Partners in Love

by Saunders, Jean

  They wrapped up warmly and set out for the afternoon walk. The air was crisp and cold, and Cornwall was in one of its most dramatic moods, windswept and gloriously wild, and Robin loved it. The wind tore at their hair and cut through their voices, but there was a primitive freedom about the elements that invigorated her. For a while all personal problems were reduced to insignificance, submerged in the glories of nature.

  Luke held her hand, but it was companionship and not passion that tightened his grip, the need of one human being for another in appreciating the majestic forces at work there: crashing seas foaming against gaunt black cliffs; tall grasses and bracken yielding to the wind; the scent of the ocean as it rushed into sandy coves and inlets. Cornwall, land of legends, home ...

  Robin felt an odd pricking in her eyes. She might have voiced her thoughts to Luke then, tremulously and revealingly, had the wind not carried the words away. And besides, by then they had neared the building site, and his thoughts were elsewhere, on practical, material things now, and the moment was gone.

  “Quite a difference since you saw it last, isn’t there?” Luke yelled in her ear. “It’s starting to make sense now, and you can see the similarity to the complex in Ibiza.”

  Robin nodded. Her throat constricted a little. Clearly, Ibiza hadn’t meant the same to him as it had to her, except that for a while he had been furious at the insult to his ego when she had locked him out of her bedroom. It proved her point, she told herself tightly.

  “You see the stepped shape where the villas will be built?” Luke still had to shout right in her ear to make himself heard above the roar of the wind. “And the ample spaces for the trees for the necessary seclusion? The only concession we shall have to make is a proper concrete flight of steps leading to the beach, so that our guests won’t break their legs getting down there, but all that will be adequately screened too. But I don’t need to explain all this, do I? You’ve seen the plans, and now that you’ve seen the other complex, you must agree that your first objections were unjustified.”

  His voice was confident, powerful. He had known all along that he could override any objections. Hers were of little importance anyway, since Luke was her father’s business partner in this project. Robin’s wishes had never entered into it. She felt oddly deflated, seeing Luke at that moment as implacable as the gaunt black cliffs that bent the ocean with their fortresslike solidity. As Luke bent everyone to his wishes.

  They turned back to the manor, for suddenly Robin found that the elements were exhausting her, despite the look of tingling health they brought to her skin. At any other time she might have expected Luke to compliment her, but during the rest of that day it slowly dawned on her that Luke was taking her very much at her word. Apart from the mistletoe kisses, he acted the part of family friend, no more. She couldn’t fault his impeccable manners, and he seemed attentive and relaxed. His apparent acceptance of her wishes left her piqued and suspicious. She didn’t trust him. He wasn’t the Luke she knew so well. She missed that other Luke ... She was definitely going soft in the head, Robin thought grimly.

  The phone rang just after lunch on Boxing Day. When James answered it, he told Luke the call was for him. Luke was gone for ten minutes to answer it, and when he came back, there was something about his smile that made Robin’s heart jolt a little.

  “That was Carlotta,” he told her, and she knew she’d been right to feel inexplicably chilled. “She’s here in England to do some recordings. She arrived only an hour ago, phoned my house and got this number from my answering machine. She’ll be staying in London for a week, and she’s invited us both to a New Year’s Eve party up there.”

  “Us? You mean me as well?” Robin echoed stupidly. Why on earth would Carlotta want her tagging along, unless it was to have her as a foil for her own dark Latin beauty!

  “You as well, Robin,” Luke said calmly. “Well, since I’ve enjoyed your father’s hospitality here over Christmas, I thought taking you along to Carlotta’s party would be a nice way of saying thank you. It’ll be something to remember, I promise you. Carlotta never does anything by halves!”

  I bet she doesn’t, Robin thought angrily. She would refuse to go. She had no wish to see them together with her as the gooseberry. At James’s query, Luke was explaining who Carlotta was, and her father evidently saw the New Year’s Eve party as no more than a social occasion that sounded exciting.

