‘I DON’T WANT to talk to you.’ Rachel was scowling now, and he could feel her frustration. The perfumed heat of her body was rising off her in waves, and after last night it was all he could do to keep a sense of perspective. ‘And I don’t want to sit down,’ she added tersely. ‘I want to go to my room.’
‘Works for me.’ Jack was willing. ‘I’ll come with you.’
‘You won’t!’
‘No?’ Jack adopted a puzzled look. ‘It was okay for me to go there last night.’
‘Last night was a mistake.’
‘Right.’ Jack pretended to consider it. ‘So the whole scene: the absence of any electric lights, the incense-scented candles, you virtually naked, I’m to believe it was all a mistake?’
Rachel’s chin dipped. ‘Yes.’
‘Why don’t I believe you?’
She sniffed. ‘Because you’re too arrogant to think anything else?’ she suggested, and he sighed.
‘What are you saying? That it was for someone else?’
That thought had just occurred to him, and he didn’t like it. But to his relief Rachel was too desperate to defend herself to lie.
‘No,’ she said fiercely. ‘I don’t sleep around.’
‘Meaning I do?’
‘If it fits.’
‘It doesn’t,’ he snapped, momentarily angered by the unjust accusation. Then, calming himself, he went on, ‘So it was all for my benefit?’
Rachel shifted uneasily. ‘If you want to think that,’ she muttered.
‘What else am I supposed to think?’ Jack lifted his hand, and in spite of her instinctive withdrawal he caught a strand of her silky hair and tucked it gently behind her ear. ‘I didn’t realise you were so needy.’
Rachel caught her breath. ‘I’m not needy!’
Jack’s fingers trailed from her ear down the smooth column of her throat to the low vee of her vest. ‘You can’t deny you wanted me last night.’
Rachel lifted her head. ‘I—wanted a man, yes.’
Jack shook his head. He badly wanted to untie the shirt that hugged her midriff and slip his hands into the low waist of her trousers. But in spite of what she’d said he didn’t think she’d let him do that, and he didn’t want to destroy this tenuous relationship by rushing things. Instead, he contented himself with watching the way her nipples hardened against the fabric of her vest, remembering how delicious they’d felt rolling against his tongue.
‘Look,’ he said, after a moment, ‘we have to talk about this. You can’t expect me to ignore what happened and go on as before.’
‘Why not?’
‘Why not?’ He stared at her frustratedly, his eyes darkening to the deepest shade of jade. ‘Because it was good between us,’ he said thickly. ‘And I want to do it again.’
‘No.’
Jack lifted his hand then, but although Rachel took an involuntary step back all he did was rake back his hair with an angry hand. ‘So what now?’ he demanded. ‘Do I wait until the next time you feel like screwing me? Or do I get a say in the matter?’
Rachel’s face burned. ‘Don’t use that word.’
‘What word? Screwing? Well, that’s what it was, wasn’t it? I made love to you, but you screwed me!’
‘No!’
‘Yes.’ Jack closed his eyes for a moment, striving for control. ‘I should have known better than to think it was anything else.’
Rachel quivered. ‘Well, what did you expect?’
Jack scowled. ‘And that means what, exactly?’
Rachel took a deep breath. ‘Haven’t you forgotten Miss Johnson? What is she now, by the way? Your secretary? Your personal assistant? Oh, yes. Personal assistant just about covers it. She—’
‘Karen doesn’t work for the company any more,’ he interrupted her.
Rachel stared at him disbelievingly. ‘Since when?’
‘Since George Thomas fired her.’ Jack hadn’t wanted to get into this right now, but he knew it was inevitable in the circumstances. ‘What can I say? She was no good at her job. We had to let her go.’
‘So how did she—’
Rachel had started to ask how Karen had known where Jack was and what he was doing, but then stopped herself. How silly was that? Just because the woman didn’t work for Fox Construction any longer it didn’t mean that Jack had stopped seeing her. He must think she was stupid if he thought that by telling her Karen had been dismissed she’d believe he’d ended their affair.
