Fear of Love

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘If it wasn’t for the fact that he was so polite about his questioning I could have got quite insulted.’

  She sat next to him on the sofa, curling her feet up underneath her. ‘Just forget him,’ she snuggled against him. ‘You’re here to be with me.’

  ‘Mm,’ he bent to kiss her.

  The door opened without warning. ‘Excuse me,’ Charles interrupted them. ‘There is a telephone call for you, Miss Paige.’

  Alexandra scrambled to her feet, her face scarlet. She really didn’t like the way the telephone calls went through to the servants’ quarters to be put through to the main part of the house if necessary. Only having lived in a small household she found this a strange practice, although Dominic probably received telephone calls from numerous fans, and he couldn’t talk to them all. There could be no doubt in her mind that Charles would know how to deal with any unwanted callers.

  She pushed her dark hair back behind her ears. ‘Could you put it through in here, please, Charles.’

  ‘Certainly.’

  ‘Er—Charles,’ she halted him. ‘Who is it?’ she asked belatedly.

  ‘It’s Mr Tempest, Miss Paige.’

  ‘Oh, fine,’ she smiled. She turned to Roger once the butler had left. ‘Perhaps he’s found out if he can get Gail discharged.’

  ‘I’m liking the idea more every minute,’ said Roger. ‘I don’t feel comfortable visiting you here.’

  Alexandra picked the telephone up as it rang. ‘It’s lovely to hear from you, Trevor.’

  ‘Perhaps it would be, if it were Trevor,’ drawled Dominic.

  Her heart leapt. ‘Oh.’ She hadn’t thought of the other ‘Mr Tempest’, fool that she was.

  ‘Surprised to hear from me?’ he continued in that deep sexy voice.

  She looked over at Roger, smiling at him reassuringly. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Are you pleased I’ve called?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Yes—No! I don’t know,’ she finished weakly, all too much aware of Roger being in the same room, and the fact that for all her straight thinking earlier just the sound of Dominic’s voice over the telephone was enough to put her into a panic.

  ‘Make up your mind, Alex,’ he taunted. ‘I know I’m pleased to hear your voice. I’m missing you,’ he added seductively soft.

  ‘You are?’ she squeaked. ‘I mean, are you?’

  ‘Mm, strange, isn’t it,’ he mused. ‘For years you’ve been Trevor’s troublesome sister-in-law and in two days that’s all changed. I wish now that I hadn’t left.’

  ‘But you said—you said—’ she looked nervously at Roger as he browsed through some records. ‘You know what you said.’

  ‘I said that if I didn’t leave things might get a little out of control between us.’

  ‘Yes,’ she said breathlessly.

  ‘Since being here I’ve been wondering if that would be such a bad thing. Alex. I—’

  ‘Is there anything wrong, Alexandra?’ Roger came to stand beside her. ‘There’s nothing wrong with Gail, is there?’

  Her eyes flew to his face in a panic. He still believed this call to be from Trevor! ‘No, nothing is wrong. Help yourself to another drink, I won’t be a moment.’

  ‘Is Young there with you?’ Dominic rasped down the telephone. ‘Alex, do you have Young there?’

  She trembled at the anger in his voice. ‘Yes.’

  ‘So you’re taking advantage of my absence to go to bed with him,’ he accused.

  The telephone shook in her hand. ‘No, I—’

  ‘Forget it, Alex. Forget I rang.’ The line went dead as he slammed down the telephone.

  It took her several seconds to gather her thoughts together. She put the receiver slowly back on its cradle. What did it all mean? Why had Dominic really telephoned her? She would probably never know now.

  ‘Are you sure everything is all right?’ Roger probed beside her. ‘You look a bit upset.’

  She wasn’t surprised—she was upset, and utterly confused. Dominic had been about to say something important and Roger had stopped him by interrupting. ‘Everything is fine,’ she told him vaguely.

  ‘What did Trevor have to say?’

  ‘Trevor?’ she asked sharply. ‘Oh, he—he just wanted to make sure I was all right.’ Now why had she lied? She should have told him it was Dominic. But could she really have told him anything about the conversation? Hardly! But she didn’t like deceiving him like this, and she resented Dominic for forcing her to do so.

  Roger nodded understandingly. ‘Because his brother is away, I suppose.’

