A Scandalous Engagement

by Cathy Williams

  ‘At least fifteen minutes, and, rugged though the Land Rover may be, it would need wings to get it over the snow-drifts! Of course, if you’re that hell-bent on not sharing this room, you could always try and leg it to the house. If you give me a piece of paper, I could draw you a little map. Oh, no, why bother with a map? You wouldn’t be able to see the road anyway, with this snow. It’s just a straight line to the house, before the left-hand turn and the steep hill.’

  Which left very little to say.

  He stretched out his hand, still lying down, which forced her to take up residence on the sofa by the bay window, from which she gloomily stared outside at the relentless fall of snow, and pulled the telephone onto his broad chest.

  She listened as he called his brother, then the various directors and friends, leaving messages in some instances, informing them that the weather had sabotaged the party.

  ‘It’s snowing in London,’ he announced, turning to look at her. ‘Pretty heavily. As it turns out, they would have probably had problems getting here.’

  Jade didn’t say anything. She desperately wanted a bath, but the thought of being naked only feet away from him, albeit behind a firmly locked door, made her feel a little ill. Nor did she want to unpack her few belongings while he lay there on the bed in that Lord of the Manor pose, surveying her. Why didn’t he do the sociable thing and go downstairs and chat to his mentor, Tom? They hadn’t seen each other in a few months. Surely they must have something to catch up on! If conversation dried up, she thought viciously, he could always launch into some rhetoric on his sexual exploits as a way of saying a big thank you to Tom for his illuminating chats on the facts of life twenty years previously.

  ‘Why don’t you go and have a bath?’ he said, either reading her mind or else deciding to plunge into the growing silence and coincidentally hitting on what she had been thinking herself. ‘You look fairly bedraggled.’

  ‘You don’t exactly look like something off the cover of Vogue yourself,’ Jade told him acidly. Right now, she blamed him for everything. The weather, the fact that the road to the house was closed, the fact that Tom only had one vacant room. How could he be so cool and collected while she sat here with a churning stomach and thoughts about that one bed which she couldn’t even bring herself to formulate?

  She turned her back to him, shielding his eyes from what she was doing, and busily rummaged through her case, extracting a pair of knickers, some black trousers and a grey and black ribbed jumper which had been destined to be one of her casual-yet-not-as-casual-as-jeans outfits.

  ‘I’m going to do just that,’ she said loudly. Maybe he was so exhausted after his driving that he would do her the favour of falling asleep. Maybe for several days, or however long it took for the snow to clear. Never mind that he seemed depressingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the moment.

  She edged around the bed, which seemed to take up an inordinate amount of space in the bedroom, averting her eyes from the blatantly erotic image presented by a spread-eagled Curtis, and once in the bathroom noisily locked the door behind her.

  She would take a very long time having a bath. She needed to think.

  They couldn’t possibly share that bed. It was out of the question. Nor, she reluctantly admitted to herself, could either of them approach Tom to find out whether he could accommodate one of them somewhere else. He was a kind, thoughtful man who clearly had a great deal of affection of Curtis, for reasons which were frankly beyond her comprehension, and she had a gut feeling that Curtis had not been lying when he’d said that Tom would inconvenience himself rather than cause either of them embarrassment or distress. The thought of Curtis Greene being distressed over anything made her snort sourly, but she didn’t want to cause trouble to someone whom she had instinctively liked and who had kindly kept the room free for them both.

  She ran a deep bath, stripped off, and then subsided into the foamy water, where she intended to remain for as long as possible. Through the narrow window opposite she could see the snow swirling down from the heavens. There was something dreamy about that, and under different circumstances, with a different man, someone with whom she was involved, she imagined that the scenario would have been a deliciously romantic one. Marooned in a charming guest house, with the snow pelting down outside, lots of hearty winter food and then the toasty cosiness of the king-size bed with its feather mattress and fluffy duvet.

  She gave a soft moan of pleasure at the thought of it, remembered the identity of her uninvited companion and immediately began soaping herself vigorously.

