It Started With A Look

The electric jug found, Justin filled it and put it on, then set about emptying a small packet of—wow!—quality coffee into each of the two white mugs he’d located. No cheap muck. That was good. Very good. He hated hotels that supplied low-grade products. He’d have to remember to ask Rachel what the shampoo and conditioner were like. He could actually never tell the good from the bad in that department, but a woman would know. Guy was right in that regard.

The water had boiled and Justin was standing there, deciding whether to pour his or wait for Rachel to come back, when there came a knock on the door. He hurried over to answer it, tut-tutting to himself on the way.

‘You don’t have to tell me,’ he said when he wrenched open the door to find Rachel on the other side. ‘They didn’t have another key.’

Rachel just stood there, her face ashen, her eyes anguished, her hands clutched tightly in front of her.

Justin, despite not being the most intuitive male in the world, was quick to appreciate her distressed state.

‘Rachel!’ he exclaimed. ‘What is it? What’s happened?’

‘I…I…’

Clearly, she could not go on, her throat making convulsing movements as she struggled for control.

‘Come inside,’ Justin said and, taking her left elbow, steered her quite forcibly into the apartment. Her hands remained clutched tightly in front of her and she looked as if she was going to burst into tears, or faint.

Once Justin had kicked the door shut behind them, he guided her over to the three-seater opposite the television and plonked her down into the middle cushion, then sat on the pine coffee-table, facing her.

‘Rachel,’ he said softly, taking her still clasped hands within his. ‘Tell me what happened?’

She gave a small laugh that held a decided edge of hysteria.

‘What happened?’ she repeated. ‘They didn’t recognise me, that’s what happened. He didn’t recognise me. Can you believe that?’

‘Who’s he?’

‘Eric.’

‘Who’s Eric?’

‘My fiancé,’ she choked out, ‘till I told him I was leaving my job to stay home and mind Lettie.’ She started shaking her head as though still not quite believing the situation she found herself in. ‘I thought I knew why he broke our engagement,’ she went on in shaken tones. ‘I thought he didn’t love me enough, or care enough to support my decision. It never crossed my mind that there might have been another woman in the wings all along, and that I’d given him the perfect excuse to call our wedding off.’

‘What makes you think there was another woman at the time?’

‘Because I’ve just seen the bitch,’ she said, surprising Justin with the unexpected flash of venom. ‘She was downstairs just now, checking in with him.’

‘And she is…?’ Justin probed, knowing it couldn’t be Rachel’s best friend, since she was overseas on her honeymoon. Thank God.

‘The real-estate agent who sold him the fancy unit which was supposed to be our marital home,’ she elaborated bitterly.

‘I see. And are they married now?’

‘No. Living together, I presume from the conversation I overheard at the desk. Either that or they just go away together on what he called weekend junkets associated with her job.’

‘I see,’ Justin said again, trying to think of something to say to pacify her. But he knew how hard that was, when your emotions were involved. ‘Look, you don’t really know he was carrying on with this woman before he left you, Rachel. You’re just jumping to conclusions.’

‘No, I’m not. I know I’m right. I had a feeling about them at the time but I ignored it. I told myself that I was imagining the intimate little looks which used to pass between them, and the many excuses he made to meet up with her at the unit when I was busy at work. Eric’s a top lawyer, you see, and can pretty well come and go as he pleases.’

‘OK. So he’s a two-timing rat as well as a shmuck. What does it matter now? You can’t possibly still be in love with him. Not after…how long ago was it?’

‘Four years, give or take a month.’

‘See? Now, if you’d said a year maybe, or eighteen months…’ like in his case with Mandy ‘…then I’d understand why you’re so upset.’

‘Love doesn’t stop simply because you want it to, Justin. Even if I didn’t love Eric any more, I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t hate seeing him with another woman like that. But I’m doubly upset because neither of them recognised me!’ she finished on a strangled sob.

Sympathy and empathy consumed Justin as he realised what she was saying. Her hurt was not solely because of this Eric’s former betrayal, but because he hadn’t recognised her physically.

Justin understood that type of humiliation well and his heart went out to her.

‘Maybe he wasn’t really looking at you,’ he tried excusing. ‘Maybe he was off in another world.’

