A No Risk Affair (Presents Plus)

by Carole Mortimer

‘Nevertheless, I’ll leave you to take the call in private.’

  Something about the way he said the word ‘private’ made her view him sharply, colour entering her cheeks as the identity of her caller slowly seeped into her brain. Brad! It had to be Brad. The first time he had telephoned in weeks and it had to be when Sin Thornton was here. She could also understand Sin’s reluctance to reveal her caller in front of the children; the lateness of the hour made it obvious Brad hadn’t called to talk to Kim and Andy, knowing they would be in bed by now.

  ‘I won’t be long,’ she assured him, knowing from experience that Brad’s calls were never of long duration.

  Sin merely nodded, already taking up the position she had vacated on Kim’s bed, Robyn hearing her children’s giggles of enjoyment at this change in routine as she hurried down the stairs. What could Brad be calling about at this late hour? He never telephoned to speak to her personally, although they usually managed a few polite words to each other before he spoke to the twins.

  ‘Yes?’ she spoke warily into the receiver as she stood in the hallway to take the call.

  ‘Who’s the man, Robyn?’ Brad’s mocking voice taunted without preamble.

  Her mouth tightened, and she flushed resentfully. ‘I don’t think that’s any of your business,’ she snapped, finding it difficult to be polite to him even after all this time—and especially when he tried to pry into her personal life, something he had made it clear four years ago he had no interest in.

  ‘Of course it’s my business,’ he rasped, the charm gone from his voice. ‘I like to know what sort of men you’re introducing to my children.’

  Her breath caught in her throat. ‘Meaning?’ she bit out between clenched teeth, knowing her knuckles showed white as she clutched the receiver.

  ‘Meaning they haven’t mentioned to me yet having any “uncles”,’ he sneered. ‘But I’ve been expecting it for some time.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ Brad scorned. ‘You weren’t always the cold little fish you are now.’

  She blushed at the truth of that. She may have been inexperienced when they were first married but Brad had proved to be a good teacher when it came to the physical, tutoring her during the first months of their marriage in all the pleasures there could be between a man and a woman. The advent of her pregnancy had ended all that, though, Brad feeling only revulsion for the physical act with a woman fast growing big with his child. Once the twins had been born she was the one to feel the reluctance, feeling too tired to respond to him as she cared for the twins single-handed. She had known that during that time Brad turned to other women for his pleasure.

  ‘I can’t say I’ve felt desperate for a man the last four years,’ she was stung into replying. ‘And the man who answered the telephone just now is only a friend.’

  ‘Who is he?’

  ‘Brad, I can’t believe you made this call just to ask me about my casual acquaintances,’ she sighed her impatience, not willing to talk about Sin Thornton and involve him in something that was none of his business.

  ‘It’s how “casual” he is that bothers me,’ her ex-husband drawled insultingly.

  Robyn drew in an angry breath. ‘He’s a guest of your uncle’s,’ she snapped. ‘Using the cottage next door.’

  ‘Oh,’ he dismissed any guest of his uncle’s as not being in the least interesting. ‘How is the old man?’

  ‘Very well.’

  ‘And Caroline?’

  Robyn frowned. ‘She’s well too,’ she answered in a preoccupied voice, wondering at the reason for this delay in the real reason Brad had telephoned; it certainly wasn’t to discuss his uncle or Caroline! He usually came straight to the point, barely wasted time on pleasantries. In fact, this whole telephone call was out of character. ‘The twins are in bed—’

  ‘I know that,’ he bit out abruptly. ‘I deliberately called when I knew they would be asleep—’

  ‘They would have liked to talk to you—’

  ‘—because I didn’t want them to be around if you should prove to be difficult,’ Brad finished as if he hadn’t been interrupted.

  Robyn stiffened warily. ‘Difficult about what?’ she asked slowly.

  ‘You’ve had the kids to yourself completely for the last four years, and God knows I didn’t interfere in the way you were bringing them up even when we were together—’

  ‘Because you weren’t interested!’ she snapped.

