Ice In His Veins

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘No doubt.’ She gave him a bright smile. ‘I’ll call my mother from my bedroom, I think. I’ll see you in the morning, shall I?’ She could see this conversation hadn’t pleased him at all. Well, it served him right for being so damned sure of himself—and her response to him.

  ‘Perhaps,’ he nodded distantly. ‘Although I may have already left for the office by the time you come down.’

  Her eyes widened at that. ‘You’re going to work in the morning?’

  ‘I have to. There’s no need to look like that, Eden. Your grandfather may be dead, but the rest of life has to go on. I’m sorry you’ll be here alone, but—’

  ‘I wasn’t thinking of me,’ she told him coldly.

  ‘Isobel?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I will, of course, be spending part of tomorrow with her, but she’ll still be under sedation most of the day. My time can be better employed at the office.’

  ‘I’m sure it can,’ she said bitterly.

  ‘You don’t understand, Eden. But you soon will.’

  ‘That sounds like a threat.’ Her look was defiant.

  ‘Go and make your call,’ Jason said impatiently. ‘But don’t give your mother any false hopes about your return. It just isn’t possible at the moment.’

  ‘I shall go home when I damn well feel like it!’

  Jason’s eyes narrowed. ‘We’ll see, shall we?’

  CHAPTER FIVE

  UNFORTUNATELY Drew wasn’t at home when Eden telephoned, but the maid recognised her voice and so she had to ask to speak to her mother, or make matters worse.

  ‘You’ve certainly taken your time about calling me,’ came her mother’s waspish comment. ‘I’ve been waiting for your call all evening.’

  ‘Sorry, Mummy.’ Her tongue felt as if it were stuck to the roof of her mouth. She couldn’t not tell her mother what had happened, but she just wished Drew could have been there.

  ‘Well?’ There was a noticeable tension about her mother’s voice. ‘Don’t keep me in suspense, Eden. Have you seen David yet?’

  ‘I—’

  ‘Of course you’ll have seen him,’ her mother answered her own question. ‘How is he?’

  ‘Mummy—’

  ‘He must be very ill, I realise that,’ Angela muttered. ‘But I just can’t imagine him going to die.’

  ‘Mummy—’

  ‘Just a minute, Eden, Drew just came in.’

  ‘He did?’ She almost sighed her relief. ‘Can I talk to him?’

  ‘Not right now. Hello, darling,’ Angela was obviously talking to her husband. ‘Now, Eden, tell me how you’re getting on with David?’ she demanded to know.

  ‘Mummy, could I please talk to Drew?’

  ‘Eden?’ her mother queried sharply. ‘Eden, what’s happened?’

  ‘Just let me talk to Drew,’ she pleaded.

  ‘No!’ her mother’s denial came over shrill. ‘Tell me what’s wrong.’

  ‘I—’

  ‘Need any help?’ Jason stood in the open doorway of her bedroom.

  ‘Oh God, yes!’ Eden groaned. ‘Just a minute, Mummy,’ she said hastily. ‘Jason wants a word with me.’

  ‘Jason?’ her mother echoed sharply. ‘What’s Jason Earle doing there?’

  ‘Just a minute, Mummy,’ Eden repeated, putting her hand over the mouthpiece. ‘I can’t tell her,’ she groaned pleadingly.

  ‘That’s what I thought.’ He came into the room. ‘I overheard your desperation on my way to my room. Let me do it.’ He put out a hand for the receiver.

  ‘No! No, you—you don’t realise what it will do to her.’

  ‘I’m beginning to. Give me the phone, Eden,’ he ordered.

  ‘Eden? Eden!’ her mother’s distressed voice came over the telephone. ‘Eden, are you still there?’

  She was torn in two, not wanting to tell her mother herself and yet not wanting Jason to callously break the news to her either. As Drew had pointed out, David Morton was her mother’s driving force. Finally she thrust the receiver at Jason. ‘Ask to speak to Drew,’ she hissed. ‘He’ll know what to do.’

  ‘Mrs Shaw?’ he took over calmly. ‘Would you put your husband on? Now, Mrs Shaw,’ he added firmly.

  Her mother must have recognised his superior authority because seconds later he was talking to Drew. He explained the situation calmly and precisely, with none of the emotionalism Eden had displayed.

