Fated Attraction

by Carole Mortimer

  He made the latter sound like an actual insult!

  ‘You weren’t discussed at all,’ she bristled. ‘I believe I said you were mentioned.’ She made this sound deliberately insulting, too.

  Raff’s mouth tightened ominously. ‘But in what context?’

  ‘In the context of my employer,’ she snapped, goaded into being defensive, giving up any idea of discussing Jordan’s opinion with Raff this evening. ‘What other context is there?’ she scorned.

  ‘Just what, exactly,’ he spoke in a level tone—too level, ‘did you mention about me?’

  He was likely to explode with temper if he thought she had discussed his personal business with anyone, even if it had been with good intentions. And from the look of him it wouldn’t do any good to assure him Jordan could be discretion itself when he chose to be; she could tell from Raff’s mood that he wouldn’t believe she had acted out of a desire to help him.

  ‘I told you—’ her gaze was evasive, but she couldn’t help it, hating having to lie ‘—I told him you were my employer.’

  ‘For what purpose?’ Raff grated.

  ‘For no purpose,’ she said exasperatedly.

  His eyes were narrowed. ‘Then why talk about me at all?’

  Jane gave a weary sigh. ‘I think perhaps it would be better if we just forgot about dinner and left now.’

  He looked at her intently, grudging respect slowly entering his eyes as he did so. ‘You mean it, don’t you?’ he said in some surprise.

  ‘Of course I mean it,’ she snapped impatiently. ‘I didn’t exactly enjoy my lunch out yesterday.’ They had finally got around to eating, but by that time Rhea-Jane didn’t feel like it, merely picking at the salad she had ordered. She didn’t think she was going to fare any better this evening after the conversation they had just had!

  ‘But I would like to enjoy my dinner, and it looks as if I have to go back to the house to do that!’ she finished.

  The grudging respect turned to amusement as Raff began to smile. ‘Wouldn’t you rather enjoy the steak you have just ordered here?’

  ‘Yes, I would rather,’ she mimicked mockingly. ‘If I’m allowed to?’

  Raff held up his hands defensively. ‘I’m hungry too, so how about a truce?’

  She couldn’t be bothered at this moment to point out to him that to call a truce they both had to have been at war—and she certainly hadn’t been intending to fight with anyone this evening. Intentions, and what actually happened, when this man was about, were two entirely different things, as she had already learned too well.

  She gave a weary shrug. ‘A truce it is—as long as I can eat my dinner in peace!’ Her eyes flashed warningly.

  He relaxed visibly. ‘Dinner in peace it is,’ he conceded teasingly.

  Actually, she had been let off the hook easier than she had hoped after his anger of a few minutes ago; she had expected Raff to pursue the subject of her luncheon with this unnamed friend of hers until he had the answers he sought.

  The least Raff and Jordan knew about each other the better!

  Strange really, because she was sure, despite their differences, that the two men would at least respect each other.

  But she very much doubted they would ever get to meet each other, for ten weeks from now she would just be an unpleasant memory for Raff!

  As it was, they had an enjoyable evening after all; a lovely meal, pleasant conversation, both of them seeming to want to steer clear of any subject that might prove volatile. Which seriously limited the things they could talk about, but at least there were no more arguments!

  ‘What do I tell Mrs Howard about our dinner out this evening?’ Rhea-Jane asked on the drive back to the house, having left it to Raff earlier to tell the other woman they wouldn’t be at home for the meal. But she didn’t think she would escape so easily tomorrow morning when she had coffee in the kitchen with the other woman as usual.

  Raff glanced at her as he sat behind the wheel of the car. ‘Maybe we should just tell her that I invited you out tonight because I just couldn’t keep my hands off you any longer.’

  Rhea-Jane’s mouth quirked at his mockery. ‘That’s hardly true.’

  ‘The evening isn’t over yet!’ He raised those dark brows suggestively.

  She laughed softly at his teasing, the laughter dying in her throat as he didn’t return the humour, but simply met her gaze steadily for several seconds before returning his attention to the road.

