Rufus nodded. ‘I’ll be in the library,’ he told her softly.
The library! Annie felt her heart sink at his voice, her hands shaking slightly, rattling the used crockery on the tray. The library, the place where they had kissed each other so passionately, was the last place she wanted to go to speak to him!
Which was probably the very reason why he had chosen it, Annie acknowledged heavily as she finally made her way to the kitchen and passed the tray over to the cook; Rufus was nothing if not damned annoying! He was also irritating, infuriating, a thorn in everyone’s side. But especially hers!
And yet she had kissed him last night, kissed him as if she really meant it.
Well, he had kissed her too—and his parting comment about getting on with the job of looking after Jessica showed he hadn’t meant it at all!
And that was what was important about last night; Rufus had only kissed her to show her she wasn’t seriously emotionally involved with Anthony. That was what she had to remember about it—not that she had responded!
Rufus was seated in one of the winged leather armchairs that sat at either side of the fireplace when Annie entered the room a few minutes later, a book open on his lap, glancing up at her casually as he sensed her presence in the room.
‘Dickens.’ He snapped the book shut, turning to put it back on the shelf. ‘Not one of my favourite authors.’
Or hers, she inwardly acknowledged, not willing, at this moment in time, to outwardly agree with him on anything. But she found Dickens a little too depressing for her taste. Actually, he would probably suit her mood just now!
‘You wanted to talk to me?’ she prompted abruptly.
Rufus tilted his head to one side, looking at her with amusement. ‘Who’s rattled your cage?’ he taunted.
Her mouth tightened. ‘Sorry?’
‘Uh-oh.’ Rufus grimaced. ‘It’s me you’re angry with, is it?’
She drew in a harsh breath. ‘Why on earth should I be angry with you?’
To her chagrin, he grinned. ‘I should sit down if I were you, Annie.’ He indicated the chair opposite. ‘Before the carpet around you explodes into flames!’ he said ruefully. ‘And to think I initially doubted you were a real redhead! Okay,’ he encouraged once she was seated. ‘Tell me what I have to apologise for, and let’s just get that out of the way. Then we can move on.’
So he was a let’s-sort-this-out-and-move-on sort of person. Strange, that wasn’t the impression Anthony had given with regard to Rufus’s wife … But perhaps that was different; there was certainly a lot of antagonism between the two men.
‘Is it last night?’ Rufus was watching her closely. ‘Do you want me to apologise for kissing you—is that it?’
She had been hoping he wouldn’t even mention the subject. But she supposed that had been just too much to hope for!
‘Well, I suppose I could apologise,’ Rufus said slowly, taking her silence as confirmation. ‘But I really can’t see the point, when I can’t promise it won’t happen again.’ He grinned that wolfish grin as Annie gave an audible gasp. ‘That certainly woke you up!’ he said with satisfaction, relaxing back in the chair. ‘Is it last night, Annie—?’
‘No!’ she denied sharply. ‘I’m just—Everyone has—We’re going to London,’ she concluded as she realised she was rambling.
‘We are,’ he nodded, eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t you want to go?’ he prompted gently.
‘Yes. No.’ She gave a sigh, annoyed with herself for appearing so flustered. ‘Yes, of course I do,’ she said.
‘You just wish I had mentioned it to you before I told anyone else,’ he said knowingly. ‘From your mention of “everyone”, I presume the rest of the family have taken great pleasure in informing you of my plans before I had a chance to talk to you about them. I only mentioned it casually over lunch, Annie,’ he told her. ‘I have no idea why they all took it into their heads to tell you about it.’
She did: Anthony because he was furious that she was going away with his brother, albeit as nanny to his daughter, Celia because Annie had a feeling the other woman wanted her as far removed from Anthony as possible in the immediate future, and Davina hadn’t wanted to talk to her about the trip to London at all but something much more personal! In retrospect, perhaps this interlude in London was the best thing for her too!
