скачать книгу бесплатно
‘I’ll just go over and check this in,’ he said smoothly after she turned to finally look at him. ‘Then we can proceed.’
He walked the same way he did everything, she noted ruefully. With style and casual elegance. Nothing hurried. Nothing awkward. Far too soon he was walking back towards her, this time his gaze openly admiring.
‘Nothing beats a little black dress, does it?’ he said as he took her elbow and steered her over to the bank of lifts. ‘The concierge informed me that the ballroom is on the first floor,’ he added, before she could ask what in hell he was doing. Not that she would have phrased it like that.
Still, she extricated her arm from his hold as soon as possible, sending him a look that held the silent but definite message that he was to keep his hands to himself. No way was she going to let him take control of the evening. Or of her. No way!
* * *
Jeremy resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. But truly, she was like a heroine out of a Victorian romance novel. Not that he’d read any, but he could imagine what such a woman would be like. All prissy and uptight, looking down her nose at men, especially ones who dared put a finger on her virginal flesh.
Alice would have been perfect for such a role, except for three factors. First, that dress. Strapless and very fitted, it gave him a clear picture of what she would look like naked. Very nice indeed, with high firm breasts, an athletically flat stomach, a deliciously small waist, long shapely legs and just enough hip and bottom for stroking. Second was the way she’d stared at him when she’d first arrived. That was not the stare of some prissy virgin. Her eyes had fairly ogled him, betraying that she’d found him as sexually attractive as he found her.
And then there was the way her whole body had quivered when his hand had brushed the back of her neck. It had been quite accidental. Jeremy wasn’t in the habit of indulging in sly, lecherous touching. He never needed to. That Alice had reacted in such a way had been very telling. The woman who’d wrenched out of his hold just now should have whirled around and glared her disapproval. But she hadn’t.
During the short ride up to the first floor in the lift, Jeremy concluded that Alice Waterhouse was nothing but a fraud. Her Ice Princess act with him was just that. An act. What was behind this pretence, he had no idea. But he aimed to find out.
CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_43186017-18c2-5cef-b27b-1c561efb7b20)
THE BALLROOM WAS INDEED, Alice already knew, on the first floor. She’d been there earlier today, checking that everything was being set up according to her instructions. She’d also taken personal responsibility for putting the name cards in place, having paid great attention to the guests’ wishes when it came to seating. Each card also doubled as an auction number, being T-shaped, with the guest’s name on the front and their number on the back.
Alice exited the lift first, anxious not to give Jeremy the opening to take her arm once more. She hated having to be rude, but she would be, if she had to. And she would have to if he kept manhandling her, his touch doing things to her body that didn’t bear thinking about.
‘It’s just along here,’ she said, and hurried down the carpeted corridor.
He kept up with her easily, his stride almost twice one of hers. Of course, he was a good six inches taller than she was, with long legs. Plus she couldn’t walk all that fast in four-inch heels and a short, tight skirt.
The corridor eventually opened out into a larger space where a couple of staff members were putting the finishing touches to a bar area along one wall.
‘Pre-dinner drinks are scheduled from seven-thirty onwards,’ Alice said crisply as she walked over and pulled open one of the closed double doors that led into the ballroom, her eyes finally forced to meet those of her companion. ‘The official time for the dinner to start is eight-thirty. I asked you to be here at seven so that you would have time to read through the list of items to be auctioned, and to discuss how you might want to proceed.’
‘Proceed?’ he echoed in that wonderfully rich voice of his, stepping forward to hold the door open for her.
Alice smothered a sigh. Trust him to have gallant manners. She supposed it was part of his seductive armoury to play the gentleman with women. No doubt he would pull out chairs and hold taxi doors open. And always wear a condom.
Alice only just managed not to gasp at this last thought. Where in heaven’s name had that come from? Okay, so she found Jeremy Barker-Whittle attractive. Any woman would. He was drop-dead gorgeous. But finding him attractive was a far cry from thinking about having sex with him. Yet, as her gaze dropped from his beautiful blue eyes to his wickedly sexy mouth, she couldn’t help wonder what it would be like to go to bed with him. He must be good at it, she reasoned, if Fiona’s sister hadn’t stopped raving about him. She’d met Fiona’s sister, who was a real party girl. She’d sleep with anything in trousers, according to Fiona. So Melody must have slept with Jeremy.
