by Helen Brooks
'I…' Miriam was lost for words, and saw the fact register along with a certain degree of satisfaction in the lovely face in front of her.
'Miriam is taking care of some aspects of the wedding for me, Sharon,' Reece said coldly as he nodded to the other members of the party who had stopped a few feet away. 'And I think Bob and the others are waiting for you.'
'Oh, my marching orders?' She laughed gaily, but Miriam detected no amusement in the sound at all and suddenly realised, with mind-boggling amazement, that this elegant, exquisite, beautiful creature in front of her was actually put out at seeing Reece in her company. 'Goodbye, Miriam.' The clear green eyes were stony even as the curved red lips smiled a farewell. 'But perhaps I shall be seeing you again?'
'Possibly.' This was Reece at his most formidable, and Miriam was surprised that Sharon didn't wilt under the steely grey eyes, but the other woman just gave her light laugh as she reached up and kissed him again, her arms clinging round his neck just a trifle longer than necessary.
'I'll see you on Saturday, then, darling.' She turned gracefully on her heel as she spoke, the tall, slim body fluid. 'Half-past seven for eight o'clock and Daddy wants it formal; you know how Mother likes to dress up.'
'Goodbye, Sharon.' The dark voice was positively arctic now, but as Sharon disappeared in a whirl of silk and expensive perfume Miriam saw a satisfied tilt to the blonde head and with a sudden tightening in her throat heard the tinkling laugh as she reached the others.
'She's very beautiful.' She dragged her eyes from the departing group to Reece's face and saw that it was cool and bland, the grey eyes shuttered.
'Yes.' He gestured to her cup as the waiter appeared at their side again. 'More coffee?'
'No, thank you.' Suddenly there was a dead weight on her chest and a heavy thickness in her head. 'I really must get back to work; we're so busy.'
'As you wish.' He nodded to the waiter who returned with a slip of paper which Reece initialled as he helped her on with her coat. Of course. He'd have an account here. She glanced round the luxurious surroundings again and felt the weight get a little heavier. 'Come along.' He took her arm in his as they walked out of the restaurant and she was aware of several pairs of female eyes following their progress.
Once in the car, Reece said nothing beyond asking if she was warm enough as he adjusted the heater, and she sat quietly looking out of the window, her thoughts jumbled and confused as he drove swiftly back to the office.
Just before they turned into the small, run-down estate where the factory was situated Reece pulled the car off the road and through a gateway into a deserted, freshly ploughed field, and cut the engine before turning to face her, his eyes hooded.
'Sharon's family and mine have known each other for years,' he said flatly, his face grim. 'Our father's went to university together and had joint business interests for a good deal of their lives.'
'Oh.' She stared at him nervously, wondering why he was telling her all this.
'Sharon was born late in their lives, when they had given up all hopes of having children, and has consequently been spoilt outrageously,' he continued quietly. 'She tends to look on me as the older brother she never had.'
Older brother? Miriam almost choked. Older brother? Who was kidding whom? Whatever had prompted that little display in the restaurant, sisterly affection had had no place in it. She might be naive and she might be unworldly, but did he really think that she was blind and stupid as well?
'Does she?' Miriam looked straight into the steady grey eyes and steeled herself not to lower her gaze. 'What has all this got to do with me?'
'I—' She saw a small muscle jerk by the side of his mouth as he stopped abruptly. 'Dammit, Miriam!' He had reached across and taken her in his arms before she'd realised his intention, but the second his mouth met hers there was nothing but sheer sensation in every curve and sinew of her body.
She had wanted him to kiss her. Almost from the first moment she had met him she had wanted to know what it would feel like for a man such as he to make love to her. She could hear her heartbeat surging into a faster tempo through the pounding in her ears, and a wild exhilaration that it was even better than she had imagined gripped her senses.
The lukewarm excitement she had felt on other occasions before she had brought matters to an abrupt halt had not prepared herself for the onslaught of Reece's mouth on hers. Those other men—boys, really—had slightly irritated her with their preoccupation with sex and she had begun to think that she must be frigid, but this… this was something else.
