The Secret Virgin

“I don’t understand you, Jonathan—”

“Nor I you! That man—Montgomery—he obviously has some sort of proprietorial claim on you—”

“He’s my manager, if you really want to know!” Tory glared straight back up at Jonathan as he towered over her.

“Really?” he parried.

“Yes—really!”

“And it’s obvious in what way he ‘manages’ you!”

“Why, you—!” Tory stood up, striding furiously around the table, her arm raised, ready to swing.

Jonathan easily caught hold of it. He pushed her arm back down to her side, long fingers moving down to become entwined with her own, bringing her body up close to his in the process.

His face was very close to hers as they glared at each other. “Looking at you now, your eyes flashing, face flushed—albeit with anger—I could easily give in to the temptation to manage you myself!”

CAROLE MORTIMER says, “I was born in England, the youngest of three children—I have two older brothers. I started writing in 1978, and have now written over 100 books for Mills & Boon. I have four sons—Matthew, Joshua, Timothy and Peter—and a bearded collie called Merlyn. I’m married to Peter senior; we’re best friends as well as lovers, which is probably the best recipe for a successful relationship. We live on the Isle of Man.”

Some of the characters from The Secret Virgin featured in an earlier story by Carole Mortimer, Bound by Contract (#2130).

The Secret Virgin

Carole Mortimer

My husband, Peter

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ONE

‘JONATHAN MCGUIRE! Would Mr Jonathan McGuire, recently arrived from Heathrow, please come to the information desk?’ The message rang out clearly over the airport tannoy system.

Tory stood frowningly beside the desk as the receptionist gave out the message, waiting to see if Jonathan McGuire would respond to it.

She had stood at the door to the baggage reclaim area a few minutes ago, as it opened and closed to allow the people from the Heathrow flight to the Isle of Man to leave once they had collected their cases, a small board held up in front of her with the name of ‘Mr J McGuire’ clearly written on it. But the last passenger from that flight had gone now, with no sign of Jonathan McGuire.

Maybe he had missed the flight?

Or maybe—

‘I’m Jonathan McGuire.’

Tory blinked, and not just at the sound of that huskily attractive American drawl. This was Jonathan McGuire?

This man had been one of the first to leave the baggage reclaim area. Tory had noticed him because he was so tall, easily a foot taller than her own five feet two inches in her bare feet, and also because as he’d looked at her, and then through her, with flinty grey eyes, she hadn’t been able to help noticing he was one of the most arrogantly attractive men she had ever set eyes on!

His face was ruggedly tanned, and there were those flinty grey eyes, a straight nose, and an unsmiling mouth above a square jaw. The dark grey jacket and white shirt, teamed with the faded blue denims that he wore, emphasised the width of his shoulders, the narrow waist and long, muscular legs. She guessed his age to be somewhere around low-to-mid-thirties. Which was another surprise. Somehow she had had the impression he was Madison’s younger, not older, brother.

In fact, he looked nothing like Tory had expected blonde-haired, green-eyed Madison’s brother to look!

Which was probably the reason why she had missed him earlier.

But that didn’t explain why he hadn’t approached her; his name was written very clearly on the board she had held up…

Tory stepped forward before the receptionist could respond. ‘I was asked to meet you, Mr McGuire,’ she told him lightly, smiling welcomingly.

Those flinty grey eyes were turned on her piercingly, no answering smile on those harshly chiselled features. ‘By whom?’ he prompted guardedly.

She frowned as his reply, her smile fading; she really hadn’t thought, when she’d made the offer to come to the airport this morning, that giving Jonathan McGuire a lift to his sister’s home was going to be as difficult as it was turning out to be.

‘By your sister,’ she murmured, deciding that devastating good-looks didn’t go any further than skin deep on this man.

Which was a shame. She had always found Madison one of the easiest people to get along with, had expected her brother to be the same. But he not only didn’t look like his sister, he had none of her warm charm, either!

‘Madison?’ he repeated irritatedly. ‘And exactly what is your connection to my sister?’ He looked at her critically.

