‘That lock on the back door was never very secure. I used to live here, remember?’
‘What do you want?’
‘To talk to you. But maybe you’ve got company?’ His sly smile infuriated her, and she stood away from the wall.
‘Well, I haven’t. I’m here on my own, apart from Maisie. Not that it’s any of your business,’ she added, as she checked on her daughter and found her still asleep. ‘You’d better go downstairs. I’m surprised Maisie hasn’t been disturbed already. You have no right to break into my house,’ she told him as she slammed about the kitchen, the familiarity of filling the kettle and making tea giving her a measure of control over the situation. ‘What’s so urgent that you had to talk to me at eight o’clock on a Sunday morning?’ She knew why he was here, of course; he had hoped to catch her with her lover. But his words stunned her.
‘I want Maisie for Christmas.’
‘Gift wrapped?’ she queried sarcastically, and his face tightened.
‘Don’t get clever with me. Louise is planning a big Christmas celebration. Her parents are coming for dinner, and she thought it would be a good time for them to meet Maisie. They’re going to be her new grandparents after all.’
‘Maisie isn’t even four years old yet. She’s too young to spend Christmas away from home,’ Jenna argued.
‘When I win custody the Love Nest will be her home.’
Jenna’s brows shot up. ‘The Love Nest?’ she repeated faintly.
‘It’s Louise’s house—my house, after we’re married. Louise has got it all planned. She’s bought loads of presents for Maisie, and she wants to dress her up and—’
‘Stick her on top of the Christmas tree?’ Jenna finished for him furiously.
‘So you’re refusing to allow me to spend Christmas with my daughter? That’s not going to look good in court. I’m trying to come to an amicable arrangement—but then you always were a bit unbalanced.’
‘How dare you?’ Jenna glared at him wildly, but then took a deep breath; she was playing straight into Lee’s hands. ‘All right, Maisie can spend Christmas Day with you. But you bring her back on Boxing Day. After that we’ll go to court and see if we can come to a fair arrangement over access.’
Lee gave a satisfied smile. ‘Great, Louise has other arrangements for Boxing Day anyway. Here, let me do that.’ He took the kettle from her and poured boiling water into the teapot—and then over her hand.
‘Lee, watch what you’re doing—you’ve burned me.’ Jenna thrust her hand under the cold tap, blinking back tears as her skin began to blister.
‘Sorry, my hand slipped.’
‘Rubbish! You did that on purpose, you bastard. How can I possibly let Maisie go with you?’
‘Don’t you worry. I’ll treat her with kid gloves,’ Lee promised cheerfully, and for once she believed him. Lee needed Maisie; he wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardise his chances with his girlfriend, which meant he had to prove that he was a perfect father.
Alex phoned mid-morning, and at the sound of his deep, familiar voice Jenna sat at the bottom of the stairs and tried to disguise the fact that she was crying.
‘I thought we could go out for lunch—somewhere they cater for children, obviously. I’ll be over in an hour.’
‘No!’ Jenna stopped him with a frantic cry.
She needed to spend some time alone, to get a grip on herself after Lee’s visit and hide the evidence that he had hurt her in another so-called accident. He had done it to scare her, of course, to show her that she was still under his control. Part of her wanted to fight him, report him to the police for assault and see him prosecuted. But what if no one believed her story? What if Lee managed to convince the courts that she was paranoid and an unsuitable mother?
She was so tempted to confide in Alex. She trusted him implicitly, and knew she could depend on him—but that was the trouble. She didn’t want to go into another relationship where she was the needy one. Her relationship with Alex was already unbalanced; he was a wealthy, successful and highly eligible bachelor and she was a financially challenged single mother. Pride dictated that she sort out her problems with Lee by herself.
‘Maisie’s unwell today,’ she lied. ‘I want her to have a quiet day at home. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘She seemed fine yesterday,’ Alex pointed out, although in fairness he had to admit that his knowledge of a small child’s health was limited.
