Elusive Lover

‘And the barracuda?’

‘Mike’s wife, Frances.’

The green eyes widened. ‘Those two are married?’

Her mouth twisted wryly. ‘I’m afraid so.’

‘Hell,’ Josh shook his head. ‘Do they have any children?’

‘No—thank God.’

‘My sentiments exactly.’ He buttoned the shirt he had obviously pulled on in a hurry. ‘Do you know that woman was perfectly willing to carry on where you’d left off?’ he expressed his disgust.

Colour flooded her cheeks as she remembered exactly where she had ‘left off’. ‘You aren’t telling me you didn’t like it,’ she scorned to hide her embarrassment.

His expression darkened, his handsome face harsh. ‘Would I be here if I did?’

‘I—No, I suppose not.’

‘Definitely not.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Now let’s get going. I’ll take you out to breakfast.’

‘I’m not——’

‘You’re eating,’ he told her firmly, pulling her out of the room with him. ‘I’ll just get my holdall. Wait here for me,’ he instructed once they reached the front of the motel.

Erin waited until he had entered his room before going into the reception area. Frances wasn’t there, so perhaps she was actually cleaning the rooms for a change. After all, there was no one else to do it, not now.

Mike looked up with a scowl; his stomach was obviously still bothering him. ‘What do you want?’ he growled.

Erin stood her ground, sick of being exploited, determined not to take it any more. ‘I want my wages for the past week,’ she told him unflinchingly.

His face became flushed with anger. ‘You have to be kidding,’ he scoffed, his gaze insolent. ‘Let your lover take care of you.’

She had to bite her tongue to stop the fiery retort that sprang to her lips. She wouldn’t give this man the satisfaction of losing her temper with him, he just wasn’t worth it. ‘I want my wages,’ she repeated in a controlled voice. ‘And I want them now.’

‘Well, you aren’t getting them,’ he told her nastily.

‘Is that your last word on the subject?’

‘Yes, that’s my last word on the subject,’ he mimicked.

‘Very well,’ she gave a cold inclination of her head, ‘you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.’

His eyes widened in surprise. ‘Over a few dollars?’

Erin shook her head, remaining calm and composed. It was as if she were someone else, a new Erin who wouldn’t be undermined. ‘Not over a few dollars, no. But over a case of sexual harassment, yes.’

He gasped. ‘Sexual harassment——! My God, you little bitch!’

‘I mean it,’ she said firmly.

He was white with anger. ‘I can see that, damn you,’ he rasped, pulling open a drawer to take out some dollars and throw them across the desk at her. ‘Here, take it. And don’t ever come back.’

‘I don’t intend to.’ Erin picked up the money and crammed it into her denims pocket, picked up her suitcase and turned to leave. Josh was leaning against the doorjamb, open respect in the warmth of his eyes. ‘Thank you,’ she accepted gratefully as he took her suitcase out of her shaking hand.

‘You took a risk in there, little one,’ he said once they were outside, his expression grim. ‘He could have got really nasty.’

‘So could I,’ she told him without emotion.

Josh shook his head. ‘Not as nasty as he could. I thought you’d left, you know,’ he gave her a sideways glance.

If she could have got her money and left before he reappeared then she probably would have done. As it was she intended taking the first opportunity she could to get away from him. She had had it with men, any man.

‘Not until I had my money,’ she said firmly.

‘You said sexual harassment,’ he recalled slowly. ‘Does that mean this morning has happened before?’

She, flushed. ‘Not in such intensity, no. Could you slow down a little?’ she requested impatiently, having great difficulty keeping up with his longer strides. ‘Where’s your pick-up truck, anyway?’

‘Being serviced. It should be ready this afternoon.’ He slowed down. ‘What do you mean, not in such intensity?’

She shot him a resentful glance, once again acknowledging, reluctantly, how well the hat, denims, and boots suited his dark, rugged attractiveness. He could almost have belonged to the days of the Wild West, almost. But there was an air of awareness about him, almost one of sophistication—if it could be called that, an impression of worldliness that seemed to indicate that he didn’t always dress or act this casually.

‘Erin?’ he prompted at her silence.