Tory tried to see herself through his eyes: a little over five feet tall, boyishly slender, her almost black hair cut in deliberate ragged layers to fall silkily onto her shoulders, her elfin features bare of make-up; she had dark blue eyes, an upturned freckle-covered nose, a wide mouth and a determined chin. The only thing she had in common with the tall, glamorously beautiful Madison McGuire at the moment was her age; they were both twenty-four!

Her frown deepened as she sensed Jonathan McGuire’s criticism of her looks. She liked Madison, was quite happy to do a favour for the other woman, but her brother was turning out to be quite another proposition!

Her second smile wasn’t as openly friendly as the first. ‘My parents own the farm next to Madison and Gideon’s house, keep an eye on things for them while they’re away.’

‘And?’

Tory was very aware of the avidly listening receptionist. Not that she could blame her. Anyone would think Tory was trying to rob the man instead of offering him a lift!

‘Madison telephoned last night and asked me to—’

He scowled. ‘Damn it, I asked Gideon not to tell anyone where I was going!’

‘Madison is his wife…’ Tory pointed out ruefully.

The other couple had fallen in love while filming together on the island a couple of years previously. Madison had been the leading lady, Gideon the director of the film, a film that had won them both Oscars the following year. Consequently the two of them had great affection for the Isle of Man and had bought a home here, which they visited often with their now six-month-old daughter, Keilly.

‘She may be,’ Jonathan McGuire grated harshly. ‘But I specifically asked Gideon—’

‘Look,’ Tory cut in quietly, aware they were still being overheard, ‘I suggest we go across to my car and continue this conversation there?’ She raised dark brows.

He shot the receptionist an irritated look before turning on his heel without another word and walking over to the trolley that contained his luggage, which he had left parked at the bottom of some stairs.

Tory gave the receptionist a rueful shrug of her shoulders before following him, noting as she did so that as well as a suitcase there was a guitar case on the trolley Jonathan McGuire now pushed towards the automatically opening exit doors.

‘Do you play?’ she asked interestedly, falling into step at his side as they walked towards the car park. It was just as well that she had always walked fast herself; it took two of her strides to one of his much longer ones to keep up with him!

He looked at her blankly. ‘Sorry?’

Tory somehow doubted that he was sorry at all, thought he was probably very rarely sorry for anything he did. But obviously someone had at least taught him some manners. ‘I couldn’t help noticing the guitar case.’ She nodded towards it.

He continued to look at her with those expressionless grey eyes. ‘So?’

Tory drew in a deep breath. ‘Look, Mr McGuire, I suggest that the two of us start again.’ She came to an abrupt halt on the pavement. ‘My name is Tory Buchanan.’ She held out her hand. ‘I’m very pleased to welcome you to the Isle of Man.’

Jonathan McGuire still looked blankly at the slenderness of her hand for several long seconds, and then he slowly raised his own hand to grip hers. ‘I’ve been to the island before,’ he bit out economically, having released her hand after only the briefest of touches.

He had? Of course, she spent a lot of time away from the island herself, so it wasn’t so surprising that she might have missed his visit. But, nevertheless, she had gained the impression on the telephone last night, as she’d spoken to Madison, that Jonathan McGuire wasn’t familiar with the island, or the location of Madison and Gideon’s house. In fact, that was the main reason Madison had asked if someone would be able to go to the airport to meet him.

His mouth twisted derisively. ‘It was a very brief visit,’ he drawled.

One he had no intention of talking about, his slightly challenging tone implied.

Well, that was okay; Tory had already decided that, good-looking as Jonathan McGuire might be, her favour towards Madison ended the moment she had dropped her brother off at the house! He was darkly cold and arrogant, when she had imagined him to be a golden-haired fun person, like Madison was herself. As far as Tory was concerned, Jonathan McGuire could keep his cold arrogance to himself!

‘My car is parked over here.’ She indicated they should turn to the left as they entered the car park. ‘Actually, it’s my father’s,’ she explained as she unlocked the back of the Land Rover, slightly muddy from where her father drove it around the fields that made up his farm. ‘My mother and father have taken the car today to attend a wedding this morning,’ she somehow felt she had to add. Although why she should feel that way she had no idea; this man’s ungrateful attitude meant she owed him no explanations.

