by Penny Jordan
‘Look, what’s going on?’ she demanded angrily. ‘I was told that Sir Richard wanted to see me.’
‘And so he did,’ Jake agreed smoothly, ‘but, as I explained, something came up and he asked me to talk to you instead. How much do you know about Carew’s?’ he asked, watching her with eyes suddenly metallic and hard. ‘Or were you simply hoping to charm my father into giving you a contract? You’ll find me a much tougher proposition, Kelly.’
‘Oh, I’m sure of it,’ Kelly agreed bitterly, on the point of storming out of the room, but something kept her in her seat. Some deep-seated aching need to remain where she was simply drinking in Jake’s familiar features, her heart pounding mercilessly as she remembered the heavy thud of it against her own; the lean, tanned hands now resting distantly on the blotter, caressing her, drawing from her a tumultuous response.
Her mouth tightened and she looked across the desk. ‘How can you sit there and accuse me… When you deliberately deceived me, deliberately let me think that…’
‘That I was available for hire?’ Jake mocked, an acid smile twisting his mouth. ‘Believe me, Kelly, you can’t regret it anything like as much as I do.’
‘I don’t think there’s any point in continuing this discussion,’ Kelly said unsteadily, reaching for her bag. ‘I can’t pretend to understand why you’ve gone to these elaborate lengths to arrange this meeting, Jake—I am right in presuming you did arrange it, I suppose?’ When he didn’t answer, she rushed on. ‘I’m surprised you had the audacity to arrange it after…’
‘So am I,’ Jake agreed curtly, cutting across her furious words, ‘but nevertheless I did.’
‘Haven’t you already done enough?’ Kelly choked, terrified by the feeling of her emotions rioting out of control, desperate to escape from the environs of his office, and the forceful presence of him.
She struggled to her feet, gasping in pain when Jake’s fingers closed over her wrists, dragging her against him as he strode round to her side of the desk.
‘Enough? No way,’ he grated, transferring one hand to her chin and forcing her head backwards until Kelly thought her neck would snap under the strain.
‘Although it’s very gratifying to see that you’re joining the human race again, Kelly, becoming a woman again.’ He touched her hair and Kelly shuddered, her mind betraying her completely. Jake was only inches away. She could see the dark beard shadowing his jaw, smell the masculine scent of his skin. Her body ached to be held close against him, to be caressed and kissed.
She shuddered deeply, perspiration breaking out on her forehead. ‘Let me go, Jake.’ Her voice sounded odd and husky. ‘I don’t know why you brought me here…’
‘You mean you think you know, but you’re wrong, Kelly. I’m not so hard up for a woman that I need to procure them by force!’
‘I know that!’ She almost spat the words at him, remembering the blonde girl and Jake’s affectionate leavetaking of her at the airport, only hours after she herself had lain in his arms, thinking they were sharing something special and precious, but to him all she had been was a challenge. She felt a wave of familiar sickness, remembering the gloating on Jeremy’s face when he told her.
‘All right, Kelly, I’ll tell you what you’re doing here.’ He released her and returned to his desk, opening a drawer and removing several photographs which he placed purposefully on the desk.
Kelly stared at them. They seemed to be of an old baronial building of some kind.
‘I don’t know how much you know about my family—probably very little, because my father shuns public life, but at one time our family owned the Isle of Marne, off the west of Scotland. We lost it before the First World War, but it then came up for sale and my father bought it. This…’ he tapped the building in the photograph with one long forefinger, ‘was once a pele tower—later embellished and embroidered into what it is today, and my father has decided he wants to turn it into an exclusive holiday retreat for exhausted businessmen. He’s getting concerned about the fact that he isn’t yet a grandfather,’ he added sardonically, ‘and I suspect this is his way of bringing that fact home to me. He promised me the house and the island for a wedding present,’ he added, watching her with what Kelly could only interpret as deliberate cruelty.
