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‘Now, Juliet, that’s hardly fair—–’
‘Fair!’ she cut in crossly. ‘That isn’t in your vocabulary either. Really, Michael, you’re just asking for trouble having us in the same room together, let alone actually sitting us next to each other.’
He shrugged. ‘I didn’t notice any fights that end of the table, not physical ones anyway.’
‘That’s because Juliet is too much of a lady to hit a man in public,’ drawled the now familiar voice of Jake Matthews. He looked down at her as he came to stand at her side. ‘Melanie tells me that you’re leaving, and that you usually get a taxi.’ He took a firm hold of her arm. ‘I’ll take you home, then you can—hit me in private,’ he winked at the other man.
Juliet glared up at him resentfully, although some of her anger was directed at Melanie. She usually left her car at home when she came to one of these dinner parties, conscious of the alcohol level, but Melanie didn’t have to go and tell Jake Matthews that.
‘Let go of my arm,’ she ordered. ‘Will you let go!’ she repeated as he made no effort to do so. ‘If you don’t let me go,’ she warned softly, ‘I’m likely to hit you now, public or no public.’
He studied her mutinous face in silence for several long minutes. ‘I believe you would too,’ he said slowly.
‘She would,’ Michael told him dryly. ‘Take my advice, Jake, and let her go.’
He made no effort to do so, but looked calmly at Michael. ‘If she hits me I’m going to kiss her,’ he revealed softly.
‘You wouldn’t!’ Juliet gasped.
Those deep blue eyes were now turned on her. ‘Try me,’ he challenged softly.
He would do it, she could see that in the steadiness of his gaze, the determination of his jutting jaw. ‘Would you please release my arm, Mr Matthews?’ she requested tightly, hating the use of his superior strength. Unlike a lot of women nowadays she was quite prepared to admit that in physical strength most men were superior to women, although she didn’t believe they were superior in any other way!
‘Jake,’ he corrected huskily.
‘Jake,’ she said through gritted teeth, sure that he was bruising her arm.
‘Certainly I’ll let you go, Juliet.’ She was instantly set free. ‘Now, are you ready to leave?’
‘I’m not going anywhere with you, you—–’
‘I could still kiss you,’ he affably interrupted her angry tirade.
She looked over at the grinning Michael. ‘Well, don’t just stand there,’ she snapped. ‘Help me!’
He was looking at the other man with open admiration. ‘I’ve always wanted to do something like that,’ he spoke almost in awe. ‘But I don’t think Melanie would stand for it,’ he added ruefully.
‘Neither will I!’ Juliet exploded. ‘Mr Matthews, you—–’
‘We’re leaving, Michael,’ Jake once again grasped Juliet’s arm. ‘Say goodnight to your lovely, and helpful, wife for us.’
The last Juliet saw of Michael was as Jake Matthews bundled her across the room and out of the house. She had never been treated so high-handedly in her life before, and was literally speechless as the passenger door of the Ferrari was opened for her, Jake walking around the back of the car to get in behind the wheel, his presence at once overwhelming.
‘Did I bore you that much?’ he asked once they had been driving in silence for several minutes.
Juliet blinked dazedly, her lashes long and silky. ‘Bore me?’ she repeated.
‘Mm,’ he nodded. ‘So much so that you escaped the first opportunity you could.’
‘I didn’t escape!’ Her eyes flashed like a sparkling red wine. ‘I was simply talking to Michael. We were at a dinner party, Mr Matthews, it’s usual to converse with one’s host.’
‘You would have come back to me?’
‘No, I wouldn’t! We didn’t go there together, I saw no reason to stay at your side,’ she scowled.
‘But I saw every reason for staying at yours,’ he smiled that infuriating smile. ‘I like the way you look, Juliet. And I like your spirit. Will you have dinner with me tomorrow?’
‘Certainly not,’ she replied irritably. ‘You see, I don’t like anything about you.’
‘Nothing?’ he quirked one dark eyebrow questioningly.
‘Nothing,’ she told him rebelliously.
He slowed the car right down, turning off into a side-road before stopping the car completely. He left the engine running as he turned in his seat to look at her. ‘You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen,’ he said almost incredulously, his hand at her nape pulling her slowly towards him. ‘The colour of sherry,’ he murmured throatily.
She watched him almost as if in a dream, was conscious of his movements and yet unable to stop him. She knew he was going to kiss her seconds before his mouth claimed hers, knew it and yet didn’t fight him. Let him take his kiss, it was easier than fighting him, and she would never see him again after tonight anyway. She waited resignedly, wishing it over.
