'Later. I'm not running away. I'll go say hello to your family and—good grief, is that Porky?' Marly stared at a bone-thin girl with a mass of curly brown hair who had been at school with them.
'She hasn't put on an ounce, has she?' Andrea chuckled. 'And she's the mother of triplets, can you believe?'
Marly hurried over to greet her and exchange news, then slowly did the same with Andrea's immediate family, all the while keeping her eye on the entrance to the suite.
An hour later there was still no sign of Alex, and she was sitting in a corner with a glass of champagne in her hand and one of the eligible Hamilton cousins—who had homed in on her without having to be introduced—when she turned her head and saw the object of her desire enter the room with a stunning redhead clinging to his arm.
'Will you?' her companion queried.
'Will I what? I'm sorry, my mind wandered.'
'Very flattering.'
'I'm sorry,' she repeated, unable to tear her eyes away from the tall, tawny-haired man in a silver-grey suit and the redhead in a dramatic black dress that made her skin glow like alabaster. 'What was the question again?'
'One that requires a yes. Will you have dinner with me?'
'I've another engagement.'
She didn't add that it would probably be with a tear- soaked pillow, for the affectionate way Alex was holding the girl's hand as they moved among the guests showed she was not a new acquaintance. Nor was she new to the elderly couple with whom they were now talking. Alex's parents obviously, for he bore a remarkable resemblance to the older man. His mother was kissing the redhead, who was smiling at her and then reaching up to lay a manicured hand on Alex's cheek.
In that instant Marly saw the marquise-shaped diamond on the girl's engagement finger, and felt as though her ribcage was being squeezed by giant pincers. She should have known Alex wouldn't bring a stranger to such a personal family gathering. But it wasn't in character for him to meet and become engaged to someone so quickly. Was she an old flame, perhaps? A relationship he had renewed when in the States? And why not, Marly thought miserably, when she herself had made it clear she didn't give a damn for him and had a lover anyway?
So much for her belief that his feelings for her were durable! Hadn't he said, when he had asked her to marry him, that he had proposed because it was the only way he could get her into his bed? Why hadn't she remembered that, for heaven's sake, instead of the other things he had said about wanting her, needing her? Anyway, it was plain as a pikestaff that in his terms wanting and needing simply meant lusting.
'You've spilled some of your drink,' her companion said. 'I'll fetch you another.'
The instant he was out of sight Marly decided to leave the reception. It was impossible for her to face Alex. Glancing around, she saw another exit leading into the corridor, and fleetly edged towards it, heaving a sigh of relief as she stepped outside. It was a short-lived relief however, for as she turned, Andrea rushed down the corridor and grabbed her arm.
'There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. We'll soon be cutting the wedding cake and I'll be throwing my bouquet and want you standing close by.'
'Don't be so disgustingly romantic. The last thing I want is marriage.'
'Stop arguing.' Andrea pulled her sharply back into the room, knocking into Alex in the process. 'Nice to bump into you!' she quipped as he steadied her with his hands. 'No need to introduce you two. You know each other already.'
He nodded. 'Good to see you, Marly.' His voice was as cold as his expression.
'Same here.' Aware of Andrea watching them, Marly searched for something to say. 'How are Fiona and Kevin? Nan wrote and said they're engaged.'
'Yes. She's with Kevin in Australia, meeting his family.' Grey eyes slid over the flirty red dress and came to rest at a point beyond Marly's shoulder. 'I gather from my cousin that you're a friend of our lovely bride?'
'We were at boarding-school together.'
'I actually saw Marly in Bangkok when she was working for you,' Andrea intervened. 'Not that I knew you were there, of course. I'd only met one handsome Hamilton then, and was doing my best to forget him!' She gave Marly a comical look. 'Remember all the things I said about Alex when he ditched me? My Alex, I mean?
I never thought I'd eventually marry him—— !' She broke off. 'My beloved's signalling me like mad! I'd better see what he wants.'
She hurried away, leaving them alone, or as alone as two people could be among a crowd of three hundred! Marly didn't want to look at Alex, but she hungered for him so much that she could not stop her eyes feasting on him. If anything he was more gaunt than when he had come to see her, though it did not detract from his sex appeal. With his bone-structure he would be handsome as a corpse! It was a morbid thought, but how could she be anything else when a glittering diamond ring had rung the death-knell on her hope of happiness?
'May I fetch you a drink?' Alex was asking politely, seeing her empty hands.
'No, thanks. I'm leaving. I was on my way when Andrea collared me.'