  “I’m sure you’ll enjoy that, darling,” he said. “It’ll be a bit like old times, when you accompanied Elaine Fowler to some of her glittering parties, won’t it? There may even be people there whom you know, if it’s to do with the recording business. I’m glad you asked her, Luke. She needs something like this to put her back in top form again.”

  It was a conspiracy, Robin thought helplessly. She was being manipulated on all sides, and she wouldn’t give in! But New Year’s Eve had always seemed a particularly emotional time of the year to Robin, and not a time to spend alone. She met the briefest challenge in Luke’s eyes. He expected her to refuse.

  “I’d love to come, Luke,” she heard herself say sweetly. “Thank you for asking me.”

  Chapter Twelve

  She didn’t have to extract a promise from Luke that they wouldn’t stay in London overnight. He had a business meeting the next morning in a Bristol hotel with a Belgian hotelier who was only in town for a few days. As his secretary, Luke would need her there to take notes.

  “I’m sorry I shall have to drag you away from the party soon after midnight, like Cinderella,” Luke remarked as his car sped them along the motorway from Bristol to London.

  “Please don’t be,” she said quickly. “I’m sure I’ll have had enough by then, if the party is as glossy as some of those I attended with Mrs. Fowler!”

  “Of course, you’ve been involved in this kind of thing before, haven’t you, Robin?” He glanced at her in the darkened interior of the car. “Our Carlotta will be the star tonight, but you look very beautiful too. I’m proud to be your escort.”

  “Thank you.”

  Robin felt like weeping at these stilted platitudes. There seemed to be a barrier between them that grew higher every day. Since Carlotta’s phone call, Luke had been more on edge than he had been since Robin had known him, and she wondered if he was regretting asking her to go with him.

  All the closeness between them had vanished. It was as if he had never held her close to his heart so that their two hearts beat as one, as if his kisses had never taken her to heights of desire and awakened her to new and tumultuous sensations. As if he had never loved her ... She had to face the stark truth: Luke had never loved her. He had never pretended it was love he felt for her. And if she was to survive the evening, she had better play a part. She had no wish to be seen as the little lovesick secretary whom Luke had dragged along out of a sense of obligation. She would be as cool and sophisticated as she knew how.

  Less than two hours later they were walking into the foyer of the huge London hotel, which glittered with lights and personalities from the TV and recording worlds. Carlotta greeted them at once, dazzlingly beautiful in red silk, jewels gleaming at her throat and in her hair. It was her show, all right, Robin realised.

  She had a dark man in tow, Spanish like herself, whom she introduced as her record producer, Señor Juan Domingo. He was tall and elegant. When she suddenly became aware of what Carlotta was saying to Señor Domingo, Robin was struck by total disbelief.

  “Juan, darling, this is Luke Burgess, whom you have heard me mention before and of whom you are most ridiculously jealous!” Carlotta oozed Latin charm at him, laughing as if the whole suggestion of her having any attachment to Luke were hilarious. “And this is Robin, his so-lovely English fiancée. Didn’t I tell you that she has the most fabulous golden hair? Robin, darling, you look simply beautiful. Come and meet some people.”

  They were drawn into the melee before Robin could respond. It was only because she had met Carlotta before that she noted the slightest tremor
in her voice as she made the outrageous introductions. And from the way Luke was gripping her arm as they moved into the main salon of the hotel, she knew exactly why he had brought her here — and why he had said nothing of his reasons before today. If he had done so, she would certainly never have come and been a party to this.

  As Carlotta went off with her Juan to greet other newcomers, Robin saw her flash a look of gratitude towards Luke, but she had no chance to explode with fury for the moment. A couple of people whom she remembered from her days with Elaine Fowler suddenly recognised her and came rushing up to say hello.

  “Robin, how marvellous you look. As soon as Carlotta mentioned your name, we thought it must be the same Robin Pollard we knew. And this is your fiancé, is it? Nice to meet you.”

