‘Here you are, Squirt.’ Fergus handed her a can of Coke, sitting beside her on the piano bench. ‘Mum says you ought to be going in,’ he added regretfully. ‘You have an early start in the morning.’
She looked uncomfortably at Quinn, but he was still staring out into the rapidly darkening night. Maybe he hadn’t heard her being ordered to bed as if she were still a little girl; she certainly hoped so!
But her aunt was right about the early start. She had been helping her uncle with his summer crops during her break between finishing school and starting college when the new term began. Farm work was long and hard, but her uncle needed the help, and the money he was able to pay her was more than welcome. Just last week she had bought another Quinn Taylor album with some of her wages.
‘I’ll go in now,’ she nodded, smoothing down her dress as she stood up. ‘Goodnight, Terri,’ she called to the other girl. ‘Goodnight—Quinn.’ She refused to call him Mr Taylor after he had kissed her so thoroughly.
The bleakness left his eyes as he turned to her. ‘Goodnight, Lise,’ he returned gruffly.
She smiled at him shyly. ‘I—I’ll see you tomorrow.’
He nodded abruptly, his expression giving away none of his thoughts.
‘How about a kiss goodnight, Squirt?’ Fergus teased as she would have turned to leave.
For a moment she looked at Quinn blankly, and then she realised Fergus wanted her to kiss him goodnight, not the other man.
‘Of course.’ Embarrassed colour darkened her cheeks as she bent to kiss her cousin on the cheek. ‘Goodnight, Fergus.’ She smiled at him shakily.
‘’Night, button.’ He returned the smile.
She and Fergus had always been the best of friends, her cousin feeling none of the resentment towards her that so many other children might have done when a new baby suddenly invades their home, especially as that baby wasn’t actually a brother or sister. Or maybe it was because of that, because he had always realised she would never usurp his place with his parents. Whatever the reason Fergus had always loved her, always protected her. He couldn’t possibly realise that he had just introduced her to the biggest danger she had ever known in her young life!
She was in love, irrevocably, and Quinn hadn’t kissed her as if he hated her either.
Her aunt and uncle were still in the lounge, and she bade them a dreamy goodnight, making her way slowly up to bed, glancing longingly towards the closed door of the guest bedroom that she knew Quinn would be occupying later tonight. Only a wall would separate them, her room next to his. Would he think of her, and that kiss they had shared, as she thought of him?
Quinn Taylor, the man she had fantasised about for years, had kissed her, actually kissed her, Lise Morrison.
No one would ever believe it. She didn’t believe it!
She danced around her bedroom in delight, as light as a butterfly, for once not minding that she was so tiny, and not quite as slim as she might have been. Quinn hadn’t seemed to mind, so why should she?
Of course, if he wanted her to slim, she would. She would do anything he wanted her to, anything. She belonged to him now, wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And he wanted her too, she was sure of it.
She danced around the bedroom again, singing to herself, feeling as light as air, discarding one nightdress after another as she realised each was too childish for her to wear. She wasn’t a child any longer, she was a woman, and in future she was going to act and dress like one.
The first thing she was going to do was throw out all her old clothes, she couldn’t go around looking like a child when a man like Quinn Taylor wanted her.
As a first step towards changing the clothes she wore she wasn’t going to wear anything to sleep in in future; sleeping nude certainly ought to be mature enough!
She came to an abrupt halt as she wondered if Quinn slept nude too, her heart pounding in her chest as she envisaged him lying beneath a sheet, his nakedness clearly defined beneath the flimsy covering. His skin would be dark; the little she had seen of it had been. He would be tanned all over, firm flesh, taut muscles, with a feline beauty. She had goose-bumps just thinking about Quinn lying in bed!
She moved to the window, her bedroom overlooking the yard, staring across at the music-room, able to see Quinn as he laughed and talked with Fergus and Terri. He would be coming to bed soon himself, for the three of them were even now clearing up the debris from the evening.
