Mistresses: Bound with Gold / Bought with Emeralds
Page 76
If they hadn’t been in a public place he would have made love to her. Contenting himself with a kiss was a poor second. She was so ravishing, he couldn’t keep his hands off her.
It had been blind panic that had made him follow her off the ferry. The thought of never seeing her again had made him feel quite ill, and he had cursed the conference that kept him away from her for three days.
He had told himself he was crazy because he’d never felt such an instant mind-blowing attraction to a woman before, and he’d kept imagining her with another man. He couldn’t believe that someone as radiant and beautiful as Anna did not have a boyfriend.
It had been with a great deal of trepidation, therefore, that he had knocked on the cottage door. And a dream come true when he discovered she was alone—and equally as pleased and excited to see him.
‘Quite how soon are you proposing we should get married?’ she asked huskily.
‘At the very first opportunity,’ he growled, savouring the sweetness of her mouth, breathing in the very essence of her which drugged his senses every time she was near. In fact, she continually drove him crazy. Even thinking about her when they were apart, for no matter how short a space of time, minutes even, his male hormones rioted. He was in a constant state of excitement. ‘I can’t take the risk that someone else will come along and snatch you from me.’
‘There’s no chance of that,’ she told him with a sweetly confident smile. ‘You’ve bewitched me too.’
But he intended taking no chances. Their wedding was going to take place as speedily as he could arrange it. Never before had he met a woman who he safely knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Anna was different, he knew that instinctively, and he didn’t want to waste precious time.
As soon as they docked he planned to take her home to Cambridge to meet his father, and he was hoping Anna would stay overnight before returning to her rented London flat. He was terrified that out of sight would mean out of mind, only reluctantly accepting that she needed to sort and finalise things before she came to live with him.
These two passionate weeks in Ireland had taught him how precious she was to him, how much a part of him she had become, so that without her even breathing was difficult.
What he wasn’t prepared for, but on hindsight knew that he should have been, was his father’s reaction.
‘Father, I’d like you to meet Anna Paige, the girl I’m going to marry.’
Anna beamed at Edward Langford. He was not quite as tall as his son and much heavier set, but he had the same lion’s eyes and a mass of long thick white hair brushed back from his face like a mane.
She held out her hand but to her amazement he didn’t take it. Instead his eyes were fierce and condemning, visibly rejecting her.
She had no idea why. And after looking her up and down with a contemptuous curl to his lip, as though she were not fit to even be in the same room, he directed his attention back to his son. ‘Are you out of your mind, Oliver?’
She felt Oliver stiffen and her hand sought his. What was going on here?
‘No, Father, I’m not,’ he answered firmly. ‘I love Anna.’
‘Love! Bah! How long have you known her?’
‘Two weeks.’ Oliver’s hand tightened over Anna’s, reassuring her, silently telling her that his father’s bark was worse than his bite and not to be alarmed. ‘But time doesn’t enter into it. I love Anna, and it doesn’t matter what you say, Father, I’m going to marry her—as soon as I can arrange it. I see no reason to wait.’
‘You’re a fool.’ The older man’s face was furiously red by this time.
Anna finally spoke. ‘If he is then I’m a fool, too. I feel the same as Oliver, I want to marry him without delay. I’m sorry you feel this way, Mr Langford, but I can assure you that—’
She was interrupted by Edward’s housekeeper saying that he was needed on the telephone urgently because there was trouble at one of the sites.
‘You see to it,’ Edward ordered Oliver peremptorily. ‘Heaven knows, there have been enough problems while you’ve been away.’
Oliver looked down at Anna and frowned and she knew he was worried about leaving her. ‘It’s all right,’ she said with a confident smile. He’d already told her that his father had retired from his property development company because of heart problems and handed over the reins to him, so it was only right and proper that Oliver deal with things now.
‘Have you any real idea why my son’s asked you to marry him?’ Edward thundered, the moment Oliver left the room.
