‘I’m not sorry this is the last of these damned merger meetings.’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘I know this morning was a mess, but up until then you seemed to be full of enthusiasm—looking forward to the challenge.’
He laughed. ‘No fooling you, is there, Hayley? You’re right, of course.’ His lean face sobered. ‘This is something that’s been a long time coming. It’s what my grandfather always wanted. Expansion. Unfortunately he had to wait for me to grow up before he could get any help with it, and by then it was too late...for him.’
It was the first time he’d allowed her a glimpse into his personal life. It made her feel good, as though they’d taken a step forward.
‘Were there only the two of you? He had no son?’
‘One. My father,’ he said brusquely. ‘But he wasn’t interested in the business.’ He took a sip of his coffee before going on. ‘He and my mother were archaeologists who found it difficult to stay in one place for too long.’ He gave a short, humourless laugh. ‘Sometimes when I approached my father he would look at me with complete surprise, as though I were something he’d dug up once and forgotten about.’
Hayley bit her lip, stifling her natural sympathy. He wouldn’t appreciate it, she knew.
‘And your mother?’
He shrugged. ‘They were two of a kind. Completely wrapped up in each other and the work they were doing. I’m sure that until I was old enough to take an interest I was just another piece of baggage to be loaded on to a camel, or a mule, or whatever, depending on where they were at the time.’
She said, a little wistfully, ‘It must have been exciting at times, though. Moving about...seeing so much of the world.’
‘Yes. Uncovering the past has a certain fascination,’ he admitted ruefully. ‘But I could never share their obsession.’ His blue eyes danced a little. ‘I had an education that must be pretty unique, I suppose. Until my grandfather put a stop to it and insisted I come back to England to get a “decent schooling”.’
‘And were you happy about that?’
‘Very happy.’ He laughed, a deep, rich sound that had her insides churning in response.
‘It was then I realised my grandfather’s engineering genes were stronger than the combined archaeological ones of my parents.’
His expression, fired with enthusiasm, enhanced his good looks, and she longed to reach over and touch him, but tucked her hands firmly into her lap, away from temptation. Locked into his own, rather exotic past, he seemed suddenly remote...a stranger once again. She hardly dared go on.
‘Your parents...’ she said hesitantly. ‘Are they still alive?’
He nodded. ‘Still happily digging away...hardly knowing what year it is.’
‘And your grandfather?’
His expression sobered. ‘He died five years ago, on my thirtieth birthday.’ He smiled a little wistfully. ‘But he died happy, knowing someone of his own was following in his footsteps.’
He sighed and then seemed to shake himself out of his reverie.
‘Sorry, but I’ll have to leave you for a little while. I have a few phone calls that won’t wait. I’ll be as quick as I can.’
Hayley sat and thought about what he’d just revealed to her of his inner self. His drives, his motivation, always so strong, were not entirely for himself. Although he might not know it, he had more in common with his parents than he knew. He had his own obsession. Intertwined with his success, his future progress, would always be his great love for his grandfather. With a flash of insight she wondered, a little sadly, if it would preclude his ever really loving someone else.
After a while, feeling restless, Hayley made her way towards the ladies’ room. Out in the foyer, she collided with a young man coming in, and stood back in surprise as she recognised him.
‘Martin! What on earth are you doing here?’
Martin grinned. ‘I’m here for an advance meeting with my new boss. I’ve been doing some emergency calculations on the company’s finances. A bit borderline at the moment, but I’ve thought of one or two ways we might save the sinking ship.’
Hayley grinned. ‘If anyone can do it, you can.’ She laid a hand on his arm. ‘Well, good luck.’
‘Thanks. Ah! They’re here already.’ He was looking past her into the bar. ‘Can I get you a drink before I join them?’
‘Oh, no!’ she said hastily. ‘I’m here with—er—Marcus.’
He said drily, ‘I should have guessed.’ He grinned. ‘But I wish you’d just let me introduce you. They’d be impressed.’
Hayley shook her head, but couldn’t resist a little peek out of interest.
