Not that Gary saw any romantic interest in her invitation! It would have been insulting if she weren’t used to it. Gary never saw any other woman but Cheryl, and so looked on Danny as a sister; he already had two, one more made no difference! He accepted the invitation to dinner because she was Cheryl’s sister, had talked of nothing but Cheryl since he arrived. Tall and firmly muscled, his only other real interest besides Cheryl was food, he ate the meal she had prepared in appreciative silence.
‘Will Cheryl be coming home this weekend?’ she asked as she gave him his third helping of pie. Her sister had been very non-committal about her plans when they spoke two days ago.
‘No.’ He ate his pie with relish.
She frowned. ‘But I thought it was her turn to come home this weekend?’
‘It is.’ He nodded, his dark hair kept short, his deep blue eyes warm and open, very good-looking in a youthful way. ‘But she needs to study,’ he dismissed. ‘She has her exams soon.’
Danny held back her impatience with effort; the only thing Cheryl would be studying this weekend was Nigel Patrick, she was sure of it. God, her sister was a fool! Not that Nigel Patrick wasn’t charming, he was, very, but he was only interested in having a good time, couldn’t possibly have any lasting interest in a young girl destined to become an English teacher. Sometimes her sister could be so stupid!
‘Coffee?’ she asked Gary absently, receiving a frowning look as she almost removed his bowl before all the pie had been eaten.
‘Thanks.’ He sat back, obviously replete. ‘Shall I help you clear away here?’
She almost laughed at his lack of enthusiasm for the idea, ushering him into the lounge while she made the coffee. Gary was a typical male, he didn’t mind eating the meal, but clearing away the debris was something else entirely. Not that she minded in this case, Gary was something of a menace in the kitchen, usually managing to break at least one thing.
She checked on him while she was waiting for the coffee to percolate, finding him engrossed in the boxing match on the television. No wonder Cheryl found Nigel Patrick more exciting!
She had the coffee ready on a tray when the knock sounded on the back door, and went to answer it. She hadn’t seen Pierce Sutherland over the last three days, and she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t surprised to see him now. For one thing, he looked completely different in the iron-grey pin-striped suit and pale grey shirt, his hair trimmed to a neater style, too. For another thing she just hadn’t expected to see him again, their parting the other evening certainly hadn’t led her to believe they would.
‘I know it’s late,’ he began in that husky voice.
‘It’s only ten-thirty,’ she mocked.
His mouth twisted. ‘I forgot, you’re a night-owl. Solved your problem?’
She thought of Gary sitting comfortably replete in the other room. ‘Working on it.’ She nodded. ‘Was everything all right the other night?’
‘The security alert?’ He nodded. ‘Just a malfunction in the system.’
‘Would you like to come in?’ She belatedly remembered her manners. ‘I’ve just made some coffee.’
‘I’ll come in,’ he accepted. ‘But I never drink coffee.’
‘Caffeine.’ She nodded, closing the door behind him.
‘No,’ he derided. ‘I just don’t like it.’
‘Oh,’ she smiled. ‘Tea, then?’
‘Nothing, thanks,’ he refused abruptly, his height making her cosy kitchen look even smaller.
‘Then what can I do for you?’ She looked up at him curiously.
‘I—’
‘Hey, Danny, I—Oh,’ Gary came to a confused halt in the doorway, meeting the other man’s narrow-eyed gaze with curiosity. ‘I didn’t realise you had company.’ He turned enquiringly to Danny.
‘That makes two of us,’ Pierce Sutherland put in icily. ‘It would seem I’ve called at an inopportune time,’ he added harshly.
‘Not at all,’ she dismissed easily. ‘Gary and I have finished our meal, and…’
‘Gary?’ Pierce echoed slowly.
Danny nodded. ‘You remember, I told you about my sister’s fiancé.’
‘I remember,’ he rasped grimly. ‘Your method of solving the problem is—unique, Danielle.’
The foreign inflection he gave to her full name was very pleasant, but she couldn’t imagine what he thought was so unique about the idea of making her sister jealous. Inspired, perhaps, but certainly not unique.
‘I’ll leave the two of you to enjoy your coffee,’ he added coldly.
