Wild and Willing!

by Lawrence, Kim

  ‘As I said, it’s not my fault they don’t like Jessica,’ she countered stubbornly, with a provoking smile. The sooner Adam learnt she wasn’t about to sit back and let him tear her moral character to shreds every time he felt like it the better!

  ‘There is no popularity contest,’ he shot back defensively. ‘Children often resent discipline.’

  ‘Not when they know the restrictions and prohibitions originate from love.’ She refused to be silenced by the deep frustration she read in his eyes. Empathy with this man was a luxury she couldn’t permit herself.

  His perception of the situation was wrong; surely he could see that? Jessica felt no pleasure in the children’s company.

  ‘Why can’t you admit you were wrong, Adam?’ She felt deep anger that he was stubbornly going to ruin not just his own life but hers too.

  Adam placed his hands deliberately around the slender column of her white throat, the touch light, barely making contact with her skin. It was enough to send a flurry of shivery, warning sensations along her nerve-endings. Her throat was clogged with thick, hot emotion. The tension building up inside her was shattering.

  She could see tiny points of moisture break out across his forehead as his fingers flexed and slid down across her back, pulling her against him. Neither noticed the crutches which fell with a clatter onto the floor.

  The warmth of his breath against her lips, the musky, masculine scent of him in her nostrils stripped away her defences. The first contact was brief, a faint grazing of the corner of her mouth, the second a brief tug at her full lower lip. A protesting sound escaped her lips—not protest at the caress, but at the frustrating torture of the expectation that he was building up inside her. Adam seemed to be suffering torment of his own. His taut body was racked by intermittent tremors and his face was lined with strain.

  ‘Adam, I…’

  He responded to her gasping plea with a shuddering groan and covered her lips firmly with his. Restraint gone, he plundered the moist, sweet recesses with a ferocity that filled her with a deep, nameless delight.

  It was over too soon, their moment of mindless selfindulgence. Taking the crutches he retrieved for her, she bent her head to avoid seeing his expression—that one of self-disgust he always appeared to experience after lust overcame his better judgement where she was concerned.

  Kissing him in broad daylight in the middle of town with God knows how many people watching. I must be insane! She shuddered, appalled at her behaviour.

  ‘Are you all right?’

  Her head jerked upright. ‘No, I’m not bloody all right!’ Stupid, stupid man, what a question to ask! Didn’t he know how much agony it was for her just to be in his company?

  His fingers raked through his blond hair. ‘It would make it much simpler if you lied. Just once.’ His husky voice sent a tingle right down to her pink-painted toe-nails. Irony lifted the corners of his lips from their grim line. She loved his mouth—she loved him!

  ‘I’m a walking social liability.’

  ‘Limping liability.’ He was recovering his composure faster than she was, and she resented it.

  She nodded, wanting to weep, but stayed stubbornly dry-eyed. ‘If we’re being pedantic,’ she agreed, permitting herself a loud sniff. ‘Go away,’ she pleaded wearily. ‘Go chastise your fiancée, not me; she wasn’t exactly polite. Or didn’t you notice that?’ Jessica Talbot was a first-class bitch, but it seemed Adam was blind to that fact.

  ‘Under the circumstances she was quite restrained.’

  ‘What circumstances?’ she asked reluctantly. Something in his expression told her she wasn’t going to like his explanation.

  ‘I told her about you.’

  ‘I gathered that, but I take it there’s more?’ His enigmatic expression made her want to shake the information out of him.

  ‘I told her I’m attracted to you—strongly. I told her that the feeling’s mutual.’

  He sounded so matter-of-fact. She stared at him in open-mouthed disbelief.

  ‘You discussed me—with her!’ she whispered incredulously. She felt deeply humiliated at the thought.

  ‘She asked me about you and I told her,’ Adam said flatly.

  ‘Just like that!’ He made it sound so logical.

  ‘She was very understanding,’ Adam observed in a neutral tone.

  ‘This gets more and more unbelievable,’ she shouted. ‘Did she give you leave to sleep with me?’

  ‘Don’t get hysterical.’

