Bargaining With The Boss (Harlequin Romance)

by George, Catherine

  ‘Dear me, you have been busy.’

  He shook his head, grinning. ‘I went shopping. But not only for sandwiches. Let’s eat, then I can show you my other purchases later.’

  To show her he’d been teasing about bed, James made it clear he was content to linger over lunch, happy just to be alone with her again. It was mid-afternoon before there was any discord in the harmony. They were together on the sofa in James’s study when he fished in his pocket and drew out a small box.

  ‘I suppose I should have asked your preferences first, but the moment I saw it I thought it was perfect. You can change it for something more modern if you like.’

  Eleri stared at the ring, lusting for it so much after one look she wanted to snatch it from the box.

  ‘You don’t like it,’ he said expressionlessly.

  She looked at the band of rubies and diamonds through a haze of tears. ‘No I don’t like it,’ she agreed huskily. ‘I absolutely adore it. But I can’t wear it, James. Everyone would know.’

  ‘Exactly. It’s the object of the exercise.’ He took the ring from the box and slid it on her finger. ‘It fits.’

  ‘Perfectly.’ Eleri looked at the ring in longing, then slid it off again and handed it to him. ‘That wasn’t fair, James.’

  ‘Not fair?’ He glared at her. ‘What the hell do you mean?’

  ‘You were jumping the gun. I told you I couldn’t give you the commitment you wanted. Not yet. We agreed—’

  ‘No! You agreed. I still feel the same as before. Given the choice, I’d rush you to a register office tomorrow. Failing that, I’m doing the next best thing.’ His eyes speared hers. ‘Why won’t you wear it?’

  Eleri thrust her hair behind her ears despairingly. ‘I never dreamed you’d want to go public yet. I meant it to be a secret just for you and me.’

  James got up, his face so hard with suppressed anger she went cold. ‘Why, for God’s sake? How long do you intend keeping this up? Weeks? Months?’ He paused at the stricken look on her face, then yanked her to her feet, his eyes stabbing hers.

  ‘If I’m to be kept dangling indefinitely I need to know why. Tell me what this is all about.’

  ‘I can’t,’ she said hoarsely. ‘And if you can’t accept that there’s no point in going on.’

  James stared at her in disbelief, then grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along with him as he strode from the room.

  ‘What are you doing?’ she demanded, quailing at the look on his face.

  ‘The only thing left to me!’ he said through his teeth, and without warning slung her over his shoulder for the journey down to his bedroom, where he tossed her unceremoniously on the bed, keeping her captive with both hands either side of her as he glared down into her scarlet, incensed face.

  ‘On previous occasions I trust you noted my care for you in certain preliminary aspects of our lovemaking. This time—oh, no you don’t!’ He moved fast as Eleri made a dive to escape.

  She found herself flat on her back again, this time with a large male body on top of her, every inch of it taut with anger and the desire to subdue.

  ‘This time,’ said James, his face only a fraction from her own, ‘we’ll dispense with all that. To be blunt, Signorina Conti, I intend to get you pregnant.’

  ‘It won’t do any good,’ she spat at him, her eyes glittering scornfully into his. ‘Do you honestly think I’d leave precautions to the male of the species?’

  James stared down at her in distaste, all urgency vanished. After a moment he rolled over and got to his feet. ‘Illogical, I know,’ he drawled, ‘but my libido finds your forethought distinctly off-putting—hinting, as it does, of strings of predecessors in your embrace.’

  Eleri got to her feet wearily. ‘Not strings—’

  ‘Of course not,’ he agreed suavely. ‘You’re strictly a no-strings lady. Odd, really. At one time my ideal woman would have been someone both passionate and wary of committed relationships—’ He broke off as the phone rang. With a punctilious word of apology he picked up the receiver and said his name, listened for a moment then passed the phone to Eleri.

  ‘It’s Nico, cariad,’ said her mother, sounding distraught. ‘He’s in hospital at the General—’

  ‘What?’ Eleri’s eyes widened in shock. ‘Why? Has he had an accident? What happened?’

  ‘It was his match. He was trying to head the ball and connected with the goalpost instead. He’s unconscious—’

  ‘I’m on my way,’ said Eleri tersely, and jumped to her feet, almost throwing the phone at James.

