Sensual Encounter

by Carole Mortimer

  She shook her head. ‘Not in the least.’

  He shrugged. ‘You’re honest anyway. I suppose Richard James is a better prospect, isn’t he? He’s rich and socially acceptable—’

  ‘Jared, please, I didn’t mean it that way—’

  ‘Didn’t you?’ His brows rose. ‘You’ll have to forgive me, but it sounded that way.’

  She knew it did, and if she was honest with herself she knew it was the way she felt. Jared was another Brian, would drain her of everything she had emotionally and financially if she let him. And she wasn’t going to do that. Richard could give her everything she would ever need, and in return she would make him a good wife, a good social hostess.

  Marrying Jared was out of the question; she didn’t love him, and he certainly didn’t love her. She couldn’t imagine what had prompted his proposal.

  ‘I have to get ready for work now.’ She didn’t pursue the subject of marriage between them, knowing that anything else she said would only sound more insulting. Much as she wanted Jared out of her life, she didn’t want to hurt him.

  ‘And I have to be on my way,’ he nodded abruptly.

  ‘Jared …!’ she stopped him at the bedroom door.

  His eyes were narrowed as he looked over at her. ‘Yes?’

  Kate felt guilty for taking the humour out of his eyes, but as she knew from her experience with Brian, any sign of weakness on her part and Jared would never leave. ‘Do you need any money for a hotel? I have some I—’

  ‘You’re far from the only person I know in London, Kate,’ he bit out harshly.

  She flushed at the rebuke. ‘I didn’t think I was. I’m sorry if I sounded—’

  ‘Patronising?’ he finished softly. ‘You did, but I can take it. We spongers on society get used to the abuse after a while.’

  ‘Jared!’ she said appealingly.

  ‘Okay,’ he sighed dismissively. ‘I should learn to take a refusal to a marriage proposal in a more gentlemanly fashion. Only I think you’ve just finished telling me I’d never qualify for the title!’

  She chewed on her bottom lip, knowing she deserved his anger. But she couldn’t take back a word she had said, not when it was the way she really felt.

  ‘I’ll be seeing you, Kate.’ Once again the affectionate ‘Katharine Mary’ had been dropped, his derision for her clearly visible in flinty blue eyes. ‘One day you’re going to realise there’s a whole lot more to life than diamond rings and Porsches,’ he told her curtly. ‘And I hope it’s before you marry Richard James. Otherwise you’re going to make life very difficult for yourself.’

  ‘I’ll manage,’ she scorned.

  ‘I hope so. I doubt if Richard James will understand if you take a couple of days off with a lover to “find yourself” once you’re married to him!’

  ‘It wasn’t like that—’

  ‘It sounds that way to me!’ he told her contemptuously. ‘I’ll be seeing you, Kate.’ He turned on his heel and left the room, the door slamming forcefully behind him.

  Kate felt a little breathless from the exchange, and sat down on the edge of the bed, jumping nervously as she heard the flat door closing several seconds later, more gently this time, as if some of the quick temper had already started to leave him. While it lasted it had been formidable, but once his anger faded Jared would be back to his carefree self, would forget he had ever proposed to a redhead called Katharine Mary Collier.

  As she had forgotten him an hour later, her mind completely engrossed in her agency, as it had been from the beginning when she was struggling to make a success of it, having half a dozen people working for her now, all top professionals who gave her and their clients exactly what was needed.

  She had an appointment herself with one of the directors of a high-class furniture warehouse at ten o’clock, and was just in the middle of explaining the details of the new season’s advertising when the telephone on her desk rang. She frowned, having told Beryl, her secretary, not to put any calls through while she was in this meeting.

  ‘It’s Colin Harkness,’ Beryl explained pointedly.

  The advertising executive she had been dealing with at Melfords! She glanced frustratedly at Charles Denison as he sat across the desk from her, longing to take the call and yet knowing ‘a client on the books was worth a dozen prospective ones’. ‘Could you take a message, Beryl?’ she requested with a confidence she was far from feeling. ‘Or ask if I might return his call later?’