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she returned easily. ‘I only—’
‘But of course it matters, Annie,’ Rufus interrupted. ‘Despite what I may have said to you last night, I don’t want to hurt or upset you; I think there are probably enough people in this household intent on doing that already, without my joining in!’ he went on darkly. ‘And for deliberately doing that last night I do apologise.’ He looked across at her, his eyes that dark, fathomless blue. ‘I shouldn’t have made that remark to you about looking after Jessica,’ he explained at her questioning look. ‘I only have to see the two of you together to know that you care for Jessica very much. And that the feeling is more than reciprocated.’
Annie swallowed hard, her voice husky when she spoke. ‘Thank you.’
He grinned. ‘Don’t mention it.’
He was incorrigible; and how could she possibly stay angry with him when he behaved so disarmingly?
‘So …’ She spoke firmly, determined to get this conversation back on a businesslike level. Which wasn’t easy when he had told her he couldn’t promise he wouldn’t kiss her again!
He mustn’t kiss her again. Because if he did she was very much afraid she would respond in exactly the same way she had last night. And becoming involved with this man, the father of her charge and a man who was out of the country more than he was in it, would be more ridiculous than her infatuation with Anthony had been!
‘When do we leave?’ she asked briskly. ‘I’ll need to get some things together for Jessica and myself.’
‘We’re leaving later this afternoon. And don’t worry about too much for Jess; she already has quite a lot of clothes at my apartment,’ Rufus replied.
His apartment! She had assumed they would be staying at a hotel …
Rather a stupid assumption for her to have made when Rufus was obviously based in London for his job. But his apartment …!
‘Don’t worry, Annie,’ he teased at her woebegone expression. ‘It has four bedrooms, so I won’t be expecting you to share mine!’
God, was she so transparent? Not that she had expected to share his bedroom—he was just being deliberately mischievous now!—but she did find the thought of going to stay in his home, even with Jessica present, more than a little disturbing.
‘Jessica’s would have been the more obvious choice,’ she told him calmly.
His mouth twisted. ‘But not half as much fun!’
She gave him a look, not taking him seriously for a moment; he was obviously enjoying toying with her. And it was time it stopped. ‘I had better go and get my things together, then.’ She stood up to leave.
‘Just enough for a few days,’ Rufus warned. ‘We are coming back.’
‘Don’t worry, Rufus.’ She smiled at the almost panicked expression on his face. ‘I brought all my worldly possessions down here in one large suitcase; I really won’t pack that much for two or three days!’
He looked relieved to hear it. ‘At last, a woman who knows not to pack the kitchen sink, along with everything else in the house!’
She laughed, giving a wry shake of her head as she crossed the room to the door.
‘There is one thing, though, Annie.’ The tone of Rufus’s voice stopped her at the door. ‘Do pack the black dress,’ he told her gruffly as she slowly turned to face him.
Her eyes widened. ‘Will we be going out in the evenings?’
He met her gaze unblinkingly. ‘Probably not,’ he returned. ‘But pack the black dress anyway.’
She gave him a reproving look as she left, no longer sure whether he was serious or still playing with her. He had seemed angry last night when he had kissed her, but a night’s sl
eep seemed to have changed all that—
‘Annie!’
She frowned as she turned to see Anthony standing in the doorway of his mother’s private sitting-room, that frown deepening as he beckoned to her to join him. God, she hoped Celia and Davina weren’t in there too, so that all three of them could tell her how she was wasting her time over Anthony; that was all she needed on top of her puzzlement concerning Rufus. Besides, they could save their breath if that was their intention; she was cured of her infatuation with Anthony!
‘Come in here, Annie,’ he commanded. ‘I want to talk to you.’
There was no one else in the room, she discovered when she reluctantly entered it. Although that didn’t mean Celia wouldn’t arrive at any moment—
‘My mother is upstairs resting.’ Anthony instantly dispelled that thought as he closed the door firmly behind them.
In that case he had chosen the perfect place for them to talk in private; usually no one else but Celia entered this room, not unless she had invited them in. Celia seemed to be resting rather a lot recently … Unless it was just her way of keeping out of Rufus’s path!