  When she emerged forty minutes later, fully dressed, it was to find the bedroom empty. The bed still showed the indentation of his long body, something which she immediately rectified by pulling straight the duvet and plumping up the pillows. It crossed her mind that she could arrange a makeshift bed for him on the ground, somewhere preferably out of her line of vision, but just in case he returned she decided to put his unexpected absence to greater use.

  She quickly unpacked her case, hanging up the three dresses she had brought with her, though why she was bothering she had no idea. This was not the sort of place that required little black cocktail numbers for dinner. Her nightie, which was really an oversized tee shirt, she placed on top of the pillows, bang in the middle of them, staking her territory while she had the chance. Her make-up she arranged on the bathroom shelf.

  Then she made her way downstairs.

  The informal bar area was fairly full with other guests, immediately identifiable by their conspicuous lack of appropriate clothing, and what could only be regulars. The roads were thickly covered with snow, but not so thick that a brief walk outside wasn’t possible, and the guest house, situated as it was in the middle of the village, was in a prime location for locals whose thirst for beer had not been dampened by the weather.

  In the corner she saw Curtis, standing by the bar with a pint glass in his hand, chatting to Tom over the counter and another chap, a local, judging from his weathered clothes and cloth cap, and whatever he was saying was enough to have them chortling with amusement. In the background she could make out the voice of Roberta Flack, crooning one of her popular love songs. She could only make out snatches of the lyrics because the flow of conversation rolled around the room like the steady rise and fall of surf, punctuated by bursts of laughter.

  So far Curtis hadn’t spotted her. His back was towards her as he leaned towards his audience, and she took the brief opportunity to rally her forces and get some grim determination into place. She had to weave her way through the tables, and only remembered that they were supposed to be lovers when she was almost on top of them, at which point she forced a smile on her face and just about managed to maintain it when Tom greeted her with a hearty, ‘Here’s the lucky lass, then! First lady-friend this old rogue has brought to my guest house!’

  ‘Aye, but ye don’t know how many he’s brought to the house, Tom!’ the chap leaning against the counter with them chimed in, at which there was loud, appreciative laughter.

  Oh, the wit of men, Jade thought, still wearing the smile.

  ‘Now, now, lads, we don’t want to get my beautiful fiancée’s imagination working in the wrong direction, do we?’ Curtis said, his eyes sweeping over her intimately.

  Fiancée? she thought. Isn’t that going a bit too far? She tried to incorporate a warning look into the smile which was fast becoming a grimace, but Curtis was having none of it. He slung his arm possessively over her shoulder and nuzzled her ear, squeezing her tightly when her instinct was to leap back in shock.

  ‘Darling, you look ravishing,’ he murmured into her hair, and she threw a glassy-eyed and hopefully delighted look at Tom.

  ‘Now, now,’ she responded through her teeth, ‘let’s not overdo it, darling.’ She prodded him surreptitiously in his ribs, hoping to inflict some pain, but was thwarted by the thickness of his jacket. It turned out to be a poorly thought out manoeuvre, since he promptly gathered the offending hand in his and kiss
ed the flesh of her inner wrist.

  The intimate caress wasn’t lost on the two men, who gave each other heavy winks and came a bit closer, to witness the scene of romantic cosiness.

  After he had released her hand she contained the urge to rub it thoroughly, because oddly it still felt the after-effect of his lips.

  ‘You have a lovely place here, Tom,’ Jade said warmly. She edged away from Curtis, only for him to tug her gently back to his side so that she could feel the hard press of his thigh against her body. A gentle, warning tug that left her in no doubt that she was required to carry on the charade for as long as was necessary.

  ‘Aye. I have the missus to thank for that, lass. Fancies herself one of them interior designers. Gets samples of wallpapers sent all the time, not a thought in her wee head for the cost!’

  ‘You don’t have to think about cost, Tom Hawkins,’ Curtis said, smiling. ‘I’ve never known a time when this place wasn’t buzzing. Even on a night like this you still manage to draw your regulars. You must put something in the beer that’s addictive.’