‘I wish. But no. He bumped into me when he turned away from the check-in desk. Almost knocked me over. He actually grabbed my shoulders and looked right at me for a second or two. He saw me well enough and there was not a hint of recognition. She didn’t recognise me, either. Though I can’t really blame her. She didn’t know me all that well. We only met a couple of times. And I know I’ve changed a lot. But Eric should still have known me. We were lovers, for pity’s sake!’

‘Did you say something to him? Call him by name?’

‘Speak to him? No.’ She shuddered. ‘I bolted into the ladies’ room in the foyer and stayed there till I was sure they’d have left the area and gone up to whatever floor they’re staying on. That’s what took me so long.’

What probably took her so long, Justin believed, was the time she’d spent in there, weeping and looking in the mirror to see what it was this Eric had seen, and not seen.

‘Do you think he…um…might have been pretending not to know you?’

‘No. There was nothing like that in his eyes. Just blankness. He didn’t recognise me.’

‘Have you changed that much in four years, Rachel?’

Her shoulders sagged, her eyes clouding to an expression of utter misery. ‘I guess I must have.’

‘So what do you want to do?’ he asked, his own spirits sagging at the realisation that this weekend wasn’t going to be such a happy or relaxing getaway after all.

‘About what?’ she asked wearily.

‘Presumably this couple will be at the dinner tomorrow night. That must be the junket you heard mentioned.’

Horror filled her face at the prospect.

‘You don’t have to go,’ he said quickly.

‘Are you sure? I mean…I don’t like to let you down but I…I don’t think I could bear it. Eric might recognise me after I do myself up a bit. But, there again, he might not. Either way, I’m going to be terribly uptight, and very poor company with few powers of observation.’

‘It’s all right, Rachel. Truly. I’ll go by myself.’ He let her hands go and straightened.

She stared up at him, and he realised her hazel eyes were really quite lovely. How could that fool have not recognised her, if he’d been her lover? Eyes were the one thing which never changed. How many times would this Eric have stared down into Rachel’s eyes when they’d been in bed together?

Hell, Mandy’s beautiful blue eyes were imprinted on his brain!

His sigh carried a wealth of emotions of his own. ‘I’ll go finish making us that coffee.’ And he stood up.

‘You are such a nice man,’ she choked out, then burst into tears, burying her face in her hands.

Smothering a groan, Justin sat himself down next to her and took her into his arms, cradling her weeping face against his shirt front.

‘No decent human being,’ he said gently as he stroked her back, ‘could be anything but nice to you, Rachel. This Eric is scum. You’re better off without him.’

‘I know that,’ she sobbed. ‘But it still hurts to see him with another woman.’

‘I’m sure it does,’ Justin murmured soothingly. God knows how he’d react if he ever ran into Mandy with that swine who’d stolen her away from him, he thought. Murder was too good for the pair of them.

‘Maybe seeing him again like that is a good thing,’ he tried, though not quite believing it himself. ‘It should give you the motivation to forget him once and for all and get on with your own life. After all, life isn’t too bad for you now, is it? You have a job you like, with a considerate boss. Or so you said,’ he added wryly. ‘And soon you’ll have an even better job with enough of a wage coming in to afford a seriously nice place to live in of your own. What more could you possibly want?’

‘To still be beautiful,’ she mumbled into his chest.

Justin reached down and took her hands away from where they were jammed under her chin, then tipped her face up so that their eyes met. ‘You are still beautiful, Rachel,’ he said softly. ‘Where it counts.’

‘Right,’ she said ruefully. ‘Pardon me if I don’t get too excited by that compliment. I’ve found that beauty on the inside is highly overrated as an asset, especially when it comes to the opposite sex.’

‘Not all men are as shallow as your Eric,’ he countered, confident that he didn’t judge a woman so superficially.

‘Is that so? Might I ask you a rather personal question?’

‘Shoot.’

‘Was your ex-wife beautiful?’

Justin opened his mouth, then closed it again. Mandy had been drop-dead gorgeous, there was no doubt about it. She had a very pretty face, big blue eyes, long blonde hair. A great figure. And she’d known how to showcase herself to perfection, from the top of her glossy blonde head to the tips of her pink-painted toes.

