Man-Hater

‘Very well,’ he continued, taking her silence for consent. ‘In that case perhaps I’d better introduce myself properly. I’m…’ he hesitated momentarily, ‘Jake Fielding.’

‘Jake.’

Somehow she found herself taking the hand he offered, her fingers curling instinctively at the first touch of the vibrantly male flesh against them.

He must have noticed her recoil, and she saw the speculation in his eyes as he bent to unlock the car door—the passenger door, Kelly noticed, as he swung it open and waited.

She looked up at him.

‘You don’t expect me to let you drive?’

‘Why not? I have a current driving license, if that’s what’s worrying you. You look tense and overtired,’ he added unkindly. ‘I thought you might enjoy an opportunity to relax before meeting your friends. Obviously you aren’t looking forward to the weekend…’

‘How did you know that?’

He looked surprised by her vehemence and shrugged. ‘It’s obvious, if you didn’t need to feel on the defensive in some way you wouldn’t have felt it necessary to hire me.’

There was no way Kelly could argue against such logic, and somehow she found herself slipping into the passenger seat while Jake put their cases in the boot and then came round to join her.

Whatever else she could say about him, she had to admit he was immaculately dressed, she thought, watching him discard the Burberry he had been wearing and toss it casually into the back of her car.

The fine beige wool trousers and toning checked shirt were exactly what one would expect to find a top executive type wearing in the country, as was the cashmere sweater he was wearing over the shirt, and Kelly had to repress a strange pang of pain as he started the car. It seemed so wrong somehow that with all her success and wealth she had to pay someone to accompany her to Sue’s. What had gone wrong with her life?

Nothing, she told herself stoutly as the engine fired. She had everything she wanted; everything. Love was a chimera, she knew that; it didn’t exist. God, she only had to look around her at her friends!

The automatic seat belt device proffered the belt and Kelly reached for it automatically, shocked by the tingling sensation of hard male fingers brushing her own as Jake performed the small service for her.

She looked unwillingly at his hands. Dark hairs curled disturbingly against the wafer-thin gold wristwatch he wore. A present from a grateful customer? she wondered nastily, hating herself for the thought, and hating even more the strange pain that accompanied it.

‘All set?’

She nodded briefly, reminding herself that Jake was simply a means of protecting herself against Jeremy—nothing more.

AS JAKE HAD PREDICTED, they were early enough to miss the morning traffic and once they were free of London the roads were clear enough for Kelly to be able to appreciate the beauty of a countryside slowly awakening to spring. She had driven down to Sue’s before, but never along this route, which seemed to meander through small villages and open countryside and when she commented on this fact, Jake merely said that since they were driving to the New Forest the drive might just as well be as pleasant as possible. He praised the car and asked her how long she had had it, and yet there was no envy in the question; if anything, his tone was slightly amused and, nettled, Kelly responded coolly that she had bought it six months previously—as a birthday present.

She knew the moment the boastful words left her mouth that they were a mistake.

‘You bought it for yourself?’ The pity in his eyes made her long to cause him a corresponding pain, but caution prevailed. What did it matter what he thought? After this weekend she would never see him again, and yet even though she closed her eyes and feigned sleep she kept seeing over and over again the pity in his eyes.

‘We’ll soon be reaching the Forest.’

The quiet words were pitched low enough to rouse her without waking her if she had been deeply asleep, and Kelly lifted her head, glancing through the window, entranced to see the massed bulk of the Forest ahead of them.

‘Would you like to stop for lunch?’

‘Sue is expecting us,’ Kelly told him curtly. She didn’t like the way he kept insisting on taking control. She was the one in control. Ever since Colin she had had a dread of anything else.

His shrug seemed to indicate that it meant little to him, and Kelly felt rather like a sulky child being humoured by a tolerant adult.

‘Tell me a little more about your friends,’ Jake instructed as the new spring greenery of the Forest closed round them. ‘How long have they been married? Do they have a family? I’ll have to know,’ he added when he saw her expression. ‘If they’re to accept me as a genuine friend of yours they’ll expect me to know something about them.’

Grudgingly admitting that he was right, Kelly explained about Sue’s miscarriage and consequent depression.

‘Umm, but that still doesn’t explain why you felt the need for a male companion. It obviously isn’t to boost your reputation with your friend or score off against her in some feminine way.’ He reduced speed, and glanced thoughtfully at her with cool grey eyes. ‘Something tells me there’s something you’re holding back.’

‘I’ve told you all you need to know,’ Kelly denied, uncomfortably aware of the assessing quality of his gaze and the hurried thudding of her own heart. She couldn’t admit the shameful truth; that she was using him as a barrier to hide behind, because for all her much vaunted independence, there was no other way she could get it through Jeremy’s thick skull that she was totally uninterested in him.

Sue and Jeremy had an attractive brick-built house not far from Ringwood. The Mercedes pulled up outside it shortly after one, and as Kelly climbed shakily out of the car, the front door opened and a plump, pretty blonde girl came rushing out, enveloping her in a warm hug.