‘But you didn’t tell me why you came over.’ She frowned.
‘It wasn’t important.’ He turned to the younger man. ‘Sorry to have interrupted your evening.’
‘Pierce…’ She stood in the doorway and watched as he strode off into the darkness, the barking of the dogs silenced by a single word from him tonight. He was a strange man, a very strange man. Almost as strange as his uncle was reputed to be.
‘Who was that?’ Gary was naturally mystified by her visitor.
She closed the door with a sigh. She hadn’t expected to see Pierce Sutherland again, knowing that the kiss they had shared hadn’t meant the same to him as it had to her. But now that she had seen him again she hated the fact that he had left without telling her why he had come here in the first place.
‘He works for Henry Sutherland.’ She was reluctant to mention either of the nephews to Gary, knew he could be very astute when he chose to be.
‘Are you and he—friends?’ Gary probed.
‘No,’ she answered truthfully, doubting Pierce Sutherland had many friends, male or female.
‘He didn’t seem too pleased about seeing me here.’ Gary frowned.
‘You’re imagining things,’ she dismissed briskly. ‘Now, how about that coffee?’
‘That’s what I came in to tell you,’ he said ruefully. ‘Don’t bother about coffee for me, I’d better be going; I have an early shift tomorrow.’
The coffee was already made, but she didn’t try to dissuade him. Gary was a very nice man, but she had done what she set out to do, and now she didn’t mind being left on her own.
She walked down to the gate that divided her garden from the main one after Gary had left, looking over at the main house. The lights around the pool were on, and she could imagine that sleek body moving through the cool water, wishing she could join him. But things had changed in the last three days, no longer was she allowed to enter the grounds at night, the alarms left on now by strict instructions of Henry Sutherland. And poor Dave Benson was under sentence of serious reprimand when Henry Sutherland got back from his latest business trip. She had tried to get in to see the elusive billionaire before he left, intending to plead on Dave’s behalf, but she had been firmly told that Mr Sutherland wasn’t seeing anyone.
She couldn’t blame Pierce for advising his uncle to take some form of action over the incident, but she didn’t feel Dave Benson should be made to take all the blame.
She had heard the helicopter return earlier this evening, and Pierce’s presence indicated that his uncle was back in residence, but the lateness of the hour meant she would have to wait until tomorrow before seeing Henry Sutherland. She wished she knew why Pierce had come over…
* * *
‘What are you up to?’ Cheryl demanded suspiciously.
The expected telephone call from her sister came early the next evening, Cheryl sounding most indignant. ‘Sorry?’ She pretended ignorance, holding back her humour.
‘Gary said he came to dinner last night,’ Cheryl accused.
‘He did,’ she acknowledged. ‘He looks as if he’s losing weight to me,’ she added lightly. ‘I thought a home-cooked meal would be nice.’
‘Not one of your home cooked meals!’ Cheryl mocked scornfully.
‘Gary didn’t have any complaints,’ she taunted.
‘He gets a home-cooked meal every night—he lives at home with his parents!’
‘So he does,’ she
smiled. ‘Then something else must be bothering him.’
‘I suppose you’re implying that it’s me,’ Cheryl said in a disgruntled voice.
‘You?’ She feigned surprise. ‘Why should Gary be worried about you?’
‘Because of Nigel!’
‘Oh, but he doesn’t know about him,’ Danny dismissed. ‘And even if he did, he may not be too worried. You’ve been away a long time, Cheryl,’ she reasoned. ‘Men tend to find themselves other—compensations for an absent fiancée.’
‘What are you implying now?’ her sister demanded waspishly. ‘That Gary has someone else?’
‘Why not? You do.’
‘That’s different—’
‘I don’t see how,’ she mocked. ‘Gary is very handsome, he has a steady job, a lot of women would be glad to snap him up.’
‘He’s engaged to me!’
‘Engagements don’t seem to mean the same as they used to,’ she derided.
‘Do you know something I don’t?’ Cheryl asked sharply. ‘Has Gary been seeing someone else?’
‘Would it really bother you that much if he were?’
‘Of course it would!’
‘Why? I thought you were thinking of finishing with him anyway,’ Danny reasoned.
