Shattered Illusions

And, when she’d applied for the job, she hadn’t really believed that she might be appointed. After all, it was some years since she’d done any secretarial work, even if she used a computer to store her notes. There were so many competent secretaries in the market-place, but she was called for a second interview, and ultimately told that, subject to Catriona’s approval, the job was hers.

So where was the excitement now that she had felt then? Why had everything suddenly gone so flat? She knew the answer, of course—had known it from the moment Catriona had first walked into her study. When she’d regarded Jaime with that cold, assessing smile, she’d suspected then she’d made a huge mistake.

But then she’d determined to overcome her apprehension. She’d put her misgivings down to the way she was feeling, but now she was not so sure. She was beginning to wonder if the doubts she had had might not have been a warning. And she’d ignored it because the idea of flying over three thousand miles, just to turn around and fly back again, had seemed childish and immature.

She sighed. What had happened, after all, to cause all this soul-searching? Was it just because she’d found out Catriona was having an affair? For heaven’s sake, the woman’s sexual habits had nothing to do with why she had come here. It was natural that she should have a man in her life. She was a beautiful woman. So why not?

The truth was a much more personal thing than she wanted to acknowledge. Although she barely knew Dominic Redding—and had certainly no expectation that he might ever find her attractive—the idea that he might be having an affair with his father’s widow overstepped the bounds of decency, so far as Jaime was concerned.

Perhaps she was a prude; perhaps her opinion was hopelessly provincial. The world of the university did tend to insulate one from the more sordid side of life. Why should it matter to her what Catriona and her stepson did in the privacy of their own apartments? Wasn’t she judging them unfairly, without knowing any of the facts?

Whatever, the news had cast an uneasy shadow over the situation. She had had such high hopes when she’d come here, yet slowly but surely they were all being eaten away. But what had she expected from a woman who, twenty-seven years ago, had abandoned her husband and baby? She should have let Cathryn Michaels stay dead. Resurrecting icons was always a risky business...

CHAPTER FOUR (#u84c4cdc0-72c1-5c02-8dfe-c494ec15e984)

DOMINIC allowed the wave to carry him all the way in to the shore, and then pushed himself to his feet and walked up out of the ocean. Water streamed over his shoulders from the overly long hair that lapped at his nape, and he raised a careless hand to push back the heavy dark strands. He’d have to get it cut before he went back to the office, he reflected, and scowled as the connotations of that thought soured his mood.

Picking up the towel he had dropped on the beach, he dried himself vigorously, warming his cooling flesh. Although the ocean was several degrees warmer here than it was off the coast of New York state, at this hour of the morning it could still feel chilly. But the exhilaration of the experience always made him feel good.

Or it did usually, he amended, drying his thighs, and then reaching for his jeans. This morning, he’d used the excuse of going for a swim to avoid having to make a decision about when he was leaving. After last night, he knew he couldn’t put it off much longer.

Catriona had been particularly irritating the previous evening. Far from trying to understand his position, she had accused him of avoiding her, of avoiding any discussion about their future. She’d even asked if he found her new assistant attractive, as if that were relevant. He grimaced. She surely couldn’t imagine he was interested in Jaime Harris. For God’s sake, he’d been civil to the woman, that was all. Catriona’s constant carping about his treatment of other females simply wasn’t warranted.

He zipped up his jeans, leaving the button at his waist unfastened as he towelled his hair. Dammit, what kind of a life were they going to have together if she didn’t trust him? Since his divorce from Mary Beth, he’d never had another serious relationship.

He looped the towel about his neck, and stared broodingly towards the headland. Obviously the bug that had sapped his strength and brought him here was still infecting his system. Right now, he couldn’t think about the future with any enthusiasm at all. God, he didn’t even know what the future held, and the more Catriona pushed him, the more reluctant he was to placate her.

A shadow moved suddenly near the dunes that sloped down to the beach, and he stiffened. Dammit, he realised impatiently, it was that woman again: Jaime Harris. Had Catriona set her to spy on him as well?

The unlikelihood of that scenario brought a cynical compression to his lips. Catriona would never do that. Particularly not when the woman was younger than she was. More likely, she was still having a problem with sleeping. He knew what it was like to wake early in the morning and not be able to fall asleep again. He pulled a wry face. His being here at this hour was proof of that.

It was obvious from the way she was trying to melt back into the shadows that she was as unwilling to acknowledge the encounter as before. And he was tempted to let her go, without embarrassing her again. But what the hell? he thought. Maybe this was what he needed. Perhaps talking to someone else would lift the weight of his problems for a short while.

It couldn’t have been much fun for her so far. Working for Catriona all day, and then being expected to entertain herself every evening, was not his idea of the ideal job. He’d noticed that, despite his invitation, she hadn’t used the Toyota over the weekend. He suspected Catriona had kept her busy. When Catriona was in the throes of composition, she tended not to consider anyone’s needs but her own.

Abandoning his mood of introspection, he turned and looked directly at her, so that she was obliged either to acknowledge she had seen him or risk offending him by pretending she hadn’t. A faint smile touched his lips as he watched her indecision, although he guessed the outcome was a foregone conclusion. He could almost sense what she was thinking, as she hovered between recognition and rejection, but he wasn’t surprised when she gave in to his approach.

‘Good morning,’ he said as he sauntered, barefoot, across the sand towards her. His lips twitched. ‘We must stop meeting like this.’

Her lips tightened. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said stiffly. ‘I always seem to be invading your space.’

‘It’s a free country,’ he responded carelessly, aware that her greeting had been less friendly than it might have been. Dammit, surely she wasn’t offended because he’d accosted her? He couldn’t believe she might be embarrassed by his half-naked state.

‘You’ve been swimming,’ she said, and it was more a statement than a question. She wanted to get away from him, he knew, but the courtesies had to be observed. Her formality amused him. It was such a refreshing change.

‘Mmm,’ he said, aware that he was studying her with rather more interest than he had done thus far. His first impressions of her had been too facile. There was intelligence, as well as perception, in her face.

And she had great legs, he noticed, his eyes dropping briefly below her waist. She’d found some shorts from somewhere, and the awful trousers had disappeared, revealing slender calves and neat ankles. Of course, they were not the sort of shorts he would have liked to see her wearing, he thought. With her waist, she didn’t need to resort to an elasticated band, and they were cotton instead of silk. But he could imagine how she would look in the alternative, with a matching silk vest, instead of the baggy cotton T-shirt she had on.

‘I was just going back,’ she murmured, the faint flush of heat that stained her throat revealing she was not unaware of his appraisal.

For someone used to working with men, she was very sensitive, he reflected. He couldn’t imagine any of the women of his acquaintance behaving that way. And she was a woman who had been prepared to leave her home and family, and take a job in completely alien surroundings, he appended as that beguiling trace of familiarity gripped him once again.

Dammit, did he know her? he wondered. Was that why she was regarding him as if he’d just crawled out from beneath the nearest stone? But no. Although he had been wary of her, she had shown no hostility towards him the first morning she was here, when he’d encountered her by the pool. On the contrary, it was he who had been suspicious of her motives. So what had happened since to cause her to change her mind?

Catriona?

‘You’re not going for a swim?’ he found himself saying now as she turned away, and her eyes darted disbelievingly to his face.

‘A swim?’

‘Why not?’ he countered, not quite knowing why he had suggested it himself. Except that he wanted to dispel the animosity she seemed to be exhibiting towards him. For some crazy reason, he resented her regarding him as her enemy. Whatever Catriona had said—and he guessed it must be something to do with their relationship—this woman had no reason to censure him.