Mistresses: Bound with Gold / Bought with Emeralds
Page 31
He smiled at her. ‘Anyway, enough of this maudlin talk,’ he said, his mood lightening in an instant as he pulled away from her touch and refilled her champagne glass.
‘Let’s drink to the future, shall we?’ He raised his glass.
She had just taken a sip of the sparkling wine when the sound of the phone ringing in the apartment disturbed them.
‘I won’t be a moment.’ Ray lifted his glass and brought it inside with him, leaving Caitlin to gaze out over the city and reflect on his words.
Her breakup with David had been raw and difficult but next to Ray’s loss it seemed to pale into insignificance.
It was obvious that Ray was still deeply in love with his late wife; it was there in his voice, in his eyes.
A cool breeze whispered over the terrace, sending the wind chimes ringing. Caitlin shivered a little and then decided to clear the table.
As she came back out of the kitchen she could hear the deep, melodious tone of Ray’s voice as he spoke in French. On impulse she went and stood by the office door to look in at him.
He was sitting in his chair behind the desk, but he didn’t see her because it was swivelled sideways as he riffled through some papers he was taking from a filing cabinet. The phone was balanced between his ear and shoulder as he spoke. It was clearly a business call.
I’ve kept my relationships light and my workload heavy. Ray’s words echoed inside her mind and she felt a tinge of pain as she thought of them. Then hastily she turned away from the door. She needed to do the same thing, she told herself sternly.
Out of the corner of his eye Ray glimpsed Caitlin as she moved away from the door. He raked a hand through his hair impatiently. ‘Look, Philippe, it is nearly midnight and I don’t want to talk about this now. For one thing I have Caitlin here with me. Let’s leave it at least until Monday.’
‘Time is money, Ray. We need to sort this out as soon as possible.’ His business partner’s voice was insistent. ‘The solicitor faxed me a copy of Murdo’s will this morning. It makes interesting reading.’
‘Yes, Sadie rang to tell me all that this morning—’
‘But I’ve had my solicitor look through it since then,’ Philippe cut across him swiftly. ‘And there is a way around the problem of Caitlin not being allowed to sell the place for six months.’
‘Go on.’ Ray leaned his head back against his chair resignedly.
‘You could marry her.’
The softly spoken words made Ray sit up as if he had been shot. ‘You are joking, Philippe!’
‘No, I’m deadly serious. Murdo has made special provisions for it, even named you in the will. If you marry Caitlin the property will be yours straight away, lock, stock and barrel, as they say, and he has even placed some money in trust as a wedding present for you both. I’m telling you, Ray, if you marry Caitlin there would be nothing to stop us bringing in the bulldozers the next day and levelling the place. And, what’s more, you would make a handsome profit from the wedding gift. All right, I know that once you marry her then half of everything you own will be hers, but you could get around that with a pre-nuptial. My solicitor is red-hot on things like that.’
Ray swore lightly under his breath. ‘That is the most preposterous thing I have ever heard. And what makes you think Caitlin would want to go along with a crazy scheme like that?’
‘Come on, Ray, you could sweet-talk her around if you really wanted to.’
‘This is Caitlin we are talking about,’ Ray reminded him. ‘She loves the house and doesn’t want to sell it…and what is more she is probably still in love with her ex-fiancé.’
‘Great, so catch her on the rebound,’ Philippe said jovially. ‘This makes good business sense for both of you. I know you like her, Ray. I saw the way you looked at her when we all had dinner that night. And you’ve obviously taken her to bed.’
‘That is none of your damn business, Philippe,’ Ray cut across him furiously.
‘Look, all I’m saying is consider it. As I see it you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain; a beautiful woman in your bed and a healthy profit. And if you don’t like being married to her you can always divorce her and it probably won’t cost you as much as losing out on this land deal—’
‘You know something, Philippe,’ Ray cut across him heavily. ‘You’ve got a disgustingly mercenary mind.’
Far from being outraged, Philippe laughed. ‘Just think about it, that’s all I am saying. Anyhow, have you received that copy of Murdo’s will that I faxed you earlier?’
