'I never thought that at all, but I do happen to know that for some months now a certain woman has been featuring quite frequently in your personal life.'
'You are, of course, referring to Lilian Ulrich, but it's an unfortunate fact that Lilian is travelling around Europe at the moment.'
She felt him willing her to look at him, and her glance was drawn relentlessly to those cold grey eyes observing her intently across the table. 'I presume you are well aware that you're projecting an image of someone who is totally faithless and heartless?' she asked, staring at him with a mixture of annoyance and disbelief.
His eyebrows rose a fraction above his mocking eyes. 'I'm shattered to learn that you can think that of me.
'If you love her, then you ought to be faithful to her while she's away,' Gina rebuked him.
'Love her?' he laughed cynically. 'My dear girl, don't tell me you believe in all that romantic nonsense?'
She felt the coldness of shock spiral through her, but she pulled herself together almost at once. 'I'm not ashamed of what I believe in, and I can only pity you for being such a cynic.'
'You don't have to pity me for believing in something which can be explained and understood more accurately than love.' His voice was lowered and harsh. 'I'm talking about desire, in case you didn't know. When you want someone or something, you damn well know you do, and there's no doubt about it!'
Gina promptly lost her appetite, and she placed her knife and fork on her plate to drink her coffee instead. 'Desire is purely a physical thing,' she pointed out stiffly.
'Like sex?'
She almost choked on a mouthful of coffee, and glanced hastily at her watch. 'I must get back to the office.'
'Don't you like sex, Georgina?' Jarvis smiled at her mockingly over the rim of his coffee-cup, and she felt a wave of embarrassing heat surge into her cheeks.
'Do you mind if we change the subject?'
'I gather you had an inexperienced tutor who fumbled and ruined the whole thing for you.'
He was assuming that she was not a virgin, and she did not know how to correct him, or if, indeed, she even wanted to, but she found herself raising her hands to her flaming cheeks and wishing the floor would cave in beneath her. He was about to add something to his remark, but she forestalled him with an angry, 'Will you please stop it, Jarvis!'
His speculative glance sharpened, then he shrugged carelessly. 'The discussion has ended, if that's what you wish.'
Jarvis called for the bill, and Gina felt her colour subsiding slowly when they left the restaurant and stepped into the lift, but her insides continued to shake, and the little she had eaten seemed to lodge half-way between her stomach and her tight throat when the lift dropped down to the fourth level.
'Until what time do you expect to be working this evening?' Jarvis broke the silence between them when he drove out of the car park, and the sound of his smooth, unperturbed voice was infinitely annoying.
'Nine… or perhaps nine-thirty,' she answered briefly and evasively. 'I can't be sure.'
'Do you often work these late hours?'
'Not often.' His strong, long-fingered hands rested lightly on the steering wheel. He had nice hands. His fingernails were kept short and clean, and the warmth of his hand seemed to be lingering on her arm where he had touched her when they had walked to where he had parked the car. What was she thinking about! She gathered her scattered wits about her and made a concerted effort to concentrate on the topic of conversation. 'There's a mystifying error in the details which were originally fed into the computer, and as a result the computer is giving out incorrect data. The error has to be located and corrected, and we don't have much time in which to do it,' she explained.
Jarvis glanced at her briefly. 'Will you be working alone?'
'Some of the computer room staff will have to remain on duty,' she enlightened him when he pulled up in front of the grey building that housed the offices of Becketts Engineering, and her hand reached impatiently for the door-catch. 'Thanks for the lunch.'
Her mind was centred on flight, but Jarvis's hand gripped her arm to prevent her from leaving the close intimacy of his car. 'When do I see you again?'
'I don't know,' she gulped, wishing he would remove his hand from her arm if only to allow her to breathe easier.
'I'll give you a call,' he said abruptly, releasing her at last, but the familiar gleam of mockery was in his grey eyes as he added, 'and I can promise you, Georgina, I don't fumble when I make love to a woman.'
