‘Will we be dining on our own?’ she asked casually as she added crisp lettuce and celery to her plate.
‘Probably. You’ll have me all to yourself.’ He shrugged easily when Keira gave him a warning look. ‘My grandfather’s having a light snack in his room. He’s decided to rest before the party, which is pretty sensible of him. And Eden never sits down to lunch, he eats on the run.’
Daniel spooned potato salad on to his already overflowing plate.
‘Eden can’t leave his trusty fax machine,’ he continued. ‘In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised if my uncle and his fax were joined at the hip. It would probably take major surgery to separate them.’
‘Your suspicions are unfounded, Daniel. There’s nary a scar,’ said a deep voice from the doorway, causing Daniel and Keira to start guiltily. ‘I trust you have no objections if I join you both for lunch.’
Keira glanced sideways at Daniel to see his eyes widen as they took in his uncle’s relaxed figure as he leaned casually against the door-jamb, strong arms folded.
Eden Cassidy had changed from his formal suit into a pair of grey tailored trousers and a short-sleeved white knit shirt that fitted his muscular body to perfection.
‘I know.’ The younger man recovered quickly from his surprise. ‘Megan’s manning the phones and faxes,’ he suggested easily, and his uncle’s lips quirked as he stepped out on to the patio.
‘Not the way you mean, Daniel. Megan has a couple of personal calls to make. She’ll join us in a while.’ Eden crossed to the side table and began helping himself to some food.
Before Daniel roused himself to seat her Keira moved on slightly unsteady legs to sit down at the table.
In a formal suit Eden Cassidy’s attraction had had a rather remote quality about it. But dressed as he was now, his tanned skin accentuated by the white of his shirt, well, Keira had to acknowledge she wasn’t unmoved by his compelling magnetism. He was as charismatic as he was reported to be.
A tiny frisson of sensation spiralled in the pit of her stomach and she swallowed to clear her suddenly dry throat. It had been years since a man, any man, had provoked just such a physical response in her, and she knew a shiver of startled trepidation. That it had to be this particular man who was responsible for her unexpected libidinous awareness had her heartbeats fluctuating as much with fear as that more undesirable emotion.
Daniel rushed to take the seat beside her and his uncle calmly slid on to the chair directly opposite her. Keira fancied she could feel the heat emanating from his body where their knees almost touched, and she rather doubted she’d be able to swallow any of the delicious food on her plate.
Her heartbeats continued to behave in a very erratic fashion and she couldn’t bring herself to meet what she knew would be coldly cynical blue eyes.
Resolutely she lifted a forkful of food to her mouth and it might have been ashes for all she tasted it. Her wayward senses seemed otherwise engaged. On Eden Cassidy.
Of their own accord her eyes slid from her plate to the white shirt moulding his midriff, moved to his muscular upper arms where the band of his shirt met smooth tanned skin.
Well-developed muscles and a tan. So he didn’t spend all his time running his empire, as his nephew had insisted he did.
Keira’s eyes rose to the dark V exposed by the open collar of his shirt and her nerve endings began tingling anew. How would it feel to move her lips over that smooth, inviting skin that stretched tautly across his throat, his chest?
Her fork paused on its way to her mouth and she hastily returned the untouched food to her plate. It would have been a mistake to put the food into her mouth. There was no way she could have swallowed anything just at that moment. Her throat had closed on the thunder of her heartbeats in her chest as they rose to all but choke her.
What could she be thinking about? Just a short time ago he had accused her of having an affair with his nephew and yet here she was, sizing up his attractions. And finding them almost irresistibly appealing.
Was she mad? She was completely shocked at her behaviour, behaviour that was so out of character for her. Men had held no interest for her and hadn’t since Dennis’s perfidiousness had opened her eyes to the fact that knights on white chargers weren’t necessarily as princely as they seemed.
This wasn’t the time to forget she’d made her choices years ago. All her energies were going into her career. And if, as she had been suspecting of late, she lacked the final drive to push her to the very top, then her achievements to date weren’t to be sneezed at. If life went on as it was now she’d be content.