But the second his lips touched hers she knew this was no ordinary kiss. Jake held her face between his hands as his mouth discovered hers, as his lips probed and parted hers with throbbing urgency, their ragged breathing the only sound in the car, the air between them charged with electricity.
When Jake finally moved back they were both pale, Juliet’s eyes, the eyes that had apparently prompted the kiss, wide with bewilderment. She had been kissed by other men, quite a few in fact, and yet her senses still swam from the impact of this one.
‘Dinner tomorrow?’ he repeated persuasively.
Her hand resting on his chest told her his heart was beating as erratically as her own. ‘What time?’ she heard herself ask breathlessly.
‘Eight-thirty?’
‘Fine,’ she nodded.
‘Juliet …’ he groaned before his lips once more claimed hers.
It was just like before, that same liquid fire in her veins, that same dizzy feeling, as if she had drunk too much champagne. And yet she had only had a couple of glasses of wine, so it wasn’t that. No, it was this man making her feel drunk, with passion.
‘No, Jake!’ She managed to gain enough strength to wrench away, coming slowly to her senses. ‘Please, we’re on view here!’ She straightened her hair.
Jake still held her, his lips nuzzling her throat. ‘Your place or mine?’
‘Neither.’ She moved completely out of his arms, her voice edged with the shock she couldn’t hide. ‘You like to work fast, Mr Matthews,’ she said tautly.
He shrugged. ‘I usually know what I want, and how to get it.’
As he had known exactly how to get her to agree to seeing him tomorrow! She had acted like the besotted fool he had made her feel. ‘Not tonight,’ she told him coldly.
‘Too soon?’
Her blood boiled at his arrogance. ‘Much too soon.’ It would always be too soon for them! ‘My home is the other way,’ she pointed to distantly as she realised where they were parked.
‘Okay, direct me,’ he accepted her refusal resignedly, and turned in his seat to accelerate the car back out into the flow of traffic.
Juliet silently fumed at him as they travelled to her home. Arrogant fool! And she was even more of a fool for letting him affect her in this way.
‘Are you going to invite me in for coffee?’ he asked once they were parked outside her home.
‘Not tonight. I—I’m a little tired,’ she feigned weariness.
One of those long artistic hands came out and touched her pale cheek. ‘All right, Juliet.’ That attractively curved mouth was once more coming her way. ‘God, I want you badly,’ he told her before kissing her with a savagery designed to take her breath away.
But it didn’t. This time she was ready for him, her anger stopping her from responding, the sheer audacity of the man making her furious. He wanted her! And no doubt he thought it would be easy to get her into bed with him. He was in for a surprise if he really thought that. She wouldn’t be taken unawares again.
He moved back, shrugging at her lack of response. ‘As you say, you’re tired. So I’ll say goodbye until tomorrow.’
Juliet hastily left the intimacy of the car, forcing herself to turn and wave to Jake before he drove off. She had been wrong about him, he was a typical male chauvinistic pig if ever she had met one! And she had met plenty of them in the past, although Jake Matthews came a definite first for chauvinism.
He was the type of man she most despised, after all, the sort of man who didn’t think women had a brain, that they were only there to cook and provide sexual pleasure for men. She always liked to be an equal partner in her relationships with men, in fact she insisted on it, and as far as Jake Matthews was concerned she hadn’t been allowed to make one decision for herself. She didn’t know what sort of women he was usually attracted to, but she certainly wasn’t one of those women who were just grateful to be thought worthy of sharing the television personality’s bed.
The telephone was ringing when she entered her flat, and she didn’t need two guesses who it was. ‘Hello, Melanie,’ she greeted dryly, sitting down in the chair next to the telephone, knowing from experience how long Melanie’s telephone calls usually were.
‘Hello.’ Her friend wasn’t in the least abashed that she had known it was her. ‘I just called to see how Jake enjoyed kissing that dried-up old spinster Caroline Miles. He did kiss you, didn’t he?’ Melanie asked excitedly.
CHAPTER TWO (#u60fc0c98-6202-5176-9454-064f636143f3)
HEAVENS, yes! She had forgotten all about being Caroline Miles in her anger, had forgotten her pseudonym. What a shock Jake Matthews was going to get when he found out he told that ‘dried-up old spinster’ that he wanted her, badly, and had actually shown her how badly. What a lovely revenge on him, on him and his damned arrogance!
It would be sheer joy to see his face when he was told the truth, in fact it was worth going out with him, putting up with his chauvinism, just for the anticipation of being able to tell him that she was Caroline Miles, and that it was her book Mason’s Heritage that he had called ‘romantic rubbish’.
