Tanya sat bolt upright in the finely upholstered leather seat. This was the third time she had travelled in this comfortable car, but the luxuriously appointed interior was wasted on her. She fumed in silence as he turned into the main road, and headed out of town. His comments on the weather evoked no response, and for the first few minutes she refused to be drawn into conversation. Then, as they left the grey town behind, she began to mellow. He was right. It had turned into a lovely evening. She was here now. She might as well attempt to enjoy herself.
“Thank you for Susie’s present,” she said politely.
“My pleasure.” Craig’s eyes were on the road.
“You couldn’t have made a better choice,” she continued. “It hasn’t left her side since we left the hospital.” She glanced sideways to consider his finely etched profile. He changed down to turn left, screwing up his eyes as the late evening sunshine hit the windscreen.
“Not quite your choice, I should imagine,” he remarked.
“Well…er…I tend to choose more sort of…”
“Educational toys?” he completed for her.
She smiled.
“I thought as much. I have a niece of about Susie’s age,” he said lightly. “So I know how to please little girls.” He flashed her a wicked glance from under a commanding brow. “I can’t seem to get the hang of how to please the big ones.” His concentration was back on the road as he accelerated into the next bend, but in that instant his eyes had burned an image on her retina, an image that promised a raw sensuality and sent a tremor of anticipation down her spine. It threatened the defensive barrier she had erected so carefully these past few years.
Tanya licked her lips nervously. She had no doubt whatever that he knew exactly how to please girls of any age. He had charmed Mrs. Jamieson into eating out of his hand. Susie talked about him as the unsung hero who had carried her off to hospital and saved her life. And as for her—well—she was here, wasn’t she? Against all her better judgement. She must be very careful not to succumb to his charms.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Linden Mill,” he replied. “Do you know it?”
She shook her head. She had heard of it. One of those smart places on the river. She wondered if she was suitably dressed. Not wanting to waken Susie, she had groped around in her wardrobe for something to wear and selected the pale-lemon cotton slacks she had been lucky enough to pick up at the Oxfam shop. They were an expensive make and beautifully cut. The new sleeveless top she had bought to dress them up a bit was light and pretty for the summer, with a design embroidered in silver thread around the scooped neckline. She liked it best hanging loosely with a narrow silver belt at her hips, but in the rush of getting ready she had been unable to find the belt. So tonight she had tucked it in. Was it too casual? She looked at her escort. He was dressed in a lightweight pair of cream trousers. The fine fabric stretched tautly across his muscular thighs as his long legs depressed the clutch and the accelerator pedal.
His shirt was of fine white lawn, and open at the neck. Casual. She was all right. She would have to be.
“Here we are,” he remarked. They turned into a narrow beech-lined lane. The white-timbered fourteenth-century mill shone bright in the slanting sunlight, its weather vane silhouetted against a pale blue sky.
“Shall we have a drink outside first?” he asked as he ushered her though the front door. He had grabbed a jacket off the backseat of the car and slung it carelessly over his shoulder.
Dammit, thought Tanya, it was a suit he was wearing, not just casual trousers. She should have worn a dress.
He ducked his head under the low doorway as he entered.
“But you said you’d booked the table for nine o’clock.”
“They won’t mind.”
He turned as the headwaiter approached.
“Good evening Mr. Anderson, sir. How are you?”
“Fine. And you?”
They exchanged pleasantries.
“We’ll sit outside while we order, if that’s all right.”
“Certainly, sir. Would you like a drink first?”
They were shown through onto a paved patio furnished with tables and gaily coloured sun umbrellas. So far this year their function could only have been decorative.
“We’ll be down by the river,” said Craig.
The neatly mown lawn sunk wetly underfoot as it sloped down to the water’s edge where the gently meandering river lapped the banks of springy turf. A lone coot disappeared under the leafy canopy of a willow. Droplets of rainwater dripped from its weeping fronds to disturb the unruffled surface. A pair of grebes dived sharply to reappear later in the open water. There was a fresh, newly washed smell in the air.
