Bedded At His Convenience

Keisha said nothing, picking up her glass and taking a sip of the sparkling wine. Then she twirled the crystal flute between her fingers and stared down at the tiny bubbles.

‘So it’s not the fact you’ve been missing me that’s caused you to lose so much weight?’ he asked, his blue eyes intent upon hers. ‘It’s someone else who’s done this to you?’

Wouldn’t it be good if she could disappear as quickly and completely as the bubbles in her glass, thought Keisha. Pop—they had gone! No more fear that they would be swallowed whole and live the rest of their lives swimming through miles of tubes—just as she was now swimming through years of revived memories.

Ignoring his question, she said, ‘Actually, I’m pleased for you. You deserve success.’ Yet even to her own ears she did not sound sincere.

‘For that I thank you,’ he acknowledged quietly, inclining his head. ‘So, now that you know what I’ve been doing, tell me what you’ve been up to. Your mother told me you’d moved away.’

Keisha’s eyes widened in stunned disbelief. ‘You spoke to my mother?’

‘What did you think?’ he asked, both brows rising this time, his eyes very wide and questioning. ‘That I wouldn’t come looking for you?’

‘She never told me.’ Keisha could hardly believe that her parent had kept secret the fact that Hunter had been searching for her. And the worst part was that now she could never thank her.

‘She wouldn’t tell me where you were either,’ he responded. ‘She said that if I tried to find you I’d have her to deal with. She’s a tough cookie, your mother. Lord knows what sort of tale you spun her. She spoke to me as though I were some sort of perverted idiot.’

Keisha was amazed that her mother had stood up for her like that. Not that it would have stopped Hunter if he’d been really determined. She compressed her lips and tears threatened. ‘My mother died recently.’

‘Oh!’ he said. ‘I didn’t know. I’m sorry to hear that.’

And he looked it. Compassion softened his face and she had the feeling that he wanted to pull her into his arms. She hoped he wouldn’t. She didn’t want to experience the warmth of his body, his steady heartbeat, or the pleasure it could give her. Thinking about her mother made her vulnerable. She wished he hadn’t brought the subject up.

‘Don’t be,’ she said sharply. ‘She was very ill towards the end. It was a merciful release.’

‘You must miss her.’

Keisha nodded.

‘So where are you living now?’

‘In my mother’s house,’ answered Keisha reluctantly. Though for how much longer was one of the things worrying her.

‘And is there a man in your life?’

It was Keisha’s turn to lift a brow, and she noticed that he was watching her face closely. She hoped he wasn’t thinking of suggesting she move back in with him, that they try again. Heaven help her! ‘I hardly think it’s any business of yours.’

His brows lifted again, but he didn’t pursue the subject. Though she had a feeling she hadn’t heard the last of it.

There had been no man in her life since Hunter. For the first twelve months she had been too fragile, and since then she had nursed her sick mother and had had no time for boyfriends.

And she didn’t want any more of these personal questions.

‘I’m getting out of here,’ she declared, scrambling to her feet. ‘I’ll call a taxi. If you see Gillian tell her I’ve gone.’

But Hunter stopped her. ‘If you insist on going then I will take you myself,’ he said, in that deep, sexy voice that impinged on her nerve-ends every time she heard it. It was low and persuasive at this moment, snaring her, and when he caught her wrist and held on to it while he too rose from his chair Keisha knew she was lost.

He had a stranglehold on both her body and her senses.

There was no escape.

CHAPTER TWO

HUNTER’S CAR WAS black and sleek and luxurious. It smelled of leather and his cologne, and as Keisha sank into the seat beside him she marvelled at how far he had come in the last few years.

And she could have been a part of it if she hadn’t left him.

The thought gave her no pleasure. He might have all the trappings of wealth, perhaps even more money than he knew what to do with, but was he truly happy? ‘Have you married again?’ she asked bluntly. There was no ring on his finger either, and there’d been no beauty hanging on to his arm. Surely there would have been if he’d got either a wife or a girlfriend?

‘I’ve had no time,’ he answered, slanting a tight, smiling glance in her direction.

‘You’re married to money—is that it?’ she enquired, keeping her voice honey sweet and her eyes on the road in front of them. It annoyed her that simply by looking at him he disturbed her senses.