  ‘Aye, we do all right,’ Tom said smugly. He turned to Jade. ‘Now, what can I get for the lovely miss?’ The other chap levered himself off the bar stool, tilted his cap at her and said that he’d better put his skates on if he wanted to remain in one piece.

  ‘You ladies don’t give us a long enough leash,’ he complained without rancour. ‘Two hours at the pub is all a poor man like myself is allowed.’

  ‘I believe in very long leashes, as a matter of fact,’ Jade said gaily. ‘The less my man is around, the better. Let him have all the space his little heart desires!’

  ‘You know you don’t mean that, darling,’ Curtis said, with a loving look at her that made her want to pour his drink over his head. ‘You can’t bear it when I’m not around.’ He grinned, enjoying her helpless inability to say anything to the contrary.

  ‘Young love, eh?’ Tom poured her a glass of cold white wine and resumed his position at the counter. His teenage son, at the opposite end of the bar, was serving drinks with the expression of someone who could think of a million better things to do.

  ‘Not so young,’ Jade replied. ‘At least in the case of Curtis…he’s quite the old man of the sea!’

  ‘Not so old that I can’t appreciate your…womanly qualities.’ His hand dropped to her waist and he stroked it, slipping his fingers underneath the jumper so that he could feel bare flesh.

  This was taking the game a little too far. She grabbed hold of his wrist, dragged his hand away from its exploration and firmly entwined her fingers with his on the counter.

  Tom looked at them warmly.

  ‘Such a nice sight, my young Curtis with a lovely lady like yourself. The missus and I never thought you’d settle down.’

  ‘Settle down?’ Jade was prepared to deny any such assumption hotly before the net they were building around themselves closed in even tighter. ‘I don’t think—’

  ‘I know,’ Curtis interrupted her with satisfaction. ‘I’m pretty amazed by it myself, Tom. I’d given up hope until this…fascinating creature waltzed into my life.’

  Fascinating creature? She recalled their first meeting and almost laughed aloud at the memory. ‘Fascinating’ was hardly one of the descriptions he had hurled at her.

  ‘Love at first sight, was that it?’ Tom, engrossed as he was in their fictitious saga, had no qualms about ignoring anyone who wanted to be served. His son, consequently, was rushing around the bar like a bluebottle, pausing only to throw his father ineffectual glares.

  ‘Oh, yes!’ Jade beamed. ‘Why don’t you tell Tom how we met, darling?’

  ‘It’s a long story, my friend, but this little minx…’ He paused to tenderly push a strand of hair away from her face. The man was a consummate actor, she thought. Oscar-winning, in fact. She fixed him with a beady stare, which resulted in another tender look from him and, sadist that he was, another gentle stroking of hair away from her face. To forestall another such gesture, she briskly and efficiently scraped her hair back and firmly tucked it behind her ears.

  ‘This little minx opened the door to me when I wasn’t expected, and mistook me for the plumber!’

  Tom looked at her admiringly, as though she had achieved something very clever with that little stunt. ‘You mistook Curtis for a plumber?’ he asked incredulously.

  ‘I know. A ridiculous mistake. The man wasn’t even carrying a tool kit.’

  ‘That must have been a first for you, lad,’ Tom said, grinning wickedly and shaking his head.

  ‘That’s for sure. First time I’ve ever been ordered to remove my shoes at the door and pointed in the direction of a leak.’

  Tom was still shaking his head with amusement when he handed them the dinner menu. As soon as he had gone, Jade snatched her hand back and said in an undertone, ‘What was all that in aid of?’

  ‘I told you, my little honey…’

  ‘And you can drop the terms of endearment,’ she said drily, ‘no one’s listening now.’

  ‘I know, but those little terms of endearment seem to suit you. Besides, you can never tell. Walls have ears, and we wouldn’t want Tom and Rose getting the wrong idea.’

  ‘Don’t you mean the right idea? And there was no need to elevate me to the status of fiancée. That’s going to be a little tricky to undo when you’re next up here, isn’t it?’ She diverted her attention to the menu, turning it over in her hands to inspect the front. There was a childish drawing of a pub, with a crowd of simply sketched people outside, sitting at tables with glasses in their hands.

