It had all happened so suddenly that for a few moments she was unable to react, but then she began to struggle, knowing that if she succumbed to his kisses she would be lost. Heath's hands tightened on her and she thought he was going to use his strength to overpower her, to hold her prisoner while he did what he wanted. She struggled harder in a sudden panic of fear, and this time he lifted his head, although he still held her by the arms.
It was nearly dark in the room now, the sun's last dying embers of flame almost completely lost below the horizon. 'Zara,' Heath said softly. 'Zara, sweetheart.' And putting up his hand he began to caress her face gently.
'No, don't touch me!' Knocking his hand away, Zara reached out and switched on the lights, her angry, hate-filled eyes making Heath draw back in startled surprise. 'Get out of my room. Go on, get out!'
He stared at her, a growing frown between his eyes, but then he shook his head decisively. 'No, we have to talk. I'm getting tired of you behaving as if I'm some kind of ogre every time I come near you. We're going to talk this out here and now.'
Drawing her away from the door, he caught sight of her partly-packed suitcase on the bed. 'Running away again, Zara?' he asked grimly.
'I can do anything I want! And I certainly don't want to listen to you. So you can just clear out of here before I ….’
His jaw thrusting forward, Heath said tersely, 'Shut up! For once in your life you're going to sit down and listen!' And he pushed her down into a chair by the dressing-table. He stood looming over her, his clenched lists on his hips, and still dressed only in shorts and a sweat shirt, his muscular body hard with tension. 'I've been as patient as I know how to be with you,' he said forcefully. 'Okay, I know you had a tough time with your husband and it's put you off men. But you've had time to get over it.'
Glaring up at him, Zara said shortly, 'There are some things you never get over.'
But Heath dismissed that with an impatient wave of his hand. 'You're a grown woman, Zara—you must know that all men aren't the same. Just because you made one mistake it doesn't mean that you have to run away when a man wants to get close to you—wants to love you,' he added deliberately.
'That's all men ever want, all they ever think about! They think because they take you out a couple of times that they have the right to go to bed with you. But if you think…'
Putting his hands on the arms of her chair, Heath leaned forward angrily. 'Why don't you listen? I said love, not sex. Okay, sex is very much a part of love. A physical demonstration of it, if you like. But what I feel I or you goes much deeper than that. And you feel it, too. You realised it back there on the beach. But like the coward you are, you're trying to run away from it.'
Zara sat hunched in the chair, trying to withdraw into herself, to keep as far away from Heath as possible. She looked up at him, her features a mixture of fright and resentment. 'I don't want to love you. I don't want to get hurt again.'
'You won't get hurt. I've told you, I'm not like your husband. I want to love and cherish you, not hurt you.'
But Zara had been thinking about him, not Christopher. A wintry smile flicked across her face. Men were so conceited; did he really think she would ever forget or forgive the way he had let her down?
But Heath was saying persuasively, 'Zara, I know we can be happy together. I love you very much, darling. I want to marry you. I want to teach you how wonderful love can be.' He lifted one hand to touch her and then stopped himself, but said urgently, 'And you love me too, don't you? Don't you, Zara? You can't deny it— even to yourself, not any more.'
For a long moment she didn't answer, but then she nodded tiredly. 'Yes. I'm in love with you—God help me.' And thought bitterly: And that's why I have to destroy you, destroy you utterly and quickly, so you never have the power to hurt me again as you did before.
'Darling!' Heath's face lit with pleasure and he laughed at her expression. 'Don't look so unhappy.' Putting his hands on her waist, he drew her to her feet. 'You won't ever regret it, I promise you.' Holding her in his arms, he said softly, 'I'm going to teach you not to be afraid any more. Soon you'll know that going to bed with the person you love is the most wonderful experience you can ever imagine.'
He kissed her face gently and she didn't try to fight him, but she didn't close her eyes, just stood in withdrawn animosity, waiting for him to go.
