Storm Force

by Sara Craven

  ‘That,’ Maggie said cuttingly, ‘is hardly a phrase I’d associate with you.’ She paused, as he steered the car into the traffic. ‘Were you serious, then, about the charges against you being dropped?’

  ‘I wouldn’t joke about a thing like that. And may I remind you that no charges were ever brought.’ His mouth tightened. ‘As I told you, Maggie, I never laid a hand on that girl.’

  ‘But she was raped.’

  ‘She’d had sex, certainly, and she’d been roughed up a little to make it look like rape, But I was able to prove conclusively that I wasn’t the guilty party.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Blood tests,’ he said succinctly. ‘Fortunately for me, the Examiner had Miss Burrows medically examined immediately when she rushed to them with her tragic story.’ He shot her a sideways glance. ‘Well—aren’t you glad to know your touching display of loyalty on Saturday wasn’t misplaced?’

  She shrugged. ‘It hardly did much good. The police must have already known you were innocent by then.’ She hesitated. ‘But why should Debbie Burrows have made up a story like that?’

  ‘For money,’ said Jay laconically. ‘She’d obviously discovered the kind of cash newspapers will pay for kiss-and-tell revelations and decided to get in on the act.’ He paused. ‘The police are having a close look at her boyfriend. He works as a bouncer at her club, and is known to be a heavy gambler. He may have put her up to it.’

  Maggie gulped. ‘You mean that he …? Oh, but that’s horrible.’

  ‘A lot of things in life are, which is an excellent reason for savouring the good times when they come around.’ He slotted the car neatly into a space. ‘Such as this trip to the Bahamas.’

  ‘That,’ said Maggie, teeth gritted, ‘is not my idea of a good time.’

  ‘I can imagine,’ said Jay sympathetically, as a uniformed commissionaire opened the door to them deferentially. ‘This villa we’re going to may even have indoor sanitation, and a bath that empties when you pull out the plug, but we’ll just have to put up with it.’

  She was forced to remain silent as the head waiter came to greet them, but as soon as they were seated at their table and the champagne poured, she said, ‘It may be a joke to you, but that cottage happens to mean a great deal to me. It belongs to me. It’s all mine.’

  ‘Give me time.’ Jay touched his glass to hers. ‘Our hours there together will probably become some of my most cherished memories.’

  ‘I doubt that.’ She picked up the menu and tried to focus her attention on it. ‘Now that you’re in the clear,’ she said constrictedly, ‘there’s really no need to go on with this engagement. We could call it off at any time. Very soon, in fact.’

  ‘Before this Bahamas trip, to be precise,’ added Jay mockingly. ‘Isn’t that what you’re thinking?’ He shook his head slowly. ‘No way, Maggie. We stick to our original plan. Apart from anything else, we’d both look fools and attract a lot of unwelcome attention if we called the thing off so soon.’ He refilled her glass. ‘Besides,’ he went on, ‘October is the middle of the hurricane season in the Bahamas. Supposing another one blows up while you’re there? I can’t let you take that risk alone, Maggie. If there’s a storm in the night,’ his voice lowered intimately, ‘I’ll be there to keep you safe.’

  In the silence that followed, Maggie thought she could hear every one of her pulse beats. She swallowed thickly, staring down at the printed words of the menu until they danced before her eyes.

  He wasn’t serious, of course. He was just deliberately teasing her because she had given him a hard time over the invitation. But in a way that made it worse.

  Safe, she thought, her heart hammering. He had said he would keep her safe. But there was no safety for her anywhere near Jay Delaney. And so far, she had only skirted round the danger zone where he was concerned. She knew that now.

  Her real trial would begin when they arrived together on New Providence.

  ‘I can’t pretend to be in love with him,’ she thought desperately. ‘So how can I possibly pretend indifference? But, somehow, for my own sake, I must. I must. Because I can never let him see—let him guess how I really feel.’

  Instinct told her that to surrender to him would be to ride on the wings of the storm. But when the storm passed, all that was left in its wake was ruin. That was what she needed to remember—if she was to survive.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IT WAS SWELTERING at the airport. Maggie sank gratefully into the corner of the back seat of the car which was to take them to Kylie’s villa.