‘How did she what?’
Jack had picked up on her unfinished question, and Rachel spent several unfruitful seconds trying to think of something else to ask.
‘Um—how did she manage without a reference?’ she asked at last. Then, seizing on his look of incredulity, ‘Oh, right. You wrote one for her. What did you say, Jack? Performs poorly in the office but makes up for it in bed?’
‘My God!’ Jack groaned. ‘You can’t let it alone, can you? You don’t want me, but you still think you have the right to control my life.’
Rachel flushed. ‘No.’
‘Yes.’ Jack gave a harsh laugh. ‘Tell me how that makes sense.’
‘You don’t understand—’
‘Damn right.’ Jack glared at her. ‘Two years ago you let me know in no uncertain terms that you didn’t want me anywhere near you. For weeks, months after that last miscarriage, you hardly even spoke to me.’
‘I was traumatised!’
‘So was I,’ retorted Jack sharply. ‘But I knew there was nothing I could about it.’
‘You knew it wasn’t your fault,’ muttered Rachel, almost under her breath, but Jack heard.
‘It was nobody’s fault,’ he snarled. ‘For God’s sake, I never blamed you, did I?’
‘No…’
‘So why the hell did you blame me? Because that’s what it felt like. I was being punished because I couldn’t keep my hands off you.’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘So what was it like, Rachel?’ He could feel himself getting stressed and, swinging out a chair from the table, he straddled it and sat down before he fell down. ‘Tell me. Tell me why you’ve decided to stay married to me when you’re obviously unhappy with the situation? For months we’ve been like strangers to one another—only speaking when we have to, only being seen out together when it’s necessary to present a united front. If you want out, you should say so. Why the hell didn’t you ask me for a divorce?’
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘Me?’ Jack blew out a heavy breath. ‘I didn’t want a divorce.’
‘Why? Because you knew if you left me Daddy wouldn’t make you his successor?’
‘No!’ Jack was stunned. It was one thing to be accused of having an affair; it was something else entirely to be suspected of being corrupt. ‘For pity’s sake, Rachel, where the hell did that come from? If you think I only married you to get my hands on your father’s company—’
‘I don’t,’ muttered Rachel in a small voice. And she didn’t. Despite what she’d said, that particular aspect of Karen’s argument still sounded alien even after what she’d learned. ‘It was just something someone said.’
‘What someone?’
Rachel hesitated, twisting the knot tying her shirt around her fingers. Then, with a rush of bravado, ‘Karen Johnson.’
‘What?’
Jack was amazed. He couldn’t believe it. But, with the blood draining out of his brain, the dizziness he’d been having off and on for the past few weeks convinced him it was true. Somehow Rachel had been in touch with the other woman. But how, in God’s name, had it happened?
‘She—she came to see me, ‘ Rachel went on doggedly, inadvertently answering the question he felt too numb to ask. She looked at him a little curiously. ‘I gather you didn’t know anything about it?’
‘No.’
The word was clipped, and Jack shoved back his chair and got to his feet. Pacing somewhat unsteadily across the room, he managed to retain his balance. But he couldn’t just sit there, blinking at her, knowing that sooner or later she was going to realise he was struggling for control.
Beyond the long windows, the Atlantic looked bluer than he’d ever seen it. White-capped waves curled in towards the beach, breaking on the rocks with a great swirl of spray. The ocean was so constant, he thought. Unlike people, it never changed. But the ocean was free, impartial. It didn’t have a psycho like Karen making trouble in its life.
He glanced over his shoulder. Rachel still stood where he’d left her, her eyes flickering away when he found her watching him. What was she thinking? he wondered. That he was upset because he’d been found out?
‘Are you saying she came here?’ he asked, when he was capable of formulating a sentence, and Rachel gave a jerky nod.
‘Yes.’
