She gave him an irritated glare, wanting to hit out at him for causing this confusion within her. ‘I don’t happen to like their shades.’
His brows rose. ‘What’s wrong with them?’
Maybe she wouldn’t have been quite so outspoken if she hadn’t wondered just how many women he had kissed to be able to tell one of his own products just by the taste! It somehow seemed to throw her own fiery reaction to his kiss out of all perspective. She was twenty-five years old, not a naïve schoolgirl to be impressed by the experience of an older man, an arrogant overbearing man at that.
She shrugged, shaking her head. ‘They do nothing for me.’
He moved impatiently to the door, not liking the criticism. ‘I suggest you retouch the lip-gloss—a second time, while I tell your secretary you’ll be out to lunch.’
Natalie reapplied the lip-gloss without really thinking about it, glad of this respite to collect her scattered thoughts together. So the man knew how to kiss—so what? So she had responded like never before. She had been taken by surprise, it certainly wouldn’t happen again!
‘What about Lester?’ Dee asked when Natalie joined them in the outer office a few minutes later, perfectly composed now—on the outside, at least. ‘Shall I call him and tell him you can’t make lunch?’
‘Oh—yes.’ She avoided looking at Adam Thornton after his first speculative glance. ‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ she nodded. ‘Explain that it’s business, will you,’ she added to let Adam Thornton know that as far as she was concerned that was exactly what it was. ‘I’ll call him this afternoon.’
‘Fine.’ Dee seemed perfectly willing to accept this, now that she knew this man was Adam Thornton. ‘See you later,’ she added lightheartedly.
‘You may do,’ Adam Thornton drawled, taking a firm hold of Natalie’s arm.
She allowed him to guide her out to the lift, standing silently beside him as they went down to the ground floor, stepping into the back of the burgundy-coloured Rolls-Royce as the chauffeur held the door open for her and Adam Thornton climbed in beside her, nodding coolly to the straight-faced man. Somehow Natalie had been expecting the silver Porsche, and the Rolls came as something of a surprise to her.
‘Who is Lester?’ Adam asked softly as the chauffeur smoothly drove the car out into the traffic, a glass partition between the back and the front of the car closed for greater privacy.
Natalie turned to look at him, slightly overwhelmed by the obvious wealth of this man. ‘He’s—a friend,’ she answered, wary of his interest.
‘I see.’
She frowned. What did he ‘see’? She had no idea, because he made no further attempt at conversation until they were seated in the restaurant, the famous Savoy Grill Room. Natalie had been here with Jason Dillman during business meetings, and remained unimpressed today because of that, ordering only a green salad and steak for herself, but not in the least surprised when Adam Thornton ordered a four-course meal for himself.
‘What business did you want to talk to me about?’ She looked at him coolly, firmly putting that kiss to the back of her mind—as he seemed to have done.
Adam sipped his whisky, perfectly relaxed, taking his time about answering her. ‘A Fantasy Girl,’ he finally answered her.
Natalie’s eyes widened. ‘Fantasy Girl…?’
He nodded. ‘I may have given you the wrong impression of my opinion of your work on Beauty Girl—’
‘I don’t think so,’ she snapped.
‘I think I did,’ he smiled, sitting back as their meal arrived. ‘Judith Grant may have been chosen for all the wrong reasons, but I can’t deny her success. That line is turning out to be one of our most successful. It was a very good idea to take a complete unknown and make her Beauty Girl.’
‘Then Jason Dillman hasn’t done everything wrong,’ Natalie taunted.
‘I hate to disappoint you,’ he mocked, ‘but the unknown was originally my idea; Jason merely followed it through. You may remember that we also had a new perfume out at about the same time; I was concentrating more fully on that.’
She nodded. ‘You used two of my models.’
‘So we did,’ he acknowledged. ‘Also hand-picked by Jason.’ He sighed. ‘I begin to suspect those two as well.’
‘You needn’t,’ she bridled. ‘Gemma and Sheri are both happily married.’
‘That’s a relief,’ he frowned.
‘Fantasy Girl…?’ she prompted, very interested in what sounded like yet another new project. T.C.B.A. were really expanding at the moment—and she would like to be in on that.