He was one of that band of men who could turn a woman’s head without even trying. He had certainly turned hers—quite magnificently! She had thought herself the luckiest girl in the world when he’d asked her to marry him.

‘Money isn’t my slave, if that’s what you’re suggesting,’ he answered smoothly. ‘I enjoy being successful, I admit that, and I enjoy being able to go anywhere or do anything, but it isn’t the be all and end all of my life.’

‘So why haven’t you remarried?’ she asked, turning to look at him as his lips gave a rueful smile. ‘It can’t be because there’s a shortage of women in your life.’

‘Of course not,’ he answered smoothly. ‘I could have my pick of maybe a dozen girls at any one time—it comes with the territory.’ He shot her a sharply dangerous glance. ‘But it’s not worth it. I learned my lesson many years ago.’

‘Are you suggesting that I flung myself at you?’ Keisha’s tone was indignant. If anyone had done the pursuing it had been Hunter. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed the chase!

‘You’re saying that you didn’t drop that file deliberately?’ he asked. ‘Come on, Keisha, it’s the oldest trick in the book. Of course I didn’t realise it at the time, but…’ He gave a tiny shrug and let his words fade into thin air.

‘Would I have walked out on you if I’d married you for your money?’ Keisha asked with a questioning stare. ‘I don’t think so, Hunter. You’re talking rubbish.’

It was a relief when they pulled up outside her house. It was a two-up-and-two-down terraced property, very modest but very comfortable, and her mother had loved it.

‘Thank you for the lift,’ she said, opening the door and scrambling out almost before he had stopped the car. ‘You won’t forget to tell Gillian that I’ve come home?’

‘I’m sure she carries her mobile, you’d best call her yourself,’ he said drily, sliding out the other side and following her up the short path.

‘You don’t have to see me in,’ declared Keisha in panic. This was the very last thing she wanted. She had left the party to get away from Hunter, not have him pressing further attentions on her.

‘A gentleman would never allow a lady to enter an empty house alone.’

Keisha put her key in the lock and opened the door a few inches, but before she could tell him that she was safe and he could go his hand reached over her shoulder and pushed the door wider. With his other hand in the small of her back, he urged her inside.

‘There is absolutely no need for this,’ she insisted, tossing her head in desperation. ‘As you can see, all’s well. You can go back to your party.’

But Hunter had other ideas. His smile was cruel. ‘We’re long overdue a serious conversation. Have you any idea how I felt when you walked out on me?’

‘I don’t want to talk to you.’ Keisha flashed desperate green eyes. ‘You and I have nothing further to say to each other. I thank you for the lift, but now I want you to go.’

‘Are you going to make me?’ He folded his arms across his broad chest and dared her to challenge him. He was all male, strong and indomitable, and Keisha knew that she was fighting a losing battle.

She heaved a sigh of despair. ‘You’re wasting your time. You know the reason I left. We can do nothing but go over old ground.’

‘Then it’s old ground we go over,’ he answered simply.

There was no entrance hall at the property. The door led straight into a living room filled with old but much loved furniture. It was small, but felt even smaller with Hunter inside. ‘Please, sit down,’ she said faintly. ‘I’ll make us some coffee.’

She needed breathing space. He filled it with his presence, leaving her nowhere to hide.

Hunter needed no second bidding. Off came his dinner jacket and bow tie, and the top three buttons of his shirt were undone before he relaxed into an old leather chair.

Keisha gave an inward groan. She hadn’t meant to give him an invitation to make himself comfortable. The matter was getting out of hand; he looked as though he was ready to stay for hours.

She gritted her teeth and fled the room.

When she returned Hunter’s head had dropped back and his eyes were closed. Heaven forbid that he was asleep, she thought. From experience she knew that he was a heavy sleeper; there would be no getting rid of him. He would be here the whole night!

But as she put the cups down on a side table Hunter opened heavy eyelids. His slow smile was predatory, and uneasiness sent a chill down her spine. He had something in mind and she had no idea what.

She perched on the edge of a chair, as far away from him as she could get in this tiny room, and waited.

‘You look as though you’re afraid of me,’ he said. ‘Why is that, I wonder?’

‘Because you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have some ulterior motive.’

An eyebrow rose. ‘Don’t you think you’re being fanciful?’ And he paused before adding, ‘As I said before, I’m merely being a gentleman.’

