Glass Slippers and Unicorns

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘No.’ A glittering hardness entered his eyes. ‘I have something much more important to take care of.’

  Darcy blinked up at him, frowning at his vehemence. ‘In Florida?’

  ‘Yes,’ he rasped.

  ‘What—’

  ‘Not here,’ he dismissed harshly, looking around pointedly at the other people seeing off relatives.

  Maybe it was the business in Florida that was making Reed so bad-tempered even now his mother had left; he certainly still looked grim.

  She tried to think of any business dealings they had had with Florida in recent months, and couldn’t remember any.

  ‘Is there any way I can help, Reed?’ she offered once they were back in his car, Darcy beside him in the front this time.

  ‘No,’ he rasped.

  Darcy lapsed into silence, knowing from experience that Reed would talk when he was ready, or not, whatever the case might be. More often than not he didn’t feel the inclination to confide in her.

  It wasn’t until they were on the plane the next day that he felt ‘ready’ to talk, and then what he had to say first stunned her and then rocked the foundations of her being!

  ‘Darcy?’ he prompted sharply at the choking sound in her throat which was her reaction to his news.

  She moistened lips gone suddenly dry. ‘Could you—Would you say it again?’

  ‘We’ll be staying with my youngest sister Diane—’

  ‘I heard that part,’ she dismissed impatiently, wondering why he could possibly think she would feel in the least distressed about that.

  ‘I want everyone, including my family, to think that I’m just on vacation—’

  ‘I heard that bit, too.’ She was breathing deeply as she waited to see if he would repeat what she had thought she heard him say earlier.

  ‘Surely you aren’t going to find it that difficult letting people believe we’re—a couple?’ he mocked.

  A couple. Yes, he had definitely said it again. And he couldn’t know how difficult she would find that to do; if he had he would probably put her on the first return flight to England. But he obviously didn’t know, would never have suggested it if he had ever guessed she was in love with him.

  ‘Marc never has to know about it if that’s what you’re worried about,’ he drawled dismissively.

  Marc—she hadn’t given him a second thought, had no doubt that while she was away he would be dating one of the numerous models who were so available to him! It was herself she was worried about; how far did being thought ‘a couple’ go?

  ‘I can understand that you’re a little reluctant—’

  He couldn’t!

  ‘… but just think of this as a working vacation,’ he continued lightly.

  Working? It would be purgatory!

  ‘We don’t have to act as if we can’t take our hands off each other or anything like that,’ he assured her. ‘It should be enough if you just act unsecretaryish,’ he derided. ‘And I don’t think you’ll find that too difficult to do!’

  ‘Now just a minute—’

  ‘I meant, of course, that the holiday setting should make it easier for you to just relax in the Florida sunshine and enjoy yourself.’

  Darcy eyed him suspiciously, not at all sure he had meant anything of the sort. She unconsciously took the unicorn in the palm of her hand and moved it from side to side on the gold chain. ‘Am I to be told what all this is about?’ She frowned.

  ‘Some of it.’ He nodded evasively. ‘As much as I feel you need to know.’

  ‘I don’t think I like the sound of that.’ She shook her head, still frowning. ‘Reed, just what are you up to?’

  ‘It isn’t a question of what I’m up to,’ he told her grimly. ‘I’m the innocent one in all of this!’

  ‘Innocent?’ she repeated in a strained voice. ‘If you’re innocent then that must mean someone else is—guilty, of something?’

  ‘Yes,’ he rasped.

  Darcy felt the rush of blood in her ears, could feel a threatening blackness descending. ‘I don’t think I can do this, Reed,’ she denied, desperately trying to cling to consciousness.

  ‘You don’t have to do a thing.’ He was too lost in his own grim thoughts to notice how pale and agitated she had become. ‘Just enjoy your holiday, I’ll take care of the rest.’

  ‘What “rest"?’ She swallowed hard, her fingers tightly gripping the arms of the seat.

  ‘It’s business, Darcy,’ he bit out.

  ‘What sort of business?’

  ‘Private business,’ he grated.

  ‘Is anyone going to get hurt?’ she asked shakily.