  The car was suddenly charged with tension, a sexual awareness that made Rhea-Jane shiver with anticipation.

  Except for a single light left on outside the front door, and another in the hallway, the house seemed to be in darkness when they got in, Mrs Howard obviously having retired for the evening.

  Raff refused Rhea-Jane’s offer to make them both coffee.

  She didn’t know what she was supposed to do now. Should she just go to bed? She wasn’t sure.

  ‘Let’s go into the lounge for a few minutes,’ said Raff, instantly solving her indecision for her, entering the darkened room ahead of her to switch on the two side-lamps that gave off a warm glow.

  Rhea-Jane eyed him a little apprehensively, not altogether sure she should be alone with him like this. If he should kiss her again …! But apart from that remark in the car just now he had given no indication during the rest of the evening that he wanted to do any such thing, she chided herself.

  ‘I enjoyed tonight.’ He broke the silence.

  ‘Don’t sound so surprised,’ she scolded mockingly. Really, to listen to him it sounded as if there was something wrong with enjoying her company! They had had a bumpy start to the evening, but it had certainly progressed smoothly after that.

  He sat down next to her on the sofa. ‘Do you have any idea how long it is since I actually enjoyed a woman’s company?’

  She would hazard a guess at it being some time ago, judging from his instant distrust of women, and yet he must have had some happy moments with his wife.

  ‘In any capacity,’ he added gruffly.

  Rhea-Jane swallowed hard, not sure she wanted to hear this. The thought of him with another woman—in any capacity!—suddenly made her feel ill. Oh, she knew he wouldn’t have been celibate before his marriage, or after, and yet she felt an overwhelming resentment towards any other women who had been in his life.

  It was quite frightening to realise how jealous she felt.

  ‘Why do I find you attractive?’ Raff entwined his fingers in her hair, staring at it as if fascinated. ‘I wish I knew more about you,’ he frowned darkly.

  ‘The little you do know, you dislike,’ she reminded him lightly. She had avoided being trapped into revealing who she was once tonight, she wasn’t going to fail now.

  ‘I’ve never said that,’ he rasped, his fingers tightening.

  ‘Lust can be a great incentive to memory lapses,’ Rhea-Jane scorned hardly.

  His mouth firmed. ‘I wish it were only lust I were talking about.’

  She frowned at him, her gaze searching his face. ‘What do you mean?’

  He shook his head, pulling her slowly towards him.

  This was what he meant, this instantaneous attraction that neither of them seemed able to control!

  Rhea-Jane trembled in his arms, her senses reeling as the warmth of his lips claimed hers.

  Every time she was with him like this it was as if she had come home after a long journey.

  Raff groaned low in his throat, deepening the kiss, caressing her back with restless hands.

  It was Rhea-Jane’s turn to groan as one of those hands moved to cup her breast, desire coursing through her body, her limbs filled with a melting warmth that quickly spread through her whole body.

  The pad of his thumb moved rhythmically across the tip of her breast, causing her to gasp as the hardening of her body betrayed her—if her response hadn’t already done that!

  ‘Raff …!’ She drew in a sharp breath.

  ‘I know, I know,’ he muttered, lay
ing her gently back on the sofa, his lips moving down her throat to the sensitive hollows below, his tongue caressing the smooth skin there erotically.

  His hair was silky-soft beneath her fingers, her body arching against him as his lips closed over the hardened tip of her breast through her dress, the sensation of that rasping tongue through the silk material unlike any pleasure she had ever known before.

  Raff half lay across her, his body hard with desire, a desire that shook his body as she moved against him, entwining her legs with his, letting her shoes drop to the floor, curving herself against him, wanting to be closer still.

  Raff looked down at her with dark eyes. ‘I can’t make love to you here.’

  She blinked up at him, the spell broken. She was stupid, or na$iUve; it hadn’t occurred to her that Raff would want to make love to her.

  ‘Mrs Howard might walk in.’ He misconstrued her silence as disappointment, attempting to explain his reluctance in case she should misunderstand him.

  Raff wanted to make love to her.

  What would he say when he discovered the assumptions he had made about her morals were completely wrong?

