Her heart turned over at sight of the thick, fringed lashes forming shadows on his cheekbones, and the way a tawny lock of hair fell forward on his forehead. She longed to accept what he had said, but was still scared of being duped by his sexual magnetism.
‘Fiona’s had a crush on me since she was a child,’ he explained, and went on to repeat what the girl had told her about his parents taking her into their home when hers had died. ‘To me, she was like a younger sister, and I treated her as such.’
‘Not in her mind.’
‘Lord knows why,’ he said heavily. ‘I’ve told her often enough. Trouble is we all spoiled her when she first came to live with us, and it became a habit. Perhaps if I’d been tougher with her when she started to hero-worship me, I might have scotched it on the head, but she was so gentle and vulnerable—like you in a way—that I found it impossible to hurt her. I just hoped my being away from home for most of the past three years would give her a chance to fall for someone else, but it doesn’t seem she has.’
‘Your charm is obviously too strong to be forgotten,’ Marly said, still unsure whether Alex was being totally truthful. Were it not for his past behaviour she might have given him the benefit of the doubt, but as it was... ‘You probably led her on without realising it,’ she added.
‘Definitely not.’ Alex was incisive. ‘I’ve played the field in my time—I won’t deny it—but it’s always with women who know the score, not young girls in the first flush of love. And one thing I’ve never done is mess with people’s emotions.’
Oh, no? Marly longed to throw his words back in his face. What about Andrea? she cried silently. Don’t you think that was messing with a person’s emotions? With an enormous effort she said nothing, but all her previous antagonism towards him flared anew, determining her to carry on with her original plan. She could hardly wait for the day of reckoning when she could discard him as easily as he had discarded her friend.
‘So how have you finally made Fiona accept the truth?’ she forced herself to ask.
‘I haven’t.’
‘Haven’t?’
‘I haven’t yet told her.’
‘You mean you’re going to let her set a wedding date?’
‘No matter what date she sets, I’ve no intention of marrying her.’
‘Why can’t you tell her so and clear the air?’
Alex’s hesitation was palpable, then he sighed, as if coming to some conclusion. ‘When Fiona came to live with us she never mentioned her parents or the accident that had killed them. The doctors said she had blocked out the entire event, and advised us not to refer to it until she did.’
‘Which was when?’
‘Years later, on her fifteenth birthday. She suddenly started talking of it and didn’t stop—couldn’t stop. It was painful to listen to her. She was like a person possessed. Eventually she had to go into a nursing home; it was a complete breakdown. It was afterwards, when she recovered and returned home, that she developed a crush on me. I tried to tease her out of it and hoped it would die the death as she grew older, but...’ The broad shoulders lifted. ‘And now she pitches up here with this incredible story of hers. In the normal course of events I’d be blunt and brutal, but given her history I have to be careful.’
Marly found it in her heart to pity Fiona who, in the midst of finally facing up to the agonising loss of her parents, had seen in Alex a strong, stalwart lover to protect and cherish her forever.
‘You have a problem on your hands,’ she observed.
‘But I think I’ve found a way of dealing with it. No matter what she says or does, I’ll behave like a brother to her. I’ll show her around but I won’t take her out alone, only in a foursome—with you as one of the four!’ For the first time since he had learned of the girl’s arrival, Alex smiled. ‘All we have to do is find some amiable young man who’ll agree to make a play for her.’
‘I can’t see her playing back!’
‘It’s worth a try. Anyway, it will give us a chance of being together.’
Marly had to give him full marks for scheming. He could keep Fiona happy and chat up his next conquest at the same time. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! Yet his suggestion suited her perfectly, for the more Alex saw of her, the quicker he would fall for her.
‘I don’t think you’ll have trouble finding a man for Fiona,’ she said aloud. ‘She a beautiful girl.’
‘But you are beautiful and intelligent,’ came the swift reply as a long finger traced the curving bow of Marly’s upper lip. ‘I’ve a friend at the British embassy who may be willing to help me.’