Keisha’s lips twisted into a disbelieving smile. ‘Seeing me home was gentlemanly, but making yourself comfortable is not. You’re not welcome here, Hunter.’

‘As you’ve made very clear,’ he acknowledged. ‘But surely a little conversation over a cup of coffee is nothing to worry about?’

It was when the man was Hunter Donahue!

‘Why are you showing such an interest in me after all this time?’ she asked, picking up her cup and saucer and holding on to them as though they were a lifeline. She needed a barrier between them—a brick wall would have been preferable! He was unnerving her with his intense blue eyes and thoughtful stare.

‘I didn’t expect you to walk out on me—not after our conversation,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t a very adult thing to do, was it? Unless, of course, there was some other reason that you left?’ His voice sharpened, became crisp and suspicious. ‘Something—or maybe someone—you didn’t tell me about?’

‘I simply couldn’t put up with your lifestyle,’ she flared. Had he no idea how abandoned she’d felt? Or how hurt she’d been? Or how foolish she’d felt for agreeing to marry him in the first place when he was so far out of her league? Her emotions had been all over the place—and he’d simply never seen it.

‘I saw more of our neighbour than I did you,’ she added defensively. ‘Maybe if you’d let me carry on working it wouldn’t have been so bad, but—’

‘Which neighbour?’ he cut in sharply.

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ exclaimed Keisha. ‘What’s that got to do with it? Mrs Smith—she used to pop round for a cup of tea now and then. Sometimes I’d take her shopping. She was very bad on her feet. But you wouldn’t know that, would you?’ she asked sarcastically. ‘You were never home long enough to get to know your neighbours.’

‘OK, enough about this Mrs Smith,’ he said. ‘I’m more interested in where you ran away to. Your mother was very protective of your privacy.’

‘What did you expect?’ asked Keisha. ‘Actually, I’m surprised you had time to search for me.’

His brows drew into a harsh frown. ‘You really believe I thought so little of you—and our marriage?’

Keisha shrugged. ‘It’s the impression you gave.’

‘You didn’t think it strange that I didn’t try to find you?’

‘I did, yes,’ she admitted. ‘But it simply confirmed my belief that you put your work first. Or that maybe you were relieved I’d given you the freedom to carry on your affairs?’

Hunter hissed his anger, and he was silent for several long seconds, fighting his inner tension. Finally he sighed. ‘It just goes to prove that you never really knew me. Where did you go?’

‘Scotland,’ she admitted quietly and reluctantly. ‘I rented a cottage and found myself a job.’

There must have been something in her voice, because Hunter frowned, his brows drawing together in total incredulity. ‘Scotland? About as far away as you could go without leaving the country. What did your mother think about you living so far away?’

‘We were in touch daily.’

‘But you didn’t come back down to see her?’ His tone was growing more and more disbelieving. And his voice was getting louder and louder.

‘I did occasionally,’ she admitted. ‘Naturally I’d have much rather she came to me, but she wasn’t in—’

‘You were afraid of bumping into me?’ he interrupted abrasively.

Keisha didn’t have to answer; it was there in her eyes.

‘Do you still hate me, Keisha?’

‘I’ve never hated you, Hunter,’ she answered, quietly and truthfully. ‘I simply wasn’t happy in our marriage. I wanted more from life.’

‘But you don’t love me either?’ His voice was equally low, and his eyes never left hers.

Keisha shook her head, at the same time shaking off the sensation of closeness that had suddenly overwhelmed her. ‘No!’ She shifted uneasily. Because, although she didn’t love him, she still found him devastatingly sexy. He still managed to arouse feelings inside her body that she would rather were not there.

A tiny smile played about Hunter’s generous lips.

Heaven help her if he ever found out the truth, Keisha thought to herself! One inch of encouragement and he would have her in his bed again before she could even think about it.

‘So what sort of work did you do in Scotland?’

Keisha was relieved that he’d changed the subject. Their conversation had been getting far too intimate for her liking.

‘I worked in an advertising office.’

Hunter’s brows rose. ‘Perhaps I know them?’

‘I wouldn’t think so,’ she said. ‘They were very small.’

‘Were you happy there?’

Keisha nodded.

‘And you had a boyfriend to keep you company?’