  ‘Maybe not,’ he admitted grudgingly. ‘But I’m not unique in that, a lot of men can’t bring themselves to be interested in small babies the way women are. But Kim and Andy are older now, and—’

  ‘You noticed,’ she taunted nastily.

  ‘Don’t be bitter, Robyn,’ he rasped.

  ‘I’m not,’ she sighed, some of her anger leaving her as she realised how badly she was behaving. ‘I’m just wondering what it is you don’t want me to be difficult about.’ In fact, she was more than worried about it; she didn’t like the sound of it at all.

  Brad was silent for several lengthy seconds. ‘I want the children for a weekend,’ he finally told her.

  His blunt statement rendered Robyn speechless. Whatever she had been expecting Brad to say it wasn’t this! He had open access to the twins, she would never try and deny any of them the closeness a father should have with his children, but Brad had never even hinted before that he would like the children to go and stay with him in London, always visiting them here in the past while he stayed with the Colonel and Caroline.

  She swallowed hard. ‘What weekend?’ to her chagrin her voice cracked a little, revealing how disconcerted she was by the request.

  ‘Whenever it will suit you, of course,’ Brad’s relief at her relatively calm reaction could clearly be heard. ‘And the twins,’ he added pointedly.

  That last comment had been deliberately designed to remind her that her own feelings of horror and dismay at the thought of her two children going away for the weekend had to be outweighed by the fact that Kim and Andy would be thrilled at the thought of going to stay with their father. London, and Brad’s life there, held all sorts of wonders for the two five-year-olds. But Robyn couldn’t help wondering, perhaps unfairly, at Brad’s motives for issuing the invitation.

  ‘Why, Brad?’ the question came out bluntly.

  ‘Why not?’ he was instantly defensive. ‘I am their father!’

  Only through sheer effort of will could she hold back the sharp retort she felt tempted to make at the indignant declaration. It was true what she had told Sinclair Thornton earlier, she wasn’t in the least bitter about the break-up of her marriage, but when she spoke to Brad she had difficulty hiding the bitterness she felt on the twins’ behalf for his neglect of them all these years. And her suspicions about his reasons for this proposed visit had only intensified after his reaction to her question.

  ‘So you are,’ she acknowledged stiltedly. ‘How long would this weekend be?’

  ’The usual Saturday to Sunday,’ he taunted. ‘I’ll drive down on the Friday evening and we’ll leave early Saturday.’

  She drew in a ragged breath, the thought of being without the children even for that short length of time leaving her devastated. They had been a threesome for so long now, her responsibility to them total from the moment they were born, that she knew her life would be empty without them, even for two days. But she had to be fair to Brad and them, and if he really did feel more interested in them now that they were older who was she to deny them this further closeness? After all, what could possibly go wrong in two days? She determinedly pushed aside all the things that clamoured to be heard.

  ‘This weekend is out,’ she told him after careful thought. ‘We’ve already made plans.’ And tentative as they might be she needed the excuse to give herself the extra time to adjust to this change in all their lives. ‘But if next weekend is all right with you I’m sure the twins would love to come.’

  ‘Even if you won’t like letting them,’ Brad guessed dryly
.

  She sighed. ‘I’ll admit I find this sudden interest in the children a little—surprising.’

  ‘I’ll bet you do!’

  She couldn’t altogether blame Brad for his resentment, knew there had been too much between them in the past for them to talk on a personal level with any degree of politeness. It would always be that way between them, although she tried not to let Kim and Andy see it. ‘Perhaps you would like to come to dinner Friday evening?’ she suggested softly. ‘The twins haven’t seen you for some time, and it would help break the ice.’

  ‘I’ll accept the invitation, Robyn,’ he told her harshly. ‘Although I don’t accept the fact that I need the ice broken with my own kids.’

  He was really annoyed now, and if she didn’t put an end to this call soon she knew from experience that they would rapidly resort to verbal abuse on such a level as to make the idea of sitting down to dinner together next Friday like an ordinary couple virtually impossible. It was always that way if they spoke for too long, and for the twins’ sake she usually managed to avoid such scenes; tonight had to be no exception.

  ‘Nevertheless, dinner together would be nice,’ she insisted. ‘The children would like it.’

