The Diamond Bride

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘What is it, Anthony?’ Annie looked at him, feeling unsettled. ‘I was on my way upstairs to pack for this trip to London.’

  He scowled darkly. ‘You’re going with Rufus, then.’ It was an accusation, not a question.

  ‘I’m accompanying Jessica, yes,’ she answered carefully.

  ‘You’re going with Rufus,’ he repeated.

  She bristled at the accusing tone in his voice. ‘And you’re staying here with Davina,’ she reminded him tautly.

  He looked at her consideringly. ‘That really bothers you, doesn’t it?’ he said.

  Of course it bothered her; he was an engaged man. And he acted as if he owned her, which, apart from being unacceptable, was a very strange experience for someone who had been on her own all her life.

  ‘I think…’ she spoke slowly ‘…that you need to get your life in order, Anthony.’

  ‘In what way?’ He was unsure.

  ‘In every way!’ she said exasperatedly. ‘A few days ago you kissed me, then a couple of days later you made an assignation to meet me down on the jetty. Admittedly you didn’t get there,’ she continued determinedly as she could see he was about to interrupt her, ‘but that was only because your fiancée wanted your time instead. Which she has a perfect right to expect. Now, correct me if I’m wrong,’ she went on scathingly, ‘but this engagement, which you tell me is such a sham, now seems to have progressed to discussing Christmas wedding arrangements. In view of that, I’m not really sure where you think I fit into all this!’ Her eyes flashed deeply brown with her barely contained anger.

  ‘Rufus was right, you know.’ Anthony looked at her admiringly. ‘You really are rather beautiful when you’re angry!’

  She gave him an indignant glance, stepping back as he would have moved towards her. ‘I believe Rufus merely commented on the fact that I was obviously a true redhead.’ She knew exactly what he had said—and the word ‘beautiful’ had never been used!

  ‘Whatever,’ Anthony responded carelessly, his smile full of charm. ‘I think you look beautiful when you’re angry. Except—’ now he did move a step closer, mere inches away from Annie ‘—I’m not sure I like you being angry with me,’ he added tenderly, reaching out to lightly grasp her arms. ‘Lighten up, Annie,’ he encouraged soothingly as he sensed her resistance. ‘We could have a lot of fun together if you would just relax a bit.’

  Fun! This hadn’t been fun so far; she had been mortified, and then guilt-stricken, that she had kissed—and allowed herself to be kissed by—a man engaged to another woman. And Anthony called this having fun! Well, he could have it without her!

  ‘Until your wedding at Christmas,’ she rebutted, pulling away from him.

  ‘And after—if things work out between us. And I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t.’ His hands tightened painfully on her arms as she again tried to pull away from him.

  Annie’s eyes widened, her breathing so shallow she was barely breathing at all. ‘You can’t?’ she bit out tautly.

  ‘Not if you lighten up, no,’ he chided easily.

  Annie was barely resisting the impulse she had to punch him on his aristocratic nose—and he obviously had no idea just how vexed she was as he gave her his most disarming smile. ‘If I lighten up?’ she echoed slowly, the fury building up inside her.

  ‘Exactly.’ He grinned. ‘Okay, so I’ll have a wife, but I’ll still visit here often—and I’ll make sure Davina stays in London when I do.’

  ‘You will?’ Her emotions were barely contained now. Anthony was digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole that at any moment now she was going to take great pleasure in pushing him into!

  ‘Of course,’ Anthony continued unconcernedly.

  ‘I would be your mistress?’ Her hands were so tightly clenched at her sides, her nails were digging into her palms.

  ‘It’s a bit of an old-fashioned way of putting things,’ he acknowledged. ‘But yes, I suppose that’s exactly what you would be.’

  ‘Well, that’s where you’re wrong!’ Her control finally snapped as she pushed him away from her, and the expression of surprise on his face at her obvious wrath would have been laughable—if she hadn’t felt less like laughing than ever before in her life!

  And she had thought he cared about her—had imagined the two of them together, falling in love—when all the time he was no better than her own father had been!

