Private Lives

by Carole Mortimer

  It was much too early in the morning for this sort of confrontation, especially in front of the audience she had! ‘I have a client with me just now, Derek,’ she told him decisively, also putting Jake Danvers firmly in his place—she hoped! ‘Could we talk over lunch?’

  ‘About what?’ he instantly came back suspiciously.

  ‘Derek …!’ she voiced her exasperation, shooting Jake a slightly sick grimace at Derek’s obvious persistence despite her own desire to end the conversation.

  ‘Very well,’ he snapped coldly. ‘But I think you’re behaving very oddly today.’

  She was behaving oddly; his own mood hadn’t exactly been placid and good-humoured just recently!

  She replaced the receiver, taking a few seconds to gather her wits together before looking up at Jake. It hadn’t been long enough! Her mouth went dry at the sight of him, her hands clenched together, and she could feel the warmth in her cheeks, knowing her freckles would stand out like beacons.

  She swallowed hard, attempting to moisten her lips with a tongue that had suddenly gone dry too, meeting Jake’s gaze as calmly as she could in the circumstances. ‘What can I do for you, Mr Danvers?’

  His mouth quirked, laughter in his eyes for her attempt at being businesslike. ‘It’s what I can do for you …’ he answered her with husky suggestion.

  Her eyes widened, her blush deepening to crimson. ‘Mr Danvers—Jake—’

  ‘Ah-ha!’ he cut in with satisfaction at her use of his first name. ‘And before you burst something with indignation over my last remark,’ he continued in a drawlingly amused voice, ‘I drove past the spot where your van ran out of petrol a little while ago, and I wondered if you would like a lift out to pick it up on my way back to the cottage.’

  ‘Of course.’ She kept her gaze steady with his with effort, feeling foolish for her previous assumption, determined not to make an idiot of herself like that again. ‘It’s very kind of you to offer, Jake, but my mother has said she’ll drive out with me later.’

  He shrugged. ‘As I have to go back to the cottage that way anyway, it would save her the trouble. Especially in her delicate condition,’ he added pointedly.

  It did seem a bit ridiculous to put her mother to that trouble when Jake was going that way anyway, and she knew David was determined that her mother shouldn’t overdo things, insisting on taking her up a cup of tea in bed this morning before he’d left for work. In fact, her mother had joked about the fact that maybe she should have got pregnant before!

  Fin looked up at Jake now. ‘If you’re sure you have the time …?’

  ‘I’m sure,’ he drawled mockingly for her obvious reluctance to accept his offer. ‘Although I am expecting my time to be a little more filled for the next few weeks at least.’ He sat on the edge of her desk, much too close for Fin’s comfort. ‘I called in and had a chat with your Delia Griffin earlier,’ he told her softly.

  She was hardly Fin’s Delia! But that was the least of Fin’s worries for now …

  Jake looked down at her tauntingly. ‘I’m your new director for Private Lives!’

  CHAPTER SIX

  FIN just stared at Jake, sure she couldn’t have heard him correctly; he couldn’t really have just said he had taken over as director of Private Lives …!

  Of course he couldn’t! This man was a famous Hollywood film director—even if that had been ten years ago; he wouldn’t have any interest in directing an amateur production like theirs. She must have misheard or misunderstood what he had said.

  But as she looked up at him, at the mockingly raised brows, that derisive tilt to his lips, she knew that she hadn’t misheard at all.

  And she also knew there could be no room for any doubt whatsoever in her mind now: with this offer he had indeed confirmed that he was Jacob Dalton!

  Not that she had really thought there was any doubt in the first place, but she had hoped she might be mistaken, especially with her own growing attraction towards him. But his confidence now in his ability to direct the play, and that remarkable similarity between him and the photograph of Jacob Dalton, was just too much of a coincidence for there to be any further doubt.

  He chuckled softly at her stunned reaction to his statement. ‘Don’t look so worried, Fin,’ he grinned, gently mocking. ‘I’m more than capable of doing it.’

