Mistress For Hire (Harlequin Presents)

by Angela Devine

  After a while they woke and made love again. And later they went out and prowled around the wreckage in the kitchen for turkey sandwiches and champagne. Later still they watched television, lying in bed stroking each other. But they didn’t really talk, or not about their problems. It was as if the issues of Tim and Andrea were a minefield that they had agreed not to enter, at least for tonight. Instead they kissed and tickled and played hunt the thimble—and other things—under the bedclothes. And somewhere about midnight they both fell asleep.

  Lisa awoke shortly after dawn with a deep, aching sense of happiness. She was just coming back from the en suite bathroom when Matt opened the door with a laden breakfast tray in his hands. He sat watching her while she ate toast and bacon and drank orange juice and coffee, then he took the tray from her, set it neatly on the bedside table and scowled at her.

  ‘You’re not going to marry Tim, you know,’ he announced flatly.

  With a sudden lurching sensation in her stomach, Lisa realized that this was the moment she had been waiting for. She would have to tell Matt the truth and clear the air. Only then could their love have a chance to grow and express itself.

  ‘Matt, there’s something I want to explain about Tim. You see—’

  ‘There’s no need for any explanations,’ he cut in harshly. ‘I won’t pretend it thrills me that you slept with my nephew, but it’s better to put the past behind us and never mention it again.’

  ‘But that’s the whole point,’ she said impatiently. ‘I didn’t sleep with Tim! I never have done.’

  ‘Don’t treat me like a fool, Lisa,’ snarled Matt. ‘You were stark naked the first time I met you, because you were expecting some kind of extraordinary sexual romp on the dining room table with Tim. How do you explain that? Or how do you explain the fact that Tim told his mother you were planning to marry? Or the way you’ve been having it off together in that little cottage over the hill from the time Tim arrived here?’

  His voice was resonant with anger and outrage, and Lisa could see that whatever Matt said about putting the past behind them, he was still simmering with jealousy and resentment. Would he be relieved or even angrier when she told him how she and Tim had deceived him? Flinching slightly, she took the plunge.

  ‘I can explain it,’ she insisted. ‘So be quiet and listen. Tim and I never had any intention of marrying. He only told Sonia that because she was throwing a scene about my living in the flat with him.’

  Matt gave a short laugh.

  ‘And the fact that you didn’t intend to marry but only slept together makes it better?’ he demanded. ‘I’m afraid I don’t agree with that!’

  ‘Will you listen, Matt?’ cried Lisa in exasperation. ‘I’ve already told you, I wasn’t sleeping with Tim. I’ve never slept with him. I was only living there quite innocently.’

  ‘Then what exactly were you doing swanning about totally naked, begging him to hurry up and come to you?’

  Lisa gave a long, shuddering sigh. ‘Oh, help! Tim asked me to keep this secret, but I think I’ll have to tell you everything.’

  ‘I think you will,’ agreed Matt grimly. ‘Go on, then. What were you doing?’

  ‘I was posing for him. Tim’s a very talented painter, you know, especially with human figures.’

  There was a stunned silence, then suddenly Matt gave a low, sarcastic laugh.

  ‘Really?’ he retorted sceptically. ‘The day that boy shows a talent for anything other than drinking beer, sleeping in until three in the afternoon and throwing his dirty clothes all over the floor, a miracle will have occurred! Although I must hand him full marks for originality. It’s certainly a clever way to get a woman to take her clothes off, telling her he’s a painter. But forgive me if I doubt that any painting actually took place.’

  ‘No, I won’t forgive you!’ shouted Lisa, wrestling herself free of the bedclothes and leaping out of bed. ‘You’re suspicious and hard and cynical and you don’t give poor Tim a chance! You’re every bit as bad as he said you were. What’s more, you’re calling me a liar, aren’t you? I’m telling you what really happened between us, which was absolutely zero, and you’re flatly refusing to believe me. Well, thanks for your trust.’

  Flashing him a burning look, she snatched up her dressing gown and struggled into it, unwilling to let him see her naked any longer. Suddenly Matt seized her arm.

  ‘Wait! This is all pretty unbelievable, Lisa. If what you’re saying now is true, why didn’t you tell me so that first night in Melbourne?’