He moved her more comfortably into him without raising his head, and she could feel the thudding of his heart through his open jacket and the thin silk of his shirt, betraying his own excitement. As his tongue explored and tasted she clung to him helplessly, his big, powerful body and hard-muscled shoulders adding to the frissons of pleasure that were shivering through her and setting her blood on fire. He moved slightly to trace light, tantalising kisses in a little circle round her lips, and she almost moaned with the thrill of it.
This was crazy, madness. She pushed the thought away as his mouth moved to her throat, inflaming her senses still further before he took her mouth again in a kiss that was almost savage. His body was hard against hers, leaving her in no doubt as to the desire that she was firing in him, and as she returned his kiss with a frantic abandon she didn't recognise she knew that she was lost.
No wonder he was so cool and contained, so sure of himself; he must have women following him in droves. He was shatteringly, devastatingly good at this. She knew all that but it didn't stop her wanting him, needing more.
'Please…' She could hear her voice moaning, but couldn't have said what it was she was asking for. Reece seemed to know, moulding her into the powerful contours of his body as his fingers began an erotic massage over her taut back muscles that had her mouth opening in a silent gasp.
She had to stop this. The thought reverberated through the whirl of sensation. She had known this man barely twenty-four hours and she was allowing… 'Please stop.' She struggled slightly, her voice breathless. 'Please…'
He released her instantly, moving back into his own seat and raking his hand through his hair before turning to face her. Just for a moment she thought that he was as shaken as she was, but in the next instant, as she blinked, the look was gone from his face and, shockingly, the ice man was back, looking at her with cool, narrowed eyes.
'I'm sorry, Miriam.' He shook his head slightly as he turned to look out of the windscreen at the cold, bare world outside, the trees naked and black against the afternoon sky. 'I didn't intend that to happen. I didn't expect—' He stopped abruptly. 'I'm sorry,' he said again.
'I…' There was a lump in her throat constricting her breath, but it was the burning humiliation she felt that made speech impossible. He could sit there, cool and unmoved, while she was a shivering wreck? And she had thrown herself at him. She shut her eyes but the thought was still there.
She had sensed his surprise at her response even as he had kissed her, but she had wanted— She shook her head at her own thoughts. She had wanted him to make love to her. It was as simple as that. He would think that she was a tease, the sort of girl who egged a man on and then stopped at just the right moment.
'Look, I know you're inexperienced—'
'Please don't say anything,' she interrupted fiercely, her eyes burning with unshed tears. Inexperienced? So she hadn't even measured up to his other women anyway? Women like Sharon, maybe? Cool, sophisticated, blasé about their love affairs and life in general. She remembered her unskilled, raw response to his caresses and her skin burnt painfully. She had let him think that she was his for the taking and she had been—nearly.
'Listen—'
'Look, I don't normally act like this, Reece.' She spoke quickly, her face flaming. 'I don't know what came over me really. Too much alcohol, I think.' She tried a light laugh but it emerged as a strangled cough.
'You've had a hell of a da
y. I understand that.' His voice was soft with something. Pity? she thought frantically. Please, not pity. He didn't feel sorry for her, did he? 'I shouldn't have…'
'Yes, it must be the wine.' As he turned towards her she looked quickly out of the window. If she saw pity on his face that would be the last straw. Of course she couldn't begin to compare with the lovelies he normally associated with; he had probably only meant that kiss as a comforting gesture, knowing that she was all at sea from the incident before lunch. And she had practically eaten him! She must have embarrassed him horribly… Oh, hell.
'Miriam, I understand,' he said softly. 'listen to me; I didn't expect—'
This was getting worse. 'Can we just go now?' she asked tightly.
'Not before I explain—'
'I don't want you to explain!' Did his other women scream at him like a fishwife too? she wondered helplessly as he flinched at her shrill tone. 'I just want to go back now. I can walk if you like; it's only a few yards anyway.'
