Beth got up reluctantly, following him to the front door and keeping just enough distance between them so that her nervous system didn’t start doing funny things again.
‘You know something?’ he said in a lazy voice, as he was about to leave. ‘Out of work clothes, you’re not at all what I had expected.’ His eyes scanned her briefly, but Beth had the oddest sensation of having been stripped of her clothing. ‘My character assessment of you was obviously wildly misplaced.’
With that parting shot, she watched him as he stepped quickly across to his car, a sleek Jaguar which had been slotted in between two contraptions that looked as though they had seen action in the First World War.
She waited until the car had sped off and was out of sight, then she slowly let herself back into the flat, shivering from the night air.
Her movements were leisurely as she cleared away her coffee-cup, undressed, slipped into her pyjamas, but her thoughts were tripping over each other.
An all-expenses-paid trip to the Caribbean should have sent her spirits zooming on to Cloud Nine, but she considered the prospect with growing apprehension.
Working with him was bad enough, but in St Lucia she would be in his presence without respite. Almost without respite, she amended. There was Jane Morris, whoever she might be.
She glanced at the bedside clock, wondering whether it was too late to telephone her sister and decided that pregnant women would definitely be a little put out by a phone call in the middle of the night.
Instead she flung open the wardrobe drawers and inspected Laura’s supply of clothing.
At least, she thought wryly, she wouldn’t have to rush out in her lunch hour and purchase a set of summer clothes. There were T-shirts of every hue, light dresses, shorts and swimsuits. She picked them up slowly. All bikinis. And the sort of bikinis that left very little to the imagination. Not a one-piece in sight. Well, it was too late to remedy that. They would have to do.
By the time she finally got into bed it was well into the early hours of the morning and she awakened six hours later feeling totally unrefreshed.
Outside, the sunshine had resolutely lost the battle it had been fighting for the past day or so, and it was raining furiously.
Lucky me. Tomorrow I’ll be out of all this, she thought brightly, wishing she could feel slightly more enthusiastic.
Her thoughts were even gloomier one hour later when she arrived at the office.
She had spoken to Laura, had had to endure at least fifteen minutes of her shrieks of envy, and had then been informed that Jane Morris was not exactly the most congenial companion to be stuck with for a few days.
‘She doesn’t like me,’ Laura had said emphatically. ‘She’s never liked me. I’m surprised she hasn’t put in an appearance in Marcos’s office as yet. She’s always hovering around, like a bad smell, just itching to make some snide little dig at my expense. Maybe she got eaten up by her workload.’
‘She can’t be that bad,’ Beth had protested in dismay, only to be informed that she was worse.
‘She thinks I sleep around,’ Laura had said casually, and Beth got the distinct impression that this little titbit had been deliberately saved until she was well and truly ensconced down here.
‘Which you don’t,’ she had said wearily.
‘Certainly not! I have to admit that I became quite friendly with some of the guys in the office, you know, had a few drinks now and then after work, but that was as far as it went. And once David came along, well…’
Quite friendly? A few drinks? Oh, God. Beth hadn’t wanted to hear any more. She had rested her head on her hand, feeling like an unwary climber who had suddenly stumbled into thick fog.
Was it any wonder that there was just the tiniest whiff of a reputation surrounding her sister? Couldn’t Laura ever handle herself with a bit of moderation?
And Fate didn’t even have the compassion to comply with her plea that the plane be already fully booked.
She phoned through with the dates, her fingers crossed that the last-minute booking would ensure no seats, only to be told that she was very fortunate as they were travelling out of the tourist season so that there was no problem with the flight. Especially in the first class section. He quoted her a price and Beth gulped in shock.
‘Can’t take any more of this dreary English weather, eh?’ the girl’s voice down the other end joked.
‘I can,’ Beth replied seriously, ‘but it’s the boss’s orders.’
‘Would you like to swap jobs?’
Quicker than you can imagine, she thought.
