Elusive as the Unicorn

by Carole Mortimer

  ‘That was because I forgot that, according to legend, the Unicorn was so damned elusive he became extinct!’ Sophy snorted, undaunted.

  Eve couldn’t help but chuckle at her friend’s utter despair with her attitude towards her anonymity; it was so uncharacteristic of the self-confident Sophy that she couldn’t do anything else!

  It was Sophy’s undoing that Patrick began to chuckle, too, her own grin one of self-mockery.

  ‘Why do I bother, right?’ she grimaced, with a careless shrug of her shoulders. ‘But if I didn’t——’ She broke off as the doorbell rang loudly.

  ‘That will be Paul.’ Eve instantly brightened at the thought of the man she loved. ‘He must have finished earlier than expected and decided to join us, after all.’

  ‘How nice!’ Sophy murmured sarcastically as she moved to answer the door.

  ‘I’d apologise for her, except that I know she’s just as likely to come back in here and be just as rude all over again—but to Paul’s face this time!’ Patrick muttered impatiently. ‘I can’t spend the rest of my life apologising for her outrageous outspokenness.’ He shook his head.

  Just as Eve, supposedly, couldn’t spend the rest of her life ‘apologising for being alive’. Once again Adam Gardener’s hurtful remarks came back to disturb her peace of mind.

  She had thought back to their conversation several times since Saturday evening, probably because no one—not even Sophy—had spoken to her in quite that forthright way before. Lord knew what he would have to say to her if he should ever realise she was The Unicorn, the artist he so obviously admired, but also a woman he thought in need of care and protection from herself!

  She gave a small gasp as, as if her thought of him had conjured him up, she looked up to find Adam Gardener entering the room behind Sophy!

  ‘Look who just happened to be passing,’ the other woman announced brightly to no one in particular.

  On his way to another engagement if his dark evening suit was anything to go by, his rakishly good looks as attractive as before, his hair looking more golden than ever tonight, as if he had spent his time between Saturday night and now just lazing in the sunshine. The fitness of his wide shoulders, flatness of his tapered waist, and his muscled thighs contradicted that impression as something he did often.

  Remembering his blunt criticism of her the other evening, Eve could only hope his visit was to be a short one, although it didn’t look as if it would be too short, as Patrick offered him a drink and he accepted. Sophy took the opportunity to excuse herself to go and check on dinner.

  Eve felt only dismay as Adam Gardener crossed the room, lowering his six-feet-two-inch frame down on to the sofa beside her, very close beside her.

  ‘So we meet again, Eve Eden,’ he drawled, the laughter very much back in dark brown eyes.

  ‘So we do—Adam Gardener,’ she returned caustically, determined not to be disconcerted by this man as she had been the last time they met.

  He glanced across the room, to where Sophy had disappeared through a doorway into the kitchen. ‘I see our hostess had been busy talking to you, too,’ he mocked, dark, compelling eyes returning to her face. ‘But I think there’s something else you should know about me,’ he added conspiratorially.

  ‘Oh, yes?’ she prompted disinterestedly.

  ‘Hm.’ He nodded, bending closer to her. ‘I think you should know right now that I didn’t “just happen to be passing” anywhere,’ he told her softly. ‘I was specifically invited here tonight by Sophy.’ He sat back slightly, his eyes narrowed. ‘It looks as if our hostess may be up to a little matchmaking between the two of us,’ he informed her drily.

  CHAPTER THREE

  SO MUCH for her determination not to let him disconcert her a second time!

  It took her a couple of seconds to recover from it this time. But only a couple of seconds!

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she snapped indignantly. ‘Sophy knows I’m shortly to be married.’

  Adam nodded, not in the least perturbed by her show of anger. ‘I’m sure she does—but her opinion of your boyfriend appears to be about as high as mine,’ he said dismissively.

  ‘Sophy has been talking,’ Eve bit out tautly, eyes blazing.

  He shook his head. ‘In this case, Sophy didn’t need to say a thing; I could tell how she felt about your Paul by her attitude towards him. A very forthright lady, is Sophy O’Donnell,’ he added, with obvious admiration.

