Diamonds Are Forever: The Royal Marriage ArrangementThe Diamond BrideThe Diamond Dad

by Rebecca Winters

  She nodded. ‘Just basic stuff, you understand,’ she explained hastily; cordon bleu she was not!

  ‘Daddy can’t even boil an egg,’ Jessica confided candidly.

  ‘I can so,’ he instantly protested, but there was laughter dancing in his eyes.

  ‘No, you can’t,’ his daughter contradicted him. ‘Remember that time you—?’

  ‘Okay, okay.’ Rufus held up his hands defensively. ‘I can’t cook,’ he conceded wearily.

  ‘He forgot to put any water in the saucepan,’ Jessica told Annie in a whisper deliberately loud enough for her father to hear. ‘I don’t know if you’ve ever seen an egg explode, but—’

  ‘No, Jessica, I haven’t, although I’m sure it’s very—interesting,’ Annie cut in swiftly as she could see Rufus was going to be the one to explode if this maligning of his culinary skills went on much longer. ‘Now I know the real reason the two of you wanted me along on this trip!’ she added with mock indignation. ‘You just didn’t want to risk your father’s cooking—or to starve!’

  ‘She’s sussed us out, Jess.’ Rufus winked at his daughter conspiratorially.

  ‘It wasn’t too difficult,’ Annie returned witheringly. ‘So what are we having to eat this evening?’ She arched questioning brows, sure he had had the food for their evening meal delivered today too.

  ‘Steak and salad,’ Rufus answered instantly. ‘But Jess and I can do the salad—’

  ‘I’ll do it, Daddy,’ Jessica cut in firmly, turning to Annie. ‘The last time Daddy made the salad I found a slug in my—’

  ‘Okay, I’ll leave you two girls to get dinner.’ Rufus stood up decisively. ‘I have some calls to catch up on, anyway. I’ll be in my study—first door on the right out of here—when it’s ready.’ He strode purposefully out of the room.

  Annie turned to Jessica, a smile curving her lips. ‘I think we drove him away with our teasing!’

  ‘Don’t you believe it; he was glad to escape.’ Jessica shrugged dismissively, starting to help with the preparations for dinner.

  It was a happy half-hour, Annie concentrating on seasoning and grilling the steaks she had found so conveniently in the refrigerator, while Jessica hobbled about preparing the salad. They laid the table between the two of them once the steaks were sizzling away, Annie having found a French loaf to accompany the meal too. It all looked very appetising once it was put on the kitchen table, Annie having opted for this casual comfort rather than the formal dining-room she had seen earlier, anxious that Jessica did not put too much strain on her slowly healing ankle.

  ‘Not bad.’ Annie nodded her satisfaction with the meal they had put out on the table. ‘Even if I do say so myself.’

  ‘I’ll go and get Daddy.’ Jessica was eager to show him their handiwork.

  ‘I’ll go,’ Annie told her firmly. ‘You’ve done enough walking on that ankle for one evening.’

  ‘Can I light the candles, then?” Jessica prompted eagerly.

  Annie turned at the door. ‘Not until I come back with your father. And if he says yes, then you can.’

  The candles had been Jessica’s idea, as had the two wineglasses for herself and Rufus; Jessica had assured her that her father would want wine with his meal. Annie wasn’t sure whether he would or not, but she was happy to go along with it, although one glass of wine was her own personal limit; any more than that and she was apt to get silly.

  She could hear Rufus talking on the telephone as she approached his study, hesitating outside the door as she wondered if she should interrupt him. But she didn’t want their meal to ruin either, and—

  She became suddenly still, actually about to knock on the door, when she unwittingly heard part of his conversation.

  ‘Please ask Margaret to call me when she gets in.’ Rufus spoke firmly. ‘I really need to talk to her.’

  Margaret …? There was only one Margaret that Annie knew of who had come into the conversation recently, and that was her predecessor.

  Rufus was in contact with Margaret. And he really needed to talk to her …

  Why? Oh, Annie accepted that the other woman had left without notice, but even so—

  ‘Yes, I received her letter.’ Rufus was still talking to the other person on the end of the telephone line. ‘But I still need to talk to Margaret herself.’