  ‘Because Tim wanted to keep our real arrangement secret,’ retorted Lisa bitterly.

  ‘Real arrangement? What do you mean by that? The way you bartered your body in return for accommodation?’

  ‘If you say that again, I’ll hit you!’ threatened Lisa, her voice shaking with rage. ‘I didn’t barter my body. I bartered painting lessons for accommodation.’

  ‘Painting lessons? You were giving Tim painting lessons?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Matt gave a baffled sigh. ‘Then why the big mystery about it?’

  ‘Because Tim thought you’d disapprove so strongly that you would stop his allowance and maybe even order him home to the farm. He said he told you he wanted to study art when he finished school, but you refused to listen.’

  ‘Well, how was I supposed to know he was serious about it?’ he demanded defensively. ‘He never stuck to anything else. Anyway, keep to the point, Lisa. Even if I accept that you were genuinely giving Tim harmless art lessons in exchange for your board, why go on letting me think you intended to marry him? Don’t you think you behaved utterly outrageously?’

  Lisa flushed guiltily, then her chin came up and she stared Matt straight in the eyes.

  ‘And you offered to buy me off,’ she reminded him. ‘Without even knowing anything about me, you assumed that I was grasping and manipulative and that I’d stoop to seducing a mere kid. Don’t you think you behaved utterly outrageously?’

  ‘That may be so,’ he muttered stiffly. ‘But it still doesn’t explain why you carried the deception so far. Why did you accept my invitation to come here for a visit?’

  It was Lisa’s turn to look uncomfortable.

  ‘I’m sorry about that. I was so angry that I just rushed into it without thinking. I’ve always been impulsive, it’s my worst fault. You see, I wanted to score off you for humiliating me so badly.’

  Matt was still frowning suspiciously. ‘It also doesn’t explain why you and Tim disappeared off to the cottage so much,’ he pointed out. ‘I suppose you were posing for him there, too?’

  Lisa’s eyes blazed dangerously at his sarcasm.

  ‘Yes! As a matter of fact I was! Well, I didn’t do much actual posing, except the day when you came down to tell us Sonia had arrived. Mostly what I was doing was just giving him advice. He’s been doing an important work for the Buller Art Prize competition.’

  ‘The Buller Art Prize? You must be joking!’

  ‘No, I’m not.’

  ‘But that’s a major art prize.’

  ‘I know,’ said Lisa proudly. ‘And he’s short-listed among only four finalists. He’s really talented, Matt.’

  Matt’s eyes narrowed reflectively, but he seemed less interested in his nephew’s talent than in something else. Gripping Lisa’s shoulders, he looked earnestly at her.

  ‘So you genuinely never slept with him?’ he demanded.

  She shook her head.

  ‘I wouldn’t seduce somebody so young and inexperienced. I take relationships far too seriously for that.’

  Matt cupped her face in his hands and gazed at her with an intensity that thrilled and alarmed her.

  ‘I’m relieved to hear it,’ he growled. ‘If what you’re telling me now is true, you’ve taken a great weight off my mind.’

  Leaning down, he kissed her with almost the same reverent sense of purpose as if he was kissing his bride.

  ‘Tim and Sonia will be back soon,’ he said with a sigh. ‘I suppose it�
�s better if we don’t go to bed again just now. Tell me, Lisa, is it possible to view this masterpiece of Tim’s?’

  ‘Of course,’ she agreed. ‘I’ll take you down to the cottage and show you.’

  Ten minutes later Matt was standing motionless in astonishment before the painting. He was silent for a long, long time, but at last he gave himself a little shake as if he was rousing from a reverie.

  ‘It’s superb. I suppose I’ll have to give up my opposition to letting the boy study art. Mind you, I’m still going to have plenty to say to him about his slyness and his refusal to face up to me like a man on the issue. Not to mention his impudence in telling Sonia he intended to marry you!’

  Matt looked so fierce that Lisa gave a soft giggle as she put her arm around him and led him outside on to the veranda. They were both so intent on each other that they didn’t notice a youthful figure hurrying eagerly down the final stretch of road from the other house.

  ‘Don’t be too hard on Tim for lying to you about the art lessons and our marriage plans,’ begged Lisa, gazing into Matt’s eyes. ‘He’s a nice kid, really, even if he is immature. And there was no malice behind any of it, it was just one of his silly, impetuous schemes.’

