Sensual Encounter

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘Do you think I’m a fool, Kate?’ he scorned roughly, the mask of politeness falling away to leave a very angry man. ‘I hadn’t been back in England more than an hour when I was informed of your little affair!’

  ‘Who told you?’ Kate gasped, standing up.

  ‘No denial?’ he taunted her reaction.

  ‘I—Well—’

  ‘No denial,’ his mouth twisted. ‘And my informant told me to tell you to be sure to give you her name. It was Coral Linton.’

  She should have known! Coral was both vindictive and jealous, a dangerous combination in any woman. ‘What makes you think she told you the truth?’ she scoffed. ‘Coral is married to my ex-fiancé, she would do anything, say anything, to try and hurt me.’

  Richard nodded abruptly. ‘I took that into account, was prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt—until you walked in here tonight,’ he bit out. ‘Then I knew every word she’d told me was true,’ he rasped. ‘Besides, I saw him at your flat once, didn’t I?’

  Kate frowned, startled. ‘Did you?’

  ‘The night we became engaged,’ he reminded her grimly. ‘Of course I didn’t realise who he was at the time, but I do now. So answer me, how long have you known him?’

  The hand holding out the ring fell back to her side, putting the ring down on the coffee-table, her hands clenched nervously together in front of her. ‘Several months,’ she murmured in reply.

  ‘Before you even went out with me?’ he demanded. ‘Before you accepted my marriage proposal?’

  ‘Yes. But—’

  ‘Then why on earth did you go out with me?’ he demanded furiously.

  ‘Because he went away!’ she cried her anguish. ‘I didn’t think I would ever see him again,’ she added in a choked voice. ‘I never meant to hurt you, Richard,’ she told him softly, appealingly. ‘I just didn’t realise how I felt about Jared.’

  ‘And how do you feel?’ he asked bitterly.

  ‘I love him,’ she replied simply.

  ‘You love him,’ Richard repeated scornfully. ‘But then I don’t suppose it’s difficult to love a man like that, is it?’ His mouth twisted with bitter humour. ‘Just how long do you think you’ll manage to hold his interest, Kate?’ he derided.

  She stiffened. ‘We love each other.’

  ‘Really?’ he gave a mocking laugh. ‘And how long do you think that will last?’

  ‘We’re going to be married,’ she told him with great dignity, never having expected Richard to behave in this mockingly derisive manner.

  His humour deepened. ‘When?’ he taunted.

  ‘I—Well—’ she looked confused. ‘We haven’t actually set the date yet, but—’

  ‘I’ll bet you haven’t,’ he smiled again, a smile without any real humour.

  ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ Her indignation at his mockery returned.

  ‘Oh, nothing.’ He sat down with a completely confident air, looking up at her pityingly. ‘Except that I’m sure there will never be a wedding.’

  ‘You don’t know anything about it!’ She was becoming angry in the face of his derision. ‘You don’t know Jared.’

  ‘Has he asked you to marry him?’

  ‘Several times,’ she defended.

  ‘Lately?’ he taunted.

  Kate blushed anew as he hit on the one vulnerable spot in her relationship with Jared. ‘You have no right to insult a man you don’t even know!’

  ‘I know of him, that’s enough,’ Richard taunted.

  Her eyes widened incredulously. ‘What do you know about him?’

  ‘Mainly that he’ll never marry you. Men like Melford never fall into the matrimonial trap unless it’s with someone of their own kind; it costs too much in settlements otherwise,’ he mocked.

  Relief flooded through her as she realised he had made some ghastly mistake, that the things he was saying weren’t about Jared at all! She gave a light laugh. ‘You have it all wrong, Richard—’

  ‘No—you do, if you think you mean any more to him than Coral Linton did several years ago, and the hundreds of other women he’s taken to his bed over the last few years since he became Chairman of Melfords.’

  Coral … Coral was the one who had told Richard the identity of Kate’s lover. Why would she lie? Why would she need to, when she knew the real identity of the man? None of this made any sense.