‘What is it, Anthony?’ Annie looked at him, feeling unsettled. ‘I was on my way upstairs to pack for this trip to London.’
He scowled darkly. ‘You’re going with Rufus, then.’ It was an accusation, not a question.
‘I’m accompanying Jessica, yes,’ she answered carefully.
‘You’re going with Rufus,’ he repeated.
She bristled at the accusing tone in his voice. ‘And you’re staying here with Davina,’ she reminded him tautly.
He looked at her consideringly. ‘That really bothers you, doesn’t it?’ he said.
Of course it bothered her; he was an engaged man. And he acted as if he owned her, which, apart from being unacceptable, was a very strange experience for someone who had been on her own all her life.
‘I think …’ she spoke slowly ‘… that you need to get your life in order, Anthony.’
‘In what way?’ He was unsure.
‘In every way!’ she said exasperatedly. ‘A few days ago you kissed me, then a couple of days later you made an assignation to meet me down on the jetty. Admittedly you didn’t get there,’ she continued determinedly as she could see he was about to interrupt her, ‘but that was only because your fiancée wanted your time instead. Which she has a perfect right to expect. Now, correct me if I’m wrong,’ she went on scathingly, ‘but this engagement, which you tell me is such a sham, now seems to have progressed to discussing Christmas wedding arrangements. In view of that, I’m not really sure where you think I fit into all this!’ Her eyes flashed deeply brown with her barely contained anger.
‘Rufus was right, you know.’ Anthony looked at her admiringly. ‘You really are rather beautiful when you’re angry!’
She gave him an indignant glance, stepping back as he would have moved towards her. ‘I believe Rufus merely commented on the fact that I was obviously a true redhead.’ She knew exactly what he had said—and the word ‘beautiful’ had never been used!
‘Whatever,’ Anthony responded carelessly, his smile full of charm. ‘I think you look beautiful when you’re angry. Except—’ now he did move a step closer, mere inches away from Annie ‘—I’m not sure I like you being angry with me,’ he added tenderly, reaching out to lightly grasp her arms. ‘Lighten up, Annie,’ he encouraged soothingly as he sensed her resistance. ‘We could have a lot of fun together if you would just relax a bit.’
Fun! This hadn’t been fun so far; she had been mortified, and then guilt-stricken, that she had kissed—and allowed herself to be kissed by—a man engaged to another woman. And Anthony called this having fun! Well, he could have it without her!
‘Until your wedding at Christmas,’ she rebutted, pulling away from him.
‘And after—if things work out between us. And I can’t see any reason why they shouldn’t.’ His hands tightened painfully on her arms as she again tried to pull away from him.
Annie’s eyes widened, her breathing so shallow she was barely breathing at all. ‘You can’t?’ she bit out tautly.
‘Not if you lighten up, no,’ he chided easily.
Annie was barely resisting the impulse she had to punch him on his aristocratic nose—and he obviously had no idea just how vexed she was as he gave her his most disarming smile. ‘If I lighten up?’ she echoed slowly, the fury building up inside her.
‘Exactly.’ He grinned. ‘Okay, so I’ll have a wife, but I’ll still visit here often—and I’ll make sure Davina stays in London when I do.’
‘You will?’ Her emotions were barely contained now. Anthony was digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole that at any moment now she was going to take great pleasure in pushing him into!
‘Of course,’ Anthony continued unconcernedly.
‘I would be your mistress?’ Her hands were so tightly clenched at her sides, her nails were digging into her palms.
‘It’s a bit of an old-fashioned way of putting things,’ he acknowledged. ‘But yes, I suppose that’s exactly what you would be.’
‘Well, that’s where you’re wrong!’ Her control finally snapped as she pushed him away from her, and the expression of surprise on his face at her obvious wrath would have been laughable—if she hadn’t felt less like laughing than ever before in her life!
And she had thought he cared about her—had imagined the two of them together, falling in love—when all the time he was no better than her own father had been!
