Her One and Only

by Penny Jordan

  ‘Mmm... Well, you could be right and you certainly won’t get any time to take any leave if you do get the governorship. Where are you planning to go?’

  ‘Ireland,’ Liam told him promptly.

  ‘Ireland...’ Both the Millers stared at him.

  ‘I’ve been meaning to visit over there for a while...trace my roots, that kind of thing,’ Liam told them vaguely.

  ‘Ireland, but it’s only just across the Irish Sea from Cheshire,’ Sarah Jane told him enthusiastically. ‘You could perhaps fit in a visit to Bobbie whilst you’re there. I know she’d love to see you.’

  Liam gave a small shrug.

  ‘Bobbie might, but I doubt that Sam would...’

  ‘Well, that could be so.’ Sarah Jane paused and then laughed. ‘Although from what I hear from Bobbie, Sam is rather preoccupied at the moment. She’s been seeing rather a lot of James since she arrived.’

  As Samantha’s parents exchanged smiles, neither of them saw the way Liam’s mouth tightened nor the look he flashed the silent photograph of their daughter.

  * * *

  SEATED IN HER sister’s kitchen Samantha leaned her chin into her hand and gave a small disconsolate sigh. So far her plans were not going entirely the way she wanted.

  Oh, James was proving to be everything she had anticipated that he would be, a thoughtful and protective escort when he took her out and an entertaining and interesting companion, but no matter how hard she tried she just couldn’t seem to advance their relationship to a more intimate level.

  Take the first night he had asked her out, for instance. After they had left the restaurant they had strolled alongside the river, the perfect romantic setting. Samantha had leant a little against James, smiling warmly and encouragingly at him when he had stopped walking and turned to face her, but instead of taking her in his arms and kissing her as she had expected, he had started to frown a little and caution her that her knit was in danger of slipping off her shoulders.

  She had been so irritated by his overcautious behaviour that later on, when he had moved to take her in his arms when he had stopped his car outside Luke and Bobbie’s home, she had pretended not to be aware of his intentions, slipping out of the car before he could stop her and then kissing him coolly and distantly on the cheek before bidding him a stiff goodnight outside the front door.

  Later on she had regretted giving in to her chagrin and irritation but, of course, by then it had been too late.

  The following day, at her insistence, he had taken her to the zoo, but the antics of the animals had quite plainly not been to his taste and he had cut their visit short, suggesting instead that she might like to visit Haslewich’s salt museum which he was sure she would find far more worthwhile.

  As Samantha was coming to discover, underneath James’s apparent easygoing gentleness there was a markedly determined, not to say stubborn, streak. It wasn’t that he was either domineering or dictatorial, it was simply that he could at times adopt a smiling loftiness which irritated her into the kind of rebellious behaviour she thought she had left behind with her teens. And yet he was everything she knew she ought to want. She only had to see him with Olivia’s children and Bobbie’s Francesca, to see what a wonderful father he would make.

  An added complication to her plans was Rosemary. Despite her avowed dislike of him and her engagement, she tried to attach herself to them with all the persistence and much the same effect as an unwanted burr.

  ‘Poor Rosemary, I’m afraid she finds it rather dull being with someone so much older than herself,’ James’s mother had commented indulgently to Samantha the previous day when, for the third time, Rosemary had insisted on accompanying them.

  If Rosemary was so bored then why didn’t she go home to her own life and her own friends? Samantha longed to ask, but she managed to keep her views to herself.

  ‘She and James can’t bear one another so why she insists on attaching herself to us I just don’t know,’ she had told Bobbie furiously the previous evening when, at the last minute, Rosemary had prevailed upon James’s mother to ask if she could be included in their outing to an open-air play—one of a series which were held every summer at a pretty local Elizabethan manor house.

  Bobbie had given her a telling look.

  But at the weekend James was taking her to the Grosvenor for dinner and that was an invitation she intended to make sure Rosemary did not gate crash.