The question sent her brows sliding up but she refused to be intimidated. ‘Because he loves me, Mr Langford, as I do him. Are you suggesting there is any other reason?’
‘I’m not suggesting it, I know it,’ he told her grimly. ‘He’s in love with someone else. Admittedly they had a dispute and Oliver told her it was all over, but he’s said that before, more than once, and they’ve always got back together.’
‘Would her name be Melanie, by any chance?’ asked Anna sharply.
Edward Langford’s bushy brows rose. ‘He’s told you about her?’
Anna inclined her head. ‘Naturally. We’ve kept nothing from each other. A good marriage has to be based on trust and understanding and we’ve been perfectly open about our past lives.’ She had told Oliver about Tony, the guy she was once engaged to, and he’d told her about Melanie, the girl his father wanted him to marry.
‘You’ve caught him on the rebound.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Anna retorted. ‘Oliver said it was definitely all over.’ He had added that he was glad to get rid of her. She was the daughter of a close friend of Edward’s, and his father’s god-daughter to boot. Oliver had found out that she was bragging to her friends about what a good stud he was and that she could get as much money as she liked out of him.
‘How do you know that I’m not just after your body as well?’ Anna had taunted. And even as she spoke she’d rubbed herself against him, slid down the zip on his trousers and slipped her hand inside. He had groaned and succumbed and it had been a long time before they finished their conversation, a very long time.
‘My son’s had enough fortune-hunters on his tail for me to be able to spot them a mile off,’ insisted Edward Langford, looking at Anna with such dark intent that she shivered.
‘You’re just a little more clever than most,’ he snarled. ‘You got in when he was at his most vulnerable. But his money is my money. He’s worked his way up in my company, I made sure he did it the hard way, but every penny he earns is indirectly from me, and I will not allow some—hussy—to come along and take it from him.’
Anna eyed the old man coolly, not allowing the light to fade from her eyes for one millisecond. ‘When I met Oliver, Mr Langford, I didn’t know he came from a wealthy family, or even that he had money himself. I fell in love with Oliver the man. He could have been unemployed, for all I cared. Money doesn’t interest me, except as a need to buy clothes for my back and food for my stomach. So long as I have enough for that, I’m quite happy.’
Faded golden eyes looked hostilely into her sparky green ones, her words not impressing him in the slightest. ‘I’m expected to believe that, am I? Well, let me tell you, miss, there’s not one woman alive who isn’t impressed by money.’
He crossed to a desk, whipped out a cheque book and scribbled in it before ripping out the cheque and offering it to her. ‘Here, take this, and let that be an end to this impossible situation.’
It was for an indecently large amount, enough to set her up for the rest of her life, but Anna wasn’t interested. In fact, she was insulted by his offer. All she wanted was to marry the man she loved.
Her eyes flashed her indignation; her spine stiffened. ‘I don’t want your money, Mr Langford. I realise that you don’t believe in love but I do, and so does Oliver, and all we want is to be together.’ Slowly and deliberately she tore the cheque into tiny pieces and let them flutter to the ground. ‘This is what you can d
o with your money.’
The golden eyes leapt with fire, but to give him his due the old man remained coldly distant. ‘You’re a silly little girl,’ he spat. ‘You’re making the biggest mistake of your life.’
‘I don’t think so,’ she told him calmly. ‘But you’re entitled to your opinion.’
Wide nostrils flared even wider. ‘If I cannot persuade you to change your mind about this impossible marriage then be warned, if you ever do anything to hurt my son, Miss Paige, anything at all, then you’ll have me to contend with. Make no mistake about that’
When Oliver came back into the room she was alone, the torn cheque tucked into the bottom of her bag for disposing of later.
‘Where’s my father?’ he asked with a frown.
Anna shrugged. ‘I guess he found something else to do.’ She didn’t want to spoil things by telling him what his father had done.
‘I’m so sorry he didn’t give you the welcome you deserve,’ he said, pulling her close and looking worriedly into her eyes. ‘I truly never expected he’d react like this.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘You’re the one I’m marrying; you’re the one I love.’