‘Why don’t I ask Kevin?’ Marly suggested, deciding it would be nice to have him on hand, since he knew the act she was putting on and could be an ally. Alex looked distinctly put out, and seeing it as jealousy, she fanned the green-eyed monster. ‘He’d be ideal. He’s good-looking and fun to be with, yet he has a serious side too. I like him very much.’
‘Really?’ It was a clipped sound.
‘And Fiona likes him too. She met him the day she arrived, when he was with me at the pool.’
‘I’d prefer someone else.’
Marly fluttered her lashes and gave a tinkling little laugh. ‘You can’t be jealous of him!’
‘I’m jealous of any man you know.’
‘You flatter me.’
‘Because I find you the loveliest girl I’ve ever met?’
‘I’m sure you’ve known others far lovelier.’
‘None who makes me feel as you do. And as an extra bonus, you don’t act as if you want to rival me!’
‘Don’t bank on it,’ she teased. ‘I may yet decide to go into the hotel business! Many of our women hold down important jobs, you know.’
‘But they manage to stay sweet and lovely with it,’ he rejoined, ‘and don’t make their men feel insecure.’
‘I can’t imagine you being insecure.’
‘I’m not.’ Alex lounged back against his desk, and though his stance was indolent, power and determination flowed from him. ‘But I know a number of men who feel as if they’ve been emasculated.’
Which is how you’ll feel when I’ve finished with you, Marly thought, envisaging his shock when he discovered that a woman had made a fool of him, instead of the other way around.
‘I still think Kevin is the right man to make up the foursome you want,’ was what she said. ‘Fiona met him through me, and won’t be suspicious of him when he joins us.’
‘You have a point there. So Kevin it is.’
‘Shall I tell him the true position between you and Fiona?’
‘Of course. If he thinks we’re genuinely engaged he won’t make a play for her—which is the whole purpose of the exercise.’
‘She could get hurt.’
‘Even more so if she continues throwing herself at me.’
How true! Marly thought. Any woman would suffer if she fell for Alex.
The intercom on his desk buzzed, and his secretary informed him there was a call from Hong Kong. Picking up the telephone, he signalled Marly to stay.
‘Have dinner with Fiona and me,’ he mouthed.
‘I can’t,’ she whispered back, refusing to pander to him. He hadn’t so much as rung her during his absence, and to return unannounced and expect her to be free for him was not on. ‘I promised I’d be home to dinner.’
He looked as if he wanted to argue, but the voice at the other end of the line gave him no opportunity, and as he spoke into the receiver Marly took the opportunity of escaping.
It wasn’t until that evening when dinner was over and she and Nan were alone together in her room that she was able to tell her of her conversation with Alex and what he had decided to do.
‘He certainly has a devious mind,’ Nan said. ‘Do you think he’s as innocent over Fiona as he maintains? With his record, he may well have given her encouragement.’
‘I doubt it. She’s a pretty girl but far too ingenuous to attract him.’
‘
The character you’re pretending to be is ingenuous too.’
‘But I’m doing it with subtlety!’
Nan blew her a raspberry, and before Marly could reply, Alex rang to speak to her.
‘How far advanced are you with the software program?’ he asked without preamble.
Uncertain where the question was going to lead her, she was careful with her answer. ‘I’m ahead of schedule but problems can still occur. Why do you ask?’
‘Because I wondered if you and Kevin would care to be my guests for a week in Phuket? A friend has offered me the loan of his house there and I thought the four of us could fly down the day after tomorrow.’
‘It sounds very tempting,’ Marly said, ‘but I don’t know Kevin’s schedule at the hospital.’
‘Can you contact him and find out? I’ll wait for your call.’
‘I’m too busy to do it now,’ she lied, not wishing him to think she was a puppet that jumped when he pulled the string. ‘I’ll let you know some time tomorrow at the office.’
‘Don’t accept the invitation,’ Nan said as Marly replaced the telephone. ‘Phuket’s such a romantic island, it will give Alex ideas.’
‘He already has them!’