“Take a seat,” said Craig, pulling back a chair from a table that overlooked a private jetty. Tanya hesitated and her companion quickly whipped a clean white handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped the raindrops from her chair.
As they settled, a waiter arrived with two gin and tonics and two copies of the menu. The ice clinked as Tanya lifted her glass to her lips.
“It’s pretty here,” she said, “and so peaceful.”
Craig nodded. A female mallard led her young into the shallows, and waddled up onto the bank. The ducklings had lost their fluffy down and were awkward and ungainly.
“They want to be fed,” said Craig. “They’re used to trippers. You get a lot of families with children here at lunchtime. We should have brought some bread.”
“Susie would love that,” said Tanya.
“We’ll bring her, next time,” said Craig.
Tanya looked away. There was not going to be a next time. This time was a mistake. She must make her position quite clear. “Craig?” she said.
“Yes.”
“I wouldn’t normally have a social relationship with a parent of one of my pupils. I owe you something for your kindness to Susie, but you must realise that the only reason I am here tonight is that you deceived Mrs. Jamieson.”
He smiled a slow lazy smile. “I know. She’s a soft touch, isn’t she? She’d marry you off to me if she had half a chance!”
Tanya gasped at his outspoken words. “It was a sneaky, underhand trick. You’re not playing fair,” she retorted crossly.
“I’m not playing at all. Really, Tanya, a ‘social relationship’ with a schoolteacher was the last thing on my mind. I told you, I have a proposition to make.”
Tanya took a deep breath. The tone in which he uttered the word schoolteacher was almost an insult. “Then make it,” she said crossly.
“I’m looking for someone to tutor Dominic in the school holidays. You’re the obvious candidate. You know him so well.”
Tanya sat back. So that was what all this was about! And to think she had suspected his intentions were amorous! Her shoulders slumped with relief. Or was it another emotion? She frowned. Why hadn’t he asked her straight out on the phone? She smiled to herself. She knew why. He had known she would say no. Well, if he thought a free meal, a few drinks and a hefty dose of charm would make her change her mind he could think again!
“I’m afraid I couldn’t do that,” she said.
“Why not? Surely you must have some free time in the school holidays. I’m sure a teacher in your position could do with the money. I’d pay you the top rate.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?”
“First, the school frowns on us tutoring our own pupils. Smacks of favouritism—the other pupils might misinterpret the situation. Second, you’ve already accused me of failing to teach Dominic. Frankly, I’ve had my fill of him this past year. Third, I’m not at all sure Dominic should have private coaching. He’s been spoon-fed too long. It’s time he took responsibility for his own progress. He’s quite old enough to stand on his own two feet.
“And fourth…” She hesitated. “I may not have the time. I’ve already applied for a coaching job. I’ve an interview tomorrow.”
He looked sharply. “Tomorrow? What sort of coaching job?”
“A-level maths. Sounds very straightforward.” Perhaps she shouldn’t talk about it. Was she counting her chickens? Something made her continue. “But it has the added attraction of being with an English family in Greece.”
“In Greece!” he echoed looking down into his glass. He licked his finger and ran it round the rim. “That does sound attractive.” The glass started to ring. “I’m afraid I can’t compete with that.” With his head bowed, Tanya could not see his expression.
The ringing intensified. Tanya put her hand on his glass. “Don’t,” she said. “It sets my teeth on edge.”
“Sorry.” Their hands touched and Craig’s fingers curled around hers. The shock seemed to paralyse, but she summoned her willpower and withdrew from him.
“Craig?” she said.
“Yes.”
She must make things clear. “I don’t know what your business is, but mine is teaching. I think you should know that I shall not be mixing business with pleasure again.”
He fingered his glass. “Then you do regard an evening with me a pleasure,” he drawled. There was an easy smile on his lips.
She pursed her mouth tightly. He had an answer for everything. Just like Dominic. “Since I am here, I intend to make the best of the situation…”
“So do I,” he interrupted, leaning forward and touching her hand again. “And since I seem to have failed in my business intentions, I shall just have to concentrate on the pleasure.”
