by Sharon Booth
Pushing her plate away, Constance had breathed, 'Your room or mine?'
'Mine,' Cain murmured, thinking it was the gentlemanly thing to do.
They'd almost knocked their chairs over in their desire to reach the lift and the doors had hardly shut before they were kissing. It had been a frenzied hike to his room, then the door was locked, and they were on the bed.
My God, he thought, she'd been wild. She'd practically ripped his clothes off him. For such a posh bird she had a down and dirty side, that was for sure. She'd almost hoovered him up. Not that he was complaining.
Cain hadn't had sex for a couple of years and his last few sexual partners had all been young bimbos who hadn't given a toss about him. They'd been in it for the money and he knew it, but it was okay because, well, what else did he have to do? They'd quite worn him out and he'd been put off sex for life. Or so he'd thought. Constance's mature beauty and her obvious desire for him with no strings attached had been a huge turn-on.
He'd remembered what it used to feel like, all those years ago, when it had been enjoyable and not a chore. He'd well and truly got stuck in. No wonder his poor old ticker was thumping like mad. He could have sworn it was drumming out one of his biggest hits, Satan in Stilettos. He glanced at Constance. Was that what she was? Maybe she'd filmed the whole thing? Maybe this was some sort of blackmail scam? Shit, what had he done?
'I must tell you, I don't usually do this sort of thing.' She turned to him, looking different somehow — sort of shamefaced. 'Seduce strange men, I mean. It's the first time, in fact.'
'Really?' God, that sounded rude. 'I mean, I believe you. 'Course I do.'
'I was — lonely.' She shrugged. 'I suppose that sounds pathetic. I'm in Yorkshire on business and I just felt so far from home and so —'
'It's okay. I get it.' He'd seen the gleam of a gold wedding ring on her finger. She didn't need to explain. 'It was a one-off, and that's fine. It will never go any further, okay, Connie?'
She smiled at him. 'Thank you, Jeff. I must say, you were wonderful. I've really enjoyed myself.'
Cain grinned. 'Me an' all, Connie. Me an' all.'
'I must be going.' She stood up, tucking her blouse into her skirt and glancing around for her shoes. 'I expect this is goodbye.'
'I suppose it is.'
They stared at each other, suddenly awkward. Constance bent down, easing on her shoes, then held out her hand. He shook it, feeling stupid and also a bit sad, which was ridiculous. 'Goodbye, Jeff.'
'Goodbye, Connie.'
Then she opened the door, and Cain could only lie there, wishing she would stay a bit longer, listening wistfully to the clicking of her heels as she headed down the corridor.
Chapter Nineteen
James looked at his watch and tutted. She was ten minutes late already. He hated that. He was taking her out for dinner, for God's sake. The least she could do was turn up on time.
He sipped his water, wondering what it was that had persuaded Emerald Carmichael to call him after all. He hadn't been sure that she would, although it would've been a cold day in hell before he'd confessed that to his father. He had to admit, it had been a huge relief to hear from her. At least it would buy him a bit more time. His father was so pushy.
He glanced up, his eyes widening as he saw Emerald approaching. Well, that wasn't what he'd expected. He supposed he should have known, given the fact that she'd been wearing jeans and a parka, with her hair in plaits, that day in town, yet he'd grown so used to dates with women who dressed to kill and plastered on makeup with a trowel. Emerald was practically makeup free, her hair loose, and she was wearing a teal-coloured maxi dress with ankle boots and a denim jacket. Hardly the height of sophistication yet, somehow, she looked sensational.
James felt a familiar stirring in his loins and an excited fluttering in his stomach. He loved the thrill of these extramarital flirtations. They stirred the blood, reminding him that he was still young enough to enjoy the chase, and there was always the promise of a reward at the end of it. Sometimes the flirtations remained innocent, even if there was that frisson bubbling beneath the surface. Often, though, he got lucky, and the flirtation evolved into something much more satisfying.
He wondered which way it would go with Emerald. It was hard to tell. She didn't give much away, although he suspected that she revealed a lot more than she intended. There was a naivety and a vulnerability about her, despite her attempts to sound cool and in control. She was intriguing, and he couldn't wait to get to know her better. He stood as the waiter pulled out her chair and she sat down, nodding her thanks.
