by Mary Lyons
‘You can look at what you like. I couldn’t care less one way or another.’
‘OK, let’s have it,’ he shrugged. ‘You’re obviously upset about something. Although I can’t think what—other than the fact that I do seem to have been heavily immersed in business lately.’
‘I don’t give a damn about your business!’ she grated angrily, her fury and resentment returning with a vengeance as she gazed at his tall figure, now lounging casually against one of the marble pillars in the room, his glinting blue eyes regarding her with some amusement. ‘Although that’s the reason why I’m here, of course,’ she continued. ‘I just wanted to tell you, face to face, that you can forget any idea of marrying me—because I wouldn’t touch you with a ten-foot bargepole!’
‘Don’t be such an idiot!’ he laughed. ‘You’re just suffering from pre-wedding nerves. I’ve now got hold of the special licence for our marriage next week, and...’
‘Didn’t you hear what I said? I told you to forget it!’ she snarled. ‘And you can also forget any idea of getting hold of my house, as well. Which—as we both know—will rule out any chance of you making yet more millions out of Suffolk Construction.’
‘What in the hell are you talking about?’
‘Oh, come on, do me a favour!’ She gave a shrill, high-pitched laugh. ‘Unless they own the deeds of my house, Suffolk Construction hasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of being able to build the new marina in Elmbridge, right? And who owns Suffolk Construction? Who persuaded this stupid, gullible fool that he wanted to marry her, so that he could buy her house and lay his hands on the deeds? Well— surprise, surprise!—it’s clever Mr Warner. Only I’m afraid it turns out that he wasn’t quite clever enough,’ she added savagely as he straightened up, regarding her with a dangerous gleam in his suddenly hard, blue eyes.
‘So, you can forget your precious marina and that rotten, bogus marriage you’ve so carefully arranged,’ she continued venomously. ‘You can also forget any idea of getting your hands on Lucy. Because I don’t care if I have to spend my whole life in court! I’ll never, never let you get your slimy hands on her.’
‘That’s quite enough!’ he thundered angrily, striding over the thick carpet towards her. ‘You must be having a brainstorm! I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.’
‘Can you deny that you own Suffolk Construction?’ she yelled angrily.
‘No, of course not. Why should I?’ He came to a halt, placing his hands on her shoulders as he frowned down into her blazing green eyes. ‘God knows, it’s only a tinpot little company, going nowhere fast. Why should you be interested in it one way or another?’
‘Why indeed?’ She glared defiantly up at him, refusing to be intimidated by the superior height of the man looming over her. ‘Except that I’ve now discovered the truth about that “tinpot little company” of yours.’
‘Oh, really?’ he drawled coldly.
‘Yes, really!’ she lashed back, desperately trying to control the tears that threatened to fall at any moment. ‘I know all about your wicked plans. So you can forget any idea of a wedding, or of buying my house, or the effort of having to pretend to be the stepfather of the year! And...and what’s more—’
But she didn’t have a chance to finish what she was saying, as he propelled her swiftly towards a pair of deep leather armchairs.
‘OK, that’s it!’ he said sternly, pushing her down into a chair before seating himself firmly in the other. ‘Now, I want you to take a deep breath and tell me—as calmly as possible, please—exactly what has been going on since I left Elmbridge.’
‘Why should I?’ she glared at him tearfully. ‘You know it all anyway.’
‘I know nothing!’ he ground out savagely through clenched teeth. ‘Only that you seem to have flipped your lid, and are apparently accusing me of a quite ridiculous, crazy scheme, which sounds more like something dreamed up by Hollywood than real life. So, get on with it, Amber. And it had better be good!’ he added with grim warning. ‘Because I’m sick and tired of always being cast as the villain of the piece, as far as you’re concerned.’
Haltingly at first, and then speeding up her narrative as he clicked his fingers with terse impatience, she told him about David Thomas’s discovery of both the ancient deed and Max’s connection with Suffolk Construction. ‘I...I nearly died with humiliation when Sally pointed out the truth,’ she gulped, raising a trembling hand to brush the weak tears from her eyes. ‘I couldn’t...I couldn’t believe just what a stupid fool I’d been.’
