The Convenient Lorimer Wife

by Penny Jordan

  ‘No thanks,’ she responded coolly, opening the nearer of the doors. ‘I’m rather tired. It’s been a long day. I’d like to shower and then rest.’

  A mocking smile twisted Chase’s lips. ‘Of course,’ he agreed suavely, ‘I understand completely.’

  He picked up his glass and headed for the patio doors, unfastening the catch and sliding them open. The dying sun caught his strong profile, his dark hair ruffled by the light breeze, thick strands curling over the collar of his shirt. Just for a moment Somer remembered what it felt like to touch, crisp and yet soft; she could almost smell the clean scent of him; feel his body heat, and she shuddered, trying to dispel the sensation of bleak emptiness possessing her. Why did she stand by her bedroom door, her body trembling with the onset of a strange weakness, wishing that somehow things might have been different, that…

  No! The denial exploded silently inside her giving her the motivation to walk into her room. It was as attractively furnished as the sitting-room, in shades of peach and rust. The double bed seemed to taunt her and she averted her eyes from it as she explored her surroundings. Her window overlooked the sea too and shared the sitting-room’s patio. Another door opened into a private bathroom decorated to match her bedroom. The round sunken bath made her eyes widen. It was easily large enough for two people and the startlingly erotic images that suddenly came to mind brought hot colour to her face.

  It took a considerable effort of willpower to bathe in the sunken bath and at the same time keep at bay those taunting mental images of Chase’s body, brown and sleekly muscled, his hands touching her skin… Somer became aware of an ache in the pit of her stomach, a restless urgency that needed no definition. She left her bath hurriedly, wrapping herself in one of the large soft towels and walking back into her bedroom. Someone had brought up her luggage. Her case was on a chair. Apart from her own movements the suite was completely silent. Chase must have gone out. The knowledge should have pleased her, but in reality what she felt was a searing sense of desertion. What was the matter with her, she wondered in self-disgust. She was behaving like…like a frustrated spinster out of a dubious novel. Why of all people did Chase Lorimer have to come back into her life again? Why couldn’t he have left her alone? She knew the answer to that question, she reminded herself as she unpacked her case—all too well.

  Half an hour later Chase had still not returned, and despite her tiredness Somer knew she would not sleep. Quickly pulling on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt she left the suite without bothering to glance in her mirror, her hair a dark, unconfined cloud on her shoulders, her eyes dark and stormy with emotion.

  This time there were more people in the foyer—it was late afternoon and people were returning from the beach to prepare for dinner. Somer glanced in the bar, but there was no sign of Chase. What was she doing looking for him anyway, she had no desire for his company.

  Angry with herself for the emotions which threatened to get out of control, she headed for the main door, half colliding with someone as she did so. Masculine hands gripped her shoulders, a stunned, ‘Somer’ exhaled by her ear. She looked up, recognition replacing her frown.

  ‘Andrew! Good heavens, I didn’t think you’d still be here.’

  ‘No?’ An amused smile curved the lips she had once fantasised about so hectically. The years had not been as kind to Andrew as they had to Chase, Somer noticed with a remarkable degree of satisfaction. Andrew’s fair hair had thinned noticeably, and although his skin was healthily tanned the body she remembered as lean and fit had thickened and become almost paunchy. ‘Then what are you doing here?’

  It took several seconds for it to sink into her consciousness that Andrew thought she was at the hotel because of him. Once the knowledge would have made her tongue-tied with embarrassment, now she was merely amazed at his self-conceit.

  ‘I’m on holiday,’ she told him with a cool smile. Was this really the man she had wanted to commit her life to? She glanced up into the rather too well assured face and sent up a mental prayer of fervent gratitude to Judith Barnes. But for her she might have ended up married to Andrew.

  ‘Alone?’

  ‘Oh no…not alone,’ she told him with a smile. ‘Actually I’m here with my husband.’ She was enjoying this, she realised dizzily, enjoying watching the betraying expressions following one another across Andrew’s too easily read face.

  ‘So you’re married.’ He reached for her hand, examining her rings and sighing faintly. ‘If I hadn’t been such a fool you would have been married to me.’