  ‘Okay,’ he agreed in an offhand manner. ‘But don’t pin me down to a time, I’ll be there when I can.’

  She was used to the way Brad could never be on time for anything, and she would prepare a meal accordingly. ‘We’ll expect you when we see you,’ she agreed.

  ‘I’ll leave it to you to tell Kim and Andy about next weekend.’

  He would! ‘I’ll tell them,’ she echoed.

  ‘Until next Friday, then,’ he said tersely at her lack of enthusiasm. ‘I have to go now.’

  ‘Of course,’ she acknowledged abruptly, making her own curt goodbyes.

  The twins were going to be overjoyed at the prospect of two whole days with their father in London, in fact she doubted she would be able to calm them down once they knew of the visit. But she was being selfish to think this way, any move Brad made to be a real father to Kim and Andy had to be a welcome one. If only she knew the reason for this sudden about-face on his part she would feel happier about the situation. And if only she could stop thinking in that negative way! Brad may genuinely want to get to know his children better. Then why did she have this oppressive feeling in the pit of her stomach, the feeling that something was wrong about all this? Why did she question Brad’s unusual behaviour instead of just being thankful for Kim and Andy’s sake? It was—

  ‘Problems?’

  She turned sharply at the sound of that husky query, only to find Sin Thornton leaning casually against the bottom of the banister, one foot resting on the bottom step as he watched her with narrowed blue eyes. She had forgotten all about her guest as she spoke to Brad!

  CHAPTER THREE

  SIN moved forward as she didn’t answer, his expression turning to one of concern. ‘Is everything all right, Robyn?’ he probed again.

  She straightened as she realised she was still chewing worriedly on her bottom lip, forcing a smile to curve her mouth. ‘Everything is fine,’ she answered lightly. ‘That was Brad,’ she told him as she led the way back into the lounge, knowing he was astute enough to have worked that out for himself.

  ‘What did he want?’

  Robyn’s head came round sharply at the harshly spoken question. ‘I don’t think—’

  ‘Sorry.’ At once the charming smile was back on the roguishly handsome face. ‘My curiosity getting the better of me again,’ Sin added lightly.

  Robyn wasn’t at all convinced by this glib response to her indignation—although she couldn’t think of any other reason for his interest in Brad and her conversation with him. She shook off her feelings of suspicion—she was feeling oversensitive after talking with Brad. She probably looked worried, and Sin was only showing a polite concern for her preoccupation.

  ‘Hey, perhaps I’d better go—’

  ‘No,’ she cut in abruptly, realising what a bad hostess she was being. ‘I don’t have any brandy I can offer you, but I think there’s still some wine left in the bottle we had with our meal …?’ She looked at him enquiringly.

  ’Another cup of coffee would do me just as well,’ Sin smiled acceptance of the offer.

  Robyn nodded, frowning as she went into the kitchen. She had no idea how long Sin had been standing on the stairs behind her, or how much of her side of the conversation at least he had overheard. As she moved habitually about the kitchen preparing the coffee she tried to recall what she had said to Brad—and failed miserably. She had been so wrapped up in her own thoughts she hadn’t been aware of what she was saying.

  Not that it really mattered, somehow during the evening Sinclair Thornton had learnt nearly all there was about her to be learnt, including the break-up of her marriage and the identity of her ex-husband. Come to think of it, she had told him altogether too much!

  ‘The twins are asleep, by the way,’ Sin reported with a smile as they sat across the lounge from each other.

  ‘How did you manage that?’ she smiled took, having been sure her children would be too excited by their new acquaintance to fall asleep for hours yet.

  Sin gave a grin of enjoyment. ‘I think it was the story I told them.’

  Her eyes widened; her offspring didn’t usually fall asleep when being told a story, this one must have been particularly boring. ‘What was it?’

  He shrugged. ‘The story is unimportant, it was the voice that did it.’

  Robyn was still puzzled, unable to believe that liltingly charming voice could talk anyone to sleep.

