A Physical Affair

by Lynsey Stevens

  Sounded fairly typical, she reflected, pushing aside the thought that she was prejudging a situation when she’d only heard one side of it, one biased side at that. From Daniel.

  ‘Here we are. The family shack.’ Daniel drew up in front of the majestic home.

  ‘Shack, Daniel?’ Keira gave a laugh. ‘By no stretch of the imagination could you call this a shack. You could lose someone in there and not find them for days.’

  ‘Too true. And the only good thing about it, as far as I was concerned when I was a kid.’ Daniel grinned as he lifted their bags out of the boot and handed them to the man who came down the steps to meet them. “This is Mrs Strong, Burton. Perhaps you could put her in the front green room, down the hall from me.’

  Keira felt herself flush and busied herself slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder. She could throttle Daniel. What must the man be thinking?

  ‘If you’ll come this way, madam.’ The butler led the way up the steps into the marble-tiled foyer. Moving to his left, he pressed a button for what turned out to be a lift.

  Keira raised her eyebrows and Daniel smiled.

  ‘All mod cons, as they say. There are three floors, four counting the attics. If we didn’t have the lift we’d spend all our time commuting from one level of the house to the other.’

  They moved silently upwards and Daniel rolled his eyes at Keira. ‘Is my uncle home?’ he asked the butler’s straight back as they stepped into the second floor hallway.

  ‘We’re expecting him within the hour.’ The butler opened a door and motioned Keira to enter. ‘I hope you’ll be comfortable here, Mrs Strong. The intercom is just there by the door. If you require anything, please push this button and it will connect you with the staff.’

  “Thank you.’ Keira acknowledged, and when the butler had excused himself she gazed around her in admiration.

  ‘Well? What’s the verdict?’ Daniel closed the door and leant back against it.

  ‘Need you ask? It’s divine.’ The room was huge, finished in greens and metallic gold. She crossed to the open double doors and stepped out on to her own small balcony.

  The grounds of the Cassidy estate swept below her, exquisitely landscaped with trimmed green lawns, clipped hedges, native bushes and colourful flower-filled garden beds. The white curving drive ended at the security gates in the high wall that enclosed the extensive property.

  ‘What a fabulous view. I didn’t realise the house was positioned so much higher than the surrounding area.’ Keira half turned as Daniel joined her, casually resting his arm about her shoulders.

  ‘Just think, my dear Keira, this could all be yours.’ Daniel leered at her and twirled an imaginary moustache. ‘Just say the word.’

  ‘Quit while you’re ahead, Daniel,’ Keira admonished him. ‘Because I still haven’t forgiven you for that throwaway line in front of poor Burton. I dread even to surmise what he’s thinking.’

  ‘Burton wouldn’t think of thinking anything. You know, you look beautiful when you put on that schoolmarmy face.’ And before Keira could move, and she was restricted by the small confines of the balcony, Daniel had planted a quick kiss on her lips.

  She stiffened, her hands sliding up to push him away. But it wasn’t necessary for he had already drawn back, his eyes alight with amusement.

  ‘Gotcha!’ he said teasingly, his hand now resting lightly on her waist.

  As kisses went it was just a brotherly peck, but Keira frowned at him. ‘Look, Daniel—’

  He held up his other hand. ‘Sorry, Keira. The devil made me do it. I wasn’t coming on to you. Honestly. It was just a thank you for coming.”

  Keira shook her head at his boyish grin. ‘Once more. Just once more, Daniel Cassidy, and party or no party, I’m out of here. And I mean it.’

  ‘Well, if you weren’t so irresistibly attractive—’

  Daniel began, only to break off as a car door slammed below them.

  They both turned to look over the balcony rail, Daniel’s arm still resting about Keira’s waist.

  A sleek, indigo-blue Jaguar squatted sedately below, a dark splash on the white pebbled drive, and Burton was removing a suitcase from the open boot.

  But Keira barely noticed him. Her attention was fixed on the tall dark-haired man who stood, hand on the open car door, looking up at them.

  Eden Cassidy in the flesh. And he wasn’t smiling.