‘Cat got your tongue?’ he said with a wry smile.
Alice blinked, swallowed, then shot him a small, stiff smile. ‘Sorry. I had this sudden awful thought which distracted me.’
‘Anything I should know about?’
‘Not at all,’ she said, thankful that she wasn’t a blusher these days. She had been once, but not any longer. Working in women’s refuges had toughened her up considerably. ‘I’ve been a little OCD about the seating arrangements for dinner and it suddenly occurred to me that I might have made a mistake on one table.’ Lord, but she was better at lying than she would ever have imagined. ‘Still, nothing that can’t be rectified,’ she went on. ‘Now, what I meant by how to proceed is do you want to have the whole auction after dinner, or sell off a few items between courses?’
‘Definitely sell off a few items between courses. It will keep the guests in a buying mood. And stop them from getting bored.’
‘I agree. Right. Follow me.’
* * *
Jeremy followed her into the ballroom, appreciating the sight of her satin-encased derrière much more than her still less than warm demeanour. The ice in her voice and eyes might have melted a little but there was still a long way to go before he could confidently engage her in a conversation that might satisfy his curiosity over her, as well as give him an opening to ask her out. Still, he had several hours in which to achieve his goal.
Alice led him between a myriad of circular tables, each one set to a high standard with white linen tablecloths, silver cutlery, crystal glasses and beautifully appointed name cards placed at each setting. Every table had a number in the centre, which no doubt had been emailed to the guests so that they knew where to head on entering. That was what had happened at the last charity dinner Jeremy had been to, the one that had bored him to tears.
He already knew that this evening’s dinner would not bore him in the slightest. In fact, Jeremy was looking forward to every intriguing second.
‘It all looks splendid,’ he complimented in Alice’s wake.
She didn’t stop or turn around, just said a cool, ‘Yes, it does...’ over her shoulder.
Jeremy frowned, wondering exactly what was bugging the lovely Miss Waterhouse. Surely she didn’t act like this with every man she met. Was it him personally, or something else? Maybe she’d had a row with someone. The missing boyfriend perhaps?
‘You organised all this by yourself?’ he threw after her.
‘Most of it,’ she tossed back at him. ‘The hotel staff were very helpful, of course.’
They arrived at the stage, which ran across the far end of the ballroom and which could be used for many purposes. Concerts. Award nights. Presentations. Whatever. Tonight it was set up with a podium in the middle, a microphone attached. There was a long wooden table behind it, which held an array of objects and a laptop computer, open, at one end. Clearly, this was where Alice would be standing, handing him items and jotting down the numbers of the winning bidder.
A man wouldn’t want to be of a nervous disposition, Jeremy thought as he glanced up at the podium. Fortunately, he wasn’t. But he wondered how Jacobs would have coped. Not that he knew the man well. Kenneth could be a secret exhibitionist for all he knew. Lazy did not mean shy.
There were three flights of steps, which led up onto the stage. One at each end and one in the middle. Alice stopped at the base of the one in the middle and finally turned to face him. She looked a little flushed in the face, but her eyes remained cool.
‘I left the list of items for sale on the podium,’ she told him. ‘Perhaps you could have a look at them whilst I go check that seating.’
‘Okay,’ he agreed, and watched as she wound her way back through the tables, not stopping till she reached the one nearest the door, at which point he shrugged and made his way up onto the stage.
The list of items was extensive and varied. Sporting and entertainment memorabilia. Several dinners for two at five-star restaurants. A family weekend at a B&B in Weymouth. A short holiday for two in Spain. Premiere seats to a rock concert. Return flights to various European capitals. An oil painting of the Duchess of Cambridge by an up-and-coming London artist. Last but not least was the privilege of having Kenneth use a person’s name—amend that to two—in his next thriller.
