by Penny Jordan
Jago wanted her, and he was going to use every means at his disposal to remind her of that fact, until she convinced him that he was wasting his time—or she gave in. Her knees threatened to buckle under her, and she pulled away from him. Instinct warned her that to fight him now would only increase his determination. A feeling of panic began to rise inside her. David did desire her and she him; it just wasn’t the be-all and end-all of their relationship. David was not the type to force himself on anyone, he would need encouragement and a definite go-ahead before he put their relationship on a more intimate footing.
She had forgotten that Jago was still watching her, and cried out as his grasp tightened, the colour leaving her face as his hands clamped on to her shoulders, shaking her as though she were a rag doll.
‘I know exactly what’s going through your mind,’ Jago told her grimly, his lips white with anger, ‘Just don’t forget that your mother has appointed me as your guardian, Storm, a duty I intend to take extremely seriously, so forget any thoughts of taking dear David home with you. It wouldn’t work anyway,’ he told her cruelly. ‘Like I’ve already said, he doesn’t want you, and I doubt if you’d find him much of a lover even if he did.’
‘Not like you, of course!’ snapped Storm, thrusting him away, her whole body shaking with the force of the emotion erupting inside her. Emotion conjured up by his words, and their effect on her senses, which like it or not she was powerless to deny.
‘I know what you’re trying to do,’ she told him shakily as she turned away. ‘But it won’t work.’
She hurried into the office before he could say anything else, responding automatically to Sue’s smile.
Her morning was busy; the phone seldom stopped ringing, and she had promised to spend half an hour in one of the studios with Pete going over the approach they were going to take with the foster-parent scheme. Jago had already given it his approval, and Pete was keen to make as much use of the time left to them before Christmas as possible.
When he and Storm had finished discussing the details Storm stretched and glanced at her watch.
‘Nearly lunch-time. Where does the day go? Did Jago say anything to you about why he was going to London?’
She hadn’t intended to ask him. In fact she had been determined not to betray any interest at all. If he was going to leave them in the lurch and return to his own business interests, well, so much the better; that was what she had told herself, but she held her breath while she waited for Pete’s reply.
‘I didn’t know he was going,’ he said. ‘Perhaps it’s something to do with the new finance he’s promised us. Things are certainly moving now.’
Storm bit her lip, unable to deny it. Jago’s dynamic approach achieved far better results than David’s milder one had done.
’Are you sure he’s gone to London?’ Pete added. ‘Sue was in here half an hour ago and she said something about him being in rather a bad mood. I know he did go out, but I got the impression it would only be for an hour or so.’
Storm shrugged. What did it matter where he was? She had intended to make do with a sandwich at her desk for lunch, but the small enclosed roof was stuffy and on impulse she took her sandwiches to the local park, enjoying the late autumn sunshine.
When she got back Sue pounced on her, round-eyed and ruffled. ‘Where have you been? Mr Marsh has been looking everywhere for you. He’s furious!’
In spite of herself Storm felt her stomach lurch.
‘Really?’ she said coolly to Sue, trying to pretend she wasn’t worried. ‘I am entitled to my lunch.’
‘He said to tell you to go straight to his office the moment you got back,’ Sue added.
What on earth had she done? Storm thought, discarding her coat and checking her hair. Every step of the new campaigns they were planning had been submitted to Jago for his approval and she could think of nothing she had done to merit being sent for in this arbitrary fashion. The thought cheered her, helping her to smile calmly as she knocked and walked into Jago’s office five minutes later.
He was seated at his desk, bent over some papers. Without looking at her he said coldly, ‘I thought I said you were to come straight here.’
‘I had to take my coat off,’ Storm replied, willing herself to appear calm. The sight of his dark hair reminded her of the feel of it beneath her fingers. Banishing the memory, she waited for him to speak. He kept on reading, the tense atmosphere in the small room becoming more tangible by the minute.