‘Oh, he just—he’s touched me, made implications, things like that,’ she dismissed, hating having to talk about such things, especially to the man she had kissed so passionately only minutes earlier. ‘Nothing I couldn’t handle.’

‘Until this morning,’ he said dryly.

‘That was your fault,’ she flashed. ‘Oh yes, it was,’ she insisted at his sceptical snort. ‘Frances told Mike that you and I had spent the night together. He didn’t like that.’

‘It seems the barracuda can talk when she wants to. It took me a hell of a long time to get her to tell me where you were living,’ he explained. ‘Did that guy force his way into your room just now?’

‘Or did I let him in, you mean?’ she scorned bitterly.

‘No, I didn’t mean.’ His expression darkened. ‘How did he get in if you didn’t let him in?’

‘By using his key,’ she revealed dully.

‘You gave him——’

‘No, I didn’t!’ she snapped, and explained how Mike came to have a key to her room.

‘The bastard!’ Josh muttered.

‘Yes.’ They were still walking, apparently with no purpose in mind. ‘Where are we going?’

‘I told you, to have breakfast. Here we are,’ he stopped outside one of the restaurants she never seemed to have the time to try. ‘I hope you’re hungry,’ he said before going inside.

Erin had the feeling that even if she weren’t he would still make sure she ate. She had no choice but to follow him in, her case, with all her worldly possessions, still held firmly in his hand.

He was greeted like a regular, obviously well known by the waitress who came to seat them. ‘Table for two, Josh?’ she looked speculatively at Erin.

And no wonder! It was only nine-thirty in the morning, and Josh was still carrying her suitcase.

‘That’s right, Marie,’ he grinned at the young girl, her open, fresh prettiness obviously appealing to him. ‘And do you have somewhere to stow this until after we’ve eaten?’ he indicated the suitcase.

‘Sure——’

‘Oh, but——’

‘Something wrong, Erin?’ Josh quirked one black eyebrow at her.

She reached for the case, anxious not to let it out of her sight. ‘I’d rather keep it with me.’ It was all she had in the world.

‘Okay,’ but he kept a firm grip on it. ‘Table for two people and a suitcase, Marie,’ he requested tauntingly.

Erin waited until the other girl had poured their coffee before lashing out at him. ‘It’s all right for you to laugh at me,’ she snapped, ‘but everything I own is in that case.’

He pulled a face. ‘It doesn’t weigh much.’

‘That’s because I don’t own much!’

‘Drink your coffee,’ he instructed. ‘It’s good and strong. You’ll feel better for it.’

‘How do you know that?’ she asked in a disgruntled voice. ‘I may not even like coffee. Did that occur to you when you were accepting on my behalf?’

‘You should have said——’

‘As it happens, I like coffee,’ she told him coldly. ‘What I don’t like is someone making my mind up for me.’

Green eyes narrowed with impatience. ‘I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Is this place to your liking, Your Highness?’

She blushed at his sarcasm, pretending to look around consideringly. Compared to the eating-house she had worked in this was really good, very clean, the booths and tables all fitted out in green crushed velvet, the staff all smartly dressed in black and white.

The two of them were seated in a side booth, the hot sun from outside not filtering through the small set-back window and so making it hot and uncomfortable to eat.

‘Well?’ Josh prompted.

Erin looked back at him. He was easily the most attractive man in the room; most of the other tables were full. He had taken off his hat now that they were inside, and his hair appeared even blacker, slightly ruffled where he had run a casual hand through it. The denim jacket and trousers were just as casual, the boots just as dusty, and yet he stood out from the similarly clad men in the room.

‘It’s all right,’ she shrugged, annoyed with herself for noticing how attractive Josh was. Enough men had hurt her lately, without her falling for this man.

Marie came back to take their order, and Erin half-heartedly ordered eggs and bacon, making sure her request for her eggs to be ‘flipped over’ went in, the thought of the near raw eggs she would be served if it didn’t making her feel nauseous. She had made that mistake once, but she had never made it again. Josh ordered everything—eggs, bacon, sausages, and wheatcakes.