‘When?’
Rachel looked discomforted now, and the reason for it occurred to him only seconds before she gave her answer.
‘Yesterday,’ she mumbled, turning back to the table and making an effort to gather their dirty dishes together. She cleared her throat. ‘Are you going to have some salad?’
Jack’s dizziness receded on a wave of disbelief. Anger gave strength to legs which only moments before had felt weak and uncertain. Striding back to the table, he caught her shoulder and swung her round to face him, uncaring of the look of apprehension in her eyes.
‘Yesterday?’ he exclaimed. ‘Karen came here yesterday?’ His heart was pounding in his chest but he ignored it. He hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. ‘So that’s what last night’s little charade was all about!’
‘Not necessarily.’ Rachel pulled away from him. ‘Anyway, you’re my husband. Why shouldn’t I sleep with you if I want to?’
Jack shook his head, unwilling to go into that right now. ‘So go on,’ he urged her harshly. ‘What did she say?’
‘Karen?’
‘No, the cat’s mother,’ he snarled. ‘Who else?’
Rachel straightened her spine. ‘What do you think she said?’
Jack sucked in a frustrated breath. ‘Don’t do this, Rachel. I’m not in the mood to humour you.’
Rachel seemed to recover a little of her bravado. ‘Oooh, I’m scared,’ she mocked, only to break off with a gasp of pain when he manacled her wrist with hard, unyielding fingers. ‘You’re hurting me.’
‘Believe me, this is nothing to what I’d like to do to you,’ he told her harshly. ‘Come on, Rachel. Spill!’
‘Why don’t you ask her if you’re so interested?’ she protested.
‘Perhaps I will. But right now I’m asking you.’
Without warning, he took her wrist behind her back, jerking her towards him. Caught off balance, she couldn’t prevent herself from reaching for him, her fingertips registering the heat beneath his shirt, the hard contours of his chest brushing the sudden arousal of her breasts.
God, for a moment she was stunned by her reaction, incapable of answering him for fear of showing how disturbed by his nearness she was. It convinced her that last night had been a massive mistake on her part. She’d stupidly believed she could seduce Jack without getting emotionally involved with him again, but she’d been wrong. Even though she’d avoided his kisses, knowing what his mouth could do to hers, already her body was betraying her, recognising his, responding to his, urging her to lean into him and give in to the wild abandonment of the senses she’d known the night before.
‘Rachel!’
His harsh voice aroused her from the sensual pit she was digging for herself, and she tried to focus on what he’d asked her. But with his warm breath playing over her face and the male odour of his hot skin rising to fill her lungs with his scent, it was incredibly difficult to concentrate.
Definitely against her better judgement, her hand opened and her palm spread against his chest. She could feel his heart beating—thundering actually—against her fingers, and she guessed with a feeling of triumph that he was remembering last night, too.
‘Jack…’ she murmured, not really knowing what she was inviting, but unable to keep the yearning note out of her voice.
Jack swore. ‘Don’t go there, Rachel,’he warned, but already his eyes were dark with emotion, his lips only inches from hers.
He was going to kiss her, she thought, briefly blind to anything but her own needs. And why not? Why shouldn’t she take what she wanted without considering the consequences? Other people did. Why shouldn’t she?
‘Rachel!’
Once again, Jack’s saying her name brought an unwilling awareness of what she was doing, and she realised she’d been mistaken when she’d thought Jack was as aroused as she was. He was angry, that was all. Angry and frustrated. Well, she could play that game, too.
‘Let go of me, Jack,’ she said sharply, as if moments before she hadn’t been practically begging for it. But Jack wasn’t fooled.
‘Not until you tell me what she said,’ he grated. ‘I want to know: did she tell you we were having an affair?’
Rachel heaved a sigh, giving in. ‘You know she did,’ she said wearily. ‘But don’t worry. It wasn’t exactly news to me. I’ve known about your dirty little secret for some time.’