  ‘Will do.’ Beryl sounded totally bemused by the fact that Kate was unable to take the call she had been waiting for for weeks. Colin Harkness had proved to be an elusive man when she had tried to contact him the past few weeks, always being in conference or not in the office at all.

  But what could she do? She couldn’t exactly walk out on Charles Denison in the middle of a meeting to take the call in the outer office, and there was no question of her taking it in here in front of him. Each client’s work was confidential, and a possible client like Melfords wouldn’t even like it known that they had contacted her, several other advertising agencies being interested in their contract.

  The time she spent with Charles Denison seemed to drag, and Beryl did not get back to her about the Harkness call. But Kate was a professional, and she made no attempt to hurry Charles out of her office. Here in this building, in this office, was where she lived and breathed, and she had been glad of its prop in the weeks following Brian’s defection.

  But finally Charles stood up to leave, and she walked out with him to the door, her smile replaced by a frown as she hurried back to Beryl’s desk to find out what Colin Harkness’s reaction had been to her message.

  ‘He said he would call you back when he had the time,’ Beryl sympathised; she was a woman in her early thirties with a bubbly personality that somehow managed to combine a family of a. husband and three children with a career.

  ‘Damn!’ Kate muttered, chewing the end of her pen. ‘We both know what that means.’

  ‘Hm,’ Beryl grimaced. ‘It’s taken him almost a month to return this call.’ She monitored all the calls that came through to the office on her switchboard.

  ‘Yes,’ Kate still frowned. ‘And if I call him back I’ll probably get his shrewish secretary again.’

  ‘Probably,’ the other woman nodded. ‘I—What on earth—!’ She was staring past Kate to the glass doors at the entrance.

  Kate turned to see a huge bouquet of red roses advancing down the open-plan office towards her, the person carrying them obscured completely; there must be dozens of roses there. ‘Have you and Tom had a fight?’ she murmured dazedly to Beryl.

  ‘Not that I know of,’ Beryl muttered. ‘And even if we had he wouldn’t spend a fortune on roses—he knows I would kill him!’

  Kate smiled, wondering how the man laden down with the bouquet could see where he was going. She had never seen so many roses!

  ‘Delivery for Miss Collier,’ the man spoke gruffly to Beryl.

  Kate gave a start of surprise. For her? But—Richard! He must have sent them as another celebration of their engagement. She knew he was a generous man, but this was ridiculous! ‘I’m Miss Collier. I—’ she froze as the roses were lowered and twinkling blue eyes looked back at her with laughter. Jared! She knew she must have paled, blinking dazedly. What on earth was he doing here?

  Whatever it was he was once again making things awkward for her, everyone at the agency aware that her engagement to Richard had been announced yesterday. If she acknowledged Jared now it would arouse speculation as to where he came into her life.

  ‘Would you like me to take them through to your office, Miss Collier?’ he enquired politely—almost as if he really were someone from the florist’s making a delivery to a complete stranger!

  ‘Er—yes. Yes—thank you,’ she added awkwardly, following him to close the door behind them, her voice lowered because of the thinness of the walls between her office and the large outer one. ‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded agitatedly,
looking nothing like the cool young woman in the black and white business suit who had dealt so efficiently with Charles Denison minutes earlier, having a decidedly harassed look about her now.

  ‘Delivering roses.’ He held up the bouquet pointedly.

  ‘But why? Have you got a job in a florists—’

  ‘There’s a card somewhere.’ He searched the cellophane covering for the small white envelope that accompanied the roses. ‘Mind if I sit down?’ He did so, putting the roses down on her desk—covering most of it—before handing her the envelope.

  Kate ripped the flap open and read the single word written there, ‘Sorry’. She looked up at Jared with a frown. ‘But who sent them?’

  He arched dark brows. ‘Guess.’

  ‘You …?’

  He grinned. ‘I told you I like intelligent women.’

  ‘You later rescinded that statement,’ she reminded him in a preoccupied voice, looking from him to the roses and then back again, unconsciously noting his masculine grace in the tight denims and thick cream sweater he now wore, obviously having been somewhere to change since leaving her flat this morning. And to get the roses. ‘How did you—’

  ‘Pay for them?’ he finished lightly as she seemed to falter. ‘With money, how else?’