‘Yes, it is here on my desk, but I’m not interested, Philippe, and you are going too far.’ Ray’s voice was tight with anger.
‘Well, you should at least look at it. And I don’t wish to be too intrusive or mercenary, Ray, but remember these were Murdo’s last wishes and should be respected. Anyway, I’ll talk to you Monday…Oh, and by the way, Sadie thought the idea was great. She said it was about time you took the matrimonial plunge again, even if it is only for six months.’
Ray put the phone down in disgust. Then he sat still for a moment, Philippe’s words thumping through his mind, before pushing his chair back and going in search of Caitlin.
He found her outside on the patio; she was leaning against the wrought-iron railing looking down at the street below.
‘Everything okay?’ She turned and looked at him as he came to stand next to her and she was surprised to see a glitter of anger in his eyes.
‘Yes, everything is just fine.’
It didn’t sound as if it was, but she didn’t press him. Instead she said gently, ‘You know, I think you are right about throwing yourself into work. It does help take your mind off things. I feel a lot better when I’m busy.’
His eyes moved over her contemplatively. The breeze was ruffling her hair back from her face. She had a beautiful bone structure, high cheekbones, perfectly proportioned lips that were full and sensuous, a small button nose and eyes that shimmered with beauty. All in all she was a very desirable package.
Aware that he seemed to be watching her very closely, she felt her heart start to speed up with a mixture of desire and uncertainty. Desperately she sought to keep her mind away from the longing he could fire up in her. ‘And I’ve been giving Murdo’s house a bit of thought,’ she said.
‘Well, it is your favourite subject.’
Caitlin decided it was best to ignore the wry comment and continued swiftly. ‘I was wondering if I should take the wall down between the dining room and the lounge and put in an archway. What do you think?’
There was a flicker of amusement in his gaze now. ‘Why are you asking me?’
‘Because you are an architect and I wanted a professional opinion,’ she said, a small frown playing between her eyes.
‘Well, you know what I think,’ he said softly. ‘I think the place should be demolished.’
‘Ray, that is not funny.’ She put one hand on her hip and glared at him. ‘That is Murdo’s house you are talking about!’
‘It’s your house,’ he corrected her softly. ‘To do with as you see fit.’
‘Yes, and I see fit to restore it lovingly to its former glory.’
‘I know.’ Ray put one hand under her chin, tipping her face so that she was forced to meet his gaze. ‘Tell me, Caitlin, did you ever see Murdo’s will?’ He watched her face, searching for any flicker of emotion that might tell him she knew the terms Murdo had laid down.
Caitlin frowned, the question taking her very much by surprise. ‘Well, no…of course not. I got a letter from the solicitor telling me of my inheritance. And I saw him briefly in his office to collect the keys. But I didn’t actually see the will.’ She shrugged. ‘Why? Should I have done?’
‘No. I just wondered what you knew about the conditions of sale, that’s all.’
‘All he said was that I’ve got to live there for six months before I can sell it. And he told me that there were a few special conditions attached to the will regarding that. I didn’t pay much attention to that par
t of things, to be honest, because I was just so thrilled to be inheriting a house, selling it was the last thing on my mind. Oh, and he told me to get back in touch with him if my marital status was going to change.’ She grimaced slightly. ‘I told him there was no chance of that.’
Ray nodded. It was quite clear to him that Caitlin had no inkling of Murdo’s final wishes.
‘Why are you asking, anyway?’ She looked up at him, puzzled by the questions. ‘You are not still obsessed with buying the place, are you, Ray? I thought we’d agreed to forget that.’
‘You were the one who brought up the subject of the house,’ he reminded her with a grin.
‘Yes, well, I’m sorry I did now. That joke about bulldozing the place wasn’t funny.’
He smiled and leaned a little closer. ‘Caitlin,’ he said softly, ‘it’s just a house, let’s forget it and move on to more interesting subjects.’
‘Like what?’ she asked breathlessly as his lips hovered a fraction from hers.