‘Let’s go home,’ he growled. ‘There are things I want to do to you.’
Anna’s body leapt in response and she wasn’t sorry to be walking out of Weston Hall. It was the family home, a daunting square brick house built on a vast estate on the outskirts of Cambridge.
Oliver lived at Weston Lodge in the grounds. Near enough to his father in case Edward needed him, but far enough away to live his own life.
‘I like it here,’ she said happily as they walked inside. It was still a fairly large house but nothing like the Hall. It had a warm and welcoming atmosphere with spacious rooms and plenty of plump comfy armchairs. ‘Is this where we’ll be living when we’re married?’
‘It certainly is, and it’s where we’ll be spending tonight. In fact—’ his eyes darkened dramatically ‘—I think I should show you the bedroom straight away.’
Anna had no qualms about that. She pushed the unhappy episode with his father out of her mind and got on with the job of loving Oliver Langford.
Chapter Two
IT WAS a perfect spring morning, daffodils nodding, birds singing, the sky a deep heavenly blue. The church was massed with flowers—white flowers, every sort imaginable, roses, lilies, carnations—and white satin bows and trailing ribbons; as Anna walked up the aisle on her father’s arm she had never felt happier.
Oliver had taken so much trouble to ensure their marriage was perfect in every detail. All she’d had to do was choose her wedding dress and her young niece’s bridesmaid’s dress. Oliver and her parents had done the rest. How they’d achieved so much in a week she wasn’t sure.
There was a vast difference between the welcome her parents had given Oliver to the way Edward had threatened her. She had deliberately pushed his hostility to the back of her mind, telling herself that it was only a matter of time before Oliver’s father accepted her, but she couldn’t help thinking about it sometimes.
Oliver turned as she reached him and the light of love in his eyes had never burned so bright. ‘You look beautiful,’ he praised softly, ‘like one of Titian’s mythical figures. I am the world’s luckiest man.’
‘I’m lucky, too,’ she whispered. ‘I love you, Oliver Langford.’
His father didn’t attend their wedding but it didn’t mar the day for Anna. In fact if Edward had been there she would have been too aware of his resentment to relax. Instead everything was perfect.
As Oliver had important business commitments they postponed their honeymoon but Anna didn’t mind. She felt as though they’d honeymooned already. Those magical days and nights in Ireland would live in her memory for ever, and in the months that followed she had never been happier.
Oliver was completely happy too. He showed it in so many ways. He certainly wasn’t pining for a lost love.
Her brother had been unable to attend their wedding because of business commitments in Europe, but now he was back and she was delighted when he paid her a surprise visit.
They looked nothing like brother and sister. Chris was older by five years, had blond hair rather than red, and eyes which were a deep navy blue. He was tall and seriously good looking.
He ran his own advertising company and adored his younger sister. ‘What a pity Oliver isn’t here,’ she said. ‘I really want you to meet him. Come in, sit down: we have so much to catch up on.’
Chris looked surprisingly serious all of a sudden. ‘I actually knew Oliver wouldn’t be home. It’s the reason I came now, while you’re alone.’
Anna frowned, some of her happiness evaporating, a vague unease taking its place. ‘Why? Don’t you approve? Have you come to warn me about him? Is there something you’ve found out that I don’t know?’
He gave a faint, tight-lipped smile, an awkward smile. ‘Of course not, silly. I need to ask you a favour, a big one.’
‘Oh?’ This was a turn-up for the books. It was usually Anna asking Chris for something. She was the baby of the family and he’d always been good to her.
‘There’s no easy way to say it.’ He bit his lip reflectively and recrossed his ankles several times. ‘I need money, Anna.’
‘What?’ She’d never known Chris short of money.
‘My business is in trouble,’ he announced unhappily. ‘Although—’ he added quickly, before she could say anything ‘—I’m expecting a big order which will set me right back on track. It’s just a hiccup, but—’ he spread his hands expansively ‘—without financial help I could go under.’