Heath laughed again. 'Oh, my poor darling, you're no angry, aren't you? Is it with me—or with yourself lor falling in love with me? But I'm going to make you happy, I swear it. You enjoyed what we did the other night, you know you did. And whether you like it or not your body is crying out to be loved. You try to fight it but you're as hungry for it as I am. That's why you tremble whenever I kiss you and why you're afraid to let me caress you in case your body takes over from your head.' He smiled tenderly down at her. 'But now you don't stand a chance, my love, because I have your heart on my side too.' He kissed her eyes, her cheeks, her throat, slowly, luxuriously, as if he already posessed her, taking it for granted that because she had admitted that she loved him she was ready to do what he wanted, agree to anything he wanted to do.
Holding her close, he said, 'Zara, we need time. Time alone together, away from London and work and people. Even just a few days could make all the difference in the world for us. We need to be alone so that you can get used to being touched and kissed, can learn to trust me completely. And what better place than here?'
Zara drew back, staring at him. 'You mean you want to stay on here?'
'Yes, to give ourselves a few days after the others go back.'
'So that I can get used to you—handling me?' she said harshly. 'It's out of the question, I can't spare the time.'
'Then make time,' Heath said fiercely. 'Zara, we need to be together, and it has to be now.'
'Are you ordering me to stay?' she demanded haughtily.
'Yes, if that's the only thing that you'll listen to.' Putting his hands on her shoulders, he said earnestly, 'Zara, you owe it to yourself—and you owe it to me for what happened in the past.'
She shook him off violently at that. 'I don't owe you a thing!'
'All right—forget the past, then. Maybe it is better to start clean. But you have to give us a chance, Zara.'
For a minute she glared at him antagonistically, then suddenly capitulated. 'Oh, all right—but only for a few days. Then I'm going home.'
He gave a crooked kind of grin. 'Such enthusiasm! Anyone would think I was asking you to submit to torture!' His face changed. 'I'm sorry. Maybe it once was torture for you, but it won't be any more, I promise.'
Zara looked at him, nodded and turned away to sit on the bed. 'I'll—I'll have to send a cable to London; tell them not to meet me tomorrow.'
'Okay. Then we'll change and start by going out to dinner, just the two of us.' He moved to go but then stopped. 'You do mean it, don't you? You won't try to run away again.' She shook her head but that didn't satisfy him. Coming over, he made her look at him and said, 'Say it, Zara. Promise me that you'll stay.'
'Yes, all right, I promise.'
'Good girl.' He kissed her on the nose and straightened up. 'See you in how long—an hour?'
She nodded. 'Yes, all right. In an hour.'
When he had gone Zara sat looking down at her hands twisted together in her lap for some time, then remembered her cable and went to pick it up from where it had fallen, forgotten, on the floor. It said simply, 'Maximum shares now bought. You own fifty-five per cent.' So—she had what she had been waiting lor. Without even bothering to think about it, she changed into a travelling outfit, packed the rest of her things, then turned on the shower in the bathroom that backed on to Heath's room to cover the noise of her door opening, and left the hotel as quickly as she could. In less than two hours she was arriving in Miami and in four was on another plane on her way home to London.
Heath was going to be very, very angry, especially when he found out that he was no longer in control of his own company. Of this Zara was
fully aware, but she was a day ahead of him and could take adequate precautions. When the plane landed at Heathrow Airport she took a taxi directly to her office, arriving there at around midday. She hadn't slept very much on the plane, but the adrenalin of victory and excitement was flowing in her veins and she was fully alert.
The receptionist looked up from her desk as Zara entered the building and greeted her with a warm smile. 'Why, Miss Layston! We didn't expect you back until tomorrow. Did you enjoy your break—you look beautifully tanned.'
'Do I? Yes, I suppose it was quite a change.' She smiled at the girl and added casually, 'If anyone from Masterads comes to the office will you make sure that they're not allowed past your desk without phoning me first, please?'
Mac was in the outer office, leaning back in his chair, his feet up on the desk and a mug of coffee in his hand as he read a newspaper. She walked in with a brisk, 'Hallo, Mac,' and he choked as the coffee went down the wrong way.