She withdrew her hand once more as though burned, and tried again. “I understand that entertaining in return for effort is the norm in business. It isn’t in teaching, but I shall regard this evening in that light.”
His eyes followed the line of her slender neck, her smooth throat leading to the soft swell of her breasts beneath the loose fabric in her top.
“In that case,” he said leaning back languidly, “why aren’t you dressed for business? What’s happened to the glasses? And the schoolmarm hairstyle?” There was a challenge in his tone. “I take it you don’t dress like that in the classroom.”
She looked down at her menu. He was right, of course. Deep down, she had wanted him to find her attractive. There was an indefinable magnetism about this man that had brought her baser instincts to the surface. She had made a grave error, but it was not too late. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I was in too much of a rush to tie my hair back. And you didn’t give me much time to decide what to wear. I probably did make a bad choice.”
His mouth quirked. “I wouldn’t say that.”
She moistened her lips as she pretended to study the menu. It wasn’t the fact that it was written in French that made the words merge together into a meaningless gobbledygook.
“Don’t look so worried. The pleasure I have in mind is gastronomic. Are you ready to order?”
“Yes. I…er…think so,” she stammered. There she was again, expecting a pass, when all he wanted was a decent meal.
“Not that you don’t intrigue me,” he said.
Her eyes flew open.
“I’ve met Chardwell, the harassed teacher; I’ve met Chardwell, the anxious mother. Now I’ve met the one who’s scared rigid by her own instincts. The real one, I suspect. And she’s infinitely the most desirable.”
Tanya shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Something told her that here was a man who could know her. Intimately, to the depths of her soul. He must be stopped. “No, Craig. This isn’t the real me.” The real Tanya Chardwell, she thought wryly, did not have meals in expensive restaurants.
“Where’s Dominic?” she asked, taking another sip of her drink. She must emphasise Chardwell the teacher.
“Doing his homework, I hope,” laughed Craig. “I trust you’ve set him some!”
She smiled. “I’m trying to keep his nose to the grindstone.”
Craig leant back in his chair and shook his head in puzzlement. His lips curled. “I can’t understand that boy of mine.”
“How do you mean?”
He put his glass on the table. The light was fading now and the sharp planes of his face softened in the golden glow. He leant his elbows on the table and pierced her with those compelling eyes. “If you were my teacher,” he said in low voice, “I should hang on every word…”
Tanya froze, fixed by the charged atmosphere he had generated between them. Unable to speak. Unable to move. The concept of teaching Craig Anderson anything was ludicrous.
“Would you like to order, Sir? We’ve set up your table in the window, Sir. Whenever you’re ready.” There had been no sound as the waiter had crossed the lawn.
Craig glanced up sharply, a shadow of annoyance fleeting across his brow. He nodded and smiled. “Yes, I think we’re ready. We’ll order and then go inside.”
A surge of relief flooded Tanya’s veins as the tension discharged. Her eyes, released from his gaze, returned to the menu.
The restaurant had filled up since their arrival. The table was in a quiet alcove and overlooked the garden. The verdant greens were softening to dusky greys as the twilight deepened.
“It’s too pretty to eat,” said Tanya, as her first course was placed before her. Each succulent prawn was curled around a translucent green grape against a background of thinly sliced avocado and a garnish of feathery dill. The waiter carefully spooned over the sour-cream dressing.
“It’s too delicious to look at!” contradicted Craig, tucking into his own starter.
Tanya smiled. “You’re right,” she said, as the delicate flavours assailed her taste buds.
“Not that I underestimate the value of presentation,” he continued.
“I wish I could convince Dominic of that,” said Tanya, lifting her glass to her lips. Dominic’s exercise books were a messy scrawl. Presentation was a concept the boy did not acknowledge. The cool Chablis was light and crisp and complemented the fine flavours of Tanya’s starter. She took another sip.
“Forget work,” said Craig. “Tell me about yourself.”