‘A new line of make-up with a more defined shading, deeper, but also brighter,’ he explained.
Natalie nodded. ‘Just right for today’s fashions.’
‘Exactly,’ he agreed. ‘Maybe even you’ll wear it,’ he added mockingly. ‘I’d like you to find my Fantasy Girl for me. Not literally, of course,’ he derided.
‘Of course,’ she said stiffly.
‘Do you think you can do it?’
‘I think so, yes,’ she answered slowly. ‘Although I shall need to know a lot more about the make-up.’
‘Naturally. Although I hope it’s understood that what I’ve so far told you about Fantasy Girl is not for public knowledge.’
Natalie stiffened. ‘I’m not completely stupid, Mr Thornton!’
‘You aren’t stupid at all,’ he rasped. ‘That’s part of the reason I’d like to work with you on this.’
‘With you…?’ Her appetite had suddenly deserted her.
Adam raised dark brows. ‘Do you have any objections to working with me?’ he challenged.
Did she? The less she had to do with this man the better, from a personal basis, but as far as the agency was concerned it could be the making of them. Beauty Girl being one of her models was one thing, but with a follow-up…! The agency, and she, would never look back.
‘You seem undecided,’ Adam Thornton drawled. ‘Believe me, Natalie, if I’d known that the Ms Faulkner who ran the agency was such a beautiful woman I would have ousted Jason before now.’ The blue eyes openly caressed her. ‘Why are you behind the desk and not out there in front of the cameras?’ he demanded suddenly.
She remained cool in the force of his flattery, wanting to remind him that this was a business meeting—even if it was the most unusual one she had ever had! ‘I was in front of the cameras for a while,’ she shrugged. ‘It isn’t enough for me.’
‘No,’ he mused, ‘I don’t suppose it is.’
She eyed him suspiciously. ‘Why don’t you?’
His brows rose. ‘Do you always bristle this easily?’
‘Always!’
‘Should be fun,’ he mocked.
‘What should?’ Her voice was sharp.
‘Working with you.’ He sat forward, his hand covering hers. ‘I believe I shall enjoy it very much.’
Natalie could feel herself blushing. ‘What will happen about—about Beauty Girl?’
His face became harsh, and he removed his hand from hers. ‘I’ve tried to reason with Jason, you’ve tried to reason with Judith Grant—I may just have to drop her,’ he said curtly.
‘No! I mean—Couldn’t you give it a little more time?’ She blushed at his narrow-eyed look, aware that she sounded as if she were pleading with him, feeling angry with Judith for putting her in such a position with this man. ‘Maybe the affair will just—die out, of its own accord,’ she added hopefully.
He shook his head. ‘In my estimation it’s gone on for almost nine months already,’ he ground out.
Natalie chewed on her top lip, feeling dismayed at her sister’s stupidity. ‘Does—does his wife know?’
‘No!’ he rasped. ‘And I don’t intend that she should.’
‘I—I had no idea she was your sister,’ she said apologetically, feeling a guilt herself.
‘I don’t make a habit of admitting to Jason being my brother-in-law,’ he dismissed harshly.
Natalie looked down at her hands. ‘D
o they have any children?’
‘No, thank God!’ His savagery was back with a vengeance, as he signalled to the waiter to bring their bill. ‘Judith Grant is only the last in a long line of women who flit in and out of Jason’s life. Tracy seems to love him so much that it never occurs to her that he has affairs,’ Adam ground out. ‘If it wasn’t for Tracy’s love I would have thrashed hell out of the bastard before now!’
She could see that. And he would extract extreme pleasure from doing so.
‘As it is,’ he continued, scowling, ‘I shield her from his behaviour as much as possible. It isn’t always easy. And as for his job as my advertising manager—all his work will be done behind a desk in future,’ he stated in a flat voice.
Natalie was surprised that Jason Dillman dared defy this man, although the leverage of his young sister’s happiness was enough to keep Adam Thornton’s actions to a minimum. She was ashamed that her own sister should be involved in this sordid affair. If Adam Thornton should find out that Judith was her sister… Heavens, she would hate all of his savage anger to be turned on her! And if Judith had any sense she would be wary of him too. But her sister had always lived by the dictates of her heart and not her head.
