Megan blushed fiery red. ‘Are you suggesting—are you asking me to be your mistress?’
‘This is the time of equality; mistress sounds too subservient.’ His gaze was warm on her. ‘And subservience is the last thing I want from you.’
‘When did you—when did you decide to have an affair with me?’ She was dazed by his audacity.
‘When I realised that it was jealousy that was making me so angry with you,’ he admitted ruefully.
‘Jealousy …?’
‘Yes,’ he smiled. ‘Pretty basic stuff, but enough to tell me I want you in my bed.’
Jealousy should have implied love, but to this man it only showed a need to possess for himself. ‘And how will we conduct this affair? Book into some seedy hotel for the night when you get the urge to take me?’ Megan’s tone was bitter.
‘Where do you usually go to bed with your men? Oh, of course, you had a room at the hospital,’ he answered his own question. ‘Very convenient for you.’
‘Very,’ she replied through stiff lips. ‘Except that men weren’t allowed into the nurses’ home.’
‘I doubt that ever stopped them. Look, I have to go now, we’ll sort out the details when I get back. But we aren’t going to meet in a hotel,’ he added firmly. ‘Seedy or otherwise.’
‘I don’t—’ Someone was trying to open the door! Megan panicked, looking to Jerome for help. ‘What shall we do?’ she asked desperately.
‘Let them in, of course,’ he said calmly. ‘It’s probably Stella. I said we would leave about ten, and it’s that now.’
‘But I—lord, I must look a mess!’ She made an effort to tidy her hair.
‘Stop panicking,’ Jerome ceased her movements. ‘You look beautiful, very kissed and desirable.’
‘That’s the last thing I want to look! I don’t want Miss Mitchell to know that we—’
‘She already knows, Megan. Don’t look like that,’ he soothed. ‘She isn’t likely to scratch your eyes out. I had to give her some excuse for not sharing her bed this visit. Unlike you, I find it difficult to sleep with one person while desiring another. In fact, I find it impossible.’
‘Unlike me—?’ she echoed.
‘You and I have wanted each other since the first day we met, and yet you’ve still been seeing other men. That can all stop when I get back, I like to know I have exclusive rights during the time of my interest.’
‘You—’
‘Rome?’ Stella Mitchell’s voice queried, and the doorhandle rattled again. ‘Rome, are you in there?’
He put Megan firmly to one side and opened the door. ‘Come in, Stella. Megan and I were just discussing my return. Are you ready to leave?’ he looked at the redhaired woman enquiringly.
Stella looked from one to the other of them, obviously noting Megan’s flushed face and Jerome’s warm gaze on that bent blonde head. ‘Yes, I’m ready,’ she said brightly.
‘I just have to see Jeff before we leave. Wait for me here,’ he instructed.
‘Oh, but—’ Megan’s plea for help went unheeded. She looked almost guiltily at Stella Mitchell, although what she had to feel guilty about she didn’t know. Jerome Towers should be the one to feel guilty for suggesting such an idea to her. ‘I—I didn’t realise you were going back to London today,’ she said awkwardly to the other woman, wondering exactly what Jerome had told her.
Stella looked as coolly beautiful as usual, the green of her woollen suit exactly matching her eyes. ‘It was all rather sudden,’ she acknowledged. ‘I’m sure you know why.’
‘I—Why, no, I—’
‘It’s all right, Megan,’ Stella smiled. ‘I’ve always known I was a replaceable commodity in Rome’s life. I’ve done well to last this long.’
Megan frowned. ‘But don’t you mind? I would hate it,’ she shuddered.
‘We made no ties on each other. When I met Rome I was just getting over a very nasty divorce, and his undemanding relationship, emotionally, was just what I needed. Now I think maybe I’m ready to fall in love again.’
‘But not with Rome?’
She shook her head. ‘He wouldn’t thank me for it. It’s something he doesn’t have time for. I believe I lasted this long because he knew there was no danger of my falling in love with him. Most of his women do, you know, and then they’re instantly out of his life.’ Her expression softened sympathetically. ‘Don’t let him know you love him, Megan. Love is a tie he won’t accept.’