  Keira’s eyes locked with the sparkling dark brilliance of his, and even with the distance separating her from him she saw his lips tighten. His gaze narrowed, went from Keira to his nephew, and back to Keira. And he quite obviously wasn’t pleased with what he saw.

  It was only as Daniel’s uncle moved towards the steps that Keira realised he hadn’t been alone in the dark Jaguar XJS.

  The woman who had climbed from the car to join him was almost as tall as he was, Keira judged. Her straight tailored skirt and contrasting emerald-green blouse clung to her willowy figure as though they had been cut to fit her personally. And they probably had, Keira decided. She had a matching jacket folded over her arm and she carried a leather briefcase which she refused to trust to the butler.

  Unconsciously Keira was leaning slightly over the balcony as she watched the couple below disappear into the house. Daniel’s voice in her ear brought her to the realisation with a jolt, and her hand went to clasp the balcony rail for instinctive support.

  ‘That was my uncle,’ Daniel said unnecessarily, and Keira bit off an angry retort.

  She drew a deep breath. ‘I know. And your little display must have been perfectly timed.’ She swept past him into the bedroom and swung to face him as he followed her. ‘How could you, Daniel?’

  ‘How could I what?’ he appealed.

  ‘How could I what?’ Keira mimicked him mercilessly. ‘Don’t act so innocent. Playact that intimate little scene out there, that’s what. How could you embarrass me like that?’

  ‘Playact?’ Daniel repeated, all wounded affront. ‘You think I only kissed you because I saw my uncle coming up the driveway?’

  Keira’s expression was reply enough.

  ‘It doesn’t appear to have occurred to you that I might have kissed you because I wanted to, because you looked so bloody attractive I was overcome by my emotions.’

  ‘You’re treading on very thin ice, Daniel,’ Keira enunciated succinctly. ‘This is not the time to clomp about in hob-nailed boots, believe me.’

  Daniel’s lips quirked a moment before his laughter slipped out. ‘Hob-nailed boots? Heaven forbid. Far too heavy-handed. Subtlety’s my middle name.’

  ‘Daniel, if I thought you set this up—’

  ‘I didn’t stage it, Keira, I swear,’ he said earnestly. ‘Not that I wouldn’t have if I’d thought of it.’

  ‘Oh, Daniel, I’m absolutely livid with you. Can’t you see how it would have looked, how…?’ Keira shook her head and put some space between them.

  ‘He probably didn’t even notice us anyway,’ Daniel contended easily, and Keira let out a breath in disbelief. “Trust me, when he’s in the car Eden spends most of his time on the phone or with his head stuck in his papers. Megan drives. Didn’t you notice Megan was at the wheel?’

  ‘Megan?’ Keira queried.

  ‘Mmm. Megan Donnelly. Eden’s secretary, for want of a better word.’ Daniel laughed shortly. ‘Or Girl Friday, his right arm, his assistant, whatever you like to call her as long as it has to do with “indispensable". And I suspect she sees to more than just driving and ordering stationery.’

  Keira flushed slightly at his implication, a small frown shadowing her brow. So what if Eden Cassidy and the cool-looking Megan Donnelly had more than a business relationship? The man couldn’t work twenty-four hours a day, could he? Although rumour had it that he did. And apart from anything else, it was hardly her business.

  No, Keira thought, it had nothing to do with her what Eden Cassidy did with his time. She forced her speculation from her mind, realising Daniel had expertly turned he
r attention from their previous altercation.

  ‘Although—‘ Daniel held up his hand ‘—I have

  often wondered if Eden’s friend, Kyle Ferguson, hasn’t lived in hope of Megan’s attention all these years. But she’s usually with Eden.’

  ‘Look, Daniel. You know I agreed to this weekend, against my better judgement, but as a favour to you, on the understanding that it was purely platonic. I expected you to keep your part of the bargain.’

  Daniel shrugged. ‘OK. I’m sorry, Keira. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.’

  Keira sighed, reflecting that Daniel was going to match his acclaimed uncle in the manipulative stakes, if even half of the reports she’d heard about Eden Cassidy were true.

  ‘Let’s start from scratch,’ Daniel suggested, and glanced at his wristwatch. ‘There’s time for a quick game of tennis before lunch. How about it?’