'Miriam…'
As he growled her name, the tone a warning that he had come to the end of his tether, she flung open the door before she had time to think and leapt out of the car, only to find herself ankle-deep in thick red mud.
'You crazy female!' He glared at her as she stood hesitating in the sticky dirt. 'Get back in this damn car. What the hell do you think you're doing anyway?'
'I—' She stared at him as her thought processes spluttered and then died.
'Give me strength.' He put his hand to his brow as he switched on the ignition. 'Satisfied? Now, get in.' He was swearing softly under his breath as she rejoined him in the car, and immediately her feet were off the ground he reversed the Bentley violently across the few feet of space into the gateway before she could even shut the door properly, jerking to a halt as he checked his mirrors. 'I don't believe this is happening. I've never had a woman react to me like this in all my life. What the hell do you think I'm going to do to you anyway?'
She stared at him helplessly. He'd got it wrong; he'd got it all wrong, but she couldn't find words to tell him through the turmoil in her mind.
It took no mote than a minute or two to reach the office where he screeched to a halt, the tyres protesting loudly. 'OK?' he snarled softly.
'Thank you,' she replied, with as much dignity as she could muster, clambering awkwardly out of the car, aware that she had left half the field on the pale gold carpet where her feet had rested.
'Haven't you forgotten something?' She turned at the sound of his voice. 'Again?'
'Thank you.' She took the briefcase he was holding out to her with a scathing nod, hating him and hating herself for the ridiculous position that she was in. And it was all her fault. She could hardly believe that she, Miriam Bennett, had all but begged for him to take her out there in the open! And then to say no. And then to— She ground her teeth together in an agony of embarrassment as she turned and walked towards the office. The man's ego was jumbo size as it was, and she'd done nothing to deflate it. How he must be laughing at her.
The two vans were back and the Bentley had only been able to position itself in the entrance to the car park, but as she turned before stepping through the office she saw Mitch appear in the factory doorway and Reece leave the car where it was and walk across to him. She entered the office and shut the door firmly, walking across to the chair and collapsing on it before kicking off her mud-stained shoes.
What a day. What a day. And unless he was cancelling the contract with Mitch at this moment, and somehow she didn't think that Reece Vance was the sort of man to cut off his nose to spite his face, she was going to have to see him again at least a few times over the next two weeks. She shut her eyes tight against the thought.
Well, one thing was for sure. She tensed as she heard footsteps run across the path outside and then relaxed as Mitch burst into the office alone, his face anxious. She was not going to let Reece Vance within ten yards of her again. Not that he would want to anyway. With beauties like Sharon at his beck and call he wasn't exactly short of female companionship, and he'd made it perfectly clear how ridiculous he'd found her behaviour. And oh, hell, she couldn't blame him.
As she raised her head to answer the barrage of questions that Mitch was asking about the incident before lunch her face was resolute. She would never, ever put herself in such a vulnerable position again. For some reason she just couldn't trust her own body where Reece Vance was concerned, and it was painfully, devastatingly humiliating that he knew it too.
CHAPTER FOUR
Reece called just before she left the office that evening, to ask her to be at the house at eleven on Saturday morning, his voice terse and cool and his manner remote. 'Barbara has informed me she will be arriving about that time and I'm taking her out to lunch at twelve, so be prompt,' he added crisply.
'Of course, Mr Vance.' She was pleased how cool and professional her voice sounded when her insides were quivering like a jelly. 'How is your housekeeper?' she asked carefully, after a deep, silent breath.
'Fine.' There was a moment's pause. 'I understand the operation was a complete success and she will be allowed home after the weekend; she will obviously liaise with you from that point, OK? I'd like you to show her those schedules as soon as possible in case she can pick up on anything we may have missed. And the name is Reece, as you well know,' he added grimly.
'Right.' For the life of her she couldn't add to the monosyllable, and there was another brief pause before his voice sounded again, empty now of all expression.
'How are you feeling, Miriam?' For an awful moment she thought that he was referring to the incident in the car, before lie followed on in the next breath, 'I explained everything to your brother and told him there should be two or three people around all the time. Not that I think there will be any trouble, I hasten to add, but it's safer to be cautious until I hear from this guy. I do not want you or any other woman there alone for the moment; do you understand me?'