Adam Thornton’s chauffeur drove them back to her office, where Adam got out of the car with her, although he didn’t go up to the office with her. ‘Think about the new contract,’ he encouraged huskily. ‘I’ll be in touch.’
‘Er—when?’ Natalie delayed him getting back into the car.
He turned back to her, his harsh mouth twisted into a smile. ‘It will be soon,’ he said gruffly, his hands coming up to frame her face. ‘Very soon,’ his lips briefly claimed hers. ‘Are you seeing your friend Lester this evening?’ he asked softly.
She was very conscious of the stone-faced chauffeur standing beside the open back door of the car, her embarrassed gaze flickering over him and then back to Adam. ‘Yes,’ she answered shakily, knowing she couldn’t become involved with this man.
‘Pity.’ He released her abruptly. ‘I’ll call you, Natalie. And this time I think you should be in.’
She stiffened at his warning tone. ‘I’ll try,’ she told him coolly.
He smiled, a hard, humourless smile. ‘You’ll do more than try.’ He nodded abruptly before climbing back into the car, not looking at her again.
Natalie turned to make her way slowly up to her office. Through lunch she had managed to convince herself she had imagined that instantaneous and fiery reaction to Adam Thornton’s kisses, but this last brief time in his arms had convinced her that she hadn’t imagined anything. She didn’t even like the man, even if she could respect him as a businessman, and the way she had responded to him frightened her a little. Adam Thornton was a man to beware of, for more reasons than one.
‘I’ve been married three years, and he had the same effect on me!’ Dee teased.
She looked up, her smile rueful as she realised she had been so deep in thought she had been going to walk straight into her office without even saying hello. ‘Sorry,’ she grimaced. ‘And he is a little—overwhelming.’
‘A little?’ Dee raised her eyes to the ceiling. ‘He’s beautiful. I wonder what he looks like without his clothes?’ she mused.
‘Dee!’
‘I know, I know,’ the other woman smiled. ‘We women aren’t supposed to think of such things. But we do, don’t we?’
‘I—’
‘Don’t we, Natalie?’ Dee’s mouth quirked with humour.
Delicate colour ebbed into Natalie’s cheeks at the thought of that virilely handsome man naked beside her. Dee was only putting into words what she had been imagining, nevertheless she still found it embarrassing to realise she had had such thoughts—and about a man she hardly knew. She had been seeing Lester for months, and not once had she had such thoughts about him.
‘You may as well go to lunch now, Dee.’ She didn’t answer the other woman. ‘And give Tom my love.’
‘I will.’ Dee stood up. ‘Maybe you can give Mr Thornton mine the next time you see him,’ she added mischievously.
‘I have no idea when that will be,’ Natalie returned stiffly. ‘Did you talk to Lester for me?’ she changed the subject.
Dee nodded. ‘He said not to telephone this afternoon because he won’t be in the office, that he’ll call for you at eight-thirty.’
‘Thanks.’ Natalie bit back her irritation, and went through to her own office to deal with the calls that had come in for her while she had been out. She hadn’t wanted to see Lester tonight, in fact after their conversation last night when she had realised he had her in mind for the possible role of a loving housewife and mother she wasn’t sure she wanted to see him again. She had enjoyed being with him, but marriage was definitely out. Her mother might consider that at twenty-five she was on the shelf, but as far as she was concerned she had plenty of time yet to get married and settle down to wedded bliss! It had taken her long enough to get the agency established, she certainly wasn’t going to give it up now, and certainly not for Lester. She liked him, but she couldn’t love him.
The agency, and she, were on their way to the top if Adam Thornton chose his Fantasy Girl from one of her models. If, that was the question. If Judith ruined this with her stupid affair with Jason Dillman she would—would what? Judith was her sister, and family loyalty had to count for more than the agency.
* * *
Lester was his usual thoughtful self that evening, and yet Natalie parried his unusually passionate goodnight kiss with a light laugh.
‘I missed you at lunch today,’ he groaned against her throat. ‘I had something important I wanted to discuss with you.’