‘I am, but… Who is it, Danny?’ she demanded to know. ‘Who is Gary seeing?’
‘No one, as far as I know,’ Danny answered evasively.
‘But you said—’ Cheryl broke off, the workings of her mind almost audible over the telephone. ‘How late did he stay last night?’ she finally asked guardedly.
‘Quite late,’ Danny prevaricated. ‘He can be a very interesting conversationalist.’
‘Are you going to invite him over again?’
‘I was thinking of asking him tomorrow,’ she invented, having hoped the once would be enough to irk her sister.
‘You can’t,’ Cheryl told her with obvious relief. ‘He’s coming up to London for the weekend.’
‘But I thought he was working.’ She was genuinely surprised.
‘He’s managed to change weekends with someone else,’ her sister said triumphantly.
‘What about Nigel?’
Cheryl sighed. ‘He’s had to go away unexpectedly,’ she grumbled. ‘To Germany this time.’
She had known Henry Sutherland was once more away, her efforts to see him earlier today once again met with refusal, but she hadn’t thought of Nigel going with him. This wasn’t the ideal way she would have wanted Cheryl to be with Gary, but at least they would be together; it was better than nothing. And she knew it had given her sister a jolt to know she had had Gary over for dinner. She could only do so much to keep them together, the rest was up to them.
‘I don’t—I’ll have to go,’ she said quickly as a loud knock sounded on the door. ‘Someone is at the door.’
‘About Gary…’
‘He’s your problem,’ she dismissed impatiently, wondering if her visitor could be Pierce; she hoped so. ‘But if he didn’t refuse dinner with me I doubt he would turn down any other invitations he receives either. It’s lonely for him here, Cheryl, I hope you realise that.’
‘It’s lonely for me too.’
‘But you’ve found someone else to ease your loneliness,’ she reminded. ‘So why shouldn’t Gary do the same?’
‘He wouldn’t.’
‘I hope you’re right.’ Danny sighed at her sister’s confidence, sadly afraid Cheryl could be right. ‘Have a nice weekend, Cheryl, but try to remember that you will have to make a decision between Gary and Nigel soon. I’ll call you Monday or Tuesday.’ She rang off quickly before her visitor decided she wasn’t at home and went away again, her face glowing with pleasure when she opened the door to find Pierce standing there. ‘I hoped you would come back tonight.’ She pulled him inside. ‘You left so suddenly last night.’ She beamed up at him.
He seemed slightly dazed by the warmth of his welcome. ‘You had company.’ He shrugged.
‘Only Gary,’ Danny dismissed lightly. ‘You don’t travel with your uncle?’
He frowned, the grey-blue eyes suddenly wary. ‘Sorry?’
‘I was talking to Cheryl on the telephone when you knocked,’ she explained, liking the way the black trousers fitted the lean length of his legs, the grey shirt obviously silk. She felt a bit untidy in her green shorts and lime-green T-shirt, having intended to shower and change after her salad dinner; Cheryl’s call had delayed that. ‘She was bemoaning the fact that Nigel has gone away to Germany with your uncle.’
‘Did he actually tell her that?’ Pierce asked slowly.
‘Oh God.’ She grimaced. ‘I haven’t found another security malfunction?’
Pierce gave a half smile, at once looking less severe and remote. ‘Not that I’m aware,’ he drawled. ‘But Henry Sutherland certainly isn’t going to be anywhere near Germany this weekend.’
Danny gave him a startled look. ‘Are you sure?’
‘He arrived home late this afternoon, and as far as I know he intends staying here for several days.’
She chewed on her bottom lip. ‘Then I wonder why Nigel told Cheryl that?’ She frowned. ‘Let’s go through to the lounge and make ourselves comfortable,’ she suggested absently, moving with her usual grace, sitting cross-legged on the sofa. ‘Please, sit down,’ she invited as Pierce hesitated in the low doorway, the beams on the ceiling almost touching his head as he crossed the room. ‘Mind!’ she warned as he almost walked into the light hanging from the middle of the ceiling.
‘An original cottage, I presume,’ he said drily. ‘Like the house.’
‘Wonderful, aren’t they,’ Danny acknowledged admiringly. ‘We’ve decorated the cottage since my grandfather lived here, of course…’
‘Obviously,’ Pierce mocked.
