Her Husband's Christmas Bargain

by Margaret Mayo

  ‘Yes, the truth!’ he said with an edge of irony to his tone. ‘I can assure you it will manifest itself. As you say, it always does. And on that day you and I will renew our wedding vows.’

  He sounded so confident that Megan wanted to laugh. He was living a dream. There was no future between them, except as Charlotte’s parents. For their daughter’s sake they might keep up a pretence of normality—she was wavering as always, wondering whether she should leave or not, hating herself for being so weak-willed—but he would have Serena to satisfy his hormonal urges, while she would have no-one. Her life would be barren and empty and filled with pain. She wished with all her heart that she’d never gone into Gerards on that particular day.

  ‘So where are you thinking of taking me?’ Arguing seemed pointless. He would have his way no matter what so she might as well go along with his decision. Not that she could see any good coming out of it. And if he thought he was going to get her into bed then he would be sorely disappointed.

  ‘That would be telling,’ he said. ‘But I know you’ll approve.’

  Luigi felt excitement such as he hadn’t experienced in a long time. It had been easier than he’d expected persuading Megan to join him and now that she’d agreed he found his mind running on ahead. He would use the time to convince her that he wasn’t the villain of the piece. He would use every skill he possessed to make her forget Serena and accept that he was the love of her life—as she was of his!

  The fact that someone had thoughtlessly ruined what fragile hold they’d had on their relationship filled him with despair every time he thought about it. And one day he would get to the bottom of it, of that he was sure. But for the moment he was determined to concentrate on the days that lay ahead. He’d thought hard and long where to take her and had found the perfect place.

  When morning dawned and Charlotte was her usual bright and cheerful self he breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing now to stop them—except Megan. Half expecting her to have had a change of heart and prepared to use his powers of persuasion all over again, he was pleasantly surprised at breakfast when she confessed that she was all packed and ready. She didn’t look happy about it but for the moment he didn’t care.

  He loaded the car and straight after breakfast they left, Charlotte waving them off a little tearfully, but accepting that they’d be gone only a few days and that Kate would be there to look after her.

  After a few minutes travelling in silence he looked across at her. ‘Don’t look so miserable, Megan. It’s not the end of the world.’

  ‘I’ve never left Charlotte before.’

  It wasn’t the answer he’d expected so he grinned warmly. ‘I’m sure she’ll survive. She loves Kate. They’ll have a whale of a time together.’

  ‘What if she resents me when I get back? What if she loves Kate more than me?’

  ‘How can she do that?’ There was warm reassurance in his eyes. ‘You’re everything to her. She’ll be counting the days. I saw her and Kate making a calendar this morning.’

  She looked better after that and began to take an interest in the scenery around her. It was unusual for them to have snow this far south during the Christmas and New Year period. Everything had a picture-book quality and she was as excited as her daughter would have been as they rounded each bend and saw something different. It enchanted him just looking at her.

  ‘It seems a shame to be leaving all this behind,’ she said.

  ‘Who said anything about leaving it behind?’

  Megan frowned. ‘I assumed we were going abroad. A few days in the sun. I’ve brought my passport.’

  ‘Why waste time on a plane? As I said before, Megan, you’re going to love this place. Now, don’t ask any more questions. Sit back and enjoy the drive.’

  They travelled north on the motorway. There were parts of the landscape with no snow at all. Others had deep pockets where in the distance Megan could see children tobogganing and making the most of this early fall of snow. She began to relax, though she couldn’t help thinking about Charlotte and how much she was missing her already.

  They stopped for lunch at a motorway service area but they didn’t linger as Luigi was anxious to push on. Megan began to relax. Their conversation was desultory, Luigi making no demands other than she enjoy herself. And she did her best to forget about Serena and her influence over him, concentrating on the present instead. It wasn’t difficult, not with her dark Latin husband at her side, oozing sexuality from every pore.