On the desk Storm could see a letter from Harmers, and tried idly to read it upside down. No doubt it was Mr Harmer’s agreement to their advertising terms. She had been working hard on his campaign and hoped to have it ready to show to him before the end of the month.
‘I’ve nearly finished the Harmer campaign,’ she said chattily when Jago folded his papers. Although she was loathe to admit it, the silence he was maintaining was making her feel acutely nervous. Another of his ploys? she wondered a little acidly. It was certainly having its effect; she felt as nervous as a junior summoned before the Chairman of the Board.
‘You didn’t go to London, then?’ she ventured when he continued to say nothing.
The file of papers was thrown into a drawer which he closed with a decisive slam, his eyes as cold and merciless as a winter sky as he motioned to the chair in front of him.
‘No, I didn’t. I suppose you thought you had it all neatly planned, didn’t you? But fortunately young Harmer had the sense to phone me and tell me what was going on. For your information I’ve wasted an entire morning trying to retrieve the situation you and Winters so carefully set up. My God!’ he said suddenly, ‘I know how you feel about me—you’ve made that perfectly obvious, but I never thought you’d go to the lengths of sabotaging the station just to get one up on me!’
‘Sabotaging?’ Storm stared at him. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Jago,’ she told him blankly. ‘What am I supposed to have done?’
‘Don’t act the innocent with me!’ he snapped harshly, getting up and pacing the narrow strip of floor between his desk and the window. With his back to her Storm was at liberty to let her eyes dwell hungrily on the muscular breadth of his shoulders tapering to the lean waist and powerful legs.
‘You deliberately fed Winters information about the campaign we were planning for Harmers so that he could ruin it. Harmer told me himself, so don’t try denying it,’ he added acidly. ‘Was that what the pair of you planned to celebrate on Saturday? Well, it hasn’t worked. I’ve managed to convince Mr Harmer that not only can we produce the campaign on time but also that it will be properly run. I also assured him that he need have no fear that we were in any danger of going bankrupt without our major backer. I’ve already arranged fresh finance… What did you have to give Sam Townley to get him to withdraw his support, or can I guess?’ he sneered. ‘No wonder you didn’t baulk at the thought of David as a lover when…’
‘Stop it! Stop it!’ Storm was trembling with rage. She got up and stood in front of him, her eyes smoky purple as she stared up into his face.
‘I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t know Sam Townley was withdrawing his support. I did tell David about the Harmer campaign, but only because I knew he was interested in how we were doing. It was no secret; but to suggest that either he or I would deliberately try to dissuade Mr Harmer from giving us the go-ahead…’ Her voice mirrored her disbelief.
Cold grey eyes searched her face.
‘You must believe me, Jago. I love my job here, and besides,’ she added proudly, ‘if I did want to get at you, as you put it, I wouldn’t do it in such an underhand manner.’
He watched her broodingly for several minutes, then turned back to the window.
‘I admit that it isn’t quite your style,’ he agreed at last. ‘But nothing you can say will convince me of Winters’ innocence. Harmer himself told me that Winters went to see him. To talk about the campaign, he told him, but what it turned out to be was
a warning that Radio Wyechester was about to come to a sticky end and that he’d be a fool to tie himself to any advertising agreement with us.’
‘No!’ Storm cried disbelievingly. ‘You’re just saying that because you despise David. He would never do anything like that. You don’t know him like I do…’
‘No, Storm,’ Jago said heavily, turning to face her, ‘you don’t know him. Go to him. Ask him, although I suppose he’ll lie to you, and you like a fool will believe him. Well, you can tell him from me that it won’t work. Sam Town-ley’s loss is no big deal, and Harmer has agreed to give us a chance. When I told him the circumstances under which David left the station, he was more than ready to agree that it was probably a question of sour grapes.’
Storm’s face burned. ‘You maligned David to him like that?’