Jeremy didn’t take long to scan the list, replacing it on the podium before taking a moment to inspect the wooden gavel, even giving it a practice bang, which echoed through the cavernous room and had several waiters lifting their heads for a moment. Not Alice, however, who was already no longer at the table near the doors. Jeremy wondered if that had just been an excuse not to remain in his company longer than strictly necessary. His teeth clenched in his jaw as he made his way down from the stage and headed for the exit. Frankly, he was beginning to feel slightly peeved. And confused. What was it about him that she didn’t like? He wasn’t used to women not liking him. He certainly wasn’t used to being given the cold shoulder.
Jeremy soon saw that Alice wasn’t outside in the pre-dinner drinks area, either. People had begun to arrive, but it wasn’t crowded enough for him not to spot her. Creamy blonde hair like hers did stand out.
‘Jeremy Barker-Whittle!’ a male voice boomed out from just behind his shoulder. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’
Jeremy turned with some reluctance to face the owner of that voice. George Peterson had been a client of his when he’d been an investment consultant. The owner of several car yards, he had entrusted Jeremy with building his considerable savings into an early retirement portfolio. Fortunately, Jeremy had obliged. George was in his late fifties, his wife around the same age, Jeremy liking the fact that George hadn’t traded his wife in for a younger model as most self-made men seemed to do at some stage.
George beamed at him. ‘I was talking to Mandy here about you the other day, wasn’t I, love? I said whatever am I going to do now that Jeremy’s no longer looking after my money? I got so nervous last month that I cashed in all my stocks and shares and put them in the bank.’
‘Not such a bad move, George. Things are very volatile at the moment. Still, your money’s not going to grow much sitting in the bank. Perhaps you should think about buying property.’
‘See, what did I tell you, love? Jeremy’s always got his finger on the pulse. So what are you up to these days, lad? Got a proper girlfriend yet or are you still playing the field?’
It was ironic that Alice came into view right at that moment, smiling and chatting with people as she worked the room, a glass of champagne in her right hand. Their eyes met and Jeremy smiled at her, at which point George’s ruddy face swivelled round to see what he was smiling at.
‘Very nice,’ George said, thankfully in a low voice. ‘Is she your date for tonight?’
‘No,’ Jeremy admitted. ‘She’s the lady who’s organised this do. Her name’s Alice Waterhouse. Alice!’ he called out, and beckoned her over. ‘Come and meet some very good friends of mine,’ he added, smiling at the thought that she could hardly avoid him now.
‘I know Alice,’ Mandy piped up. ‘I spoke to her on the phone when I first got her email about tonight. When I told her how much a fan I was of Kenneth Jacobs’s books, she said she’d put me on the same table as him.’
* * *
Alice plastered a smile on her face and went to meet Jeremy’s very good friends.
Jeremy introduced them, Alice quickly remembering her phone conversation with Mandy.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said straight away, glad to be able to direct her conversation towards anyone but the very annoying Jeremy, who continued to smile at her in that smug fashion, as though they had some kind of secret relationship going on. ‘Mr Jacobs can’t be here tonight. He’s got a dreadful cold. We’re still auctioning off his prize, though. His publisher here has very kindly agreed to do the auctioneering honours tonight.’ With that, she served Jeremy with a saccharine smile that didn’t touch her eyes.
‘What?’ George’s eyes widened with surprise. ‘Is she talking about you, Jeremy?’
‘She is indeed.’
‘When did you become a publisher?’
‘Shortly after I left banking.’
‘Is there money in it?’
‘Probably not,’ Jeremy said drily. ‘But as they say in the classics, it’s not always about the money.’
George guffawed. ‘That’s a good one. A Barker-Whittle saying it’s not about the money.’
Alice noticed that Jeremy’s eyes stopped sparkling for a split second. Not that she cared.
A waiter with a tray of drinks paused next to their group, offering them flutes of champagne or orange juice. They all selected champagne, all except Alice who already had a glass, which she was not actually drinking. She couldn’t afford to get tipsy, not if she had to deal with lover boy all night. Her vain attempt to avoid him till dinner hadn’t worked, she conceded with a degree of frustration.