  ‘I’ll get as hysterical as I want! My manners are not nearly so nice as Jessica’s.’ What sort of woman, she wondered, took the sort of news Adam had delivered calmly, sensibly? ‘You really have struck gold, haven’t you, Adam?’ she sneered. ‘An understanding wife; what more could a man want?’

  ‘I don’t want an understanding wife!’ He ground the words out from between clenched teeth. Anna had the impression from the sudden, shocked look on his face that this was probably the first moment he’d admitted that, even to himself.

  Startled, she swallowed the rush of hot words that trembled on the tip of her tongue. Go on, you stupid man, she silently urged as she gazed fixedly at his face. Adam seemed to be struggling to subdue the emotion that was plain to see on his face—a mixture of frustration and anger.

  ‘This isn’t the time or place to force the issue, Anna,’ he eventually said harshly.

  Just as if it had nothing to do with me, she thought indignantly. Well, maybe it doesn’t, she added angrily. It was all very well for him to imply by his silence that the situation was beyond his control, but she for one didn’t believe any situation was beyond Adam’s control. It really was out of her control, however!

  ‘I see,’ she said in a dangerous voice. ‘You and Jessica can discuss me, but I’m not allowed to discuss her. I’ve heard of no-win situations, but this would be funny if it wasn’t so bloody…bloody! Oh, where’s Simon?’ she asked, looking around hopefully. ‘He should be here.’ She had to get away.

  ‘The faithful Simon.’

  ‘And you can get that oh, so superior tone out of your voice. At least I can walk down the street with him without being mauled.’

  ‘Perhaps you don’t deliberately provoke him.’ ‘A little opposition might bend that stiff neck of yours,’ she said unrepentantly. ‘I suppose Jessica thinks everything you say is engraved in stone. I don’t! Just because you’re a brilliant surgeon doesn’t mean you’re much good at the personal stuff.’

  ‘Is that a fact?’

  ‘It is,’ she said, refusing to be daunted by the cold hostility in his tone. ‘It seems to me not enough people tell you when you’re talking rubbish.’

  ‘A situation you’ve decided to single-handedly rectify?’

  ‘I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to perpetuate the god-like-doctor myth. Here’s Simon…’ Suddenly she was limp with relief.

  With neither of them prepared to back down Anna was never entirely sure where one of their encounters was going to lead. Not that it seemed likely she had a reputation left to salvage after that clinch. If a cat had been the only witness it would still be round the village like wildfire! Suitably embellished, of course.

  ‘Just what is going on between you two?’ Adam demanded, his gold-flecked gaze flicking disapprovingly over his shoulder before returning to her face.

  ‘Sorry I’ve kept you waiting, love.’ Breathless, Simon reached her side. ‘Deacon,’ he added, with a curt nod in the direction of the older man.

  ‘Your timing is impeccable, Simon,’ she said in a tight, clipped voice. ‘I was just telling the doctor to mind his own business,’ she added silkily. Talk about double standards! As if Adam was in any position to quiz her about her personal life! ‘It’s always an education to talk to you,’ she said sincerely, swinging her crutches into action.

  ‘Hell, Anna, what have you been doing to him?’ Simon asked, hurrying after her. ‘I thought he was going to… I’m parked up here,’ he added, placing a guiding hand on her shoulde
r.

  ‘How like a man to assume it was my fault,’ she snapped, shrugging off his hand.

  ‘I didn’t mean that,’ Simon said hastily. ‘I just mean he looked—well—homicidal.’

  ‘If you must know he wanted to know whether I’m sleeping with you.’

  ‘He what?’

  ‘I know, ludicrous, isn’t it?’

  ‘Is it?’ He paused tensely, the key in the lock.

  ‘I think you know it is,’ she said a little sadly. The scalding anger had burnt itself out now, and she felt the full weight of her unhappiness. ‘Listen, I don’t know what happened between you and Rachel, but I can’t believe you’re going to give up on your marriage without a fight. Not unless you’ve changed an awful lot.’

  ‘You don’t understand.’ He looked frustrated as he came around the car to help her inside.

  ‘Isn’t that the wife’s prerogative?’ she said drily, accepting his assistance under sufferance.