  ‘He may manage to keep his name out of the newspapers with his wealth,’ Richard continued grimly. ‘But most of us have heard all there is to know about him, and after Mrs Linton’s call I made it my business to know. The night he came to your flat I didn’t recognise him, not in those clothes,’ he derided. ‘But I suppose when you’re worth as much as he is you don’t need to dress the part! And the name Rourke threw me for a while too, then I remembered that he had changed his name to Melford to become Chairman of the company after his grandfather’s illness. That damned Lamborghini parked outside as if it owned the world was his too, wasn’t it.’ It was a statement that didn’t require an answer. ‘I don’t suppose he could resist the power under the bonnet—I’ve heard that he thrives on power and challenge,’ Richard scorned. ‘His grandfather was a tough old bird, but Rourke beats him hands down,’ he shook his head. ‘The old man took him under his wing as soon as he left university at twenty-two, made him work his way up through the company until he was his assistant, then he got the shock of his life when the boy turned out to be tougher than even he was!’

  The Lamborghini … Could turn his hand to anything, had even been assistant to the Chairman of a company! Jared had forgotten to mention the fact that his grandfather was that Chairman, and that he now ran that company himself …

  ‘The old man hit trouble as soon as he tried to get Jared to change his name,’ Richard scorned. ‘Jacob Melford only had the one daughter, and she married someone by the name of Rourke, of all things! The old boy flew into a rage about that, although he’d accepted the fact by the time his grandson came along. But he refused to hand over the company until he changed his name to Melford.’ His mouth quirked derisively. ‘Something Jared refused to do. He walked out on the company and his grandfather, went to the States and made his own fortune there. I doubt if he would have come back at all if his grandfather hadn’t had a heart attack. The doctor assured Jared that his grandfather was on his deathbed, and so against his better judgment he agreed to change his name and take over Melfords. Am I boring you, Kate?’ he mocked hardly.

  ‘No,’ she choked. ‘Please—go on.’

  Richard laughed without any real humour. ‘It seemed old Jacob had outwitted him—or thought he had. The old man made a miraculous recovery, was up and about again in a week, ready to run the business with his grandson as he’d planned all along. But Jared kept him out, threatened to go back to America if his grandfather so much as set foot inside the building again.’ He turned to Kate with cold eyes. ‘You really think he’s the sort of man who would seriously offer you marriage?’

  CHAPTER TEN

  THE hotel was comfortable, although certainly nothing glamorous. Obscure, was the word Kate would have chosen to describe it. If she had thought about it that much—which she didn’t. She felt numb, too numb to think of anything but that Jared had been making a fool of her.

  She had left Richard’s home without completely losing her pride, giving him no idea that she hadn’t known the Jared she loved was really Jared Rourke Melford! No wonder she had been considered for the Melford contract—through Jared’s influence and not Richard’s at all. How he must have laughed at her the night she had told him she believed it to be Richard’s power in the City that had got her as far in Melfords as she had! That contract had just been a carrot to dangle in front of her nose, an added incentive if she should prove difficult in her seduction. Jared was just another rich man getting his kicks by making fools of other people. And she had finished playing his game; from now on he played strictly alone.

  In the meantime she couldn’t go back to the flat,
not until Jared had gone, and she had exactly the way to make him leave! Picking up the telephone next to the bed, she dialled for an outside line, then rang her home number, doing it quickly before she had time to change her mind. She still loved Jared in spite of everything!

  The telephone was picked up after only one ring. ‘Hello?’ Jared sounded disgruntled.

  Kate swallowed hard, her hand shaking as she grasped the receiver. How could he have done this to her, what sort of man was he that he played with people’s lives in this way? Richard had said Jared thrived on power and challenge, and that was exactly what she must have been to him. She loved him, had been willing to sacrifice everything she had for the man she thought him to be, and all the time he had been laughing at her, enjoying a new challenge.

  ‘Hello?’ he repeated irritably at her lack of response to his question. ‘Who is that? Kate?’ he demanded intensely.

  ‘No need to get excited, Jared,’ she drawled mockingly, amazed at how confident she sounded. ‘I was just—distracted for a moment,’ she dismissed.