Megan was very pale. ‘You know I love him?’
‘Oh yes. I don’t think he’s realised yet, so make the most of him before he does find out. He’s a considerate lover, Megan, completely unselfish. My husband was the opposite, that’s why being with Rome has been so wonderful.’
‘Are you sure you don’t love him?’ Megan probed. ‘You sound as if you do.’
Stella flushed. ‘Well … maybe a little. I’ll always love him, but I’m not in love with him. I could have been, I’m not denying that, but Rome never gave any indication of feeling that way about me, and when love isn’t returned it soon dies. Love has to be nurtured, encouraged, and I never got any of that from Rome. He’s cut me out of the intimate side of his life now, but we’ll remain friends. Will you mind that? I can assure you he’ll never sleep with me again.’
‘I’m not going to have an affair with him, Miss Mitchell,’ Megan said tautly. ‘Miss Mitchell?’ she queried in a puzzled voice.
Stella shrugged. ‘My maiden name. When my husband and I divorced I didn’t want anything that reminded me of him, including his name.’
‘I see. Well, I’m not going to have an affair with Rome, no matter what he may think to the contrary.’
Stella gave her a probing look. ‘When Rome has that look of determination in his eyes there’s no one who can stop him getting what he wants, and he wants you.’
‘He isn’t getting me!’ Megan said fiercely.
Stella laughed, a laugh of complete enjoyment. ‘I wish I could stay around and watch the battle of wills. It looks as if it could prove quite entertaining.’
‘There won’t be a battle,’ she denied. ‘I shall just tell him no.’
‘And you think he’ll just accept that?’ Stella shook her head pityingly. ‘Rome’s never heard of the word no.’
‘He’ll hear it from me!’
Stella eyed her teasingly. ‘Did you say no to him just now?’
Megan flushed. ‘Well … I—’
‘Lethal, isn’t he?’ Stella laughed. ‘I like you, Megan. Make Rome happy,’ she added softly. ‘He deserves to be, he’s the kindest man I’ve ever known.’
‘I’ve never found him in the least kind!’
‘He will be. At the moment he finds it difficult to even be in the same room with you. I knew what was happening the first time I saw the two of you together, sparks seem to fly every time you meet.’
‘Yes,’ Megan admitted huskily.
‘You’re going to lose, Megan,’ the other woman told her gently. ‘Better to give in gracefully.’
‘Never!’
Jerome appeared in the open doorway, his eyes narrowed as he looked at them both. ‘All right?’ he asked generally.
At that moment Megan realised that Jerome had deliberately left her alone with Stella, had wanted to prove to her that the other woman bore no grudge. Would she be subjected to the same humiliation when he decided to replace her in a few months’ time? She could never be so complacent about losing Jerome as Stella was being, would indeed want to ‘scratch the eyes out’ of any replacement he had for her.
Stella gave him a warm smile. ‘Yes, fine. I’ll wait outside in the car, shall I?’
‘Thanks, Stella.’ Jerome was watching Megan closely. ‘Having second thoughts?’ he asked softly once they were alone.
‘I didn’t think I’d had first ones,’ she said resentfully.
‘I had enough for both of us,’ he smiled. ‘Most of them erotic.’
‘Rome, I—Jerome,’ she corrected firmly. ‘You
can’t be serious about this?’
‘Don’t be absurd,’ he said tersely. ‘You know damn well I’m serious. We’re both adults, Megan, and I’m too old to play childish games. I want you, you want me, so we take the logical course to satisfy both of us.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘You don’t like the fact that I object to your other men, is that it? I won’t share, Megan, it isn’t in my nature.’
‘It isn’t that,’ she said indignantly. ‘Do you realise that Stella is perfectly happy to just fade out of your life?’
‘We made no promises to each other,’ he accepted arrogantly.
‘And I suppose you would expect me to accept my dismissal as quietly as that?’ Her eyes flashed with temper. ‘When you’re tired of me, of course.’
Jerome gave a husky laugh. ‘I wouldn’t expect you to accept anything. It’s your fiery nature that attracted me in the first place. We’ll deal with the severing of our relationship when the time comes, if it comes.’ He kissed her softly on the lips, reluctantly moving away from her. ‘I’ll call you from London. Maybe you could even join me at the weekend?’