  It wasn’t that she was a prude, or even that she had never been tempted. A couple of years ago she had been very tempted, but the man in question had decided she was too young at eighteen to know what she was doing. He had been forty-two, and already married; in fact, his own daughter had been one of her friends, her contemporary, so the infatuation had died a death several weeks later.

  Almost three years later she was still a virgin.

  Because there hadn’t been a single man in all that time she wanted to make that sort of commitment to.

  Was Raff that man?

  Oh, yes …

  ‘Jane?’

  She looked at him dazedly. She loved this man, loved Raff Quinlan.

  ‘Jane, I—’ He broke off as a knock sounded on the door, getting quickly to his feet and standing slightly in front of Rhea-Jane so that she could compose herself as Mrs Howard came into the room.

  ‘Yes?’ he prompted tersely, and Jane felt sorry for the other woman; she couldn’t possibly have known what she was interrupting—again!

  And it was just as well they had been interrupted; she might have ended up babbling her love for this man otherwise!

  Poor Mrs Howard looked flustered. ‘I heard you come in, and I thought you might like some coffee …’ she trailed off awkwardly.

  Rhea-Jane stood up, smiling reassuringly at the other woman. ‘That sounds like a lovely idea,’ she encouraged.

  The housekeeper turned to leave thankfully, hesitating only slightly before turning back to Raff. ‘There were a couple of telephone calls for you while you were out, I left the numbers for you to return the calls on your desk.’ She frowned. ‘One man seemed rather insistent, although he wouldn’t leave his name.’

  Raff looked as if business calls were the last thing he wanted to deal with right now!

  But Rhea-Jane needed a little time to collect her thoughts together! ‘I’ll come and help you with the coffee while Raff makes his call,’ she told the housekeeper, deliberately avoiding Raff’s gaze as she followed the other woman out of the room.

  ‘There’s really no need,’ Mrs Howard protested.

  There was every need, if she were to end this evening with any degree of decorum. Besides, she felt she owed the other woman some sort of explanation. After all, she had been so insistent that she was only an employee, like Mrs Howard herself, this last week, and tonight she had calmly been out to dinner with her ‘boss’!

  ‘I would like to help,’ she smiled, walking ahead to the kitchen.

  Mrs Howard still seemed flustered as she moved about the room preparing the tray while Rhea-Jane filled the percolator. ‘I really didn’t mean to intrude just now,’ the housekeeper burst out, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.

  ‘You didn’t.’ Rhea-Jane touched her arm, giving it a little reassuring squeeze. ‘Raff and I were just discussing business.’ Surely she could be forgiven that lie, for the sake of this woman’s embarrassment?

  ‘I don’t know,’ she began uncertainly. ‘Raff didn’t seem at all pleased, and— Raff?’ Her shocked gaze focused over Rhea-Jane’s left shoulder. ‘What on earth has happened?’ she gasped.

  Rhea-Jane understood the other woman’s concern as soon as she herself turned to look at Raff, his expression like thunder. And it was, she realised, directed straight at her!

  ‘I want to talk to you, Jane. Alone,’ he grated forcefully. ‘Now!’

  ‘Really, Raff—’

  ‘It’s all right, Mrs Howard,’ Rhea-Jane softly reassured her as she left the kitchen, her gaze never leaving Raff’s pale, angry face.

  Although she felt far from reassured herself as she followed Raff to his study, his back rigid with fury. What had she done now? How could he have changed so much in just a few short minutes?

  He sat down abruptly on the front of his desk as she closed the door behind her, just looking at her for several long, tension-filled moments. Rhea-Jane could feel the moisture making her spine sticky, sensing the violence within him that was barely held in check.

  What had happened? Had he, somehow, realised who she was, and wanted an explanation?

  She drew in a ragged breath. ‘Raff—’

  ‘The ‘‘rich friend’’ you met yesterday …’ his voice was dangerously soft when he at last spoke ‘… It wouldn’t have been Jordan Somerville-Smythe, would it?’ His eyes narrowed.

  She paled. How could he possibly—?