  ‘I should stop right there, if I were you, Anthony—unless you have some sort of perverted desire to be the recipient of the punch on the nose I so much want to give you!’ She was breathing hard in her agitation, breasts heaving, eyes blazing. ‘I don’t intend—ever!—being your mistress or any other man’s!’ And with that last furious comment she turned and slammed out of the room.

  She had been right earlier. A mistress! Good God, he had chosen completely the wrong woman to offer that role in his life. She—

  ‘Well, you certainly told him,’ remarked an admiring voice.

  Annie swung round to face Rufus, anger burning brightly in her cheeks as he stood leaning casually against the wall, his relaxed pose seeming to imply he had been standing there for some time. For how long? Surely he hadn’t heard all—

  ‘Sorry about that.’ He straightened away from the wall. ‘I was just passing, and I happened to hear the word “mistress” being used. I’m afraid I was hooked after that.’ He shrugged. ‘Although I’m really rather sorry you didn’t punch him on the nose as you said you wanted to.’ He grinned.

  Annie didn’t think, didn’t want to think, acting instinctively as she reached out and slapped him hard across his cheek, still too angry to cry. Then she simply turned on her heel and walked away.

  CHAPTER SIX

  HE HADN’T followed her!

  Annie hadn’t stopped walking until she’d reached her bedroom, but with each step she had expected to feel Rufus’s hand roughly on her arm as he turned her to face him and told her she no longer had a job looking after his daughter!

  But it hadn’t happened.

  She had sat on her bed for the next ten minutes, waiting for him to burst into the room.

  That hadn’t happened either.

  Why hadn’t it?

  She didn’t know now. She had smacked Rufus for no other reason than he’d happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, had vented on him the anger she actually felt towards Anthony. And towards herself, if she was honest, for being so stupid, so young and impressionable !

  Perhaps that last was partly the reason why she had hit out at Rufus—because he had been right!

  Which was no excuse at all. Rufus couldn’t be blamed for knowing his brother better than she did. But he had certainly paid the price for that knowledge. The evidence of it—livid red marks on his cheeks—still showed two hours later!

  If Annie turned her head slightly from where she sat next to him in the front of his Mercedes, Jessica comfortably ensconced on the back seat, then she could actually see the imprint her hand had made on the hardness of his cheek.

  But she tried hard not to turn her head any more, not even fractionally. In fact, she hadn’t been able to do more than mutter a few words as Rufus had put her small overnight bag in the boot of the car at the beginning of their journey. She didn’t want to be here at all, didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself than was strictly necessary. It was bad enough that—

  ‘I’m sorry, Annie.’

  She turned sharply to face Rufus as he drove, swallowing hard as she instantly saw those marks on his cheek. Marks she had made. She had always believed herself incapable of physically hurting another human being, and yet looking at Rufus she could see what she had done to him. And he was apologising to her! What on earth for?

  He reached out with one hand and lightly squeezed both her hands as they lay tightly clenched together in her lap. ‘Anthony is a bastard,’ he said tightly, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

  Annie glanced quickly round at Jessica, relieved to see the girl w
as fast asleep.

  ‘She hates long journeys,’ Rufus said, looking at his daughter in the driver’s mirror, as Annie faced back to the front once again. He released his hold on her hands. ‘Sleep is her way of avoiding them,’ he explained indulgently.

  Annie wished she could fall asleep too, wished today had never happened! ‘I’m sorry I hit you—’

  ‘Hey,’ he chided softly. ‘I’ve just been trying to tell you that I deserved it—’

  ‘Not you.’ She shook her head firmly.

  ‘Believe me—’ he grimaced ruefully ‘—that isn’t the first punch I’ve taken for Anthony.’

  ‘It will be the last from me.’ She shivered with reaction at what she had done.

  Rufus ran a hand over his bruised cheek, while his other gripped the steering wheel. ‘That’s quite a powerful right you have there, Miss Fletcher—’

  ‘Please don’t,’ she groaned, tears of contrition flooding her eyes now. ‘I’m so ashamed. Can’t believe I really did that.’ She shook her head, the tears wet on her cheeks. ‘You must—’

  ‘I mustn’t anything, Annie,’ he cut in gently. ‘You were hurting, and the best way to get rid of some of that hurt was to—’

  ‘Hit you!’ She groaned again, burying her face in her hands, crying in earnest now. Which was all she seemed to have done just recently!