She gave an appreciative chuckle. ‘But otherwise we’ve tried to keep it the same. It’s very cosy in the winter with the fire burning.’
‘I’m sure. Only Gary?’ he prompted softly.
Danny frowned at the sudden change of subject. ‘Gary Cartwright? Cheryl’s fiancé?’
‘Yes, your sister’s fiancé,’ Pierce acknowledged with steel in his voice. ‘When I said you had company last night you replied“Only Gary”. I take it that young man was your sister’s fiancé?’
Young man? He made Gary sound in a different generation, and as she was Gary’s contemporary… she wouldn’t have that! ‘Yes, that was Gary,’ she confirmed. ‘He left just after you did, he has to be up early for work in the mornings. Why do you suppose Nigel lied to Cheryl?’
‘Why do you?’
‘I thought you said he only concentrated on one woman at a time,’ she reminded.
He shrugged broad shoulders, a certain tension about him even though he seemed relaxed in the chair he had chosen to sit in. Danny wondered if he ever completely relaxed. ‘Perhaps I don’t know him as well as I thought I did,’ he drawled. ‘Will you tell your sister?’
She shook her head. ‘She would just think I’m being vindictive. Letting her think I have designs on Gary is a much better idea.’
Grey eyes blinked, his face remaining expressionless. ‘Is that what you were doing last night?’
She nodded. ‘I like Gary, and I think Cheryl is treating him very badly.’
‘I see.’
‘No, you don’t,’ she laughed at his disapproving look. ‘Gary sees me as another sister; he already has two. And he’s been in our family circle for so long that I think of him as a brother in return. You still haven’t told me why you came over last night.’
‘I wanted to explain to you why such action has been taken over the security man called Benson.’
‘Oh, I understand that it was wrong to turn off the alarms.’ She sobered. ‘He does, too—’
‘I should damn well hope so!’
‘But he still kept up the visual surveillance,’ she added protestingly.
‘It wasn’t enough.’
‘Pierce—’
‘
Danielle, it was Benson’s responsibility to take care of night security,’ he cut in grimly, his mouth tight. ‘As an ex-policeman he should have known better.’
‘Why do you do that?’ she asked curiously.
‘Benson is—’
‘No, not that—although we’ll get back to him in a moment. No one else calls me Danielle.’
‘Danny makes you sound like a man.’ He scowled.
‘As you once thought me.’ She nodded. ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m not complaining. It makes me feel special.’
Grey eyes looked at her probingly. ‘Why should you want that, Danielle?’ he asked softly.
‘Why not?’ She looked at him with candid brown eyes. ‘You don’t have a girl in every country like your cousin seems to, do you?’
The forbidding mouth quirked mockingly. ‘I don’t have a girl—or preferably, woman, in any country,’ Pierce derided.
‘No?’ She found that a little hard to believe, sensing that beneath the reserved coldness was a man of deep passion. Hadn’t she tasted a little of that passion the other night? Didn’t she want to taste it again!
‘No,’ he spoke harshly now.
‘Would you like one,’ she encouraged hopefully. ‘In England, that is?’
His mouth tightened even more. ‘Are you offering your services?’
Perhaps it was the way he said ‘services’, or maybe it was just his tone of voice, but she found the words slightly insulting. ‘I’d like to get to know you better,’ she answered with a frown. ‘I’d also like to go swimming again,’ she added lightly.
‘Another mercenary,’ Pierce taunted.
‘Not me.’ She shook her head. ‘I just felt that as you’re partly responsible for my late night jogging being curtailed you wouldn’t mind offering the use of the pool for my excercise instead.’
‘I told you before,’ he rasped, ‘you’re free to use it at any time.’
‘You’re sure it won’t disturb your uncle?’ She frowned.
‘Yes.’
‘Have you had your swim today yet?’
‘That isn’t very subtle, Danielle,’ he drawled, his eyes mocking.
‘Do I have to be?’ she complained. ‘I’ve never been one to indulge in those pointless guessing games. I’d like us to become friends, and as you don’t seem to be around too often I have to take advantage of the opportunities I do have.’
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