  She had no idea what lay ahead, what trials or tribulations, what pleasures or delights. She was going to take each day as it came.

  Maybe—a thought suddenly struck her, a glaringly simple idea that should have occurred to her before. If she relented and slept with him, if she let him share both her bed and her body, and she freed every one of her inhibitions, he would forget about Serena. They’d always had a superb sex life, and had proved at Christmas that nothing had changed. It could even be better!

  Would that be the answer?

  Would it be her weapon against this other woman?

  If she gave Luigi everything he wanted he would have no need to look elsewhere!

  Lord, she’d been blind!

  The answer to all her problems was staring her right in the face. Only one thing was missing. His declaration of love! But why let that worry her? It hadn’t in the past. It was just a word. It was feelings that counted, feelings and emotions and a sense of being loved. Luigi could say as many times as he liked that he loved her, but it meant nothing unless he showed it in every little way possible. And already he’d begun to do that by taking more time off from his business affairs.

  Suddenly she felt happier than she had in a long time.

  ‘Why are you grinning?’

  Megan hadn’t realised that her devious strategy was showing and she turned to look at her husband. ‘Was I?’ As if she didn’t know!

  ‘You look beautiful.’

  It was going to be so easy! Already her hormones were racing, vying for position, ready to act on her every whim.

  Were they going to Scotland? she wondered, as he drove further and further north. It would be fantastic at this time of year, especially if they’d had snow too. But a little before then, as they reached Cumbria and the Lake District, he left the motorway.

  ‘The Lakes!’ she exclaimed, her excitement showing. ‘I’ve always wanted to go.’ So many people had told her how beautiful the area was, with its mountains and lakes. It was where William Wordsworth had lived, and Beatrix Potter, and she’d always promised herself to come but had never made it.

  ‘You look like Charlotte,’ he said, ‘when she first saw the snow.’

  ‘I probably feel like her.’ Megan couldn’t hide her pleasure—not that it was all connected with where they were going! Her devious plan whirled round and round in her mind. If all went well she would get her husband back again—a reformed man who spent more time with his wife and child—and Serena would be left out in the cold. His PA might even decide that she could no longer work for him.

  Megan wanted to throw her arms up into the air and whoop—except that explanations would be required! So she contented herself with a further inane grin.

  It was dark when they reached their destination. They passed through a gateway guarded by tall iron gates into the grounds of a big house, lit up by floodlights that made it look like Buckingham Palace. For a moment Megan was disappointed. From one mansion without a heart to another!

  But before she could say anything, Luigi veered off the main path and drove down a much narrower one overhung with the bare branches of trees. It ran for perhaps a third of a mile before their headlights picked out the shape of a log cabin huddling in the shadow of giant firs.

  ‘We’re staying here?’

  He nodded. ‘It belongs to a friend of mine who’s in the Bahamas at the moment.’

  ‘But he knows we’re using it?’

  ‘Of course.’

  Megan got out of t
he car and ran over to the cabin. She could see smoke curling from the chimney and a light inside and she turned questioningly to Luigi, who was close on her heels.

  ‘I gave instructions for it to be got ready. Open the door; it’s not locked.’

  Cautiously Megan did as he asked. Warmth greeted them. She stepped over the threshold. What a fantastic place! The central fireplace spilled its heat into the huge living area. There was plenty of comfortable seating and a dining table and chairs in one corner.

  She explored further. One door led into a rustic kitchen, where a delicious smell of cooking assailed her nostrils, making her realise how hungry she was. Before she could ask questions, Luigi opened another door that led into a bathroom, and the third into a bedroom with two single beds. Mmm, that might prove difficult. Unless they shared, of course! Very cosy, but comfortable? Doubtful!

