Well, it was too late for regrets now, she thought bitterly. Her regrets...or his.
CHAPTER EIGHT
STUDYING her face in the bathroom mirror, Hayley groaned. She looked as dreadful as she felt. Last night’s tears were clearly visible in the puffy blue smudges beneath her eyes. And today, Friday, was the first of the long-distance meetings, which Marcus had briefed her as being one of the most difficult. She only hoped she was up to it.
There would be one final company to be dealt with tomorrow morning, the distance and the early start necessitating her and Marcus staying over tonight in a hotel. She hoped she would be up to that as well. It would take every ounce of her resolve to maintain the necessary cool.
Over that fabulous dinner, for a little while the barriers between them had come down and she had begun to hope. In the clear light of morning she knew she’d been chasing fool’s gold.
She turned away from the mirror and went to find her weekend bag. Last night, full of Marcus’s unexpected dinner invitation, she had forgotten to pack, and had had to get up extra early to repair the omission. In no mood to be selective, she threw in a couple of skirts and blouses, the first that came to hand. As an afterthought she packed her midnight-blue cocktail dress, followed by a nightdress, bathrobe and toilet bag.
That finished, she rummaged at the back of the wardrobe for something to put on now. In her present rather crotchety mood, nothing seemed to appeal.
She was just trying on a black dress made of very fine wool which clung to her curves, dipping coyly to a hint of cleavage and barely reaching to her knees, wondering if she dared wear it to a formal meeting, when Anthea came breezing in.
‘Oh, that looks great on you, Hay!’ She gave a mock-mournful sigh. ‘It just doesn’t seem right that you should have that lovely face and the fabulous figure to go with it. I think whoever was in charge of distributing these things might have thought to share them around a little more fairly.’
Hayley said drily, ‘There’s nothing wrong with what you were given in the way of looks. It’s the scatty personality you want to work on. Where were you last night?’
Anthea stared at her. ‘Where do you think?’
‘I’d rather not think,’ Hayley said, and waved her hand dismissively as Anthea’s mouth opened indignantly. ‘Don’t say anything. It’s not my business. I just thought I’d let you know how I feel about Lenny Barnes.’
‘Well, thanks! He’s no handsome hunk, it’s true! But we’re not all as lucky as you!’ Anthea said somewhat aggressively. ‘Perhaps if I were a little more cool and uppity, like you, I’d make the same kind of impact on Marcus Maury that you do.’
Hayley grimaced. ‘About as much impact as a new computer. Perhaps less.’
Anthea laughed derisively. ‘Oh, come on! Surely you’re not going to play games with me this morning? Not after what I’ve just seen in the paper.’
There were two pictures, one with Marcus kissing her as they waited for the taxi, and the other showing Marcus angrily in pursuit of the photographer and Hayley in the background, her dazzled eyes looking strange and glassy and frightened.
The headline read: ‘Yet Another Maury Merger’.
* * *
In a way she was relieved to find that Marcus hadn’t yet arrived at the office. The phone was ringing shrilly, the noise jarring Hayley’s overstretched nerves, making her abrupt.
‘Marcus Maury’s office.’
A woman’s voice. ‘Is he there?’
‘I’m afraid not. I’m his secretary. May I take a message?’
‘Well; well! Miss Morgan!’ Felicity Braun’s voice was hardly recognisable, sounding hoarse rather than huskily seductive this morning, as though she’d done some unaccustomed shouting or maybe a little crying. ‘So you’ve finally come out of hiding.’
‘I beg your pardon? I don’t understand.’
‘I think you do. The pictures flatter you, don’t you think? Nevertheless; congratulations! First round to you.’
Hayley’s heart began to thump. Felicity had obviously seen the newspaper, and it had made her fighting furious. Had Marcus seen it yet? she wondered, feeling a little sick.
‘You set your trap very neatly. The prim, proper little secretary act before bringing on the vamp. You might have fooled Marcus, but not me. I had your number right from the start.’
‘You may think so, Miss Braun, but you’re mistaken.’
