An Innocent Affair

‘If you didn’t want to see me, why come here?’

‘I’ve already told you—’

‘Ever heard of the telephone?’ he interrupted cryptically.

Hope’s mouth opened and closed several times before her voice returned. ‘I didn’t think of that.’

‘Of course you didn’t…’ he drawled.

The hateful knowing look in his eyes made her want to scream. ‘If you think I used this as a pretext to see you,’ she returned scornfully, ‘you couldn’t be more wrong!’

‘Now there’s an interesting idea,’ he mused, resting his chin on his steepled fingers.

She couldn’t look at his hands without imagining… Hope took a deep, steadying breath. I will not lose my temper, she repeated slowly to herself. I won’t! ‘Are you going to come?’ She sounded calm and reasonable.

‘I could hardly refuse after they’ve asked me to be godfather to little Joe.’

‘They haven’t.’ She closed her eyes and pushed back the wing of hair that flopped in her eyes. ‘They’ve asked me to be his godmother.’

‘Isn’t that nice?’ His teeth were as white and even as your average wolf’s.

‘You’re enjoying this!’ she accused.

For the first time he looked less than indolent as his body stiffened in the chair. ‘Far from it,’ he snapped. ‘But I’m not going to offend friends just because they have the misfortune to be related to a shallow little trollop like you! Sorry,’ he corrected, looking her up and down slowly, ‘cancel the “little”…’

‘I’m wasting my time here.’ She turned on her heel and strode from the office. ‘How do I get out of here?’ she asked the surprised-looking PA.

‘First left and take the lift. If you’re in a hurry…?’

‘I am.’

‘You could go through the factory floor, turn right and down the stairs.’

Hope was blind to the eyes that followed her across the factory floor. Matheson cars were strictly low-tech, at least as far as their construction went, so there was no robot technology—just a dedicated, highly trained workforce. She didn’t even register the warning cry as the ground disappeared beneath her.

At moments like this a girl with any sense would faint, she thought. Hope waited for the blackness to enfold her and block out the excruciating pain, but it didn’t. Someone flicked a switch and the inspection pit was illuminated by brilliant light. Hope showed extreme restraint and moaned softly in reply to several anxious enquiries.

‘Get the boss.’

Get an ambulance, she wanted to scream. Instead she fainted, for the first time in her life.

CHAPTER THREE

‘DON’T touch her,’ She heard an authoritative voice grate.

To Hope, this sounded like excellent advice. The pain seemed to be everywhere, but the moment she tried to move it had been obvious the worst damage had been done to her left leg.

‘We thought we ought to give her the kiss of life.’

‘Or put her in the recovery position,’ another voice added.

‘For God’s sake, man, she’s breathing. She’s just fainted, and from the angle of that leg it’s just as well.’ The brusque reply was much closer this time. ‘Where’s that ambulance?’

‘I don’t faint.’ She felt impelled to protest this point.

‘She’s awake; she said something.’

‘What is it, Hope?’ The touch on her forehead was firm but gentle, and she could smell Alex’s distinctive cologne mingled with the warm, musky scent of his body.

‘I didn’t faint.’ She forced her eyes open and found his face very close.

‘That’s too bad. I expect it’s hurting like hell.’

‘My leg?’

‘It looks broken,’ he told her matter-of-factly. ‘Where else does it hurt?’

‘Everywhere.’ Weak tears started to seep from her eyes and she felt ashamed. ‘I’m meant to be modelling swimwear in the Maldives next month.’ A spurt of hysterical laughter followed this admission.

‘The ambulance won’t be long. Just hold on.’ She sensed rather than saw him move away. Agitation made her move restlessly. ‘Don’t try to move, Hope.’

‘Promise you won’t go away,’ she whispered fiercely. Her eyes were glittering feverishly as she caught his hand in a surprisingly strong grip.

A flicker of something close to shock crossed Alex’s face. He froze, and his eyes dwelt momentarily on her tightly clenched fingers before moving to her face. ‘I promise.’ Hope gave a sigh and relaxed.

When the paramedics arrived she was forced to relinquish her hold on Alex’s arm. The loss of contact made her come close to losing her tenuous control.

‘She needs something for the pain,’ she heard him say harshly.

‘Don’t worry, sir. We won’t move her until that’s sorted.’

Too right you won’t, mate, Hope thought, trying to bring the bewildering scene into focus. This being brave business was not all it was cracked up to be. She made sudden contact with a pair of familiar grey eyes. Something in the calmness of his gaze must have transmitted itself to her, because it was suddenly a lot easier to follow the paramedic’s instructions to grip the mask and breathe in the gas and air mixture. This almost instantaneously took the edge off the pain. It didn’t disappear, but it was easier to cope with.

Someone stuck an injection in her thigh before her leg was cocooned in a splint and she was strapped to a stretcher.

‘Are you coming with us, sir?’

Hope pulled the mask off her face. ‘You don’t have to.’ Alex bent his head closer to catch her words and she repeated herself.

‘I’ll come.’ Hope closed her eyes and gave a small, satisfied smile. Why she should feel safer knowing he was within grabbing distance was a mystery she would unravel at a later date.

‘How are you feeling?’ Alex raised his voice against the noise of the siren. Dear God, man, he thought with savage impatience, why not simply talk about the weather? That would be almost as inane! He functioned well in a crisis, but once command of the situation had been taken out of his hands he felt frustratingly impotent.

‘Drunk,’ came back the surprising reply.

Alex looked questioningly to the paramedic. ‘It’s the drugs and the gas and air. It affects some people that way.’

‘Do you know something?’