  ‘What’s happened?’ he demanded.

  ‘Nico’s in hospital,’ she said, brushing him out of the way, but James held onto her arm.

  ‘I’ll drive you there,’ he said firmly. ‘You’re shaking from head to foot. You can’t drive anywhere like that.’

  Eleri stared at him blindly, then nodded. ‘All right, but hurry up.’

  Within minutes they were at the crowded casualty department of Pennington General Hospital. Directed to a cubicle, they slid between the curtains to see Catrin sitting beside the still figure in the bed. She jumped to her feet to embrace her daughter, smiling valiantly at James.

  ‘Don’t look like that, cariad,’ she told Eleri. ‘They expect him to come round any minute.’

  Eleri took her mother’s place by the bedside, grasping Nico’s lax hand in hers. ‘He’s very pale,’ she said in anguish, then turned to look up at her mother. ‘Where’s Papa?’

  ‘He doesn’t even know yet! He went to the suppliers for more glasses. I took a taxi here and left him a note.’

  ‘Is there anything I can do, Mrs Conti?’ asked James. ‘Would you like some coffee? Eleri?’

  Catrin refused, thanking him, but Eleri didn’t even hear him. She sat motionless, her eyes on the bruised, pale face on the pillow.

  ‘I’ll just see if Mario’s arrived,’ said Catrin. ‘Would you mind staying with Eleri, James?’

  He smiled at her in reassurance. ‘Of course not.’ He remained standing behind Eleri after Catrin had gone, his hand on her shoulder tightening as Nico’s eyelids flickered slightly.

  ‘Hi, Nico,’ said Eleri, sounding so composed James eyed her with approval. ‘Wakey, wakey.’

  The long black lashes lifted, and dazed blue eyes stared up into smiling black ones. ‘Hi, Mamma,’ he said faintly.

  Eleri swallowed, but managed to keep her smile in place. ‘It’s me, Eleri. Mamma’s slipped out for a minute.’

  ‘Thought it was quiet!’ He noticed James and smiled feebly. ‘Hi.’

  ‘You’re supposed to head the ball, not the post,’ said James, grinning, and Nico pulled a face.

  ‘I don’t know much about it—’ His face cleared. ‘But I remember scoring in the first half. Did we win?’

  ‘How silly of me not to find out,’ said Eleri acidly.

  ‘So Sleeping Beauty’s back with us,’ said a nurse, coming through the curtains. ‘A doctor’s coming to check on you in a minute, Nico, but you look pretty good to me.’

  ‘And you likewise,’ said the patient, grinning at her.

  ‘Nico!’ remonstrated Eleri, lips twitching. ‘There’s obviously not too much wrong with you.’

  At which point a desperately anxious Mario Conti arrived with his wife and Eleri, after a quick kiss for Nico, went outside with James. He found a seat for her at the back of the waiting room, eyeing her pallor with concern.

  ‘There’s a machine over there. Have some coffee.’

  She nodded gratefully. ‘Thanks. White, with one sugar.’

  He smiled wryly. ‘I know that by now, Eleri.’

  When James got back with the drinks, they sat in silence for a while among the bustle and noise of the emergency department. Eleri’s colour improved as she drank the hot liquid, and she smiled gratefully at James when he got up to dispose of their plastic beakers.

  ‘How are you feeling now?’ he asked when he returned.

  ‘Better. Sorry to make such a
fuss.’

  ‘It wasn’t a fuss, Eleri.’ He looked at the clock. ‘What happens now?’

  ‘A doctor was about to examine Nico—’ Eleri broke off as she saw her mother beckoning her.

  ‘Go on,’ said James. ‘I’ll stay here.’

  When Eleri got back from a talk with her parents she eyed James rather uncertainly. ‘Nico has to stay in overnight to make sure he’s over the concussion, but he’s complaining so much about it there’s obviously not much wrong with him.’

  ‘I assume Nico’s not thrilled to be in hospital on a Saturday night,’ said James with a grin.

  ‘That’s the problem. He’s supposed to be taking Lucy to a party.’ Eleri looked down at her shoes. ‘My parents are going home now; both of them are determined to carry on at the trattoria as usual.’

  ‘Then I suggest you come home with me,’ said James with decision, and took her over to her parents. ‘If you’re sure there’s nothing either of us can do,’ he said to the Contis, ‘I thought I’d take Eleri back to my place and give her some dinner.’