‘Like this, of course…’ And then he kissed her with deeply searing, purposeful kisses. And suddenly Caitlin forgot all about the house…all about Ray’s love for Hélène…and all about David.
Chapter Nine
IT WAS early Sunday morning. Caitlin cuddled closer to Ray in the deep comfort of the double bed and listened to the sound of church bells drifting on the air. She wished that time would stand still and they could lie entwined in each other’s arms like this forever. But unfortunately their flight home was at twelve-thirty this afternoon…so time was running out.
She glanced up at Ray, studying the lean, handsome features as he slept. His lashes were dark and thick against his cheek. He had eyelashes that any woman would be proud of, she thought hazily, and his mouth was softly sensuous. Remembering the heat of his kisses last night made her go hot all over and stirred a feeling of renewed need inside her. She stretched up and kissed him softly on his lips. His arms tightened around her waist and he returned the kiss sleepily, his eyes flicking open.
‘Mmm, that is a nice way to wake up,’ he murmured lazily.
‘I was just thinking the same myself.’ She rolled over and leaned against his chest, looking down at him with a smile. This close, his eyes were a gorgeous shade of deep molasses honey.
He reached up and stroked his hands through her hair, then, cupping her face, he kissed her tenderly.
The phone cut through the silence of the morning.
Caitlin groaned and wound her arms around his neck. ‘Does your phone never stop ringing? Just ignore it,’ she murmured.
Ray continued to kiss her back and she thought he was going to do just that, but then suddenly he was pulling away from her. ‘I’ve just remembered that Philippe said he’d phone me this morning,’ he said, sliding out from under her.
Caitlin watched with disappointment as he walked away from her to pick up his robe from the chair. She had a brief glimpse of his powerful body before he had put the robe on and disappeared out of the bedroom door.
Caitlin wished he wasn’t able to switch quite so easily from thinking about passion to business. It sent a small feeling of disquiet through her. Surely he could have let the answer machine take that call? After all, it was Sunday morning.
With a sigh she climbed out of bed and reached for her dressing gown. She was being selfish, she told herself firmly. Trouble was, she couldn’t seem to help herself.
Tying the belt of her gown firmly around her waist, she walked through to the kitchen and put the kettle on.
‘Bad news, I’m afraid,’ Ray said as he joined her a few moments later. ‘I’m not going to be able to fly back to Provence with you today. That was Philippe and some problems have cropped up that I’m going to have to take care of at the office. I’ll drop you out at the airport first, though.’
‘There is no need, Ray,’ she said quickly. ‘I can take a taxi to the airport.’
‘Always so independent,’ he mocked her lightly, and then as she made to move away from him he caught hold of her hand and pulled her back. ‘Okay, but I’ll only allow you to take a taxi to the airport if you will have dinner with me on Wednesday night?’
She pretended to think about it for a moment. ‘All right, you’ve got a deal, but come over to my place and I’ll cook for you.’
‘Sounds wonderful.’ He pressed a kiss against her lips. ‘You can impress me with your cuisine anglaise,’ he murmured teasingly.
She smiled up into his eyes. ‘And you can impress me with your architectural skills and give me your opinion on that wall that I’m thinking of taking out…’
‘I thought you wanted to cook for me and all along you’ve got an ulterior motive.’ He shook his head. ‘I can see I’ve met my match with you, Caitlin Palmer.’
‘You’ve caught me red-handed,’ she said with a smile.
He kissed her softly on the lips again. ‘Wednesday it is, then,’ he said gently as he moved back. ‘Now I’ve got to shower and leave you, I’m afraid, but I’ll ring that taxi for you before I go.’
It seemed strange being left alone in Ray’s apartment. Caitlin showered and changed and packed up her bag. Then she wandered around and tidied up while she waited for the taxi. Her steps led her into the office and she collected the champagne glass Ray had left on the desk last night. As she did her glance fell on the papers neatly stacked by the phone and Murdo’s name caught her attention.