Lise was filled with such a longing to be with Quinn tonight, wanted him so badly she trembled at the thought of lying in his arms. But Terri would be sharing her room for the night, and she dared not risk the other woman realising she had gone to Quinn. Perhaps after Terri had gone to Fergus…
She deliberately pretended to already be asleep when the other girl came to bed, keeping her back firmly turned towards the room, knowing that once Terri was sure no one would hear her she would creep across the hallway to Fergus’s room for the night. Her aunt and uncle wouldn’t hear of Fergus sleeping with his girlfriend under their roof, but Lise had known for some time that Terri crept out of their bedroom as soon as she was sure the rest of the family were asleep. And tonight when Terri went to Fergus she intended going to Quinn.
She could hear him in the next room now, not all that well, because the walls of this old cottage were thick, but she knew the man she loved was just through the thickness of that wall. What a surprise he was going to get when she went to him…!
Just over half an hour later all that could be heard in the room was the steady tick-tock of Lise’s bedside clock. Her breathing sounded abnormally loud to her in the silence of the night, but only she seemed aware of it, Terri moving about the room putting on her robe.
‘Lise?’ she prompted softly, testingly.
She didn’t move, although her heart seemed to be pounding very loudly too.
‘Lise?’ Terri called again, sighing her satisfaction as Lise remained turned away from her, seemingly asleep.
She waited only seconds after the door closed behind the other girl before quickly getting out of bed herself, shivering slightly in her nude state; sleeping without clothes on was certainly going to take some getting used to! The coolness of these cottages wasn’t meant for sleeping nude. She gratefully pulled on her robe, belting it before going out into the hallway, moving stealthily to the door next to hers, coming to a freezing halt as she heard Quinn talking to someone inside his room, the door not quite closed properly.
‘—told you in London, this has to stop,’ Quinn was saying firmly.
‘Because of Fergus,’ Terri acknowledged softly. ‘But he doesn’t have to know, does he?’ she dismissed.
Terri was in Quinn’s room. Lise couldn’t believe it. Terri had gone to Quinn, not to Fergus!
She couldn’t move, could hardly breathe, shocked to the core of her being.
Quinn sighed. ‘He’s a friend of mine—’
‘I won’t tell him if you don’t,’ Terri taunted seductively.
‘He’s expecting you to go to him—’
‘I’ll just tell him Lise made a little pest of herself by not falling asleep in time,’ Terri said callously. ‘She is a little pest, isn’t she, Quinn?’ she added derisively. ‘The poor little thing can hardly keep her hands off you!’
‘Terri—’
‘Don’t try and tell me you found her adoration cute—or acceptable,’ Terri dismissed with a throaty laugh. ‘We both know your opinion of star-struck little kids like her. You like a woman in your arms and your bed. And we both know that I’m very much a woman, don’t we, Quinn?’ she prompted huskily.
‘Obviously you’re a woman. But—’
‘Let me show you how much of a woman I am,’ Terri cut in seductively.
The silence that followed her statement broke Lise out of her horrified trance as she realised exactly how Terri must be showing Quinn.
She couldn’t get back to her bedroom fast enough, leaning weakly back against the door, her breathing ragged
.
Terri and Quinn. Quinn was making love to the other woman while his friend, and Terri’s lover, slept unsuspectingly across the hallway!
She had believed Quinn was attracted to her because he let her kiss him, because he had shown her what a proper kiss between a man and a woman could be, and all the time he was sleeping with his friend’s girlfriend behind his back. Maybe Terri’s presence here as Fergus’s girlfriend had even been the reason he had been so agreeable to the suggestion that he stay here.
As for Quinn finding her attractive, that was laughable. Maybe he and Terri would indeed laugh later when he told her how Lise had thrown herself at him in the music-room!
She gave a sudden shiver, realising how cold she was standing here in just her robe, and, taking one of the cotton nightgowns that buttoned to the throat from her drawer, she pulled it on quickly, no longer eager to become a woman.
Oh God, Quinn wasn’t a Prince Charming at all, he was the Prince who woke Sleeping Beauty with a single kiss, who opened her eyes to all that was ugly in the world.