‘Oh, I’m never mistaken.’ A surprisingly coarse laugh echoed down the line. ‘And I’ve never yet lost a man I’ve really wanted.’
Hayley’s temper boiled. ‘Is that the message you’d like me to pass on, Miss Braun?’
Felicity said sweetly, ‘That message is for you, dearie, so don’t say you haven’t been warned. Tell Marcus I’m sorry I couldn’t make it last night, but I’ll be free this evening.’
The click of the line being cut seemed to have a triumphant sound, and Hayley slammed her receiver down with a vicious bang.
So that had been the reason for the impulsive invitation to dinner last night! Felicity had stood him up and he hadn’t wanted to cancel a booking!
Hayley’s insides clenched sickeningly, remembering the eagerness with which she’d accepted, the pains she’d taken with her appearance, the way she’d opened up to him about her family, when all he’d been interested in was whiling away an empty evening.
And to think she’d been on the point of asking him into the flat, with God knew what on her mind if he’d accepted. But she couldn’t deny it to herself. She’d wanted him to make love to her. If it hadn’t been for the photographer ruining his mood, perhaps it all might have happened the way she’d desperately wanted it to. Thank God it hadn’t.
She groaned aloud and chewed fretfully at her lower lip. How was she going to face him now she knew?
He came rushing in five minutes later, as she was putting the mail folder on his desk. She turned as he came in through the door and their eyes met, hers wary, his just about the same as every other morning, she noticed in amazement.
‘Overslept,’ he announced, moving around behind his desk but not sitting. Without even looking at it, he slipped the post file into a drawer and locked it, pocketing the key. ‘I hope you’re ready to go right now. Otherwise we’re late.’
‘I know.’ Hayley nodded. ‘I’ll get my jacket.’
‘Don’t move,’ he said suddenly, and frowned.
Hayley stopped, riveted to the spot. ‘What is it?’
‘That dress.’ His eyes swept over her, inch by inch, slowly, as though afraid he’d miss something.
Hayley squirmed under his excruciating scrutiny. ‘What’s the matter with it?’
‘Everything,’ he said flatly. ‘Perhaps the disguise was the right idea after all.’
‘I could change—’
‘No time now,’ he said abruptly. ‘Just get your jacket and let’s go.’
He didn’t even mention the newspaper pictures. Perhaps he hadn’t yet seen them.
The morning was bright and sunny as they sped along the quiet roads, and the countryside had never looked lovelier, Hayley thought, knowing it was the chemistry sparked off by the nearness of Marcus which made the whole world seem dazzling.
Angry, hurt and disillusioned as she was, she was still an easy victim to his overwhelming masculinity.
She stole surreptitious glances at him, drinking in the strong lines of his profile, which had as much impact as though she were seeing it for the first time. Her whole body tingled with awareness.
He turned and caught her glance, giving her a quirky little smile that might have meant anything.
‘Questions?’
Embarrassed, she rushed into speech with the first question that sprang to mind. ‘Will the merger management team be there today?’
He gave a short, dry laugh. ‘If you mean young Lukes, yes, he will.’
Hayley flushed. ‘I...I didn’t mean...’
He shot her a brief, assessing look, missing nothing of
the tell-tale heat in her cheeks.
He said almost jeeringly, ‘He’s of your generation and quite clever when he’s paying attention to his work. You could do worse.’
‘Oh, but I don’t...’ She faltered to a halt, dismayed by the barrier that had grown, with amazing speed, between them. A barrier over which she found it impossible to climb.
He said abruptly, ‘You don’t have to explain anything to me.’
‘That’s true,’ she said, with a sudden flash of temper. ‘And thanks. I’ll bear your character assessment in mind.’
He was right. Felicity was still in his life. And if she were the smallest bit interested in Martin Lukes, then he undoubtedly could be in hers...
But she wasn’t...and he wasn’t...
She sat alongside him, looking miserably out of the window at a world that had suddenly lost its sparkle.