She moved the papers slightly and they slid down onto the floor. Hastily she bent to pick them up and that was when she realised that what she was looking at was a copy of Murdo’s last will and testament.
Caitlin frowned as she remembered the way Ray had questioned her last night about Murdo’s will. Why had he questioned her about it when he already had a copy? Why did he even have a copy? The answer to that was easy: he hadn’t given up on buying her house.
Frowning, she leafed through the papers. Pinned to the will there was a note from Philippe. It was in French and she had difficulty in understanding it…something about marriage being a solution, which didn’t make any sense. Caitlin sat down in Ray’s chair and leafed further through the papers. There were some plans folded at the back and she spread them out across the desk. At first she didn’t know what she was looking at, then she realised that Ray’s château was marked on the map, and Murdo’s house and behind it several other houses.
But there were no other houses behind Murdo’s. She frowned and flicked back to the note Philippe had sent, and wished her French were better. Why was marriage the solution…and a solution to what?
The sound of the front door slamming made her jump nervously.
‘Hi, Caitlin, it is only me,’ Ray’s voice called out from the lounge. ‘I forgot some documents that I need.’
For a second Caitlin thought about hurriedly putting the papers away so as not to be caught snooping, but then she dismissed the notion. This concerned her land and she needed to know what was going on.
‘Caitlin…’ His voice trailed off as he reached the office door and saw her sitting behind his desk. ‘What are you up to?’ he asked warily as he noticed the papers spread out in front of her.
‘I was just about to ask you the same question.’ Her voice was brittle.
He came further into the room. ‘The papers you are rooting through are private,’ he said, an edge of annoyance creeping into his tone.
‘But they concern me, don’t they, Ray?’ Her heart started to thump with painful rapid strokes, but it wasn’t with anger, it was with cold dread. The mood between them earlier had been so playful and tender. She remembered the way they had actually teased each other about having ulterior motives…and now suspicion and distrust were twisting everything inside her. ‘You led me to believe that you wanted my property because it was a minor inconvenience having to drive across it towards one of your many entrances. But that wasn’t the truth, was it?’ Her eyes drifted to the plans lying by Murdo’s will. ‘I’m blocking more than an entrance to your house, aren’t I?�
� Her voice was icy with realisation. ‘In fact I’m obviously a major headache…that’s why you’ve gone to so much trouble getting a copy of Murdo’s will so you could find out how to get rid of me before the six months were up…that’s probably why you’ve invited me here…’ As everything tumbled into place her eyes darkened with pain. ‘And it’s probably why you’ve taken me to bed—’
‘Caitlin, that isn’t true,’ he cut across her quietly. ‘I invited you here because I wanted to spend time with you—’
‘Just cut out the smooth talk, Ray, because it’s not going to wash with me,’ she intercepted him fiercely. ‘I’m not stupid—I can see exactly what has been going on here.’ She flicked the paper on the desk contemptuously. ‘I knew there would never be anything deep and meaningful between us. But I never thought that you would stoop to this.’
‘Caitlin if you would just listen for a moment—’
‘I don’t want to listen to anything you say ever again.’ Her eyes blazed with fury now. ‘And don’t flatter yourself that you can get round me with platitudes, because, to be honest, going to bed with you was a light-hearted fling, something to take my mind away from the real love of my life.’ As she said the words she noticed how his eyes narrowed on her and she hoped vehemently that she had struck a blow to his arrogant male ego. But also at the same time something twisted inside her painfully, and she knew that her words were anything but honest. Sleeping with Ray had meant so much more than that. ‘But I thought we were at least truthful with each other,’ she finished huskily.
‘I have never made any secret of the fact that I wanted to buy your land.’ Ray’s voice was terse now.
‘But you didn’t tell me about this.’ Furiously she swept the papers off the desk and onto the floor.
‘I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think it would help matters.’
‘Well, you were right there, because the answer to your offer is still no.’ She stood up. ‘And what the hell is this marriage solution that Philippe has written about?’
‘You have been digging, haven’t you?’ Ray said calmly.