  ‘Where are you?’ he wanted to know, his voice sharp. ‘You said you’d be back within the hour, and that was two hours ago. Where the hell are you?’

  ‘I’ve hit a little problem,’ she told him softly.

  ‘What sort of problem?’ he asked warily. ‘Kate, where are you?’

  ‘I’m—No, I won’t be long, darling,’ she had turned slightly away from the telephone as if talking to someone at her side. ‘Of course,’ she gave a soft laugh.

  ‘Kate?’ Jared’s voice thundered down the telephone. ‘Are you still at Richard’s?’

  ‘Yes—’

  ‘Why? You said you were going to tell him how you felt and then leave,’ he reminded her tautly. ‘Why didn’t you?’

  ‘Because I—It happened just the way you thought, Jared, I changed my mind as soon as I saw Richard again,’ she told him lightly. ‘Being with you the last few days has been wonderful, but I realise now that I’ve been making a mistake.’

  ‘You’re still going to marry Richard James?’ he bit out roughly.

  ‘Yes. You see—’

  ‘No, I don’t see anything,’ Jared rasped. ‘You love me, you wanted to be with me!’

  ‘I realise now that there’s more to life than enjoying going to bed with someone,’ she told him lightly, and heard him swearing and was relieved that she was telling him this over the telephone and not face to face. ‘I can’t give up everything I’ve worked for, Jared, not even for someone as charming as you.’

  ‘Kate, there’s something I think I should tell you—’

  ‘I have to go, Jared,’ she interrupted firmly. ‘I would appreciate it if you would move out of my flat before I get back.’

  ‘I’m waiting right here until you get home. I want to talk to you,’ he told her grimly.

  She hardened her heart even more, more than ever relieved there was this physical distance between them. ‘I’m not coming back tonight, Jared. I—I’m staying here, with Richard.’

  There was no reply this time, just the slamming of the telephone receiver ringing in her ears. She had expected no other reaction, wanted no other. This way, no matter what came after, she was the one who had said goodbye.

  The tears finally began to fall, and once they did she couldn’t stop them, falling back on the bed in this small, impersonal hotel room, the hands that covered her face completely bare of all rings.

  * * *

  She was aware of how pale and drawn she looked the next morning as she studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror, her eyes dark with pain, having a bruised look from a night spent alternately cursing and loving Jared in spite of everything.

  Now there was a quiet acceptance about her, knowing that it was all over, that by now Jared would have moved back to the expensively secluded apartment he would have in the fashionable part of London. She didn’t for a moment doubt that Richard told her the truth of who Jared was, knew without being told that Jared had spent both Friday and yesterday at his office at the Melford building, that his elegant suits had been worn for that reason, that his briefcase, far from being empty, had been full of important business papers that a man who was Chairman of such an important company would need to carry around with him. No doubt Jared had already lost enough working hours at the beginning of the week when he had tried so hard to convince her he was out of work as well as out of a place to stay!

  What he had done to her had been cruel and insensitive in the extreme—and it had made no difference to her love for him. But she could no longer be his mistress, not when he had deceived her so badly. If she had known the truth from the beginning, if he had explained that he had no real intention of offering her marriage, then maybe she could have accepted what he did have to give. But that wouldn’t have been enough of a challenge for him, he had to make her believe she was falling in love with an out-of-work, over-age hippie!

  A telephone call to her flat ten minutes ago, and another one just now, had told her that he had indeed gone from her flat; she had received no answer to either call. It was safe to go back to her home and change for work, intending to keep up the pretence of normality for as long as possible.

  The wardrobe was bare of Jared’s clothes—even the dirty laundry had gone!—and the bathroom showed no signs of his toiletries that had been in the cabinet with hers for the last three days. Not anywhere in the flat could she find signs of his presence, and yet she could still sense that he had been there, every single thing here reminding her of the happiness they had shared over the weekend.

