me.’ He slid a sideways glance at Lucy. Elizabeth was amazed to notice how her friend blushed as their eyes met. Another conquest, she thought dazedly. How and when had that happened?

‘I presume you are Lucy?’ he asked, dispelling the notion in Elizabeth’s mind that they had already met.

‘Yes, that’s me.’ Lucy gave an apologetic smile over at Elizabeth. ‘I spoke to him by mistake on your mobile phone this morning.’

‘Yes, we had quite a chat, didn’t we?’ Jay said with a grin.

‘Would you like a glass of wine, Elizabeth?’ Lucy asked, changing the subject and obviously desperate to get away.

As she disappeared amidst the crowd, Elizabeth trained her attention back on Jay. ‘You’ve embarrassed her,’ she accused coolly.

‘Oh, come on, Beth. It’s a sad situation if I can’t come and wish you a happy birthday…don’t you think?’ he murmured. ‘Anyway I didn’t like the way we left things last night.’

‘What way was that?’ she asked innocently.

He smiled and his eyes moved over her slender figure. ‘You might find this hard to believe, Beth, but I don’t like being at loggerheads with you.’

‘Don’t you?’ She shrugged. ‘Well it doesn’t much matter any more.’

‘It matters to me,’ he answered softly.

She felt a tremor of awareness race through her body. When he spoke like that, when he looked at her like that, she felt so confused. She battled against the feeling of weakness inside her, the voices that were reminding her how wonderful it had once been to be held in his arms, cradled close, kissed passionately.

‘I’ve brought you a gift.’ He handed her a small black jewellery case wrapped with a gold bow. ‘Happy birthday.’

She stared at it suspiciously before looking up at him with narrowed blue eyes.

‘Well, go on, open it.’ He grinned. ‘It’s not a time bomb.’

She took it and, with hands that were none too steady, flicked back the gold bow and opened the case.

A topaz pendant on a fine gold chain stared up at her from the velvet box. It was a stunning piece of jewellery. One, judging from the name on the box, that he had obviously purchased in the Caribbean.

‘It’s beautiful.’ She frowned, trying to make sense of this. ‘But there was no need for it…’ She snapped the lid shut on the gift. ‘I’ve told you I’ll sign the papers. So you can cut the phoney caring stuff.’

Before Jay could reply they were interrupted by Robert. He pushed a glass of champagne into Elizabeth’s hand and reached to kiss her on the cheek. ‘Happy birthday.’

‘Thank you.’ She smiled at the other man. She was aware that he was looking at Jay now, waiting for an introduction. Before Elizabeth could say anything, Jay stretched out his hand. ‘Hi, I’m Elizabeth’s husband,’ he said easily.

‘Oh!’ Robert stared at him for a moment, surprise clearly evident in his expression.

Elizabeth was taken aback as well. Uncertainty rushed through her. Why had Jay introduced himself like that? He might be her husband by law, but he certainly had no right to stake such a claim in public.

He smiled at her. It was the kind of smile that made butterflies dance in her stomach.

‘You didn’t tell me you were married, Beth.’ Robert’s voice broke the spell holding her, bringing her sharply back to reality.

‘Didn’t I?’ She wrenched her eyes away from Jay, noticing the dismayed expression on Rob’s face. Taking pity on him, she explained, ‘Jay is soon to be my ex-husband.’

‘Oh! I see.’ Robert’s face cleared. ‘Well, it’s good you can remain friends. Always the best solution, I think.’

‘Do you?’ Jay murmured, a hard edge to his tone. ‘I suppose you are right.’

Elizabeth glanced back at him. The dark eyes looked cold now as they met hers. He looked angry, she thought and then wondered if she had imagined it as he smiled lightly.

Music started to boom from the speakers beside them as the DJ started the evening’s entertainment.

The lights dimmed and coloured strobe lights swept around the room, giving the illusion of a dark, smoky nightclub.

‘Come on, Elizabeth, come and dance,’ someone urged.

She looked around and saw Lucy beckoning to her by the edge of the dance floor. Glad of the reprieve, she handed Jay his gift back and with a polite smile headed towards her friend.

‘I’m really sorry, Beth.’ Lucy had to shout over the music. ‘But I honestly didn’t think he’d come.’

‘Doesn’t matter, forget about it,’ Elizabeth shouted back as she put her champagne down and followed her friend onto the dance floor.

Jay pocketed the gift again and watched Elizabeth from the shadows.