'Sorry I'm late,' she said, tucking her tote bag under her chair. 'I had to get a taxi and they're not very reliable around here.' She smiled at the waiter. 'Thank you so much.' Turning to James she queried, 'Have you ordered?'
'No, of course not. I was drinking water until you arrived.'
Emerald nodded. 'Would you mind awfully if I had a glass of water, too, until we decide what to order?' The waiter flushed and gave her a wide smile.
'Not at all, madam.' He hurried off to do her bidding.
James grinned. 'You've got him eating out of your hand already,' he remarked. 'Well done.'
After hanging her jacket on the back of her chair, she looked at him, surprised. 'What do you mean?' Grabbing the menu, her eyes widened in delight as she scanned the dishes on offer. 'This looks amazing. I could eat a horse.'
James picked up his own menu. She was totally unaware that the waiter had succumbed to her charms and was more concerned with the food on offer. In a strange way, she was quite refreshing, if a little unsophisticated. 'Don't you have a car?' he enquired, remembering her comment about the taxi.
'I've never seen the need,' she confessed, 'so I never bothered.'
'Never seen the need!' James lowered the menu and stared at her in astonishment. 'Are you serious? You can drive, though?'
She leaned back in her chair, her eyes bright with amusement. 'Yes, I can drive, but I rarely do. Some of the places I've lived there wasn't even a road, never mind a car. The truth is, I've probably only driven around a handful of times since I passed my test, and I'm not very good at it.' She grinned at him. 'You look stunned. Is it so unusual?'
'Well, yes.' He shook his head. 'Most people I know own at least one car. No wonder your driving skills are a little rusty. Still,' he gave her what he hoped was a seductive smile, 'we can't all do everything, and I'm sure you have other talents.'
'Oh yes. I can read auras for a start,' she informed him.
James blinked, not sure if she was winding him up or not, but she seemed deadly serious. 'And what does my aura tell you?'
She frowned. 'Quite honestly, it's a bit murky. I suspect you have dark secrets.'
He tugged at his shirt collar. That was a bit too close for comfort. 'Are you into all that stuff then?' he said. 'You don't look like a hippy.' Although, quite honestly, he supposed she did. Thank God she wasn't a vegan. She'd wolfed down that fishfinger sandwich at The Daffodil Café with enough relish to convince him of that.
'You sound like my father,' she rebuked him. 'Prejudice is an ugly trait, as is a closed mind. My intention, in the long term, is to open a retreat for like-minded people. Maybe you should book yourself in when it opens. You'll see for yourself what I'm really all about.'
'But all that stuff,' he protested, 'it's all a load of baloney, isn't it? A money-making invention by you New Age lot.'
'We prefer to call ourselves spiritual seekers. Besides, the term New Age is very misleading,' she said, turning a grateful smile on the waiter as he returned with her water. 'Thank you so much. We've not decided what to have yet, but we'll call you over as soon as we have.' He nodded, and she turned back to James. 'These therapies, and this knowledge has been around for centuries.'
'Hmm. Until we evolved and realised what a load of mumbo jumbo it is.'
'I think this is going to be a very short dinner date,' she said, putting down her menu.
Jame
s threw up his hands. 'I'm sorry. That was very rude of me. I've had a long and rather dire week.'
'Join the club,' she muttered, picking up the menu again and jabbing her finger at the page.
He noticed she wasn't wearing nail varnish. What an extraordinary young woman she was! He peered at her curiously. No makeup, no jewellery, no nail varnish, simple clothes. He suspected she didn't fit in very well with the sort of people her father and the rest of her family mingled with. No wonder she'd turned to all that hippy rubbish to get her through.
'It's ever so expensive in here,' she murmured. 'I think I prefer The Daffodil Café.'
'It's on me. Choose whatever you like.'
Emerald frowned. 'You've already bought me one meal. I don't see why you should pay for another.'
James couldn't believe it. He'd never met anyone like her before. 'It's all tax deductible,' he assured her. 'Honestly, I'd rather spend it on you than give it to the taxman.'
