In Bed with the Enemy

by Janet Woods

  And drive she did, clinging on to the steering wheel with white knuckles, her eyes staring straight ahead. She cursed softly now and again when some other driver was foolhardy enough to get too close to her, but mostly they gave her a wide berth when they saw the learner’s plates prominently displayed.

  ‘The lights are about to turn red, slow down,’ Leon said as calmly as he could.

  She speeded up and shot through them on amber, then nodded, and smiled to herself.

  I said ... slow down.’

  She shot him a quick, uncomprehending glance and slowed to a crawl.

  He sighed. ‘Not now ... at the last set of lights.’

  ‘Why? They weren’t red.’

  He wondered if she were color blind, and decided not to question it. ‘Never mind. Speed up a bit, you’re holding up the traffic.’

  ‘Make up your mind.’ She put her foot down and the car surged forward - then just as Leon thought she was about to ram the car in front she eased down.’

  ‘Too close,’ she muttered to herself. ‘Leave two cars lengths.’ He watched her check the driving mirror. She knew all the moves, but just didn’t seem to be able to co-ordinate them.

  ‘Indicate, and gradually slow down,’ he murmured, ‘You’ll be turning left at the next set of lights.’

  She took the corner a bit fast, the tires squealing on the tarmac. The car pulled across into the oncoming lane and just missed another car coming in the opposite direction. A horn blasted.

  ‘Whoops!’

  Leon clenched his teeth in an effort not to swear.

  Once they were on the quieter road leading home she began to relax a bit, and attacked the roundabout with a confident verve, circumnavigating it twice before she selected the correct road to take.

  Then the wrought iron gates of the house were looming in front of them. ‘Slow down, Darcie,’ he yelled. ‘Give them time to open.’

  She stood on the brakes and the car skidded towards the slowly opening gates. They slid through with a light scrape signaling an injury to the right wing. The car skewed sideways and came to rest in a flowerbed.

  She switched off the ignition and turned to stare at him, her eyes wary and anxious, mouth mutinous, like someone waiting to be shouted at.

  Adrenaline salted his tongue. ‘That wasn’t too bad,’ he lied, deciding he could afford to be generous now he was out of danger.

  Her eyes widened, then a tiny relieved grin pulled the mutiny into the corners of her mouth, ‘I thought it was lousy and I was terrified.’

  So had he been. He forced a smile to his face. ‘You seemed quite confident to me. I’m sorry I yelled.’

  The blue of her eyes deepened, filled with amusement. ‘You have to be the biggest liar in the world, but thanks for being nice to me. I’ll do better now I know you’re not going to jump down my throat every time I do something wrong.’

  Her voice was as amused as her eyes and Leon had the feeling she was laughing at him. Something Gary had said came into his mind.

  She had Colin tearing his hair out when he insisted a driving school was a waste of money.

  Had her driving been a deliberate attempt to scare him off? If it had, she’d succeeded.

  He leaned across the seat and lightly kissed her. ‘Right, now you’ve given me a test run, what’s your driving really like?’

  ‘Better than it was today. The last time I took my test I only missed out by one point.’ A funny twisted smile flitted across her mouth. ‘To be quite honest, I can’t concentrate with you sitting beside me.’ She gave a husky laugh that set the hairs on his wrists prickling. ‘Would you mind if I went to a driving school?’

  He’d be relieved. He’d decided she felt inadequate and nervous with someone she knew teaching her. Colin’s browbeating had made her feel incompetent. He could understand that.

  ‘If that’s what you want. I’ll leave it up to you to organize. If you get your license by the end of the week we’ll fly to Singapore for the weekend and do some shopping.’

  ‘You’re on.’

  He smiled at her eager, expectant face and kissed her again. He’d already booked the flight and hotel as a surprise for her.

  She surprised him. By the end of the week, and with only five lessons under her belt she came home bubbling with excitement and waving her license in the air.

  He swept her up in his arms and kissed her. ‘Great, go and get packed. We take off in four hours ...’