  ‘I can see by your face that it was,’ Raff bit out contemptuously, his mouth twisted with disgust. ‘ “In the context of being my employer”,’ he mimicked grotesquely. ‘ “What other context is there?” ’ he continued challengingly. ‘The context of my private business, that I had entrusted you with!’ he accused heatedly, sitting forward now, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

  He knew she had discussed the possibility of the estate’s being turned into a leisure complex with Jordan! But how—?

  Jordan himself, she realised with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. He had been the man who’d telephoned Raff earlier this evening and hadn’t given a name.

  But he had given one now!

  He had read the report she’d sent him, and not wasted any time after that in trying to talk to her, but had contacted Raff directly.

  Oh, Jordan …

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  JANE moistened dry lips, realising she was in serious trouble this time, feeling hot and cold at the same time. ‘Raff—’

  ‘I trusted you, damn it!’ His fist landed heavily on the desk at his side. ‘I trusted you, and you took the first opportunity you could to run off and tell your rich boyfriend every damn detail!’

  ‘I—’

  ‘Don’t even attempt to deny it,’ he warned coldly. ‘I know it had to be you who talked to him because the report I sent the bank hasn’t had time to reach them yet!’

  She realised that, and the only thing to Jordan’s credit in all this seemed to be that he hadn’t betrayed the very vital confidence of just exactly who she was and what she was to him.

  But it wasn’t much of a credit, because it no longer seemed so very important; Raff was going to want her to leave after this, anyway.

  ‘He actually telephoned here,’ Raff continued incredulously. ‘Had the audacity to offer me a business deal!’

  That sounded like the Jordan she knew and loved! Although she could cheerfully have strangled him at that moment. But he wouldn’t really have thought about the damage he could be doing, she knew that; Jordan functioned on a business level only most of the time. And he obviously thought the leisure complex a good business venture.

  She looked at Raff curiously. ‘What was your reply?’

  ‘What was—? Jane, you broke a confidence!’

  Raff stood up furiously.

  Rhea-Jane held her ground. ‘I did it with good intentions. Jorda
n is an excellent businessman—’

  ‘I’m well aware of who he is,’ Raff cut in coldly.

  Exactly who he was? Did he know Jordan was Diana’s son?

  She shrugged. ‘Then you must realise how competent he is. I actually only asked him about the viability of a leisure complex, I had no idea he would be interested in investing in it himself.’

  Although possibly she should have done; Jordan was first and foremost a businessman. ‘What did you tell him?’ She frowned.

  Grey eyes glittered glacially. ‘He’s coming here tomorrow so that we can discuss it,’ Raff revealed defensively, as if he wished he could tell her he had told Jordan to go to hell. But, thankfully, good sense had prevented him from doing that.

  Only one thing mattered to Rhea-Jane at that moment; Jordan was coming here. Not as her brother, but as a prospective business partner for Raff, by the sound of it.

  ‘Is he the one, Jane?’ Raff asked tautly.

  She looked at him dazedly; the one what?

  ‘The one you were running away from that night?’ he explained harshly.

  Colour heated her cheeks. ‘I wasn’t running away from him,’ she asserted. Although she was aware it wasn’t so far from the truth. She had been trying to escape the life she had made for herself with Jordan; she just hadn’t realised it at the time.

  Raff clearly saw the indecision in her expression. ‘Running to, then,’ he almost accused.

  Her eyes flashed at the insult intended. ‘I wasn’t running to him either!’

  ‘But you did live with him?’

  She sighed at his persistence. ‘Yes. But not in—’

  ‘He doesn’t know about us?’ Raff’s eyes were narrowed, his hands thrust into his denims pockets.

  ‘Us …?’ she echoed dazedly. ‘Raff—’

  ‘I don’t think Somerville-Smythe is a man ruled by his emotions,’ he cut in coolly, ‘so I’m expecting our meeting tomorrow to be purely of a business nature. I would prefer it if anything the two of you have to say to each other you do in your own time, and not in mine!’

  Rhea-Jane looked at him searchingly. Did that mean he didn’t want her to leave immediately, as she had expected he would?