She might not want to be a woman any more, but she knew for certain that she would never again be that trustingly naïve child who believed in fairy-tales. In men like Quinn Taylor…
CHAPTER ONE
‘MISS ELIZABETH?’
She looked up from the letter of acceptance she had been writing in answer to a dinner invitation for next week, nodding coolly to the maid. ‘Yes, Mary?’ she prompted distantly.
‘Cook just wanted to be sure that the number for lunch is still four.’ The young maid looked at her eagerly.
Elizabeth put down her pen, smiling ruefully. ‘Assure Cook that so far my grandfather’s guests haven’t cancelled their luncheon appointment,’ she drawled, glancing at the gold watch her grandfather, Gerald Farnham, had given her for her twenty-first birthday two years ago. ‘And as it’s after eleven now I think we can all safely assume that they aren’t going to either,’ she added teasingly.
Mary blushed. She was only four years younger than her mistress, but so much younger in her outlook on life. ‘Fancy Quinn Taylor coming here for lunch,’ she breathed ecstatically, her eyes glowing with anticipation.
Elizabeth gave a dismissive shrug. ‘One assumes he still has to eat like us lesser mortals,’ she derided, glancing down at the half-finished letter. She didn’t particularly want to go to the Prestwicks’ for dinner, but Giles, the man she was currently dating, would want to go.
‘But he’s actually coming here,’ Mary repeated excitedly, in no hurry to return to the kitchen.
Elizabeth was well aware of the fact that the singer was coming here, that even now the west lawn of the estate was having a stage and lighting erected on it in preparation for the concert her grandfather had agreed to let Quinn Taylor perform there.
A pop concert wasn’t the sort of thing her grandfather would usually have agreed to, but the amount of money offered in return for the use of Farnham Hall for the televised concert had been too good for him to turn down. And her grandfather was all for making money where possible, she acknowledged ruefully. Besides which, he had tied the Quinn Taylor organisation up in so tight a contract that the west lawn and surrounding estate would probably be in a better condition when all the people and equipment were gone than it had been before they arrived! Her grandfather was nothing if not a good businessman.
Entertaining the pop singer and his manager for lunch wasn’t something Elizabeth exactly relished doing, but her grandfather had believed it would make for good relations between them. She had a sneaking suspicion he might also be a Quinn Taylor fan!
Apparently the singer had arrived in England late last night and expected to begin rehearsing the show this afternoon; her grandfather had decided that the least they could do was offer him lunch before he began. She just hoped she didn’t have to suffer through having him ask the entertainer for his autograph!
‘Shouldn’t you go and assure Cook that so far Mr Taylor hasn’t cancelled the arrangements?’ she drily prompted the young maid.
Mary looked at her consideringly. ‘I’d be a nervous wreck if I were the one shortly to be having lunch with Quinn Taylor,’ she sighed dreamily.
‘Well, you aren’t,’ Elizabeth said more sharply than she intended, sighing as Mary looked hurt by her attitude. ‘I’m sorry, Mary,’ she dismissed. ‘But there are several other things I would rather be doing today than having lunch with Mr Taylor.’
‘I’d give a whole year’s wages just to be able to say I spoke to him,’ Mary said longingly.
Considering that the wages paid to the household staff at the Hall were some of the highest in the area, Mary’s sacrifice wouldn’t be a small one, and all for the opportunity to talk to a man who probably didn’t deserve her hero-worship in the first place.
She gave the young girl a rueful smile. ‘Tell Cook I said you were to help serve lunch today—without sacrifice of wages,’ she added teasingly.
Mary’s face lit up as if the lights on a Christmas tree had just been switched on. ‘Really?’ she gasped disbelievingly.
‘As long as you don’t mind going off for your own lunch now so that you can be back in time,’ she nodded.
Mary’s eyes were wide brown orbs. ‘I don’t mind not having any lunch at all if I can just get to see Quinn Taylor close up,’ she said weakly.
Elizabeth smiled. ‘Run along and get your lunch now. You wouldn’t want to faint at Mr Taylor’s feet, now would you?’ she teased, suddenly sure that the enchanted girl would enjoy nothing better than fainting in Quinn Taylor’s arms. ‘On second thoughts, perhaps you would,’ she acknowledged drily. ‘But don’t, hm?’ she prompted gently.