  Her mouth opened slightly. ‘I thought you were joking, Leon. I can’t go to Singapore.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I need a shower and my hair needs washing, and ...’

  He kissed her again, longer and more passionately, and she slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

  Whilst they were together under the shower he found time to wash her hair for her ... and they still managed to make the airport on time.

  Chapter Eleven

  If great sex was all there was to marriage, Darcie knew she could be happy forever with Leon.

  But sex wasn’t all there was to it, as they both found out when they arrived back at the Argyle Inn the following week to discover her cousin Colin waiting for them in the chalet, the letter she’d left in his letter box clutched in his hand.

  In his usual fashion, Colin started in with his lecture before even being introduced. ‘How could you have done such a stupid thing as marry a man you’d only just met?’

  ‘Well-’

  ‘Don’t interrupt, Darcie,’ Colin thundered. ‘The dust has hardly settled on your father’s accident. What you’ve done is something so stupid that it’s beyond reason. You even broke into my house. It would teach you a lesson if I had you charged.’

  ‘There was a reason,’ Leon interrupted, watching Darcie’s face grow pale and tense. ‘Darcie arrived home to discover her bank account closed, and everything she owned gone. If she hadn’t married me she’d have starved to death on the street.’

  ‘Nonsense!’ Colin spluttered, going red in the face. ‘She has a home ... and she could have applied for social services if she had difficulties finding employment. It’s not my fault she came home earlier than I expected. Why did you, Darcie?’

  ‘I needed to know what happened to dad and where he’s buried. I didn’t have time to say goodbye to him. Can you understand that, Colin?’

  ‘But I wrote and told you all about it as soon as I got things sorted out. When my transfer suddenly came through and I decided to take my holiday, I wrote again with my new address, and to let you know where Wee Georgie was. I intended to ring you, but your phone was dead, there was no phone number in the book, and when I tried inquiries it was ex-directory.’

  ‘I didn’t get your letters.’

  Puzzlement came into Colin’s eyes. ‘I can understand one going astray, but two? I’m sure it was the right address. I got it from your father’s address book. Makepeace Street.’

  ‘Makapin Road. Dad got it wrong. You know how absent-minded he can be ... was ... at times.’ She shrugged.

  Colin’s eyes softened. ‘Then they must have been returned to my new address. What a mess. I’m so sorry, Darcie.’

  ‘I guess it wasn’t your fault.’

  ‘I thought it was better if he was cremated. I’ve had his ashes brought across. I thought we might have a memorial service and bury them at the local cemetery before I leave.’

  Tears filled Darcie’s eyes.

  This man was as sensitive as a lump of wet clay. Leon stared hard at Colin Channing. He was a bit on the plump side, with thinning hair and spectacles framing pale blue eyes.

  Colin stared back at him, hardly bothering to disguise his contempt as he accused, ‘I suppose you married Darcie for her inheritance.’

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake, stop being a pain in the neck, Colin,’ Darcie broke in wearily, her tears forgotten. ‘This is Leon Price. He owns this inn, and could buy us both a thousand times over and still have some change in his pocket.’

  It wa
s odd how money equalled credibility, Leon thought as Colin’s attitude began to change before his very eyes. Was his bank balance a measure of his worth as a man? To a banker, yes, it seemed.

  ‘Leon Price of development company fame?’ Colin looked slightly bewildered, though definitely impressed. ‘You’re the man who bought the spare block of land next to Darcie’s place from my uncle. I never realized?’

  A sense of impending disaster centered in Leon’s diaphragm when he heard Darcie give an astonished gasp. Eyes narrowing, she transferred her gaze from her cousin back to him.

  ‘The spare block of land?’

  Mystified, Leon shrugged and spread his hands.

  ‘The one your father always talked about building a tea room on - I remember him applying for a loan once but I had to turn him down. He had absolutely no business sense.

  Darcie’s ears turned red and helicopters buzzed in her stomach She has a home, Colin had said.

  But Leon pulled my home down!

  A growl gathered in Darcie’s throat as she locked her gaze on to Leon. ‘Are you saying that dad didn’t sell the house, Colin, only the adjoining block of land?’