  ‘Perhaps.’ Her smile was deliberately non-committal, ‘Although I doubt whether many girls marry the first man they fall in love with.’

  ‘I’ve never forgiven myself for hurting you the way I did.’

  ‘You would have hurt me far more if I’d found out about Judith after we were married. What happened to her, by the way? Did the pair of you ever make it to the Caribbean, or couldn’t you find someone else as gullible as I was?’

  ‘It was all a mistake,’ he muttered thickly. ‘I just told Judith that I didn’t want you.’

  ‘You mean you lied to both of us?’ She gave him a sweetly mocking smile. ‘I’m not eighteen any more, Andrew, and I’m afraid that line just won’t work.’ She glanced up as someone else walked into the foyer, her heart thumping as she saw Chase strolling towards them. For some reason she felt an urgent desire to tug her hand away from Andrew’s, rather like a guilty child, which was surely foolish as it couldn’t matter in the slightest to Chase what she did.

  ‘So there you are, darling.’ He came straight towards them, the pressure of his hand on her waist, tugging her away from Andrew who was forced to release her. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us?’

  She did so, watching the way they studied one another, like two wary animals.

  ‘So this is your husband,’ Andrew said at length. ‘I’m glad you found someone. I’ve always hated myself for hurting you the way I did. Somer and I were once engaged,’ he added in brief explanation to Chase while Somer held her breath. Andrew was deliberately trying to cause trouble. For all he knew she might never have mentioned him to Chase. She glanced into the dark, shuttered face of her husband. There was nothing to betray any reaction, but Chase obviously knew what was going on.

  ‘Yes, I believe she mentioned it to me,’ he agreed smoothly. ‘She found you in bed with someone else, didn’t she?’

  Andrew went bright red. The look he gave Chase was bitterly angry, and Somer found herself moving automatically between them, her fingers curling round Chase’s muscular forearm. Green eyes searched her pale face.

  ‘I thought you were going to rest.’ He said it abruptly, leaving her feeling like a chastised child.

  ‘I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t know where you’d gone.’

  ‘And so you came looking for me?’ He smiled suddenly, the smile transforming his features so much that she caught her breath in involuntary reaction. ‘If I’d known you were going to miss me I’d never have gone.’ The look in his eyes was almost a physical caress, and Somer knew she wasn’t alone in recognising it as such. Andrew looked at her bleakly, and excused himself. Chase waited until he was out of earshot and then said softly, ‘So that’s him. No wonder you were so shocked when I told you we were staying here. Did you know he was still here?’

  How could she tell him that she’d barely given Andrew a thought, and that the reason for her shock had been her memories of him? Pride wouldn’t let her.

  ‘I didn’t know.’

  ‘But you hoped?’ His fingers tightened painfully on her upper arm. ‘Well let’s get one thing understood. There’ll be no taking up where the pair of you left off. No matter what your life style might have been before, while you’re married to me there’ll be no lovers.’

  ‘Andrew and I were never lovers.’

  ‘Not for want of encouragement on your part,’ Chase reminded her cruelly. ‘Oh, yes, I can remember everything you told me, Somer, but there’ll be no consumma
tion of your adolescent fantasies this time round either. If you want a lover that badly…’

  ‘I don’t,’ Somer cut in bitterly, shaking her arm free of his grip and hurrying back to the lift. Chase was behind her, but there were other people in the lift and he could say nothing to her while they were present. If she wanted a lover that badly. His cold words rang tormentingly in her ears, her fists clenched in mute anger at her sides. What did it matter what he thought? Wasn’t it better that he thought her promiscuous than run the risk of his discovering the truth? That since his rejection of her she hadn’t been able to endure the trauma of the same thing happening again. That every time a date had so much as kissed her, she had remembered his kisses, his touch, and then his withdrawal leaving her aching and bereft.

  They entered the suite in a heavy silence filled with unspoken tension. Somer pushed open the patio doors, moving restlessly on to the terrace, unwilling to face Chase, and yet too proud to run for the sanctuary of her own room.