  Then she spotted an open staircase going up from one corner and, catching Luigi’s eye, he nodded, as if to say, Go on, go and have a look up there. At the top was a galleried landing overlooking the living area beneath, but, set back out of sight from anyone downstairs, was a huge bed covered in a magnificent red and gold woven quilt. Chunky wooden furniture accompanied it and through a stable type door, with the top half missing—her brows lifted at this—was a shower room. Not a bog-standard one, a huge one. You could hold a party in the shower basin, she thought, as her eyes roved over shelves filled with towels and toiletries. There was no window and the lighting was cleverly concealed. The whole effect, of both the bathroom and the bedroom, was stunningly erotic. There was no other word for it.

  ‘You like?’ asked Luigi.

  Megan hadn’t realised that he was standing quite so close behind her. ‘It’s—er—different,’ she agreed. It was too soon yet to begin her plan of action. Actually it was perfect. It was planned for seduction. Was this what Luigi had in mind too? For some reason she hadn’t thought along those lines; she’d been so excited by her own vivid thoughts. But perhaps he had known what to expect. Perhaps he’d been here before. With Serena!

  The thought made her feel violently sick.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ asked Luigi at once, seeing the sudden change in her.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Nothing, my foot. Are you not feeling well? Or are you hungry? You only pecked at your food at lunchtime. What was I thinking? Come, let’s go and eat. I’ll unload the car later.’

  Downstairs, he insisted that she sit while he laid the table. He opened a bottle of wine, cut thick chunks of fresh crusty bread, and sat the steaming casserole dish in the centre. ‘Let’s get started,’ he said. ‘I’m ravenous too if the truth’s known.’

  By this time Megan had pulled herself together. Did it matter whether Serena had been here or not? She was fighting for her marriage. This was her best chance at expurgating the other woman from his mind and, hopefully, his life. And she had to grab it with both hands.

  ‘Who did this?’ she asked, indicating the excellent beef Stroganoff.

  ‘Michael’s housekeeper.’

  ‘And Michael is?’

  ‘My friend who owns the big house. We met through business.’

  ‘We must thank his housekeeper; this is wonderful.’

  ‘If we see her,’ he said with a wry lift of an eyebrow. ‘She’s stocked the cupboards and freezer with enough food to last a fortnight.’

  ‘Who did you tell your friend was accompanying you?’

  He pretended to look shocked. ‘Why, my wife, of course. Michael thought it was hilarious because he knew we were separated. I’m not sure whether he believed me. But one day I’ll introduce you to him. He’s half Italian like me.’

  He was talking as though it was a given that she would stay with him. And yes, she would, but only on her terms. Little did he know that they didn’t include a very vicious red head.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  DURING the meal Megan deliberately pushed all thoughts of Serena out of her mind, concentrating totally on Luigi. Not that it was difficult. In this cosy place, with its wooden walls and soft lighting, she felt that she was in a different world—a world where only the two of them existed. And she could do anything or be anybody she wanted.

  ‘You’re looking better.’ His dark eyes, black in the low lighting, smiled into hers.

  ‘I feel it,’ she said. ‘You were right about me being hungry. This Stroganoff is delicious.’ She didn’t really want to talk about food. It was what strangers talked about; food, the weather, particularly the weather. And Luigi was no stranger. Luigi was about to be seduced by his wife. The thought made her smile.

  ‘And you certainly look happier.’

  ‘It’s strange there’s no snow up here,’ she said, not yet ready to let him know why she was feeling so happy.

  ‘I’m glad because otherwise we mightn’t have made it. There’s been a heavy fall in Scotland, in the Aviemore area. Maybe we could go skiing while we’re up here?’

  ‘I’ve probably forgotten how to ski.’ She hadn’t done any since the early days of their marriage when Luigi had taken her to Norway.

  ‘Nonsense, it’s like riding a bicycle. Once you’ve learned you never forget.’

  Like making love with him. She had never forgotten how good it was. She might have told herself that she hated him, had even shut him out of her life for years, but at this moment in time she could recall every pleasurable moment they’d ever spent. It warmed her thinking about them; it set her toes curling in her shoes and her thighs pressing close together to try and stem the delicious flow of sensation that invaded her.