‘All the more reason not to go there with him. I wish you’d forget this charade of yours. Come clean with him and tell him it was a joke you did for a bet.’
‘And forget what he did to Andrea?’
‘What good will it do her if you make him fall for you and then laugh in his face?’
‘You never said any of this when I first suggested the idea.’
‘Because I never thought you’d get emotionally involved with him—and don’t pretend you aren’t. He isn’t capable of deep feelings, Marly, and he’ll forget you long before you forget him.’ Nan’s usual smiling face was serious. ‘I know you’re halfway to being in love with him, and I’d hate to see you hurt.’
‘So you’ve already said. But you’re worrying needlessly. He means nothing to me.’ Marly gave her friend a hug. ‘Stop predicting doom and gloom and throw yourself into the fun of it, like me. If turning the tables on Alex does nothing other than clip the wings of one chauvinistic predator, it will be worthwhile. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go telephone Kevin.’
As luck had it he was free for the weekend, as well as having several days’ leave, but to her astonishment he was hesitant about making up a foursome.
‘I thought you liked Fiona?’ Marly quizzed.
‘I do.’
‘Then why the reluctance?’
‘I don’t go in for masochism. And the way she dotes on Alex Hamilton, no other guy stands a chance with her.’
‘Except that she stands no chance with him.’
There was a momentary pause before Kevin spoke. ‘You’re kidding me.’
‘No, I’m not.’ As concisely as she could, Marly filled him in on the true story.
‘Poor kid,’ Kevin remarked when she had finished. ‘Pity you can’t tell her the way Alex let down your friend Andrea. It would put paid to her fantasies.’
‘I doubt it. She’d probably find loads of reasons to explain away his behaviour.’
‘If she’s so besotted over him, what chance do I have with her?’ Kevin demanded, his tone dry.
‘You can be her shoulder to cry on when Alex leaves her alone and flirts with me; and you know the old adage about catching someone on the rebound?’
‘Thanks a million. You do wonders for my ego!’
Marly bit her lip. ‘If you don’t want to come, I’ll understand. Alex has a friend at the embassy who—’
‘No, I’ll do it.’ Kevin was brusque. ‘At least if it’s me, I’ll be gentle with her when I pick up the pieces. Let me know where and when to meet you, and I’ll be there.’
Ending the call, Marly swung round to face Nan. ‘It’s all fixed.’
‘Fixed being the operative word,’ Nan said drily. ‘I don’t know who’s the bigger schemer—you or Alex.’
‘I’d say it’s a photo finish!’
‘At least promise me you’ll end it when you get back from Phuket? If you can’t have him grovelling at your feet by the end of a week in paradise island, you should give up!’
‘I promise I will,’ Marly asserted. ‘And that day can’t come quickly enough for me.’
CHAPTER NINE
MARLY did not see Alex till half an hour before their departure for Phuket, a rarely occurring migraine having laid her low for twenty-four hours.
Nan had spoken to him, however, explaining Marly’s absence and saying she and Kevin would meet him at the airport, and she was not in the least surprised when he sent a limousine to collect them.
‘Your boss does things in style,’ Kevin remarked, leaning back against the soft leather seat of the Mercedes. ‘But I guess that’s easy when you’re heir to the Hamilton chain. I suppose that’s why women go for him?’
She gave a non-committal murmur, cognisant of the fact that Alex’s style and appeal to women was not dependent on money. Even poor, he would exude style; it was part and parcel of him.
This realisation was brought home to her when she entered the VIP departure lounge and he rose from his chair and strolled leisurely towards them, relaxed into holiday mood in casual beige trousers and cream cotton top, the short sleeves disclosing bronzed arms with a fine sprinkling of dark hair. There were no accoutrements of wealth around him yet he conjured up an image of power and authority. That was what attracted women, she acknowledged; that, plus his good looks and potent virility.
‘Are you fully recovered?’ he enquired, nodding to Kevin and then giving her his whole attention.
‘Yes, thanks. I’m fine.’