  ‘No, Eden won’t be returning yet,’ she heard him tell Drew. ‘Not for several months, I’m afraid.’

  Several months! What was he talking about? ‘Jason—’

  He raised his hand to silence her, his dark frown a warning. ‘And in the circumstances,’ he continued talking to Drew, ‘I think you may as well employ someone else to take her place.’

  ‘How dare—’

  ‘Yes, of course I understand you have to go now,’ Jason deliberately turned his back on her. ‘No doubt Eden will be in touch again later on.’ He put the telephone down.

  Eden’s eyes sparkled with golden brightness. ‘What do you mean by telling Drew to give someone else my job?’ she demanded. ‘I need that job, I like that job. And what’s this about my staying here several months? I’m not staying here that long!’

  ‘Stop arguing with me, Eden,’ he ran a tired hand over his eyes. ‘One way and another it’s been quite a day.’

  ‘I’m sure it has. But you can’t just take over my life like that. You should have let me talk to Drew.’

  ‘You can talk to him some other time, and your mother sounded as if she were becoming hysterical.’

  ‘Oh.’ That didn’t surprise her in the least. ‘But you should still have—’

  ‘For God’s sake, Eden! Just leave it for now, will you. Talk to me about it tomorrow, when I’m feeling more able to explain things to you.’

  ‘I’d rather know now,’ she told him crossly.

  ‘No doubt,’ he accepted wearily, lines of strain visible beside his nose and mouth. ‘But I’m too damned tired to think about anything but going to bed right now.’ He gave a grim smile. ‘If you let me share your bed tonight I can assure you all I would want to do would be sleep.’

  Colour flooded her cheeks, but she supposed she had asked for these sort of remarks by her behaviour in his study. ‘I would be more worried about when you woke up in the morning.’

  ‘Mm,’ he nodded. ‘There is that. Oh well, it was just an idea. If you should change your mind I’m two doors up. Don’t hesitate to knock,’ he taunted.

  ‘I’m not in the habit of visiting men’s bedrooms,’ she told him haughtily.

  He shrugged. ‘It’s an open invitation. I’ll see you some time tomorrow, then.’

  ‘Yes,’ Eden acknowledged huskily.

  She had brought this situation on herself. If only Jason hadn’t angered her so much she had told him all those lies about herself, pretending a way of life she abhorred. She had nothing against couples sleeping together if they were in love with each other, but she despised the people who hopped in and out of bed with anyone they considered attractive. A lot of the boys she had been out with in the past had considered going to bed together a natural conclusion after the second or third date, an illusion she had quickly broken them out of. And now she was attracted to someone who didn’t even pretend he wanted to date her first!

  Her own attitude had changed dramatically towards Jason in the last twenty-four hours, her thoughts of him all confused. But if she had changed so had he, making no secret of his instant desire for her.

  ***

  As Jason had predicted, he had already left for work when she came downstairs the next day for breakfast. Mrs Gifford saw to her needs with quiet efficiency, leaving Eden alone in the lounge when she had finished her meal.

  Eden picked up the paperback that lay on the coffee-table, flicking through the pages before putting it down again with a grimace. Political intrigues weren’t her taste, although she could understand them appealing to Jason, he had the sort of quick a
gile mind that could appreciate such things.

  She had come down early with the expectation of finding him still at home, it was only nine o’clock now. What was she supposed to do all day?

  She looked up as Mrs Gifford came in with the daily newspaper. Oh well, it would be something to read. She took the publication gratefully. ‘Does Mr Earle come home for lunch?’ she asked casually. Any company would be better than being alone like this!

  ‘Sometimes,’ the housekeeper smiled. ‘But he mainly lunches at his club, unless he has a luncheon appointment, of course.’

  ‘Do you have any idea what he’s doing today?’

  ‘I’m afraid not, Miss Shaw. Usually he tells me at breakfast what his plans are for meals, but with the upset of Mr Morton—of your grandfather, he must have forgotten.’

  ‘Yes,’ Eden nodded. ‘Thank you anyway.’

  ‘Will you be in to lunch, Miss Shaw?’