  ‘I don’t really think I want to go,’ she said.

  He grinned. ‘Good, because I don’t either. All I want to do is spend time here with you. This is the best place I know for rest and recuperation.’

  Megan gave an inward smile. He wasn’t going to get much rest.

  ‘And we both have a lot of catching up to do.’

  That was right.

  ‘Lots to talk about.’

  Hopefully actions would prove better than words.

  ‘I want this to be a place where we sort out our problems.’

  His problems!

  ‘Where we start a new life together.’

  Here! Here!

  ‘Have you nothing to say about that?’ he asked when she remained silent.

  Megan smiled, a slow smile that lit up her entire face, not that she was aware of it. ‘I think that perhaps tonight I’m too travel weary to talk. Let’s just clear this stuff away and sit and listen to some music.’ Romantic music preferably, seduction guaranteed.

  ‘It suits me,’ he said, jumping up from his chair immediately. ‘I’ll do the honours here, you fix the music. There are plenty of CDs to choose from.’

  It made a change seeing Luigi in domestic mode and Megan quite enjoyed it. And he looked as though he was enjoying himself too. So what on earth had made him buy such a huge stark place for a home? A status symbol? That was all it could be. When they were back together—in every sense of the word, when she had ousted Serena, she would insist that they move.

  They could have a large house without it being coldly impersonal. She didn’t want to rattle around with a butler and cook and a whole retinue of servants. They could still employ Kate, and maybe a part-time housekeeper—they might need her if they had more children! Her thoughts had never got this far before but the idea appealed, and Charlotte would enjoy having a brother or sister to keep her company.

  ‘Hey, you’re supposed to be choosing music, not going into a daydream.’

  Luigi had finished in the kitchen and had come to join her, and here she was, not a single CD selected, sitting on her haunches, staring into space.

  ‘At least it must have been something good you were thinking because it’s put a beautiful smile on your face. I was worried that you might not like it here, that you might miss Charlotte too much. Speaking of which, would you like to phone her before we settle down? There’s no phone here but I’ve brou
ght my mobile.’

  How kind! Why had she ever felt that he thought more about work than he did her? Or was he intent on making the right impression? Would it last? During the next few days she had to make sure that it did. Make him want her so much that he would find it difficult to drag himself away, even for the few necessary hours he had to spend at work.

  To her consternation there was no signal in the cabin, not even when she went outside and turned the phone every which way. She looked at Luigi in real concern. ‘What if Kate needs to reach us? What if Charlotte suffers aftereffects? What if something else happens to her?’

  ‘I’m sure it won’t,’ he said, putting his arm about her shoulders. ‘But don’t get into a panic. I’ve already given Kate Michael’s telephone number. If there’s an emergency she’ll ring the house and the message will be passed on to us.’

  He had thought of everything, this man of hers. This man of hers! She liked that, it sounded good. He didn’t belong to Serena any more. Not that he knew it at this moment, but at the end of their stay here he wouldn’t even want to cast a glance in the other woman’s direction. She would make sure of that.

  It felt weird, planning to seduce her husband. Not that he would need much persuading, but she had to make very, very sure that his thoughts would never turn again to his gorgeous red-headed secretary. Not in the context of bedding her, at least.

  ‘Come on, let’s go back indoors,’ he said gently. ‘I don’t want you catching cold.’

  Megan hadn’t realised quite how chilly it was until they were met by the warmth in the log cabin. She gave a huge shiver and went towards the fire with her hands outstretched.

  ‘Shall we finish the wine or do you want a hot drink?’ he asked.

  ‘A huge mug of hot chocolate, I think,’ she said. Then, realising that it wasn’t in the least bit romantic, she changed her mind. ‘No, let’s finish the wine. You choose the music.’ She sat down in a deep, comfortable armchair to one side of the fire and Luigi threw on another couple of logs, put on some CDs, poured their drinks, and then flopped into the chair opposite.