  Simon gave a wry grin as he closed the door, walked round the bonnet and climbed into the driver’s seat. ‘You know Rachel works in TV?’

  Anna nodded.

  ‘She’s been offered an anchor job which means moving to the other side of the country.’

  ‘That’s it?’ she said. ‘You haven’t stopped loving her or she you. You just don’t want to move house!’

  ‘Don’t make it sound trivial,’ Simon said sulkily. ‘I’m expected to follow meekly…she didn’t even discuss it with me!’ he said bitterly. ‘What about Emily? She barely sees her mother as it is.’

  On balance she decided not to point out that skipping the country hadn’t been the act of a concerned parent, but more that of a thwarted child. ‘You wanted her to turn down an opportunity like that?’

  ‘For the sake of our marriage,’ he replied in an injured tone.

  ‘For the sake of your pride more likely,’ Anna returned impatiently. ‘What’s wrong, Simon, will she be earning more than you?’ She knew from his expression that she had unearthed some of the problem. Male chauvinism really did rear its head in the most unlikely places. ‘It’s not as if you couldn’t work any place.’

  Simon was an independent architect who worked on projects all over North America. ‘If you really care about your marriage it seems to me you ought to be a little more flexible. I know it’s none of my business, but, considering you’re all set to use me as a little light distraction given the least encouragement, I think I’m allowed some leeway.’

  ‘I care about you, Anna.’ His eyes slid away from her frank gaze.

  ‘Good friends should be careful not to hurt one another,’ she said quietly.

  ‘If it wasn’t for bloody Adam Deacon!’ he growled, pushing the car viciously into gear.

  ‘Adam has nothing to do with it,’ she said frigidly. Whilst she felt at liberty to curse the man she felt indignant hearing his name taken in vain by anyone else.

  When she went back to work the following week, Anna was snowed under trying to work through the backlog. She worked late most nights and made double the number of house calls she usually made to clients who weren’t mobile enough to come into town. On the Friday it was almost eight o’clock before she got home.

  ‘It’s for you,’ Beth said, handing her daughter the telephone the instant she walked into the hallway.

  ‘Who is it?’ she mouthed, but her mother shook her head. ‘Hello, this is Anna.’ She leant against the wall. All she wanted right now was a hot bath, food and an early night in that order.

  ‘Miss Lacey, I hope you’ll forgive me for ringing you, but Jake has told me about you, and I’m at my wits’ end.’

  ‘I’m sorry, who…?’

  ‘So stupid of me— I’m Sara, Jake’s grandmother. I’ll get straight to the point. Adam had arranged for Jake and the children to meet Jessica at their new house for the weekend. He’s in Amsterdam until Tuesday. I don’t know how much you know of the situation, but I’ll be frank. I blame myself…’

  ‘Take your time, Mrs Deacon,’ Anna said soothingly, hearing the anguish in the cultured voice on the other end of the line. Hurry up! What’s wrong? she wanted to yell. Adam’s mother on the phone to her; what on earth had happened?

  The sound of several deep breaths echoed along the line before the narrative continued. ‘I told Adam quite frankly that the only way Jessica was going to find out what she was letting herself in for was for him to dump them on her, preferably somewhere she couldn’t escape them—hence this weekend. She was meant to meet them at the house this afternoon.

  ‘Jake rang her just before she set off to ask her to bring some children’s paracetamol because the twins have a temperature. You know what the wretched woman does? She refuses to go there. In case she catches anything, apparently,’ she said, her voice laden with disgust. ‘She has a meeting next week and she can’t risk catching anything! Can you believe that?’

  Anna could, all too easily, but she made a neutral sound in her throat. ‘Jake and Kate are alone with the little ones and you need someone to help them out.’

  ‘I feel terrible asking you.’ Some of the strain had gone from the voice. ‘I’d go there myself, but I can’t drive these days. I’m due to have a hip replacement shortly, but until then I rely on public transport. The soonest I could be there is the morning. Jake is a sensible boy, but I could tell he was worried about the little ones. They don’t have a doctor there yet, and the conditions are a little primitive, I understand. I know this is an imposition…’

  ‘Nonsense,’ Anna said warmly. ‘I’ll get along there and suss out the situation. I’ll get back to you later and let you know what’s happening.’