  ‘Of course he did. He never intended to leave here permanently. He was keeping the old place for holidays, and his retirement. He came in to collect one deed, but the second is still in a safety deposit box in the bank.’

  ‘Was the block paid for? I discovered the bank account had been closed.’

  ‘Yes, it was. Your father did better out of it than he expected. He transferred the balance to a branch in Sydney just before he died. He didn’t make a will, so everything’s been frozen by the public trustee until the process of probate goes through/’

  ‘There must be some mistake,’ Leon broke in. ‘I understood I’d bought all of the property.’

  Darcie gave an angry, disbelieving snort.

  Looking mystified, Colin gazed from one to the other. ‘Am I missing something?’ ‘No, I am.’ Darcie sounded calm and reasonable even to her own ears. ‘Leon pulled down my home and had it carted away, along with everything in it - and is now building his dream home on both blocks.‘

  ‘But it was there a couple of months ago. I checked it over before I went away.’

  Leon drew in a deep breath. ‘I had it demolished.’

  She would not have hysterics. She would not shout and scream or stamp her feet. She would behave in a perfectly reasonable manner, and not kill Leon until she’d thought of a way to commit murder and get away with it.

  Watched by Leon’s wary eyes and Colin’s mystified ones she dragged a jacket over her sweater and headed for the door.

  Neither of the two men had seen her look so flaming mad before.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Leon dared to called after her.

  Her eyes scalded him. ‘To my block of land - the one that you stole. I’m going to tear down that fancy house you’re building brick by brick and ... and throw it all in the sea. I don’t care if it takes me a month of Sundays.’

  ‘Stop her,’ Colin said as the door slammed. ‘When she gets riled up she can be totally unreasonable.’

  ‘She’s your cousin.’

  ‘And she’s your wife.’

  Leon shrugged, saying with calm practicality, ‘There are no bricks to pull down, and even Darcie can’t tear up a concrete slab single-handed.’

  ‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ Colin said glumly.

  Taking his phone from his pocket Leon stabbed in a number. ‘Bernie, I want a double check on that block of land I bought at Petrel Point. I’ve now been informed it was on two titles. Yes ... as soon as possible please.’ He stared hard at Colin Channing as soon as he finished his conversation with his lawyer.

  ‘There’s something I intend to say to you. Darcie has had a lousy time of it since she’s been back. If you threaten her with the law again I’ll withdraw every cent I’ve got invested in your bank, and let head office know the reason why. Do you understand?’

  Colin paled, but whether it was from fear or anger, Leon couldn’t tell. ‘I had no intention of charging Darcie. We may not see eye to eye very often but we grew up together, and I’m very fond of her.’

  ‘Good, because she might feel she has to turn to you for help.’

  ‘You can take it as read that I’ll do anything I can to help her.’

  Leon’s eyes confronted those of Colin’s. ‘Actually, I’d be happier if you’d find some excuse not to help her. But if she proves to be stubborn, I wouldn’t want her to be without money ... if you catch my drift.’

  Colin caught Leon’s drift without any trouble at all. Trying not to smile with the sudden relief he felt, he nodded.

  ‘And Colin ... ’ he said, as the man turned to leave. ‘That old furniture and stuff that was left at the shack. I had it removed to the storage facilities in town when I demolished the shack. If Darcie asks - which she will eventually, because although her mind works in mysterious ways she always remembers what’s important to her - can you leave me out of it?’

  Colin grinned. ‘I’ll tell her where it is - but if she asks me how it got there ...’ He shrugged. ‘I guess I can think of something.’

  * * * *

  Leon didn’t go after Darcie. He waited up until midnight, then went to bed and lay there staring into the darkness. He heard her come in an hour later, heard Wee Georgie attack his late evening meal with a noisy slurping sound, then burp loudly as he settled himself into his basket for the night.

  Darcie crept into the room she’d occupied before their marriage. The door closed gently, then he heard nothing. She’ll get over it, he told himself, feeling abandoned and slightly sorry for himself.