She let her breath out noisily. ‘Why do you keep asking? Of what interest is it to you?’

Hunter lifted his shoulders in a lazy shrug, his lips twisting at the corners. ‘Perhaps I just want to find out whether he—they—matched up to me?’ But although he gave the impression of being relaxed there was a tautness about him that Keisha could not help but notice.

He didn’t like to think that she’d been with any other man.

‘Such conceit!’ she tossed scornfully.

And nor did she want to think about the good times they’d had. No one could ever match up to him; that was a fact. ‘How about you?’ she asked, turning the tables. ‘How many girlfriends have you had?’

Dark brows rose. ‘Why should I have had any when the only girl I’ve ever truly loved walked out on me?’

Keisha’s head jerked. ‘Don’t try to fool me. There have always been other women in your life.’

Blue eyes met green. ‘I’m very serious. You’ve no idea, Keisha, how much you hurt me. When you filed for divorce I couldn’t believe it. I thought that when you’d had time to think things over you’d come back to me.’

‘Then you are either very stupid or very naïve,’ she declared strongly. ‘And I must be incredibly stupid to be sitting here having this conversation with you. It’s a complete waste of time.’

‘I’d like to take you out.’

Keisha closed her eyes briefly. There was one part of her, very deep down inside, that wanted to say yes. The part she had thought was dead and now found was very much alive. But the sane part of her mind knew what a mistake it would be.

Hunter had a massive ego if he really thought she would agree. ‘You’re unreal,’ she said.

‘Am I?’ he asked, his mouth curving into a smile. ‘Touch me. You’ll soon find out how real I am.’

‘You know what I’m talking about.’

‘No, I don’t. Tell me.’ He spread his hands expansively. ‘We have the whole evening.’

Keisha felt as though she would die from asphyxiation if he didn’t go soon. He was taking all the air from the room, filling it with a black fear that was totally inexplicable. Unless it was the feelings he was still able to invoke inside her that she was afraid of.

It was not a thought she found any pleasure in. In fact it both alarmed and horrified her. ‘No, we don’t have the whole evening,’ she said, quietly but firmly. ‘I want you to drink your coffee and go.’ She picked up her cup and took a swallow before realising that it was still too hot.

Gallantly, though, she did not show it. She waited for him to follow suit, and willed him to scald his throat. She wanted him to suffer as she had suffered. He still seemed to have no idea how much he had hurt her.

Although maybe—and it was just a little maybe—she was the one at fault. The simple truth was that she really hadn’t been mature enough for marriage. She’d had an idealistic dream of time spent together, of long, exciting love sessions, of making babies, and Hunter always at her side. When it hadn’t turned out like that, when he’d spent more time working than he had with her, when he’d come home smelling of someone else’s perfume, she’d known their marriage was over and had run like a scared cat.

Not only that, though, she’d had visions of her mother’s unhappy marriage—of a husband who neglected her, who was absent far more often than he was at home. Maybe for different reasons than Hunter’s, but even so it would almost have been like history repeating itself. It had ruined her mother’s health, and Keisha had been afraid that her own sanity would be at risk if she continued in her marriage any longer.

Hunter took one sip of his coffee and then put the cup back down. ‘Maybe I will go. Maybe tomorrow would be a better time to talk—when you’re in a more receptive frame of mind. I’ll pick you up at ten.’

And with that sweeping statement, before she could even say a word, he grabbed his jacket and walked out of the house.

Keisha was left feeling utterly inadequate. Why hadn’t she spoken? Why hadn’t she told him that she never wanted to see him again? Now she would be compelled to face him in the morning—and what was the betting that he wouldn’t take no for an answer a second time?

Sleep evaded her that night. Instead her mind went back to her first date with Hunter…

At twenty-nine, Hunter Donahue had been much older and far more sophisticated than Keisha, and when he’d turned up at her house looking suave and elegant, in dark trousers and a white shirt, she had felt sudden panic.

‘Wh-where are we going?’ she asked huskily as he escorted her out to his car.

‘The world’s our oyster. Where would you like to go?’

‘I don’t know,’ she whispered. ‘I’ll leave it up to you.’ Heavens, she was so nervous.

Hunter smiled, a lovely warm smile that began to melt the fear in her heart. ‘I know a nice quiet little restaurant by the river. Would that suit?’

Keisha nodded.