‘Like some?’ he asked as he requested the latter.

‘No, thank you,’ she grimaced. She would have enough trouble getting the eggs and bacon down her. Since she had stopped eating so much she had been unable to take in great amounts when she did get around to having a meal.

‘Hash browns?’ he asked hopefully.

She rather liked this form of fried potato, so she nodded acceptance. ‘Please,’ she added politely, sitting back as her coffee cup was refilled. She had learnt that wherever you went they would just keep filling your cup up with coffee unless you asked them to stop, and they never seemed to charge any more for it. She knew, because sometimes these gallons of coffee were all she could afford on the budget she had allowed herself.

‘At last we’ve found something the lady likes,’ Josh taunted, sitting back in his seat as he watched her through narrowed eyes.

Erin flushed. ‘I’m sorry if I’m bad company. It isn’t every day I lose my job and get thrown out of my lodgings.’

‘Mm, we’ll have to see what we can do about that later. Right now I intend to have that talk you vetoed last night. Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get out here in the first place?’

‘Plane!’ she mocked.

‘Very funny! I meant where did you get the money from?’

It must be obvious from her clothes that she couldn’t have afforded the ticket herself, and she flushed her resentment. ‘How do you think I got it? Walking the streets?’

Josh sat forward with a sigh, obviously coming to the end of his patience with her. ‘You tell me,’ he drawled. ‘Did you?’

‘Of course not——’

‘Why so indignant, Erin? You brought the subject up, I’m just asking. Is that the way you got your money together to come here?’

He was serious, damn him! Her sarcasm had backfired on her, Josh’s intent look showed her that he wanted an answer. ‘No, it isn’t! Bob bought me a one-way ticket.’

‘Boy, he must have really wanted to get rid of you. Not a very good reference, is it?’ Josh mocked.

Erin gave him a startled look. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ he dismissed. ‘You aren’t bad at keeping a place clean, anyway.’

She flushed. ‘I’ll get another job, if that’s what you mean.’

‘Honey, I’m sure you will. With your talents you’re sure to be in demand.’

‘If you’re being sarcastic——’

‘Oh, but I’m not. I know a lot of men who would jump at the chance of having someone like you to keep their house clean during the day and their bed warm at night.’

‘You——’

‘Our breakfast has arrived, Erin,’ he interrupted what looked like being a tirade, sitting back while his laden plate was placed in front of him, smiling up at the susceptible Marie.

Erin saw that smile, and the effect it had on the other girl, and looked away. One smile and he thought he had Marie in the palm of his hand. Maybe he did, but his charm wasn’t working as well on her. She would just have her breakfast and go, knowing she had to find herself another job before this evening or risk sleeping under the stars. She had no idea how the police felt about people sleeping out on benches over here; in London they were usually moved on or arrested for the night. That would be all she needed!

She thanked Marie for bringing her meal. ‘I don’t like the implications of your remark,’ she told Josh once the waitress had moved away.

He looked up from pouring maple syrup on his wheatcakes. ‘I wasn’t implying anything, I was stating a fact. On your track record you’re sure to get yourself into another unwanted situation.’

‘I didn’t choose to have Mike makes passes at me!’ Her eyes flashed deeply violet.

‘Just as you didn’t choose to have Bob throw you out and replace you with a woman called Mary. You sure know how to pick ‘em, Erin,’ he shook his head. ‘Now eat your breakfast. And no more talking until I’ve finished eating. I hate arguing with a pretty woman when I’m eating.’

‘You——’

‘I mean it, Erin,’ his eyes were like green chips of glass. ‘Eat.’

She did so, reluctantly at first, and then with increasing enjoyment as her appetite returned.

Josh drank several cups of coffee with his meal, the eager Marie always seeming to be on hand to refill his cup, her manner cooler when she served Erin.

‘Right,’ he finally sat back, his plate completely empty now, a satisfied smile to his lips. He eyed her half-eaten food. ‘Is that all you can manage?’ he frowned.

She nodded, having sat back in amazement as Josh had eaten all the fried food on his plate, plus the wheatcakes and a couple of rounds of toast. It had taken her all her time to eat what she had, and in truth it hadn’t been much.