  The next morning she was gone before he woke. He panicked for a moment, then realized she hadn’t taken anything, not even her toothbrush. He sighed with relief.

  All she was doing was showing her displeasure by sulking, giving him the deep freeze treatment. He’d take her a red rose. Women liked that sort of thing.

  Darcie wasn’t even thinking about Leon at that point. She was in her office arranging her first wedding. She was going through the glossy brochures, working on several variations of weddings within the price range of the couple who were coming to see her later that day. Her intention was to have several plans with different wedding options, all printed out for them to consider.

  The adverts had brought in several inquiries and Shirley had made half a dozen appointments whilst she’d been in Perth. It looked as though she’d be busy for some time to come.

  She glanced up when Leon came in, and steeling herself successfully against his smile, said frostily. ‘Did you want something?’

  He tickled under her chin with a red rose and placed it on the desk in front of her. ‘We need to talk, Darcie.’

  When she pushed it aside it tumbled off the desk into a waste paper basket. She didn’t even afford it a second glance. ‘Not now if you don’t mind. I’m busy.’

  ‘I didn’t know about the land, Darcie.’

  She didn’t believe him. Leon was a businessman. He would have checked that the land was free of encumbrances before he’d started building.

  ‘Oh, for God’s sake.’ Impatience rode his voice. ‘What does it matter? We’re married aren’t we? I’ll simply put the house in joint names.’

  ‘I don’t want to share it with you, Leon. You tricked me into marriage because you knew you’d stolen my land and that was the only way you’d get to keep it.’

  ‘I knew no such thing. Besides which, buying it would have been a cheaper option than marriage, in the long term.’

  She glared at him. ‘Are you saying I’m expensive?’

  ‘Stop twisting things, Darcie. You’re no more expensive than any other wife would be.’

  Trust him to remind her that he’d bought her ... that she was just an incubator for the future Price dynasty!

  She closed her eyes, wishing he’d go away so she didn’t have to see him, so she didn’t have to smell him, so she didn’t
have to remember the way his hands touched her body or how he made her feel when his lips brushed against hers, so soft and moist and tempting …

  ‘Stop it, Leon,’ she hissed, jerking away from him and scrubbing her knuckles across her lips. ‘You think sexual attraction fixes everything.’

  His eyes had darkened with remembered pleasure as he gazed at her trembling mouth, which was suffering from acute withdrawal symptoms from the aborted kiss.

  ‘I missed you last night.’

  ‘You can go on missing me.’

  ‘U-huh!’ His eyes filled with amusement. ‘If you think you can ignore what’s going on between us you’re out of your mind. Like Adam and Eve, we’ve eaten of the fruit.’

  ‘It just so happens that I found the fruit to be rotten. I also have more constraint than Eve.‘

  You didn’t have much constraint when you jumped on that bobcat at the site and damaged Leon’s concrete slab yesterday, did you?.

  Mind your own business voice. That was yesterday. It’s better than him being the victim of murder isn’t it - my first intention if you recall? Besides - I had second thoughts. It’s not my fault I couldn’t switch the damned thing off in time.

  His feelings will be hurt. You know how much store he sets on having a home and family.

  Guilt gnawed at her innards like a posse of white butterflies attacking a cabbage patch. What right had he to make her feel guilty? He should have stayed in the city where he belonged, not moved to this country town to disrupt everyone’s lives.

  His outrageously intimate grin annoyed her. She drew back when he flipped the swinging curve of her hair with his forefinger. ‘One thing I’m sure of, Darcie - you would have made Adam blush. You’re an extremely talented lady.’

  ‘Oh!’ Feeling the color mount under her skin Darcie glared at him. ‘Why don’t you go and find someone else to annoy. I’ve got work to do.’

  ‘Georgie and me are going to pack our lunch and take the trail up to the bluff later on. I’m dying to see the view.’

  ‘Have fun.’ She gazed at the computer screen trying to appear the uncaring and efficient career woman. From now on she’d work for her supper, and there would be no sexual favors.