  ‘Aw, Annie, don’t cry!’ Rufus moaned protestingly. ‘I can’t stand it when you cry. Especially over someone like Anthony.’ His voice had hardened. ‘Annie, stop it!’ he instructed harshly as he gathered her up into his arms.

  It was the first indication she had that he had stopped the car, and she raised her head to look around them dazedly, realising as she did so that Rufus had pulled the car over onto the hard shoulder and parked there. Something that was completely illegal, unless it was an emergency—

  ‘This is an emergency, Annie,’ he stated, and Annie realised she must have spoken the words out loud.

  Then, as his mouth came forcefully down on hers, she wasn’t thinking at all, only feeling.

  And was she feeling! She had never known anything like this searing pleasure she found in his arms, never felt this heat in her body, a need for more, for—

  ‘Are we there, Daddy?’

  It was as if Rufus and Annie had received an electric shock as they simultaneously registered the sleepy sound of Jessica’s voice from the back of the car. They moved quickly apart, Annie more flustered now than she had been a few minutes ago. Every time this man kissed her she responded unrestrainedly. She hardly knew herself!

  ‘Annie—’

  ‘Daddy, are we there?’ Jessica’s voice rose querulously as she received no response to her first question.

  Rufus gave Annie a look before turning in his seat to look at his daughter. ‘No, Jess, we aren’t there yet—’

  ‘Then why have we stopped?’ Jessica persisted, totally disorientated as she looked around her.

  Annie returned Rufus’s gaze helplessly as he looked back at her for assistance; they could hardly tell the little girl the truth!

  ‘Er—well—Annie had something in her eye!’ Rufus finally burst out awkwardly, giving Annie a censorious glare as she tried to hold back her laughter.

  Something in her eye, indeed. Mud, probably!

  She had allowed Rufus to kiss her again. Last night he had kissed her because he was angry. And she was upset. Today he had kissed her because he felt sorry for her. Because she was upset. The common factor to both incidents seemed to have been her tears. Then she would just have to make sure she didn’t cry again! In his presence, anyway…

  ‘Is it better now?’ Jessica, thankfully, was still sleepy.

  Rufus gave Annie a mocking glance. ‘Is it better now?’ he teased softly. ‘Did I kiss it better?’

  She gave him a frowning look before turning to Jessica. ‘I’m much better now, thank you. So much better, in fact—’

  ‘Oh, hell!’ Rufus muttered with feeling, watching the driving mirror in front of him.

  Annie looked at him in alarm. ‘What is it?’ she prompted in a puzzled voice. ‘Rufus?’

  He shook his head. ‘The trouble you’ve caused me, woman!’ Even as he spoke he was thrusting open the car door next to him. ‘I find it difficult to believe I’ve only known you forty-eight hours!’ He swung easily out of the car.

  Annie turned just in time to see a policeman approaching the Mercedes, a brightly marked police car parked a short distance behind them. Their having stopped here was, as she had already surmised, illegal. And she very much doubted that the policeman would accept the story of there having been something in the eye of the lady passenger in Rufus’s car. Rufus was right: she was nothing but trouble!

  Jessica scrambled up into a sitting position, looking out of the back window. ‘Has Daddy done something wrong?’ Her voice sounded slightly awed. ‘Is he going to get told off?’

  She hoped not—or she would never hear the end of it!

  The two men continued to talk on the roadside for several minutes, and Annie’s heart sank with dismay as the young policeman took his notebook out of his pocket and began to take notes. He was booking Rufus! And it was all her fault. Rufus was going to be furious with her this time, no doubt about it.

  She inwardly prepared herself for his blistering attack as he parted from the policeman, a folded piece of paper in his hand as he walked briskly back to the car, his expression grim. There wasn’t going to be any kissing better this time—even if she was upset!

  She wasn’t sure whether she was relieved or sad about that…

  And she really didn’t have the time to dwell on the subject as Rufus got back into the car beside her.