‘Well, she’s not today.’ Jenna cut the call before it became an argument and paced the house, her nerves so on edge that eventually she bundled Maisie into her coat and took her for a walk.
Alex was leaning against the bonnet of his car when they returned from the park, and despite everything Jenna felt the familiar butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Why did he have to be so gorgeous? she thought despairingly as he watched her approach, the expression in his eyes unfathomable. His jeans, sweater and leather jacket were black, the uniform colour emphasising his height and the width of his shoulders. She couldn’t drag her eyes from his face, and as her gaze hovered on his mouth she recalled with stark clarity the way it had felt on her body, when his tongue had brought her to the edge of ecstasy and pushed her over.
‘Are you feeling better, poppet?’ Alex asked Maisie gently, hunkering down in front of her so that his face was on a level with hers.
Maisie scrambled off her bike, her face beaming. ‘Alex, have you come to play with me?’
‘Absolutely—if that’s okay with Mummy?’ His eyes travelled over Jenna, noting her pallor and the flare of panic she hadn’t been able to disguise when she had first seen him.
Silently she opened the front door and stepped aside to usher him in, but as she slipped out of her jacket he caught sight of the blister on her hand.
‘It’s nothing,’ she assured him, hastily tugging her sleeve down to try and hide the angry red mark, but Alex ignored her and took her hand in both of his to inspect it. ‘I spilt some boiling water while I was making the tea this morning,’ she explained huskily, her gaze skittering away under the steady watchfulness of his.
‘Lee was here, wasn’t he?’
‘How do you know that?’
‘You’ve just told me,’ he said gently. ‘Why did you let him in?’
The silence lasted for several minutes before Jenna finally admitted, ‘He broke in early this morning. I think he was checking up on me. He seemed to think someone—you—had stayed the night.’
‘I wish to blazes I had,’ Alex bit out, trying to rein in his anger. Jenna had suffered enough, he thought grimly, glancing again at her blistered hand. He would find an outlet for his fury later—preferably with his fist and her damn ex-husband’s face. ‘Where’s your brother?’
‘Chris stayed at a friend’s last night. He phoned just after you left. I had no reason to think Lee would come here,’ Jenna whispered. ‘He wanted to persuade me to allow Maisie to spend Christmas Day with him and his girlfriend.’
‘And his form of persuasion was to hurt you?’ Alex ground out.
‘He said it was an accident,’ Jenna replied quietly, ‘but I don’t think it was. I’ve agreed, reluctantly, to let Maisie go to him for Christmas, but in the New Year I’ll have to let the courts decide on her future.’ The thought brought fresh tears to her eyes, and as Alex groaned and put his arms around her she lay weakly against his chest, absorbing his strength.
‘Darling, it’ll be okay. I promise you.’ His mouth moved across her hair, kissed away her tears, and settled on her lips in a sweetly evocative caress that offered comfort rather than passion.
Jenna refused point-blank to go to the casualty unit, and, realising that her composure was paper-thin, he had to content himself with tending to her injured hand himself, covering the burn with a sterile dressing from the medical box. The rest of the day passed quietly, and he devoted his attention to entertaining Maisie, who was fast taking up a special place in his heart.
‘Maisie likes you,’ Jenna admitted
that evening as he made to leave.
He had been adamant at first that he wouldn’t allow her to remain in the house, and had suggested that she and Maisie move into his flat. Imagining his elegant apartment, which overlooked the Thames, Jenna had panicked at the thought of filling it with Maisie’s toys, and had hastily pointed out that her daughter needed to be near her nursery.
Unconvinced, Alex had spoken at length to Chris, who had assured him he would never leave Jenna alone at night again, and the two of them had checked the window locks and repaired the bolt on the back door.
‘Does Maisie liking me bother you?’ he asked softly, and Jenna bit her lip.
‘I just don’t want her to be hurt, that’s all. If this ends—us, I mean; our affair—I don’t want her to suffer.’ She heard Alex sigh as he drew her against his chest, his hand winding into her hair so that he could tilt her face up to his.