  ‘I meant what I said, Somer. Any attempt to rekindle that old affair and I’ll…’

  ‘You’ll what?’ She turned towards him, her eyes brilliant with pain and unshed tears. ‘I’m tired of your threats, Chase. You’re nothing but a bully…’

  She pushed past him before he could speak, locking her bedroom door and then leaning against it, dismayed to discover that she was trembling. Why had she spoken to him like that? They had declared a truce and yet what she had just done had come very close to goading him into…into what? she asked herself. Making love to her? Hadn’t she learned her lesson the first time? She didn’t want him; she couldn’t want a man who had rejected her as cruelly as he had, and yet deep down inside herself she knew she was lying. She did want him. It appalled and dismayed her, but the truth had to be faced. Sitting on her bed she forced herself to think back, to remember… Her fears that her inexperience and gaucheness would put men off had been those of any shy adolescent until she met Chase. If she hadn’t met him; if he hadn’t rejected her she would have overcome them in time, but his rejection had been like a red-hot knife placed across an open wound, sealing it up for ever.

  * * *

  IT WAS A lovely day, Somer admitted as she breakfasted on the private terrace, but no amount of blue skies and bright sunshine could make up for the lack of pleasant companionship. Chase had already left the suite when she woke up. She had ordered her breakfast and showered, not knowing how she was going to spend the day. Presumably the hire car was still parked outside. She could always go for a drive. Some honeymoon!

  She was just brushing her hair when she heard the knock on the outer door. Thinking it was the maid she called out, ‘Come in,’ but it was Andrew who opened the door, smiling at her. ‘I saw that your husband was down to play golf this morning and so I thought I’d come up and see if you fancied going out for a drive. It’s my day off,’ he added by way of explanation.

  Mindful of Chase’s warning she was just about to refuse, when a sudden spark of defiance took fire. ‘All right, I will come with you. Just give me five minutes to get my things.’

  ‘Bring a swimsuit,’ Andrew called after her, his eye admiring her slender figure when she emerged from her room dressed in a brief white top and figure-hugging jeans. Five years ago he had thought her too thin, but that thinness had changed to elegant slenderness, the briefness of her cotton top emphasising the soft thrust of her breasts. Aware of the way he was looking at her a trickle of warning slid down her spine but Somer ignored it. She could handle Andrew—hadn’t she handled dozens of men like him in the last five years?

  ‘All set? My car’s parked round the park in the staff car park. I’ll meet you out front if that’s okay with you?’

  Who didn’t he want to see them together, Somer wondered cynically, agreeing to his suggestion with a brief smile. She had learned a lot in five years, including the ability to see beneath surface statements.

  Andrew’s car was a small scarlet two-seater. Somer climbed into the passenger seat and fastened her belt, tucking her bag on the floor beside her. As she did so her hand caught the glove compartment and it flew open revealing a make-up bag and headscarf. They could have belonged to anyone, but Somer sensed they were indications of a long-standing relationship.

  ‘They’re Judith’s,’ Andrew told her tersely. ‘We got married just after you left—the worst mistake I ever made, but she was pregnant and she claimed the child was mine.’

  Andrew hadn’t changed, Somer thought idly. He was still looking for someone else to blame for his own mistakes. She felt almost sorry for Judith, even remembering the other woman’s aggressive unpleasantness towards herself. Looking back she could quite understand it. Judith had loved Andrew, and perhaps even then suspected she might be carrying his child. She had seen Somer as a threat to that relationship; even while her greed had condoned Andrew’s actions. They deserved one another, she thought wryly, and wondered with cynicism how many guests Andrew had been unfaithful to her with in the intervening five years.

  They drove to a small, quiet beach and while Andrew parked the car Somer made her way down on to the sand, spreading out her towel and pulling off her jeans. Underneath she was wearing the bottom half of her bikini and by the time Andrew joined her she was smoothing oil into her legs.

  ‘I’d have done that for you if you’d waited,’ he told her huskily, admiring the long, slender length of her. ‘Why don’t you take off your top? The beach is quite private and we’ve got it all to ourselves.’

  Somer smiled. ‘My skin’s too pale to risk too much sun at once. Perhaps later when I’ve built up a little resistance.’