  She was sure he was. The question that bothered her was, why? Quickly followed by suspicion of those unknown motives. As far as she was aware, he had spent the last ten years avoiding anything to do with his past career, so why should he suddenly decide to change all that and help the Sovereign Players with this production? At least … she presumed he had been avoiding directing as a profession—for all she knew, he might have spent all of the last ten years working with one obscure repertory company after another under the guise of Jake Danvers! The only difference this time, and it was something of which Jake himself wasn’t aware, was that she knew exactly who he was!

  She stood up abruptly, unnerved by his disturbing closeness as much as the conversation. ‘Why should you want to?’ She watched him closely to see if she could read anything from his expression, but he was far too adept at hiding his emotions to give anything away.

  ‘Why not?’ He shrugged. ‘I have nothing else to do at the moment. I’ve done it before, as I assured Delia. And she seemed more than satisfied with my capabilities,’ he added tauntingly.

  Fin ignored the taunt in that last remark, sure that when he wanted to this man knew just how to use his charm to his own advantage. And she was also sure that he would only have told Delia enough about himself for her to know he was qualified to take on the direction of the play!

  She concentrated on that first remark he had made. ‘Just what are you doing here, Jake?’

  ‘I just told you.’ He met her gaze unwaveringly. ‘Nothing. Which is why I’m free now to help out your society with their little problem. But if you would rather I didn’t …?’

  She would rather he disappear completely, not for her mother’s sake now, but for her own … ‘Yes,’ she challenged, ‘what would you do?’

  His mouth twisted, eyes glinting with derision. ‘Exactly what I’ve offered to do—direct the play!’

  ‘That’s what I thought,’ Fin said drily. She hadn’t believed for one moment that he would even consider her feelings when making his decision!

  He gave a mocking inclination of his head. ‘But your disapproval has been noted and logged, for future reference,’ he drawled.

  Her eyes widened indignantly. ‘That’s hardly fair!’

  Good God, she was already under a severe disadvantage where this man was concerned—in fact, more than one! Her father had been about to take this man’s wife from him before he and Angela Ripley were killed in that fire, she wanted to avoid her mother’s meeting him, and possibly recognising him, at all costs, and probably worst of all was her own uncontrollable attraction towards him.

  She didn’t need, on top of all that, to have her reluctance to have him anywhere near her on a personal level prejudice his direction and treatment of her during rehearsals for the play!

  Jake stood up with feline ease, placing the sunglasses firmly on the bridge of his nose, his eyes, those supposed windows of the soul, firmly hidden from her gaze.

  ‘Life,’ he murmured huskily, ‘is very rarely fair, little one.’ He reached up and cupped one side of her face with the warmth of his hand, the pad of his thumb gently caressing the softness of her lips. ‘Let’s hope you never really have to find that out,’ he added harshly, stepping away from her sharply, his hand falling abruptly back to his side. ‘Shall we go and take the petrol out to this van of yours and get this over with?’ he rasped dismissively.

  Fin bridled resentfully at this sudden change of mood on his part, angry with herself for reacting to the caress of his hand seconds ago as much as with him for breaking the contact so abruptly. ‘I told you, my mother is perfectly happy to drive out with me later in the morning—’

  ‘A
nd I pointed out to you that I’m already here!’ he reminded impatiently. ‘Now let’s go, shall we?’ He stood pointedly beside the door.

  Fin got wearily to her feet; what was the point of arguing with this man? What was the point?

  But she didn’t feel inclined towards indulging in conversation with him, her directions to a garage where they could pick up a can of petrol terse to say the least, absolutely speechless with the nerve of the man when he calmly informed her that he had already done that on his way to her office earlier!

  He had been so sure of getting his own way that he had arrogantly gone ahead and bought the petrol without even discussing it with her!

  After that Fin decided that if he was so damned capable then he could just get on with it. She sat in the Jaguar the whole time Jake went through the process of putting the petrol from the can into her empty tank, determinedly trying to ignore the play of muscles across the width of his back as he did so—and failing miserably, her senses aroused in spite of herself. He was one of the most sensually attractive men she had ever seen, the powerful languidity of his body a forceful stimulus.