‘Oh, my God!’ There was a sick, lurching sensation in her stomach as she recognised the two men seated at one of the tables. ‘The Heatons! Is that the firm you’re thinking of working for?’
The colour drained from her face, and she stared up at Martin in horror.
He nodded. ‘Do you know them?’
‘Too well,’ she said flatly. ‘But don’t you know? The company’s a mess. They’re thinking of merging with Maury’s. You’ll be working for Marcus again if they do.’
‘That’s just it.’ Martin’s smile showed satisfaction. ‘They’ve almost decided not to merge, and on the basis of my figures they probably won’t. Apparently it’s always been a family concern and they’re going to carry on trying to make a go of it, with me as chief accountant.’
Hayley laughed hollowly. ‘Frank’s idea, I bet. He couldn’t make a go of taking the skin off a rice pudding.’
Martin looked a little dazed.
‘Well, hello again, Hayley. I thought it was you.’
She’d been too involved in arguing her point to notice Junior’s approach.
She shuddered visibly and said, ‘Hello and goodbye.’
To Martin she said, ‘Good luck. I think you might need it.’
‘Oh, don’t rush off. Father is so looking forward to seeing you again.’
Frank was holding her arm, drawing her across to the table where his father was sitting, looking pale but composed.
The old man gave her a hesitant smile. ‘Hayley, my dear. How nice to see you again. I had no idea you knew Mr Lukes.’
Hayley nodded. ‘We work together. At the Maury Corporation.’
Faint colour stained his cheeks. ‘Ah! Then you’ll know about the proposed merger.’
‘Yes. I was there at the meeting this morning,’ she said, surprised he hadn’t recognised her as Frank obviously had. ‘I’m Mr Maury’s secretary. Does he know you’re not going through with the merger?’
He shook his head. ‘Not yet. Things weren’t quite finalised this morning. But I hope to decide one way or another by the end of our little discussion with Mr Lukes.’ He turned to Martin. ‘What do you think? Can we save the company?’
Martin shrugged. ‘I think it’s possible. I’ve listed the procedures that I think would work. But they’re pretty stringent.’
Mr Heaton smiled and let out an audible sigh. ‘I’m so happy. I didn’t really want to let the old firm go.’
Already Frank seemed bored with the subject. He was toying with his glass, his black eyes going from Martin to Hayley and back with a look of malicious amusement.
‘And are you going to be happy to let Hayley go?’ he cut in. ‘Not working together, you’ll miss a lot of opportunities.’ He gave Martin his oily smile. ‘Does she still like it the way she used to like it?’
His hand touched Hayley’s shoulder and trailed across her breast. She stiffened with revulsion and brushed him away.
‘What do you mean?’ Martin’s face had stilled.
Frank’s smile widened. ‘She used to like it a lot.’ He winked. ‘Get my meaning?’
‘Quite frankly, no.’
‘Oh, come on!’ His black eyes raked Hayley’s face. ‘I see she still has her little weakness for a bit of rough stuff.’ He leaned across to touch Hayley’s chin. ‘Is this your doing? Nice one, Martin! Nice one!’
<
br /> At the touch of his hand against her skin, Hayley’s control snapped.
‘Take your filthy hand off me, Frank Heaton, or so help me—’
‘You’ll smack me like you used to?’ Frank jeered. ‘Yes, please. Though that kick you gave me earlier stung a bit.’
‘I might have guessed your skin was too thick for any real damage,’ Hayley said bitterly. ‘I wish I’d kicked harder.’
Frank laughed. ‘Feeling vicious, eh? Should be interesting! Perhaps I could oblige you later, if my friend here doesn’t mind.’
Martin’s hand shot out and grasped his shirt front. ‘One more word from your foul mouth friend, and you’ll regret it.’
‘OK, OK!’ Frank tugged himself free and lifted a podgy hand. People were beginning to stare, and old Mr Heaton’s skin had turned a sallow yellow.
‘You’ll have to forgive my son,’ he mumbled, with a catch in his voice. ‘Unfortunately his mother spoiled him.’