  The other woman had written to him! They were on close terms …?

  Was Anthony not the only member of the Diamond family who had a penchant for the servants …?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ‘YOU were very quiet during dinner,’ Rufus remarked. The two of them were in the sitting-room, Jessica safely in bed.

  Annie was surprised she had even been able to eat the meal, with each mouthful threatening to choke her! And as for her personal limit of one glass of wine—! She had accepted every refill of the red wine that Rufus had offered her, her thoughts tumbling over each other in their haste to be considered.

  Rufus and Margaret …

  So many things had fallen into place now. Rufus had seemed very upset at finding the other woman was no longer at Clifftop House, had questioned everyone as to the possible reason for her abrupt departure. And he had wasted no time in coming back to London once he’d realised that was where she must be. Obviously so that he could speak to her in person.

  Perhaps the two of them had had a row, or maybe Margaret had just decided the relationship wasn’t for her after all. Whatever her reasons, Rufus desperately wanted to see her again.

  Annie had got through dinner in miserable silence, hardly able to believe her stupidity. She hadn’t fallen for the wrong man once, but twice, and within days of each other! How naive could she be? Anthony, she had quickly realised, had been a terrible mistake on her part, but Rufus—! Rufus was something else entirely … He was tall and strong, honest and dependable—hah, dependable!—or so she had thought until a short time ago.

  She had been falling in love with him, she had realised as she’d stood numbly on the other side of his study door.

  She had enjoyed being in his company, felt she could relax and be herself with him, while at the same time feeling completely challenged by him. And he made her laugh …

  Well, she wasn’t laughing now. And she hadn’t laughed through dinner, either. It was as if all the friendly banter and teasing that had preceded the meal had never been; dinner had just been something she had to get through.

  But she had got through it, had accepted with a bright, meaningless smile the compliments about her cooking, had seen Jessica settled into bed while Rufus cleared away—something Jessica had assured her he could do!

  Now all Annie wanted to do was escape to her own bedroom and lick her wounds in private. And to her dismay there were wounds, her mistake where Rufus was concerned hurting her deeply.

  ‘Annie?’ Rufus prompted in a puzzled voice at her lack of response to his comment.

  She stood up abruptly, her hands clasped tightly together to stop their trembling. ‘I’m very tired. I think I’ll go to bed too, if you don’t mind?’ To her chagrin, she couldn’t even look at him, talking to a spot somewhere over his left shoulder as he sat in one of the armchairs.

  ‘You haven’t even touched the brandy I poured for you,’ he pointed out mildly.

  And rightly so—any more alcohol and she was likely to fall over!

  Had he entertained Margaret here too, with or without Jessica present? Had he poured Margaret brandy after dinner and expected her to sit in here and drink it with him? Was that how it had all started? Had the two of them—?

  ‘Annie, you don’t look too well.’ Rufus stood up, putting his brandy glass down on the table before crossing the room to her side. ‘A few seconds ago your face was flushed; now you’ve gone deathly white.’ He looked at her worriedly.

  A few seconds ago she had been flushed from the wine she had drunk, and now she had gone white because she was going to be sick!

  She turned quickly and ran from the room, just getting to the bathr
oom before she was violently ill, bringing up all the food she had so painstakingly forced down her throat such a short time ago, her eyes watering from the suddenness of the attack. Rufus came in behind her.

  ‘You really aren’t well, are you?’ he said soothingly, pressing a damp cloth to her forehead.

  His presence in the bathroom only succeeded in making her feel more ill. She should just die right now, just lie down and—

  ‘Come on, I’ll help you to your bedroom,’ Rufus told her indulgently, still keeping the cloth pressed against her forehead.

  Annie straightened, flushing away the evidence of her illness as she did so. ‘No!’ she said sharply. ‘Really. I’m fine.’ She pushed the cloth away, relieved to see her hand was shaking only slightly. ‘I’ve never been a good traveller,’ she said by way of an excuse. ‘It was probably that that made me ill.’