‘Perhaps you’d get to the point,’ she interrupted coldly. ‘I didn’t come here to listen to a potted version of your family history, Jake.’
‘God, to think I thought…’ His jaw clamped on whatever he had been about to say, and he said instead, ‘The point is, Kelly, that my father wants to consult a PR firm about the best way of bringing the hotel into prominence. He asked me if I could recommend a PR company who could handle the job.’
‘And you recommended me?’ Kelly couldn’t keep the astonishment out of her voice.
‘Why not?’ Jake drawled, suddenly very much in control of himself. ‘Call it payment for services rendered, if you like.’
Kelly went white.
‘What’s the matter?’ he jeered unkindly. ‘Or is it a different matter when you’re the one who’s on the receiving end of the insults?
‘Where are you going?’ he demanded when Kelly stood up shakily, reaching for her bag.
‘Back to London,’ she told him curly.
‘Running away? I expected better of you, Kelly. You know what I think?’ he mused softly. ‘I think you’re frightened, Kelly; frightened of being a woman; frightened that you’re not, after all, indifferent to me.’
‘Of course I am.’
‘Are you?’ He asked the question smoothly, not giving her the opportunity to reply before he added, ‘Then why run away? Your company is successful, Kelly, but not so successful that it can afford to turn down good business, and without even making the slightest effort to secure it. What would the rest of your Board say to that, I wonder? Something tells me they wouldn’t like it.’
Kelly knew that he was quite right. She ran her tongue over her lips nervously.
‘I’m not saying I’m not interested in the contract—merely that I suspect the motive for being offered a chance to tender for it.’
‘Tell me, Kelly, have you ever trusted anyone?’ She swallowed painfully, hating the cynical contemptuous look in his eyes. ‘You can’t spend the rest of your life punishing the whole world because one man let you down.’
‘Haven’t you done enough?’ Kelly demanded, unable to keep up the façade of indifference any longer, aching with the need to reach out and touch him and hating him because of the way he had deceived her.
‘Stop living in the past,’ Jake told her ruthlessly. ‘Prove to me that you’ve rejoined the human race. Prove to me that you’re indifferent to me,’ he added in a different tone. ‘I’m flying out to the island tomorrow, I want you to come with me. My father is anxious to get things under way as quickly as possible. He can’t handle it himself because he’s tied up with talks with the Energy Minister. For God’s sake,’ he muttered, when he saw her face, ‘do you think it’s easy for me? Damn you, Kelly, don’t you think I have any feelings?’
What could she say? If she said that he couldn’t have any feelings and have treated her the way he had, he would guess how she felt about him.
‘Your feelings are no concern of mine, Jake,’ she managed at last, raising her head to add defiantly, ‘and if tendering for this contract is what it takes to convince you of that, then that’s what I’ll do.’
CHAPTER NINE
SHE wasn’t going to let Jake see how frightened she was, Kelly decided grimly, staring blankly ahead of her as the small aircraft gained height, and the mist that had greeted her when she woke up that morning pressed heavily against the cabin windows.
If she had had any sense she would have refused to come on this trip with Jake, but her pride wouldn’t let her back down, not when he had come to collect her at her hotel this morning, smiling mockingly at her when she glanced hesitantly outside.
Now somewhere below them was Edinburgh and they were heading north to t
he Western Isles. Jake was sitting with the pilot and Kelly was free to study him unobserved, her heart aching as she remembered how he had deceived her. And he didn’t even have the grace to apologise!
Why had he recommended her company to his father? As a means of making some kind of amends, or was his reasoning more subtle? Could he have guessed how she felt about him? Did he perhaps want to add to her torment? Why should he, she asked herself, but then why should he have deliberately allowed her to believe he was connected with the escort agency; why had he allowed her to think he was virtually penniless; why had he made love to her when Kelly had seen with her own eyes that there was someone else in his life? Pride prevented her from demanding answers to these questions, the same pride that had forced her into agreeing to accompany him this morning.
‘Feeling all right?’
