Bedded At His Convenience

Finally Keisha was forced to accept that enough was enough. She couldn’t punish herself any longer.

CHAPTER THREE

‘I’M LEAVING YOU, Hunter.’

A frown sliced into Hunter’s brow, so deep that it might have been cut by a razor, and he stared at her in total disbelief. ‘Keisha, tell me you’re joking.’

‘I’m deadly serious,’ she said quietly.

‘But why?’ He looked genuinely surprised.

‘Do I have to spell it out?’ she asked impatiently. ‘Isn’t it obvious? The rows we’ve been having, the hours you keep. I can’t put up with it any longer. I want a husband who cares.’

It was partly her own fault, she realised that. She ought never to have married so young, and especially not to a man who thought more of his work than he did her. But that didn’t alter the fact that she was dreadfully unhappy.

‘Keisha, of course I care about you.’ He tried to take her into his arms but she pushed him away. ‘I love you deeply,’ he told her, his expression confirming his words. ‘You’re the best part of my life.’

Her eyes flared a brilliant green. ‘Then it’s a pity you haven’t thought about that before. Because I don’t want to be married to you any longer. My bags are already packed. I’m leaving first thing in the morning.’

‘You can’t do this.’ Hunter’s voice rose, loud and angry.

‘Believe me, I can,’ she retorted.

‘I won’t let you.’ He stood tall and proud, looking down at her with eyes full of fury. ‘You married me for better or for worse.’

‘Then I was a fool,’ she snapped. ‘Because I didn’t realise how bad the worse would be. I can’t take any more.’

His jaw tightened and his eyes became frighteningly black. But Keisha refused to back down. If she did so now she would be condemning herself to a lifetime of hell. She ought not to have told him that she was going; she ought to have just left.

Had she been subconsciously wondering whether he would persuade her to stay? Whether he would promise to change his habits? If so she was a fool, because Hunter would never change—not in a hundred years.

‘I love you, Keisha.’

He said it so calmly that it was scary.

‘And if you’d stop being angry for a moment you’d admit that you need me.’

If he thought that much of her he wouldn’t neglect her, thought Keisha. She wanted to be out enjoying life with him. She’d just turned twenty for goodness’ sake; she couldn’t handle these long nights in alone. The days were bad enough, but the evenings as well…

‘Yes, I do need you,’ she answered sadly. ‘That’s the whole point. I need you but I haven’t got you.’

They talked long into the night, and when they finally went to bed Hunter pulled her into his arms and made sure that she felt safe and cherished. Hunter in this mood she wouldn’t dream of leaving, but she knew that his promises never lasted.

The next morning he made her swear that she’d still be there when he got back, but Keisha had no intention of keeping her promise. As soon as he’d gone she slung her bags into her car and left the house for good.

Keisha’s retrospective thoughts had kept her awake for most of the night; nevertheless she was ready when Hunter came to pick her up the next morning. Not that she welcomed the prospect of spending time with him. If she’d known where to contact him she would have phoned and cancelled their date.

If it could be called a date!

He had coerced her into it. As far as she was concerned they had nothing to say to each other. The past was just that—past. There was no point bringing it up, discussing what might have been. It was over, done with. They were divorced. Why did he want to see her again?

He arrived at ten on the dot, devastatingly handsome in grey trousers and a white silk shirt. Despite her misgivings, Keisha’s heart skipped a beat.

She had dressed down deliberately, in a pair of white trousers and a cerise top, and she didn’t expect Hunter to pass any comment.

But he did.

‘You look good,’ he said. ‘Not at all as though you’ve spent a sleepless night wondering how you can get out of seeing me.’

Keisha frowned. How did he know that she’d lain awake? Unless, of course, he had done exactly the same. She looked carefully for shadows beneath his eyes but there none. He was the same as always. Gorgeously sexy!

There ought to be a law forbidding men to look like he did. It should never be allowed. His face was strong, with a square jaw and beautifully moulded lips. She only had to look at them to want to feel his kisses.

She gave her head a mental shake, trying to squash both her thoughts and her traitorous feelings. ‘If you had an ounce of decency you would have cancelled,’ she told him coolly. ‘In fact I don’t know why you asked me out in the first place. Talking won’t help. We’re two different people now, each with our own lives. We have nothing in common.’

‘I beg to differ.’ A wide smile stretched those kissable lips, revealing equally beautiful white teeth. Was there nothing about this man that was not perfect? Keisha asked herself.

‘We have a marriage in common.’

Keisha looked sceptically into his eyes. ‘Was it ever a real marriage?’ And, with a complete change of subject, ‘Where are we going?’

‘I thought maybe a picnic somewhere.’

Keisha looked at his smart linen trousers and expensive white shirt. ‘A picnic?’ she asked, her tone incredulous, her fine brows rising.

‘Have you any better suggestions?’

She could tell him to get lost. Would that do any good? She doubted it. ‘None,’ she answered abruptly.

‘One thing we do need is privacy,’ he said. ‘And since you don’t seem to think much of my suggestion I think maybe I’ll take you back to my house. We can picnic on my lawn, if you like,’ he added with a whimsical smile. ‘Or maybe we’ll be a bit more sophisticated and go out for lunch—after we’ve talked.’