‘No, Miss Elizabeth.’ The young girl left with a dreamy smile to her lips.
Elizabeth shook her head, gazing out of the window of the morning-room to where she could see the west lawn in the distance as the crew frantically worked to finish the staging in time for the concert at the weekend.
All that work and adoration for a man who undoubtedly had a good voice, but who was still just a man after all. Personally, she didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, although the thousands of Quinn Taylor fans who were said to be going to attend the concert obviously thought that they did.
But she wasn’t the only one who wasn’t exactly overjoyed about the invasion planned for the weekend; Giles was disgusted that her grandfather could even be thinking of allowing such a thing at the Hall. She smiled a little as she remembered that her grandfather hadn’t been too thrilled by the criticism. If Giles had serious thoughts about becoming her husband and Gerald Farnham’s grandson-in-law then he would do well to learn that her grandfather disliked criticism of any sort, was just as likely to do something he wouldn’t normally have done just because someone suggested he shouldn’t.
And she was pretty certain that Giles did have serious intentions of asking her to marry him. What her answer to him was going to be when he did ask she hadn’t yet decided. Oh, he was a nice enough man, quite good-looking with his curly blond hair and dark brown eyes that could look so soulful, but she wasn’t sure yet whether or not she was in love with him. But there was no rush to decide, they had only been going out together for a few months. She was certainly in no hurry to marry anyone.
‘Darling, isn’t it time you changed for lunch?’ her grandfather prompted softly from the doorway. ‘Our guests should be arriving in half an hour or so, and for some reason it seems to take you women at least that long to change a few clothes,’ he added drily.
Elizabeth turned to smile at her grandfather, giving up any idea of being able to deal with her mail any further today. None of it was that important anyway. ‘I thought I looked fine as I am,’ she drawled, standing up to cross the room and kiss him on one leathery cheek.
At almost seventy her grandfather still stood straight and tall at just over six feet, his hair deeply thick and iron-grey, hazel eyes twinkling down at her with affection as he held her at arm’s length to take i
n her appearance.
‘You look charming—as usual, my dear,’ he said lightly, about the pink floral dress. ‘But I had something a little more—formal in mind, for the mistress of the house,’ he added encouragingly.
‘I doubt a Canadian pop-singer knows the difference between a Laura Ashley and a St Laurent,’ she said drily.
Her grandfather gave her a reproving look. ‘That wasn’t worthy of you, Elizabeth,’ he told her softly.
‘No,’ she sighed heavily, putting her arm through the crook of his as they walked out into the large entrance-hall. ‘I just wish you had excused me from this luncheon as I asked you to,’ she grimaced. ‘I have no idea what we’re going to talk about. It isn’t even as if I’m a fan,’ she shrugged.
‘No doubt the man talks about himself all the time,’ her grandfather derided.
She looked up to return his smile. ‘If he does it will save me having to try and make conversation!’
‘Minx!’ he chuckled.
She ran lightly to the foot of the wide stairway. ‘I promise to try not to embarrass you.’
‘Elizabeth,’ he stopped her as she reached the gallery at the top of the stairs. ‘You could never, ever embarrass me,’ he told her gruffly.
She gave him a warm smile, blowing him a kiss before hurrying to her bedroom.
She and her grandfather were so close, and that closeness was another reason she was in no hurry to think about marriage; she was all her grandfather had now, since his son, her father, had been killed five years ago while racing his car at over a hundred miles an hour. She and her grandfather had been drawn together after the tragedy, their affection for each other something really special. A husband would surely try to intrude upon that special relationship; Giles had already shown signs of impatience at the amount of time she chose to spend at home.
After years of knowing exactly what was right to wear for each and every occasion, she was suddenly at a loss as to what one wore to have lunch with a pop-singer, disgarding one outfit after another in her wardrobe as either too formal or too casual. What could she wear to have lunch with Quinn Taylor and his manager?
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