Jack stared down at her with disbelieving eyes. ‘What do you mean, you knew?’
Rachel was tired of this. Grinding her heel into his toe, she got the advantage and pulled herself away from him. ‘I’m not a complete fool, Jack,’ she said, as he winced in pain. ‘You’re not quite as clever as you thought you were.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘And that means what, exactly?’
‘The apartment you leased in Plymouth? The one you said you needed for entertaining clients? I know you take her there.’
Jack felt his stomach hollow. He had taken Karen to the riverside apartment, he remembered, but not to have sex with her. It had been while she was working for George Thomas. The company had just leased the furnished apartment, and Jack had needed someone to do an inventory of its contents for their records, and to make a note of what else was needed to make it habitable for clients.
George had offered Karen—mainly, Jack guessed, because it had been a job that she couldn’t screw up. He’d driven her to the apartment himself, introduced her to the concierge so he’d know her presence was legitimate, showed her around and left. End of story.
It had been weeks later that he’d been foolish enough to invite her to have dinner with him one evening when he was feeling low. He certainly hadn’t taken her to the apartment on that occasion. But God knew what she’d told Rachel about it. Remembering what had happened that evening, he felt cold. He’d obviously given her the perfect opportunity to lie about it.
‘I don’t take anyone there,’ he said now, knowing she wasn’t going to believe him. ‘The apartment is corporate property. Ask George Thomas if you don’t believe me.’
‘So you’ve never stayed there?’
Jack baulked. ‘Okay, I’ve stayed there. On a couple of occasions. But I’ve been alone.’
Rachel shook her head. ‘If you say so.’
‘I do say so, dammit.’ Jack could feel his head getting light and he struggled to keep himself grounded. ‘For God’s sake, Rachel, whatever that woman’s told you, we have not been having an affair!’
‘So how do you account for the fact that she’s going to have your baby?’
Jack rocked back on his heels. ‘What did you say?’
‘I think you heard me.’ Despite the accusation, Rachel couldn’t quite meet his eyes, and once again she turned to the table and used the tongs to give the bowl of salad a quick turnover. Then, when the silence was beginning to scrape against her nerves, she went on jerkily, ‘I really think you should eat something, Jack. Mrs Grady’s gone to a lot of trouble, and she’ll be so disappointed—’
‘To hell with Mrs Grady!’
Jack had been standing staring at her for the last few minutes, watching as she made a play of checking the food. He was trying to remain calm, but his mind was racing quicker than his pulse on this occasion. He’d thought he’d heard it all, but he hadn’t even been close.
However, it wasn’t just the shock of hearing Rachel tell him that Karen was pregnant with his baby that stunned him. It wasn’t true. It was the ramifications of Rachel’s actions that left him feeling weak and sick to his stomach. Rachel hadn’t seduced him, he realised, because she’d wanted to sleep with him. She hadn’t even been desperate for a man. And to be honest, she hadn’t actually slept with him. As soon as he’d performed to her satisfaction she’d found somewhere else to spend the night.
‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
The revulsion he was feeling must have shown in his face. The sense of disgust, of betrayal at being used and discarded, must have communicated itself to her—because she’d left what she was doing and was now facing him again.
Jack’s lips curled. ‘Do you need to ask?’
‘What?’ She was defensive. ‘You didn’t think Karen would tell me she was expecting a baby? Oh, yes, she was very proud of it. How could you, Jack? How could you let her come here and ask me to give you a divorce?’
‘That’s crap and you know it,’ he snapped. ‘If Karen’s pregnant, it’s nothing to do with me. But don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do now. You’re trying to divert me from what you did last night. You didn’t seduce me because you wanted me,’ he persisted when she would have interrupted him. ‘You didn’t even seduce me because you wanted sex. You believed that woman’s lies and you decided to teach me a lesson. And if, in the process, you got pregnant, you were prepared to risk that just to gain the upper hand.’