‘I should stop right there, if I were you, Anthony—unless you have some sort of perverted desire to be the recipient of the punch on the nose I so much want to give you!’ She was breathing hard in her agitation, breasts heaving, eyes blazing. ‘I don’t intend—ever!—being your mistress or any other man’s!’ And with that last furious comment she turned and slammed out of the room.
She had been right earlier. A mistress! Good God, he had chosen completely the wrong woman to offer that role in his life. She—
‘Well, you certainly told him,’ remarked an admiring voice.
Annie swung round to face Rufus, anger burning brightly in her cheeks as he stood leaning casually against the wall, his relaxed pose seeming to imply he had been standing there for some time. For how long? Surely he hadn’t heard all—
‘Sorry about that.’ He straightened away from the wall. ‘I was just passing, and I happened to hear the word “mistress” being used. I’m afraid I was hooked after that.’ He shrugged. ‘Although I’m really rather sorry you didn’t punch him on the nose as you said you wanted to.’ He grinned.
Annie didn’t think, didn’t want to think, acting instinctively as she reached out and slapped him hard across his cheek, still too angry to cry. Then she simply turned on her heel and walked away.
CHAPTER SIX
HE HADN’T followed her!
Annie hadn’t stopped walking until she’d reached her bedroom, but with each step she had expected to feel Rufus’s hand roughly on her arm as he turned her to face him and told her she no longer had a job looking after his daughter!
But it hadn’t happened.
She had sat on her bed for the next ten minutes, waiting for him to burst into the room.
That hadn’t happened either.
Why hadn’t it?
She didn’t know now. She had smacked Rufus for no other reason than he’d happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, had vented on him the anger she actually felt towards Anthony. And towards herself, if she was honest, for being so stupid, so young and impressionable!
Perhaps that last was partly the reason why she had hit out at Rufus—because he had been right!
Which was no excuse at all. Rufus couldn’t be blamed for knowing his brother better than she did. But he had certainly paid the price for that knowledge. The evidence of it—livid red marks on his cheeks—still showed two hours later!
If Annie turned her head slightly from where she sat next to hi
m in the front of his Mercedes, Jessica comfortably ensconced on the back seat, then she could actually see the imprint her hand had made on the hardness of his cheek.
But she tried hard not to turn her head any more, not even fractionally. In fact, she hadn’t been able to do more than mutter a few words as Rufus had put her small overnight bag in the boot of the car at the beginning of their journey. She didn’t want to be here at all, didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself than was strictly necessary. It was bad enough that—
‘I’m sorry, Annie.’
She turned sharply to face Rufus as he drove, swallowing hard as she instantly saw those marks on his cheek. Marks she had made. She had always believed herself incapable of physically hurting another human being, and yet looking at Rufus she could see what she had done to him. And he was apologising to her! What on earth for?
He reached out with one hand and lightly squeezed both her hands as they lay tightly clenched together in her lap. ‘Anthony is a bastard,’ he said tightly, his eyes focused on the road ahead.
Annie glanced quickly round at Jessica, relieved to see the girl was fast asleep.
‘She hates long journeys,’ Rufus said, looking at his daughter in the driver’s mirror, as Annie faced back to the front once again. He released his hold on her hands. ‘Sleep is her way of avoiding them,’ he explained indulgently.
Annie wished she could fall asleep too, wished today had never happened! ‘I’m sorry I hit you—’
‘Hey,’ he chided softly. ‘I’ve just been trying to tell you that I deserved it—’
‘Not you.’ She shook her head firmly.
‘Believe me—’ he grimaced ruefully ‘—that isn’t the first punch I’ve taken for Anthony.’
‘It will be the last from me.’ She shivered with reaction at what she had done.
Rufus ran a hand over his bruised cheek, while his other gripped the steering wheel. ‘That’s quite a powerful right you have there, Miss Fletcher—’
‘Please don’t,’ she groaned, tears of contrition flooding her eyes now. ‘I’m so ashamed. Can’t believe I really did that.’ She shook her head, the tears wet on her cheeks. ‘You must—’
Diamonds Are Forever: The Royal Marriage ArrangementThe Diamond BrideThe Diamond Dad Page 23