Josh’s frown deepened, his wide brow furrowed. ‘Will that get you through the day?’

‘Usually,’ she nodded again.

He shook his head. ‘I think you should see a doctor——’

‘Don’t be silly,’ she gave a dismissive laugh. ‘My body has just got used to taking in less, that’s all.’

‘Have you ever heard of anorexia nervosa?’

‘Of course—I haven’t got that!’ she scorned, having heard a lot in the media about the dieting disease that could kill people if they weren’t helped soon enough.

‘Maybe not yet,’ he conceded. ‘But you’re headed that way. You need feeding up, three good meals a day.’

‘After which I would probably be as big as an elephant,’ she smiled. ‘I’ve always had a tendency to put on weight easily.’

‘Contrary to popular belief, most men prefer a woman with a little flesh on their bones,’ he rasped harshly.

‘Show me one,’ she laughed.

‘You’re looking at him.’ He gazed steadily back at her as her eyes widened in disbelief.

‘You have to be thin nowadays to look good in clothes,’ she defended the fashion of being boyishly slender.

‘It’s no good looking good in clothes if you look awful without them,’ he derided.

‘I don’t look awful——’

‘Granted,’ Josh nodded. ‘From the little I saw when that guy almost had your shirt off I would say you have a nice little body. I just think you should be a little more concerned about the fact that you can no longer eat a normal sized meal.’

Erin was still blushing over the fact that he thought she had a ‘nice little body’, but unconcerned about her eating problem. That he had noticed her body at all came as something of a surprise to her, that he liked it made her feel selfconscious.

‘I’ll be fine once I get back to England,’ she assured him.

‘And when will that be?’

‘I—I’m not sure.’ She evaded those all-seeing green eyes. ‘Next month, maybe,’ she lied.

‘Why not now? You have nothing to keep you here, do you?’

‘I—no. I came over to see my father, but it didn’t work out.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Josh prompted softly.

‘There isn’t a lot to tell,’ she said awkwardly. The pain was still too new for her to talk about it unemotionally.

‘Tell me anyway,’ Josh insisted.

She told him the bare outline of her visit to her father, aware that he was astute enough to read between the lines, and by the sympathy in his eyes he had done that very well.

When she had finished he just nodded. ‘So now you’re alone in Calgary?’

‘Yes.’

‘So why don’t you go home?’

‘Because I don’t have the money! I’m sorry,’ she sighed, ‘I didn’t mean to shout. But it’s so expensive living in Calgary. It’s going to take me months to get the money together for my return ticket.’ Without realising it she contradicted her previous statement about returning next month.

‘Not necessarily,’ Josh put in softly.

‘Oh, it will,’ she nodded. ‘I wasn’t expecting to be returning, so what little savings I did have I spent on a few new clothes. And I’m not getting on very well with my saving here.’ She straightened in her chair. ‘Which reminds me, I should be going. Thank you for breakfast, Mr Hawke, but I have to go and get myself another job now.’

His hand on her arm stayed her move to stand up. ‘What sort of job?’

Erin shrugged. ‘The same as I’ve been doing, I suppose.’

‘Cleaning and making beds?’

‘Yes,’ she answered resentfully. ‘There always seem to be those type of jobs going.’

‘Oh, there are,’ Josh nodded. ‘I know of one myself.’

‘You do? Where—No, I can’t ask you for any more help,’ she sighed. ‘You’ve been very kind already. In fact, I should be buying you breakfast.’ She pulled the notes out of her pocket that Mike had given her for her wages, giving a rueful laugh. ‘I think you must have frightened Mike—he overpaid me!’

‘Put it away, Erin,’ Josh instructed in a voice that brooked no argument. ‘When I invite someone out to eat I don’t expect them to pay for it. And I meant it about the job. Are you interested?’

Pride warred with necessity, and finally necessity won. ‘Yes, I suppose I am. It would be the same sort of thing, cleaning, stuff like that?’

‘Stuff like that,’ he nodded. ‘What you have to decide is whether or not you would find my sexual harassment any more acceptable that you did Mike Johnston’s.’

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