  ‘I hope not. But I can’t guarantee it,’ he added, at her indrawn breath.

  Not again, she couldn’t go through something like that a second time!

  CHAPTER THREE

  ‘FOR God’s sake, Darcy, did you forget to eat breakfast or something?’ Reed demanded as he fanned her still body with the in-flight magazine.

  The comical picture they made, her slumped in her seat while Reed glowered over her, would have been funny if she didn’t feel so sick—and frightened. She struggled through the fog in her brain to try and remember what had given her this sense of foreboding. Then she remembered, sitting up so suddenly that Reed’s face spun dizzily in front of her again.

  ‘Here you are, Mr Hunter.’ The concerned stewardess arrived at his side bearing a tray with a cup of either tea or coffee on its surface. ‘Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to see if there’s a doctor on board?’

  ‘No—thanks.’ He took the cup and saucer. ‘Darcy just needs her hourly dose of syrup!’

  The fact that she took two spoonfuls of sugar in her coffee and drank the brew constantly had become a standing joke between them during the months she had worked for him, his own coffee always taken black and unsweetened, although he rarely drank it. But Darcy didn’t feel much like laughing at the moment.

  ‘I didn’t forget to eat breakfast,’ she snapped as the stewardess left after giving her a sympathetic smile. ‘I just fainted, that’s all.’

  ‘That’s all?’ He thrust the coffee at her none too gently.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why?’

  She blinked her puzzlement at the narrowing of his eyes, anger boiling up in her to replace the panic that had made her faint the way that she had. She wasn’t going to think about that, had trained her mind not to think about the blood, the—Oh, God, she wouldn’t think about it!

  ‘Surely a pregnancy would only enhance the story that we’re “a couple"?’ She used her anger at Reed to block out the painful memories.

  ‘If you’re pregnant then you shouldn’t be drinking coffee!’ he grated, reaching for the cup.

  She deliberately took a sip of the hot brew, instantly feeling a little better. It was strange, but she really did think her metabolism needed all the glucose she poured into it. ‘I’m not pregnant—’

  ‘You just told me you were!’

  She sighed. ‘Wasn’t it what you were thinking?’ she rasped. ‘But as far as I know immaculate conception only took place once in history!’

  Reed drew in a controlling breath. ‘Your levity couldn’t come at a worse time—’

  ‘Oh, I wasn’t joking, Reed.’ She steadily met his searching gaze.

  ‘You’re a virgin!’ he said disbelievingly.

  Her gaze dropped in the face of his incredulity. ‘I didn’t say that,’ she mumbled.

  ‘After dating Marc for six weeks I doubt you could,’ he derided.

  ‘Reed—’

  ‘Why did you faint?’ he demanded to know in a brisk voice.

  She put her cup down carefully on the table in front of her. ‘Reed, I don’t think I can help you with whatever you have planned to do in America,’ she told him softly. ‘I’m no good at pretence, and—and I’m not sure I agree with what you’re doing,’ she added in a rush.

  His eyes had narrowed. ‘You don’t know what I intend doing!’

  ‘No. Well
.’ She shrugged. ‘Whatever it is I’m sure it can’t be all that nice if it has to be done in secret.’

  ‘No, it isn’t nice at all,’ he derided. ‘But then neither is poaching on my business deals.’

  ‘But you’re already so rich and successful, surely you don’t need—’

  ‘And just how long do you think I’ll stay rich and successful if every deal I try to make in America is sabotaged?’ he rasped grimly. ‘Because that’s what’s happening.’

  ‘How?’ she gasped.

  ‘My interest in certain deals is quietly being leaked to other interested parties, one party in particular, enabling them to step in and make the deal before I get the chance. And it’s a nice healthy pay-off for the person leaking the information. Someone is cashing in on my knowledge—and I do mean cashing,’ he grated. ‘It couldn’t last forever, of course; the golden goose, that’s me, was bound to become suspicious eventually. But in the meantime whoever is involved in this has made themselves a nice hefty profit for no outlay but my trust.’

  Darcy frowned. ‘Do you have any idea who would want to do such a thing?’

