by Miranda Lee
‘Mum, you haven’t been letting him watch violence, have you?’
Her mother looked sheepish. ‘Only the bad guys got killed.’
‘You know I don’t approve of violence in movies.’
‘Well, at least there wasn’t any sex,’ her mother said defensively. ‘I know you don’t like him watching sex in movies. But then, neither do you,’ she added with that look she always gave Lisa whenever sex was mentioned. As if she was a prude.
If only she knew, Lisa thought, several images flashing into her mind from the night before. The episode in the spa had been pretty incredible, but didn’t compare with their raunchy encounter on the terrace, with her gripping the railing and Jack behind her.
Lisa’s mouth dried just thinking about howthat had felt.
‘I don’t mind a bit of sex in movies,’ she said. ‘Just not over-the-top stuff.’
You little hypocrite, came that brutally honest voice which kept popping into her head. But…remember that movie where they had sex on the kitchen sink? You haven’t tried that yet. Or in the shower. People were always doing it in the shower in movies.
There was no doubt water felt very erotic, when you didn’t have any clothes on.
‘So what time did you get to bed?’ her mother asked as she carried two steaming mugs of coffee over to the table.
‘I’m not sure. Two-ish, maybe?’ She just hadn’t gone to sleep.
‘I did try to call you around eleven this morning to ask if it was OK for Cory to go next door, but you didn’t answer.’
‘I was still sound asleep,’ she replied quite truthfully.
‘But your phone is right next to your bed.’
‘I didn’t sleep there. I crashed on the lounge downstairs.’
‘Sounds like you had too much to drink.’
‘The champagne was free.’ And flowing right down her throat at a rate of knots.
‘Lucky you. Was your boyfriend there?’
‘Who? Oh, you mean Nick Freeman.’
‘Yep. Nick Freeman. Did he win an award?’
‘Yes. The Golden Gun award. For best thriller of the year. And you were right. That’s not his real name. His real name is Jack Cassidy.’ Lord, how cool she sounded. Was this what getting tangled up with a wicked man did to you? Made you into an actress as well as a nymphomaniac?
‘Jack. Yes, that sounds right. That’s a good name for a man of action. Is he good-looking?’
‘Tall, dark and handsome. Though on the macho side. He’s no pretty boy.’
‘Sounds yummy. How old?’
‘Mid-to-late thirties.’
‘Girlfriend?’
‘He came with a blonde.’
‘Typical. Hal likes blondes.’
Lisa didn’t like being reminded of that. Or how much Jack was like Hal.
Her mother sighed, rather like Jack’s fans had last night.
‘I’ll definitely have to read all those books again one day,’ she said. ‘But not just yet. They’re too fresh in my mind. Did you read any ofThe Scales of Justice yesterday?’
‘No. I didn’t get the time. But I will. I’d like to read the whole series again, too. Could you get the rest of them for me while I’m here?’
‘Sure thing.’
‘Are you going to readall those books, Mum?’ Cory asked on the way home.
‘Yes, Cory, I am.’
‘But when? You never have time to do anything I want to do.’
Lisa rolled her eyes. Children. They always threw things back at you. ‘I read when I go to bed at night,after you go to sleep.’
‘I hate going to sleep,’ Cory grumbled. ‘You make me go to bed too early. I don’t have to go to bed that early at Grandma’s. We watched this beaut movie last night. It was all about…Oops.’
‘It’s OK, Cory. Mum told me all about it.’
Cory’s big blue eyes grew into saucers. ‘Shetold you? But she said she’d get into big trouble if you ever found out. Did you go mad on her?’
‘Not really, Cory. But you know I don’t like you watching violent movies.’
‘It wasn’t really violent, Mum. It was great. The hero was great. I’m going to be a soldier just like him when I grow up. Jason and I played soldiers today. Can I go back to Grandma’s next weekend, Mum? She said I could. Jason’s coming up from Sydney again and he wants me to come over and play with him.’
Was fate being kind? Or cruel?
‘Please, Mum,’ Cory begged.
‘If you’re a good boy,’ she replied, trying to keep her excitement in check. ‘And go to bed when I tell you to.’
‘I promise, Mum. And I’ll clean my teeth without you asking.’
‘Now, that would be a first! OK, if you go to bed without whinging and clean your teeth without my telling you, then you can go to Grandma’s next weekend.’
‘Oh, wow! Wait till I tell Grandma.’
For the first time, Lisa didn’t feel jealous over her son’s obvious delight at spending more time at his grandma’s. She was already thinking how this would leave her totally free to be with Jack again, for the whole weekend, without having to worry about Cory. She could leave her mother’s hat off for a while and just be…what, exactly?
A budding nymphomaniac? Or just a girl who’d discovered her sexuality a little late in life and wanted to experience all she’d missed out on?