As it turned out, Martin Lukes was the first person she saw on their arrival at the meeting. He was even more impeccably dressed than usual, Hayley noted with a little start of surprise, and it was obvious he’d made a special effort. If his intention had been to create an impression, then he’d certainly made one on her, she thought with a little smile, and if Marcus wanted to divert her in the direction of Martin Lukes then she would allow herself to be diverted.
And she found that surprisingly easy as her gaze remained on the friendly young accountant. It was the first time she’d noticed how handsome he was. His broad face with its pleasantly arranged features beamed with health and vitality, and his blond hair positively gleamed in the rays of the sun thrown obliquely through the tall windows of the boardroom.
Martin’s warm brown eyes returned her assessment, and as his gaze swept her from head to toe in frank admiration she was glad she hadn’t changed her dress.
‘Good morning.’ She smiled at him.
‘And good morning to you.’
He shook her hand, his hold lingering a little before releasing her fingers.
‘You look positively stunning, Miss Morgan.’ His voice was softly appreciative, his expression blatantly teasing. ‘Does my good luck stretch to our having lunch together today?’
‘I haven’t brought my crystal ball.’ She gave him a mock-mysterious look. ‘But I shouldn’t be at all surprised.’
They laughed, their amusement sounding loud in the quietening room, and she was suddenly aware of a peculiar sensation in the back of her neck, a kind of tingling awareness. She turned to find Marcus staring over at her. Their eyes met across the heads of the people gathered for the meeting, his electric-blue and icy, drawing her without words or gesture in his direction, hers clouded with confusion.
How had he done that; penetrated her consciousness when she’d been engrossed in conversation with somebody else? The power of the man was frightening, she acknowledged, with a shiver that rippled through her slim body.
The room seemed to fall hushed and silent around them as she struggled to release her gaze from his.
Martin Lukes broke the spell.
‘It looks as though the great man is about to begin the business,’ he said, sounding faintly ironic. ‘So I’ll see you later.’
‘Yes.’ Hayley’s cheeks were still stinging from the sudden rush of colour that Marcus’s imperious look had elicited.
Well, she thought in sudden rebellion, he’d virtually pointed Martin Lukes out to her as someone of interest, so why the cold annoyance?
Impulsively, and more than a little defiantly, she reached up and placed a light kiss on Martin’s cheek.
‘I look forward to that.’
Marcus Maury’s steely gaze was still on her as she made her way across the room, but she refused to meet it and, with lowered head, took her seat beside him.
Today the meeting seemed less than absorbing and, as the time wore on towards twelve-thirty, Martin Lukes directed an anticipatory wink at her, but it was another half-hour before the morning session was brought to a close.
Marcus took her arm as she stood up to leave.
‘Hayley, don’t go too far. I’ll be with you in a moment.’
She stood uncertainly while he held a low conversation with one of the directors of the merging company, and Martin Lukes came up to stand beside her.
‘Problems?’ He raised blond brows quizzically. ‘Has the great man chained you to his side for lunch?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said uneasily, wishing Martin didn’t sound quite so antagonistic. ‘Perhaps you’d better go on and find the canteen or something.’
Martin’s mouth set stubbornly. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll wait.’
When Marcus came back they were standing side by side in uncomfortable silence. For some reason Hayley was nervous.
Marcus paused on his way over to have a word with his own head of finance, and then came towards them.
‘On second thoughts, I’ll be quite a while longer,’ he said, with a frown between his brows. ‘No point in your hanging about here. Perhaps Lukes can find you some lunch.’
‘No problem.’ A wide smile had spread across Martin’s broad face.’
‘Good!’ Marcus said, but his tight expression didn’t look as though he saw any good in the situation. ‘Be back in an hour.’
Martin grabbed Hayley’s hand firmly. ‘If time’s that short, we’d better get a move on.’
Hayley, suffering from strangely mixed feelings, let herself be led off. It took her a while to notice he was heading for the car park.
‘The canteen’s over there.’ She pointed to a single-storey building set apart.
He’d reached his car and unlocked the passenger door. ‘We’re not lunching in the canteen, my sweet. There’s a very nice country inn not too far away, and I thought it would be nice if we dined in style. I’m celebrating.’