‘Kelly, love, you look fantastic!’ Sue beamed up at her. Barely five foot two, her lack of inches was something Sue constantly bemoaned; that and her tendency to put on weight.

‘And this…’ she began appreciatively, glancing from Jake to Kelly.

‘Jake,’ Kelly introduced hurriedly. ‘I hope you don’t mind…’ Her voice trailed away, high colour touching her cheekbones as Sue grinned delightedly, ‘Mind? Kelly, you know me better than that. But why haven’t you told me before? I know you must be someone special,’ she confided to Jake, oblivious to Kelly’s agitation and embarrassment. ‘Kelly would never have brought you down here otherwise. I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever known her spend a weekend with any of her… Ah, here’s Jeremy,’ she broke off as the front door opened again and Jeremy emerged.

‘Darling, come and say hello to Kelly and Jake,’ Sue smiled, and Kelly heard the note of uncertainty in her voice; heard it and shivered with apprehension when she saw the expression in Jeremy’s eyes.

‘Kelly.’ He reached for her, his eyes hard. ‘I suppose I can’t kiss you properly with your friend here looking on.’ He contented himself with a light peck, but Kelly was conscious of Jake’s interested scrutiny. He was too astute, she admitted uneasily, and there was something about the way he watched her that she found unnerving. Perhaps he was an out-of-work actor simply studying human reactions, and yet there was something in the look he gave her as Jeremy released her and turned to shake hands with him that told her his interest had been specific rather than general.

‘Come on inside,’ Sue encouraged. ‘Lunch is ready—a cold buffet meal, that’s all, but I’ll take you upstairs to your room first.’

Their room! Kelly froze and heard Jeremy saying smoothly behind her, ‘I’ve finally managed to persuade Sue to join the twentieth century and to realise that consenting adults don’t want separate rooms.’

He had done it deliberately. Kelly could see it in his eyes. She wanted to protest; she felt like a trapped animal and knew that Jeremy was waiting for her to retract, and then, astoundingly, Jake was slipping an arm round her waist, drawing her back against his body. She could feel the even beat of his heart against her back, her body enveloped in a protective warmth that made her eyes sting with tears as he lowered his head and murmured against her hair, ‘What delightfully tactful friends you have, my love! I confess I hate wandering about in the darkness looking for the appropriate bedroom door!’

CHAPTER THREE

LUNCH was a nightmare during which Jeremy alternately humiliated Sue with his deliberate cruelty to her and cross-questioned Jake with a condescension that made Kelly wince.

Jake himself seemed impervious to his host’s insulting manner, parrying his questions with a calm ease that Kelly couldn’t help admiring, almost against her will. Her heart was in her mouth when Jeremy asked Jake what he did for a living, but Jake didn’t hesitate for a moment.

‘This and that,’ he murmured with an easy smile, and from Jeremy’s scowl Kelly knew that he had gathered from Jake’s careless comment that he was implying that he was wealthy enough not to have to work.

From then on the two men treated one another with cool hostility, and Kelly was glad to escape into the kitchen on the pretext of helping Sue with the washing up.

‘That was a lovely lunch,’ she complimented her friend. Privately, now that the initial glow of excitement occasioned by the arrival had gone, she thought her friend looked far too pale and listless.

‘Do you think so?’ Sue grimaced. ‘I think Jeremy believes I should have made more of an effort, but we seem to be entertaining constantly at the moment.’ She pulled a face. ‘I feel so tired, Kelly,’ she complained. ‘I’ve tried to tell him, but he just doesn’t understand—about anything.’

She gave a muffled sob, causing Kelly to put aside the teatowel and take her in her arms. Her private opinion that Jeremy was a creep and that her friend would be better off without him was something she couldn’t voice, so instead she comforted her by saying slowly, ‘You’ve had a bad time recently, Sue, you’re bound to be feeling a bit under the weather. You need a decent rest.’

‘That’s what Dad says,’ Sue agreed shakily, ‘but Jeremy says it’s impossible for us to get away at the moment. Dad has a villa in Corfu, he’s offered to lend it to us for Easter, but Jeremy doesn’t seem very keen.’ Her face suddenly lit up. ‘Kelly, I’ve had the most marvellous idea!’

Kelly’s heart sank as she guessed the words trembling on Sue’s lips, but it was too late to stop them, and to her consternation Jake walked into the kitchen, both hands full of empty plates, his eyebrows raised in query, as Sue burst out impulsively, ‘Oh, and you too, of course, Jake, you must both come…’

‘Come where?’

‘I was just telling Kelly that my father has a villa in Corfu. He’s offered to lend it to us for Easter—I’d love to get away, but Jeremy isn’t keen. I was just asking Kelly if she’d come with me, but it would be fantastic if we could make up a foursome.’ She pulled another wry face at Kelly and said frankly, ‘In fact I think Jeremy would prefer a foursome.’ Her eyes clouded as she admitted unhappily, ‘He’s grown so distant recently, Kelly, I sometimes think that perhaps…’