Before she could say any more, Fiona joined them, arrestingly dressed in a blue mini sundress that showed off her long, shapely legs to perfection, and was the same colour as her large ingenuous eyes. Not all that ingenuous if you studied them carefully, Marly noted, aware of a wilfulness in them that was echoed in the slight thrust of the chin, a wilfulness that Alex, blinded by affection, misread as vulnerable.
‘I’m so pleased you were well enough to make it, Marly. Otherwise this silly man of mine was threatening to call off the trip.’ A limpid blue gaze rested on him meltingly. ‘He was worried in case I’d be bored alone with him.’
Linking her arm through Alex’s, she stayed close to his side as they settled down to wait for their boarding call.
‘Thanks for inviting me to Phuket,’ Kevin said to his host. ‘I spent a few days there not long after I arrived in Thailand, and I’ve always wanted to go back.’
‘What stopped you?’ Fiona asked. ‘I’m sure you could have found a job in a hospital there.’
‘I didn’t come here just to find a job,’ he smiled, ‘but to study under Professor Damrong.’
‘Don’t you get tired of studying? When I was at school I couldn’t wait to leave!’
Both men smiled indulgently, and Marly marvelled at the way males—no matter how intelligent—always enjoyed the company of a bimbo. As she thought it, Alex turned his head towards her and raised his eyes heavenwards, and she instantly and happily revised her opinion of one male at least!
‘Where exactly are we staying?’ she asked.
‘At Karon Beach. My friend’s home is built on the shore and you can practically go from bed to sea.’
‘Sounds idyllic,’ Kevin put in.
‘The whole island’s idyllic—and we can use Jack’s boat to explore it, and all the nearby islands as well.’ A tawny head swivelled in Marly’s direction. ‘I suppose you’ve been to Phuket often?’
‘This is the first time. I’ve been too busy working.’
‘I can’t think of you as a career woman,’ Fiona said prettily. ‘In England they’re all into power-dressing and competing with men.’
‘Thai women are competitive too, though we take more pains to disguise it.’
‘That’s probably why I enjoy living here,’ Alex teased. ‘I don’
t feel the draught of competition!’
‘You wouldn’t feel it regardless of where you lived,’ Fiona stated. ‘You’re invulnerable!’
‘Would that I were.’
Marly’s eyes turned to him. Leaning back in his chair, smiling and relaxed, he gave the lie to his comment. Fiona was right. He was invulnerable; so confident of his power that he could afford to be indulgent of rivalry. And that applied to his personal life too, for the gods had showered him with gifts. What did he know of unrequited love, of sleepless nights, days of depression, of tears shed and unshed? They were for the trail of broken hearts he left behind him, while he went happily on to pastures new. And for the moment she was the object of his desire. The attraction she felt for him washed over her with renewed force, making a mockery of her assertion to Nan that she was indifferent to him.
Hurriedly she focused on Kevin. Despite knowing he was a doctor—and a damn good one according to Professor Damrong—she couldn’t help regarding him as a lightweight; yet how much happier her future would be if she had fallen for him instead of Alex.
‘What’s the night-life like?’ Fiona suddenly demanded.
‘There’s more than enough discos to satisfy you,’ Alex informed her with a lazy grin. ‘I take it you’re still crazy about dancing?’
The girl’s nod and smile showed a set of small white teeth, and watching her catch his hand and hold it against the hollow between her breasts, Marly thought that here was another person on whom the gods had lavished many gifts. No wonder Kevin was bowled over. Could Alex have been bowled over too, and made promises he no longer wanted to keep, as had happened with Andrea?
With a feeling of relief she heard their flight called, and they gathered their hand luggage and boarded the plane.
Fiona sat at a window-seat for two, with Alex next to her, and Marly and Kevin took the two behind them. The noise of the engines prevented her from hearing their conversation, but she could not avoid the intimate gestures the girl lavished on him, her hand resting frequently on his arm, fluttering over his cheek or touching his leg. Kevin glowered, and for the first time since she had met him he was ill-humoured, giving away more of his feelings than he realised.
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