  Once he had completed the task he put the empty can into the back of her van before turning to Fin with a mocking smile as she finally got out of the Jaguar to join him at the side of the road. ‘Just in case you should ever run out of petrol again,’ he drawled derisively as he straightened.

  Her cheeks became red at the taunt. ‘I doubt that—it’s never happened to me before!’ Her life had never been this much of a muddle before either. ‘Believe it or not, Jake,’ she snapped, ‘I managed perfectly well before you came along!’

  Dark brows rose mockingly. ‘Does that mean you’re having some difficulty doing so now?’ he challenged softly.

  ‘Certainly not!’ she snapped her resentment, realising that she could have worded her claim a little better than she had; that was his fault too. She snatched her keys from his hand, and then gave an inward groan as she realised how ungratefully she was behaving. Admittedly he was being deliberately provocative, but he could have no idea of the full reason his taunts were being so successful. She drew in a ragged breath. ‘I appreciate your help—’

  ‘Little liar!’ He laughed softly at her obvious discomfort with having to thank him for anything. ‘But you will,’ he added gruffly. ‘Thank me, I mean.’

  Fin looked at him sharply. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Why, as a director for your play, of course,’ he replied with feigned surprise, his expression one of innocent puzzlement. ‘What did you think I meant?’

  ‘Nothing!’ she snapped, knowing he was enjoying playing with her now. ‘I have to go,’ she told him firmly before climbing into the van, studiously avoiding looking at him again.

  ‘I’ll see you tonight, Fin,’ he told her softly, his mouth curving into a pleased smile as she looked at him sharply. ‘At rehearsal, of course,’ he added mockingly.

  As if she needed any reminding of that, she inwardly fumed on the drive back into town. God, they would have been better off putting up with Delia. At least, she would. Fin didn’t doubt for a moment that the play itself would benefit from Jake’s experience. Damn him!

  * * *

  Derek looked just the same—in fact, Fin was sure he was just the same. Only Fin was different.

  As she sat across the table from him at lunch she knew that she had changed since the last time she was with him. God, was it really only two days ago? It felt more like two years. But two days ago she had met Jake Danvers for the first time, and yesterday she had kissed him with all the passionate fervour she had never been able to share with Derek; could she now continue this relationship as if none of that had happened? She knew she couldn’t. And she also knew Derek wasn’t going to like it!

  Maybe she should put off making any decision about the two of them until after the play—when Jake Danvers was out of her life, she knew she meant! No, she couldn’t do that, she realised dully, knew that that wouldn’t be fair to anyone, least of all Derek—would amount to just using him, in fact. Not that his presence in her life had been much protection against her attraction to Jake so far!

  She drew in a deep breath, knowing that it wouldn’t help to delay what she had to say; she was sure she wasn’t going to be able to eat the sandwich she had ordered for her lunch anyway! ‘Derek—’

  ‘Before you say anything,’ he smiled, ‘I want to give you this!’ He took a small, gaily wrapped present from his jacket pocket. ‘I know I’ve been a bit bad-tempered lately, but—’

  ‘Derek—’

  ‘No, let me finish, Fin,’ he gently rebuked. ‘I have been bad-tempered to you,’ he grimaced. ‘Things are hectic—at work—and … well, no excuses,’ he dismissed abruptly, holding out the parcel to her. ‘I hope you will accept this small gift from me in apology, and believe me when I say things will improve from now on. I promise.’ He squeezed her hand encouragingly as he pressed the gift upon her.

  Oh, God …! Fin looked down at the beautifully wrapped parcel with dismay. She had been on the brink of telling this man she didn’t think they should see each other for a while, that out of fairness to him she felt it best if they left things between them until after the play, when if he still wanted to they could perhaps review the situation, see how they felt about each other after a few weeks’ separation, had already started to say the words; how could she tell him that now when he had just given her a present—her favourite perfume, she discovered when she unwrapped it with shaking fingers!—and apologised so abjectly for being short-tempered with her lately? Maybe it was still the right thing to do, but Fin knew that she couldn’t do it.

  ‘It’s lovely, Derek, thank you.’ She returned his smile, a little strained perhaps, but she did return it.