  Would she be in to lunch? Her first instinct was to say yes, she didn’t think Jason would appreciate her going out and wandering about on her own, but then she changed her mind. She couldn’t mope about here all day on her own. ‘No, I don’t think so, Mrs Gifford. I—er—I think I’ll go for a walk.’

  ‘What shall I tell Mr Earle if he does come home for lunch?’

  Eden hesitated, knowing that Jason wouldn’t like her to be going out. ‘Tell him I should be back in time for dinner.’ Her tone was deliberately casual.

  Mrs Gifford frowned. ‘I’m not sure you should be going out on your own. London isn’t what you’re used to, I wouldn’t want you to get lost.’

  The poor woman probably thought they still lived in shacks in one-horse towns in the States! ‘Don’t worry,’ Eden gave her most endearing smile. ‘If I do get lost I’ll make sure Mr Earle knows you warned me against it.’

  ‘That wasn’t what I meant.’

  She realised the housekeeper suspected her of doing something stupid because of the sudden death of her grandfather. The poor woman couldn’t know that she had never met him. ‘I’ll take care, Mrs Gifford,’ she said gently. ‘I’ll write the telephone number down so that I can call you if I need help.’

  ‘Very well.’ But it was obvious she still didn’t approve.

  ‘Did you—did you know my grandfather, Mrs Gifford?’ Eden asked shyly.

  ‘Oh yes,’ the housekeeper smiled. ‘He and Mrs Morton often came here to dinner.’

  ‘Oh yes, yes, of course.’ For a while she had forgotten Isobel Morton’s existence. That was probably due to the fact that last night Jason seemed to have done the same thing.

  He said he had no intention of marrying Isobel Morton, and yet the other woman seemed to give the impression that he was. Mrs Gifford had made her wonder how frequent a visitor Isobel Morton was to Jason’s house. Maybe they slept together here, in the bedroom Jason had invited her to last night!

  She still blushed when she remembered how things had changed between herself and Jason last night, her feelings towards him especially. She had caught a brief glimpse of some of that other eighty per cent of the iceberg she had once described Jason as—and the sensual warmth he had shown her had taken her breath away.

  She could better understand Claire Channing’s completely out-of-character behaviour towards him; her own behaviour hadn’t been normal either. The lies she had told as a form of defence were proof of that. She would go for that walk, would look at the shops and take her mind off the confusion Jason had thrown her into.

  She collected a black leather jacket from her bedroom and put it on over her pale lemon short-sleeved jumper and matching lemon denims, both of these articles of clothing fitting her like a second skin. She had no doubt Jason would raise a disapproving eyebrow when he saw how she dressed—and maybe that was why she had put these clothes on.

  Oh, damn Jason Earle and his disapproval! Why should his opinion matter to her anyway. He was nothing to her, nothing but an arrogant man who had to captivate every female he came across. She wished she could be the exception, but she had the feeling that far from being immune to him she was going to find him only too attractive.

  ‘Are you off now?’ Mrs Gifford was watching her exit.

  Eden gave her a friendly smile. ‘Yes. Would you like me to get you anything while I’m out?’

  The housekeeper looked taken aback. ‘No, thank you, Miss Shaw. We have our groceries delivered.’

  ‘Oh, I didn’t mean groceries,’ Eden chuckled. ‘I meant, did you want anything.’

  Me?’ Mrs Gifford looked even more astounded. ‘Why no, I don’t think—’

  ‘Sorry,’ Eden laughed. ‘I forget things like that aren’t done over here. Back home I often get shopping for our housekeeper.’

  ‘Well, I’m sure it’s nice of you to offer…. But no, I don’t think so. Thank you,’ she added shyly.

  ‘Okay,’ Eden shrugged. ‘See you,’ she let herself out.

  She soon found that Mrs Gifford was right, London wasn’t what she was ‘used to’. The shops were interesting, but the people…! Everyone seemed to be on their way somewhere and were apparently late for their appointment. Whatever their reason Eden was jostled and knocked about so much that her pleasure in the shops was ruined. She finally bought herself some sandwiches and a can of Coke and escaped to the relative peace of one of the parks. She would have to get a taxi back to Jason’s home from here, she had no idea of the way.