‘But won’t you be back by then?’
‘I doubt it.’ He picked up his briefcase, now the epitome of the English businessman. ‘There’s been a strike called at one of my factories. It’s better if I deal with the situation myself, and these disputes have been known to last weeks. Will you come up to London if I make the arrangements?’
‘To start our affair?’ she queried bitterly.
He shrugged, obviously impatient to leave. ‘Is there any point in our waiting?’
‘Yes, there’s a point! I have no intention—’
‘I have to go now, Megan,’ he gave a hurried glance at the plain gold watch on his wrist. ‘I’ll call you.’ This time his kiss was hard before he quickly left the house.
Megan’s protest about there not going to be an affair had been ignored by Jerome. She was left with the feeling of having been swept off her feet, of being cornered into a relationship she had no intention of entering. She didn’t have affairs, had never had an affair, and the fact that she loved Jerome did not make this an exception.
As she walked into the yard of their farm later that evening she saw their tractor had been returned and the nice shiny new model they had borrowed from The Towers had been taken back.
‘No Brian?’ she asked her mother as she sat down for her meal.
‘Been and gone.’ Her mother joined her at the table, only a cup of tea in front of her. ‘I ate with him, I hope you don’t mind.’
‘No, I don’t mind. Where’s he gone?’
‘Back to work.’ Her mother shrugged. ‘There’s still a few hours daylight left yet.’
‘Did Paul go with him?’ she asked casually.
‘Yes. He’s a good boy, is Paul. You told him, didn’t you?’ her mother probed gently.
Megan sighed. ‘I had to, Mum. He started talking about weddings, where we would live afterwards. He had even asked Jeff Robbins if there would be a cottage vacant on the estate for us.’
‘And was there?’
‘No, thank goodness!’ I let him down gently, as you said I should, but he still seemed to take it hard.’ In fact he had slammed out of the house shortly after nine o’clock, and she hadn’t heard from him since.
‘He’ll get over it. It’s you I’m worried about,’ her mother frowned her concern.
‘Me?’ Megan looked genuinely surprised. ‘Why on earth are you worried about me?’
‘I don’t like you working at The Towers.’
‘But I thought we’d all agreed that it wouldn’t matter for six months?’
‘It isn’t the work I object to.’ Her mother looked uncomfortable, her expression prim. ‘I don’t like the way he looks at you,’ she said in a rush. ‘It isn’t decent.’
Megan flushed and bit her lip. ‘And how does he look at me?’ So even though she hadn’t noticed Jerome’s interest, her mother had!
‘You know …’ her mother said coyly.
‘No,’ Megan denied with feigned innocence.
‘He—well, he—It just isn’t right, Megan.’ Her mother was becoming flustered now. ‘If Mr Towers should see him—’
‘Mr Towers?’ Megan echoed sharply. ‘Who are we talking about? I thought you meant—’
‘Certainly not Mr Towers!’ her mother was scandalised at the suggestion. ‘He’s a gentleman, not like that brother of his.’
‘Oh, Roddy.’ Megan sighed understanding. ‘Yes, he’s far from being a gentleman.’ And so was Jerome when it came to getting a woman he desired!
‘The way he looks at you,’ her mother shuddered. ‘It’s disgusting!’
‘I’m not interested in him, Mum, so you have nothing to fear.’
‘With his sort they don’t need any encouragement!’
Megan laughed as naturally as she could, glad that someone else could sense the danger in Roddy. ‘Go and get ready for your meeting this evening. The treasurer of the Women’s Institute shouldn’t be late,’ she teased.
‘You just watch out for that Roddy Meyers,’ her mother advised, standing up. ‘I don’t trust him.’
Neither did Megan. She hadn’t seen him all day and had wondered, had hoped, that perhaps he had gone back to London too. When he rang for his tea at four-thirty she realised he hadn’t, and although she got Connie to take the tray through, unwilling to see him herself, Connie had come back with a high colour on her cheeks, and Megan had drawn her own conclusions.