At least she had been granted one day’s reprieve from Marcos. She wouldn’t be seeing him until the following morning at Gatwick Airport, nor, she was relieved to find, would she have to make the trip up with Jane. There was a memo waiting for her on the desk when she arrived to work that bluntly informed her that Jane would be overnighting in Reigate, so that Laura would have to find her own way to the airport.
During her lunch-hour, Beth darted out to the chemist’s and bought herself some suntan oil and moisturising cream, and then spent the rest of the day trying to concentrate on her workload.
For once she left on the dot of five. There was packing to do, even though they would only be away for four days, and in between she fitted in her overdue telephone call to Katie.
She was astonished to discover what a relief it was to chat to someone who was aware of her true identity. In the background she could hear the sound of screaming children, and she grinned. Laura was in for a shock when she discovered that her bundle of joy was also a bundle of hard work.
But there was one thing to be grateful for. Katie sounded like a pleasant, down-to-earth person. They both amicably grumbled that taking part in Laura’s scheme had been temporary insanity.
‘She can be very persuasive,’ Katie sighed.
Beth laughed. ‘It’s called nagging and it’s an art she mastered long ago. She can coerce her way into anything. She just switched on that pleading look and then talks until you give up out of sheer weariness.’
Katie chuckled. ‘But don’t you love it?’
‘Unfortunately.’
She had an early night, for the first time since she had arrived in London, and only felt a renewed onslaught of nerves when she arrived at the airport.
There was no Marcos around, and no one had tapped her on her shoulder, so she presumed that the unpleasant Jane had not arrived either.
Laura had described her to Beth, so hopefully she would be able to recognise the woman without too much difficulty.
She did. Jane was waiting in the roomy lounge upstairs reserved for the first class travellers, and Beth approached her cautiously.
‘You’ve had your hair cut,’ Jane greeted her, not bothering to stand up. ‘Not trying to cultivate an impression of efficiency, by any chance?’
Beth sat down next to her and realised that her sister had not exaggerated. Jane did not like Laura. It was there in the tone of her voice and in the sharp look in her eyes.
She was a plain woman, somewhere in her mid-thirties, Beth reckoned, with close-cropped mousy brown hair, a pear-shaped figure that looked as though it would run to fat the minute one chocolate bar too many was consumed, and cold pale blue eyes.
The pale blue eyes were fixed maliciously on her now.
‘How did you manage to talk your way into going on this trip with Marcos?’ she asked. ‘He never usually takes you anywhere with him.’
Beth shrugged and fished out a magazine from her bag. ‘Maybe he’s decided that my horizons need enlarging,’ she suggested blandly.
Jane’s thin lips compressed. ‘I doubt that. You’re only a secretary, after all.’
‘How nice of you to remind me.’
She could tell that her composure was beginning to annoy the other woman. Perhaps Laura had not been quite so outspoken with her. Knowing her sister, she had probably taken the easier route of avoidance.
‘Or maybe you talked your way in
to it. We all know about you.’
Beth lowered the magazine she had been about to read and looked coolly at the other woman.
‘And what precisely do you know?’
Jane smiled, but her eyes were gleaming with malevolence. ‘Oh, your reputation precedes you. David Ryan, for instance?’
So I was right, she thought. This was the informer.
‘You were the one who told Marcos about…’
‘Who else?’ She smoothed her skirt, dusting a few invisible flecks from it. ‘I thought it was my duty to do so. After all, it’s not exactly professional to be conducting an affair with one of the directors, is it?’
‘Of course not,’ Beth gushed sarcastically. ‘I can only thank you for the interest you’ve shown in the company, and in me too, because I’m sure you only had my welfare at heart.’
Jane looked at her with hatred. ‘Anyway, that’s put paid to any little ideas you might have had of sleeping with Marcos. I’m sure he’s not the kind of man to fraternise with tarts.’