  ‘Too forthright and honest to be involved in what you’re implying,’ she agreed agitatedly. ‘Besides, Paul was supposed to be here with me tonight,’ she reminded triumphantly.

  Dark blond brows rose as Adam looked about the room pointedly. ‘Then why isn’t he?’ he finally drawled.

  Colour darkened her cheeks. ‘He’s been held up unexpectedly at his office with a client,’ she explained defensively.

  ‘Of course.’ Adam nodded mockingly. ‘He’s a lawyer, isn’t he?’

  ‘As opposed to being an artist, yes,’ Eve told him challengingly.

  His mouth twisted. ‘I’m glad that particular nightmare didn’t come true.’

  She drew in a ragged breath. ‘Mr Gardener——’

  ‘Adam,’ he put in softly. ‘Please call me Adam—Eve.’

  Adam and Eve. Certainly, they were nothing like that other Adam and Eve; a more unsuited pair than Adam Gardener and herself was unlikely to be seen for a long time to come!

  ‘Very well—Adam,’ she conceded stiltedly. ‘But I really don’t think you have any reason to be abusive about Paul in this way.’

  His darkly intense gaze didn’t waver for a second. ‘You don’t?’

  Her mouth firmed at his arrogance. Damn the man, he had no right! ‘You——’

  ‘Dinner is served,’ Sophy announced in a lightly teasing voice.

  Eve looked up at the other woman dazedly as she interrupted the heated conversation, her cheeks feeling as if they were aflame as she realised the reason for Sophy’s mockery; Patrick had been standing idly by for the last few minutes with the whisky and ice Adam had requested, completely unnoticed by either of them. A fact that Sophy viewed with speculative amusement.

  Eve stood up determinedly. ‘I’ll help you carry things through.’ Her steady gaze dared Sophy to refuse that help.

  She should have known the other woman was too self-confident to even look mildly uncomfortable about the subterfuge she had used concerning Adam’s presence here and obvious intention of staying for dinner, Sophy merely giving her a cheeky grin as she preceded her through to the kitchen.

  ‘Sophy——’

  ‘Fascinating man, isn’t he?’ the other woman announced as she picked up the ornate soup tureen. She paused at the door, auburn brows raised mockingly. ‘At least, you seemed to find him so.’

  Eve stood in the middle of the kitchen and counted to ten while the door swung shut behind the other woman. She didn’t like this situation one little bit; she had the definite feeling Adam was right about Sophy’s intentions, and that the other woman’s dislike of Paul was making her behave in this shameless way. Eve just hoped Paul would be able to get away and arrive soon so that he could put an end to this stupidity; she very much doubted she was going to get any help from Adam Gardener in that direction!

  In that she was proved very much correct, as Adam made a point through dinner of drawing her into the conversation, constantly prompting her to talk about herself, to tell him of what little family she had, to discuss the job she had continued to do at the local library despite her other career, simply because she enjoyed meeting and talking with people. Painting was a very solitary occupation.

  Her uneasiness with the situation turned to apprehensive qualms when Patrick answered the telephone after the meal, then told her the call was for her—from Paul.

  ‘Take the call in our bedroom,’ Patrick offered softly as he saw her agitation.

  She gladly accepted the invitation, carefully avoiding compelling dark eyes as she crossed the lounge
to firmly close the bedroom door behind her.

  Adam Gardener had the gift of making her feel totally uncomfortable; he wouldn’t allow her the privilege of drifting into the background as she liked to do, always having preferred to be the listener rather than the centre of attention.

  She took a deep, controlling breath before lifting the receiver of the extension, forcing her voice to be bright and untroubled. ‘Hello, darling,’ she greeted smoothly. ‘Nearly finished?’

  ‘No, I’m not,’ Paul’s abrupt answer instantly dashed her hopes that he was on his way to join her. ‘What are you doing at the O’Donnells’ after all?’ he added impatiently. ‘I telephoned Ashton House to talk to you just now, and your grandmother gave me your message that I was to join you when I had finished. I thought we had agreed earlier that we would cancel the dinner for tonight and make other arrangements?’

  Eve sat down on the edge of the quilt-covered bed, the purple and lilac décor in here as flamboyant as the rest of the house. ‘It was such short notice for us to cancel, so I——’

  ‘It was utterly ridiculous for you to go to the O’Donnells’ alone,’ Paul cut in irritably.