‘How’s it going?’ she asked Brian later that evening, relieved that he had returned alone. Another scene with Paul was the last thing she needed at the moment.
He shrugged. ‘Bit soon to tell. Although we’re certainly getting the work done with the two of us at it.’
‘I see we have our tractor back.’
Brian grimaced. ‘For what it’s worth.’
‘Did it cost much to repair?’
‘Not too bad,’ he shrugged.
Megan looked at him closely. ‘But we had enough money to pay for it?’
‘Here’s the bill,’ he handed it to her. ‘You can see it has “paid” stamped across it. I’m just going up to wash and change before going over to see Joyce.’
‘But, Brian—’ Too late, he had already disappeared up the stairs.
Megan frowned over the amount the repair work had cost. She was sure they didn’t have this sort of money. So if they hadn’t paid it, who had? The answer wasn’t a pleasant one.
‘Brian,’ she stopped him as he would have dashed out of the house, ‘did Mr Towers pay this bill?’ She still held it in her hand.
‘How could he?’ he evaded. ‘He’s in London today.’
‘Yes, but we don’t have as much money as this, I know that. If Mr Towers didn’t pay for it himself then he arranged to have it paid. Am I right?’ she persisted.
Her brother sighed. ‘Completely,’ he admitted.
‘Oh, Brian!’ she groaned. ‘I don’t like being in debt to him.’ It put her under too much of an obligation to him herself, and in the circumstances that wasn’t a good thing!
‘I didn’t have any other way of paying it, Megan.’ His voice was almost pleading. ‘Mr Towers offered and … I’m going to pay him back as soon as, I get the money together.’
‘And when will that be?’
‘I have no idea,’ he answered truthfully. ‘But he doesn’t mind waiting for it.’
‘I’m sure he doesn’t. We owe him too much already, Brian. It isn’t good to owe so much to one man.’
‘He isn’t going to suddenly demand his money back, Megan,’ Brian scorned. ‘He won’t even miss those few paltry pounds. I must go now, I’ll see you later.’
Megan stared moodily into the fire once her brother had gone. Jerome might not ask for his money back, but he could ask for his pound of flesh—her flesh! She couldn’t possibly refuse him when they owed him so much. There was a loud hammering on the door later that evening, and Megan rose half asleep fro
m her chair to answer it.
Roddy Meyers pushed his way past her into the house. ‘Are you alone?’ he growled.
She didn’t like his mood, and wished she could say someone was with her. ‘I—er—’
‘Are you?’ His fingers bit painfully into her arm.
‘Yes!’ She winced from the pain he was causing.
‘Good, then we can talk without interruption.’ He strode into the lounge.
Megan followed him, switching on the main light and so alleviating the shadowed intimacy of the room. ‘What do you mean by bursting in here like this?’ she demanded to know. ‘I don’t want you here. I want you to leave,’ and she held the door open as if to prove her point.
Roddy ignored her, his eyes narrowed with anger. ‘You couldn’t leave it alone, could you?’ he scowled. ‘You had to interfere!’
Megan frowned her puzzlement. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I mean Patsy,’ he snapped. ‘She’s just told me that she doesn’t want to see me any more, that she and her husband are moving back to their own home.’
‘Good for Patsy!’ Megan smiled her pleasure.
‘Why did you interfere?’ Roddy demanded. ‘Was it because you were jealous?’
‘Jealous? Of what?’
‘Of her. Would you rather it was you who went out with me?’
She gave an incredulous laugh. ‘Certainly not!’
Roddy went white with rage. ‘Then why did you break Patsy and me up?’
‘For her sake, not yours.’
‘Then you can damn well pay for your interference!’ he told her furiously.
She could tell he meant it, knew that it wasn’t just an idle threat. Roddy didn’t make idle threats, he was a very dangerous man. ‘How?’ she asked warily.
‘Use your imagination, Megan,’ he taunted. ‘Things were progressing very nicely with Patsy. You put an end to that, so now you can take her place.’
‘I can—?’ she gasped. ‘Roddy, I think you’re slightly mad! I have no intention of seeing you any more than I have to.’
‘Now that’s a shame, because I have every intention of seeing you.’
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