  ‘Daddy—’

  ‘Not yet, pumpkin,’ Rufus told his daughter tautly, glancing in his driving mirror. ‘I need to get us back onto the road as soon as possible.’ He switched on the engine, put the car into gear, and very neatly manoeuvred the vehicle back into the swift flow of traffic.

  Annie didn’t know what to say, wasn’t sure she should say anything; it might just make matters worse. If that were possible!

  ‘A bit of luck, that.’ Rufus was finally the one to break the silence, sitting back more comfortably in his seat now that they were well away from the police car.

  ‘Luck?’ Annie echoed incredulously; it was the last description she would have applied to the encounter!

  ‘Mmm.’ Rufus gave her a brief grin. ‘The policeman recognised my name, and it seems he’s a fan of mine. He particularly liked a piece I wrote last year about suburban crime; his brother, another policeman—it seems to run in the family!—was mentioned in it quite favourably. Apparently he meant to keep the article, but his wife unwittingly used that newspaper to light the fire; he asked if I could send him a copy. I’ve got it on disk somewhere in the flat, so I’ll look it out for him when we get there.’

  The piece of paper Rufus had been given wasn’t a ticket at all, but the policeman’s address. And she had been imagining all sorts of horrors—charges, court appearances…!

  ‘So there are some benefits to being famous,’ she said tartly.

  Rufus glanced at her again briefly. ‘I’m not famous, Annie,’ he finally said slowly.

  ‘But your work is,’ she challenged, not really sure why she was so angry, only that she was!

  ‘Perhaps.’ He shrugged dismissively. ‘What the hell? It saved us from a severe reprimand. He just laughed when I told him I’d stopped because you had something in your eye!’ Rufus reached out and squeezed her hand again, conspiratorially this time, before replacing his own hand on the wheel.

  ‘Shall I go back to sleep for a while, Daddy?’ Jessica spoke again from behind them.

  Reminding Annie of exactly what she was doing here! She was here as Jessica’s nanny, was here on sufferance, had no right to be angry—about anything.

  ‘If you like, pumpkin.’ Rufus answered his daughter absently. ‘We’ll be a while yet.’

  Jessica gave a w
eary sigh as she settled down again on the back seat, and Annie could have sighed along with her, they hadn’t even reached London yet, and she was already wishing she weren’t here! How on earth was she supposed to share an apartment with this man for the next few days, even with Jessica present…?

  ‘You’ve gone very quiet,’ Rufus remarked a few minutes later.

  She looked across at him. ‘Have I?’ she said guardedly—because on her guard was how she was going to have to be with this man in the future!

  ‘You know you have,’ he bit out impatiently.

  Annie let out a breath. ‘I don’t believe I’ve ever been a chatterbox.’

  ‘I didn’t say that’s what you are, you just—Damn it woman,’ he snapped irritably. ‘I never know whether to kiss you or shake you when you annoy me like this!’

  She swallowed hard. ‘In future I suggest you stick to shaking me—it’s probably safer for everyone!’

  Rufus threw her a stunned glance, and then he threw back his head with that now familiar shout of laughter. ‘You, young lady, are not good for my ego,’ he explained once his amusement had abated.

  Her own mouth quirked with laughter in spite of herself, her bad humour of a few minutes ago totally dispelled. ‘It wasn’t your ego I was thinking of,’ she taunted lightly. ‘The next policeman may not be a fan of yours!’

  ‘True,’ he agreed dryly. ‘But the onus is on you not to do anything that will make me want to kiss or shake you!’

  She wasn’t quite sure, at the moment, how she was supposed to do that; if she spoke she seemed to say the wrong thing, and if she didn’t speak that seemed to be wrong too!

  The safest thing to do seemed to be to join Jessica—and go to sleep!

  She closed her eyes, feigning tiredness, and very soon she wasn’t pretending at all, but genuinely asleep…

  It was dark by the time they entered London, and, having just woken up, it was a minute or two before Annie realised in which part of the city they were. It wasn’t one she was too familiar with, Mayfair being an area she had only passed through in the past. But she wasn’t at all surprised when Rufus turned the black Mercedes down into an underground car park situated beneath a prestigious apartment building; he effectively owned Clifftop House and all the land around it, so it stood to reason that his London home would be just as prestigious.