Perfect Partner

‘Oh, you’re impossible!’ Melanie said disgustedly. ‘I’ll call you on Friday to see how you got on.’

‘Not too early,’ Juliet taunted. ‘You never know, I might not be alone.’

‘You should be so lucky!’ Melanie gave an angry snort before ringing off.

She really shouldn’t tease her friend in that way, but Melanie had always been so easy to tease, pretending a sophistication she just didn’t have. And she would try to run her life for her. Even at school she had arranged blind dates for her. Unfortunately this habit had carried on through adulthood.

Juliet changed into serviceable denims and a tee-shirt, then went into her study to finish writing the chapter she had had to leave earlier. She was writing the sequel to Mason’s Heritage, continuing the story of the Mason family from the late 1800s where she had last left them.

She hated the constant interruptions to her work and found it difficult to get back into the story, liking to choose the moment she broke off from her work, often losing an idea completely if she were forced to leave it for a day or so.

Maybe she should move away from London, away from the interruptions, she certainly had enough money to do that; Mason’s Heritage was very profitable. But she had lived in London for the last seven years, in the same apartment, and couldn’t really see any reason to change.

It was after three by the time she put an end to Chapter Five, and before going through to her bedroom she left the handwritten sheets beside her typewriter to be typed in the morning.

It seemed as if her head had barely touched the pillow, blessed sleep taking over, when the telephone on her bedside table began to ring. The shock of it made her shoot up in bed, a sick feeling washing over her. She snatched up the receiver. ‘Yes?’ she snapped, a painful thumping starting at the back of her eyes due to lack of sleep.

‘Oh, good,’ a familiar male voice greeted. ‘I’m glad I caught you before you went to the office.’

Office? What office? She blinked to clear the sleep from her brain. ‘Who is that?’ she demanded crossly.

‘Forgotten me already?’ the man gave a throaty laugh. ‘That isn’t very flattering.’

Jake Matthews! She had forgotten all about him. ‘What time is it?’ she groaned, collapsing back against the pillows.

‘Almost eight o’clock.’

‘Oh, God. …’ she closed her eyes. No wonder she didn’t feel as if she had been to sleep—she hadn’t!

‘Did I wake you?’ the idea suddenly seemed to occur to him.

She sighed. ‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ she snapped.

Jake gave a throaty chuckle. ‘You should be thanking me.’

‘I should?’

‘Mm, I’ve stopped you being late for work.’

Work? Goodness, yes, he thought she worked for Michael at Dickson Publishing. ‘I wasn’t going into the office today. Is there any special reason for your call?’ Perhaps he was going to cancel their date for tonight. The way she felt at the moment she could sleep the whole day and night away.

‘I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t dreamt you,’ he told her huskily.

‘And?’

‘I haven’t,’ he said with satisfaction.

Heavens, this man was a flirt! No doubt she was supposed to feel flattered by this early morning show of attention. She had to give Jake his due, he knew all the right moves. The only trouble was she wasn’t interested. ‘How did you get my telephone number? No—don’t tell me,’ she sighed. ‘Melanie.’

‘Right,’ he chuckled.

‘Was there anything else?’ she asked distantly, just longing to go back to sleep. Melanie’s dinner party hadn’t just interrupted one day’s work, usually she would have been thinking of getting up by this time, and would have been typing before ten o’clock. She always typed her own work, she found it easier that way. Besides, she doubted anyone else would be able to read her almost microscopic writing.

‘Plenty,’ Jake drawled, not at all put off by her cold manner. ‘But I think it’s a little early in the day for an obscene telephone call.’

A reluctant smile curved her lips. ‘Don’t you have to get to work?’ She refused to show him how much he was disturbing her. His voice was so clear, so close, that it almost sounded as if he were in the room with her—in the bed!

‘Thanks for reminding me,’ he said ruefully. ‘I’d like to tell you to stay just where you are until tonight, but I don’t think you would agree.’

‘You’re right—I wouldn’t.’

‘Shame. Okay, Juliet, eight-thirty, right?’

‘Jake!’ she tried to catch him before he rang off.

‘Yes?’ he answered instantly. ‘You aren’t going to let me down, are you? I had to cancel an important engagement tonight so I could see you instead.’

‘With Patricia Hall?’ she queried sarcastically, feeling more awake by the second, remembering now that he was supposed to have a girl-friend.

‘Melanie is a busy little bee, isn’t she?’ he taunted. ‘I take it she was the one who supplied that bit of information.’

‘You take it right. And if Patricia Hall thinks she has a claim on you I’d rather not get involved.’

‘Pat doesn’t have a claim on me, no woman does. We see each other when we’re both free, which hasn’t been very often lately. My engagement was with one of the guests scheduled to be on my show. I usually like to have at least one meeting with them before we record the show.’

‘And who was it this time?’ Her interest quickened in spite of herself, for she found her fellow writers a fascinating subject.

‘Gregory James,’ Jake laughed. ‘He doesn’t bear grudges.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ she said dryly. ‘Although it could be quite fun to see him take a swing at you in front of the camera.’

‘That isn’t nice, Juliet,’ he chided teasingly.

‘No,’ she agreed, laughing.

‘I’ll see you later—when you can expect suitable retribution.’

Juliet lay back on the bed once he had rung off, wide awake now, her mind racing. Gregory James might not bear grudges, but she did, and in front of thousands of the public would be a perfect time to let Jake know who she really was. The idea mushroomed and grew, until she was sure it could work. It would take a little planning, good timing, and most of all, sheer nerve, but it would be worth it just to see the embarrassed surprise on Jake’s face.

How to arrange it, that was the thing. She couldn’t approach Jake herself, that would give the whole game away, so that left Michael. She wasn’t sure he would play along with something like this. It would be a deliberate move on his part to make a fool of Jake, and Michael was a businessman before he was her friend. Not that she could blame him for that, she was far from being the only author on his books, and Jake Matthews had been known to ruin a book’s sales with a few cutting words, something no sensible publisher would want at any cost.

Maybe Melanie could be persuaded to help; Michael rarely denied his wife anything. But first of all she would have to persuade Melanie!

‘No,’ her friend instantly refused once the idea was outlined to her.

Somehow she had known her friend was going to say that, had known the expensive lunch she had treated her to would be a waste of her time and money. And she had to admit that in the clear light of day, the fog of sleep completely cleared from her brain, that it was a childish idea. It could also have been harmful to her career.

‘I had a feeling you would say that,’ she grimaced. ‘Let’s just forget the idea.’