  ‘What about your uncle. Shouldn’t you—well, go down and—’

  ‘He knows I’m here,’ Daniel said off-handedly. ‘He’s probably holed up in his study anyhow.’

  ‘On Saturday? I mean, on Saturday at home?’ Surely the man switched off some time.

  ‘Saturday. Sunday. Here or in the city office. He’s at the controls every day.’ Daniel shrugged. ‘Even in the middle of the night. The man never seems to sleep. So, did you bring your tennis gear?’

  Keira nodded.

  ‘Then I’ll meet you down in the library in five minutes,’ Daniel challenged.

  ‘Make it ten minutes, and where exactly is the library?’ Keira asked him resignedly.

  ‘Just step out of the lift, turn left through the foyer into the main hall and it’s the first door on the left. It looks out over the front of the house. Ten minutes, all right?’ Daniel gave her a grin and left her.

  In less than the stipulated time she had walked out of the lift and through into the hall. Her step had faltered as she gazed open-mouthed at the magnificence of the marble floors, the elegance of the decor, the huge curved staircase that rose to the balcony above. The artwork on the walls must be worth a fortune, she mused as she crossed the floor, only just overcoming a reflex urge to tiptoe.

  The library door was open and she put a tentative foot inside, feeling just a little as though she’d stepped on to the movie set of a big budget soapie.

  The room was also huge, and between the dark wooden bookcases that lined all four walls were hung four large paintings. One, Keira saw, was of Daniel, another two of Daniel’s grandfathers, obviously painted when Samuel Ford and William Cassidy were little more than Daniel’s age.

  But it was the fourth portrait, hanging above the large fireplace which was set into the outside wall, that drew her attention. And here she now stood with Eden Cassidy’s likeness gazing down at her with that same cold regard she’d experienced from the balcony a short time before.

  Yes, what an auspicious start she’d made to the weekend, Keira reflected, unable to break that compelling regard. Eden Cassidy quite probably had completely the wrong idea about her relationship with his nephew. If he cared, that was. He surely didn’t seem to show much interest in Daniel.

  ‘What do you think of it?’ Daniel’s voice coming from behind her made Keira jump. He wore white shorts and an aqua shirt and carried his tennis racket. ‘Pretty impressive, isn’t he?’

  ‘I was going to say I could see the family resemblance but I don’t want to encourage you,’ she said drily as Daniel crossed the thick patterned carpet to stand beside her.

  ‘I didn’t think I needed any encouragement,’ Daniel quipped. ‘Did you see the one of me over there? I had to pose for that on my eighteenth birthday. What a drag that was.’

  ‘I thought you were more like your uncle,’ Keira reflected, ‘but now I see Sir Samuel’s portrait I’m not so sure.’

  ‘You thought I was like Eden?’ Daniel pulled a face and rested his hand on Keira’s shoulder. ‘I’m not a bit like him. I told you he was a computerised robot. He programmes himself every Monday morning for the week, and then off he goes, no distractions allowed to intrude.’

  ‘I think you’re exaggerating, Daniel. He must be incredibly busy when you consider the extent of Cassidy-Ford’s holdings.’

  ‘I kid you not, Keira. Eden’s a damn robot. He’s programmed for work and precious few of life’s necessities. Eat. Sleep. Shower.’ Tucking his tennis racket under his arm, Daniel marked off the points on the fingers of his free hand before returning it to rest on her shoulder. “And allowing for his age he probably even programmes himself for a few minutes’ roll in the hay once a month or so. Between overseas phone calls, that is.’

  Before Keira could remonstrate with Daniel, a sound behind them had them both spinning around to face the open door. Like a couple of children caught with their fingers in the cookie jar, Keira decided later.

  Eden Cassidy stood regarding them, his eyelashes shielding the expression in his eyes.

  Had he heard Daniel’s outrageous words? Of course he had, Keira knew. It was in the cold set of his jaw, the tension in his tall body. And he was, Keira had to acknowledge, even more compellingly attractive in real life.

  He moved slightly, his attention centring on his nephew. ‘There’s a call for you, Daniel. Take it in my office.’ Dark eyes seemed to settle on the spot where Daniel’s shoulder touched Keira’s, for Daniel had moved instinctively closer to her before his uncle spoke.