  If they only knew, they had more to fear for her safety when Dominic was here. He was a threat to everything she held dear. She had been managing to maintain some degree of normality before his telephone call and now she was confused again, unsure of herself as only he could make her.

  ‘Probably,’ she agreed abruptly. ‘About that party, Roger,’ she changed the subject, ‘I suppose we could invite about a dozen or so people over tomorrow, if you still want to.’

  He grinned. ‘Oh, I want to. I can hardly wait to see Charles’ face when he had to show your guests in. You have to invite Solly. If he doesn’t make the snooty butler lose his cool then nothing will.’

  Solly was a friend of theirs who always dressed in ‘teddy-boy’ gear, from his thick crepe-soled shoes to his shoelace tie, and Alexandra thought it would be funny to see Charles’ reaction to him too.

  For the next hour they telephoned round to their friends, although she had no intention of letting tomorrow night’s gathering turn into one of the rowdy parties they usually went to. This wasn’t her home and she probably wouldn’t even have thought about inviting these people here if Dominic hadn’t upset her again.

  It was after ten o’clock when Trevor arrived, and Alexandra felt her heart sink at the sight of him. She just hoped he wouldn’t say anything to give away the fact that he hadn’t called her earlier. She should have realised that the way her luck was running lately that would be an impossibility.

  ‘Hi,’ he kissed her cheek. ‘Sorry it’s so late, but I was working.’

  ‘That’s all right. Sit down. Would you like something to eat or drink?’ she asked brightly, a little tenseness about her.

  ‘No, thanks, I’ve already eaten. Gail seemed concerned about you, so I promised her I would come over and see how you are.’ He sat down.

  Alexandra shook her head. ‘She never stops fretting, does she?’

  ‘She never will, not until you’re married, and maybe not even then. How are you, Roger?’ he smiled at the younger man.

  ‘I’m fine.’ Roger looked puzzled. ‘Didn’t you telephone earlier?’

  ‘Me? No.’ Now it was Trevor’s turn to look puzzled. ‘I would have done, but we had an emergency in. Anyway, Gail wanted me to actually come here. She thought Alexandra might be lonely,’ he added teasingly.

  ‘So you didn’t telephone earlier?’ Roger repeated, looking accusingly at Alexandra.

  ‘No.’

  ‘I see.’ Roger bit his bottom lip. ‘Alexandra?’ he queried sharply.

  She had been holding her breath all this time and now it was released with a hiss. ‘Yes?’ she delayed.

  ‘Was the telephone call from Trevor’s brother?’

  She sighed. ‘It—well, it—’

  ‘Was it?’ he demanded tightly. She chewed on her bottom lip. ‘Yes.’

  He sprang out of the chair, anger in every line of his body. ‘You lied to me! You do have something going with him, that’s why you answered in monosyllables.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Trevor frowned at the two of them.

  ‘What am I talking about?’ Roger gave a sharp laugh. ‘I’m talking about your brother and Alexandra. I’m talking about the affair the two of them are having!’

  Trevor looked at Alexandra as she gasped, slowly turning back to face Roger. ‘Have you been drinking?’

  ‘I wish to God I had,’ Roger said bitterly. ‘You’ve really taken me fo
r a fool, Alexandra. I bet the only reason you called me to apologise this morning was because you had to allay suspicions about the two of you. After all, it is rather disgusting, isn’t it, a man of thirty-four and a young girl of seventeen. So disgusting that even he’s ashamed of it!’

  ‘You’re wrong, Roger. Dominic isn’t—’

  He nodded. ‘Oh yes, he is. It all adds up now—your aversion to me on Sunday, the way you’re suddenly unsure about the wedding, the way you lied just now about his telephone call. You’ve been playing me along, pretending all this time that you hated the man when you were really carrying on with him behind my back!’

  ‘Roger, please don’t continue this,’ she pleaded. ‘You’re wrong, so wrong.’

  ‘I’m through being your shield in all this. I don’t ever want to see you again.’

  ‘After the way you’ve just spoken to her you won’t be allowed to,’ Trevor cut in harshly. ‘Just stay away from her.’

  ‘I intend to,’ Roger sneered, slamming out of the room.

  ‘Sit down, Alexandra,’ Trevor said gently. ‘I want to talk to you.’