‘I told him the truth,’ Jago interrupted harshly. ‘God, you stubborn little fool, can’t you see? Your David wanted to ruin this station; if I were a vindictive man I could probably drag him through the courts for what he’s tried to do, but I’m not. As it is I should have been in London today at an important meeting…’
Storm was close to tears. She clenched her fists, staring resentfully at his inflexible back.
‘I wish you had been,’ she said bitterly, ‘and I wish you would go there now and never come back. And as for your accusations,’ she fought against the tears thickening her voice and said huskily, ‘I won’t ask you to take them back, because I don’t care what you think of me. I’ll go and write out my notice and…’
She didn’t get any further. Jago swung round, gripping her arms, his eyes almost black as they swept her face.
‘Oh no, you don’t! You’ve got a twelve-month contract with the station with over ten months to go, and don’t you forget it. I want you here, Storm, where I can keep an eye on you. Now get out of here before I do something we’ll both regret,’ he told her curtly.
How she got to her office Storm did not know. She sat down, feeling sick and shaken. How could he have thought that she would deliberately…? Tears filled her eyes and she let them fall. She dialled David’s number and got no response. He was probably in Oxford. If tonight hadn’t been her parents’ last evening at home she would have driven round to see him. Her parents! She mustn’t let them see how upset she was, otherwise her mother would be worrying the whole time she was away. If only she hadn’t signed that contract two months ago, but it was binding and she knew she could not get out of it. She couldn’t understand why Jago wanted to keep her, thinking what he did, she thought bitterly. She would have thought he would be glad to get rid of her.
On a sudden impulse she dialled Harmers’ number and asked to speak to Greg. He sounded pleased to hear from her, and rather uncertainly she explained why she was phoning.
‘David Winters did come to see us,’ he admitted when she asked him outright. ‘My father was a bit alarmed when he told us that both he and Sam Townley were pulling out of the radio station because of lack of faith in Jago Marsh. Actually my father had been quite impressed with him and with your campaign, but when David told him how Jago was planning to cut corners…’
Storm closed her eyes, disbelievingly, the receiver sticky and damp in her hand.
‘You still there?’ Greg asked anxiously.
Her throat dry, she croaked an assent.
‘Of course it’s all sorted out now,’ Greg assured her. ‘Jago came over to see my father this morning. Once he knew that Jago was investing in the station himself and that contrary to what Winters said there would be more money for development and not less, it restored his faith. I must admit what Winters told us gave us quite a jolt, but we’d no reason to disbelieve him… Actually I nearly rang you at the time, but I didn’t want to involve you, and Winters told us that you weren’t at all happy with the way things were being run.’
They chatted for a few minutes and eventually Storm hunt up, staring sightlessly at the wall. How could David have done it? And to use her! But there must be some explanation, some reason. She shuddered suddenly, picking up some papers and opening the door.
She owed Jago an apology, which she must give him before she lost her courage, but nothing he could say would make her believe that David had acted through malice or a deliberate intention of ruining the station.
She knocked on his door, and opened it. He was staring out of the window, as he had been when she left, but he had removed his jacket which was draped over his chair. She could see the ripple of his muscles beneath the thin silk shirt, and her heart started pounding so loudly she felt sure he must hear it.
‘Yes?’
He looked through her rather than at her, and Storm wetted her dry lips with the tip of her tongue.
‘If you’ve come to ask me to release you from your contract, forget it,’ he told her roughly. ‘What I said before stands.’
‘No, it isn’t that.’ Even to her own ears her voice sounded nervously husky, and she saw his eyes narrow as they took in her clenched hands and pale face. ‘I’ve come to apologise,’ she said before her courage deserted her. ‘I’ve spoken to Greg Harmer and he told me…’
He was still looking at her with that same steely impersonal stare, and she took a deep breath, wishing she could match his self-control.