A third answer jumped into Lisa’s mind, one which made her stomach turn over.
Maybe she was simply acting like a female who had finally fallen—not into lust—but in love. Maybe this sexually driven woman she’d become had nothing to do with hormones, but her heart.
Lisa felt sick at the thought she might have fallen in love with Jack. What a total waste of time that would be!
Still, she supposed being in love with the man was more acceptable than being a sex addict.
‘Mum,’ Cory suddenly piped up, ‘you’ve gone past our street again.’
Lisa groaned. ‘Sorry, love.’
‘No worries.’
When she pulled into the kerb and waited for the traffic to clear, Cory smiled over at her.
‘You look very pretty today, Mum.’
‘Do I?’ She didn’t think so. But everyone was saying it. Jack. Her mother. And now her son.
‘Yeah. You look great.’
‘Thank you, Cory,’ Lisa said, flushing with pleasure.
‘When I grow up, I’m going to marry a girl just like you.’
Tears suddenly pricked at Lisa’s eyes. It was the nicest thing her son had ever said to her.
‘Mum, you’re crying!’ Cory exclaimed, looking shocked.
‘Of course I’m not!’ she denied as she dashed the tears away. ‘I just had something in my eye.’
Cory looked unconvinced, and remained very quiet during the short drive home.
‘I’m going to go upstairs and get ready for my bath,’ he offered as soon as they were inside the door.
‘What a good idea,’ Lisa said with a weary sigh.
All of a sudden she felt very tired. And very fragile.
Hopefully, she would sleep well tonight. And hopefully, in the morning, she would find some much needed strength of character.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
LISAfound she could not go to sleep. Her mind would not relax, along with her body. In the end she sat up in bed, rereadingThe Scales of Justice , and trying to work out just how much of Hal Hunter was Jack in disguise.
Hal’s parents were killed tragically, as Jack’s had been, but not in a road accident. In a terrorist attack at a foreign holiday resort. Hal grew up obsessed with the idea of justice, but also revenge. He resolved never to feel as powerless as he did on the day his parents were killed, virtually in front of his fourteen-year-old eyes.
That was obviously how Jack had felt when his parents were killed, and when the man responsible didn’t get the punishment he deserved. Jack couldn’t do much about the situation at the time without breaking the law. But Lisa imagined he gained great
satisfaction in giving his fictional male protagonist the ways and means to wreak havoc and revenge on all bad guys.
In the first book, Hal used his inherited fortune to learn everything he needed to know to become a successful one-man vigilante. The teenage Hal was already physically strong and mentally brilliant, but he developed those qualities further with hard work. He increased his wealth with clever investments and cultivated powerful friends, some good, some not so good. Politicians, as well as media magnates and takeover tycoons. He bought an international-news bureau so that he could find out exactly what was going on, anywhere in the world.
And all the while he was searching for the leader of the terrorist group who had claimed responsibility for the killing of his parents and a couple of hundred other innocent people.
Lisa knew from having read the book before that Hal finally found the leader, and killed him. Hal also seduced and then executed a female member of the terrorist gang,after finding out an address he needed.
Hal’s ruthlessness where women were concerned had permeated the whole series so far, as had his abilities in the bedroom. He would use his sexual skills to find out information, and to exact revenge. He would often sleep with the mistresses and wives of bad guys, not turning a hair when some of these women fell in love with him. He never fell in love himself and never stayed with a woman for long.
Lisa was wondering how longshe was going to last when the phone beside her bed rang.
For a second she hesitated, worried it might be Jack. She really didn’t want to talk to Jack tonight. At the same time, she didn’t want the rather loud ring waking Cory up. He was in the bedroom next to hers, after all.
Grimacing, she snatched up the receiver. ‘Hello?’ Her tone was quite short.
‘Hi, Lisa. It’s Gail. Sorry to bother you on your home phone on a Sunday night but I thought I should speak to you personally.’
‘Oh? What’s up? Your ankle not healing well?
‘No. It’s a lot better. But I still won’t be able to clean Jack Cassidy’s place next Friday. Or any other Friday, for that matter.’
‘Why? What else has happened?’
‘Nothing terrible. Phil’s got himself a new job. The pay’s very good and he said if I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have to do cleaning any more. To be honest, Lisa, I hate cleaning. It’s enough to do my own place. So I won’t be back. I’m sorry. You’ve been very good to me and I don’t like to let you down. But you should be able to find someone else before Friday.’
‘Don’t worry, Gail,’ she said. ‘Everything will be fine. And I’m pleased about your husband’s job. You deserve a change of luck. If you ever want to come back, just give me a call.’
Gail laughed. ‘I won’t be doing that. Not unless Phil gets laid off again. Look, I’ll probably see you up at the school tomorrow, but I thought I should let you know straight away. I did try and ring you last night, and again this morning, but there wasn’t any answer.’