  She did as he asked, wringing her hands together. ‘It wasn’t like he said, Trevor,’ she said almost pleadingly.

  ‘Tell me what it is like. He seemed pretty sure about you and Dominic.’

  ‘You don’t believe him!’

  He shrugged. ‘Should I?’

  ‘No! He’s acting ridiculously. You know how I’ve always felt towards Dominic.’

  ‘Did Dom telephone you earlier?’ he queried softly.

  She paled. ‘Yes.’

  ‘And why didn’t you tell Roger it was him?’

  ‘Because he assumed it was you. And because—because—’

  ‘And because it wasn’t the sort of conversation you could tell him about,’ Trevor finished for her. ‘Has Dom been making passes at you?’

  ‘Hardly!’

  ‘Don’t pretend with me, Alexandra, I’ve known you since you wore braces on your teeth. You’re a bundle of nerves the last few days—and now I know the reason why. My own brother!’ he swore angrily. ‘I thought even he had some decency left in him. Well, that settles it—you’re moving back home, gossip or no gossip. I would rather have people talking about the two of us than you having to fight off my brother day and night.’

  ‘It isn’t like that.’

  ‘Not at the moment, maybe, but when he gets back he’ll set out to win you and then he’ll tire of you like he does all the rest. I won’t let him use you in that way,’ he vowed angrily. ‘You can move out of here tomorrow.’ He shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t have believed he could stoop so low.’

  ‘He hasn’t, Trevor. Roger was imagining things.’

  ‘Maybe he was and maybe he wasn’t, but I’m aware of the danger now and I’m going to stop things before they go any further.’

  ‘They haven’t gone anywhere,’ she said impatiently. ‘Dominic isn’t interested in me. Oh, he may have flirted with me a little, but that’s all.’

  ‘It’s enough,’ Trevor looked grim. ‘You move back to the house tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh, Trevor!’ she pouted.

  ‘I mean it.’

  ‘But Dominic isn’t even here at the moment. And I have some people coming over tomorrow. Can’t I come back on Thursday instead?’

  ‘All right,’ he gave in grudgingly. ‘Maybe by that time I’ll have been able to do something about getting Gail home. At the moment my only leverage is that they need the bed. Okay, you have until Thursday, but no longer.’

  She thought about cancelling her get-together all the next day, knowing that everyone would wonder at Roger’s absence. But it had to be faced some time, better to get it over with now.

  Many more people turned up than had been invited, everyone seeming to invite someone else, until the room was overflowing with people. She had had a feeling it would turn out like this somehow, but she didn’t really mind. One girl was conspicuous by her absence, the flirtatious Janey.

  ‘Where’s Janey tonight?’ Alexandra asked one of the boys, all of them drinking the beer or wine they had brought with them.

  John looked uncomfortable. ‘I—er—I think she had a previous date.’

  ‘But last night she— Oh!’ she blushed. ‘Oh, I see.’ Roger hadn’t wasted much time in finding someone new. She couldn’t blame him, she would have done the same thing herself if the positions had been reversed.

  John put an arm about her shoulders. ‘Don’t worry about Roger, you still have me.’

  She pushed him away laughingly. ‘That’s what I’m afraid of! I’ll go and put some music on.’

  ‘Oh, great! If we move the furniture back we can all dance.’

  Alexandra frowned. ‘Oh, I don’t think so, John. This is Dominic Tempest’s house, not mine.’

  ‘Don’t be such a spoilsport! Put the records on, we’ll behave ourselves.’

  Dominic’s record collection was quite varied in taste and she found some really recent L.P.s amongst them. Everyone did as they promised, no one drank too much and no one behaved outrageously, and she thought the evening was turning out to be quite a success until she turned to see Dominic standing in the doorway, his face grim as he scrutinised the people in the room.

  Alexandra moved hurriedly across the room as Dominic turned on his heel and walked away. She caught up with him just as he reached the top of the stairs. ‘Dominic? Dominic, speak to me! It was only a little party, everyone was behaving perfectly,’ she added pleadingly.

  He shook off her hand, not slackening his pace one little bit as he hurried to his bedroom. ‘I couldn’t give a damn whether they were or they weren’t.’ He pulled a case out of his wardrobe, opening the lid to check its contents before snapping it shut again. ‘Get out of my way, Alex. I’m in a hurry.’