  Mario Conti nodded. ‘That is best Do not trouble to cook. I will send a meal over for you.’

  ‘Good idea, Mario. I know the address,’ said Catrin, and kissed her daughter. ‘Say goodnight to Nico, then off you go. I’ll see you later. Goodnight, James.’

  Eleri was silent on the short journey to Chester Gardens. James made no attempt to break the silence, but led her straight into the study and sat down with her on the sofa, drawing her close.

  ‘Don’t worry. Nico’s a tough youngster. He’ll be right as rain tomorrow.’ He smiled down at her. ‘He’s also very lucky, Eleri, to have so many people caring for him. I can’t see Helena getting so distraught about her little brother.’

  Eleri closed her eyes for a second, then raised her head to look at him defiantly. ‘Nico’s not my brother,’ she blurted. ‘He’s my son.’

  James’s arm tightened convulsively about her, his eyes suddenly dark with shock. ‘My darling girl—’ He let out a long breath, then drew her onto his lap and smoothed her head against his shoulder as though she were a child. ‘So that’s it. I knew there was something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Does he know, darling?’

  Eleri shook her head, relaxing slightly at the endearment. ‘No. But my parents think it’s time he did. That’s what they were telling me at the hospital. They said it was time Nico knew the truth.’

  James put her away from him a little to see her face. ‘Do you agree?’

  ‘In principle, yes.’ Her mouth twisted. ‘But not in practice. It was hard enough to tell you. The thought of confessing to Nico scares me to death. I’m afraid he won’t—won’t feel the same towards me afterwards.’ She shrugged forlornly. ‘So now you know why I couldn’t marry you yet, as much as I longed to. I’d promised myself I would wait until Nico was older before—’

  ‘Before having a life of your own?’

  Eleri smiled shakily. ‘You could put it like that. It wasn’t a hard promise to keep. Until I met you. But I couldn’t tell you about it because it involved my parents as well as Nico. But my father likes you. It was he who urged me to tell you the truth.’

  ‘I’m grateful to him,’ said James fervently. ‘And I agree with him totally. It’s time Nico knew.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Hell, it’s suddenly struck me—you were only a baby yourself. How on earth did it happen?’

  ‘It wasn’t rape,’ she assured him quickly.

  ‘Thank God for that!’ James shifted her in his arms so he could see her face clearly. ‘Can you tell me about it?’ he asked gently.

  ‘Yes. Not that there’s much to tell. There was an exchange of students in Pennington when I was nearly fifteen. Some pupils from the comprehensive were playing host to students from France and Italy on an exchange arrangement during the Christmas holidays.’

  ‘So your family had someone to stay?’

  ‘No. I went to the convent, remember.’ Eleri smiled wryly. ‘But one of the sixth-formers from the other school took his homesick Italian houseguest into the trattoria for a meal one day and introduced him to my father, who invited them both to our house. It became a regular occurrence. Simon and Fabio spent hours at our place, ate Sunday lunch with us, played games with ten-year-old Claudia and took me to the cinema and so on. I had the time of my life. My schoolmates at the convent were green with envy.’

  ‘So that’s why Nico looks so Italian,’ said James thoughtfully. ‘So what happened to Fabio?’

  ‘Nothing. Fabio was a respectful Italian boy. Simon was the culprit—tall, dark, with bright blue eyes, the star of the football team, owner of a motorcycle, and the object of general teenage female lust at his school.’

  James shook his head, taken aback. ‘Go on.’

  ‘At almost fifteen I was the size—and shape—I am now, but with much longer hair,’ said Eleri without emotion. ‘One day Fabio was laid up with an upset stomach, so when I went to meet them only Simon was waiting for me. I didn’t mind in the least. I was totally dazzled by him. It was a sunny, mild day for late December, but there wasn’t a soul about in the woods where we went for a walk. I had been fantasising for some time about having Simon kiss me, so when he did I suppose I misled him with my girlish enthusiasm. In no time we were lying on his leather jacket on the grass and I found to my horror that I was no match for a big, randy seventeen-year-old who lost control completely and subjected me to a fumbling, painful messy experience that gave no pleasure to me—nor much to him, probably. He told me it would be better next time.’ She laughed shortly. ‘I screamed at him like a virago, told him there wouldn’t be a next time, that I never wanted to see him again.’