‘I’ve given you my word that I would never knowingly hurt you or Maisie, but you’ll have to put some faith in me. Without trust on both sides, any relationship between us is doomed.’
He kissed her then, with a fierce passion that shook her, and suddenly there was nothing but Alex and the seductive stroke of his tongue, his eyes glittering with unspoken desire when at last he set her free.
‘You can’t deny this, Jenna, any more than I can. I’ve never wanted any woman the way I want you. You’re in my blood, coursing through my veins. I can’t think straight when you’re around, and when you’re not I can’t think at all because I miss you so much. Give me a chance, sweetheart, please. Don’t let your ex-husband ruin what we have.’
Alex was right, Jenna admitted as she stared down at her small daughter’s sleeping form before she went to bed. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life in fear of Lee.
She believed Alex when he said that he would never knowingly hurt her, but he was unaware of how important he was to her. In a few months he might decide their affair had run its course, and he would undoubtedly suggest that for Maisie’s sake they remain friends. It would be the sensible, civilised thing to do, but she didn’t feel sensible where Alex was concerned. Her emotions were all over the place. And she wasn’t sure she was brave enough to risk her heart again.
CHAPTER NINE
THE woman in the mirror looked like a drab sparrow, Jenna thought disgustedly. She had donned her old grey suit, the colour matching her mood, her hair was scraped back into a severe ponytail, and without a scrap of make-up her face appeared pinched and wan. There was a defeated air about her, as if she had already conceded victory to Lee, and suddenly she was filled with a burning anger.
Once before she had allowed him to browbeat her and manipulate her, but then she had been a girl barely out of her teens, her world turned upside down by the demands of a new baby. Lee had played on her inexperience, chipping away at her confidence, and the harder she had tried to please him the less she had seemed able to do anything right in his eyes.
It was only after he had left and her parents had sent her the money to fly to New Zealand to visit them that the extent of the damage he had inflicted had become apparent. Her family had been shocked to see how their once vibrant, happy daughter had become so timid and withdrawn, and had done their best to persuade her to stay permanently in New Zealand.
It had been tempting, Jenna recalled. She’d had so little faith in herself at that point that she could easily have taken up her parents’ offer to care for Maisie while she sorted her life out, but the holiday, the time away from Lee, had given her a chance to think straight, and some of the old Jenna returned. She had brought Maisie back to England and set about changing their lives. Along the way her confidence and sense of self-worth had returned—so why was she allowing Lee to destroy her for the second time? she berated herself.
She was worth a thousand Lees, she told her reflection as she changed into the cream suit Alex had bought her. She was a far better parent than Lee could ever be, and although she respected his right for fair access to his daughter, he would not intimidate her again. With a renewed sense of determination she emphasised the colour of her eyes with a soft grey eyeshadow, added blusher and lipgloss, and combed her hair loose.
Her confidence jumped several notches at the admiring glances she received when she strode into the office block.
Alex was standing in the reception area, chatting with members of his legal team, but he looked up as she stepped out of the lift and she saw him stiffen, his eyes locked on her, while a stain of dark colour ran the length of his cheekbones. For several minutes he was unable to disguise the effect she had on him, and he murmured a distracted comment to his companion as she strolled past, her smile brief and impersonal, hiding her surge of delight at the proof that he did genuinely desire her.
She was determined that their relationship would not become common knowledge among the other members of staff. There would be no overt flirting, no snatched kisses in the stationery cupboard—but it was cheering to discover that he would be suffering as much as she.
It was a busy morning; Alex was tied up with appointments with clients, and in his free moments had to deal with several urgent phone calls. When Jenna took in his coffee she sensed his growing impatience.
‘I’ve hardly seen you all morning,’ he complained. ‘How are you today? Is your hand healing?’
‘It’s fine,’ she assured him. ‘I’m fine. I don’t know what happened to me at the weekend. I’m not usually so pathetic. I’m determined not to let Lee bother me.’