And the very last thing she needed at the moment was a man to complicate things.
She shot another quick glance from beneath her lashes at Eden Cassidy. Especially a man as dangerous as he so obviously was. He had that blatant masculine magnetism that drew a woman’s attention, made her wonder impetuously what it would be like to tame such an animal, yet at the same time had her quivering with a heady apprehension at the peril involved in such an adventure.
Keira barely suppressed a self-derogatory laugh. She was getting fanciful in her old age. And foolish. Any woman who deluded herself into thinking she could bring this man to heel was simply asking for trouble of the capital letters variety.
‘Did you enjoy your game of tennis?’ Eden Cassidy’s deep voice broke in on Keira’s masochistic reflections and she blinked as she slowly brought her attention back to his words rather than the sound of his so seductive voice.
‘Tennis?’ she queried absently, and felt Daniel look at her sharply.
‘She should have,’ he put in quickly, and grimaced. ‘I would have enjoyed it more if I’d won.’
His uncle raised one dark brow in Keira’s direction. ‘So you outplayed my nephew, Mrs Strong?’ he remarked blandly enough, but the expression in his eyes embroidered his innocent observation.
‘Outplayed me? More like slaughtered me.’ Daniel grinned good-naturedly. ‘And the worst part about it is, I think she took it easy with me.’
‘I assure you, Daniel, I didn’t,’ Keira told him sincerely. ‘You were a very worthy opponent.’
‘Perhaps we could have a game some time,’ Eden put in, and Keira forced a smile.
‘Perhaps,’ she said just as casually. Not likely, Mr Top Gun Cassidy, she declared under her breath, her eyes meeting his. And she suspected he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Eden glanced at his wristwatch, the flash of gold gleaming in the filtered sunlight, once again drawing Keira’s attention to his strong, tanned hand. ‘Megan must have been held up. Daniel, could you go in and check with her? She may prefer Burton to take her something on a tray to have in the office.’
Daniel frowned slightly and glanced quickly from Eden to Keira before he stood up and did as he had been bidden. For once Keira wished Daniel had defied his uncle because now she was left alone with Eden Cassidy. Again.
‘Taking rather a chance, weren’t you?’ His deep voice made her start.
‘A chance?’ she repeated uncomprehendingly.
‘Of wounding Daniel’s fragile adolescent male ego by beating him on the court,’ he elaborated without intonation.
What a colossal chauvinist the man was. And how disparaging towards his nephew. Keira made herself take a mouthful of succulent ham before she replied with equal indifference.
‘I think once again you’ve underestimated your nephew, Mr Cassidy. Surprisingly, Daniel doesn’t have a problem with his self-image, which is quite amazing, considering…’ Although Keira didn’t complete the sentence the words hung as provocatively in the air as if she’d voiced them. Considering the fact he has a fatherfigure like you.
Eden set down his cutlery and sat back in his chair. ‘Considering?’ he prompted through narrowed eyelids.
So he was calling her bluff.
Keira shrugged. ‘Considering the pressures put on young people today,’ she finished levelly, and had to suppress a surge of exhilarating excitement.
If she were honest she’d have to admit part of her was enjoying this verbal sparring.
One corner of his mouth twisted in a faint wry smile, his eyes acknowledging the point was hers. ‘Oh, yes. Peer pressure,’ he conceded.
‘Peer pressure. Familial pressure. The pressure to succeed,’ Keira expanded. ‘It must be a great weight to bear sometimes.’
‘No doubt,’ he agreed. ‘But I think other generations have had just as much pressure. The pressures might have been slightly different but they were just as demanding. Didn’t you suffer from as much social stress when you were Daniel’s age?’
Keira glanced at him, trying to decide whether his reference to her age was a further slight on her relationship with his nephew. But she could glean nothing from his level expression.
‘I guess I did. And I suppose the pressures were different,’ she confessed. ‘The desire to conform seems to be universal.’
‘I can’t somehow see you as a conformist, Mrs Strong.’ He watched her like a jungle cat toying with his prey and Keira smiled wryly.