She had watched his programme in stunned disbelief, had read his review with tears in her eyes, hurt by his criticism, and it wasn’t until she had finished crying her heart out that anger had taken over. It was then that she had told Melanie and Michael that if she ever had the misfortune to meet the insulting Jake Matthews she would tell him exactly what she thought of him. Now that she had her chance she would make the most of it, would choose a time when it would have the most effect.
‘Juliet?’ Melanie interrupted her pleasurable anticipation. ‘Juliet, are you still there?’
She had forgotten all about poor Melanie! ‘Yes, of course I’m still here,’ she hastily assured her.
‘Well, did he kiss you? He must have done,’ Melanie answered herself. ‘Michael said he was being very forceful.’
‘Michael also said he wished he dared be that way with you,’ Juliet recalled dryly.
‘He never would be,’ Melanie said confidently. ‘What did Jake think of your being Caroline Miles?’
‘He didn’t think anything—he doesn’t know.’
‘You didn’t tell him?’ her friend gasped her astonishment.
‘No. And I would be grateful if you and Michael would refrain from telling him too.’
‘Why?’ her friend asked suspiciously.
‘Because I’m saving that little surprise for a more appropriate time.’
‘Appropriate?’
‘Yes,’ Juliet dismissed impatiently. ‘Do you know he actually wanted to go to bed with me?’ she revealed indignantly, finding she became angry just at the thought of it. No man had ever pursued her that forcefully on their first meeting before. And she didn’t like it. Jake Matthews had known her only long enough to want her body, certainly not long enough to be interested in the person she was. And how that infuriated her! He would probably have expected her to cook his breakfast in the morning too, before he rushed off to his office, never to be seen again.
‘I gathered that much from Michael,’ Melanie giggled.
‘I mean now, tonight.’
‘Yes,’ her friend acknowledged.
Juliet frowned. ‘Aren’t you shocked?’
‘No. But you are, I can tell. And I always thought you were liberated.’
‘Not that liberated!’
‘Don’t be such a prude, Juliet,’ Melanie chided. ‘There’s nothing wrong in going to bed with a man if it’s what you both want. And Jake’s certainly too old to go in for the hand-holding, gazing-into-your-eyes relationship. So are you, come to that,’ she added thoughtfully.
She hadn’t thought she was. Surely love and romance weren’t completely dead? No wonder she preferred to write about the past, to imagine herself back in a time when men weren’t ashamed to love and protect a woman.
Heavens, what a contradiction she was! She wasn’t prepared to relinquish an ounce of her freedom, not careerwise or emotionally, and yet she secretly longed to be swept off her feet, to be cherished, to be made to feel the most important thing in some man’s life. One of her ideals would have to go, and she had a feeling, in this day and age, that it would be the latter. One of these days she would probably settle down to marriage quite happily, a marriage where she would be allowed to feel an equal partner but would never know what it was like to be the very pinnacle of one man’s existence.
‘Don’t you think a few hours’ acquaintance is rather brief notice of an invitation to bed?’ she asked Melanie mockingly.
‘Depends on the man,’ her friend answered seriously. ‘Jake doesn’t appear to be the sort to waste time.’
‘Well, I think he could have wasted a little more time than he did!’ Juliet said waspishly.
‘Are you seeing him again?’
‘I may be,’ she evaded.
‘Which means you are,’ Melanie said excitedly. ‘And Michael and I are to keep quiet about your writing. Don’t take Jake for a fool, Juliet, that’s all I ask. On the outside he’s perfectly charming, but inside there beats a heart of steel. I also happen to know,’ she added slowly, ‘that there’s a certain Patricia Hall in his life at the moment. She’s a reporter on the same newspaper he works for.’
No wife, but a girl-friend. ‘I’m only having dinner with him, he’s perfectly free to keep—Patricia Hall, I think you said? I have no intention of giving up Ben and Stephen on the basis of one date with Jake Matthews.’
‘It may develop into more than that. If he’d looked at me the way he looked at you …!’
‘You wouldn’t be here alone now, I suppose,’ Juliet teased.
‘Juliet! You know Michael was the first and only man I’ve ever slept with!’ Melanie sounded hurt.
‘I’ll never know how.’
‘Well, really!’
Juliet laughed. ‘Before you explode I think you should know I was only teasing. It’s just that when we were at school you seemed to fall in love every other month.’
‘That’s a slight exaggeration,’ Melanie told her indignantly. ‘And I was never truly in love until I met Michael.’
‘I’ll tell him how loyal you are the next time I see him,’ Juliet mocked gently.