Beth took a deep breath. What she really wanted to do was jump to her feet and bring her magazine resoundingly down on Jane’s head, but she had no intention of giving in to any such impulse. She knew instinctively that composure was the only way to deal with this level of dislike.
‘I’m sure you’re right,’ she said placidly, opening the magazine and turning the pages with interest. She could feel the other woman simmering beside her, waiting for an opportunity to continue the conversation.
It was almost laughable, she thought. And of course blatantly transparent. Jane Morris had done everything in her power to blacken Laura’s name, because of the little green monster.
It accounted for Marcos’s insinuations that Laura was a practised temptress and Laura’s own declarations that she might have joked around with some of the men in the office before David appeared on the scene, but that it had got no further than that.
She began reading one of the articles, ignoring Jane’s presence, only glancing up when the Tannoy informed them that it was time to board. There was still no sign of Marcos anywhere, and Beth had a sudden, awful thought. What if he had been delayed somehow? Four days with Jane was a fate worse than death.
‘I hope,’ Jane said with an insincere little snicker, ‘that you won’t let anything I’ve just told you get in the way of work.’
Beth looked at her pityingly. ‘Why should I? Don’t you know that there’s nothing you could tell me that would have an effect on me whatsoever?’
They boarded the plane in frozen silence. She was almost glad to see Marcos finally arrive. He gave her a brief smile and a nod.
‘Marcos?’ Jane beckoned with a saccharine smile. She patted the seat next to her. ‘I’ve brought my papers with me; I thought we might go over some of them on the way over.’
He slid his long body next to her, and Beth continued where she had left off with her magazine, listening to their low murmur on her left with irritation.
There was a reason behind Jane’s jealousy of Laura, Beth realised. It wasn’t simply that Jane was painfully unglamorous, though too vain ever to see herself in that light, and Laura was not.
No, Jane was infatuated with Marcos. It was apparent in the semi-flirtatious expression she wore whenever she looked at him.
And there were a lot of those. During the nine-hour flight, Beth caught herself glancing surreptitiously at them, noticing the way Jane touched him lightly ever so often, her hand lingering on his arm as they pored over some piece of paper. Always making sure that any conversation he began with Beth was instantly diverted back to herself.
And Marcos, she was amazed to see, wasn’t aware of it at all.
But then, she thought acidly, why should he be? If she was right, and his type was along the lines of Angela Fordyce, then poor Jane wouldn’t enter his scope at all. He saw her strictly as a working companion and was totally oblivious to any provocation behind her movements.
She was almost tempted to tell Jane that she had nothing to fear from her. Marcos Adrino was anything but sexy as far as she was concerned.
‘Enjoyed the flight?’ he asked, leaning over to her, as the plane descended towards Hewanorra International Airport.
‘Luxurious,’ Beth averred. ‘A great way to travel for my first trip abroad.’
‘First trip?’ Jane piped up, inclining her body so that she could see Beth more clearly. ‘Surely not. And I always thought that you would be the well-travelled sort.’ She said it in a tone of voice that suggested an insult, and Beth stiffened.
‘I’m not,’ she said shortly, thankful that the roar of the engine as the plane landed made any further conversation impossible.
‘You don’t mind if I grip your hand, Marcos?’ she heard Jane asking. ‘I’m ever so nervous about landings.’ She giggled coyly. ‘I have a very sensitive disposition, you know. I can be as hard as nails when I’m in the office, but this sort of thing brings out the little girl in me.’
Marcos looked faintly startled, but acquiesced politely, and Beth watched Jane’s fingers curl around his brown wrist.
She felt her stomach plummet as the plane bumped over the tarmac and then braked to a halt, slowly turning until it had finally stopped, and the passengers began to stand up, stretching and reaching for their bags in the overhead lockers.
They moved swiftly through customs. Beth could see some of the other passengers, mostly women, glancing furtively across at Marcos, wondering whether they should recognise him.