  At that moment Tim came into view around the Chinese fire bush at the edge of the garden. His face was a study in disbelief and indignation, and it was clear that he had overheard every word she said.

  ‘Thanks for the loyalty, Lisa,’ he fumed. ‘But where do you get off talking about my silly, impetuous schemes? What about your silly, impetuous schemes? What about your little plot to make Matt fall in love with you, just so you could have the satisfaction of dropping him?’

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘WHAT do you mean?’ asked Matt in a hushed voice.

  His very quietness seemed far more ominous than any shouting would have been, and Tim stepped back a pace, looking uneasy.

  ‘Why don’t you ask her?’ he retorted, stabbing his finger in Lisa’s direction.

  ‘Well, Lisa? Do you have any explanation to offer me?’

  The moment Matt’s attention was successfully diverted, Tim swerved past them, dashed inside the house and prudently locked the front door, leaving Lisa to deal with the crisis alone. With a sickening sense of apprehension she realized that Matt was far angrier than she had ever seen him before. His eyes were narrowed to mere slits, his nostrils had a curious pinched look and his teeth were gritted in a white line. And in spite of his stillness, she had the sense that he was barely managing to keep himself under control. His hands were clenching and unclenching at his sides, and a muscle was twitching in his cheek.

  ‘Well?’ he repeated, thrusting his face within an inch of hers. ‘Is Tim telling the truth? Did you plot to make me fall in love with you just so you could have the satisfaction of dropping me? Is that why you slept with me?’

  ‘N-no,’ stammered Lisa. ‘At least, yes, but not exactly…I mean…’

  She backed away in alarm as Matt swore violently under his breath. With a sudden lunge he lashed out, kicking over a terracotta pot of lobelias that stood next to one of the veranda posts. Lisa winced as it shattered loudly, scattering shards of broken pottery along with clumps of dirt and tangled blue flowers. But Matt didn’t look at all repentant. He simply stood stock-still, his breath coming in shuddering gulps, staring at the front door where Tim had vanished, as if debating whether to take it off its hinges and smash it to the ground on top of the earthenware pot. Then his gaze swung across to Lisa.

  ‘You unscrupulous little bitch!’ he hissed. ‘Do you mean to tell me that you slept with me just out of some twisted desire for revenge? Revenge for what?’

  Lisa stared at him in horror. Her legs were trembling so violently they would scarcely hold her, and she felt a half hysterical urge to burst into tears. She couldn’t believe that everything was going so horribly wrong! If only she hadn’t told Tim about that crazy plan of hers! It had been weeks since she had stopped trying to attract Matt just for the sake of revenge. And even if that had still been her only motive, she would never have let it go beyond a mere harmless flirtation. She certainly would never have made love with him for such a despicable reason! How could he possibly believe such a thing of her? At the same time as she was busy blaming herself, a mounting annoyance with Matt began to flare up inside her. Why did he have to leap to such melodramatic conclusions? And anyway, hadn’t she had good reason to be annoyed with him in the first place?

  ‘I was angry with you,’ she said resentfully. ‘I heard you that morning when you were talking on the telephone to Andrea. You told her you were deliberately leading me on so that you could show Tim how fickle I was. You deliberately set out to make a fool of me and humiliate me!’

  Matt shut his eyes briefly. When he opened them again they were glinting with hostility.

  ‘And in return for that you were prepared to sleep with me?’ he breathed incredulously. ‘You were prepared to sigh and murmur and tell me how you loved me just so you could have the pleasure of dumping me a couple of days later? You take my breath away, Lisa. I would never have believed you could stoop so low.’

  He turned away from her with a contemptuous expression on his face. Lisa clutched imploringly at his sleeve.

  ‘Matt, it wasn’t like that!’ she cried. ‘I didn’t say all those things just to play some rotten trick on you. I really meant them!’

  He uttered a mirthless jeer of laughter. ‘And you expect me to believe that?’

  ‘Yes. Yes!’ she insisted passionately. ‘I expect you to believe it, because it’s the truth. Look, okay, I did say that stuff to Tim. I did tell him that I was going to try to make you fall in love with me, because I wanted to hurt you and humiliate you just as badly as you had done to me.’