'She'll be disappointed if you don't try to catch her bouquet—even though it's a disgustingly romantic tradition.'
So he had heard Andrea's comment and her response to it. Marly's cheeks burned, and she knew that if she didn't put distance between herself and this man she would start howling like a baby.
'I—I really have to leave.'
'Where's the boyfriend?'
'I'm seeing him later.' It was pointless telling him who Tony really was.
'I'm surprised Andrea didn't invite him.'
Ignoring this, Marly turned to go, but her exit was barred by Alex, his expression implacable.
'The things Andrea said about my cousin ditching her wouldn't have been the reason for that charade of yours, would it?'
'I don't know what you mean.'
'I'd believe you more easily if you didn't have red roses blooming in your cheeks!' He came a step closer, forcing her back upon the wall, his body blocking her from the rest of the room. 'Be honest with me, dammit. You mistook me for my cousin, didn't you? It won't be the first time I've been punished for his deeds, though it hasn't happened since we left school and he started calling himself Alexander.' Reading the answer on her face, Alex gave a gusty sigh and leaned against the wall as if he was too tired to stand upright. 'So it was that simple,' he muttered. 'You thought I'd played fast and loose with Andrea and determined to give me a taste of my own medicine.'
He fell silent again, and Marly, watching him from beneath her lashes, saw he was gradually working out all the reasons for her behaviour. As long as he didn't realise she had genuinely fallen in love with him, she could bedr it, for that was something she never wanted him to know.
'When I was in London at the same time as my cousin, and he married Andrea, you thought it was me,' Alex continued, 'and likewise when we both went to Hawaii to deal with the mess there.' The clipped voice faltered. 'When I flew from Hawaii to see you, you saw me as the faithless bridegroom, didn't you?'
'Yes,' Marly confessed, and before she could say another word was propelled swiftly from the room and down the corridor. 'Where are you taking me?' she cried as he ignored the hft and pulled her up a flight of stairs.
'I'm staying in a suite on the next floor. We can talk better there.'
'There's no more for us to say.' Marly was desperate not to be alone with him. 'I'm truly sorry I mistook you for your cousin, but no real harm was done and———————————————- '
'Shut up!' he rasped, and unlocking a door, pushed her into a luxuriously furnished sitting-room.
Marly's instinct was to make a run for it, but fearing this might be a give-away of her feelings she nonchalantly moved across to the window and stared at the London skyline.
'You've already shown me what a great actress you are,' Alex said behind her, 'so I won't attempt to guess how you feel towards me. But I won't let you leave here until I've told you how I feel about you. You bowled me over the momen
t you walked on to the stage at that Christmas show, and with every subsequent meeting I fell more deeply in love with you.'
'You've no right to say that,' Marly cried.
'Because of your lover? Well, I'm sorry, but I can't play the chivalrous gentleman. I don't believe you were putting on an act when you lay in my arms that night on the boat, and I————'
‘You really are an uncaring bastard, aren't you?'
'Because I love you too much to let you go without fighting for you?'
'It's more than that,' she flung at him. 'If you love me so much, how come you were so quick to get engaged?'
An indrawn breath was his only reply as he strode over to her and caught her shoulders in a painful grip. 'Do you enjoy acting judge and jury?' He shook her roughly with every word. 'I can understand it when you thought I'd played fast and loose with Andrea, but now that you know I didn't—that you were totally wrong about me—how come you're still judging me as if I have no moral scruples?' Flinging her aside, he turned away from her. 'Isobel, my so-called fiancee, happens to be my cousin,' he stated in a flat voice. 'She works in New York as a model and will shortly be marrying the doctor who took out her gallstones six months ago.'
Marly wished she could sink into the ground. Alex had a right to be angry with her and there was nothing she could say in mitigation of her behaviour. She just had to eat dirt!
'I'm an idiot, Alex. I suppose I've grown so used to thinking the worst of you that I can't think the best.' She moved closer to him and put a tentative hand on his back. He tensed at her touch but did not turn. 'You were pretty quick to judge me when you came to my apartment,' she went on. 'These days men and women often share accommodation but it doesn't mean anything. Tony and I and Jenny Hunter—she works at 3S too—bought the place jointly, though I'll probably sell them my share when they get married in three months' time.'
Alex swung round, his face ahght. 'You mean you aren't lovers?'
Not waiting for her retort, his mouth found hers in a fierce kiss that demanded her surrender. Willingly she gave it, her body burrowing into his the better to feel his wild arousal, to breathe in the scent of his desire.
With a muffled groan he picked her up in his arms, strode with her into the bedroom and placed her on the quilted king-size bed.