Her breath locked in her throat. If he had intended to shock her then he had succeeded, she also felt threatened, and her green eyes flashed at him in defensive anger before she got out of the car and slammed the door behind her.
Gina worked later that evening than she had anticipated, and it was long after ten o'clock when she arrived at her flat. She was tired, it had been a long, exhausting day, and her meeting with Jarvis had left her considerably disturbed.
She flung her handbag on her bed and kicked off her high-heeled shoes. The carpeted floor felt good beneath her stockinged feet, and she removed the combs from her red-gold hair, shaking the heavy strands loose until it bounced lustrously about her shoulders. What she needed now was a hot, relaxing bath before going to bed, but that hollow feeling at the pit of her stomach drove her into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. The doorbell rang before the water could boil, and she switched off the kettle with an exclamation of annoyance before leaving the kitchen. Who could be calling on her at this late hour?
She opened the door as far as the safety chain would allow, and her heart leapt nervously into her throat. It was Jarvis, and his lean, hard body was encased in snug-fitting black slacks and sweater giving him a devilish and dangerous appearance.
'What are you doing here?' she demanded, her voice so horribly husky and shaky that she barely recognised it as her own.
'I have steak and chips from Antonio's around the corner,' he announced, holding out a large package for her inspection.
'You're crazy!'
'I'm hungry,' he corrected. 'Are you going to invite me in, or do I stand here on your doorstep all night?'
Sheer astonishment made Gina hesitate before she slid back the chain and opened the door to let him in. He stepped inside and walked past her, casting an appreciative glance about her cheaply but tastefully furnished flat before he deposited the package of food on the circular table where she usually ate her meals.
'Jarvis, do you know what time it is?' she asked dazedly, closing the door and walking across the room to where he was taking the polystyrene containers out of the brown paper packet.
'I'll get this ready while you fetch the knives and forks,' was the only answer she received and, sighing resignedly, she did as she was told. 'Ah, that's a good girl,' he smiled briefly when she returned. 'Now sit down and eat.'
Gina hovered beside the table, indecision gripping her while he cut into his steak and sampled it with relish. Her stomach twisted oddly and achingly, reminding her that she had gone without breakfast that morning, and that she had barely touched her lunch at the expensive restaurant Jarvis had taken her to. Her mouth watered when she lowered herself on to her chair, the tempting aroma of the spicy steak too much to resist, and suddenly Jarvis's unexpected appearance did not seem so crazy after all.
'I didn't realise I was this hungry.' She broke the oddly companionable silence between them when she had swallowed the last morsel of food and leaned back in her chair with a satisfied sigh. Their eyes met, and Jarvis smiled at her in a way that made her heart do a crazy flip. For goodness sake, girl, she warned herself, don't go soft on a man like Jarvis Cain unless you want to be swallowed alive!
She gathered the empty containers together and got to her feet. When she felt her toes curling into the carpet she realised for the first time that she was still in her stockinged feet, but it was too late now to feel embarrassed about it. 'Coffee?' she offered.
'Yes, thank you, Gina.'
H
er heart executed yet another flip in her breast as she turned towards the kitchen. That was the first time he had called her Gina, and she liked the sound of it on his lips.
She switched on the kettle for the second time that evening and made two cups of instant coffee, remembering that Jarvis drank his black without sugar.
Gina returned to the lounge to find that Jarvis had made himself comfortable on the sofa, and he gestured invitingly that she should join him there, but she chose to seat herself on the chair facing him. He observed her through narrowed, mocking eyes while they drank their coffee, and it unnerved her.
'Will you have dinner with me tomorrow evening?'
The invitation came without warning, but Gina was not going to allow herself to be startled into acceptance by his clever court-room tactics. 'Thanks for the invitation, but… no.'
A look of mild surprise flashed across his face as if he were not accustomed to women rejecting his invitations, but Gina had no qualms about it.
'Are you going to tell me why not?' Jarvis demanded with an element of danger in his quiet voice, and her body grew taut with the suspicion that she was being threatened.
'I have no desire to act as a stand-in for Lilian Ulrich.'