And, she admitted grudgingly, he certainly had an air about him. He was dressed casually in a pair of light grey trousers and an off-white shirt carelessly rolled to the elbows. An outfit that somehow managed to do much more for him than it would have done for anyone else.
His arms were strong and sprinkled with fine dark hair, and he moved with the easy grace of someone born to be in command. Jane was clearly in her element, and Beth thought with self-disgust that she was almost as bad, staring at him as though she had never seen a member of the male sex before.
Had she forgotten that she was here to work, as he had put it in no uncertain terms? More importantly, had she forgotten that men were not conducive to peace of mind, least of all men like him?
She wondered how he could have actually listened to anything Jane had had to say about Laura, and then realised that her sister, with her flamboyantly tousled hair streaming down her back, and that vivacious glint in her eyes, didn’t exactly encourage the image of a shy, reserved individual.
She grinned to herself. He must have thought he was going mad when he had been confronted with her, same green eyes, but with a far more sober expression in them, and a neat little bob.
Outside the sun was brilliant, and Beth stood still for a moment, her eyes taking in the sharp azure of the skies, the vivid green of the foliage here and there.
It was everything she had imagined, and more. There was something steamy and untamed about this tropical island.
His contact was waiting for them at the airport. He was a young man with fresh good looks and a crisp English accent. He led them to the car, chatting to Marcos about his ideas for the hotel, but it didn’t escape Beth that he had shown more than just friendly interest in her.
Nor had it escaped Jane, but Beth didn’t care. It felt so good to be in the warmth, her light cotton dress blowing gently around her legs, that she didn’t care about anything at all.
They were staying at one of the hotels to the very north of the island, relatively close to where Marcos had ear-marked the site for his own development, and Beth relaxed in the air-conditioned car, silently appreciating the scenery as they headed off.
It really was a breathtakingly beautiful island. Roger, who was driving the car, explained for her benefit bits and pieces of the island’s history, pointing out the huge banana plantations as they drove through. In the rearview mirror she caught his eyes and smiled, listening in rapt silence as around them the dense, bright greenery of the plantation flashed past.<
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It was mountainous and lush, its hidden depths speaking to them with the noises of animals and insects.
They emerged from the hills into Castries and then further north where the houses seemed to be flattened against the hillside and framed by a wild green backdrop studded with the vivid colours of the bougainvillaea plants.
Too soon they had arrived at their hotel, a large place overlooking Reduit Bay with its white sand and shimmering water in the distance.
Beth got out of the car and stretched her legs, temporarily oblivious to everyone else as she stared around her.
Only Roger’s voice at her side brought her back to reality.
‘Stunning, isn’t it?’ he asked, his handsome, boyish face breaking into a grin.
Beth grinned back stupidly. ‘And some.’
‘I know you’re here to work,’ he said, glancing across to where Marcos was standing with Jane, involved in some discussion, ‘but maybe we could get together for some drinks a bit later?’
‘Maybe,’ Beth said vaguely.
She could well do without the unexpected complication of Roger, however nice he was, but she knew that an outright refusal would have offended him, and anyway, what was the harm in a few drinks?
She turned towards the hotel to see Marcos looking at her through narrowed eyes. Jane shot her a triumphant glance and whispered something to him.
This, Beth thought wearily, was going to be a long four days, however splendid the scenery was.
CHAPTER FOUR
ROGER FOLLOWED THEM into the hotel, and then told Marcos that he had set up the meeting with the various local dignitaries and Herb Brewster, the Caribbean national manager of the Adrino chain, for eight that evening.
‘I don’t know whether you’ll need me around at this stage of the discussions?’ he asked, glancing involuntarily to where Beth was standing, idly perusing some of the hotel’s promotional literature.
Marcos followed the line of his gaze expressionlessly, and Beth looked up in time to see Jane smiling craftily at her.
She gave them all a large, guileless smile and Roger’s grin grew broader.
Charade of the Heart Page 5