‘You’re not pathetic,’ Alex told her gruffly. ‘You were terrified by your ex-husband—anyone would have been upset. But I’m glad you’re feeling more positive. You look stunning,’ he added. ‘I’m not sure how long I can last in keeping our relationship a secret. You don’t know how tempted I am to rip your clothes off, lean you across my desk and take you.’
‘Alex!’ Jenna instantly lost all sense of composure, her face flaming, and he chuckled unrepentantly.
‘It’s hell, isn’t it? I’m seriously thinking of installing a shower in my office, with just the cold tap plumbed in.’
‘I think I’d better get back to work,’ she muttered hastily, and his face became more serious.
‘I’m busy at lunchtime, but I’ll drive you home tonight, okay?’
She felt a stab of panic that Lee’s lookout, Brian, would be watching, and then gave herself a mental shake. ‘That would be nice; stay for dinner.’
She went to lunch alone, as Margaret had taken the day off. Alex’s personal assistant was so much happier as a result of his organising nursing care for her husband, and Jenna smiled as she joined the queue in the self-service restaurant; it was hard to believe that she had once thought Alex to be hard and unfeeling!
‘Let me take that,’ said a voice from above her head, and she glanced round, startled to find Selina Carter-Lloyd next to her. ‘There’s a space on my table over in the corner, if you’d like to join me.’
Selina commandeered the tray and paid for the meal before Jenna could remonstrate, and she had little option but to follow her to a secluded part of the restaurant.
‘There was no need for you to pay for my lunch,’ she stated firmly, pulling out her purse to reimburse the other woman.
‘I want to talk to you,’ Selina said determinedly, and Jenna sighed.
‘Yes, I gathered that. What about?’ she enquired coolly, although there could only be one subject that Selina wished to discuss with her.
‘Alex is making the biggest mistake of his life, and it’s all your fault.’ Selina launched into her attack. ‘He loves me. He always has. A marriage between us has been on the cards for years, but I was happy to wait until Alex had built up his career. My parents own swathes of Hampshire,’ Selina continued haughtily, ‘and I’m their only child; everything will eventually pass to me and my future husband—Alex. It’s all planned, and I won’t let him throw away our future because of a stupid obsession with his secretary.’
Jenna took a dee
p breath. ‘I understand how hurt you must be, but I’ve never put any pressure on Alex—far from it. Alex chose to end his engagement to you.’
‘Only because he feels sorry for you,’ Selina snapped. ‘He explained that he felt guilty, because he seduced you and then discovered you were a struggling single mother. He felt he had no option but to stand by you.’
Jenna swallowed and put down her fork, her meal untouched. She suddenly felt very sick as doubts surged through her. How did Selina know so much about her situation? Alex had to have told her. She had always felt that he regretted ending his relationship with Selina, and had done so through a sense of honour because he had been unfaithful to her. Could it be true? she wondered bleakly. Could he still be in love with Selina and only continuing his affair with herself out of guilt?
‘He stands to lose so much,’ Selina pushed on, seeing the doubts in Jenna’s eyes. ‘And if he knew about the baby…’
‘Are you telling me you’re pregnant with Alex’s child?’ Jenna asked huskily. There was a long pause.
‘I lost the baby,’ Selina eventually admitted. ‘It was early days. Alex never knew, and I felt I couldn’t say anything after he broke off our engagement.’
‘I’m sorry; I think you should tell him about the baby, and how you feel, and let him decide if he really does want to marry you after all. I certainly wouldn’t stand in his way.’
‘Unfortunately at the moment he’s besotted with you,’ Selina snorted impatiently. ‘Who can underestimate the power of sex? If you were no longer around his fascination with you would soon fade, and to that end I’m prepared to be extremely generous.’
Jenna stared at the open chequebook and her eyes widened. ‘Are you offering to pay me off?’
‘I know that your finances are somewhat…straitened,’ Selina said coolly. ‘I’ll give you one year’s salary if you leave Morrell and Partners by the end of the week. That’ll tide you over until you find another job—preferably on the other side of the world.’
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