Keisha knew she had no choice. She ought not to have opened the door to him. Or, better still, she ought to have gone out and let him fume on her doorstep. It was a ridiculous situation.

‘Or we can talk here, and then I can throw you out when I’ve had enough,’ she declared, her lips tight, her green eyes revealing inner tension. Which was enough to make her feel like an over-tight guitar string that might snap at any moment.

‘No!’ he declared firmly. ‘We need space.’

‘In case I throw something at you?’

Hunter smiled. ‘Maybe.’

And so he drove her to his house on the outskirts of the City. It wasn’t like the one they’d bought in Surrey when they’d got married. It was a mansion in all but name. Keisha’s eyes widened when she saw it. ‘You’ve certainly gone up in the world,’ she said.

It had a security gate at the end of the drive, and looked like something out of a period movie. As they drove up to the house she saw lawns leading down to the Thames, and a boat moored to a wide wooden deck.

‘Like I said, my business is doing very well for itself,’ he said. ‘It’s far exceeded my dreams.’

‘And I suppose you’re still putting in those ludicrous hours?’ she challenged. ‘Why do you need a house this size if there’s only you living here?’ What she was really asking was whether there was another woman in his life.

‘Because I entertain a lot,’ he answered. ‘I hold corporate meetings here—business weekends, in fact. It works better than booking conference rooms. I have loyal staff who do all the organising and look after my every need.’

Keisha’s brows rose. This was money talking. Real money. And here was she without a penny to call her own. Was she sorry that she was not a part of it? Or glad? Would she have enjoyed all these trappings of wealth? Who knew what might have happened if she hadn’t run out on him?

Hunter had also lain awake for a good deal of last night. He’d been flabbergasted when he saw Keisha. Considering that she had disappeared without trace, it had been like seeing an apparition. She was still beautiful, despite how thin she was, and regardless of the way she’d treated him he couldn’t help thinking how much he’d lost.

He’d thought their marriage was perfect, and had found it hard to believe that she’d wanted to leave him. When he had discovered that blaming his hard work had been nothing more than a smokescreen, when he’d seen her with her arms around another man, all hell had broken loose inside him.

And now that they’d met again he’d spent all night working out how to get his revenge. It was a simple plan, really. He would make her fall in love with him again and then he would dump her—just as callously as she had dumped him. She would experience hurt and pain and bewilderment; she would rack her brains to find out where she had failed him.

It would destroy her.

While he would feel nothing except triumph.

But first would be the very pleasurable experience of gaining her trust again. He might hate her for walking out on him, for cheating on him, for making him look like a fool, but he still ached for her sexy little body. And he fully intended to take advantage of it!

Hunter watched her face as he showed her over his house. He was proud of his achievement, and Keisha’s expression was stunned to say the least. Was she regretting walking away from all that he could have given her?

It was hard to believe that she was still living in the same tiny cottage that she’d been brought up in. He was naturally sorry to hear that her mother had died, but surely Keisha could have done better for herself? To still live in that cramped little house didn’t make sense.

‘What do you think?’ he asked as they finished their inside tour and began walking down towards the river.

‘It’s magnificent,’ she said.

‘And it could all have been yours,’ he responded, quietly awaiting her reaction.

Not that Keisha had ever wished for the moon. Indeed, she’d been shocked when he had asked her out on their first date. He had almost expected her to say, Who? Me? and look round to see if there was anyone behind her.

He had discovered that she worked mainly to support her mother, and although he still found it hard to understand why she had run away from him, he had found it inconceivable to believe she had left her mother in the lurch too.

Perhaps she’d been sending money to her parent? Salving her conscience that way? Whatever the situation, he’d not been able to find out about it. Keisha’s mother had kept admirably quiet about her daughter’s whereabouts. For that he respected her, even though it had angered him at the time when she’d stonewalled every enquiry he made.

Keisha must have cast him as the biggest villain out.

And now she was going to get her just deserts.

‘I’m waiting for your answer,’ he said.

Keisha frowned. ‘Did you ask me something?’

‘I said all this could have been yours. Do you have any regrets?’ He watched her face closely. It hadn’t changed much. With her green eyes and dimples and her smooth skin it still held the innocence that had first attracted him.

She shook her head vehemently. ‘None at all! I’m not materialistic—you should know that.’

‘So you prefer living in your mother’s old house?’

‘I have little choice.’

He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean I can’t afford to move.’

Hunter looked at her closely, and for the first time saw the pain deep behind her eyes. He took her arm and led her to the rose arbour. ‘I think we need to talk.’

Keisha looked as though she didn’t want to, but he was determined to find out what had happened to make her so vulnerable. He felt fairly certain that it had nothing to do with her walking out on him.

Had the boyfriend something to do with it? Had he left her in the lurch? Anger filled him. This was the woman he had once loved; he would never have hurt her. Never! And to think that someone else had made his blood boil!

‘So why can’t you afford it?’ It was hard keeping his voice quiet and even, but he knew that if he wanted her to talk then he would have to. ‘What are you doing these days?’