  ‘But where …?’

  ‘It should be on the lunchtime news,’ he drawled. ‘I robbed a bank!’

  ‘Very funny!’ She sat down opposite him. ‘Where did you really get the money, Jared?’

  He shrugged. ‘You shouldn’t always judge by appearances, they can sometimes be deceptive. I could be an eccentric millionaire who just likes drifting around the world.’

  Her mouth twisted at the thought. ‘And I could be Brigitte Bardot!’

  ‘No, you couldn’t,’ he shook his head. ‘You don’t have the French accent. You have everything else, though,’ and he gave her a lecherous look.

  She gave an impatient sigh; she was not in the mood for his humour right now. ‘You still haven’t answered my question.’

  ‘Because you had no right to ask it,’ he rebuked gently. ‘I wanted to apologise for my bad temper this morning, I thought the roses might help you forgive me. Where they came from, or how I paid for them, isn’t important.’

  ‘I think the bad temper was a two-sided thing,’ she smiled.

  The laughter returned to his eyes as he saw her mood lighten. ‘In that case you can pay for half the roses!’

  ‘Typical!’ she grimaced. ‘Couldn’t you take them back?’ she joined in his lighthearted teasing.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ he shook his head. ‘They don’t usually sell roses on approval.’

  Kate smiled. ‘Well, they’re very welcome, thank you. Although I’ll have to leave them here,’ she frowned as she realised that.

  ‘Your fiancé,’ he nodded, perfectly relaxed, his arms folded across his chest.

  ‘Mm.’

  ‘Was he the reason you were looking so pensive when I arrived?’ Jared raised dark brows.

  ‘No.’ Her thoughts turned once again to the call from Colin Harkness that she had had to miss. ‘Just a prospective client,’ she dismissed.

  ‘Denison?’

  ‘How did you know about him?’ she gasped her surprise.

  ‘I saw him leave,’ Jared shrugged. ‘I told you, I know a few people in the business world,’ he answered her next question. ‘He’s a client of yours, isn’t he?’

  ‘It’s no secret,’ she confirmed.

  ‘Then it isn’t him that’s bothering you,’ he murmured thoughtfully. ‘Prospective, you said. And someone important, by the look of you—’

  ‘Were you a dectective in a previous life?’ she derided.

  ‘Couldn’t I be one now?’ he mocked.

  She gave him a considering look, meeting laughing blue eyes, the lines beside his eyes and the grooves in his cheeks made from laughter too. ‘No,’ she smiled. ‘You don’t look sinister enough.’

  ‘I don’t?’ he laughed. ‘I know a few people who wouldn’t agree with you.’ He sat forward, picking up her notepad from the desk. ‘Interesting doodles, Katharine Mary,’ he studied the squiggles and drawings on the pad. ‘A psychiatrist would have a lot of fun with your inner mind, my darling,’ he teased. ‘Colin Harkness,’ he read slowly. ‘Now what would you be doing writing down the name of the advertising executive of Melfords?’ He quirked dark brows questioningly.

  Kate snatched her pad out of his hand, not even aware that she had written Colin Harkness’s name down until Jared pointed it out to her. ‘Are you a spy?’ she snapped impatiently.

  ‘No.’ He studied her flushed face. ‘Are Melfords the prospective client?’

  ‘Jared, really! I—’

  ‘I know you can’t really tell me that,’ he reassured her. ‘But it would seem to make sense. It would be a definite feather in your cap, wouldn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, I—Are you sure you aren’t a spy?’ she groaned her chagrin. ‘I should never have told you anything about it!’

  ‘Now who am I likely to tell?’

  ‘One of your seemingly endless contacts in the business world!’

  ‘My lips are sealed!’ He sobered suddenly. ‘Seriously, Kate, whatever you tell me is in the strictest confidence.’

  She believed him. There was a sincerity in his voice and face that told her she could trust him. She sighed. ‘You’re right, I am trying for Melfords, although Harkness is proving difficult to contact, and Richard—’ she broke off, realising she was being disloyal discussing Richard with this man. She stood up to sit on the front of her desk to cover the moment of awkwardness. ‘They’re a big company,’ she amended brightly. ‘I’m probably being over-ambitious.’