‘He told me much the same as you did,’ she said quietly. ‘I can see why you thought that David and I…’ Her voice shook and she had to take another deep breath. ‘I can see why you were so ready to blame us, but there must be some explanation. David would never…’
‘Damn you!’ Jago snarled suddenly. ‘Even now you leap to his defence. “There must be some explanation,"’ he mimicked savagely. ‘There’s an explanation all right, but you’re too stubborn to accept it. Winters wanted to make things as difficult for me as possible and has done right from the start. When the I.B.A. asked me to step in and try and salvage something from the wreckage he’d made of this place, I didn’t want to, and I told them so. But they have ways of bringing pressure to bear and…’
‘The I.B.A. asked you? But David told me he confided in you, quite by chance, and that you…’
‘I was called in by the I.B.A. when the results of the random rating tests they’d done in this area, prior to reviewing your licence, came through. Only the fact that I knew David from the B.B.C. made me agree to help him out. I even offered to invest in the station, but he told me he already had enough backing.’
‘But… but…’
‘But you didn’t have anywhere near enough. Oh yes, I discovered that for myself the moment I arrived here,’ Jago agreed grimly. ‘Whereupon Winters promptly resigned, probably hoping I’d back off and the I.B.A. would be forced to reinstate him. For God’s sake, can’t you see what manner of man he is? Or don’t you care? Doesn’t it bother you that he’s weak, a liar…’ He broke off to stare at her in mingled anger and exasperation. ‘Why do I bother? You don’t want a real man, do you, Storm, you’re more than happy to let David shelter behind you… using you…’
Storm tried to ignore what he was saying and his criticisms of David—criticism she kept telling herself could surely not be valid.
‘What about Sam Townley?’ she asked him.
‘Another of David’s little tricks. Your David’s been a busy man while he’s been in Oxford. He and Townley were in this together. No doubt they expected to pick up the franchise for the station quite easily once they’d disposed of me. Townley probably discovered that I couldn’t raise enough finance to carry the full burden of this station, but what he forgot to take into account is that I have friends who can.’
‘So you’re now financially in control of the station as well?’
Jago grimaced at her bitter tone. ‘It’s quite normal and above board. David had money in the venture, and I’m a long way from being the only shareholder, but yes, since you ask, now I am in control.’
‘I’m surprised you want to keep me to my contract in view of my relationship with David,’ Storm said sarcastically. ‘Only a
n hour ago you were ready to accuse me of trying to ruin the station, and yet…’
‘It was a logical deduction,’ he told her dryly. ‘After all, you’ve never stopped ramming David down my throat. But whatever your other failings you are good at your job. Your campaigns have flair and originality, but don’t expect David to be pleased when he finds out I’m holding you to your contract.’
‘I’m sure he won’t be,’ Storm returned coolly. ‘His girlfriend working for the man who ruined him. I can’t say I blame him either.’
Jago smiled, his eyes cold. ‘You are a fool, aren’t you?’ he said softly. ‘David doesn’t give a damn about you, Storm. Angie Townley’s more his idea of something warm and cuddly to take to bed. No, he was just using you to get at me. He knew damn well I’d think you were implicated in his nasty little schemes and he knows you well enough to gauge your reaction when I faced you with it. I’ll bet right at this moment he’s congratulating himself on having lost the station its advertising department. The I.B.A. has granted me a temporary licence for twelve months and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, at the end of that time, David and Townley hoped to have a nice little package put together to get the franchise back again.’
‘You’re wrong. I know you’re wrong,’ Storm told him. Faint fingers of sunshine touched the strong column of his throat and she couldn’t help comparing the tanned firmness of his skin with David’s pallid, unhealthy flesh. She pushed the thought away, appalled by the instinctive leaping of her senses and the overwhelming desire to go up to him and place her lips against that bared flesh. For a moment she almost fainted with the shock of what was happening to her. It was desire, she told herself helplessly; physical desire, that was all; and the demanding urgency of it confirmed all her worst fears about herself.
In some secret part of her she had always known she could feel like this, and she had always feared the power of an emotion that would hold her in chains against her will, making her a slave to its rapacious demands.