Rachel, on the other hand, was a far cry from drop-dead anything. Yet she wasn’t ugly. She couldn’t even be called plain. Aside from having genuinely lovely eyes, she had regular features in her oval-shaped face and an interesting mouth, now that he bothered to really look. Wide, and tilted up at the corners, with a very full bottom lip.

It was just that she always looked so colourless, like a picture that had faded badly. The black suits she wore to work looked extra-drab on her, as did the clunky mid-heeled black shoes.

As for her hair…

He could not think of a good thing to say about her hair, except that it was far better not red, as it had been last Monday, because any attention brought to it could only create a more negative impression.

‘Case closed,’ Rachel said succinctly, and stood up. ‘God, I feel terrible. I must look terrible too. I think I’ll go and have a shower and change. Which way to my room?’

‘What about coffee?’

‘Thank you but I don’t feel like it just now.’

Me neither, he thought. He needed something much more potent in the drinks department. Some food was in order as well. Time was getting on and he hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast except that on-board snack. He wouldn’t mind betting Rachel hadn’t had any lunch either. No wonder she was so thin.

Though not that thin, he’d realised when he was holding her close just now. She had some reasonable breasts hiding there underneath that black jacket. Either that, or she’d been wearing a padded bra.

‘Showering and changing sounds like a good idea,’ he agreed, determined not to spend all weekend wearing a suit. Bad enough he had to tog up in a tux tomorrow night. ‘Your room’s on the right down that hallway. The bathroom’s opposite on the left. I left your case at the foot of the bed. I’m going to pop into the shower too, but first I’ll order us something to eat from Room Service, since going out to dinner tonight is out of the question now. You wouldn’t want to run into yours truly and his lady-love. And no, please don’t say again what a nice man I am.’

She gave him a faint smile. ‘All right.’

‘Go, go, go.’ He waved her off.

Once Rachel went, he crossed to the desk, which held the leather-bound folder that listed all the hotel’s services, plus the in-house menu. He ran his eye swiftly down and decided on something cold. A platter of mixed seafood and a couple of different salads, followed by strawberries and cream, all washed down with a bottle of their best white wine.

Most women liked white wine and Rachel needed cheering up.

Frankly, so did he.

He always did after thinking about Mandy.

Room Service arrived half an hour later, with Justin able to answer the door totally refreshed and dressed in beige cargo shorts and a dark red polo shirt. His feet he’d happily left bare for now. With the food safely deposited in the fridge, and the waiter tipped and dispensed with, Justin set about opening the bottle of wine, a Chablis, after which he popped it in the portable wine cooler provided.

The wine glasses supplied weren’t exactly top-drawer crystal but they were nice enough. He placed two of them in the fridge to chill then wandered down the hallway to see how Rachel was progressing. He’d heard her shower going for ages earlier on.

‘You ready yet, Rachel?’ he asked, stopping in the hall between both shut doors, her bedroom and the bathroom. He didn’t know which room she was in.

‘Not really.’ Her voice came from the bedroom.

‘What do you mean, not really?’

‘I have a slight problem.’

‘What’s that?’

‘I—er—washed my smalls in the shower before I realised I’d forgotten to pack any more.’

Justin had to struggle not to laugh. But Rachel without underwear was so un-Rachel. ‘That’s OK. Just put on a robe for now. They’ll dry by morning, then you can go shopping for more.’

‘Er…’

‘Don’t tell me you didn’t pack a robe, either.’

‘No, no, I do have a robe but it’s a bit…um…’

‘What?’

‘Nothing. I suppose I’m silly to worry,’ she muttered.

‘Put it on, then, and get yourself out here. Your pre-dinner drink awaits.’

‘OK. I…I’ll just be a minute.’

‘I’ll be out on the balcony, waiting. Don’t be too long. I hate drinking alone.’

Justin was lounging back in a deckchair, sipping his wine and thinking life wasn’t too bad after all, when he heard the glass door slide back from down Rachel’s end. His head turned just in time to see her step out onto the balcony.

Justin did his best not to do a double take, or to stare. But, hell, it was hard not to.

The robe Rachel was wearing was not a modest little housecoat by any means, but a very sexy emerald-green satin number which clung as only satin could. Admittedly it had sleeves to the elbow and did reach down to her ankles. And she had sashed it tightly, but this only seemed to emphasise the surprisingly shapely and obviously naked body underneath it.