'Don't do that to me!' he spluttered. 'You're not supposed to be here. You're supposed to be in the Bahamas having an affair with Heath Master…' He stopped abruptly, realising what he was saying.
Zara looked at him sardonically. 'Am I indeed? I wonder how that rumour got around. You can make a coffee for me and bring it into my office while you fill me in on everything that's happened while I've been away. But get the porter of my apartment building on the line first, please.'
She went into her own office and Mac put the call through. Tersely, Zara instructed the porter not on any account to let Heath up to her flat in the future, her fear of Heath's reaction overcoming her usual regard for her privacy. If it aroused the curiosity of the porter and her colleagues it was just too bad.
Mac came in with her coffee and together they went through her in-tray, but Mac had been very efficient and there wasn't a lot to do, although she would have a busy schedule of meetings in the weeks ahead. When they had gone through the work Zara said, 'There's one extra letter I want typed. And I want you to do this yourself, Mac, and do two extra copies, one to go to our solicitor and the other to be put in the safe. I want the top copy also to be delivered by hand today. I did a draft of the letter on the plane.'
She handed a sheet of paper to him and Mac's eyes widened incredulously as he read it. 'My God, Zara, you can't do this!' he ejaculated.
'Why not ?' she returned, her voice quite calm and cool.
'Because—because it's not ethical. You can't just turn round and tell Masterads you no longer want them to do any more work for us at this stage. It's gone too far. Think of all the work they've already done.'
'If you read the letter through you'll see that I've said that we will continue to use the Masterads agency so long as Heath Masterson is no longer associated with it.'
Mac looked at her aghast. 'But he is Masterads!'
'Rubbish! He's only a glorified salesman.'
'Zara—————-' Mac hesitated, then said firmly, 'Look, you can't let personal feelings influence you like this. You have no right to do this to the agency just because Heath has upset you in some way. You can't ..
Zara's green eyes narrowed dangerously. 'And just what right have you to tell me what I can or can't do, Mac?' she asked silkily.
Recognising the danger signals, he stood up. 'All right, I'll type the letter, but please, think about it. A lot of people are dependent on Masterads for work, you know. Especially as they've been taking on extra staff. This move you're making could ruin the agency.'
Zara already knew that, knew it full well, but she had given Heath the option of saving the agency if he himself got out—which choice he made was up to him. And being now a majority shareholder of Masterads she was in a position to see that no one else there suffered; she could always offer them jobs with Panache if Masterads folded.
Her secretary went away to type the letter, and Zara wasn't at all surprised when, about ten minutes later,
Colin Royle, the marketing manager, rang and asked if he could see her. 'Hi. Had a good holiday?' he asked heartily when he came in.
'I wasn't on holiday. You may remember I was working,' she pointed out.
'Oh yes, of course. Must have made a pleasant break, though.'
'Very pleasant,' Zara agreed. 'Did you want something specific, Colin?'
'Just to bring you up to date on the Game, Set and Match promotion. Everything's going along very well. Couldn't be better, in fact. We're all set to go in a month's time.' He looked at her expectantly but Zara didn't say anything. 'Er—I take it you got all the photographs you wanted for the swimwear? Everything went okay, did it?'
Leaning back in her chair, Zara looked at him and said calmly, 'How does it feel to be made of glass?'
Colin gave a wry grin. 'Meaning you can see right through me, I suppose?'
'Quite. And you're wasting your time. I knew Mac would be straight on to you, but you're not going to persuade me to change my mind.'
'I don't even know what it is I'm supposed to change your mind about. Mac just said I ought to get along here fast and reassure you about how good Masterads are being over the promotion. So what's going on?'
'I should be free at the end of the afternoon, we'll talk about it then.'
He had no choice but to agree and went away wondering what on earth was happening, leaving Zara free to phone the company solicitor and ask him to come round to see her as soon as he could. With a company as important as Panache, he was at her office within the hour and the two of them went through the letter she had written together with their contract with Masterads.