  ‘Motion sickness.’ Rufus nodded understandingly.

  More like emotion sickness! ‘Something like that,’ she agreed, just wanting the privacy of her bedroom now, sure she must look a sight.

  ‘Horses and cars,’ Rufus said dryly. ‘You don’t have a lot of luck, do you?’

  Especially where men were concerned, she inwardly groaned. And they were conducting this conversation in the bathroom, of all places!

  ‘Not a lot,’ she acknowledged weakly, sidestepping out of the room.

  Rufus followed her out into the hallway. ‘Do you remember the way to your bedroom? I didn’t know if you had a geographical problem, too,’ he added at her puzzled expression.

  Annie sensed that he was laughing at her, although she could tell nothing from his expression as he met her gaze with that left brow raised enigmatically. That was enough in itself to tell her he was indeed mocking her.

  ‘No, only horses and cars,’ she snapped. ‘I’ll feel better in the morning.’ She would make sure that she did! A severe self-talking-to was what she needed. And it was what she was going to get, too! ‘If you’ll excuse me …?’ She turned in the direction of the bedroom she would be occupying during her stay here.

  ‘Annie?’

  She stopped as Rufus softly called her name, turning reluctantly to look at him. ‘Yes?’ she said warily.

  He looked so handsome standing there, still wearing the black shirt and blue denims he had worn for the drive down here—he hadn’t had time to change before eating, after concluding his telephone call. To Margaret …

  He grinned that heart-stopping grin. ‘Goodnight,’ he said.

  ‘Goodnight,’ she returned abruptly, turning quickly now and making good her escape before he could delay her any further.

  She checked on Jessica before going to bed herself. The little girl was fast asleep, curled up into a ball in the bed, a half-smile of contentment on her lips. The sleep of the innocent …

  Well, she, Annie, was still an innocent too, she decided once she reached the privacy of her bedroom. She should have realised Rufus’s concern over Margaret’s departure had been too extreme to be about the simple leaving of an employee. Even Anthony, completely self-centred as he was, had questioned Rufus’s interest in it.

  Rufus and the unknown Margaret …

  Oh, she had realised that Rufus would have been involved with other women since his wife died; he was too virile a man for it to be any other way. Especially if, as Anthony had implied, he and Joanne hadn’t been particularly happy together. But Annie just hadn’t realised Jessica’s previous nanny had been one of those women. And from the way Rufus was still pursuing Margaret it was far from over as far as he was concerned!

  The laughter, the banter, the kisses that they had shared—all meant nothing. Not to Rufus, anyway …

  As far as her own feelings were concerned, the sooner Rufus disappeared on another assignment the better!

  If he wasn’t around, a constant reminder of the feelings she had for him, then surely, with time, she would get over him?

  She certainly hoped so! In fact, she was determined that she would. From tomorrow morning onwards she would make sure their relationship stayed strictly within the boundaries of employer and employee.

  That decision made, she fell asleep. Maybe not as innocently and trouble-free as Jessica, but she was so tired that she did sleep.

  She had overslept!

  The clock face on the bedside radio alarm read nine-fifteen! She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept as late as this. What on earth was Rufus going to think of her tardiness? At this rate she was going to be sacked!

  She dressed hurriedly in denims and a burnt-orange-coloured jumper, the latter making her hair appear an even deeper red than usual. There was no time for any make-up, and she only ran her brush quickly through her hair before hurrying out to the kitchen. Jessica would be wanting her breakfast, Rufus too, if last night’s description of his culinary skills was anything to go by. They would—

  The large piece of paper attached by a magnet to the front of the refrigerator door read, ‘I’ve taken Jessica to the park. Help yourself to breakfast. Hope you slept well.’ It was signed ‘Rufus’.

  Annie sat down abruptly at the kitchen table; all her haste had been unnecessary. Jessica wasn’t even here to be looked after. Annie wasn’t altogether sure that last remark on Rufus’s note, about sleeping well, wasn’t sarcastic …

  She found herself looking down at the piece of paper, which she had taken down from the fridge door. It was the first time she had seen Rufus’s handwriting, and she found herself studying it. It was large and strong, the R at the beginning of Rufus written with a flourish. It was rather like the man himself, big and slightly overwhelming, larger than life.