The knowledge that she might be encroaching on someone else's territory was only partly the truth. Jarvis was a man who would make demands on her which she could not and would not meet, and that was what frightened her.
'Did I say anything about wanting you to act as a stand-in?'
'No, but…' Her empty cup rattled precariously in the saucer when her hands started to shake, and she put it down quickly on the small table beside her chair. 'Why this sudden interest in me, Jarvis?' she demanded with a bluntness which surprised even herself.
'My interest might have been aroused much sooner if you hadn't decided to go into hiding these past two years,' he mocked her, his narrowed eyes glittering strangely. 'You're an extremely attractive woman, and you shouldn't find it strange that I have a desire to get to know you better.'
There was a blatant sensuality in the smile that curved his mouth, and her breathing felt restricted when she rose to her feet to stand in front of the open window which overlooked the well-lit Hillbrow street with its ceaseless traffic. She did not hear Jarvis get up, she was too busy trying to control her pulse rate, but she felt him behind her, and she was aware of that power he exuded which seemed to enfold her like a restricting cloak from which there might be no escape.
'Now that we've met again I have no intention of allowing you to escape me, so you might as well tell that boyfriend of yours to shop around elsewhere,' he said as if to stress her thoughts, and the deep timbre of his voice was like a physical caress that sent an odd, tingling sensation surging through her body. 'You're going to be mine, Georgina, and I'm not going to let anyone or anything stand in my way.'
Fear and indignation ignited flames of anger in her green eyes as she spun round to face him. 'I shall never be yours, not even if you're the last man alive on this earth!' She spat out the words, but the only reaction she received was a smile that made her feel like a child whose behaviour was being observed with tolerant amusement.
'In the not-too-distant future I shall prove those words a lie,' he warned, his jaw set with a relentless determination that made her tremble inwardly. 'Goodnight, Georgina, and think about what I said.'
Gina stood frozen while he let himself out, and only when the door closed behind him did she come alive. She crossed the room quickly and slid the safety chain into position, but her hands were shaking so much that she had difficulty in accomplishing this otherwise simple task. She was scared out of her wits, and it took a concentrated effort to calm herself.
You're going to be mine, and I'm not going to let anyone or anything stand in my way. His words echoed repeatedly through her mind while she lay awake that night, and he had seemed so confident that it frightened her. What did he have planned for her? Did he want her as a mistress whom he could discard the moment someone else caught his eye, or did he want her as a wife? She ruled out marriage, and that left…! No! She would rather die than become Jarvis Cain's mistress!
Gina did not sleep very well that night, and there were deep shadows beneath her eyes which her makeup refused to hide the following morning.
'You look as if you've had a bad night,' was the first thing Mitzi said when Gina walked into the office, and Gina did not attempt to deny it.
'I hardly slept at all,' she confessed tiredly, sagging into the swivel chair behind her desk.
'You take your work much too seriously, Gina.' Mitzi proffered her opinion, and Gina could not help wishing that overwork had been the only reason for the way she felt that morning.
She was fortunate that everything went off smoothly and without effort during her first few hours in the office, but the day started going awry at eleven when the telephone rang shrilly.
'It's for you, Gina,' Mitzi said a second later with her hand over the mouthpiece. 'It's the man with the sexy voice.'
Gina's palms felt damp. 'Tell him I'm not in the office.'
'I'm sorry, sir, but she's not in the office at the moment.' Mitzi obeyed Gina, but her glance darted nervously in her direction a second later. 'Just a moment, sir.' She placed her hand over the mouthpiece again. 'He says he knows I'm lying. What do I do now, Gina?'
'I'll take it,' Gina sighed resignedly and, steeling herself, she lifted the receiver on her desk. 'Hello, Jarvis.'
'Shame on you, Georgina, for encouraging that young lady to lie to me,' he rebuked her mockingly, and the velvety smoothness of his voice sent little shivers racing up her spine which were not altogether unpleasant.
'What do you want?' she demanded abruptly.
'Did you spare a thought for what I said last night?'
'No, I did not!' she snapped indignantly.