This prey would ensure she was more than a match for this particular predator. ‘You’re mistaken again, Mr Cassidy. By no stretch of the imagination could I be called a rebel.’
He raised one dark brow sceptically and Keira took a sip of cool water.
“I was boringly average and commonplace.’
Eden also swallowed a mouthful of water and his lips quirked. ‘Every parent’s dream child, hmm?’
She shrugged lightly. ‘I suppose so, depending on what you feel my parents would have expected of me.’
‘To find a young man, marry him and raise a family?’ His gaze met hers in a silent challenge.
‘Actually, they did,’ she said evenly, knowing it wasn’t far from the truth. Her parents were in their early forties when she had surprised them by being born. They were both conservative in their outlook on the roles of men and women in society.
‘And you went along with that?’
‘In part.’ Keira dabbed her lips with her napkin. ‘I was married when I was twenty.’ And it was the biggest mistake of my life, she could have added. She had been so unworldly in some respects, torn between her yearning for a career and her parents’ acceptance that she should marry Dennis. If she hadn’t been so naïve—
‘And talking again of marriage,’ Eden broke in on her tortured thoughts, ‘you still haven’t filled me in on what the obviously trusting Mr Strong thinks about your weekend away with a male friend, a so much younger male friend?’
Keira blinked him back into focus. When Cassidy-Ford Publishing had bought out Natural Life magazine she had still been technically married to Dennis Strong. She’d seen no need to make any comments to anyone about their separation. Or Dennis’s sudden death two years later.
‘Dennis? He—’ She stopped.
‘Let me guess. He’s a modern man. He understands,’ Eden Cassidy finished caustically for her, his lips twisting disparagingly. ‘Quite cosmopolitan and progressive. Or does he have his own distractions to keep him occupied?’
Their eyes met across the table and Keira held his gaze.
‘My husband’s dead, Mr Cassidy,’ she said evenly. ‘I’ve been a widow for three years. So,’ she continued when he made no immediate comment, ‘I suppose that makes my association with Daniel even more suspect. I mean, on past accusations I’d say you’d be the first to imply a frustrated widow on her own would have to be on the loose. Let’s all lock up our sons.’
What he would have said in his defence, if he’d elected to defend himself, that was, Keira would never know for Daniel chose that moment to rejoin them.
‘Burton’s taken Megan a tray. She’s waiting for a return call. Have you finished your lunch, Keira?’ he asked, and she nodded unsmilingly.
Daniel’s gaze went from Keira to his uncle and back to Keira. He had to feel the tension that Keira knew arced between them, the incendiary vibrations that filled the air.
‘OK. What say we walk off all this food?’
‘Fine by me,’ Keira agreed. Anything to get away from Eden Cassidy.
‘Great. Let me just make the rest of this into a sandwich and we can be off.’
‘Mrs Strong may prefer to ride,’ his uncle suggested easily, and Daniel turned to Keira.
‘Would you? I can have a couple of horses saddled in no time.’
‘No, thanks, Daniel.’ Keira stood up. She hadn’t been on a horse since she was a child and didn’t fancy putting her rusty skills to the test today. She could just see herself falling off. With her luck it would probably be at Eden Cassidy’s feet. ‘I’d prefer a walk.’
‘Fine. Let’s go, then.’ Daniel took her arm and headed her down the steps past the glistening turquoise water of the swimming-pool.
And until they disappeared from sight she felt the piercing burn of Eden Cassidy’s blue eyes running shivers down her spine.
Glancing ruefully at the deep marble spa bath and the vials of bath salts, Keira slipped out of her robe and under the shower. What she wouldn’t give for a leisurely soak in the tub, but she knew she wouldn’t have time for that luxury.
Letting the water play over her body, she wished this evening well and truly over. If she could only snap her fingers and find herself safely in her office immersed in her work on mid-Monday morning, with this deplorable situation behind her.
To think that Daniel’s uncle could even imagine she could be involved with his nephew. It was ludicrous. But, she had to acknowledge, had she been the male and Daniel a young niece then the worst would have been conceded.