‘I certainly won’t disagree with that diagnosis!’ He gave a harsh bark of angry laughter before slowly rising to his feet and pacing up and down over the white carpet. ‘OK, I’ll agree that the story you’ve outlined would make a great movie,’ he said at last. ‘There’s only one problem. How long have you known about this ancient Crown Deed?’
‘I only heard about it when David phoned two days ago.’
‘Right. And how long has he known about this mysterious document?’
‘I...I’m not sure,’ she muttered. ‘He only said that he’d discovered it buried amongst my house deeds.’
‘Well, that’s very interesting,’ Max drawled, walking slowly towards her. ‘So, maybe you can tell me how in the blazes I—who only returned to this country a few months ago after spending the past eight years in the United States—was supposed to have discovered the deed?
‘It would obviously take some time to lay my evil, wicked plans,’ he pointed out grimly as she gazed open-mouthed up at him, her brain in a total whirl. ‘So, tell me, where and how did I manage to discover such a vital piece of information? Especially when David Thomas, who apparently prides himself on his local knowledge, has only just discovered the damn thing?
‘Don’t worry, Amber, it’s only a small, technical hitch,’ he added with cruel sarcasm as she stared at him in dawning horror, the blood draining from her face as she slowly began to comprehend the truth behind his remorseless, logical questions. ‘I’m quite sure that your totally overwrought, fertile imagination can come up with an answer. Maybe I hired James Bond to secretly investigate your house deeds, just in case they might contain something interesting? Or, did I persuade the little green men from Mars to...’
‘Oh, God...!’ she groaned, gazing at him for one long, grief-stricken moment before covering her face with trembling hands, her slim body shaken by a storm of tears, weeping her heart out both because of her own stupidity—and for the certain loss of the one and only man she’d ever loved.
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘WHAT an idiot you are, my darling!’
‘I...I know...’ she cried, her tears increasing as she felt a warm hand gently stroking her hunched shoulders. ‘I know that you’ll never be able to forgive me for being so...so incredibly stupid....’
‘Oh, yes, I think I probably will,’ he murmured, his blue eyes gleaming with amusement as he bent down to tenderly gather her sobbing figure up into his arms before carrying her out of the room and down a long corridor.
‘Where...where are you taking me?’ she muttered, burying her tear-stained face in the warm curve of his shoulder.
‘Where do you think?’ he demanded with a husky laugh as he entered his bedroom, lowering her gently down on to the enormous bed.
‘Oh, no! We can’t possibly...’
‘Don’t give me any of that nonsense, Amber,’ he growled. ‘Trying to persuade you to marry me has been—without a shadow of doubt—one of the most difficult and exhausting tasks I’ve ever had to face. It’s only because I love you so much that I’ve kept on banging my head against what has so often seemed like a brick wall.’
‘You...you really do love me?’ she whispered, gazing incredulously up through her wet, spiky eyelashes at the man towering over her. ‘But I thought...’
‘Of course, I do, you stupid woman!’ he ground out with exasperation, impatiently brushing a hand through his thick, dark hair as he sat down on the bed beside her. ‘And now, afte
r putting me through the wringer this morning, I have every intention of stripping off that boring tweed suit you’re wearing. Because it’s definitely about time that you soothed my injured feelings!’
‘But, Max, we can’t!’ she gasped, adding quickly as he glared ferociously at her, ‘It’s only eleven o’clock in the morning, for Heaven’s sake!’
‘Oh, God! Who cares whether it’s midday—or midnight?’ he breathed, roughly pulling her into his arms, fiercely moulding her trembling body to his strong, lean figure with an urgency that made the blood race in her veins.
The musky, masculine scent of his cologne filled her nostrils as his lips fastened urgently on hers, his kiss deepening with possessive force as her soft, helpless moans of pleasure and the warm, yielding response of her slim figure provoked his increasing ardour. There was a desperate hunger in his hands as he swiftly removed her clothes, quickly peeling away his own and clasping her naked form to his hard masculine body, his powerful frame shaking with the force of an urgent, passionate intensity barely under control.