Martin said belligerently, ‘At the moment I would be quite happy to spoil his looks. What he has of them.’ He took Hayley’s arm. ‘I’m really sorry I let you in for this, Miss Morgan.’
‘Miss Morgan,’ Frank mimicked jeeringly. ‘How intimately formal. Or are you formally intimate? My pet name for her was Miss Morgasm.’
At the sound of the degrading nickname with which he’d used to taunt her, Hayley’s hands flew to her ears.
‘You are the most...disgusting...’
‘I agree,’ Martin gritted furiously. ‘And it’s time someone did something about it.’
He raised his fist, but was caught off guard as a steely hand grasped his wrist.
‘If anyone is going to do anything about it, Lukes, it will be me.’
Martin’s angry brown eyes challenged Marcus’s icy blue ones for long seconds before finally giving way.
‘Frank Heaton.’ Marcus said the name as though it made a bad taste in his mouth. ‘I’ve been hearing some pretty unsavoury things about your character,’
Frank, who had been almost cringing, faced with two angry burly men, found courage from somewhere to make a challenge.
‘From Hayley Morgan?’ he said, thrusting his jeering face at Marcus. ‘Well, if she’s your secretary you should know better than to believe her sly little lies.’ He laughed unpleasantly. ‘In fact I’m willing to bet there’s not much else about her you don’t know...intimately.’
Hayley gasped as Marcus’s hard fist connected suddenly with Frank’s out-thrust jaw.
With a cry of anguished humiliation she turned away and made for the exit, hearing only faintly the thud of Frank’s flabby body hitting the floor.
Outside, she found herself in the midst of a group of people who’d just got off a coach, looking startled at the sound of the internal fracas.
Pushing blindly through, she walked quickly away, out of sight and sound of the bloody battle she was sure would ensue.
Marcus came and found her some time later. She’d been leaning against his car, trying to stem the flow of her tears, and as he suddenly appeared she clung to him.
‘Oh, Marcus! I’m so sorry you got dragged into that.’
He said gruffly, ‘It wasn’t your fault. I lost my temper. Not that I’m sorry. The oily little rat had it coming.’
She burst into fresh tears and he held her for a while, his hand absently stroking her silky hair while his shirt got wet and she listened to the angry thunder of his heartbeat.
A flash bulb went off—a man among a group of tourists—and Marcus swore and waved him away.
‘This is a fine bloody place to have a case of hysterics,’ he said irritably.
Hayley sniffed. ‘I’m not having hysterics. But if I were, I think I’d be entitled to them.’
She straightened, shocked by how deeply within his arms she’d been enwrapped. There was a sea of interested faces about them.
‘Oh, my God!’
‘Come on.’ He shook her away from him. ‘Let’s get back to close that meeting. The business with Heaton’s is thankfully terminated.’
‘They’ve definitely decided not to go ahead with the merger?’
He grimaced. ‘If they haven’t, I have.’ He opened the passenger door and pushed her in a little irritably and then came around the bonnet to get in beside her.
Hayley was glad for herself, but wondered how Martin would fare with the Heatons. No doubt he would survive, one way or another. If only he hadn’t been so hasty in giving in his notice.
She looked across at Marcus and sighed, and he squeezed her knee.
‘One good thing, anyway,’ he said with the crooked smile she loved so much. ‘It means we’ve got a free afternoon together.’ He touched a finger against her cheek and said in a low, slightly husky voice, ‘The night too, if we stay on at the hotel.’
After only a slight hesitation Hayley said, ‘Then let’s stay on.’
CHAPTER TEN
THEY spent the afternoon rowing on the river. Hayley lounged back, letting Marcus do the work. He’d rolled up his shirt-sleeves, revealing strong, tanned forearms liberally dusted with fine brown hairs, and through lazily narrowed lids she watched the play of his muscles, revelling in the memory of those same muscular arms holding her willing prisoner to his love.
Marcus returned her scrutiny, a little smile playing about his sensuous lips, telling Hayley that he was remembering too.
She sighed. It was all so idyllic that she had difficulty believing it wasn’t some kind of lucid daydream, knowing it wasn’t, because she could never have dreamed of anything as perfect as this.