  As someone more famous came into view they drifted off quickly, flitting like butterflies among the rich and the influential — but they didn’t matter a damn right at that moment. What did matter was Luke’s deception. Robin had expected to play a part that night, but not the part of his fiancée.

  “How could you do this to me?” she grated at him, under cover of the noise and music blaring out from the salon. “It’s just about the meanest trick you’ve played yet. If you think I’m going along with it —”

  He leaned towards her, a smile on his face, looking for all the world as if he were an attentive lover, his arm around her waist, his mouth close to her cheek.

  “You will because I say you will. It’s only for this one night, and I assure you it’s not for any personal reasons. You’ve made it plain what you think of my advances, and I’ve no desire to jump into bed with a porcupine, whatever you think.” He was deliberately crude, and when she gasped he pressed his lips to her mouth for a second, as lovingly as the part demanded. “Don’t worry, once this party’s over, we’ll revert to our usual selves, dear Robin. This is for Carlotta, not for me. She’s been crazy over Juan Domingo for months, and she wants to marry him. Being the hot-blooded Latin that he is, he somehow got the mistaken idea that Carlotta was smitten with me.”

  “I wonder why!” Robin snapped sarcastically.

  “So when she phoned me at your father’s house” — he went on as if she hadn’t spoken, still playfully nuzzling her cheek as they mingled with the other guests — “she begged me to bring you along and let our so-called engagement be a decoy to cool Juan down a little. It’s not meant to be anything more, if that’s what’s worrying you, Robin. I’m not insisting on any intimate scenes. Just look on it as part of the job. Many a boss has expected more from his secretary than one small harmless deception for one evening.”

  Robin looked at him angrily. His cool gaze gave nothing away. All this meant nothing to him, she thought sickly. He couldn’t see what this pretend engagement would do to her, even for one evening. She thanked God that he couldn’t guess.

  “If I do this, will you release me from my obligation to stay on as your secretary until the complex is finished?” The words were out before she could stop them. Luke didn’t answer for a minute. He must surely hear the pounding of her heart, even above the din, she thought. They were pressed so close that he must feel it.

  “Providing you’ll stay until I find a replacement,” Luke said shortly.

  “Done,” she replied, feeling as if she were signing half of her life away. But she couldn’t go on that way, seeing him every day, wanting him, loving him and knowing he wasn’t for her. Even though, as it now appeared, Carlotta wasn’t the woman in his life, there would always be another, and another. Hadn’t all the signs pointed that way? She had Maureen’s word on it and that of Mrs. Somerton, who knew him so well.

  “Now that we’ve sealed the bargain, look the part, my darling,” Luke said aggressively. “We don’t want Juan to suspect that our relationship isn’t perfect, do we? It would help if you pretended to have eyes for no one but me. Is it so impossible to pretend to be in love with me, just for a few hours?”

  “I’ll do my best,” Robin murmured, raising luminous emerald eyes to meet his. He must never guess that the softness there was real, that as she melted against him with a little sigh when his arm tightened around her, Robin’s heart was nearly breaking from the poignancy of all this. She loved him so much, and he was asking her to play the part of a woman in love! And so she would. They had made a bargain, and once this farce was over and Luke had kept his part of it and found a secretary to take her place, she could get out of his life for good. She could forget that Luke Burgess ever existed.

  The dance music was romantic and dreamy, and Luke held her close. She wore a silvery dress and high-heeled shoes. Her only jewelry was her mother’s emerald necklace and Luke’s earrings. They moved together as one person. Robin closed her eyes as Luke’s lips moved softly against her cheek, her hair, giving a superb performance of a man very much in love with the woman in his arms.

  She tried to stay objective, to remember that this was solely for show — tried desperately not to let the ice around her heart melt as she was melting in his arms. Tomorrow this would be no more than a bittersweet memory to cherish for always, so for tonight why not forget all the hurt from the way Luke had got her there and let the fantasy continue? She was in his arms, where she most wanted to be, and all the tension between them was gone. He loved her, he loved her, and Robin loved him with a wild, sweet love that had no yesterday and no tomorrow. Only there, that night, the moment that Luke’s deception had produced. Enjoy it, said her heart, enjoy it while you can.