‘I really should mingle,’ Alice said. ‘I’ll see you all at dinner, since we’re on the same table.’
‘How lovely!’ Mandy gushed.
‘I’ll mingle with you,’ Jeremy offered immediately.
‘No need to do that,’ Alice blurted out in alarm. ‘You should stay and look after your friends.’
‘We don’t need looking after, little lady,’ George retorted. ‘Off you go, both of you.’
The conspiratorial smirk he sent Jeremy did not escape Alice’s notice. Lord knew what he’d said to the man.
‘Why did George look at you like that?’ she asked bluntly as she made her way through the milling crowd, Jeremy at her side.
‘Like what?’
She ground to a halt and glared up at him. ‘Like he was secretly playing matchmaker.’
‘Can’t say that I noticed.’
Alice sighed in exasperation.
‘George is a bit of a romantic,’ he added. ‘Take no notice of him.’
She was struggling to find something to say when Jeremy was claimed by another couple who knew him, this time some television executive and his wife. And that was how it went for the next forty minutes, lots of other guests vying for his attention as if he were some kind of celebrity, all of them assuming she was his girlfriend, something he occasionally didn’t deny. Not that that stopped the women from flirting with him. Neither did it stop her feeling ridiculously, irrationally jealous.
Irritated and confused, Alice had difficulty maintaining her usual calm demeanour. Finally, the urge to snap something rather rude at an over-made-up blonde whose false eyelashes were in danger of falling off she was fluttering them so much, almost overwhelmed Alice. Sucking in a deep, gathering breath, she turned to Jeremy, smiling up at him in a somewhat brittle fashion. ‘Sorry, Jeremy, but I must visit the ladies’ room before the evening begins. I’ll see you later at the table. Ours is table number one.’
The relief she felt at exiting his presence was enormous. But the sight of her over-bright eyes in the powder-room mirror was both telling and worrying. Be careful, Alice, she warned herself. Be very, very careful.
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_77ef54f4-44ce-5880-aa10-56b3926688ee)
JEREMY FOUND GEORGE and his wife before entering the ballroom at twenty-five minutes past eight, chatting away with them as they made their way to table one, which was right at the front of the room near the stage. Alice was nowhere to be seen, her continued absence frustrating him. Never one to beat a dead horse, Jeremy began to accept that perhaps Alice actually wasn’t attracted to him. But if that was the case, why had she reacted negatively a couple of times to women flirting with him? And she had. Oh, yes. He’d glimpsed definite irritation in her body language, especially when that blonde had started giving him gooey-eyed looks.
Jeremy was thinking about the reasons for Alice cutting and running when she suddenly walked out onto the stage, making her way slowly towards the podium. How magnificent she looked up there, he thought, unable to take his eyes off her. Like a young Audrey Hepburn, though with blonde hair. Talk about class! Once in position at the podium she turned on the microphone and tapped it a couple of times, bringing relative quiet to the buzzing ballroom. Once everyone was seated, she cast a wide smile around the room and began to speak in that well-educated, crystal-clear voice of hers.
‘Welcome, everyone,’ she began. ‘First, I must thank you all for coming here tonight and supporting a cause that is dear to my heart. It is unfortunate that women’s refuges are necessary in our supposedly civilised and enlightened world, but that is sadly the case. Some of you might not know this, but I work as a counsellor at a few of the inner-city refuges, and I know personally that they are all struggling to make ends meet, plus to cope with the number of women asking for help. We desperately need more refuges. More case workers. More counsellors. Of course, that all means more money, some of which we hope to raise tonight through your kindness and generosity. So please...dig deep. Trust me when I say that whatever you donate will make a huge difference to those women who have nowhere to go and no one to turn to. They need your help. Thank you.’
