The Marriage Risk

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Besides, what was the point in planting false images of her in his mind? What would it win her in the end? She wanted to be wanted for herself, not fancied as some kind of sexual contestant.

‘I’m me and I’m not going to pretend to be anything else,’ she stated emphatically.

‘Neither you should,’ Josh agreed. ‘Being you is perfect.’

‘Perfect for what?’ she demanded suspiciously.

‘Titillating him to death.’ He gave her a smugly satisfied look. ‘You did want him to burn, Lucy love. If nothing else, we have achieved that objective.’

True, she told herself.

Let him burn.

He’d made her burn all day.

Vengeance was sweet.

She could hand in her notice with the sense she’d had the last word with James Hancock. He’d be left thinking he’d missed out on something. And he had. She was worth more than the label of secretary.

CHAPTER FOUR

JAMES was not enjoying himself.

He couldn’t fault the food served. It was gourmet standard. Yet he found himself irritated by the bits of decorative garnishes that were so artistically arranged on each plate. Pretentious garbage. He had a perverse desire for something plain and solid, like sausages and mash. But he made all the right noises, joining in the general chorus of approval.

Adding to his irritation was Buffy’s vapid conversation. She was just like the gourmet food—pretty to look at, no substance. And her gaze kept sliding to Josh Rogan, who was clearly enjoying himself immensely, the life of the party, happily making everyone else happy, and dominating Lucy’s attention.

Not that she hung on his every word. Surprisingly enough, she seemed to be her usual contained self, playing the straight woman to her lover’s sparkle. Except on the dance-floor. She certainly wasn’t straight there. She melted into the music, revealing a sensual suppleness that obviously reflected what she was like in bed, since she had a guy like Josh Rogan coming back for more and more whenever she wanted him.

She was a tantalising mix, and most irritating of all was her prickly coolness to him. Each time he’d tried to engage her in conversation, she gave a few polite replies—the absolute minimum without being rude—then turned her attention to whatever else was being said around the table.

Paying him back for sitting her next to him, he’d concluded, her resentment at being reminded of work on her night off made very plain. It hadn’t exactly been tactful of him to call her his punctilious secretary in front of everyone. He suspected it had put her off-side with him in more ways than one.

Even when he’d casually touched her she’d removed the contact as though he were a poisonous snake, a fierce rejection coming at him in tumultuous waves. Plus the accompanying look at Buffy, as if to say, ‘There’s your touchable doll. Paw her, not me, thank you.’

The more he thought about it, the more he decided Lucy Worthington was a control junkie. She remained on top of every situation at work. She had Josh Rogan on a string which she pulled in whenever it suited her. And she was very tight with money. In fact, the only time he’d ever seen her part with unnecessary dollars was when he’d hassled her into buying tickets in tonight’s raffle—probably the first and only raffle tickets she’d ever bought.

‘For the children, not the car,’ she’d said, scorning his sales patter.

No doubt Lucy considered an Alpha Spider sports car a frivolous impracticality. Since she couldn’t control the weather, a convertible would never be her pick for day-to-day travelling. If she chose to acquire a car at all, it would be a reliable hard-top with low fuel consumption.

James was sinking into a morose mood when one of the band members came to him, asking to have a private word. He quickly excused himself from the table, grateful to seize any diversion from the problem he had with Lucy. Besides, not involving her in any work-related issue demonstrated he was true to his word about leaving her free to enjoy herself tonight. Maybe she wouldn’t be quite so prickly with him when he came back.

Lucy watched him go and hoped he’d never come back. He stirred so much tension in her, it was impossible to relax and enjoy herself. She took a long deep breath, trying to loosen up as she slowly released it, only to be then landed with Buffy Tanner who slid onto the chair James had vacated, determined on having a woman-to-woman chat.

‘I love your boyfriend,’ she purred into Lucy’s ear. ‘Where did you find such a gorgeous hunk?’

‘Oh, I’ve known Josh for years,’ she answered, not wanting to get specific.

‘Why haven’t you married him then?’

Lucy allowed herself a dry smile. ‘That wouldn’t suit either of us.’

Satisfaction oozed from Buffy. ‘You mean he likes to stay free-wheeling.’

‘We simply respect each other’s life-style, Buffy.’

She nodded happily. ‘I like that. James is such a grump about punctuality. He doesn’t make any concessions.’

‘A flaw in paradise?’

‘What?’

‘I mean…everything isn’t rosy in your relationship with James.’

She shrugged. ‘Oh, he’s so high-powered all the time. You must know what he’s like, working for him. Always thinking about what’s got to be done. Pressure, pressure, pressure.’

‘Mmmh…that’s probably what makes him successful.’

‘I guess so.’ Buffy didn’t seem sure that success was worth so much attention. ‘He is good at sex,’ she added as though that was some compensation. Then leaning forward confidentially, ‘I bet Josh is, too.’

‘Mmmh,’ Lucy agreed out of pride.

‘Is he really built?’

‘What?’

Buffy wrinkled her nose. ‘You know. Some guys can have a great-looking physique, but when you get them down to the buff…very disappointing.’

Not knowing how to answer, Lucy blurted out, ‘I take it James isn’t disappointing.’

‘Not in that area. He’s big. And a real pistol. He can go on and on and on,’ Buffy assured her, rolling her eyes appreciatively. ‘What about Josh?’

Lucy took another deep breath, desperate to somehow get this conversation steered onto other ground. As it was, she didn’t know how she was going to control her thoughts once James returned to his chair.

‘Josh has never disappointed me,’ she said truthfully, though the claim had nothing to do with sex. She turned curiously to Buffy. ‘Do you always rate men on how they perform in bed?’

‘Well, it is a big thing, isn’t it?’ Buffy reasoned. ‘After all, it’s what they want us for, so it’s a dumb deal if we don’t get satisfaction.’

‘What about a sense of companionship? Enjoying other things together?’

‘Huh! In my experience, men only put up with what I want to do, to get what’s coming at the end of it. Sex is our bargaining chip, and I, for one, am not going to be a loser.’

Lucy had never thought of the relationship between men and women in such stark trading terms and it set her wondering how true Buffy’s vision was. She didn’t like it. She wanted to believe that one day she might have the best of both worlds, the kind of companionship she shared with Josh, plus the passionate sexual desire she wished she could share with James.

The band started playing again so whatever problem had arisen was apparently resolved. Her gaze fastened on James, striding back towards their table, and before she could stop the downward slide, she found herself staring at the movement of his thighs and thinking of what Buffy had said. Which so appalled her, a tide of heat burned up her neck and scorched her cheeks.

She snatched up her glass of champagne—assiduously re-filled by their waiter whenever the content lowered—and tried to bury her shame in it. Buffy, having also noticed James’ approach, leapt to her feet, skirted Lucy’s chair, and accosted Josh, leaning invitingly over his shoulder.