  “You’re doing great,” Luke whispered in her ear as the music finished. “I could almost believe you myself!”

  She smiled up at him, hoping he wouldn’t guess why the sparkle in her eyes was suddenly shimmer-bright. She hugged his arm, playing her part, playing it to heartbreaking perfection.

  It was so easy to slip into the role of Luke’s fiancée, so alarmingly sweet to believe that it wasn’t pretence at all but the real thing. Especially at midnight, when by tradition all the lights went out for a moment and she was clasped in his arms and his mouth sought hers. Every sinew of his body possessed her for those timeless moments as he kissed her, and desire rippled through her like a flame, pulsating and uncontrollable. She gave an involuntary shudder at the exquisite sensations, and Luke released her at once, misconstruing her reaction.

  “I apologise,” he said in a ragged murmur. “Whether this engagement is true or false, I still find you a very desirable woman, Robin, and I’m afraid I got a little carried away.”

  Her eyes blurred, and she was thankful that the lights remained off for a few more seconds. If they hadn’t, Luke would surely have seen the truth in her face. The cool mask was back in place by the time the room was ablaze with light once more.

  “It’s all right,” she said huskily. “Luke, you did say we needn’t stay long after midnight, didn’t you? I’m beginning to feel tired, and it’s a long drive home.”

  Normally she could have danced the night away and still have been ready for the office the next day. But this was no normal night, and her nerves had been strained to the limit. He nodded at once.

  “We’ll stay another ten minutes, then start making our good-byes if we can find Carlotta. I’ve had enough now too.”

  Robin swallowed. Enough of her, maybe. She couldn’t blame him. A night such as this would probably end only one way for Luke Burgess, and with Robin it never did. Once, it had nearly happened. Funny now, to think it was Carlotta who had ended it. Carlotta, of whom Robin had been so jealous at the time and who hadn’t been an important part of Luke’s life after all. Funny ... and yet not funny at all.

  At last they were able to get away, and from the beaming smiles on Carlotta’s and Juan’s faces, Robin and Luke had made a good job of their so-called engagement. Presumably, in time, when Carlotta had a gold wedding ring on her finger, she might tell her husband casually that her two English friends had called the whole thing off. And he might just say how sad, when they had looked so right for each other.


  Robin stopped tormenting herself, making her mind a blank as they drove back along the motorway, truthfully very tired now. Luke told her to sleep if she wanted to, and though she fought against it, sleep overcame her. She awoke with some embarrassment to find her head leaning against Luke’s shoulder as he stopped the car at her flat.

  “Are you all right?” His voice was distant, his question no more than a polite enquiry. They might never again be as close as they had been all that evening.

  “I’m fine,” she lied. “What time in the morning, Luke?”

  “I’ll be here for you at ten-thirty. It’s not an early session. Sleep well, and thank you for tonight, Robin.”

  She nearly said it was her pleasure, but the words stuck in her throat. They would sound either like an invitation or appallingly sarcastic, and she didn’t want either meaning taken at that moment. She just wanted to sleep, to blot out the entire evening from her mind, the pleasure and the pain.

  “Good night,” she said, closing the car door and trying not to run into the building as the need to be alone overwhelmed her. She heard Luke’s car as he drove around the green to his own house. It might have been an ocean that separated them. Cinderella had been to the ball, but for her the good times were over. There was no Prince Charming.

  *

  Robin’s pride kept her from asking Luke if he wanted her to write the ad for a new secretary, though if he hadn’t done it by the end of the week, she intended to draft it and leave it on his desk for his approval. After a meeting with a Belgian client, he had gone off to look over a possible site for a luxury hotel at Ostend. He wouldn’t be back until the weekend. It gave her a breathing space, but she knew then that she wouldn’t change her mind. It was impossible to continue working with him.