  James lived in the city within walking distance of the Grosvenor, Chester’s most prestigious hotel, and Samantha had privately decided to boldly suggest after they had had dinner that James might show her over his home. If that didn’t give him a hint of what she had in mind then nothing would!

  It was not that she was planning to deliberately seduce him. Of course not. And anyway, she had seen from the expression in his eyes when he looked at her that he found her attractive and he had certainly hinted at as much with the compliments he had paid her. No, it was just that she felt their relationship needed a small nudge in the right direction to move it on a little faster than it was presently progressing.

  James just wasn’t the type to force the pace. He was far too gentlemanly for that, and so she needed to make it clear to him that... That what? That she wanted him to take her to bed?

  Samantha started to frown. Did she? Did she want them to become lovers?

  Well, of course she did, otherwise how on earth was she going to conceive their child. Ultimately they would have to... Have to?

  ‘You’re looking very pensive.’

  Samantha looked at her sister.

  ‘No, not really... I was just wondering what to wear when James takes me to dinner at the Grosvenor on Saturday.’

  ‘Mmm... Well, it should be something smart. The Grosvenor’s clientele is very elegant.’

  ‘Mmm...’ Samantha didn’t want to admit to her twin that it was more what she should wear to get the right impression over to James than to impress the other diners, that was concerning her.

  ‘Mom rang whilst you were out earlier. You’ll never guess what...’

  ‘So tell me,’ Samantha invited.

  ‘Liam’s in Ireland.’

  ‘Liam’s where?’

  ‘In Ireland taking a vacation and looking up his roots.’

  ‘But Liam never takes a vacation. Never. And what about the campaign?’

  Bobbie shrugged.

  ‘I only know what Mom told me. Oh, she did say, though, that that PR woman has gone back to Washington.’

  ‘Oh... Maybe Liam’s gone to Ireland to look for a wife,’ Samantha suggested cynically.

  ‘Oh, Sam, you aren’t being very fair to Liam.’

  ‘He wants to be Governor, you can’t deny that.’

  ‘No, but he wants the governorship as much for Dad as for himself.’

  Bobbie saw her sister’s disbelieving expression and insisted, ‘It’s true. Liam knows how much Dad wants to have him take over from him, how much it would mean to him to be able to retire knowing that he’s leaving the state in safe hands, and he knows, too, how much Mom has been looking forward to Dad retiring.’

  ‘Liam is Dad’s assistant, you’re making it sound more as though he’s a member of the family.’

  ‘Well, isn’t he? You know how much Mom and Dad both think of him.’

  ‘Too much if you ask me,’ Samantha muttered half under her breath. ‘I can certainly remember how often they took his side against me.’

  ‘When? Oh, you mean like that time you wanted to go out with the high school jock and Liam told the folks that he’d got a pretty bad reputation. Liam was just trying to protect you, that was all.’

  ‘To protect me...’ Samantha rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, yeah...’

  ‘You’re too hard on him, Sam. I know how much Dad values him and Dad is a very goo
d judge of character. Grandma Ruth and Gramps both think a lot of him, as well.’

  ‘So... That’s because he’s made sure they’ve only seen the good side of him,’ Samantha told her.

  ‘Oh, Sam...’ Bobbie laughed and shook her head. ‘And when I think of the crush you used to have on him.’

  Bobbie gave her twin a startled look.

  ‘You aren’t still holding a grudge against him because he didn’t return your feelings, are you? You must know how impossible it would have been for him to respond to you, not just morally but just about every which way there is. You were under age, you were his employer’s daughter, you were...’

  ‘I was damn near six feet tall and looked more like a boy than a girl and I wore braces. Yes, I know, but he need not have treated me as though...as though...as though I was some kind of joke,’ Samantha seethed.

  ‘As though you were some kind of joke. No, he never did that.’

  ‘He did, too,’ Samantha told her. ‘He laughed at me and he...’

  ‘Samantha, he was just trying to defuse the situation, to let you down gently. I guess...’