She’d lost weight since leaving him, he observed, his eyes moving over the long length of her legs in the black trousers to the silver of her top…a top that left little of her sensual curves to the imagination.

He felt desire stir within him, just as he had the moment he had seen her again at her office. She had always been an attractive woman, but now…now she took his breath away.

‘So, who’s the guy?’ Ruth, one of the secretaries, who had been speaking to Jay earlier, caught up with Elizabeth on the dance floor. ‘He’s gorgeous.’

‘Do you think so?’ Elizabeth didn’t need to ask who she was talking about.

‘I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,’ Ruth drooled. ‘Listen, do you mind if I ask him out, or are you and he…?’

‘No. Go ahead,’ Beth told her airily, and watched as Ruth lost no time heading off in Jay’s direction with a look of determination on her face.

The music changed and Lucy put her hand on Beth’s arm. ‘Shall we have another drink?’

‘Why not?’ Elizabeth shrugged, ignoring the warning bells inside her body. She still hadn’t eaten so the few drinks were having more effect than normal. She could feel them working their way through her system, making everything distant and a little unreal.

She watched across the room as Ruth caught hold of Jay’s arm and led him towards the dance floor.

‘Does it bother you?’ Lucy asked, following her gaze.

‘No, of course not,’ Elizabeth said brightly, too brightly, she feared, by the look of sympathy in her friend’s eye.

‘Why do you think he came here tonight?’

‘Because you asked him?’ Elizabeth ventured with a grin.

‘Yes, but only because I thought you were back together…it was a misunderstanding. I didn’t think in a million years he’d turn up tonight. I mean, it’s not customary, is it, for an estranged husband to want to be at his ex’s party?’

‘Jay’s never been one for observing social niceties,’ Beth murmured. ‘He probably thinks it’s quite logical to come to my birthday party, and assumes that if he can keep things friendly I won’t make the divorce difficult for him.’

‘What happened between you two anyway?’ Lucy asked curiously. ‘You’ve never really talked about why the marriage broke up.’

Elizabeth hesitated.

‘If you’d rather not tell me, I’ll understand,’ Lucy said quickly.

‘No…it’s all right.’ Elizabeth shook her head. ‘I’m over all that anyway.’ Despite the words, her voice wasn’t entirely steady. ‘I caught him with his secretary. Apparently they had been having an affair for some time.’

‘Ouch!’ Lucy grimaced. ‘I’m sorry, Beth. I shouldn’t have asked.’

Elizabeth shrugged as if she couldn’t care less. But, in truth, the memory of Lisa Cunningham entwined in Jay’s arms, her lips pressed against his, still had the power to make her feel sick inside. ‘Well…ours was never really a love-match in the first place.’ She tried to lighten her tone. ‘And at least I escaped with my pride intact. I was the one to finish with Jay. To this day he doesn’t realise that I know about the affair, or that I saw them together.’

‘So you managed to make a dent in his ego on your exit?’ Lucy smiled. ‘Good for you.’

‘I don’t think anybody could dent Jay’s ego,’ Elizabeth murmured.

‘Hey, Beth would you like to dance?’ Robert asked, sauntering over.

She was about to say no, until she noticed the way Jay was dancing with Ruth. Her arms were around his shoulders and he was holding her close. He’d got some nerve, she thought furiously, watching as he smiled down at the pretty blonde. Jay had always had a thing for blondes. Lisa was blonde.

‘Elizabeth?’

She looked back at Robert and found herself smiling. ‘Yes, why not?’ she said blithely.

The evening seemed to pass in a blur of people wishing her well, asking her to dance. Even chauvinistic Colin asked her for a dance, and some guy she’d never met before who said he worked in Accounts. Then Robert again.

‘I almost let the secret out today in the office,’ he said smiling down at her. ‘You looked sad and I wanted to say, Cheer up, nobody has forgotten your birthday—’

‘Thanks, Rob.’ She couldn’t concentrate on what he was saying because suddenly over his shoulder she had noticed Jay talking to Colin and her boss at the bar.

‘How about having dinner with me next week?’ Robert asked suddenly.

‘Yes, that would be nice,’ Elizabeth murmured. She frowned as there was a guffaw of laughter from the bar. What were they talking about?

‘Robert, would you mind if I sat down?’ she asked suddenly, deciding to go over there and find out.

‘No…of course not.’

‘Thanks. See you later.’ She pulled away from him and headed towards the bar.

Colin pulled a stool out next to him as he saw her approach. ‘Really good party, Beth,’ he said amiably. ‘Can I buy you a drink?’





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