Anna shook her head, desperately sorry for Chris. ‘I don’t see how I can help—unless you were thinking that Oliver might?’ she asked in a moment of enlightenment. ‘In fact, I’m sure he would; he’s the most generous man I know. I could ask him.’
‘No!’ Chris virtually jumped down her throat. ‘You must never tell your husband.’
And when Anna looked shocked, he explained ruefully, ‘You see, the order I’m hoping to get, which I’m sure I will get, is from your husband’s company. And if he knew I was having difficulties then he’d never put the business my way. Unless—’ a sudden thought struck him ‘—he already knows who I am? If so, I’m sunk.’
‘He knows I adore you,’ she answered with one of her wide sparkling smiles, ‘and he knows you’re in advertising—but I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned the name of your company.’
His shoulders relaxed and he let out a long-held breath. ‘Thank goodness.’
‘I could give you a few hundred, I suppose,’ she said slowly, thoughtfully. ‘What were you thinking of?’ But when he told her how much he needed, more if she’d got it, she gave a groan of despair. ‘I don’t have that kind of money. Have you tried Mum and Dad? They had an endowment policy up recently, I bet—’
‘I can’t,’ he said, running his fingers agitatedly through his hair. ‘You know how much Dad was against me going into business for myself, said I hadn’t got the head for it. If I told him I was in trouble I’d never hear the last of it.’
Anna sighed. ‘There is one possible solution. Oliver puts some money into an account for me each month, I don’t know why; I told him I don’t need it. There’s enough in there. Although actually I’d promised myself I’d never touch it; I don’t want him to think I married him for his money.’ She didn’t want to be tarred with the same brush as Melanie, or to give Oliver’s father the ammunition he was looking for.
‘Anna, I promise you’ll get it back.’ Chris leaned forward eagerly, his navy eyes brightening with hope. ‘Oliver need never know.’ And he’d gone on pleading until in the end she’d reluctantly given in.
And no one would have been any the wiser if Edward Langford hadn’t seen her brother leaving the house, hadn’t seen him giving her a hug on the doorstep…
A few days went by before Oliver confronted her. He’d given her no clue over dinner as to what was t
o come, but when she got up to clear the table—something she always did for Mrs Green—he said, ‘Sit down again.’ And his tone brooked no refusal.
Anna stared at him in amazement because he never, ever, spoke to her like this. ‘What’s wrong?’ His face was frighteningly grim all of a sudden.
‘I hear you had a visitor a few days ago, a male visitor.’ Well-shaped brows rose questioningly. ‘I’ve been waiting for you to tell me about him, but since it’s clear that you’re not going to, then I’m afraid I shall have to insist on knowing who it was.’ His golden eyes were accusing and hard and in that moment he looked very much like his father.
Anna gave an inward groan. This was what came of promising to keep secrets. ‘Who told you?’
‘My father, as a matter of fact,’ he answered icily. ‘Not that it really matters who told me. The point is, you didn’t.’
She might have known Edward would find out. He probably permanently spied on her, or had someone do it for him. ‘And what did your father have to say?’ she asked defensively. ‘That I’m having an affair?’ It was exactly what Edward Langford would like her to do. Anything to end their marriage.
‘I’m asking you to explain who he was. It stands to reason that if it was something innocent you’d have told me.’
‘As a matter of fact it was innocent,’ she claimed, her green eyes sparking angry fire. ‘It was my brother.’ And that was as much as he needed to know.
There was a sceptical lift now to those dark brows. ‘Your brother? And you didn’t tell me?’ He made her sound stupid.
‘I guess it slipped my mind,’ she replied with a faint shrug, wondering why she found him amazingly sexy when he was angry.
Oliver shook his head in disbelief. ‘Your brother comes home after months abroad and it slips your mind? Do you take me for an idiot? It would be the first thing you’d tell me.’ He stood up and hauled Anna to her feet, his hands gripping her shoulders so hard that they hurt. ‘I want the truth. Who was it? Was it that swine of a man you were once engaged to? Is he hanging around again?’