Cqpüng down beside her, he drew her close. 'I almost didn't come to the reception today,' he confessed against her lips. 'This past month I've alternated between loving you like crazy and hating you like mad.'
'That describes my emotions when I was with you in Thailand.'
'When did you discover you had mixed me up with my cousin?'
'Four weeks ago—the day you left for San Francisco. That was the first time I met Alexander. I nearly flew out to see you but he said you had a hectic schedule and——- '
'I'd have made time for you, and it would have saved me a month of aggro.'
'It was heartbreaking for me too,' Marly whispered, tenderly touching her fingertips to the dark shadows beneath his eyes. 'Are you sure, Alex?'
Amazed, he pulled back, the better to see her face. 'I proposed to you when we were in Phuket, so why should I have changed my mind?'
'Because I…' She hesitated, then plunged on. 'When you asked me to be your wife, you admitted that marriage was the last thing you'd had in mind, but you couldn't see any other way of having me. Well, I want you to know that—that that's no longer true. I'm not Marly, the old-fashioned traditionalist, but Amalia Bradshaw, a modern woman who loves you enough to trust you and to live with you on your terms.'
'I see.' Alex stroked his hand over her silky black hair. 'What I said then was like the final gasp of a dying man! In my personal hfe I'd always been my own boss and never had to account to anyone else, and the idea of sharing my freedom with a woman scared the hell out of me, which was why I made that stupid remark. But when you said you wanted to think it over and I faced the thought of being rejected, I realised that life without you would be a prison of loneliness, whereas hfe with you would enable me to enjoy every hour of every day.'
A poet could not have put it more lyrically, yet there was one more thing she had to ascertain. 'Is it me you love or the girl I was pretending to be? I'm definitely not the submissive type, you know.'
'Thank goodness for that! Your agreeableness was the one thing that flummoxed me, for I often felt you were biting your tongue rather than saying what you really meant.' He tilted up her chin and scanned her face. 'Do I have to say anything else to convince you of my love?'
Marly placed her palms together and lowered her head to them in the last wai she would ever make to him.
'Sometimes actions speak louder than words, Mr Hamilton.'
In silence he found the zip at the back of her dress and slowly undid it. Soon she was lying naked beside him, and he caressed her firm breasts with their pink pointed nipples, her rounded stomach and her curved hips, scantily covered by black lace. Smoky grey irises darkened as he placed his mouth to the soft mound of dark hair at the junction of her legs, murmuring deep in his throat as he felt the tremor that went through her.
Filled with love, Marly began undoing the buttons of his jacket. She slipped it off his shoulders and then removed his shirt, the silk fabric no smoother than his skin. She had never undressed anyone, and as her fingers fumbled at the narrow leather belt around his waist she could not stop the warm tide of colour that rushed into her cheeks.
Aware of her embarrassment, he did it for her, though as his nude body covered hers desire for him became paramount and all she could think of was becoming a part of him. Sensuously she rubbed her breasts across his chest, her nipples hardening as she felt the surge of his arousal. Her fingers moved to it, and as she touched him he brought his mouth down on hers, his tongue hot and demanding, becoming ferociously aggressive as passion gathered strength.
Alex was a superb lover, teasing, tantalising, caressing with mouth, teeth and tongue until they were both inflamed to fever-pitch and only the ultimate surrender would satisfy.
Parting her legs, she wound them round his thighs as he lay between hers. Instantly the rock-hard length of his manhood plunged into her and she gasped and cried out, moaning with joy as he thrust in and out in ever- decreasing movements until he was pounding at the very heart of her, touching the innermost core with a rod of fire that vibrated into a single screaming crescendo of fulfilment that exploded into a rapturous, shuddering climax.
In the aftermath of intimacy, they lay supine in each other's arms. 'I wish I'd flown to the States to see you,' Marly said soberly. 'I can't forget those awful four weeks.'
'Me neither,' he agreed, kissing the top of her head. 'But it was worth the wait.'
'I seem to remember you telling me that waiting simply made it quicker!' she teased.
'Was I too quick for you?' he asked instantly.
'I can't remember. Perhaps if you jogged my memory…'
They dissolved into laughter, and as it ceased, Marly glanced at her wristwatch and gave a little cry. 'Oh, Alex, we've missed Andrea cutting the cake and throwing her bouquet!'
'Never mind,' he consoled, rolling off the bed and taking her with him. 'Let's get dressed and go and tell her you'll soon be throwing your own!'
Roberta Leigh - Give A Man A Bad Name Page 16