‘I was out.’ Plus she’d forgotten to put her answering machine on. Ever since Jack had come into her life she’d been in a spin.
‘You know, you should marry again, Lisa,’ came the unexpected word of advice from Gail.
The wave of dismay which suddenly washed through Lisa made her want to groan.
Because she knew what it meant. She was definitely falling in love with Jack. No use pretending—or hoping—that what she was suffering from was just lust.
Let’s face it, Lisa, why else would you be devouring his books again, looking for answers to his complex and unusual persona? And why, most telling of all, would Gail’s advice to marry again leave you feeling so suddenly bereft?
Because Jack will never marry you, that’s why. All he wants from you is some company at best, along with lots of sex.
How perverse, Lisa thought, that her own discovering the pleasures of the flesh would come with the promise of future misery.
Her own.
‘I don’t think that’ll ever happen, Gail,’ she said a bit sharply. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.’
She hung up just in time before tears flooded her eyes. Sighing, she jumped off the bed and hurried into her smallen suite bathroom, snatching some tissues from the box on the vanity unit and blowing her nose furiously.
The sight of her distressed face in the mirror brought total exasperation with herself.
What’s happening to me? I never cry. Now I’ve done it twice today. All because of that infernal man. I wish I’d never met him. Wish I’d never read his rotten books. I’ll bet he’s not sitting around his penthouse, blubbering like some baby. Or even giving me a second thought. He’s probably sitting at his computer, thinking up more ruthless adventures for his cold-blooded alter ego.And giving him more silly women to seduce.
Blondes, of course!
As Lisa marched back to bed and snatched upThe Scales of Justice once more, Jack was indeed sitting at his computer, attempting to start a new book. He still had one book to deliver on his present contract, a year from today. Which seemed a long time ahead. But Jack knew from experience that if he took too long a break from writing, he found it hard to get back into it.
Yet he hadn’t typed a single word after ‘CHAPTER ONE’.
Jack had writer’s block as he’d never had it before.
‘It’s all that impossible woman’s fault!’ he declared, slamming his hands down hard on his desk and levering himself upright.
Why couldn’t she be like other women he’d known? he thought irritably as he headed for the bar in the living room. Just when he thought she was putty in his hands, Lisa had pulled back and gone all ice princess on him again.
Jack knew she could have found time for him tomorrow. Even worse was his conviction that shewanted to be with him.
But no. The cold light of morning had brought with it a return to the old uptight Lisa. The passionate girl who’d thrilled to his making wild love to her on the terrace in the moonlight had been locked away again, not to be released till she decided it was the right time.
Lisa obviously had an obsession with control. Losing it frightened her.
Yet when she did…
Jack’s body leapt at the memory of how she’d lost it last night. Not once, but several times. He loved seeing that glazed look in her eyes, and feeling her body tighten as it did just before she came.
He’d become addicted to making her come. Addicted to how she was with him afterwards, so soft and sweet and utterly his.
He hadn’t liked it when she wouldn’t go along with what he wanted today.
Not that he’d shown his displeasure. Jack knew that wasn’t the way to win a woman like Lisa over. He’d pretended to go along with what she wanted, despite feeling quite desperate to make love to her again. In truth, Jack had found keeping his hands off her this morning a real struggle. Having her in his arms had become more than a need. It was now an obsession, with his increasingly demanding desires in danger of running amok.
From the moment he’d dropped her off at her house, Jack had begun working on a strategy to undermine Lisa’s obvious resolve to keep a rein on her own desires.
Which was probably why he couldn’t put his mind to thinking up a new plot. The plotting area of his brain was already in use, though not too successfully as yet.
A large Scotch might help, Jack decided as he picked up a fresh bottle of whisky, unscrewed the cap and filled half a glass. To that he added some ice from the bar fridge and carried it down to his home theatre. Picking up the remote, he settled into the large leather sofa and switched on the TV, flicking through the selection of movies available, choosing a romantic comedy about a pair of mismatched lovers who finally got it together.
‘With a bit of luck,’ Jack muttered between deep swallows of whisky, ‘it might give me some ideas.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
LISAsighed, then glanced at the small silver clock she kept on top of her computer. Only eleven.
The morning had seemed endless; she had been
constantly tempted by the thought of being with Jack, a much more exciting prospect than doing the same tedious things she always did every Monday morning: take down all the messages on the answering machine and attend to them; update the files and rearrange any of the rosters which had to be rearranged; answer all the emails which had come in through her website; ring any potential clients who had left numbers…
She’d made it sound to Jack as if she’d be flat-out all day. But in truth, she was already on top of everything. She could easily drive out to his place after lunch. Or even before lunch.