  ‘A friend of Sophy and Patrick’s called unexpectedly and stayed for the meal, so we weren’t an odd number,’ she quickly defended, and then wished she hadn’t as she guessed the questions that would follow such a leading statement.

  ‘Male or female?’ Paul queried suspiciously.

  Usually this protective part of Paul’s nature made her feel cherished and loved, but tonight, after another emotional battering from Adam Gardener, it just made her feel weary. The last thing she felt like doing just now was answering a lot of questions from Paul on the ‘unexpected guest’, especially as he had already met the other man—and their dislike had been mutual.

  ‘Female,’ she heard herself reply—and then wondered why on earth she had told such a lie.

  She could never remember lying to Paul about anything before! It was no good telling herself she hadn’t felt like going into lengthy explanations; the truth of the matter was that she had just lied, blatantly. And it was going to cause more trouble than it was worth to tell Paul the truth now; she could hardly say, Oh, no, sorry—it was a man, after all! What on earth was happening to her?

  ‘Nevertheless,’ Paul answered sharply, ‘I’m sure the O’Donnells would have understood our need to cancel dinner tonight if you had just explained the situation to them.’

  Sophy wouldn’t have understood any such thing, she would have been full of scathing comments, although that wasn’t the reason Eve had decided to come to dinner on her own; she had just hoped Paul wouldn’t be delayed too long by business and they could still have had most of the evening together with Sophy and Patrick.

  Paul couldn’t possibly realise how much she wished she had taken heed of his suggestion now and made their excuses!

  ‘Never mind, darling,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘When do you think you might be able to get away?’ She would arrange to meet him at home if it were to be soon; she didn’t want him coming here and finding her out in her stupid, ridiculous lie.

  ‘Not soon enough tonight for us to meet,’ he told her irritably, dashing her hopes that they might salvage something of the evening, after all. ‘For some reason, Daniel Wall has decided he wants to review his will this evening,’ he muttered. ‘Forget I mentioned who the client is—although I know that isn’t really necessary.’ He sighed heavily.

  She certainly wouldn’t mention Daniel Wall’s name to anyone as the client Paul was spending the evening with, but there was no way she could forget he had been the one to delay Paul tonight—or that he was a very good friend of Patrick’s! The idea that Sophy was matchmaking between herself and Adam Gardener was now more than a ‘feeling’.

  ‘I’d better not keep you from him any longer,’ Eve said distractedly, more than a little annoyed with Sophy for creating this crazy situation. She was in love with Paul, and didn’t need the complication of a man like Adam Gardener disrupting her life. ‘Will you be over to the house tomorrow evening?’

  ‘Your grandmother has already invited me to dinner. Apparently Marina has managed to get away a few days earlier than expected, and there’s to be a family dinner party to celebrate,’ Paul explained derisively.

  Sophy wasn’t alone in her opinion of Marina; it was probably the only thing she and Paul had in common, and even that was probably one they wished they didn’t have!

  In her career as an actress, Marina could sometimes be a little thoughtless in her actions, a little selfish, but there was no malice in her. The only thing that did bother Eve about Marina’s behaviour was the way she occasionally let their grandmother down; but, as the elderly lady affectionately accepted the thoughtlessness, Eve tended to do the same thing.

  ‘That will be nice.’ She smiled at the thought of seeing her cousin again; Ashton House was never dull when Marina was about. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, then. And don’t work too hard tonight,’ she added teasingly.

  ‘I don’t think you should stay too much longer at the O’Donnells’,’ Paul advised lightly. ‘After all, you do have to go to work in the morning.’

  She felt warmed by his concern for her. ‘I’ll be leaving soon,’ she promised him warmly. ‘Take care, darling. I love you.’

  ‘Don’t let Sophy talk you into anything,’ he warned harshly. ‘You know how damned pushy she can be. And I don’t want——’

  ‘Paul, this is a dinner party,’ Eve soothed.

  ‘That isn’t likely to bother Sophy,’ he scorned knowingly. ‘Even with one of her friends there.’