Sugar mummy? Keira bit off a giggle and then quickly sobered. The circumstances weren’t funny at all. Now there was the party to get through, in the presence of the arrogant and insufferable Eden Cassidy.
During their long walk this afternoon Daniel had admitted his grandfather’s party was going to be a rather large but very exclusive affair. Some four hundred guests were expected.
Keira stepped from the shower and wrapped the soft, warm bath-sheet around her. Well, in such a crowd, surely she could make herself invisible to Eden Cassidy. He’d be far too involved in circulating between his and Sir Samuel’s family and friends to have time to seek her out to accuse her of further misdemeanours.
With some satisfaction she recalled the expression on his face when she’d informed him she was a widow. For one fleeting second she could have sworn he had been genuinely disconcerted. She arched her eyebrows at the mirror. Even if her statement had been only technically true.
She was a widow. But Dennis had been killed in a road accident just a week before their divorce became final.
Keira sighed and hung the bath-sheet on the heated gold towel rail. While she had the chance she should be enjoying such opulence where even the bath-towels made you feel pampered.
The carpet was soft beneath her feet as she walked through to the bedroom and slipped into her underwear. She glanced at the dress she’d chosen and grimaced slightly. Her one extravagance and it had stood her in good stead on the few occasions she’d had the opportunity to wear it.
The soft silky material slid over her shoulders and settled like a second skin. Keira nervously adjusted the bodice, checking the neckline. It was by no means plunging but it was lower than she usually wore, just hinting at the swell of firm, full breasts beneath.
She turned slightly to check the back of the dress that displayed even more smooth skin. There was no doubt that it suited her, she acknowledged. The steely grey colour lent her skin a creamy glow, accentuated the smoky grey of her eyes.
As usual she used little make-up, a touch of blue-grey eye-shadow, mascara on her lashes, lip gloss on her mouth. A fine gold locket which had belonged to her aunt clipped around her neck and nestled just above the beginning of the valley between her breasts. Then she brushed out her hair, tonight letting it fall to her shoulders in its natural waves instead of confining it in its usual chignon.
Slipping on her high-heel
ed shoes, she gave herself one final appraising look in the full-length mirror before telling herself she was as ready as she would ever be. And pray that she could elude the accusing and suspicious Eden Cassidy.
The ballroom of the palatial Cassidy mansion easily accommodated the four hundred guests Daniel had told Keira would be here to celebrate Sir Samuel Ford’s eightieth birthday.
The old man himself was holding court at the other end of the room when Keira entered the wide doorway on Daniel’s arm. Interested eyes turned as they paused on the top of the short flight of stairs leading down into the magnificent ballroom.
And Keira could imagine just what they might be thinking. That she was romantically involved with Sir Samuel’s grandson and heir. His uncle wouldn’t be the only one harbouring misconceptions. Her face flushed and she lowered her eyes nervously. Damn Daniel for talking her into this.
When she looked up her eyes went of their own accord to meet the cold gaze of Daniel’s uncle. And the rest of the gathered guests simply faded into the shadowy background. Something fluttered into life in the pit of her stomach and her knees went decidedly weak. She was suddenly hot, and when Daniel spoke beside her she found her spinning mind couldn’t compute his words.
The message that came through loudly and clearly was all purely physical. And it involved only Eden Cassidy.
Oh, no! Keira bit back a moan. This was absurd. She couldn’t be attracted to such a man.
‘Keira!’ Daniel squeezed her arm and she broke the hold those implacable eyes had on her and turned her unfocused gaze on the younger man. ‘Keira?’ Daniel frowned slightly, leaning closer to her, seemingly oblivious of the speculative glances cast their way. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine,’ Keira hastened to assure him as she put more space between them.
He gave her one questioning glance before repeating his words. ‘Come and I’ll introduce you to Sam.’
Meeting Daniel’s grandfather would be bad enough, but out of the corner of her eye she saw that Eden Cassidy had moved to join Sir Samuel Ford. If she went with Daniel now there’d be no escaping him.
A Physical Affair Page 4