  ‘Is that what Richard thinks?’ Jared taunted.

  Her eyes flashed deeply gold. ‘Did you come here to have another argument?’

  He held up his hand. ‘I came only to apologise, to tell you I was being unfair to you this morning. I have no right to propose to you when you’ve only just become engaged to someone else.’

  Kate smiled. ‘I knew you would regret it once you had had time to think about it. Don’t worry, Jared, I don’t intend holding you to your proposal.’

  ‘No?’ He stood up, walking to the door. ‘That’s a pity—because I have no intention of letting you marry anyone else but me.’

  ‘Jared—’ Too late, he had opened the door, and with a wicked wink in Beryl’s direction as he passed her desk, he had gone.

  Kate gave a sigh of frustration, then stood up to close her office door. As she turned the roses caught her eye. She was never going to be able to find enough vases for them all; there must be at least six dozen here!

  Beryl tapped on her office door, coming in after a slight pause. ‘Need any help with the flowers?’ she offered.

  Kate picked up the whole bouquet and put it into her secretary’s arms. ‘Could you put them into vases, please. If you don’t have enough then go out and buy some more. Oh, and Beryl,’ she stopped the other woman on her way out of the door, ‘I don’t want any of them in my office.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘I’m allergic,’ she invented, turning away before she changed her mind.

  With a slightly puzzled frown Beryl went back into her own office. And Kate knew the reason for the other woman’s puzzlement; she had never been allergic to anything in her life, let alone beautiful deep red roses! But she didn’t want one single reminder of Jared in her office, wanted to forget about him and his wild statements. No man could force her into marrying him. Then why did this uneasy feeling inside her persist?

  * * *

  The call back from Colin Harkness later that afternoon really wasn’t expected; Kate had not exactly been getting co-operation from him in the past. She had been expecting at least another week or so’s wait from him again. The suggestion that she go in and see him to discuss her ideas was even more of a shock.

  ‘Wh-when?’ she gasped, feeling as if she had just been granted an audien
ce with a member of royalty.

  ‘At your convenience,’ the man said haughtily.

  ‘At my—? Er—yes, of course.’ Her composure was completely thrown, her thoughts racing. She was tempted to say she was free right now, that she would come over immediately, before he changed his mind, but that would have seemed very unprofessional. Besides, that seemed to be the reaction he expected. ‘I could be free tomorrow some time,’ she told him coolly. ‘I’ll just check my diary. Ah yes,’ she said after a suitable pause, ‘I have a free hour between eleven and twelve, is that convenient for you?’

  ‘Of course, Miss Collier. I’m sure you know it is,’ he added almost resentfully.

  She frowned. ‘I—’

  ‘I’ll expect you at eleven o’clock tomorrow,’ he cut in abruptly. ‘Please endeavour not to be late.’ He rang off.

  Kate put down her own receiver more slowly. Colin Harkness had agreed to see her, but it seemed almost as if he did it under protest. Which was ridiculous! Maybe he was always this curt with people, his position of power in Melfords certainly gave him the opportunity to be.

  ‘I’ve never met the man, Kate,’ Richard told her that evening when she asked him about Colin Harkness. ‘Melfords may be a successful company, but they do it without much publicity to themselves, personally.’ He shrugged. ‘Harkness is known as a powerful man in the company, that’s all I know about him. Darling, I thought we were going to discuss the wedding and our honeymoon this evening?’ He looked irritated by her talk of business.

  Kate bit back the urge to discuss Melfords with him further, knowing that when he was with her he disliked talking about her business; though James Fashions was a different matter entirely! But she had known that before she agreed to marry him, had known it and accepted it. She couldn’t have everything in her marriage; a young and attractive husband, rich and influential, was more than enough.

  ‘Of course we are, darling.’ She sat down to curl herself against his side. ‘It’s high on my list of priorities.’

  But not as high as the contract with Melfords, and it was still very much on her mind as she closed the door on Richard after having said goodnight to him a couple of hours later, with the wedding date decided on a month hence, their honeymoon to be spent in romantic France.