  ‘Where are you going?’ Her mouth felt dry and she licked her lips nervously.

  ‘I can’t tell you that,’ he snapped.

  ‘You’re going on one of your assignments?’ She felt her heart quicken as she waited for his answer.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh God, Dominic!’ She fell into his arms. ‘Oh, Dominic, no!’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  HE pushed her roughly away from him. ‘What do you mean, no?’ He unlocked a drawer at his bedside, pulling out a folder. ‘I have a job to do.’

  Alexandra shook her head, tears brimming up into her eyes. ‘I don’t want you to go, Dominic. You could get hurt.’

  ‘I could get hurt crossing the road,’ he taunted. ‘Go back down to your guests, Alex. I’m sure they’re wondering where you are, especially the faithful Roger.’

  ‘He isn’t faithful any more.’

  His grey eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘He finished with me last night,’ she told him. ‘He said he wouldn’t be a party to shielding my affair with you any longer.’

  ‘Young fool,’ Dominic muttered. ‘Doesn’t he know an innocent when he sees one?’

  ‘There’s something else I think you should know.’ Alexandra took a deep breath. ‘He said it to Trevor.’

  That stopped his movements. ‘What the hell did he do that for?’ he growled.

  ‘To get back at me, I suppose,’ she said impatiently. ‘Please, Dominic, tell me where you’re going. Is it dangerous?’ she added tremulously.

  He shrugged. ‘I don’t know that yet. All I know is that I have a car waiting for me outside and a plane waiting at a local airport to fly me out of the country.’

  Her eyes widened. ‘Out of the country? But—but where?’

  ‘I already told you that isn’t for public knowledge—and that includes you. Watch the programme tomorrow,’ he advised. ‘Then you’ll know all about it.’

  ‘But, Dominic,’ she pleaded, ‘you can’t just leave like this. I won’t let you!’

  ‘And how do you propose to stop me?’ he asked tauntingly.

  ‘Any way I can,’ she told him fiercely.

  Dominic stood b
ack challengingly. ‘You can try,’ he invited softly. ‘Well?’ he mocked as she hesitated. ‘I’m waiting.’

  Alexandra hesitated only a moment longer before moving forward to press herself against him, her hands moving up over his chest to pull his head down to her, her lips pressed against his unresponsive ones.

  She moved her mouth against his, willing him to show in some way that he wasn’t immune to her, that the attraction he hadn’t hidden from her before he left for London was still as strong as ever. As hers was!

  But he didn’t move; his body remained taut and unyielding, his arms hung limp as his sides. Her hands were threaded through the thickness of his blond hair as she tried even more desperately to evoke a response in him.

  Finally she looked up at him. ‘Dominic,’ she choked, her eyes deeply blue. ‘Dominic, please. Please!’

  ‘Please, what?’ he asked tightly. ‘Be very sure before you answer that. I’m not Roger Young.’

  ‘I don’t want you to be,’ she denied quickly. ‘Don’t leave me, Dominic,’ she begged brokenly. ‘Please, I just want you to stay with me. I don’t want you to be in danger. Oh, Dominic, please!’

  ‘Dear God!’ he groaned, his arms passing about her slim waist to gather her to him, his face buried in the dark thickness of her hair. ‘I’ve thought of nothing but holding you like this since Sunday afternoon when I found you in Young’s arms by that tennis court!’ He placed fevered kisses on her throat. ‘I could have rammed his teeth down his throat for touching you like that. So I was cruel to you instead. You were no more responsible for Gail’s collapse than I was, but I wanted to hit out at someone,’ he growled. ‘You were the obvious choice.’

  ‘Kiss me, Dominic. You’ve never kissed me.’

  He gave a short laugh. ‘I’ve never wanted to until the last few days.’

  ‘And you do now?’ Oh God, she hoped so. She had never wanted anything this badly. She had known as soon as he said he was going away, possibly into danger, that her feelings for him had changed drastically in the last few days, that she couldn’t let him go away without showing him in some way the extent of this change of feelings.

  She loved him, loved him as he had once said she would when she genuinely fell in love. What she had felt for Roger was only a pale shadow of the turmoil she felt in Dominic’s arms.