‘I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you—however hard I tried to do so,’ he murmured thickly against her soft skin, his lips trailing down over her breasts, provoking helpless gasps and moans of pleasure as his mouth closed over first one swollen nipple and then the other. ‘You belong to me—and I’m never going to let you go. Never, ever again!’
His hoarse voice was almost the last thing she heard as she sank beneath the fierce tidal waves of overwhelming passion and desire. Feverish tremors of delight shook her body, each lingering caress, each sensual and erotically intimate touch making her ache with the desperate intensity of her need for his possession. Trembling with ecstasy as he placed his hands beneath her, parting her quivering thighs and lifting her up towards him, she was unaware of crying out in a wild, almost inhuman voice as she arched to meet the hard, powerful thrusts of his body. Their driving hunger and need forging them together as they became one flesh and one soul; the universe seeming to explode about them in brilliant, searing fragments of fiery light and heat.
‘But, darling, surely you must have known how I felt about you?’ he murmured softly as she lay curled within the warmth and shelter of his arms. ‘How could you have doubted my love? Why else would I want to marry you?’
‘But, I...I thought it was mainly because of Lucy. That you wanted to look after and provide for her. It wasn’t long before I finally realised that I was madly in love with you, of course. But I was so confused about what you felt towards me that I simply wasn’t able to think straight. Otherwise, I’d never have leapt to all the silly, wrong conclusions about that awful deed.’
‘Oh, my love,’ he gave a low, soft laugh. ‘You’re such an idiot!’
‘I know,’ she agreed sadly. ‘I can’t believe that I’ve been so stupid. But when David Thomas mentioned the name of your manager in Elmbridge as being a Mr Cruickshank, and I remembered you talking to someone of that name on your mobile phone in the car—well, it all seemed to make some kind of terrible sense. That, and the fact that you and John Fraser were obviously involved in business together...’ Her voice trailed unhappily away.
‘It’s all right, darling,’ he murmured tenderly, gathering her closer to his hard, naked body. ‘The misunderstanding wasn’t all your fault. Because, while I can promise you that I didn’t have anything to do with that deed, I haven’t been entirely straight on the matter of my business affairs in Elmbridge.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, when I took over the large firm in London, it was some time before I discovered that it included a lame-duck company, Suffolk Construction, that was planning to build a marina in Elmbridge. However, I soon realised that there was a considerable amount of local feeling about the plans, and so I decided to put everything on hold until I’d found out the true facts of the case. I reckoned people might talk to me more openly if they didn’t know I was the owner.’
‘Yes, well...I can see that makes sense,’ she acknowledged. ‘All the same, I do wish that you’d at least told me the truth. I’d never have got myself into such a stupid muddle, or made such a fool of myself, if I’d known what was going on.’
‘I see now that I should have trusted you,’ he agreed. ‘But although finding that I’d become the owner of Suffolk Construction was a complete accident of fate, it did give me a good and valid reason to hang around the neighbourhood, quite apart from the fact that I’d suddenly inherited my grandmother’s estate. And that’s what I needed. Because I was quite determined—once I learned that Clive had been killed in a car accident some years ago—to return to the town and, somehow, renew my relationship with you.’
‘But you can’t have intended to marry me? Not before you discovered that Lucy was your daughter?’
He gave a heavy sigh. ‘I honestly don’t know what I intended to do. For years I’d burned with resentment at the way you’d thrown me over—and for a man whom I thought of as an idle, rich, landowning ne’er-do-well. Yes...yes, I know,’ he added quickly as she stirred restlessly in his arms. ‘I now realise the truth of what happened in the past. But when I returned to Elmbridge, I...well, I guess I must have had some sort of half-baked idea in the back of my head. Not of carrying out any kind of punishment or revenge, of course. But, somehow, hoping that you were now bitterly regretting not having married me.’
‘Oh, Max!’ she murmured, raising herself up on one elbow to gently brush the damp curls from his brow. ‘That sounds almost as foolish as some of the silly things I thought, and did.’