  ‘Jake said you wouldn’t mind. I’m so grateful…’

  It took Anna fifteen minutes to reach the Rectory. She swallowed the remnants of the sandwich her mother had made her take with her, and made her way up to the house. A lot had been done since she’d last seen the place—new window frames were in evidence and the ivy had been trimmed back to manageable proportions. An unpicturesque builder’s skip filled with rubble took pride of place on the driveway. She made her way to the kitchen door and, after tapping on it, stepped inside.

  The big room was a shell, the only decorations bunches of electrical wires hanging here and there from the ceiling. What had Adam been thinking of, sending them here? she wondered. Just as well Jessica hadn’t come; one look at this place and she’d have started having serious doubts.

  ‘Hello!’ she called, walking into the hallway where the situation was no better than in the kitchen. She walked around a pile of timber propped up against the staircase and called once more.

  ‘We’re in here.’

  Anna headed in the direction of the voice. Jake had obviously chosen the least awful room. He’d lit a fire in the grate and the twins were curled up in sleeping bags on top of two camp beds. Kate was sitting cross-legged on the floor between the two, looking harassed. Her young face bore an expression of profound relief when Anna walked in.

  ‘Thank goodness,’ she breathed. ‘I think they’re really ill.’

  One look at the sleeping, flushed faces and puffy eyes had already informed Anna this was no false alarm. ‘Where’s Jake?’ she asked, bending down and gently examining the first twin. She pealed back the cocoon to allow some air to cool the small body.

  ‘He’s gone to get some more wood for the fire,’ Kate said. ‘Here he is now,’ she added as her brother walked into the room, carrying a basket of logs. ‘It was going to be such fun,’ she said miserably, ‘camping here.’

  ‘I’m amazed your uncle suggested it,’ Anna said.

  ‘So were we,’ Jake said. ‘But I expect he had something in mind; Adam usually does. Is it bad?’ he asked in a soft voice as she straightened up.

  ‘I’m no expert, but I’d say they’ve got mumps,’ she told him.

  ‘Mumps!’ he echoed with some relief in his voice. He’d obviously been mentally constructing a worse scenario. ‘I thought they’d been inoculat
ed against stuff like that.’

  ‘They probably have, but you can still get a mild form.’

  ‘If this is mild I’d hate to see a bad case,’ he observed feelingly. ‘You should have heard them before they dozed off.’

  ‘Speaking of bad cases, have you…?’

  ‘Had it as a babe,’ he reassured her with a grin. ‘You must think I’m clueless,’ he said ruefully. ‘At home I’d have called out the doc, but we don’t know anyone here except you. Did you mind that I gave your name to Gran? She was frantic.’

  ‘No, I don’t think you’re clueless, and, no, I don’t mind. The only question is, do we ask the doctor to come and see them here or move them to the farm first?’

  ‘I love dominant women,’ Jake said admiringly.

  ‘Don’t be fresh,’ his sister advised sternly. ‘Won’t your parents mind being invaded by us?’ she asked.

  ‘My mum loves a crisis,’ Anna assured them both. ‘Is the phone connected?’

  Jake produced a mobile from his pocket and handed it to her. ‘My contribution to the crisis.’

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ANNA leant back on her heels to relieve the pressure on her knees. Crawling around on the floor was a tiresome business, especially when the said floor was covered in stray fragments of plaster and rubble. She rubbed her hands on the seat of her jeans and gave a sigh.

  ‘Where can they be?’ she grumbled.

  ‘My thoughts exactly.’

  Anna twisted around with a cry of shock, and succeeded in falling back onto her behind. ‘Adam! Goodness, what are you doing here?’ She frowned accusingly up at the tall figure in the doorway. ‘You’re not meant to be back yet.’ She hoped the sudden acceleration in her heart rate didn’t register on her face. She felt that ‘besotted fool’ must be emblazoned all over it!

  ‘I know what I’m meant to be—what I don’t know is why you are here and why Jessica and the children aren’t.’