  ‘Someone who knows me well enough for me to have confided my interest in certain deals to them, someone I must trust—and someone who can be bought!’

  Darcy could quite see how Reed’s interest in a deal could be taken as an indication that money and success would follow; Reed had the ability to spot a good deal with no apparent effort on his part. She could also see that the person leaking that information to a competitor had to be someone really close to Reed to know of his interest.

  She gave a sudden gasp of dismay. ‘You don’t think someone in your family could be involved?’

  ‘I often talk to them about deals I’m interested in over here,’ he revealed. ‘But, hell, they’re my family, none of them would do this to me!’

  She could see that he really wasn’t as sure of that as he would like to be. As an only child herself, she had no idea what it was like to grow up with two sisters and a brother all younger than yourself, although she could imagine there had been a few disputes when they got older. But surely none of them serious enough for any of them to betray Reed in this way?

  ‘I realise I should have told you all this yesterday and then asked if you would mind posing as my girlfriend.’ Reed sighed, running a weary hand across his brow. ‘But I have to admit that the idea didn’t occur to me until last night when I realised that I’d panic whoever is involved if I just arrived out of the blue. But I’ve lost three deals, three good deals, during the last six months, too many for it to be just a coincidence. I have to find out who is doing this to me, Darcy.’ He looked at her with pained eyes.

  ‘You have no idea?’

  ‘None,’ he rasped. ‘But I will. With your help.’

  She knew the last was a question, and now that she knew more about it she realised this bore no resemblance to what had happened two years ago, that the only hurt likely to be incurred was to Reed himself, and that would be emotional, not physical.

  ‘I just have to sit about looking besotted by you?’ She attempted to lighten the situation.

  ‘Not too besotted.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Neither my brother or either of my sisters could ever really believe any woman would be besotted by me.’

  Then they must all be blind—or prejudiced! Women had trouble not falling in love with Reed, from what she had observed. And as one of the women who had failed she knew what she was talking about!

  ‘I suppose families are always like that when it comes to lovers and spouses,’ she dismissed.

  He grimaced. ‘I have to admit, I never understood what Wade and Chris saw in my two sisters, and as for what Marie sees in Mike…!’ He pulled a face. ‘As you said, families are like that,’ he acknowledged ruefully.

  His family sounded as if it were very close; she could see why it was so important to know none of them would hurt him in this way. ‘If I leave my contact lenses out they’ll think I’m looking at you with dreamy eyes,’ she joked, desperately wanting to remove the pained bewilderment from shadowed eyes.

  Reed took her hand in his, studiously looking at the slender fingers with their clipped nails. ‘I’ve been a bastard to you the last few days.’ He spoke quietly. ‘And I’m sorry.’ He looked up at her with blazing green eyes. ‘First that business with my mother, and now this; I used you as a punchbag.’ He smoothed the hair back at her temple. ‘You didn’t deserve any of it.’

  She couldn’t break contact with his gaze, felt as if she were drowning in those green velvet depths; his thumbtip moved in a featherlight caress across the sensitised skin at her temple. ‘Whew!’ She finally managed to break away from the spell he had been casting. ‘Your sisters and brother obviously don’t realise how lethal your charm can be!’

  To her surprise—and delight—he threw back his head and laughed, a deep throaty sound that she realised she hadn’t heard in some time. ‘I can’t say I ever remember trying to charm my family,’ he drawled, still smiling. ‘I don’t think they’re charmable!’

  If they weren’t charmable they were certainly charming, Darcy found out a few hours later.

  After she had agreed to help him Reed had suggested they get the connecting flight straight on to Orlando where all of the Hunter family lived, and when they arrived at his sister Diane and her husband Chris’s house later that evening, it was to find the whole family had been invited over for dinner, Diane’s bikini-clad body telling them it was an informal dinner party!

  ‘Sorry.’ Reed gave Darcy a grimace once Diane had told them the news. ‘If you would rather give dinner a miss and go straight to bed…?’