She said drowsily, ‘Marcus, how long is it since you did this kind of thing?’
His smile widened. ‘Do you mean rowing on the river, with a girl?’ He wrinkled his brow to remember. ‘Not since my college days, probably.’
Hayley frowned. ‘I meant rowing on the river, not necessarily with a girl. Was there always a girl?’
‘Probably.’ There was a teasing light in his vividly blue eyes.
As Hayley’s frown deepened, he laughed. ‘It was so long ago that I can’t remember.’
‘The experience, or the girls?’ Even to her own ears, her voice sounded waspish. ‘And why haven’t you done it since college?’
He stopped rowing, resting the oars, leaning forward to touch her chin with a playful finger.
She jerked her head back irritably.
‘Now who’s got green eyes?’
She coloured. ‘I’m not jealous. Just interested.’
‘Actually, it’s not very interesting. Believe it or not, there weren’t that many girls then. I was too busy studying to take romance seriously.’ He raised his brows sardonically. ‘And since then, there’s been no girl I’ve wanted to take rowing on the river.’
She made a mocking little sound. ‘Not that any of them would have enjoyed it anyway, if Felicity is any sample of your taste.’
He shrugged amiably. ‘I suppose not. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t take them.’ He grinned into Hayley’s still flushed face.
‘Not even Felicity?’ To her dismay she found she couldn’t let the subject drop. ‘She seems pretty special.’
His eyes narrowed on hers, with a glimmer of irritation in the blue depths. ‘Yes, I suppose she is.’ The glimmer sparked higher and seemed to issue a warning. ‘Why not forget about the past and make the most of the present? Let’s make this one day memorable.’
Hayley shivered as a cloud momentarily obscured the sun. One day. Was that all he was promising her? And after that? What then?
As the cloud moved on, unmasking the sun, she shook away her sudden melancholy, determined to enjoy the here and now and not waste it worrying about tomorrow.
His expression brightened, and Marcus leaned across to kiss her mouth briefly.
‘I’ve got a surprise,’ he said lightly. ‘I persuaded the hotel to make up a hamper. What do you say we stop somewhere and eat?’
‘That would be lovely.’
They picnicked on
the bank, in the shade of the trees, eating fresh bread with chicken and cheese, crisp lettuce, firm red tomatoes and green apples. With the dramatic gesture of a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, Marcus produced a bottle of champagne and two crystal glasses, after which everything seemed very mellow, the river and the countryside touched with sun-gold.
Later, after packing everything back into the little hamper, they sat on the car rug, Marcus with his back against the bole of a tree, and Hayley, sitting between his bent knees, resting against him, loving the feel of his hard chest behind her and the comfortable warmth of his arms clasped loosely about her waist.
Now and then she turned her face to him and they kissed—brief, sweet kisses that tingled through her body, too drowsy for passion. Her eyes were heavy, half closed against the light of the sun dappling through the branches, which swayed gently in the light breeze, the movement almost mesmeric. Once or twice the sun seemed to find a clear path through the shadows of the leaves and flashed in her eyes, transforming the world into a multi-coloured haze.
Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.
All too soon they were driving back to the hotel, their perfect day at an end. Hayley, like a miser hoarding against her bosom one last piece of treasure, clung to the anticipation of the night ahead.
They ate a wonderful dinner and afterwards danced out on the terrace to a small band playing discreetly in among the trees. Marcus held her easily, letting his body brush against hers in a tantalising promise. Hayley, goaded by the sweet torture, found herself growing alternately hot and cold, little shivers chasing along her nerves like music concerted by a master.
There was some kind of party going on, flash bulbs popping, people laughing, joking.
But Hayley registered little of what was going on around them, cocooned in the happiness of being in Marcus’s arms on the tiny dance-floor.
She looked up at him, meeting the blue eyes, muted to pools of mystery by the dim moon and shaded lights. It seemed incredible that this handsome, sophisticated man could be her lover, the first man—the only man—to steal behind her defences to her tender heart. Did he know, she wondered, that he was the first? And if he knew...did he care?
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