When Alice stopped speaking, the whole room erupted with clapping, Jeremy feeling immensely proud of her, and quite moved. What a speech! What a woman! Politicians could take a leaf out of her book when it came to inspiring people. If he hadn’t been doing the auctioneering job, Jeremy would have been tempted to bid for every single item himself, making sure that the very best price would be achieved before the gavel came down. As it was, he vowed to give the charity a hefty donation of his own at the end of the night. Who knew? Maybe the gesture would make her agree to go out with him. Because he was still going to ask her, wasn’t he? Nothing was surer in his mind.
When Alice sat down at the table, everyone spoke to her at once, congratulating her on her lovely words and assuring her that they would all dig deep. Jeremy couldn’t get a word in edgewise. As soon as he could, he leant a little closer to her and said quietly, ‘That was a seriously impressive speech, Alice. You could do fund-raising for a career, if you wanted to.’
* * *
Alice stiffened at the way her body responded to that deeply masculine voice of his, plus the warmth of his breath against her ear. Her stomach tightened, and so did her nipples, something which had never happened to her before. It was quite frightening, but also insidiously beguiling. She ached to turn to him and give him a real smile, one which told him how desperately she wanted to give in to the erotically charged spell that she suspected he was capable of casting over her. If she let him.
But to do so was to dance with the devil, the devil being men who had no conscience or morals. She’d seen first-hand what such men could do to a woman. Okay, so maybe Jeremy wasn’t as bad as her sister’s abusive bully of a husband. Or that vile creep she’d gone out with from college. But he was still a serial womaniser who wanted a woman for one thing and one thing only. Admittedly, since meeting him, her own traitorous mind had been filled with that same thing. Clearly, Jeremy was a Casanova extraordinaire who didn’t have to lift a finger to make women swoon. His elegant looks and his natural charm did it for him. And yes, that wonderfully sexy voice of his.
Despite being sorely tempted, Alice refused to become just another of this playboy’s conquests. So she schooled her face into a polite smile before turning her head to answer him. Unfortunately, she hadn’t anticipated just how close Jeremy’s face was. Barely centimetres separated their noses, their eyes, their mouths...
Her smile froze in place as she stared at his lips, hating herself for wondering what it would be like to be kissed by them. But she wondered just the same. And she wanted. Oh, yes, she wanted. For a long moment she almost surrendered to the crazed urge to close the gap between them. But at the last second she pulled herself together. And he, thank God, leant back into his chair.
‘I couldn’t be a professional fund-raiser,’ she said with her usual cool reserve. ‘I don’t like asking anyone for money. At least this way people get something in exchange for their donation. I’ve been assured the food and wine will be good, but of course there won’t be much choice. It’s a set menu, with only two dishes in each course, served alternatively so that people can swap if they want to. That’s the only way the staff could cope with so many meals.’
‘It looks good to me,’ Jeremy remarked as the starters arrived at their table.
Alice was glad that she had something to concentrate on other than her crazy feelings. She glanced over at Jeremy’s plate—scallops cooked in a white wine sauce—then down at her own, which was a stir-fried beef dish served on Asian greens. Alice heaved a sigh of relief when everyone at the table tucked in without swapping, all of them seemingly pleased with the food. And with the wine, red or white being offered by the constantly circling waiters. Each table already had jugs of iced water and freshly squeezed orange juice if people didn’t drink alcohol. Mandy, who was on her right, chose the white, as did Alice. Not that she had any intention of drinking much.
‘Eat up,’ Jeremy said when she just sat there with her fork in her hand, and her mind still elsewhere. ‘I love a woman who enjoys her food.’
Alice rolled her eyes at him. ‘I get the impression that you love all women.’
He just smiled, not seeming in any way offended. ‘You could be right there. They are definitely the nicer sex.’
‘With the emphasis on the sex part,’ she retorted, thinking to herself that she was insane to start this kind of tit-for-tat conversation.
He gave her a searching look. ‘You don’t like men much, do you? Or is it just me?’
Guilt consumed her at the realisation of how rude she had been when in truth he had done nothing wrong. Everything had been in her overheated imagination, plus her overheated libido.
‘I do apologise,’ she said sincerely. ‘I’m not normally this rude. It’s been a long and difficult day. I do like you. Honestly. I appreciate your coming tonight and being my auctioneer. It’s just that...’