Her hackles rose immediately at the authoritative, harsh tone. The cheek of it! Just who did he think he was anyway? This was her business and—
'I said, do you understand me?'
She was about to reply in the same abrupt, tight tone when the memory of how he had dealt with the two men without any thought for his personal safety sprang into her mind. He had helped her, and, not only that, he had taken on the problem that was Gregory himself in order that they wouldn't be troubled by his henchmen again. She was being churlish and petty in objecting to such a reasonable order, but it was the fact that it was an order, spoken in such autocratic, imperious tones, that had set her teeth on edge.
Nevertheless, she had every reason to be grateful to him, and she didn't like herself in this somewhat sour, querulous frame of mind. It was the antithesis of her nature. 'Yes, I understand you,' she responded quietly. 'And Mitch has already advised everyone of the full facts so there shouldn't be a problem.'
'Good.' The hard voice was a shade warmer. 'Goodnight, Miriam.'
'Goodnight.'
After she had replaced the receiver she sat for long minutes trying to regulate the beat of her heart, which had gone haywire the second she had heard his deep, cool voice. That skirmish in the car—it hadn't meant anything, not really. She shut her eyes very tight and clasped her hands together until the nails were biting into her skin. It had just been a kiss that had got out of hand for a moment or two, and after the morning she'd had, not to mention the champagne at lunch, it was hardly surprising. She would probably have reacted the same with almost anyone under the circumstances.
Her pounding heart challenged the lie but she shook her head determinedly, opening her eyes and picking up a piece of paper from her desk quickly as she heard Mitch's footsteps outside.
When her brother entered the office a second or two later he found her deep in work, brow wrinkled as she seemingly concentrated on a row of figures. 'Who was that on the phone just now?' he asked with perfunctory interest as he plumped down in his own chair
. 'I heard it on the extension in the factory but you'd picked it up before I could get to it.'
'No problem.' She smiled brightly as she raised her head. 'It was Reece Vance arranging a meeting with his sister on Saturday.'
'Oh.' Mitch frowned slightly. 'He read me the Riot Act this afternoon,' he said slowly, his tone more than a little aggrieved. 'Wanted to know what I was doing leaving you alone here. Anyone'd think I knew those goons were going to come around! He seemed very concerned about you,' he added thoughtfully as his gaze roved over her suddenly hot cheeks. 'Unduly so, I thought.'
'Don't be silly.' She lowered her head, letting her hair swing in a veil over her burning face. 'He was here when it all happened and it was a bit scary, Mitch. I suppose he feels involved in some way, especially having seen those two men. They weren't the most pleasant of individuals.'
'Hmm.' Mitch continued to stare at her for a few moments more before busying himself with the heap of correspondence on his own desk. 'And that's it?' he asked after a minute or so. 'All this concern because he was here at the time? He took you to lunch, didn't he?' he added somewhat aggressively. 'Why?'
'Why?' She did raise her eyes at this point, to quell her brother with an icy glare. She had had more than enough of male assertiveness for one day, and if Mitch thought that he was going to intimidate her he could think again. 'Why not? I'm not answerable to you about who I choose to have lunch with, am I?'
'No.' Mitch's glance took in her lower lip, set in a distinctly pugnacious line. 'I just don't think Reece Vance is your type, that's all.'
'My 'type'?' she squeaked disbelievingly as her voice rose in line with her temper. 'What on earth has my 'type' got to do with anything? Not that I was aware I had one,' she added furiously. 'The guy felt sorry for me, for goodness' sake! I'd just been accosted by two beefy heavies and cried all over him, so I guess he didn't think he could just wave and leave. No doubt that's exactly what he would have liked to have done,' she added bitterly as Sharon's elegant image appeared in her mind's eye. 'We saw his girlfriend in the restaurant,' she said flatly, noticing the look of anxiety fade from Mitch's face with a trace of wry irony. 'And she is something else.'