Natalie stiffened, moving easily out of his arms, standing up, very beautiful in the lamplight, her green dress clinging to her. ‘I have something I want to tell you about too.’
‘You do?’ His expression brightened; his jacket was discarded, his shirt partly unbuttoned down his chest.
The two of them had been out to dinner, and had returned to Natalie’s flat for coffee. They had finished drinking the coffee ten minutes ago, and now she wanted to avoid any possibility of personal conversation between them. She intended finishing this her own way, the way she usually did, by always being too busy to see Lester when he called. After a couple of weeks of this avoidance he would realise she had no intention of seeing him ever again. Cowardly, but effective.
‘I saw Adam Thornton again today.’ She spoke of the first thing that came into her mind, and then wished she hadn’t. Adam Thornton was a subject she wanted to avoid.
Lester looked irritated by the mention of him too, obviously wanting to talk about something else entirely, like their future together.
Natalie shuddered. ‘He’s pleased with the work we’ve done so far,’ she told Lester brightly. ‘He’s even hinted that he might give us another important contract.’
‘Very nice,’ Lester said uninterestedly. ‘Natalie, I really—’
‘Don’t you think it’s wonderful?’ she continued determinedly. ‘I can hardly believe my luck!’
‘Yes. But, Natalie—’
‘I have such a busy day tomorrow, Lester,’ she feigned a yawn, ‘I really must get some rest now.’
‘But—’
‘Please, Lester,’ she smiled at him sleepily. ‘We can talk another time.’
He stood up to impatiently pull on his jacket, not pleased with the abrupt end she was giving the evening, but too polite to push the matter. ‘Tomorrow at lunch,’ he told her firmly.
‘Er—not tomorrow.’ She edged him towards the door. ‘I’ll have a lot to do the next few days. I’ll call you when I’m free, shall I?’
‘But—’
‘Yes, I’ll call you, Lester.’ She held the door open pointedly.
‘Very well,’ he snapped, kissing her briefly on the mouth. ‘But I really do have to talk to you, Natalie.’
‘Of course.’ She smiled at him brightly as she stood in the doorway while he st
epped into the lift, going back inside her flat as soon as the lift doors had closed.
She sank down wearily in a chair, ashamed of the way she had opted out of telling Lester she didn’t want to see him again. Judith would certainly never have hesitated.
Judith. She knew she would have to talk to her sister again about Jason Dillman. And she wasn’t looking forward to the conversation.
Contacting her sister was something else completely. Judith didn’t appear to be at her flat the next morning, and as she didn’t come into the office Natalie knew she would have to leave it until tonight when, she hoped, Judith would have returned home.
In the meantime she had other models to deal with, other clients, and her morning was kept fully occupied. There was no call from Adam Thornton, and she knew he was going to make her wait on his decision concerning Fantasy Girl. But she would be prepared for him when he did contact her; she already had three of her models in mind. Fantasy Girl should be someone dramatic, the epitome of every man and woman’s fantasy, a woman that men ached to take to bed, a woman other women longed to look like. Most men were supposed to prefer blondes, and yet Natalie knew that it was usually blondes that other women tended to be wary of—a fallacy, but she believed it to be very widely accepted as fact. Therefore, Fantasy Girl should be dark, beautifully, exotically dark, with the sort of complexion that should take the dramatic make-up T.C.B.A. were aiming for. Three of her girls could fit that description, and she had prepared a file on them for when Adam Thornton did contact her. When…
Once again she had no warning of his arrival. The door suddenly slammed open, and if anything Adam Thornton looked even more angry than he had yesterday. What had she done this time?
Dee gave a worried grimace behind his back, as she pulled the door closed. Adam’s anger seemed to fill the room.
Natalie looked up at him nervously, totally intimidated, wondering when he was going to speak. He seemed too angry to be able to say anything, the fierceness of his expression silencing her own words in her throat.
Suddenly he moved, coming round the desk to pull her roughly to her feet, his fingers biting into her arms through the white and candy-pink striped dress she wore, a dangerous glitter to his narrowed blue eyes, his mouth twisting savagely before it ground down on hers.
Fantasy Girl Page 5