  ‘Anyway, for your information I am not holding a grudge against him. As a matter of fact—well, I guess you’re right and he is the right person to take over from Dad and I hope he finds himself a wife in Ireland,’ she added generously.

  ‘You do. Well, you can tell him so yourself when he comes over to visit with us at the weekend.’

  ‘He’s doing what,’ Samantha demanded, staring at her.

  ‘He’s coming over to visit with us,’ Bobbie repeated calmly. ‘Apparently Mom suggested it.’

  ‘Liam here! Liam’s coming here, to Haslewich!’ Samantha started to worry her bottom lip. She still had disturbing flashbacks to those moments she had spent in his arms when he had kissed her and, illogically and very dangerously, they always seemed to surface when she was with James! She forced herself to give a small nonchalant shrug.

  ‘Well, it’s a pity but I shall probably miss him. Have you forgotten I’m going to the Grosvenor with James on Saturday.’ Going to the Grosvenor and planning to stay over with James although no one other than she knew about that plan as yet.

  ‘No, you won’t. He’s actually going to be staying at the Grosvenor.’

  Samantha felt her heart start to sink. She and Liam might have buried their old differences but...but she had confided in him in a moment of weakness, exposed to him her fears and vulnerabilities and she had no wish now to have him watching superciliously and knowingly whilst she put into action her plans for her future with James.

  ‘In fact, I’m thinking about arranging to have a family lunch party at the Grosvenor on Sunday.’

  ‘If Liam finds a wife whilst he’s in Ireland and he brings her over, we could make it an engagement party,’ Samantha suggested sarcastically. ‘Maybe you ought to order a cake.’

  ‘Uh-huh. And would that be for Liam and his intended or for you and James?’ Bobbie demanded teasingly, adding with a sideways look, ‘Have you told him about your yen to make love out in the open yet, because...’

  ‘That was just a childish fantasy,’ Samantha told her loftily, but her face had gone pink nonetheless. It was true that she had always had a private fantasy of making love out in the open beneath the sky, somewhere private and secret, a sacred almost a special place which would belong to her and her lover alone.

  A fantasy was just what it was though. Somehow she could not see James sharing it with her. Fantasies didn’t always translate very well into real life.

  * * *

  A LITTLE UNCERTAINLY Samantha surveyed her reflection in the long pier mirror in Bobbie’s guest bedroom.

  The seductively feminine underwear she had bought in Boston had seemed like a good idea at the time but now that she was wearing it...surely the silky satin was far finer and provocative than she had remembered it. She frowned as she saw the way it clung to her curves, lovingly outlining every detail of her body.

  ‘Sam... I’ve just remembered... Wow!’ Bobbie came to a full stop as she hurried unceremoniously into her twin’s bedroom, her eyes widening as she looked at her.

  ‘The dress I’m wearing is silk jersey and it needs something special underneath it,’ Samantha began defensively, but she could see from Bobbie’s raised eyebrows and wide grin that she was not convincing her.

  ‘Ever heard of a plain simple serviceable body?’ Bobbie asked her dryly.

  ‘They didn’t have one in my size. You know how difficult it is getting one long enough,’ Samantha defended herself.

  ‘Have I said a word?’ Bobbie asked virtuously. ‘If you choose to wear sexy underwear then far be it from me... You always did have a penchant for...’ She stopped and giggled.

  ‘Remember that fuss you made when you had your crush on Liam when Mom took you to buy a new training bra. You refused to have it and begged her to let you have a push-up padded style instead.’

  ‘That was years ago,’ Samantha objected, ‘and besides, Mom refused...’

  ‘Well, you certainly don’t need any help in improving your curves now,’ Bobbie told her forthrightly. ‘So where is it then?’ she demanded.

  ‘Where’s what?’ Samantha asked her puzzled.

  ‘The dress...the dress that demands the wearing of such sexy underwear,’ Bobbie told her, tongue-in-cheek.

  ‘It’s here.’ Turning round Samantha walked over to the wardrobe and removed the dress she was planning to wear that evening. Completely plain in heavy vanilla silk jersey, its slashed cowl-necked style made Bobbie’s eyes widen in envy.