  Did he really think she was still as naïve as she had been at eighteen? Then she would have needed no urging. Then she would have been thrilled and proud to believe that he wanted her physically, now all she could feel was a brief cynicism for his obviousness, a tiny inner voice reminding her that what Andrew was really interested in wasn’t her, but her father’s wealth. He had never really wanted her.

  It was late afternoon when they returned. Andrew insisted on escorting Somer back to the suite, and she let him, still cynically amused by his attempts to ingratiate himself back into her good books.

  As he opened the door for her the first thing she realised was that Chase was back; the second was that there was someone with him and she stiffened in immediate hostility recognising Judith.

  She had put on weight in the intervening years, but she was still attractive. Cold blue eyes shot bitter sparks of fury at Somer and Andrew.

  ‘Now do you believe me,’ she hissed furiously to Chase as Andrew closed the door behind them. ‘I told you what was going on… I knew exactly what would happen the moment I knew she was back. She wanted Andrew five years ago, and nothing’s changed. She still wants him.’

  ‘Judith, come on…’ Andrew interrupted awkwardly, walking to his wife’s side. ‘Somer is an old friend…it’s all perfectly innocent.

  ‘If the pair of you want to argue, I suggest you do so in your own quarters,’ Chase cut in coldly, walking across to the door and holding it open. Andrew glanced helplessly across to Somer, his expression both pleased and rueful. He was enjoying the scene, Somer recognised—and so possibly in her own way was Judith.

  ‘I suppose you enjoyed that,’ Chase murmured with dangerous softness when they were alone. ‘Tit for tat, so to speak. You certainly didn’t waste much time.’

  ‘Chase, please, you’ve got it all wrong…I had no idea that Andrew and Judith were married until this morning.’

  ‘But knowing didn’t stop you from going out with him?’

  ‘Why should it?’ Anger suddenly filled her. ‘You don’t own me, Chase. I didn’t ask to marry you. You blackmailed me into it, and if I want to go out with Andrew…’

  ‘Go to bed with him, don’t you mean?’ Chase snarled, his face so bitterly furious that she stepped back from him automatically. ‘I warned you about that, Somer. But if you’re so desperate for a man that you can’t ev
en go a few days without one, perhaps I ought to oblige you myself. That way at least I’ll stop you breaking up someone else’s marriage.’

  ‘Chase, no.’ Alarm sprang to life in her eyes, and she backed away hastily. ‘Chase, you said this would be a marriage in name only. You can’t…’ She stifled a small cry as his fingers bit into her arms and he swung her off her feet, shouldering open his bedroom door. His room was a twin of her own but without the sea views. A double bed much like her own gave beneath their combined weight, Somer holding her arms rigid to fend Chase off, her body tensed for escape.

  ‘This has nothing to do with our marriage, Somer,’ Chase ground out as he reached for the hem of her tee-shirt. ‘It’s something I ought to have done five years ago.’

  ‘Five years ago I came to you because…’

  ‘Because you wanted someone to take the place of your fiancé.’ The gritted comment seared her tender skin as Chase jerked her top upwards, stilling her thrashing body effortlessly as he pulled it over her head, leaving her feeling more exposed than she had ever felt in her life as his gaze scorched her pale skin. Her convulsive attempt to sit up and cross her arms over her breasts in their brief covering of white lace was punished by his fingers manacling her wrists together behind her. ‘How many men have you used trying to forget him since?’ He laughed harshly deep in his throat. ‘You should be grateful to me, Somer—I’m going to make sure you forget him. This time my name will be the one you cry out at the summit of your pleasure,’ he told her thickly. ‘Mine.’ His mouth closed hotly over hers, giving her no opportunity to respond, smothering her resistance with the thick blanket of power she could sense surging through him.

  Confusing emotions exploded inside her. She wanted to fight against him, to freeze him off with the same cold lack of response she had shown to other men but her body was overruling her will, recognising and even welcoming his touch. Her breasts swelled, her nipples springing to urgent life inside their lacy prison, a hungry sound of need torn from her throat as Chase released her mouth, his thumb probing its swollen outlines, his fingers finding the catch that released her bra.