It was the beginning of a whirlwind affair. His kisses were to die for and his lovemaking out of this world. And when he proposed to her after they’d been going out for only a few weeks she could hardly believe it.

‘Are you serious?’ she asked. She wanted to say yes, she wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but she had to be sure first. This was a tremendous step.

‘Extremely serious,’ he answered, and his eyes told her that it was true. They were the most intense blue she had ever seen them, and he looked at her with so much love that she felt she would die.

Their wedding was a fairytale dream, and their honeymoon in Madeira out of this world, but what she hadn’t realised was that Hunter was obsessed with making money, and over the following months he spent so many hours at his office that she hardly saw him.

She felt distinctly lonely and neglected. She tried to keep herself busy, but there was a limit to what she could do, and even going to the gym didn’t help. She began to wonder whether he had tired of her, whether it was an affair that was keeping him away. He was sometimes too exhausted to make love, which was such a change from the rampant male he’d been in the early weeks of their marriage that there had to be something different happening in his life.

And when one night he returned home and she smelled another woman’s perfume on him her heart fell with a thud into the pit of her stomach.

‘Have you been with another woman?’ she asked fiercely, pulling away from his kiss and staring into the blueness of his eyes.

‘God, no!’ he exclaimed at once. ‘As if I’d do that.’

‘I can smell perfume on you.’

‘Maybe,’ he acknowledged with a shrug. ‘I’ve been entertaining a female client.’

‘And you got so close that her perfume is lingering on your clothes?’

Hunter pursed his lips wryly. ‘Actually, she—’

But Keisha didn’t want to listen to excuses. ‘Did you take her to bed?’ she asked swiftly.

Hunter stiffened, his blue eyes suddenly fierce and condemning. ‘Are you questioning my integrity? Don’t you love me enough to trust me?’

‘Of course I love you,’ she replied, noticing that he hadn’t actually answered her question. ‘The trouble is I love you too much. I miss you.’ It was a plea from her heart. ‘I want you, Hunter, so badly. I don’t want any other woman to have you.’

‘And none shall,’ he declared gruffly, folding her in his arms and kissing her soundly. That night his lovemaking was better than ever. And when he began to keep more reasonable hours Keisha knew that she had been mistaken.

But after a few weeks the late nights started all over again, and her insecurity grew to such an extent that she couldn’t help tackling him. ‘Who is it this time that’s keeping you away from me?’ she demanded to know. She had waited up for him and began her attack the moment he entered the house. ‘The same woman or someone else?’

Hunter frowned harshly. ‘Keisha, I will not allow these ridiculous accusations. What the hell’s the matter with you? Have I ever given you reason to think that I’m having an affair?’

‘Yes—you had perfume on you,’ she riposted quickly.

‘And do I have a woman’s perfume on me now?’ he asked, pulling her close. ‘Go on, smell me! Do I?’

Keisha had to confess that he didn’t. ‘I can’t think of any other reason why you keep such ridiculous hours if it’s not a woman,’ she retorted. ‘It’s not as though you need the money. Your company’s doing very well.’

‘And why is it doing well?’ he asked fiercely. ‘Because I put in all the hours God gives to make it that way. It’s my driving force—haven’t you realised that yet? And while we’re on the subject of infidelity, perhaps I should be the one questioning you?’

Keisha head jerked and she frowned. What was he talking about?

‘Do you realise how often you mention Marc Collins these days?’

‘Do I?’ she asked. She wasn’t aware of it.

‘Yes, you do,’ he answered, his voice abrasive, his eyes accusing. ‘And you seem to be going to the gym far more frequently. Maybe I’m the one who has reason to be suspicious?’

Keisha laughed. ‘Really, Hunter, he’s just a friend. I told you that. Don’t you believe that a woman can have a male friend?’ Hunter was never around long enough for her to have a decent conversation. She needed someone to talk to, and Marc was always willing to lend an ear.

‘Not a woman as sexy as you,’ he growled, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Hot, passionate kisses, punishing kisses. And soon Marc was forgotten. Everything was forgotten—except the heady excitement of exploring each other’s bodies.

Somehow they seesawed their way through marriage for almost twelve months. There were times when everything went along smoothly and she was the happiest woman alive, and others when her uncertainties reared their ugly heads and they had unholy rows.