  ‘Hey, if you ever get tired of it, you can junk it in my direction puleeze...’

  Samantha laughed.

  ‘Let me see it on,’ Bobbie commanded.

  Dutifully Samantha took it off the hanger and slipped it over her head.

  The soft vanilla fabric settled down over her body as though it had been made expressly for her, the heavy fabric draping perfectly over her curves.

  She had chosen the bra, carefully picking one with a low back, knowing that the deep vee of the dress would expose a normal bra.

  ‘It’s wonderful,’ Bobbie breathed, and then frowned. ‘Can you step out of it?’ she asked Samantha.

  Her sister stared at her.

  ‘I don’t know, I haven’t tried. Why do you ask.’

  Bobbie grinned.

  ‘Well, it’s just that there’s something seriously sexy about a dress that can be slithered out of. You know the kind that just somehow falls to the floor of its own accord. Although,’ she paused and eyed her twin judiciously, ‘I suppose there is something to be said for one that needs an extra pair of hands to aid its removal.’

  ‘I did not buy this dress with...with anything like that in mind,’ Samantha told her firmly.

  ‘Anything like “that”... You mean, sex?’ Bobbie teased, round-eyed.

  ‘It’s six o’clock, James is picking me up at half past,’ Samantha warned her, ‘and he’ll expect me to be ready on time.’

  ‘Okay, okay, I get the message. Subject closed, although...’ As she headed for the door she paused and told her thoughtfully, ‘if you want my opinion, that bit of frivolous sexy nonsense you’re wearing is very much more Liam than James!’

  ‘For the last time, I did not choose my underwear with a man in mind...any man...’

  ‘Who says I was talking about your underwear,’ Bobbie laughed. ‘I meant the dress. Very...sexy...very Liam...’

  She was still laughing as she closed the door behind herself.

  ‘Very Liam...’ Samantha studied her reflection worriedly. She had noticed, it was true, that James seemed to prefer it when she wore more classically styled clothes, clothes which were elegant and perhaps even a little strait-laced rather than discreetly sexy. Only the prev
ious evening she had seen him frowning over the revealing little tank top which Rosemary had been wearing. Bright cerise in colour, it shouldn’t really have suited a redhead, but somehow Rosemary had got away with it—just.

  ‘Do you really think you should be wearing something like that?’ James had asked her.

  ‘Why not?’ Rosemary had challenged him immediately.

  ‘Well, a woman in your position...’ James had responded quietly.

  ‘A woman in my position?’ For a moment Rosemary had looked baffled and then she had laughed.

  ‘You mean, because I’m a doctor.’

  ‘No, actually I mean because you’re engaged,’ James had told her stiffly, quite plainly offended by her laughter.

  In reply Rosemary had given him a wide taunting smile.

  ‘It just so happens that my fiancé actually bought me this top,’ she told him softly.

  ‘I’ll be glad when she finally goes back home,’ James had fumed afterwards when they were on their own.

  It was on the tip of Samantha’s tongue to point out that if he disliked Rosemary’s company so much, then the easiest way to avoid having to endure it would be to cut down on his visits to his parents whilst Rosemary was there, but then she reminded herself that she was perhaps being a little unfair. On each occasion they had called round to see them James had done so at his father’s behest.

  ‘Officially, of course, he’s now retired, but he likes to be kept au fait with what’s going on,’ James had explained to Samantha.

  His concern and consideration for his parents was another indication of the kind of man he was, Samantha recognised.

  James, she suspected, would never miss a child’s sports day or Christmas play. He would always be there to cheer his children on on the sports field and to listen to their problems.

  From speaking to Olivia, Sam had quickly guessed that she would like to add to her family.

  ‘The biological urge runs very strongly through the female side of the Crighton line,’ Olivia had told Samantha cheerfully. ‘So be warned.’

  ‘I wonder if Maddy’s pregnancy will be twins,’ Bobbie had mused a little enviously.