  ‘I hope there’s air-conditioning,’ she said, half to herself.

  ‘Sybarite,’ said Jay lazily. ‘At World’s End, you were content with a draught under the door.’

  She gave a tight-lipped smile and turned her attention to the view from the car window.

  By pleading pressure of work she had managed to evade Jay more or less successfully until the actual time of their flight to Nassau. In the end, Kylie had gone ahead of them by a couple of days, ‘To make sure everything’s ready for us all, sweetie,’ so Maggie had been faced with the problem of travelling alone with him.

  But it wasn’t like being alone at all, she had soon discovered. Because he was in people’s living-rooms nearly every week, Jay was recognised everywhere and regarded as public property. Strangers spoke to him as if they knew him, and the demand for autographs was unceasing. On the aircraft itself, Maggie had been marginally amused to see how the stewardesses fluttered round him. But she told herself she should be glad of all the attention he was being paid. After all, she reminded herself firmly, it saved her having to make tongue-tied and awkward conversation with him.

  However, her real ordeal was just beginning, and she knew it.

  ‘Is this the first time you’ve been to Nassau?’ he asked eventually, just as the silence between them was beginning to feel interminable.

  She nodded. ‘I haven’t been abroad much at all.’

  ‘You’ve never been to Australia to see your mother?’

  She bit her lip. ‘Actually—no.’

  ‘Does she come back to England often?’

  ‘Not a great deal.’

  ‘But you must miss her.’

  ‘Naturally. Is—is your mother still alive?’

  ‘Very much so.’ He sounded surprised. ‘And Dad. They want to meet you, of course. I explained this was primarily a business trip, and was unavoidable, but they were disappointed, and insist I bring you down to meet them when we get back.’

  ‘Oh, dear,’ Maggie said guiltily. ‘Do we—have to?’

  ‘Yes, we do,’ he said with faint asperity. ‘Don’t look so alarmed. It’s only the Cotswolds you’re being asked to visit—not New South Wales or Queensland.’

  ‘Western Australia, actually.’ She paused. ‘I hope you won’t be too bored over the next two weeks. I really have to get down to some serious work with Kylie.’

  ‘I hope you can get her to see it that way,’ said Jay with a shrug.

  So do I, thought Maggie, remembering with a pang Philip’s parting words to her.

  ‘Remember, Maggie,’ he had said, ‘she may be one of our most successful authors, but her private life’s a mess. She’s been divorced twice, and had heaven knows how many affairs. She has no respect for other women’s property, so I wouldn’t let that fiancé of yours out of your sight.’

  Then why the hell did you encourage us both to go? Maggie had wanted to shout. Instead she had summoned up a smile and promised to remember.

  She wondered if Jay found Kylie attractive. She couldn’t ask him, of course. If they had been lovers, she could have teased him gently about it. As it was, there were so many no-go areas in their relationship, so many gulfs it was impossible to bridge. And it was better so, she decided, concealing a faint sigh. Better not to get too close—know too much.

  But if Kylie did make a play for him—if they had an affair—that would be an incontrovertible reason for breaking off the engagement. Perhaps I should
throw them together, thought Maggie, wincing.

  The villa was a vine-clad one-storey building, constructed in an L-shape, and painted white. As well as the obligatory swimming-pool, a path led through a grove of casuarinas to the sea, fringed by a narrow beach of pinky-white sand.

  Kylie was waiting for them beside the pool, wreathed in smiles, with a tray of cool drinks to hand.

  ‘Isn’t this sheer heaven?’ She stretched long tanned limbs clad in a minimal bikini. ‘I’m tempted to live here permanently—buy a house—settle down.’

  She probably would for a year or two, thought Maggie. Kylie had tried most of the tax havens but grown bored and moved on after a while. It seemed, from what Philip had said, to be the same with the men in her life.

  Maggie felt hot and over-dressed in her slim white skirt and navy over-blouse, especially when Kylie was wearing so seductively little. Jay, she saw, was eyeing her with open appreciation.

  I can’t compete, thought Maggie, and I’m not even going to try.

  Then why, asked the voice in her head, have you packed nearly all the gear you bought for Mauritius? And don’t say it’s because you didn’t want it to be completely wasted.