  ‘Good.’ He sat back, relieved that his gift seemed to have patched things up between them. ‘How about meeting tonight before rehearsal and having a quick drink together?’ he suggested lightly. ‘You see, Fin,’ he gave a rueful grimace, ‘I am trying!’

  Yes, he was. He really was; lunch proved to be quite pleasant, despite her earlier nervousness, no snide remarks forthcoming from Derek about her need to go to a rehearsal tonight, no protest when she had to decline meeting him after the rehearsal too because she simply didn’t know what time she was likely to be finished. Not with the new director now in charge; he could keep them there all night, for all she knew, was a completely unknown quantity. Where directing was concerned. She didn’t want to think of him in any capacity. Didn’t want to think of him at all …

  Unfortunately that didn’t seem as if it was going to be possible as she and Derek came out of the restaurant and she saw the man himself approaching them along the pavement with determined strides.

  He hadn’t spotted Fin in return yet as she came to such an abrupt halt at the sight of him that Derek walked out of the doorway straight into the back of her!

  ‘Sorry,’ Derek murmured ruefully, obviously wondering what the hold-up was as he clasped her shoulders to stop her being knocked off her feet completely rather than just off balance.

  Fin turned briefly to give him a quick, reassuring smile before looking back to see that Jake was almost upon them now, still unaware that she was looking at him.

  Probably because she wasn’t alone in that! Jake had probably become immune, over the years, to the amount of female interest his powerful good looks attracted, seemed completely unaware of it now, his eyes narrowed, his thoughts inwards. But Fin could see there were several women turning to look at him admiringly. It seemed that the female population, from giggling teenagers to motherly pensioners, found his dark, saturnine looks fascinating. It was cold comfort to find she wasn’t alone in that fascination!

  ‘Fin, I have to—’

  But she didn’t hear the rest of what Derek ‘had to’ do, as at that precise moment Jake looked up and saw her. Recognition lightened his features, although his frown returned as he saw the proprietorial hold Derek had of her shoulders where h
e hadn’t released her after steadying her. Aqua-coloured eyes suddenly blazed with unmistakable displeasure, Jake’s mouth tightening, and the force of it was so strong that Fin barely resisted the impulse to physically shake off Derek’s hands herself. And then she felt angry with herself for even thinking of doing such a thing just because Jake Danvers so obviously didn’t like to see Derek touching her. Derek was her boyfriend, for goodness’ sake; he had a right to touch her.

  And several times in their brief acquaintance, a mocking voice inside her head reminded her, she had given Jake Danvers that same right …!

  Jake came to a halt in front of her now, anger fading from his expression, to be replaced by humour as he seemed able to guess at her inner turmoil. ‘Fin,’ he greeted with husky warmth. ‘How nice to see you again,’ he added with smooth assurance.

  Almost as if it wasn’t only hours since they had last met! What game was he playing now? Whatever it was, she didn’t want to play!

  ‘Jake,’ she greeted tersely. She didn’t particularly want to introduce the two men, but knew she really had little choice in the matter, Derek even now looking at the other man with curiosity verging on hostility, his hands having slowly fallen back down to his sides from resting on her shoulders as he took in the sheer magnetism of the other man, thrusting his hands into his trouser pockets now, a sure sign that he was less than sure of this situation, Fin realised with dismay, knowing from the devilment in Jake’s eyes now that she was going to get no help from him!

  ‘And this must be Derek,’ he drawled knowingly—adding absolutely nothing else to the statement!

  Damn him, Fin thought frustratedly as she sensed Derek’s deepening puzzlement over the other man. She was absolutely sure, in her own mind, that was exactly what Jake had hoped he would feel! Damn him, she thought again.

  ‘Yes, it is,’ she confirmed lightly. ‘Of course, I’ve told you about Derek, but I’m afraid he knows absolutely nothing about you because I very rarely take my work home,’ she added with sweet dismissal, more than meeting Jake’s challenge—she hoped! ‘Derek, this is a client of mine, Jake Danvers,’ she introduced with a carelessness that made light of his significance.