She looked suspicious for a moment but seemed to decide he was telling the truth. 'Okay. Well, in that case, I fancy the braised beef brisket and mini Yorkshire pudding with horseradish puree for starters, and the sea bass for my main course. What about you?'
James hadn't even had time to think about it. The girl certainly had an appetite for food. He wondered what her appetite for other pleasures was like. Pushing the thought away, he scanned the menu quickly as she beckoned the waiter over. As Emerald gave her order to the clearly smitten waiter, he made a snap decision. 'The game and redcurrant terrine for me,' he said, handing the menus back to the waiter, 'followed by the pan-fried calves' liver. I'm driving,' he told Emerald, 'so I'm going to stick to water, but would you like wine?'
'I'd prefer to keep a clear head, thank you. May I have some of the elderflower lemonade?'
'Of course, madam. I'll bring it straight over to you.' The waiter gave her a beaming smile, nodded at James and headed towards the kitchen.
James wondered if it were a good or bad thing that Emerald wanted to keep a clear head. It was odd, but he was suddenly unaccountably nervous. There was an innocence and honesty about Emerald that was making him feel quite hot. 'I was surprised to hear from you,' he told her. 'You made it very clear after our last meeting that you wouldn't be getting in touch.'
'No, well, I didn't intend to,' she admitted. 'For some reason, I hung onto your card, Mr Fuller. I'm not sure why.'
'James, please. Mr Fuller's my father.' At the mention of David, James inwardly shuddered. He could practically hear his father roaring in his ear to get on with it, get down to business, get Emerald onside without all this preamble. 'And I'm very glad you did.'
'I want you to know that I like Beth.'
James narrowed his eyes. What on earth was she bringing Beth into it for? 'Well, that's very nice of you. She's a good person.'
'Yes, she seems to be, although I do think her root chakra needs balancing. She's terribly jittery. I expect she gets awful digestive problems. Anyway, my point is, I want it to be clear that I'm not going to do anything to hurt her.' She leaned forward, big blue eyes gazing into his. 'I want your friendship, nothing more. You do understand that?'
James gaped at her, then snapped his mouth shut. Was she serious? He was paying for an expensive dinner, and she wanted friendship? 'Of course. I never expected anything else. Although,' he added smoothly, 'I'm a little surprised that you contacted me if that was the case. Surely, someone like you already has enough friends?'
She looked surprisingly vulnerable. 'Not really. I moved around a lot as a child, and rarely stayed at one school for long. That's if I went to school at all. And right now, I'm sort of isolated at Fleetsthorpe, while I plan the wedding. My brother's there, of course, but he's so busy. It's lambing time and it's manic there at the moment.' She shook her head. 'Even the children have stayed up all night in the lambing shed, keeping Eliot or Eden company. Jed's done a few night shifts, too, and he's also working on the bunk barns to get them ready in time for opening. I don't really have anyone to talk to. Besides,' she shrugged, 'what would I have in common with them? They're all infatuated with St Eden.'
'Ah yes. She has a way of making people fall for her,' he said. 'Never understood it myself.'
'Me neither,' she said with feeling. 'My father dotes on her, my sister's her best friend, and even my brother seems to adore her, and he's usually a man of exceptional taste.' She blushed a little. 'And Eliot deserves better. Much better.' She cleared her throat as he narrowed his eyes. 'I mean, after what you told me about him and Daisy and how she broke them up, and then all that stuff with going behind his back so Beth could see the children ...' She shrugged. 'So, as you can see, I'm kind of out on my own there, so I'd like a friend who's of the same mind as me.'
James felt offended. He'd been right! It was patently obvious that Emerald Carmichael had a crush on Eliot Harland. What was it with that man? He was an ignorant sheep farmer, when all was said and done, yet the women seemed to fall over themselves, desperate to be with him. He was so annoyed that he felt like walking out and leaving her to it.
As if it wasn't bad enough that Harland had managed to persuade someone as beautiful as Jemima to marry him, there was Beth, who, despite her protests, seemed to be spending an awful lot of time at Fleetsthorpe lately. There could only be one reason for that, and it wasn't due to a love of sheep. His own wife!