  I don’t know why, Maggie told herself despondently. I don’t seem to know why I do anything any more these days.

  Kylie was talking about the delights of New Providence, mentioning restaurants that had been recommended to her, shops she had been advised to patronise, and bemoaning the death of limbo dancing as a tourist attraction.

  ‘It used to make me think the most amazingly sexy thoughts,’ she said, shooting an audacious look at Jay. ‘What about you?’

  ‘It made me think about slipped discs.’ Jay helped himself to more ice.

  ‘Oh, how prosaic.’ Kylie pouted. ‘What about you, Maggie?’

  ‘I was wondering when you’d like to start work, Miss St John.’

  ‘Kylie, please. No formality here. We’re all friends, after all, and you’re doing me the most enormous favour.’ Kylie gave her a wistful smile. ‘But don’t let’s talk about work just yet. Take a couple of days—see a few of the sights, and get acclimatised, before you force me to the grindstone.’ The silvery laugh rang out.

  Maggie forced an answering smile. ‘Then, if you don’t mind, I’d like to go and unpack.’

  ‘Of course.’ Kylie reached for a handbell which stood near the tray and summoned the housekeeper. ‘Leah, will you show my guests where they’re to sleep, please?’

  A paved walk led from the pool area through beds of pink and gold flowering shrubs round to the side of the villa. Leah pushed open sliding patio doors and stood back to allow Maggie and Jay to precede her.

  Maggie stepped into the cool shade of the interior, and halted with an indrawn breath. It was a spacious room, equipped with fitted wardrobes and units in pale polished wood. But all Maggie was really aware of were the two wider-than-average twin beds which dominated the room.

  Her horrified gaze absorbed the implication, then shifted to their suitcases, standing cosily side by side in the middle of the floor.

  ‘Pete’s brought up your luggage,’ Leah pointed out cheerfully. ‘And that door over there’s your bathroom.’ She looked around her. ‘I hope you have everything you need?’

  ‘Everything’s fine,’ said Jay swiftly as Maggie’s lips parted in instinctive protest. His fingers closed on hers in a hard, warning grip.

  ‘If you miss anything, you just ring,’ commanded Leah, and departed with a smiling flash of white teeth.

  Maggie rounded on Jay, snatching her hand from his. ‘What do you mean by telling her everything’s fine?’ Her voice shook. ‘She’s put us in the same damned room.’

  ‘I’d noticed,’ he said calmly. ‘What’s the problem? We’re engaged to be married. It’s taken for granted that we sleep together.’

  ‘We aren’t,’ she said. ‘And we don’t. I can’t stay here. I want to move to another room.’

  ‘Calm down.’ Jay’s lips tightened. ‘If you start protesting, you could make us both look like idiots. Besides, what makes you think there is another room?’

  ‘There must be.’

  He shook his head. ‘Not necessarily. Judging by the overall size of the place, I’d say a master bedroom and one guest suite covers the sleeping accommodation.’

  ‘Then I’m moving out to a hotel,’ Maggie said impetuously, ‘Or you can.’

  ‘Neither of us is going anywhere,’ he said grimly. ‘Grow up, Maggie. It may only be one room, but there are two beds.’ He paused. ‘Last time we shared a roof, we only needed one.’

  ‘Please don’t remind me,’ she said tautly.

  ‘I’m tempted to remind you of a number of things.’ The blue eyes rested significantly on the trembling curve of her mouth. ‘But I’ll control myself.’ He sighed, ‘For pity’s sake, Maggie, how many times do I have to tell you—I don’t go in for rape?’

  She bit her lip. ‘I—accept that. But the whole situation is impossible. Surely you see that?’

  ‘There are certain inherent difficulties, maybe, but nothing we can’t deal with.’ Jay tossed his case on to one of the beds and snapped open the locks. He extracted a pair of dark blue silk pyjamas and held them up. ‘Do these make you feel any better?’