He gave a rueful laugh, his cheeks flushing beneath her fond smile. ‘Frankly, darling, I’m deeply ashamed at having to confess anything quite so pathetic and juvenile. However, when I discovered the truth—that far from living in rich, glamorous surroundings, you were existing virtually on the poverty line—I quickly realised that I had an opportunity to grab you for myself at last! Unfortunately, my courtship proved to be a very difficult and tricky undertaking.’
‘Courtship...?’ Amber exclaimed, gazing at him with incredulity for a moment before falling back against the pillows, her body shaking with laughter. ‘What courtship? I’ve had nothing but dire threats and menace from the first moment we met—and well you know it!’
‘Yes, you have a point,’ he grinned. ‘But I don’t think you realise just how difficult it was to try and get close to you. I wasn’t even entirely sure how much you still cared for me—although I knew from your response to my kisses that we were still strongly attracted to one another. And while you may laugh about my so-called courtship, just trying to get myself through the door of Elmbridge Hall nearly stumped me,’ he added with a sigh. ‘In fact, I’m afraid to say that it was only when I resorted to underhand methods, by pulling out the electric wiring of your car, which you’d left unattended in the High Street, that I finally managed to inveigle my way into your house.’
‘Do you mean to say...?’ She glared at him indignantly.
‘Yes, I’m afraid so!’ he admitted with a grin. ‘I was worried about that handsome doctor, Philip Jackson. I’d already heard from John Fraser that he was keen on you. But when I saw him kissing you in the middle of the High Street, I knew that I was going to have to move damn fast,’ Max added grimly. ‘I had to make sure that I’d got you well and truly committed to me, before that guy had a chance to propose marriage.’
‘Actually, he’d already asked me to marry him—about six months ago,’ she murmured, secretly thrilled to the core to learn that Max had been jealous of the young doctor.
‘And...?’
‘And—nothing,’ she replied quickly as his arms tightened possessively about her. ‘I always knew that he wasn’t the right man for me.’
‘What about Clive?’
She blinked at him in puzzlement. ‘But I’ve already told you about him. You know all about our marriage.’
‘Er...no, not quite,’ he murmured. ‘Don’t forget that before I actually saw Lucy, I was well aware of the fac
t that you had a young daughter. I naturally assumed that Clive was her father. That you and he...’
‘Oh, no,’ she said quickly, her cheeks flushing beneath his steady gaze. ‘Clive and I...we never...we didn’t...’ She took a deep breath. ‘There’s never been anyone else. I know it sounds feeble, but...but you’re the only man who’s ever made love to me.’
‘Oh, darling!’ he groaned. ‘You wouldn’t believe just how jealous I’ve been of that poor guy. I knew I had no right...and God knows I’ll always be so grateful to him for looking after you, but...’ His mouth claimed hers in a deeply possessive, passionate kiss that seemed to last for ever. When he at last let her go, she lay flushed and breathless in his arms. ‘My sweet one,’ he whispered. ‘I love you with all my heart—which you captured for all time eight years ago. And while I can’t say that I’ve lived like a monk since we parted, I can promise you that I’ve never become seriously involved with anyone else.’
‘Oh, yes? What about Cynthia Henderson?’ she teased.
‘Well...’ he paused, grinning down at her as he pretended to give the matter some considerable thought. ‘I was pleased to note that you showed definite signs of being extremely jealous when she threw herself all over me at the party in the Assembly Rooms.’
‘Now just a minute!’ Amber protested. ‘I wouldn’t bother getting too swollen headed about that fact, if I were you. Because, given half a chance, Cynthia can be relied upon to leap into just about anyone’s bed!’
‘Hmm...that’s interesting. I’ve always been very partial to voluptuous ash-blondes,’ he drawled provocatively, laughing as she quickly rose to the bait, angrily thumping his chest with her clenched fists. ‘But what I really can’t resist is a girl with tawny hair and green eyes, who’s going to be my wife in a few days’ time. Right?’ he demanded huskily, rolling over to trap her beneath his powerful body.