Keisha shrugged. ‘Temporary work.’

‘Why haven’t you got a permanent job?’ he queried.

‘Because,’ she said, so softly that he assumed she didn’t really want him to hear, ‘I was out of work for a long time looking after my mother, and now it seems no one wants to employ me.’

‘Really?’ Far from feeling sorry for her he felt pleased. In fact he felt jubilant. Fate was on his side. She was playing right into his hands. This could work very well to his advantage. ‘Maybe I can help?’

Keisha looked at him warily. ‘I want nothing from you.’

‘Can you afford to turn me down?’ he asked, keeping his voice low and sympathetic.

He saw her brace herself; he saw her struggling with emotion. ‘I couldn’t work for you. Not again.’

Hunter allowed himself a small smile. ‘Maybe you need time to think it over?’

Keisha closed her eyes. What she ought to do was snap his hand off. She needed a good, solid job—desperately! She would be a fool not to take him up on his offer. But working for Hunter again? How soul destroying would that be?

Except that maybe she wouldn’t see much of him. He was the top man; he was very busy; he would be here, there and everywhere. Perhaps even abroad a lot of the time? She would have nothing to worry about.

She was very much aware of the clean, fresh masculine smell of him, so close to her nostrils that it was like breathing him in, filling herself with his sexy male body, allowing memories to come flooding back.

One memory in particular.

It had been their honeymoon night. They had showered after their flight, and then sat on their hotel balcony watching the incessant movement of the ocean, watching a blood-red sun slowly sink, marvelling at the drama taking place in the sky.

Their balcony hadn’t been overlooked, and both of them had been as naked as the day they were born. Hunter had warned her on the flight over that this was the way he intended to keep her for the whole seven days.

An army of butterflies had filled Keisha’s stomach at the prospect, but her inhibitions had flown once they were there, and there on their balcony the scent of Hunter had drugged her. She’d no longer wanted to watch the sea or the sky; she’d wanted to make love!

She’d drunk in the essence of him, inhaled it deep into her soul, and then she had taken him by the hand and led him through to their bedroom. What had happened afterwards had been out of this world. There on that magical island, on that first night of the rest of their life together, they had reached heights never dreamed of—and she had thought if that was what their future was going to be like then she was one hell of a happy woman.

But of course it hadn’t ended up like that, and drinking him in now, smelling that same pagan smell, feeling sensations desperately trying to make themselves known all over again, created an irrational fear.

Fear and need!

Foolish desire!

Having anything to do with Hunter was a disaster waiting to happen.

And yet she needed a job. He was her only hope! He was offering her a lifeline. It would be stupid to throw it back in his face because of something that had happened three years ago.

‘Have you thought about it?’

‘What would I be doing?’ she asked next.

Hunter gave her a devilish smile. ‘My PA is about to go on maternity leave. I’ve not yet found a replacement. You’ll do very nicely.’

Keisha was horrified. She couldn’t! She wouldn’t! She wanted distance between them, not togetherness.

‘You look shocked!’

‘I am. I can’t work that closely with you.’

‘Why ever not?’ he asked pleasantly, though she feared his pleasantness was that of a wolf about to pounce.

‘Because—because…’ Her voice tailed off miserably. She could come up with no convincing justification.

‘There, you see—you have no excuse.’ Hunter’s lips curled upwards in a gleeful smile. ‘The matter’s settled.’

‘No, it isn’t,’ declared Keisha bravely. ‘I need time to think about it. I hadn’t envisaged working so closely with you. I’ll think about it overnight and give you my decision in the morning.’

Hunter’s smile was slow and confident. ‘And we both know what it will be.’

Keisha shook her head. ‘No, we don’t. Maybe I do need a job, but I’m not that desperate.’

Mocking brows lifted. ‘Brave words, my beautiful Keisha! If what you’ve told me is true, then you’d be a fool to turn me down.’

She didn’t think so. She would be a fool to line herself up for more heartache—because surely that was what would happen? Spending time together would be disastrous.

‘You think what you like,’ she tossed irritably. ‘I’d like to go home now.’

‘But you’ve only just got here,’ he declared with a fierce frown.

‘I made a mistake. And if you don’t want to take me I’ll ring for a taxi.’

‘And spend money you can ill afford?’ he queried irritably. ‘If you’re that determined I’ll take you.’

But he wasn’t pleased, and he drove her home in grim-faced silence.

Keisha was relieved that he wasn’t speaking, because she had nothing to say to him. Her thoughts were too full. His job offer was more than generous, given their circumstances, and the practical half of her knew that she ought to jump at it. But the sane half, the half that was afraid of what might happen between them, told her she would be a fool to even think of accepting.

He drew up outside her house and finally spoke. ‘I can’t keep my offer open. I need someone straight away.’ He was in business mode now, serious and brusque. ‘Ring me first thing tomorrow or forget it.’

Keisha shot out of the car. ‘I’ll forget it.’ And she slammed the door.

So that was that, she thought as she let herself in. She’d turned down the only decent job offer she was likely to get. Was she stupid or what?

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