She didn’t offer to help as he lifted his luggage into the back, getting in behind the wheel as she waited for him to stroll round and get into the passenger seat beside her before starting the engine. Ten years old, the engine roared protestingly for a few seconds before settling down to its normal erratic clonking noise, and she accelerated the vehicle towards the exit.

‘Weren’t you invited?’

‘Invited where?’ Tory turned briefly from feeding her ticket into the machine at the exit, the barrier instantly lifting to allow them to drive out; as she had only arrived at the airport half an hour ago she hadn’t had to pay a parking fee.

‘To the wedding,’ Jonathan McGuire continued, perfectly relaxed in the seat next to her.

So he had been listening, after all! ‘I was,’ she returned.

‘But…?’

‘But a friend asked me to do her a favour instead,’ Tory said quickly, deliberately not looking at him as she concentrated on her driving.

She sensed him looking at her through narrowed lids, nonetheless. Well, let him look. She had been invited to the wedding, but when Madison had asked if someone could meet her brother at the airport and take him to the house, Tory had been only too happy to offer to be the one to do it. After all, it was Tory’s mother’s niece who was getting married. Admittedly, the bride was Tory’s cousin too, but she could still go to the reception later this afternoon.

‘I play.’

Tory gave him a brief, puzzled glance. She seemed to have missed something somewhere!

‘The guitar,’ he explained. ‘You asked if I play. I do.’

‘Ah.’ She nodded her understanding. ‘What sort of music do you play?’ she continued interestedly.

There was a brief silence, causing Tory to glance at him once again. His closed expression told her she had—once more!—ventured into forbidden territory. The problem with this man was that every subject seemed to have the potential of an unexplored minefield!

‘Usually whatever I feel like playing,’ he rasped dismissively.

Tory sighed at the deliberate snub, turning her attention back to her driving. She had only been trying to make polite conversation, for goodness’ sake. Obviously a nicety wasted on Jonathan McGuire.

Only another half an hour or so and she could deposit him at his sister’s home—and hopefully not see him again for the remainder of his visit. She just hoped he made it another brief one!

She tried to remember the little Madison had said about her brother during their call the previous evening. Madison had called him ‘Jonny’ she remembered that. Tory couldn’t ever imagine calling this remotely cold man by such an intimately friendly name!

But she could see that he looked wealthy enough; his clothes were obviously of good quality, and she could tell at a glance that his case and the guitar case were the best that money could buy. And, as Madison’s brother, he must also be son of Susan Delaney—a woman had become an acting legend in her own lifetime, and a woman Tory had met several times and liked immensely, when she’d visited Madison and Gideon on the island. Perhaps Jonathan McGuire took after his father—because he was certainly nothing like his charming sister and mother!

Tory decided to forget about her less-than-gracious passenger and enjoy the drive instead. It was a lovely day, the early June weather warm and sunny, wild garlic, blue-and whitebells still in flower along the roadside, the vivid yellow-orange of the gorse so bright against fresh green foliage that it almost hurt the eyes to look at it.

Not even the taciturn Jonathan McGuire could spoil her enjoyment of a beautiful day like today!

As they approached the end of the long stretch of road, with the leaves of the trees either side of the road meeting overhead like a green arch, she automatically raised her hand.

‘Hi, fairies,’ the man at her side murmured softly.

Tory turned to look at him, blue eyes wide with surprise. He had been here before.

They had just driven over the Fairy Bridge, marked by a white wall either side of the road. It was considered bad luck not to show the ‘little people’ who lived under the bridge due respect by saying hello to them.

Perhaps Jonathan McGuire felt in need of good luck…?

Damn it, she was starting to feel intrigued by the man, in spite of herself. He was American, for one thing; what did a single American male, of only thirty-two or thirty-three, want from a small community like the Isle of Man? Beautiful as the island was, almost crime-free too, with a population of less than eighty thousand, it certainly couldn’t be considered a fashionable holiday spot for single thirty-odd-year-old males!