  The mention of that ‘friend’ sobered Eve, brought vividly to mind compelling brown eyes.

  ‘I had better rejoin the others,’ she told Paul distractedly. ‘And don’t worry,’ she added teasingly, ‘I won’t let Sophy talk me into having my photograph as The Unicorn splashed all over the front page of the daily newspapers!’

  ‘I’m glad you find it all so amusing, Eve,’ Paul reproved stiffly, obviously not in the least amused himself. ‘I know how much you value your career, but it isn’t going to do my future ambitions in politics any good if your secret is made public——’

  ‘Paul——’

  ‘—especially after what Ellington-James’s wife did to him at the height of his career. She walked out on him and his young daughter seemingly without a backward glance. You know as well as I do that in political circles image is everything. As for the voters, they aren’t likely to choose a man——’

  ‘Paul, I was only joking about having my picture in the newspapers,’ Eve cut in exasperatedly. ‘You know I have no intention of being involved in any sort of publicity.’

  ‘Don’t even joke about something like that.’ The horror could be heard in his voice. ‘The subject makes me lose all my sense of humour.’

  ‘All right, darling,’ she acknowledged affectionately. ‘But Sophy hasn’t even brought up the subject of the winter exhibition.’ Lately!

  ‘I don’t like the sound of that …’

  ‘Oh, Paul, you’re just being silly now.’ She sighed her impatience with the subject. ‘Go and finish your meeting with Daniel Wall and forget all about this dinner party.’ Which was exactly what she intended doing when she got home! ‘I’ll call you tomorrow,’ she promised.

  ‘Very well,’ he accepted reluctantly. ‘But do remember what I said about Sophy.’

  Eve didn’t rejoin the others in the lounge straight away, for she was a little disturbed by the discord between herself and Paul. In fact, there seemed to have been several such incidents since she had met Adam Gardener three days earlier. The sooner she persuaded Sophy to give up her ridiculous schemes the better; maybe then she could get back to living quietly, without the sort of exposure being near Adam Gardener threatened. She needed to have a serious talk with Sophy about several things!

  ‘That’s a big frown for such a little face,’ remarked a voice that was becoming all too familiar.
/>   Eve looked up sharply to find Adam standing across the room from her, his gaze warmly caressing.

  ‘You didn’t have to come looking for me,’ she told him agitatedly. ‘I was just about to come through to the lounge and rejoin you all.’

  ‘There’s no rush.’ He crossed the room to drop down on the side of the bed beside her, the dipping of the mattress meaning she also dipped towards his heavier weight. ‘Boyfriend been giving you a hard time?’ he sympathised.

  ‘Certainly not.’ She stood up abruptly. ‘Paul has just been delayed longer than he anticipated, that’s all. I’m naturally disappointed that he isn’t going to be able to join me.’

  ‘Naturally,’ Adam agreed as he too stood up, instantly dwarfing the room.

  And she had claimed it was a female guest; anyone less effeminate she was unlikely to meet. And yet he wasn’t chauvinistic either.

  Eve gave him a condemning look; whether because he was once again being less than respectful about Paul, or because he intrigued her in spite of herself, she didn’t want to know.

  ‘I know your opinion of Paul isn’t very high …’

  ‘I’ve made no secret of that,’ he derided.

  ‘No, you haven’t,’ she snapped, anger as good a form of defence against this man as any other.

  He held up his hands placatingly. ‘All right, I’ll lay off the boyfriend—for the moment,’ he added provocatively, his gaze teasing. ‘I actually came through to ask you if you could drive me back to my hotel when you leave; Sophy told me it’s on your way home.’

  Sophy would! Beside the fact that the other woman’s suggestion had put her in an awkward position, it had also effectively put a stop to her confronting Sophy with her machinations once Adam had left. Clever, clever Sophy …

  ‘If Sophy said so, then I’m sure it must be true,’ she bit out.

  Adam’s mouth quirked. ‘What’s that saying? I’d like to be a “fly on the wall” the next time you talk to Sophy alone.’

  Eve relaxed slightly; it was a little difficult to do anything else with this mischievously mocking man. ‘I can assure you you wouldn’t,’ she drawled. ‘It’s going to be a very one-sided conversation—for once!’