Hayley laughed. ‘Do you think an hour is long enough for a celebration?’
He grinned. ‘Probably.’
‘What’s the celebration?’ she asked ten minutes later. They were seated at a table for two in the cottage eating area of the inn, and the waitress had just brought them home-made steak and kidney pie with vegetables. It looked delicious.
‘My new job. I heard I’d got it yesterday.’
Hayley was momentarily stunned. ‘You’re leaving Maury’s?’
‘Don’t look so surprised. People do, you know. Leave Maury’s, I mean.’
Hayley wondered why she felt so dismayed.
‘Won’t your leaving cause somewhat of a disruption of the Maury take-overs?’
Martin shrugged. ‘Oh; I’ll see that through to a reasonable point. I’m not exactly indispensable, but I won’t cause any more problems than I have to.’
Hayley sighed. ‘Well, that’s something anyway. I’d hate to be around Marcus for a while if you left him high and dry.’
‘If I had my way you wouldn’t be around Maury at all. Spoilt bastard.’
Her mouth dropped in shocked surprise. ‘Martin! That’s a bit strong, isn’t it?’
He grinned wryly. ‘Perhaps it is, but it’s true. All those gorgeous women falling over themselves for him, and he treats them all like dirt.’
‘That’s not quite true, either.’ Hayley found herself, with strangely hammering heart, defending Marcus. ‘He can’t help it if he’s attractive. If women fall for him it’s their problem. You can’t expect him to give himself just because they want him.’
She stopped, struck by what she’d just said. She might have been talking to herself, telling herself what she knew to be the truth.
Martin groaned. ‘I should be so lucky.’ He shot her a suddenly serious glance. ‘You’re not in love with him, are you?’
She had her pride, didn’t she? Surely it was permitted to lie a little in the circumstances.
‘No. But I like him a lot.’
‘And even that’s too much.’
Hayley sighed. ‘You don’t like Marcus, do you?’ she asked quietly.
He shrugged. ‘Does any man ever like another man that po
werful? He runs my life, and I resent it.’ He gave a tight little laugh. ‘Take you, for instance. He treats you as though you were his personal property instead of just his secretary. I’ve been getting some pretty strong signals warning me off. Perhaps you don’t know it, but there’s a big sign around your neck. “Don’t Touch”. Who the hell does he think he is? God?’
‘This pie is delicious.’ Hayley changed the subject abruptly.
Martin reached across the table and touched a tress of her hair. ‘So are you,’ he said softly, and sighed. ‘And that’s the pity of it.’
Hayley flushed and turned her head away. He was a nice man. And the real pity was—
‘Oh, God!’ Martin groaned. ‘Don’t look now, but Maury’s just walked in. Are we never going to get away from the man?’
Her head spun around quickly. He was there with a group, and as his eyes met hers briefly and then looked away without any further acknowledgement Hayley paled. His face had that tight, closed look she knew so well. He was obviously furious about something. Perhaps, at last, he’d seen the newspapers.
* * *
Marcus was late back from lunch and the meeting dragged on well after the time scheduled. To everyone’s obvious surprise, he seemed prepared to argue even quite minor points, and there was a communal sigh of relief when at last the business was closed.
Seated beside Marcus on the way to the hotel Liz Jarvis had booked for them, Hayley cast a glance at his hard profile and gave a silent sigh. He was obviously still very angry, and she just couldn’t wait any longer to find out the reason.
‘I...I suppose you saw the newspaper,’ she said hesitantly.
‘The newspapers?’ He seemed to come out of a deep reverie. ‘Oh! You mean the photographs.’ He gave her a short searching look. ‘Did they upset you?’
She blinked in surprise. ‘No. But I thought they might have upset you.’
He shrugged. ‘I’ve been through it all before.’ His brows descended darkly. ‘I’m just sorry you got dragged into the scene.’
‘It wasn’t your fault.’
‘Nevertheless.’ The word seemed to end that conversation.
When Strangers Meet Page 12