  She swallowed hard, nervous about meeting so many new people all at once, all of them very important to Reed. She knew that it didn’t really matter that much if she made a good impression or not, but she did want them to like her. But she didn’t want to meet them all looking as she did now, very dishevelled after the hours on the planes. ‘If I could just freshen up first…?’

  ‘Of course.’ Diane nodded enthusiastically; a younger, much more volatile version of her mother, her long hair so blonde it looked silver, eyes as green as her brother’s twinkling merrily as she gave Darcy a thorough, if friendly, appraisal. ‘You aren’t at all what we were expecting, you know.’ The words seemed to flow without volition.

  ‘Diane!’

  She gave her brother a cheeky grin. ‘I didn’t say I didn’t approve,’ she told him impudently. ‘I’m pleasantly surprised. The others will be, too. Linda was sure you would be bringing a bored sophisticate.’

  ‘She should talk!’ Reed derided.

  Diane laughed; she had been lucky enough to inherit her mother’s fine bone structure, too, her beauty something that would never fade, only refine. ‘She’s trying to persuade Wade to move his office to Miami; she says she’s sick of the backwoods!’

  ‘And Wade is naturally refusing to go anywhere,’ Reed guessed drily.

  ‘He was your friend first, what do you think?’ Diane mocked.

  He grimaced. ‘I think Linda had better get used to the idea of growing old in Orlando; Wade will never move from here.’

  ‘Right!’ His youngest sister laughed again. ‘I hope you forgive me for letting the whole family invade like this.’ She looked ruefully at Darcy. ‘For months we all thought Reed’s secretary Darcy was a man; you can imagine our surprise when Reed told us he was dating you!’

  Darcy avoided looking at Reed as she sensed his disgust with the assumption his family had made concerning her sex. ‘I’ll forgive you anything,’ she smiled limply, ‘if you’ll only tell me that the whole of the house is air-conditioned!’ Her expression was one of desperation.

  They had simply transferred from one airline to another once they had reached Miami; the airport being cool and comfortable, the heat and humidity of early May had almost knocked Darcy off her feet once they went from the airport to the car Reed had hired. On the drive from the airport to Diane Donavan’s hom
e she had convinced herself, with the benefit of the blasting air-conditioning, that she must have imagined the intensity of the humidity outside. One step outside the car had told her she hadn’t imagined a thing. At this rate she was going to spend her entire stay hurrying from air-conditioned buildings to the car and back again!

  ‘You’ll get used to it,’ Diane grinned.

  ‘I don’t think so.’ She shook her head regretfully, the cloying heat outside, even in early evening, making her feel drained; goodness knew what it must be like during the day! And she didn’t think she wanted to find out. ‘Please say the whole of the house is air-conditioned!’ She couldn’t imagine sleeping if it weren’t.

  ‘It is.’ The other woman nodded.

  ‘Thank God.’ Darcy leaned weakly against Reed.

  ‘But I’d organised eating beside the pool.’ Diane frowned. ‘If you would find it too much—’

  ‘No! No…’ she protested half-heartedly. ‘Just ignore me; as you said, I’ll soon get used to it.’ Never in a million years! She couldn’t understand why people actually chose to live in this heat.

  Diane didn’t look convinced. ‘You have your usual room, Reed,’ she told her brother distractedly.

  ‘Fine.’ He took control. ‘Let’s go, Darcy.’ He prompted her down the hallway that obviously led to the bedrooms in this beautiful bungalow.

  Darcy couldn’t understand how he could look so cool when he was still wearing the dark grey suit and neatly buttoned shirt! She had taken her jacket off the moment they had left the airport, had rolled back the sleeves to her blouse, and she had still felt hot and uncomfortable.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ she groaned. ‘Your sister is going to think I’m a complainer.’

  ‘She won’t think anything of the sort,’ he dismissed easily, opening the door to the bedroom that bore an obviously male stamp.

  It was a beautiful house, long and low, set among numerous trees, the lake visible a short distance away, several other houses set among the trees in the same way. The décor she had glimpsed on entering the house continued into the bedroom, elegant but comfortable; Diane and Chris Donavan were obviously as wealthy as Reed.