'Yes,' the solicitor agreed. 'This clause you had put in the contract giving you the right to back out if this Heath Masterson was no longer able to give your contract his personal attention, or if you no longer find his work up to the standard you require, gives you the right to dispense with them at any time.' He raised his eyebrows. 'I take it that you do have adequate reason for sending this?'
Zara nodded. 'Adequate enough.'
'By all means send it, then. The most they can do is to argue that you're mistaken, but I doubt very much if they would want to bring a lengthy court case against you.'
'That's what I thought,' she agreed. She signed her name firmly and gave the letter to Mac, telling him to take it round to Masterads himself and to be sure to get a signature for it. 'And Mac,' she added, 'when you get back I want you to make sure that Heath is never allowed into our offices—especially mine. Do you understand?'
'No,' Mac answered roundly. 'I don't understand what's got into you lately at all. But I'll do as you ask, of course.'
When he had gone Zara sat back with a small sigh, realising that there was no going back now. Not that she wanted to go back. All her work of the last weeks had been towards this end, and she could only be fiercely glad that Heath was going to learn what she really thought of him at last.
She went out for a sandwich but was too tense to eat, and strangely she still didn't feel at all sleepy even though she had been travelling all night. The adrenalin was still running too high, as was an almost fascinated apprehension about what Heath's reaction would be. That he would try to get to her, to attempt either to argue or to cajole her into changing her mind she was quite sure. But Zara had no intention of seeing Heath if she could possibly avoid it. She rather thought that bringing pressure to bear on him from a distance would be far more effective than a face-to-face confrontation. Glancing at her watch, she calculated that it would be several hours yet before he would be able to fly back to England and reach his office. Maybe he wouldn't even bother to go there today at all and so he might not read her letter until tomorrow morning. Whether or not he would try to contact her tonight after she had left him high and dry in Nassau, Zara didn't know. She toyed with the idea of asking a friend to spend the evening with her at her flat, just in case Heath came round, but decided that she would be safe enough with the porter to bar his way. Thinking about it, she suddenly felt sick of the whole thing and walked briskly back to the office
to get on with some work.
It was just as well she had hurried. She had only been back in the office for about ten minutes when there was the noise of a commotion out in the reception area and then the door to Mac's office was thrown open and Heath burst in. He must have moved heaven and earth to have got back so soon after her. Jumping to his feet, Mac said, 'You can't go in there,' as Heath headed angrily towards Zara's door.
'Just try and stop me!' Heath snarled.
Mac gamely did try, and was pushed out of the way like a fly. 'Keep away from me or I'll knock your head off!' Heath threatened. He flung open the door of Zara's office, sending it flying back against the wall, and strode in, big and powerful and furiously angry.
Zara had been in the act of looking through a file of design drawings at her desk and had sat frozen from the first sound. But Heath stopped short on the other side of the desk, his eyes glaring at her murderously. 'You made a promise to stay in Nassau,' he reminded her savagely.
Zara's face was drawn but her voice was icy calm as she said, 'I'm under no obligation to keep promises to someone who doesn't keep them himself.'
'You bitch! You cowardly little bitch!' he shot at her. For a moment she wasn't sure whether he knew or not, but then he dragged the letter from his pocket and threw it on the desk. 'What the hell do you mean by this?'
Behind him Mac had come to the door. 'I told you that Miss Layston doesn't want to see you. You can make an appointment some other time and…'
Goaded beyond endurance, Heath turned round and took hold of Mac, propelling him into the outer office, then slamming the door behind him and locking it.
Zara got to her feet, her face white. 'How dare you throw my secretary out ? Just who the hell do you think you are?'
'Right now I'm damn angry, so don't push it.' He glared at her, his face set with fury. 'I want an explanation for this.' And he jabbed at the letter lying on the desk.
'It's explanation enough. I no longer have any use for you or your agency. Now get out of here.'
Passionate Revenge Page 13