She knew the same could be said of a young woman of only twenty-four as well, but it was completely different in her own case. She had been born here; her family were all here. Whereas Jonathan McGuire seemed to be getting away from his own family!

Yes, she was intrigued!

That was the last thing she wanted at the moment. She had come back home to do some thinking herself, to make some decisions of her own. She certainly didn’t need a man like the remote Jonathan McGuire in that already complicated equation.

‘I see you’re aware of some of the quainter island traditions,’ she remarked conversationally.

‘I did tell you I had been here before,’ he bit out, staring uninterestedly out of the window at his side.

She really didn’t know why she was bothering. She—

‘What the hell was that?’ Jonathan McGuire gave a shocked gasp as a streak of red shot noisily past the Land Rover.

Tory smiled, completely unperturbed. ‘Obviously you aren’t aware of all the island traditions,’ she drawled mockingly as another blaze of colour shot past them, blue this time, and if anything noisier than the red one. ‘Ever heard of the TT Races? The Tourist Trophy?’ she enlarged dryly.

She had been starting to wonder, despite his rather jaded behaviour, if perhaps the races could be the reason he was here, his completely unreadable expression told her that it wasn’t.

Jonathan McGuire was frowning darkly. ‘I take it those—motorbikes have something to do with that?’

‘They certainly do.’ Tory couldn’t hold back her smile any longer. ‘And I’m afraid you’ve chosen to visit the island at the beginning of Race Week.’

‘I know I’m going to regret this,’ he admitted with obvious reluctance, ‘but what is Race Week? In fact, what is the Tourist Trophy?’

‘Motorbike racing. The main races are next week,’ she told him happily, completely unconcerned as several more motorbikes overtook them at blurringly fast speeds.

TT Fortnight, as the practice week and race week were generally known, had been taking place on the island for almost a hundred years, and while a lot of inhabitants still found it intrusive on their usual peace and quiet, Tory actually loved the atmosphere of those two weeks, when forty to fifty thousand people, usually accompanied by at least twenty-five thousand motorbikes, literally invaded the island, all intent on having fun and enjoying the racing.

‘Not today?’ Jonathan McGuire said.

‘Oh, they haven’t started racing yet today,’ Tory assured him.

‘You could have fooled me!’ he muttered disgustedly.

She smiled. ‘They close the roads off when the races are actually taking place.’

‘They race on the roads?’ He was obviously amazed at the idea.

Tory grinned. ‘Not over the whole island, obviously—’

‘Oh, obviously,’ Jonathan responded. ‘Madison didn’t tell me about this.’ He scowled once more.

‘Madison isn’t supposed to know you’re here—remember?’ Tory couldn’t help returning wryly.

There was a brief silence. ‘Touché, Miss Buchanan,’ he finally drawled admiringly.

‘Tory,’ she instantly came back, surprised he had actually remembered her name; he had given the impression of being completely uninterested in anything outside himself. But perhaps she was being unfair to him… ‘As we’re going to be neighbours for a while…’

Those already flinty grey eyes iced over. ‘I have no intention of socialising during my stay here,’ he grated.

Tory drew in a sharp breath at his rudeness, instantly regretting her impulse to be friendly. ‘I don’t think I said I intended inviting you to a party—Mr McGuire,’ she snapped coldly. Or, indeed, to anything else!

Another twenty minutes or so and she could say goodbye to this—this arrogant bastard. It couldn’t pass soon enough for her!

She had intended taking him the scenic route through Douglas, along the promenade, where the horse trams travelled backwards and forwards every few minutes, and where the electric tram began its journey up to the north of the island to its final destination, Snaefell, the only mountain the island boasted.

But after the last few seconds’ conversation he could jolly well take the less attractive route, past the Grandstand, along through Onchan, and then out towards Laxey! She was in no mood herself to play the gracious hostess and point out the places of interest.