'Then I suggest you do, Gina, because I was deadly serious,' he warned in a way that made her feel choked with fear and something else which she refused to analyse.
'Go to hell, Jarvis!'
She slammed down the receiver, breathing heavily as if from an unaccustomed exertion.
'Well, that was brief and rather heated, wasn't it?' Mitzi remarked teasingly, and Gina's stinging reply was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone on Mitzi's desk. Mitzi answered it, and her glance shifted at once to Gina. 'Just a moment,' she told the caller before placing her hand over the mouthpiece. 'It's him again.'
Gina felt her insides starting to quake. 'Tell him I don't want to speak to him.'
'She said to tell you she doesn't wish to speak to you,' Mitzi informed Jarvis, but seconds later her eyes widened in something close to alarm. 'Yes, sir… certainly, sir.' Gina would not dare hazard a guess at what Jarvis had said to Mitzi, but her assistant looked shaken when she replaced the receiver, and she did not keep Gina in suspense. 'He said to tell you that he wants you to have dinner with him this evening, and since you don't wish to speak to him, he'll take your silence as acceptance.'
'Like hell I'll have dinner with him!' exploded Gina, reaching for the telephone book to look up Jarvis's number at his office.
'He also said he'd pick you up at seven this evening, and you were not to keep him waiting,' Mitzi added breathlessly.
'Oh, how I'd love to give that man a piece of my mind!' Gina muttered as she punched out the number on the telephone. A brisk female voice answered, and Gina said abruptly, 'Mr Cain, please.'
'I'm sorry, but Mr Cain has just this minute left the office, and he'll be in court for the rest of the day,' the woman informed Gina. 'Could I perhaps be of assistance?'
Gina felt deflated. 'No… it doesn't matter… thank you.'
'Did he refuse to speak to you?' Mitzi wanted to know, and Gina shook her head as she replaced the receiver.
'He's left the office, and he won't be in for the rest of the day.'
Mitzi nibbled thoughtfully at her cherry-red lip. 'If there's no way to contact him, then I guess you'll simply have to ha
ve dinner with him this evening.'
Gina was not in the mood to admit defeat. 'I don't have to do anything I don't want to do.'
'In that case, I'm glad I shan't be in your shoes when he arrives at your flat this evening,' Mitzi announced firmly.
Jarvis arrived at her flat at precisely seven o'clock that evening. At any other time Gina might have been in a high state of nerves, but not on this occasion. She was furious, her anger had been simmering all day, and her eyes glittered with green fire when she confronted him. A hidden and treacherous part of her registered that he looked magnificent in an evening suit, but she was momentarily blind to his masculine appeal.
'You're not ready,' he accused, his sweeping glance taking in her comfortable slacks, shirt and low-heeled sandals.
'And you had no right to take it for granted that I would agree to have dinner with you this evening,' she counter-accused, her eyes blazing up into his with a fury that was about to erupt. If she had not been so angry she might have noticed the warning signals in the tightening of his jaw and the icy glitter in his grey eyes, but she was totally unprepared for what followed. Steely fingers latched painfully on to her arm, and she was marched unceremoniously across the lounge and into her bedroom. 'What do you think you're doing? Let go of me!'
'Shut up!' Jarvis instructed harshly, releasing her arm to wrench open the doors of the built-in cupboard, and she stared at him in something close to horror.
'How dare you open my cupboard and search through my clothes?' she demanded, her fury rising to a new level.
He hauled out a silky, ivory-coloured evening dress, studied it for a moment, and flung it across the foot of her bed. 'Put that on!'
'You can't make me!' she almost shouted at him, realising at last what this was leading up to, and his cold eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
'Don't challenge me, Georgina, because I shan't spare your blushes if I have to dress you personally.' He towered over her, his manner adding conviction to the threat in his voice, and something in her expression must have conveyed to him the knowledge that he had won. A semblance of a smile twisted his mouth as he glanced at the gold watch strapped to his strong wrist. 'You've got ten minutes, so make it snappy!'
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