  ‘Andy’s little contribution,’ Curtis commented casually. ‘He designed it when he was about ten. I used to bring him and Sarah up to the house during their holidays.’ When he saw her look of surprise, he raised his eyebrows wryly. ‘I gather he never told you?’

  ‘No. I assumed…’

  ‘That I was an ogre. Well, I did take time out, but admittedly I only stayed for a week or so, and the remainder of the time I flitted up and down and they were left with the housekeeper and her husband. Andy conveniently forgets everything he wants to forget. It’s much easier to paint people in black and white than to realise their nuances.’ He drained the remainder of his beer, then focused his attention on the list of dishes, leaving her with that little observation to consider.

  Several of the regulars had begun drifting away, not wanting to tempt fate by staying too late, however close their homes might be, and by the time they were seated at one of the tables the place was comfortably empty. Just a couple by the bar, who seemed more absorbed by what the weather was doing outside than by each other, and a couple more who were taking their time with their food.

  And the meal, which she had expected to be an agony of stilted conversation, with her desperately trying not to focus on what lay ahead, turned out to be a jolly affair, because both Tom and his wife joined them and within five minutes she found herself growing more and more intrigued with all the little snippets of information emerging about the man sitting opposite her.

  The prospect of the roving Curtis Greene settling down was such a revelation to them that they kept referring to it, and every time they did Jade shifted uncomfortably in her chair. He was the sort of man who, faced with a situation in which fiction was called for, would always fabricate the most outrageous piece of fiction he could think of, but by the end of the evening, when their plates had been cleared away and coffee had been drunk, she was furious with him for leading these people on. They were so open and charming. How could he? How could he face them next time with another woman in tow? What phoney excuse would he use to talk his way out of the impending wedding, the hat which poor Rose had probably mentally already sorted out?

  She was bristling with anger when, at a little after eleven, they made their way to the bedroom.

  ‘You,’ she said accusingly, as soon as the bedroom door was firmly shut, ‘are a cad. How could you maintain that lie about us being engaged? With a smile on your fa
ce? Don’t you have any scruples? How are you going to break it to them when you show up here with some other woman in tow? Tell them that we just weren’t suited after all?’ She glared at him, and in response he calmly divested himself of his jumper to the shirt underneath. He began to tug it gently out of the waistband of his trousers and she stared at him, aghast. ‘And what do you think you’re doing?’

  ‘Getting undressed.’ He favoured her with a yawn. ‘And, no, I won’t be using the we-weren’t-suited excuse. It was clear that they thought we were a match made in heaven.’ He grinned, which only enraged her further. Her mind, though, was beginning to stray away from the source of her anger. His shirt was now out of his trousers and he began undoing the buttons on it, very slowly. She watched, open-mouthed and mesmerised, as a sliver of torso was exposed, then all of it as he stripped off the shirt completely and his hand went to the top button of his trousers.

  She made a strangled noise and her legs, which wanted to move swiftly in another direction, appeared to be anchored to the square foot of ground underneath them.

  She couldn’t drag her eyes away from the sight of him, bare-chested, his dark nipples with the swirl of dark hair surrounding them, the rippling lines of his muscles drawing her down to his waist and the arrow of skin that disappeared into the loosened waistband of his trousers. She gulped nervously and licked her lips.

  ‘You’re taking your clothes off,’ she squeaked stupidly.

  ‘Isn’t that what people normally do before they go for a shower?’ He unzipped the trousers, and then added as an afterthought, ‘Feel free to stand there and watch…’

  Her head moved, if not her recalcitrant legs. It swivelled in the direction of the bay window, very firmly averted from the vision standing feet away from her. She heard the sound of his trousers being removed, then the soft thud as they were tossed onto the chair in the corner. He would be standing there, unashamed and naked, or else unashamed and clad only in his underpants. The thought of it brought a film of perspiration over her body and her skin suddenly felt too tight. Then came the padding of his footsteps as he headed towards the bathroom.