  Keira felt the tension in the younger man and knew his gaze was warring with his uncle’s.

  ‘Who is it?’ he asked, his voice, only faintly higher than normal, betraying his discomposure.

  Eden glanced pointedly at Keira and then shrugged one broad shoulder. ‘Does the name Cat mean anything to you?’

  Out of the corner of her eye Keira saw a slight flush colour Daniel’s cheeks, and he darted a quick look sideways at her before replying, ‘Oh. Yes. An old friend from school.’ He turned to Keira then. ‘Please excuse me for a moment, Keira. I won’t be long.’ Yet still he paused slightly before eventually crossing to the door.

  And leaving Keira to face his formidable uncle.

  The silence stretched between them until Keira was convinced it was echoing screamingly into the exquisite mouldings of the high ceiling of the library. Her throat had contracted and she craved a soothing glass of water.

  Eden Cassidy remained silent.

  He was doing it on purpose, Keira told herself, using one of his high-powered tactics on her. Well, he’d picked the wrong victim. She swallowed resolutely and forced her vocal cords to work.

  ‘How do you do, Mr Cassidy? I’m Keira Strong.’ Her voice sounded a little thin in her ears.

  ‘I know.’ He inclined his dark head. ‘I’m pleased to meet you at last.’

  Like hell he was. Keira’s chin rose unconsciously. Well, she could also play this social game.

  ‘Daniel was just showing me the family portraits,’ she began, indicating the artificially lit paintings on the walls about them.

  ‘Was he?’ There was no mistaking the obvious cynicism in his tone and Keira swallowed, determined he wasn’t going to disconcert her.

  ‘I was just telling Daniel,’ she continued as breezily as she could, ‘that he’s very much like his maternal grandfather.’ She stretched the truth. ‘Perhaps because they have the same colouring,’ she finished quickly before her voice gave out on her.

  Eden Cassidy made no comment and Keira rushed on into the unsettling silence. ‘He was telling me on the drive out here that your grandfather, William Cassidy, and Sir Samuel Ford went into partnership, bought a small publishing company and built it into the media giant it is today,’ Keira recited the well-known story and Eden Cassidy grimaced.

  ‘That they did. And no doubt Daniel filled you in on the more colourful tale of his grandfathers.’

  Keira shook her head, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

  ‘I’m surprised. Daniel enjoys relating the family legend of Sam Ford and William Cassidy both falling in love with
the same girl, Maryann Rogers, and that she eventually chose William. William and Maryann had two sons, Michael and myself, and eventually Sam married someone else and had a daughter, Chloe. Then my brother, Michael, married Chloe, thus producing Daniel. Romantic little story, isn’t it?’

  Keira smiled. ‘Sam must have been pleased when Daniel’s parents married.’

  ‘Almost as ecstatic as he was when Daniel was born.’ Eden gazed levelly at Keira before he straightened and took a couple of measured steps into the room.

  Keira had to call on all her self-control to maintain her position, to stand fast and not step back from him as she desperately wanted to do. Her senses shrieked, all signals blaring a warning, and she knew an almost over-whelming urge to flee.

  ‘Daniel’s the apple of Sam’s eye. He has—Sam and I both have—great hopes for Daniel,’ he remarked without inflection, his steady gaze still impaling her.

  His eyes were blue, she saw with surprise, not the black she’d imagined from the height of the balcony, and they held a cold intensity that made her shiver. She moved slightly to disguise the tremor that tingled along her spine as his gaze flicked swiftly over her.

  I’m surprised we haven’t met before, Mrs Strong,’ he said now, his tone belying the casual words, and his change of topic threw Keira more off balance. ‘You’ve been working for Cassidy-Ford Publishing for five or six years I believe.’

  ‘Five years.’ Keira felt rather like a student standing before a tyrannical headmaster. It would seem he didn’t remember his gigantic company taking over their small publication. ‘But then Chloe magazine, although quite successful in its own right, is but a small facet of the overall corporation,’ she added quickly, hoping the hands holding her tennis racket weren’t revealing her nervousness.

  He inclined his head again. ‘But it’s most definitely a success. Becoming more so, according to statistics. Due largely to you, so I’m advised.’