“There’s not much to tell. I’m a maths teacher. Most people think that’s just about as boring as you can get. To announce that at a party is a real conversation stopper.”
Craig grinned. “That’s because people feel threatened.”
“Why?”
“Memories of school, I suppose. You remind them of their inadequacies. Go on, you’re not just a maths teacher. Start at the beginning. Your parents?”
She told him about her childhood. About how she’d helped in her father’s greengrocer’s shop when she was a little girl. How she used to check the invoices and balance the books. “I always had a feel for figures.” She explained how delighted her parents were when she got into university. How hard she had studied!
She sat back as the waiter removed her plate.
“I’m not nearly as bright as some of the pupils I teach,” she admitted. “If only I could impress on them that they are responsible for their own destiny.”
Craig reached across the table and put a finger on her lips to stay her words. “I said don’t talk about work.” He sat back.
Tanya slowly lifted her own hand to her face. She touched her mouth as he had.
“Go on,” he said.
She frowned. “Where was I?” she asked, confused.
“You’d just qualified and were wondering what to do next.”
“Oh yes. I worked in an office for a bit. Then I did a postgraduate teaching certificate. I’ve been teaching ever since.”
“Is that all?”
“More or less.”
“Haven’t you missed out something rather important?”
Tanya blushed. She had missed out pretty well everything important. She looked up as a trolley was trundled over to their table. A flame was turned up and the chef waved a shiny copper pan through the golden heat. Butter sizzled hotly, sealing the steak. A delicious aroma filled the air as the ostentatious professional flourished a bottle of brandy and set the pan alight.
Tanya looked down, smiling secretly at the elaborate show.
Craig leant forward conspiratorially and winked at her. “It’s the presentation that counts,” he whispered.
“I’m sure the flavour will be just as dramatic,” she remarked.
She was right. As her knife ran easily through the tender steak, the pink juices ran clear into the flambéed sauce. The crisp tang of the peppercorns enhanced the delectable flavours. This time she found herself sipping a ruby-red Nuits-Saint-Georges.
“Is it all right?” asked Craig.
“Delicious,” she said. “I haven’t had a meal as good as this since…” She paused. “Ever,” she corrected. It was true. She had never been wined and dined in style before. Not like this.
“You don’t go out very often?” he ventured.
She shook her head. It was difficult for unmarried mothers to lead much of a social life.
There was a silence, but not an awkward one. It was a silence they both shared, and Tanya knew that he understood.
“You haven’t finished,” he said, replenishing her wine.
“I’m sorry,” she said, looking at her plate. “It was delicious, but I couldn’t eat another thing.”
“No. I meant you haven’t finished telling me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?”
‘Tell me about Susie. And her father.”
Tanya straightened her knife and fork, and took another sip of her wine. There didn’t seem much point in talking about it. On the other hand there was no point in avoiding it either.
“I had a boyfriend at university. A steady boyfriend. We were going to get married when we qualified.”
“What happened?”
Tanya shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. We grew up, I suppose. Things changed once we left college, but somehow I couldn’t accept it. I fell apart when he told me.” Tanya bit her lower lip and twisted her napkin between her fingers. “I…I was so stupid,” she said brokenly.
Craig stretched across the table and took the crumpled napkin from her. Then he laid a broad hand on her fidgety small ones. The strength of him seemed to calm her. “I shouldn’t have asked,” he said softly. “It was none on my business.”
She shook her head. “No. It’s all right.” She didn’t know why, but she wanted to go on. He waited.
“I went to this party. I don’t remember whose it was. I just wanted to forget about Mathew. Get him out of my mind. I got drunk and I went to bed with someone. I…I was so disgusted with myself. Susie was the result.”
“You’re sure she isn’t Mathew’s?”
Tanya shook her head. “Mathew was always…very responsible. Maybe if we’d met when we were a little older…” She looked up at Craig, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “I’ll never know,” she said. She swallowed. “He still sends me Christmas cards. He’s married now, with a little boy. I didn’t tell him about Susie.”