  She ate half a ham sandwich, sitting on a bench to feed the rest to the hungry pigeons. They were a greedy lot and the rest of her sandwiches quickly disappeared down their avid beaks. ‘All gone;’ she laughed as they still fluttered about her feet, looking at her with the most soulful eyes. She tipped the bag up as if to show them it was empty.

  ‘They won’t go away,’ remarked a voice from the bench opposite her. ‘Not until someone else starts feeding them.’

  Eden looked interestedly at the boy seated across the pathway from her. When he had sat down a few minutes ago she had subconsciously noted that he was young, quite attractive. A closer inspection revealed that he was more than just quite attractive, he was very good-looking. He was dressed as casually as she was, in denims, T-shirt and jacket, his blond hair worn over-long but not in the least untidy, probably a year or two older than she was.

  He grinned at her, his teeth firm and white, his blue eyes sparkling. ‘Come and sit over here,’ he invited. ‘They won’t follow you.’

  ‘Sure?’ she laughed.

  ‘Mm,’ he nodded. ‘They’re too busy pecking about for any little crumb they may have missed the first time. Come over here and see.’

  The pigeons scattered as she walked through them, but the boy was right, they didn’t attempt to follow her. She sat down beside him. ‘I was beginning to feel hounded,’ she laughed.

  ‘They have that effect on you. I often used to come here to eat, now I don’t bother. It’s a good way of dieting. I’m Gary Nichols,’ he smiled.

  ‘Nice to meet you, Gary,’ she smiled back. ‘I’m Eden Shaw.’

  ‘Have you been over here long?’

  She grinned. ‘That obvious, hmm?’

  ‘Well….’

  ‘In the States I get teased about my English-sounding accent,’ she shook her head. ‘Over here I’m easily recognisable as being an American. I can’t win.’

  ‘You originally come from England?’

  She nodded ‘A very long time ago.’ She was beginning to feel a little ashamed of herself, talking to a complete stranger. She stood up. ‘I think I should be going now.’

  Gary fell into step beside her. ‘Do you have to go?’ His hand rested lightly on her arm. ‘I have the afternoon free and I—well, I’d like to spend it with you.’

  Eden’s eyes widened to golden orbs. ‘I don’t think so, thank you.’ He seemed pleasant enough, but that didn’t mean he was. He could be a rapist for all she knew!

  ‘We’ll stay within eye and earshot of people,’ he said, as if guessing her thoughts.

  Eden lau
ghed. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to be that obvious.’

  ‘That isn’t being obvious, that’s just being sensible. Let’s go and have a coffee somewhere, shall we? We can sit and talk then.’

  She hesitated. It would be a way of passing some of this surplus time, and he did seem very nice…. ‘Okay,’ she agreed. ‘Just for a few minutes,’ she added warningly.

  ‘Good. Come on, I know of a great place not far from here.’

  Eden stirred her coffee, not because she had added sugar, she didn’t take it, but because she was a little uncertain of her willingness to be with this boy, charming as he might appear on the surface. For a girl who usually liked to get to know someone, before even agreeing to go out with them on their own, her behaviour was rather strange. But then everything that had happened since her arrival in England had been strange; talking to Gary Nichols was just a continuance of events.

  ‘I sat on that bench deliberately, you know.’

  Eden looked up with a start, finding curious blue eyes watching her intently. ‘Sorry?’

  ‘That bench in the park, I sat there on purpose. I was only on my way through really, taking a short cut from a friend’s flat, and then I saw you. I wanted to get to know you.’

  His frankness didn’t surprise her, he seemed a very forthright young man. Looking at him she realised why she had allowed him to talk to her, why she had latched on to him as if he were the only other human being in a desert—superficially he was very like Tim. He had the same blond hair and blue eyes, the same youthfully handsome face, a certain assurance about him that knew what he wanted and tried his damnedest to get it. Hadn’t he just confirmed that? He had wanted to get to know her, and here she was, talking to him as if he were an old friend.

  ‘That’s very flattering,’ she replied, keeping her tone light.

  ‘It wasn’t meant to be,’ he said seriously. ‘It was just a statement of fact. Where did you get those amazing golden eyes?’ he demanded suddenly.

  Eden laughed, a lighthearted carefree sound. She was young, reasonably pretty, and Gary Nichols was very attractive, suddenly the world seemed a little brighter. ‘From my grandfather, or so I’ve been told.’