  The apartment seemed very empty without him in it. And Jessica too, of course. But it was Rufus she really missed. He had only gone to the park and she missed him. And last night she had decided the sooner he went away the better!

  She groaned, burying her face in her hands. She was in love with Rufus!

  What she had felt towards Anthony was nothing compared to the emotions surging through her for Rufus. And he was just as out of reach as Anthony had been, also had another woman in his life—

  She almost fell off the chair in surprise as the telephone on the kitchen wall began to ring!

  She simply looked at it for several seconds; should she answer it or not? It was Rufus’s telephone, and the call would obviously be for him. But it could be an emergency. It could even be Rufus himself, telephoning because something had happened to Jessica.

  She had to answer it!

  ‘Rufus Diamond’s residence.’ She spoke stiltedly into the mouthpiece, tightly gripping the receiver to her ear.

  There was silence on the other end of the line for several awkward seconds, telling Annie that the caller was as stunned to hear a female voice on the line as Annie had been reluctant to answer the call at all!

  ‘Could I talk to Rufus, please?’ The accent was Irish, the voice slightly husky—and definitely female.

  Which only increased Annie’s nervousness. Surely this wasn’t another one? Rufus gave such an impression of being relaxed with himself and confident, but surely he couldn’t be that relaxed or confident if there were a number of different women in his life? What if they all decided to turn up at his apartment at the same time? What if, like now, one of those women answered a call from one of the others …?

  ‘Er—not at the moment,’ Annie answered evasively, not at all comfortable with this conversation. ‘He’s taken Jessica to the park.’ Surely it was all right to mention Rufus’s daughter? Although, from the way he usually lived here alone, a lot of people probably didn’t even know he had a daughter. Maybe this woman didn’t know—

  ‘How is she?’ The woman’s voice softened affectionately as she spoke of the little girl.

  Not only did this woman know of Jessica, she had obviously met her!

  ‘Very well,’ Annie answered sharply—she registered the slightly possessive note in her own voice. But she couldn’t help the way she felt, b
oth Jessica and Rufus having become so very important to her.

  ‘That’s good,’ the woman returned just as briskly. ‘And would you be the housekeeper?’

  Annie bristled. ‘No, I wouldn’t be the housekeeper,’ she answered quickly, at the same time having no intention of saying who she was. ‘Can I take a message?’ she offered abruptly.

  ‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ the woman accepted mildly, telling Annie her resentment had been felt—and reacted to.

  She sighed. ‘No, I wouldn’t mind.’

  ‘Would you tell Rufus that Margaret called? That I’ll be at home for the rest of the day if he would like to call me back when he gets in?’

  Annie barely heard the last bit of the message; the name Margaret was the only thing that had really registered. This was Jessica’s ex-nanny, the woman Rufus had tried so desperately to talk to the evening before?

  She swallowed hard. ‘I’ll tell him.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Margaret returned gratefully. ‘And say hello to Jessica for me, and give her my love,’ she added before ringing off.

  Annie sat down again. She didn’t want to give Rufus the message. And she didn’t want to pass on Margaret’s love to Jessica, either!

  Which was ridiculous. If she didn’t tell Rufus about the call, so that he couldn’t return it, then Margaret was sure to telephone again. And then Annie would look a complete fool for not telling him Margaret had called this morning while he was out! But she wasn’t even sure she could say the words, thought they might possibly choke her!

  She could always write it down, and just hand the message to Rufus … The piece of paper on which he had written his note to her was still on the kitchen table …

  Coward, she admonished herself as she hastily scribbled Margaret’s message down. But she couldn’t help that; with her own newly recognised feelings for Rufus, to tell him of another woman’s telephone call would hurt her deeply.

  After writing down the message she busied herself unstacking the dishwasher, filled with crockery from dinner last night, had almost finished putting the things away in the cupboards when she heard Rufus’s key in the door followed by Jessica’s happy chatter.