  ‘And I suppose you think you’ve succeeded now,’ sneered Matt.

  ‘No! Of course I don’t think I’ve succeeded. I’ve wrecked everything! All I ever intended to do was to flirt with you, but instead I fell hopelessly in love with you, because I just couldn’t help myself. I love you, Matt. I really do!’

  ‘Do you?’ retorted Matt sceptically. ‘In that case I suppose it’s going to break your heart to hear that I never want to set eyes on you again, Lisa Hayward!’

  While she was still staring at him, aghast, he turned and left her.

  The sound of the four-wheel drive engine starting up woke Lisa from her paralysis. Choking down the lump in her throat, she dashed after him.

  ‘Matt, wait!’

  There was no reply except the indifferent roar of the vehicle as it rushed past her. She caught a brief glimpse of Matt, looking grim and angry as he clenched the steering wheel, then he turned off into the dirt road beyond the gateway. Lisa sprinted after him as hard as she could, but it was nearly a mile from the cottage to the main farmhouse so she had no chance of catching him. The choking dust flung up by the vehicle made her cough, and tiny bits of gravel found their way into her shoes. Ignoring the discomfort, she ran on, and by the time she came stumbling up the last stretch of hillside her breath was coming in burning gulps. She arrived just in time to see that Matt had abandoned the four-wheel drive vehicle in favour of the red Porsche. Lisa stood open-mouthed in dismay as he drove recklessly towards the main road, turned and vanished out of sight.

  ‘Damn,’ she breathed. ‘Damn, damn, damn! Oh, the brute! How could he?’

  Hauling off her shoes, which had been torturing her for the past four hundred metres, she relieved her feelings by flinging them down in the dirt road. Then she burst into tears. Only after she had cried herself to a standstill did she finally pick up the shoes and limp inside the house. In a daze she groped her way into the kitchen and began trying to boil the electric kettle. Perhaps a cup of tea would make her feel better. Then she thought of Matt offering her the lemon tea on the cliff top above Remarkable Cave and her chin began to quiver dangerously again. How ridiculous could she be? Tea wouldn’t help. Nothing would! Her whole life was ruined.

  Sh
e began to pace restlessly round the kitchen, trying to make sense of all that had just happened. Well, she had really made a mess of things this time! She should never have concocted that silly deception with Tim, nor hatched her dangerous plan for revenge. But it wasn’t all my fault, a small voice in her head retorted obstinately. What about Matt? He wasn’t so pure and innocent, either. What about telling Andrea he was going to lead me on to show Tim how faithless I was? Was that fair? And…Andrea. Oh, heavens! What about Andrea?

  Lisa groaned aloud. It always came back to that. In the heat of her passion for Matt and her craving to believe that he loved her, had she been wilfully blind to his faults? Had she convinced herself that he was loyal and trustworthy when he was really nothing of the kind? Had he made a fool of her just as thoroughly as Saul Oakley had done? And if so, how could she ever trust her own judgment again? Because the fact was that she had trusted Matt. She couldn’t even blame it on her own youth and naivete this time. She was twenty-five years old and well aware that there were men in the world who were unscrupulous predators, trading on their own charm to lure women into meaningless, degrading affairs. And yet Matt’s voice had had such a ring of truth when he denied any wrongdoing with Andrea that Lisa had believed him. Now the humiliating possibility that she had been wrong came sweeping over her. Had she made love with a man who had only intended to exploit and abandon her? A man who had never had any deep feelings for her beyond a purely sensual urge to enjoy her body? The thought was unbearable.

  But if Matt had only been interested in her body, why had he reacted so violently at the thought that she might merely have been playing games with him? Didn’t the intensity of his response imply that he really cared about her? Didn’t all that pent-up rage and hurt prove that he loved her? Lisa clung longingly to the idea for a few moments and then shook her head bitterly. Not necessarily, she told herself. It might have been nothing but masculine pride. There are plenty of men who think it’s fine to play games with women, who don’t like having the same thing done to them. The truth is that I have no idea what Matt’s real feelings are towards me and I was a fool ever to let things go so far between us without knowing that. Oh, I wish he’d come back just so that I could get all this sorted out. I can’t bear this uncertainty!