Clearly, she hadn’t been wearing a padded bra earlier, Justin realised as his gaze took in the natural fullness of her breasts, which were very nice indeed. Actually, her body was very nice all round. She had a deliciously tiny waist and enough curve to her hips to look very feminine and, yes, almost sexy.

Amazing what had been hiding underneath those awful black suits she’d been wearing to the office!

Amazing what that awful hairdo had been hiding as well. Having her hair down and curling damply onto her shoulders took years off her face. There was some much-needed colour in her complexion as well, possibly from the heat of the shower, which gave him a glimpse of what she might look like with some make-up on.

Maybe still not a beauty queen but one hell of a lot better than her usual colourless façade. With the right kind of dress she could look quite fabulous. That figure of hers was a knock-out.

When she started coming towards him the robe flapped back at the knees, revealing a full length matching nightie underneath, which was perhaps just as well. He didn’t want to stare too much or she was sure to get embarrassed. Even so, it was a very sexy outfit and not the sort of lingerie Justin would have expected Rachel to own, let alone wear.

Still, seeing her in it gave him an idea which just might salve some of Rachel’s pride and give him some personal satisfaction as well. He already hated this Eric creep for what he’d done to such a nice woman. Dumping her was bad enough, but fancy not recognising her!

Of course, Rachel was her own worst enemy when it came to her appearance. Obviously, she could look a whole lot better than she did every day.

If she’d do what he was going to suggest, however, then, come tomorrow night, dear old Eric was bound to recognise her. And Rachel would never have to scuttle off and hide in a ladies’ room again, weeping with hurt and humiliation. She’d be able to hold her head high in any company and show her pathetic ex-fiancé that he’d made a big mistake in dumping her.

A big mistake.

Just as Mandy made a big mistake dumping you? came the dark and caustic thought. Is it vengeance for Rachel you want here, or some vengeance for yourself?

Mandy, he thought angrily. Always, it came back to Mandy!

CHAPTER FIVE

WHEN Rachel saw Justin’s sudden scowl she stopped walking towards him. She hadn’t minded his surprise on first seeing her dressed as she was. Surprise was fair enough. But a scowl was another matter entirely.

‘I…I think I’d better go back and find something else to put on,’ she said. ‘This just isn’t appropriate, is it?’

‘Certainly not!’ he exclaimed, then astonished her by laughing. ‘No, no, that’s not what I meant. I meant don’t go back inside and change. You look perfectly fine as you are. Heavens, Rachel, you’re wearing more clothes than most girls wear walking down the street up here. Here, sit down and get some of this wine into you.’ He swept up a bottle of white wine from the portable cooler standing by his chair and poured her a glass.

‘I hope you like Chablis,’ he said as he placed the glass on the white outdoor table and pushed it across to where she was settling herself in one of the matching white chairs.

‘Yes, I do. Thank you.’ Rachel was grateful for the drink, but more grateful to be sitting down, and no longer on show. That short walk along the balcony had felt like a million miles. Talk about embarrassing!

The whole situation was embarrassing. Fancy forgetting to bring any underwear.

She picked up the wine glass, cradled it in both her hands to stop them shaking and took a sip. ‘Oh, yes,’ she sighed. ‘This is good.’

‘It ought to be,’ Justin said with a smile in his voice. ‘It cost a small fortune. But no sweat. Everything’s on the house, according to Guy. I aim to take full advantage of it. And so should you. Which gives me an idea. Wait here.’

He put down his wine and levered himself up from the chair. ‘Won’t be long,’ he said, and hurried back inside through the sliding glass doors, leaving Rachel to do a spot of staring of her own.

It was strange seeing her boss in a bright top, casual shorts and bare feet. She’d always known he sported a nice shape and tan, but she’d never seen so much of it before. Even his bare feet were brown, which made her wonder what a man who wore shoes and socks all week did to achieve that. Lie in one of those sunbeds at the gym? Or swim a lot in an outdoor pool? If so, where? She knew he lived in a high-rise apartment in an exclusive complex down on the harbour foreshore at Kirribilli, so it probably sported a pool. Exclusive ones usually did.

‘I thought as much,’ Justin was saying as he returned through the open glass doors, carrying an open black leather folder. ‘They do have a beauty salon in this place.’