“Why not?”
“I was ashamed.”
“She’s a beautiful child. You should be proud of her.”
Tanya sighed. “I am, but he wouldn’t see it like that.”
“Yes, he would. He’d understand.”
Tanya was suddenly aware of the powerful hand that had steadied her nerves so smoothly. The light suntan contrasted with a subtle covering of masculine hairs that shadowed the broad wrists beneath the crisp white cuff. Her quick intake of breath betrayed her, as she pulled her own hands sharply away.
He smiled. “Would you like a sweet?”
“No, thank you. I couldn’t eat another thing.”
“Not even something light?” He turned and nodded briefly to summon the waiter. “Could you bring the sweet trolley across?”
His eyes twinkled. “I challenge you not to succumb to this particular spread of temptation,” he said, his lips curving into a provocative smile.
Tanya smiled too. “If there’s one thing I can’t resist,” she said, “it’s temptation.” A little flirtatious banter never hurt anyone. Nor did a few calories.
“Isn’t it your turn?” she asked, adding cream to her second cup of coffee. More calories. Her trousers felt distinctly tight, but she no longer cared.
“My turn?” he queried.
“To talk about yourself. You’ve dragged my innermost secrets from me and I don’t know the first thing about you.”
“I’ve done no such thing,” he retorted. “I wouldn’t dream of it. This is a business dinner, remember?”
“Then tell me about your business.”
“I’m an architect. At least I used to be. These days I hardly get near a drawing board. I spend most of my time negotiating with planning authorities and governments.”
“What about?”
“Drainage. Sewage disposal. Electricity supply. You name it, I can argue about it.”
“What do you design?”
“Hotels and holiday developments. I’m in the business of creating dreams of people who think that paradise is somewhere out there and they can afford to pay for it.”
“Isn’t it?”
He laughed cynically. “Of course not. It’s within. You have to make it inside yourself, not find it outside.”
Tanya thought about this. “Surely surroundings must make some difference?”
“Very little. Your squalid little flat could get closer to paradise than all my exotic creations on those sun-soaked beaches and palm-fringed bays.”
“It’s not a squalid little flat,” Tanya blazed hotly. “It might look tatty to you, but it’s my home. I’ve scrimped and saved and cleaned and decorated, and Susie and I…”
He held out a hand to stop her angry gesticulations. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. At least, that’s exactly what I did mean. You’re proving my point.” He lowered his voice. “I shouldn’t have said squalid, but it is modest, and the right man could get nearer to heaven there, with you and Susie, than with all the five-star luxury in the world.”
She withdrew her hand. It had begun to tremble and her heart was fluttering like a leaf. What was he trying to say? “That’s silly,” she said. “I’m happy at home, but it is uncomfortable and inconvenient. There’s no way anyone could think it was paradise—from within or without. You should see the plumbing! You should see me humping the pushchair up all those stairs!”
“Perhaps you only see the faults because of your attitude. You might think differently if you had the right person to share it with.” His voice was silkily seductive. If he hadn’t been talking about her squalid little flat—and it was squalid—his words would have sounded like a proposition. Even a proposal.
“What rubbish!” she said lightly. She must keep the tone light. “I have the right person. Susie. There is neither physical nor emotional space in my life for anyone else. That’s the way it is, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
“Are you sure?” he said.
“I have my grumbles,” she continued. “But they are what I pay for my independence. And that’s priceless.” She frowned. Why were they discussing her again? “I thought we were talking about you.”
“What did you want to know?”
She hesitated. She had told him about Susie’s parentage. Why shouldn’t she ask about Dominic’s? “Dominic’s mother?” she queried.
Craig looked into the dregs of his coffee. “I couldn’t believe it when she was killed.”
“There’s…just the two of you?”
Craig laughed. “I tried to find a new mother for him. What a disaster! Fortunately most of the candidates recognised my motives. It’s no basis for a marriage.”
Tanya nodded.