She hadn’t particularly wanted to go to her cousin Denise’s wedding, had welcomed this excuse not to have to actually attend the service. But if she had known how uncommunicative—in fact positively rude!—the alternative was going to be, then she would have opted for attending the wedding!

‘I’ve never seen so many bikes in one place,’ Jonathan McGuire remarked incredulously as they drove past the Grandstand, with row upon row of the powerful machines parked there as the race fans gathered just to soak in the atmosphere before the race this afternoon.

‘I shouldn’t worry,’ Tory told him abruptly. ‘Madison and Gideon’s house is well away from any of the roads, and my mother went shopping this morning, so you should have enough food that you won’t need to go out again for some time if you don’t want to.’ And, after what he had said, she was sure he wouldn’t want to!

Again there was a brief silence before Jonathan McGuire answered her. ‘That was very kind of your mother.’

Tory’s mouth tightened at his surprise at such a gesture from a complete stranger. ‘She’s a very kind woman. Besides,’ she continued levelly, ‘we’re all very fond of Madison and Gideon. And Keilly is adorable,’ she added affectionately.

‘Yes, she is, isn’t she?’ he agreed huskily.

It was the first time during their acquaintance—very brief acquaintance!—that Tory had heard anything like softness in his tone. But then, how could anyone, least of all her uncle, not be enchanted by the beautiful golden-haired Keilly?

‘Not far to go now,’ she realised with satisfaction, leaving Onchan behind them and driving out into the countryside once again.

She always felt refreshed, renewed, when she spent time on the island; there was a feeling of having time stand still. At the moment, with important decisions in front of her, that was something she desperately needed.

Unlike the arrogantly rude Jonathan McGuire, who was definitely something she didn’t need!

‘This is a very beautiful island.’

Tory was becoming used to his sudden, seemingly unconnected statements, and didn’t even bother to look at him this time. ‘It is,’ she agreed.

‘What work do you do here?’

She stiffened slightly. For a man who obviously didn’t like personal questions himself, he was becoming a little too curious about her own life.

She shrugged. ‘Running a farm is a full-time family concern,’ she answered evasively.

Dressed as she was, in a light blue tee shirt and faded denims, the latter mud-spattered from where it had rained the day before, her face bare of make-up, she definitely had the look of someone straight off the farm.

The fact that farming wasn’t what she did was none of this man’s business.

‘I suppose it is,’ he responded, before once again turning to look out of the window.

It seemed that pleasantries were over for the day!

‘What work do you do, Mr McGuire?’ she prompted lightly.

‘My family is in casinos in Reno.’

That was about as helpful as her own remark about farming being a full-time family concern—it actually told her precisely nothing!

‘We have a casino on the island,’ she said in friendly reply. ‘Perhaps you would like to see it while you’re here?’ Although she couldn’t imagine why; it was a completely soulless place, and the people who went there seemed to be either curious tourists or hardened gamblers—neither of which particularly interested Tory.

‘Are you asking me out after all, Tory?’ He raised mocking dark brows.

She gave him a startled glance, relaxing slightly as she saw the laughter lurking in dark grey eyes. So the man did have a sense of humour, after all!

‘No, I’m not,’ she assured him ruefully. ‘Casinos hold no appeal for me, I’m afraid,’ she added slightly apologetically. After all, it was his family business.

‘Me neither,’ he rejoined, that brief show of humour completely gone.

Tory waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t she decided that had to be the end of that subject, too.

In the circumstances, it had been rather an odd thing to say. But then Jonathan McGuire, she was quickly coming to realise, was an enigma.

‘Here we are,’ she said with a certain amount of relief a few minutes later as she turned the Land Rover down the Tarmacked driveway that led to the Byrne house.

Even though she had lived in the adjoining farm most of her life, Tory could still appreciate the beauty of this particular spot, high up in the hills, completely away from everything and everyone, though the village of Laxey, with its huge black and red waterwheel, was still visible down in the valley.

The Byrne home had been the original farmhouse once—it and the adjoining acre of land having been purchased from Tory’s parents a year ago. The house was now completely refurbished, looking splendidly grand in the sunlight, its pale lemon and white paint gleaming brightly.