At the thought of Beth, he remembered the reason he'd wanted to befriend Emerald in the first place and his spirits sank. He had no choice. 'I do understand, and it will be nice to meet up and discuss our mutual loathing sometimes. I can't mention it to Beth, of course, since she dotes on Eden, too. Most perplexing.'
He was rewarded with a huge smile that lit up her face. She grasped his hand. 'Oh, thank you! I hoped you'd understand!'
Her breasts strained against her dress as she leaned towards him, and James felt an uncomfortable pressure against his trousers. God, she was beautiful! Even the cat hairs on her dress didn't lessen her appeal. She would be wasted on Harland. Surely, he would be able to make her see that? Whatever she said about friendship only, his instinct was telling him that she was looking for someone to flatter her, boost her ego. She may have said she wanted their relationship to be strictly platonic, but he sensed that she wanted him to want her, even if she had no intention of acting on it. She was a lost and mixed-up young woman, no doubt about it. 'Of course I understand, and it will be my pleasure to spend time with you.'
It really would be, too, if only he could persuade Emerald that he was much more her type and could give her a far better time than Harland could dream of.
An image of Beth entered his mind, and he pushed it away. He loved his wife, of course he did, and he would never hurt her again. But Emerald was so sexy — a beguiling mix of scheming and naïve, and those curves were to die for. Best of all, she seemed oblivious to her own beauty. He didn't see why he couldn't have his cake and eat it. This time, he would be more careful, that's all. It was just a matter of time.
****
Beth smoothed the moisturising cream into her hands and considered herself in the mirror. She didn't look any different, she thought. Somehow, she'd expected that after she kissed Jed there would be something about her — something that made her duplicitous actions evident to everyone. Maybe a huge speech bubble above her head, so that everyone could read her treacherous thoughts. Imagine if that were true! Her life would be hell right now.
Ironically, it was the first time in a long time that she didn't feel her life was hell. At last, she had something to smile about, even though she should be hanging her head in shame.
Did she feel guilty? Yes, she realised, she did. James had done everything he could to make it up to her for his affair with Jemima, but she'd found it impossible to forget. Their relationship had suffered as a result. Yet here she was, doing the unthinkable and falling for someone else, just as James had. Hypocrite!
She'd never expected to fall in love with another man. James had been her enti
re world for so long that it wouldn't have occurred to her that there could be anyone else. Yet, from the moment she'd set eyes on Jed, something strange had happened to her. She'd known from the instant she saw him that he was special, and something inside her had called to something in him, pulling them together, despite all the reasons they should have stayed well away.
After he'd kissed her — oh! She closed her eyes, remembering that kiss, and felt a flush of heat on her skin at the memory — after he'd kissed her, they'd clung to each other, as if they'd found each other again after being apart for decades. Centuries. Maybe they had. Maybe he was her lost soul mate, the one she'd been destined to find all along. She could well imagine they'd been lovers in another life. It seemed unthinkable that they hadn't. She couldn't think of James as her soul mate. She hadn't thought that for a long time, if ever.
Jed had told her he expected nothing from her, that he understood. She'd wanted to beg him to take everything from her, there and then, that nothing else mattered. Of course, she hadn't. He was quite right. She was married, for goodness sake. They had to be sensible, practical. Yet, as they'd looked at each other, she saw something burning in his eyes that she felt in herself, and somehow, she knew that common sense and decency wouldn't hold out for long.
Maybe they'd have given in right there and then if Libby hadn't pushed open the barn door and called to Jed that his tea was ready. That had poured cold water over the pair of them all right. Good job, too, really. There was no rushing this sort of thing. She had to be careful. Hadn't she?
She groaned inwardly as the bedroom door pushed open and she saw the reflection of James in the mirror. He'd been at some business meeting in Richmond — or was it Ripon? Somewhere like that, anyway. She hadn't taken much notice. At least he wasn't drunk, since he'd been driving and would never do anything so stupid. She eyed him nervously in the mirror. He looked flushed, bright-eyed. Had he been drinking?