“Dominic didn’t help either,” he continued. “The little horror did his fair share of frightening them off.”
“I can well believe it,” Tanya said. What she thought was that surely any woman would have taken on Dominic for man like Craig?
“Another coffee?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, thank you.” She glanced at her watch. “We ought to go. I don’t like to keep Mrs. Jamieson too late.”
He beckoned discreetly to the waiter, took his jacket off the back of the chair, and took a credit card wallet from the inside pocket. He signed the bill and slipped on the jacket.
“Let’s have one last look at the river,” he said.
The velvet sky was sequinned with stars, and the garden was lit with white fairy lights sprinkled in the trees. Tanya shivered.
“You’re cold,” he said, taking off his jacket once more.
“I’m all right,” she said, as he hung it over her shoulders.
“Here, put your arms in.”
“But…”
“Don’t argue. I’m protecting my interests. I don’t want my son’s teacher to catch a cold.”
He lifted her long tresses from underneath the collar and arranged them carefully around her shoulders. He did up the buttons with agonising slowness. She was unnerved by his nearness as his breath fanned her face, but he did not touch her. He stood back to consider the situation. The jacket reached almost to her knees and the shoulders were halfway down her arms.
“I look ridiculous,” she said.
“Perhaps if we roll up the sleeves.”
She laughed to break the tension. “I’d still look ridiculous.” But she stepped back from him and rolled up the sleeves herself.
“You look irresistible,” he said. “Come on,” he added, taking her arm and leading her down to the water’s edge. She felt warm in his jacket, and was headily aware of the subtle masculine scent that clung to it.
“This way,” he said, leading her past the table where they had taken their first drink. The garden lights reflected in the still water. “It’s been a lovely evening,” he said.
“Yes. It turned out nice.”
“I didn’t mean that.”
“No.”
“Let’s go this way,” he said. “There’s a path that goes along the river a bit, then back round to the car park.” He pushed aside a branch for her to pass. As it sprang back, a shower of rainwater splattered his shirt.
“You’re all wet,” she said, looking at him.
He brushed down the fabric of his shirt. “So are you,” he said, as he touched droplets of water that shone like jewels in her hair. “May I kiss you?” he asked softly.
She opened her mouth to speak, but never discovered what her reply would have been. His kiss was like dew falling, lips soft and warm as they met hers. The pressure was subtle in its sensuality. No force. No urgency. Giving and yielding at the same time. There was a perilous intimacy in the way his arms slipped around her. Warning bells clanged in her head. Danger! Keep off! they said. She leapt back from him as though stung.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she began.
He raised a skeptical brow. “Do you really expect me to answer that question?” he replied.
“Craig! We’ve been through all this!”
He shrugged and turned away. “Pity,” he said nonchalantly. “It would have made a nice end to a pleasant evening.”
A nice end to a pleasant evening! It would have been a disastrous finale to an appalling mistake! “Craig, I am your son’s teacher. I told you before, a relationship with a pupil’s parent is quite out of the question.”
He smiled lazily. “And that’s the only reason for refusing?”
A flood of hot colour rose to Tanya’s cheeks. “It’s the one that makes all others irrelevant,” she said tightly. “Now, if you’d please take me home…”
The car journey was made in silence.
“Thank you for a delightful meal,” said Tanya, when he pulled up outside the flat.
“My pleasure,” he responded. The formality of the exchange had an incongruity about it that jarred. He got out of the car and opened the passenger door for her. “This is goodbye then?”
Suddenly Tanya had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was she was being laughed at? “Yes,” she said. “Goodbye…”
His mouth curled into an amused smile. “Goodbye, Ms. Chardwell, until next term’s parents’ evening, I presume!”
Her heart jolted. Surely, surely, she pleaded within herself, by next term Dominic Anderson would have given up maths?
As she put her key in the lock, the voice called her back. “Haven’t you forgotten something?”
She frowned in puzzlement. What did he want now?
“Please could I have my jacket back?”
As she slipped it from her shoulders, she felt more than cold. She felt bereft.