‘A…a beauty salon?’ Rachel repeated, not sure what Justin was getting at.

‘Yes. Seeing you wearing that gorgeous green and with your hair down has shown me, Rachel Witherspoon, that you have been hiding your light under a bushel. I don’t know if anyone has ever told you before but black does nothing for you, and neither does the way you wear your hair to work. You also have a damned good figure, which your working wardrobe doesn’t show to advantage. With a different hairstyle, some make-up and the right clothes, Rachel, you could look more than good. You could look great.’

‘But…’

‘But what?’

‘But I thought you didn’t want me looking great, especially at work.’

‘What?’

‘Your mother told me all about your previous PA long before you ever did.’

He grimaced. ‘Oh, God, she didn’t, did she?’

‘Afraid so.’

He frowned over at her. ‘So you deliberately made yourself look like a plain Jane to get the job.’

Not really, an amazed Rachel was thinking. She’d just come au naturel. She was a plain Jane. But she wasn’t about to say so. She rather liked the thought that Justin believed she’d been down-playing a whole host of hidden attractions.

‘Well…’ she hedged, not sure what to say at this juncture.

‘Oh, Rachel, Rachel, you didn’t have to do that. I’d have given you the job, anyway, because I saw right from the start that you were nothing like that other girl. It wasn’t just the way she dressed, you know, but the way she acted. Like some oversexed vamp all the time. She drove me insane.’

‘So you wouldn’t mind if I did myself up a bit for work?’

‘Why should I mind?’

‘I was worried that if I suddenly came into the office with a new hairdo and a new wardrobe you might think I was…um…’

‘Tarting yourself up for me?’

‘Yes,’ she said sheepishly.

He laughed. ‘I would never think that of you. Silly Rachel.’

Rachel tried not to be offended. But she was, all the same. Yes, silly, silly Rachel.

‘Which brings me right back to my original suggestion,’ he went on. ‘Now, tomorrow I want you to go down to that beauty salon and get the works. Facial, massage, pedicure, manicure, waxing, hair, make-up. The lot. It says here they do all that.’

‘That seems excessive.’ Even for me, she thought ruefully.

‘No, it’s not. It’s necessary.’

‘Oh, thank you very much,’ came the waspish comment.

‘Now, now, this is no time for over-sensitivity, Rachel. The truth is you’ve let yourself get into bad habits with this plain-Jane nonsense. I can understand that you might not have bothered with your appearance much when you were at home all the time, but I’ll bet there was a time when you went to a lot of trouble with your hair and make-up and clothes.’

‘We-ll…’

‘Well?’ he probed forcefully.

‘I always suspected I didn’t become a finalist in the Secretary of the Year competition on my office skills alone,’ she said drily.

‘I don’t doubt it. I’ll bet you were a looker back then.’

‘I was…attractive.’

‘And you never wore black.’

‘Not often.’

‘How did you wear your hair?’

‘Down,’ she admitted. ‘With auburn highlights.’

‘No wonder people from your past didn’t recognise you today. But, come tomorrow night, Eric the Mongrel will recognise you all right.’

‘Eric the Mongrel?’ she repeated on a gasp.

‘Yeah. That’s what I’ve nicknamed him. Do you like it?’

‘Oh, dear. I love it.’

‘So you’ll do it? Come to the dinner with me?’

Rachel swallowed. It would take every bit of courage she owned to face Eric and that woman once more, even if she was dolled up to the nines. But, by God, she would!

‘Yes,’ she said, and Justin beamed.

‘Fantastic. Here. A toast is in order.’

He held his glass out towards her and she clicked it with hers.

‘To the comeuppance of Eric the Mongrel,’ Justin pronounced.

Rachel’s stomach flipped over. ‘Comeuppance?’

‘Oh, yes. Your ex deserves a few serves. And I’m just the man to deliver them!’

Justin paced up and down the living room, impatient for Rachel to make her appearance. She’d stayed hidden ever since her return from the beauty salon around five, letting herself in whilst he’d been in the bathroom, shaving. Now it was getting on for seven and he was dressed in his tux and ready to go down for the cocktail party that preceded the dinner at eight, an arrangement Rachel was well acquainted with. They’d discussed it last night.

So when seven came and went without her showing, Justin strode down the hallway and knocked firmly on her door.