He turned quickly, catching her off guard and the dizzy weakness that filled her when he smiled told Kelly the real reason she had come with him. She still loved him!
‘Kelly, are you all right?’
His voice sharpened and just for a moment Kelly allowed herself to think he might actually be concerned about her, quickly banishing the thought as she realised how improbable it was.
‘I’m fine,’ she told him huskily. ‘How long does the flight take?’
‘Twenty minutes or thereabouts, depending on the weather. Mists like the one we’re seeing today can delay things a little.’
‘Tell me a little more about the island,’ Kelly suggested, forcing herself to sound businesslike. ‘How did it originally come into the hands of your family?’
‘It was originally owned by a Scottish arm of the family who were wiped out by Cumberland shortly after Culloden. The island was given to my ancestors by King George out of gratitude for supporting him instead of Bonnie Prince Charlie—it’s remained in our family ever since. It’s said that the original building was erected when Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Scotland from France, by an ancestor of ours who had been there with her at court. The original watch tower was extended and embellished in what is almost typically Scottish/French—lots of turrets and towers, the same sort of embellishments favoured by the French at the time. In fact, in those days the Scots, or those of them who made up Mary’s court, were considered far more civilised than their English neighbours. During some restoration work ten years or so ago some documents were found relating to various purchases made for the castle; tapestries, carpets, all very expensive luxuries in their time. One wonders where a Highland laird found the money for them. It’s rumoured that he was one of Mary’s favourites. Whether that’s true or not I don’t know, but he certainly married well—a rich French heiress, and it was his son who founded the English side of the family. He quarrelled with his father and ran away from home. He joined Drake, became a staunch Protestant and found favour in Elizabeth’s court.’
‘It must be fascinating to be able to trace your family back so far,’ Kelly responded eagerly, forgetting caution and doubt as she listened to Jake. A streak of romanticism, deeply hidden during the years since Colin, suddenly surfaced, and her face was unknowingly alight as she begged Jake to tell her more.
‘My father’s the one to talk to if you want to hear about the family history. It’s his hobby, and he devotes most of his spare time to it. I think he’s found considerable solace in it these last few years since my mother died. They were very close.’
Suddenly Kelly felt tears sting her eyes; not so much for the words as for the expression on Jake’s face; shuttered, aloof, as though he were deliberately excluding her from something private.
‘When my father complains because I haven’t provided him with any grandchildren yet, I remind him that he didn’t marry until he was well into his thirties. My parents’ marriage was one of the fortunate ones. They say if your parents are happily married it adds to your own chances of marital happiness. Perhaps because it makes you far more selective, more demanding both of your partner and yourself.’
Kelly didn’t know what to say. Was this some subtle way of pointing out to her that she did not fulfil his requirements? A way of reminding her that she fell far short of his standards?
She regarded him levelly and forced a cool smile. ‘You’ll have to be careful you don’t turn into a crusty old bachelor, then, won’t you?’
Jake’s soft, ‘Oh, I don’t think there’s much chance of that,’ tormented her long after he had lapsed into silence. Was the blonde girl she had seen him with on Corfu a prospective bride?
‘If you look down now you’ll catch a glimpse of Marne.’
Jake’s voice interrupted her miserable reverie and obediently Kelly glanced out of her window, her stomach lurching uncomfortably as a sensation of giddiness swept her, her eyes registering a small patch of greeny-grey dotting the steel blue seat, before she tore her glance away.
Jake watched her shudder unsympathetically.
‘What’s the matter?’ he teased. ‘Don’t you trust the pilot? You know your trouble, Kelly?’ he added sardonically. ‘You’ve forgotten how to trust.’
‘Perhaps it’s just as well,’ Kelly retorted bitterly. She had trusted him, hadn’t she, and look where that had got her. She had even been ready to commit herself to him completely; to share with him everything she possessed; her money, the company. That was a laugh; compared with his wealth hers was a mere nothing and yet he had deliberately let her believe that he was poor.