  ‘But you never wear them,’ Maggie began, and paused, blushing.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘But it occurred to me this might happen, so I bought them, and I’m prepared to wear them—as a concession. If you want privacy to dress or undress, there’s the bathroom. But that’s as far as it goes, Maggie. I’m not moving out, or allowing you to do so either. As far as the people in this house are concerned, we are lovers who are going to be married. So we share this room, but that’s all we share.’ His eyes met hers steadily. ‘I told you at World’s End that you’d have to do the asking, lady, and that still applies.’ He patted the bed. ‘This is my space, and that’s yours over there. And between them is an invisible line that we don’t cross.’ He tossed the pyjamas on to the pillow. ‘And now I’m going to unpack, change, and go for a swim. Care to join me?’

  She shook her head. ‘I—I think I’ll go for a walk in the garden.’

  ‘Reconnoitring for a spare room?’ said Jay jeeringly. ‘You’re going to be disappointed, Maggie. I’d bet money on it.’

  To her chagrin, he was right. The villa was luxuriously appointed, but all the space had been absorbed into the existing rooms. The accommodation was for two couples only, with a flat for Leah and Pete over the garage.

  So that’s that, she told herself wretchedly.

  She got her copy of the script and made her way to the sitting-room. In spite of Kylie’s urgings, she was going to make a start on the work she had come here to do.

  The sooner it’s finished, the sooner I can get out of here, she told herself, biting her lip savagely.

  Leah brought her a tray of iced tea, and she sat reading and making detailed notes on her suggestions for improvements until the others came up from the pool, and it was time to change for dinner.

  It was an excellent meal, starting with a spicy seafood salad, going on to broiled steaks with a side dish of peas which looked and tasted like lentils, and rice. The dessert course was a guava duff, which, Kylie told them, was a local speciality.

  ‘So, we have the evening ahead of us,’ she said buoyantly as Leah served coffee. ‘Why don’t we go to a nightclub?’

  ‘I’m rather tired after the flight,’ Maggie said hurriedly. ‘If you don’t mind, I’d much rather go to bed.’

  Kylie gave her a sweet smile. ‘Just as you wish.’ She turned to Jay. ‘And what about you? Are you planning an early night too?’

  ‘No.’ Jay drained his cup. ‘I’d be happy to escort you.’

  Kylie clapped her hands, then looked solicitously at Maggie. ‘Are you sure you don’t mind, sweetie?’ She laughed. ‘Can you trust me with your gorgeous man?’

  ‘She’s very understanding.’ Jay pushed back his chair, and walked round
the table to Maggie’s side. His hand stroked her hair, lifting it slightly, and she felt the pressure of his lips, swift and sensuous on the bared nape of her neck.

  He said softly, ‘Get some rest, darling. I’ll try not to wake you when I come in.’

  Kylie laughed again. ‘I doubt if she’ll be too grateful about that,’ she said lightly. ‘She looks as if she’s been turned to stone as it is.’ Her eyes sent a challenge across the table. ‘Shall we postpone the trip until you can join us?’

  ‘By no means.’ Maggie rose to her feet. ‘I’m not usually such a killjoy, but I’m just not used to long journeys. I’ll—see you both tomorrow.’

  The bathroom was the last word in glamour. As well as a shower cubicle, there was also a sunken bath, big enough for dual occupation, with a cushioned headrest, and a vanity unit with twin basins, running the length of one wall. There were mirrors everywhere too. As Maggie showered briefly and dried herself on one of the enormous fluffy bath sheets provided, she kept catching unexpected and unwanted glimpses of herself from various angles. Compared with Kylie’s lush and pampered curves, she was definitely on the skinny side of slender, she thought, depressed, as she dropped her nightgown over her head.

  She bit her lip as she regarded herself. She would have done better to have invested in some pyjamas herself, she thought. The tiny lace bodice cupped her breasts without concealing them, and the floor-length skirt was hardly more than a drift of veiling.

  It was the one she had bought for her first night with Robin, she realised suddenly. Now, there was a Freudian slip. And the others she had brought weren’t any more decent either.

  She would have to go shopping tomorrow, she decided, although she doubted that Nassau would have much to offer in the way of Winceyette.

  But at least she didn’t have to endure Jay’s caustic scrutiny as she crossed the room to her bed.

  She was tired—her excuse had been genuine—but she couldn’t sleep.