  ‘My brother has a couple of children too,’ Sin explained. ‘Talking them to sleep is a technique I learnt I had when they were babies. I was quite hurt by it for a time—until Kay, my sister-in-law, told me what a Godsend it was. She has been known to call me over in the middle of the night when one of them is being particularly fretful,’ he grimaced ruefully.

  ‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ she said dryly, sipping her coffee in quiet contemplation.

  ‘Feeling better now?’

  She looked up with a frown. ‘Hm?’

  The blue eyes probed the slight flush to her cheeks, the guarded look in her eyes. ‘You were upset when you came off the telephone,’ he stated bluntly.

  ‘You’re imagining things,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘I was just surprised by the call, that’s all.’

  ‘Is it?’

  ‘Really, Sin, I don’t think—’

  ‘Neither do I.’ He stood up abruptly. ‘I’m interfering in something that is obviously none of my business.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s just that you seem so damned young to cope with all this on your own. I thought you were no more than sixteen when I met you this morning, and yet tonight I find that you’re a grown woman with two young children of your own to care for. How long is it since someone cared for you?’

  Robyn was puzzled by his behaviour; he seemed to be almost angry on her behalf. Which was ridiculous, she hardly knew the man. ‘I don’t think anyone ever did,’ she replied slowly. ‘My parents had the sort of marriage that was complete without a child, and so I was put in the charge of a series of nannies. When I married Brad against their advice they disowned me, said I was wasting the expensive education they had given me.’ She sighed. ‘They were right, I suppose. But having the twins has made up for a lot of things I missed out on as a child. I have no regrets about my life so far,’ she assured him.

  ‘Not even Brad Warner?’

  ‘No, because without Brad there wouldn’t be the twins,’ she shrugged.

  ‘That’s true,’ Sin acknowledged dryly. ‘Well I’d better go—I think I’ve pushed my nose in where it’s not wanted enough for one night. My mother tells me I was exactly the same as a child,’ he derided. ‘Although she assures me it isn’t so endearing in an adult.’

  His easy charm made it difficult for her to be offended by anything he said, although she did agree it was time he left. S
inclair Thornton was too easy to talk to, listened too well. Before she knew what was happening she would find herself as a character in one of his damned books; her life certainly hadn’t been plain sailing so far. Remembering his reason for being here reminded her that he had only arrived here this morning.

  ‘I’m sure you must be tired,’ she stood up. ‘I should have thought …’

  ‘I’m thirty-seven, Robyn,’ he mocked, the mischief back in his eyes. ‘Not seventy-seven. A little bit of driving won’t kill me.’

  ‘I didn’t mean—’

  ‘I know you didn’t,’ he chuckled. ‘Walk me to the door, hm?’

  She felt much more at ease with this easygoing Sin, preferred not to have the probing questions that she seemed compelled to answer being thrown at her. ‘You’ll have to come over again before you leave,’ she said politely once they reached the door.

  ‘I hope so,’ his eyes gleamed down at her in the bright moonlight. ‘I know someone who is going to be very disappointed if I don’t.’

  ‘The twins,’ she nodded.

  ‘No—me!’ He grinned down at her. ‘I’ve enjoyed myself tonight. The three of you will have to come to me once I’ve settled in a little better. I’m a fantastic cook.’

  ‘And modest with it!’

  His amusement deepened. ‘No one has ever accused me of being that.’

  ‘I’m sure!’

  The atmosphere suddenly became very still between them, all the laughter leaving Robyn’s face as blue eyes held her captive. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to break away from the intensity of that gaze, knowing she had lost the battle as lean hands moved out and slowly pulled her up and into a firmly muscled chest. Firm lips moved across hers, parting them as Sin took full advantage of her vulnerability, trapped as she was in his arms, her feet inches off the ground.

  She felt so helpless, had never even guessed at the whipcord strength in the indolent body, muscular arms holding her in their vice-like grip. And most disturbing of all was her reaction to the pressure of warm lips moving erotically against her own, her senses quickening, the arms that had gone up about his neck as she felt her feet leave the ground now entwined against his nape, her fingers in the thickness of his golden hair. She was actually enjoying this physical contact with this wildly attractive man!