‘If you suffer from vertigo, you’d better close your eyes now,’ Jake warned as the small plane started to dip. ‘The airfield is tiny, which is why we’re using this particular type of plane. There’s nothing to worry about,’ he reassured her with a grin. ‘It can land on a postage stamp—almost!’
Kelly felt the pilot was almost intent on proving the veracity of Jake’s statement when she saw the tiny triangle below which Jake assured her was the airfield. As they dropped lower she had her first glimpse of the castle—not gaunt and severe as she had imagined, but delicate, sculptured out of stone, into a fairy-tale confection of turrets and towers, gilded by the sun suddenly breaking through the mist.
The tiny airfield was deserted. Jake stepped nimbly out of the plane and waited for Kelly to follow, helping her down, the touch of his hand on her arm electrifying, her body pulsing hotly from the point of contact.
‘Okay, John, you can pick us up this afternoon,’ Jake told the pilot laconically. ‘Say four o’clock. That should give us enough time to see everything. There’s a Land Rover in the shed over here,’ he told Kelly, directing her gaze to the building at the edge of the airfield. ‘Come on.’
As they walked towards it Kelly heard the plane taxiing for take-off and turned automatically to watch it.
‘Where is everybody?’ she queried as Jake pulled open the door of the rough stone building he had referred to as a ‘shed’.
‘What do you mean, “everybody”?’ He eyed her sardonically. ‘The island is uninhabited now—“everybody” is you and me, and we’re both here.’
‘You mean we’re alone here?’ Kelly asked.
‘My, my, how Victorian you sound!’ Jake mocked. ‘What’s the matter, Kelly? Not as sure of your ground here as you were on Corfu, is that it?’
Before she could query what he meant, he had disappeared inside the hut, and was opening the door to a rather battered Land Rover.
‘The island hasn’t been inhabited for the last twenty years. It’s too small to support enough livestock to bring anyone a decent living. There used to be a few crofters, but the children drifted away when they left school and eventually the others either left or died. That’s one of the reasons why my father is so keen on this luxury recreational hotel idea. He reckons the island could provide a decent golf course. There’s sea-fishing and a small inland loch; there’s a grouse moor, although it’s sadly denuded of birds at the moment. Someone comes over from the mainland once a week to check the place over; turn on the heating and give it an airing, that sort of thing, but my father wan
ts to see it lived in.
‘Come on, get in,’ he ordered, opening the passenger door, and numbly Kelly went to join him.
There was no reason why the fact that they were the only two inhabitants of the island should unnerve her so much; it wasn’t even as though they were intending to spend the night there, and even if they were she was perfectly safe from Jake. Her face burned as she remembered her response to his lovemaking, the unexpected sensuality he had revealed to her when he touched her.
It took just over ten minutes to drive to the castle. They entered it via a raised portcullis, driving into what had once been the keep but was now a garden with open cobbled spaces and a quantity of heathers and clumps of saxifrage.
‘This garden was my mother’s,’ Jake explained curtly as he parked the Land Rover on the cobbles. ‘She and my father lived here for a few years and then her brother, my uncle, was killed in a sailing accident one summer. After that, she couldn’t bear to live here any longer.’
‘You must have missed all this.’ Kelly’s glance encompassed the beauty of the cream stone, timelessly elegant, a child’s dream; but Jake shrugged.
‘I was away at boarding school most of the time. My parents moved to London. It was more convenient for my father’s business interests. It’s only been in these last few years that our petro-chemical interests have made moving our head office to Edinburgh a viable proposition.
‘I’ll show you over the place, and then we’ll drive round the island, let you get the feel of it.’
‘Jake, why did you suggest us—me—to your father for this, and I know you must have done?’ Kelly continued, not letting him interrupt, ‘because in his terms we’re a very small concern indeed. I doubt he would even have heard of us.’
Jake didn’t bother to deny her comment and Kelly shivered in the cold breeze which had sprung up suddenly, wishing she hadn’t asked the question.