  She hurriedly changed into one of her feminine business suits, deftly applied the make-up that did a lot to hide her pallor from lack of sleep. Nevertheless, Beryl gave her a double-take as she went through, standing up to dazedly follow Kate through to her office.

  ‘Where have you been?’ her secretary demanded worriedly.

  Kate glanced at her wrist-watch. ‘I’m only half an hour late—’

  ‘I didn’t mean that,’ Beryl dismissed. ‘Where were you last night?’

  Dull colour stained her cheeks. ‘Last night?’ she delayed.

  The other woman sighed. ‘Jared got me out of bed at one o’clock this morning demanding to know if I knew where you were—the last thing I expected was for you to calmly walk in here ready to start work this morning!’

  ‘Did you tell—Of course not,’ Kate grimaced. ‘You didn’t know.’ She frowned. ‘Why would he bother you? And how did he know where you live?’

  ‘The latter I can answer,’ Beryl said dryly. ‘The first I was hoping you would be able to tell me. He got my address from Richard.’

  ‘Richard …?’ Kate swallowed hard. Then Jared knew she had been lying last night, that far from spending the night with Richard, she had given him back his ring and never expected to see him socially again.

  ‘Yes,’ the other woman nodded. ‘I gathered from what he said that he’d been to see him too.’

  ‘But why?’ Kate groaned her consternation, very pale again. ‘Why is he bothering?’

  ‘You tell me,’ Beryl prompted gently. ‘Have you argued, is that it? He seemed very upset when he came to my home last night.’ She paused. ‘I think he was worried in case you did something stupid. He’s telephoned three times already this morning to see if I’ve heard from you.’

  Kate came to a decision in that moment, and stood up. ‘You can call him back and tell him that you have—as soon as I’ve gone.’ She wrote quickly on her notepad, ripping off the top sheet to hand it to the other woman. ‘You can reach him on this telephone number,’ she said flatly.

  Her secretary glanced down, frowning deeply as she looked up again. ‘But this is the Melford number.’

  Kate walked to the door. ‘Did Jared forget to mention that little fact to you too?’ she said bitterly. ‘He is Melfords, Jared Rourke Melford.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘I don’t know his extension, but I’m sure the switchboard will put you through.’

  ‘He gave me h
is home number …’ Beryl said dazedly.

  ‘Well, now you know who you’ll be talking to!’

  ‘Yes. But—You—Where are you going?’ the other woman seemed to realise Kate was leaving—and that she had no idea where she was going!

  ‘Away for a few days,’ Kate answered bleakly. ‘I need to be on my own. Please tell Jared I don’t want to see him again, I’m sure he’ll understand this time.’

  Beryl shook her head. ‘Not if last night is anything to go by!’ she said.

  Kate’s expression hardened. ‘Then I’ll just have to stay away until he does.’

  Until she knew Jared was pursuing her the idea of running away hadn’t occurred to her, but she was too vulnerable at the moment to fight him and any relationship he cared to offer her. She had to get away, as far away as possible, from Jared and the temptation to give in to her love for him.

  * * *

  The hotel was much more crowded in midsummer than it had been in March, but Kate still managed to keep pretty much to herself, most of the other guests seeming to be family groups intent on enjoying themselves, leaving Kate to her solitude as she made it obvious she required privacy, spending a lot of her time walking alone along the beach as she had before.

  Again there were memories of Jared here, but it was for just that reason that she had thought he wouldn’t look for her here—and he hadn’t. For just over two weeks, two long weeks, she had remained here undisturbed. And she was still no nearer understanding why he had been so deliberately cruel. Perhaps the way she had dismissed him when he sought her out had irked him, made him seek revenge, or maybe, as she had already thought, he found her a challenge he wanted to dominate. Whatever his reason, he had hurt her more than she could bear.

  The nights were lighter now, but she was still the only guest who took advantage of late-night walks along the hotel’s private beach, often sitting on the golden sand and watching the horizon until the sun disappeared in a spectacular sunset. It was on just such an evening almost three weeks after she had so hurriedly left London that she sensed that for once she didn’t have this private beach to herself, that someone else was walking along the sand towards her.