  ‘And did you?’

  ‘No. I made myself scarce when he brought Fabio round to say goodbye. And Simon never achieved his Easter exchange holiday with Fabio’s family. He came off his prized motorcycle and died instantly, a few days short of his eighteenth birthday.’

  ‘Good God!’

  ‘Quite so.’ Eleri looked up at his intent face in appeal. ‘Now at this point you need to take into account my sheltered upbringing and convent education. I was quite sure it was Simon’s punishment, and waited for God to strike me too. It didn’t dawn on me for several months what form my personal punishment was taking. I thought I was stricken with some fatal disease because I felt so sick and ill at the time. Then my mother questioned me on certain matters I had always kept fiercely private and realised I was three months pregnant.’

  ‘Poor baby,’ said James huskily, and kissed her drooping mouth. ‘So what happened next?’

  ‘At this juncture,’ said Eleri bleakly, ‘you must bear my particular circumstances in mind. I was barely fifteen. Under-age in more ways than one. With no possibility of marriage there were three options open to me: abortion, adoption, or life as a single parent. The first two were unthinkable. So my mother and my father—who blamed himself bitterly because he was responsible for bringing Simon and me together—formed a plan.’

  The school was told that Eleri was suffering from glandular fever. Officially to prevent Claudia from catching it, Eleri went off to Wales to her grandmother, who hired an isolated cottage on the Gower peninsula for the summer and gradually restored her granddaughter to sanity there. In the meantime Catrin, who had been loud with her complaints about weight gain, announced she was pregnant.

  Then one hot, late August afternoon Mario drove Catrin down to the Gower in haste, and arrived just in time to greet Niccolo Conti, who arrived a month early. After a few days Eleri pronounced herself fit, tore herself away from her beloved baby, and insisted on returning to Pennington while Catrin, who was believed to have given birth suddenly while on holiday, remained behind with her mother and Nico.

  ‘And when the autumn term started I went back to school,’ she went on. ‘But thanks to my parents I wasn’t separated from my baby. I owe them a great deal.’

  ‘That was a hell of an experience for a schoolgirl,’ said James with feeling. �
��No wonder you keep men at arm’s length.’

  ‘Except you.’

  ‘Except me,’ he agreed, then frowned. ‘Why the look?’

  Eleri looked away. ‘Tell me the truth. Does it make a difference, James?’

  He made no pretence of misunderstanding. ‘To how I feel about you? Don’t talk nonsense, woman. I love you. Nothing can change that. But I agree with your parents. It’s time to tell Nico. He’s fifteen, just as you were when he was born, so he’s exactly the right age to appreciate what you went through. If your parents think you should tell him, then do it, Eleri. I’d gladly offer myself in support, but that wouldn’t be right. This is between Nico and his mother.’

  ‘I know you’re right. I’ll fetch him home from hospital and make my confession.’

  ‘Good girl. Then come round here tomorrow night and tell me what happened.’

  . Eleri clapped a hand to her mouth.

  James frowned. ‘What’s up.’

  ‘I forgot. I was supposed to ask you round for a meal. It’s my birthday tomorrow.’

  ‘I know,’ said James smugly. ‘Actually I’d booked a table at the Chesterton, but I’d much rather celebrate with your family. Lunch or dinner?’

  ‘I’m not sure. I’ll ring you when I get home.’ She looked up with a shaky smile as the doorbell rang. ‘I hope all this melodrama hasn’t put you off your food—that’s Luigi with our supper.’

  When James presented himself at the Conti household promptly at noon the following day, he was greeted by Nico, who sported a spectacular black eye somewhat at odds with his crisp white shirt and black jeans.

  ‘Hi, James. Are those flowers for me?’

  ‘No fear. How are you? Still seeing stars?’

  ‘No. Eleri’s the starry-eyed one round here.’ Nico ushered his guest along to the sitting room. ‘Here he is, birthday girl.’

  Eleri smiled at James with such radiance he put the sheaf of red roses down on the table and took her in his arms, ignoring the wolf-whistles from Nico.

  ‘Happy birthday, darling.’

  ‘Thirty roses, El,’ said Nico, impressed.