The Tempestuous Flame

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‘Oh, come off it, Daddy, wouldn’t you think the same in the circumstances?’

‘No, I wouldn’t.’

‘Daddy!’

‘Well… perhaps. But he has a nerve suggesting something like that. What does he think I am, a cradle-snatcher?’

‘There isn’t that much difference between your age and Greg Fortnum’s, and you thought we would be well suited,’ she pointed out reasonably. ‘Anyway, he said I shouldn’t be ashamed of bringing a little happiness into someone’s life, your life.’

‘Big of him!’

‘That’s what I thought. So I’m going to pay him back for it. By the time I’ve finished with him he may not have quite such an inflated ego,’ she said with relish.

‘Caroline, I wouldn’t advise—–’

‘Don’t worry, Daddy. I’ll leave before things get too hot, but I really do think your pushy friend needs his ego knocked down a bit.’

‘Well, all right, if that’s what you want to do, but it’s against my advice. And if it gets out to the press that you’re living out in the wilds with André Gregory your reputation will be in shreds.’

‘It won’t get out, there’s no reason why it should.’

‘I suppose not,’ he mumbled. ‘But I want you to keep in touch with me.’

‘Of course I will, but not too often. How can I play the seductress if he thinks I’m involved with you?’

‘Play the seductress?’ he queried sharply. ‘Now, Caroline, that isn’t a good idea.’

‘Why not? I can assure you that there’s absolutely no risk of my actually falling for him. He’s just an arrogant, bossy prig. And I’m going to bring him to his knees!’

She heard her father laugh. ‘I wish you luck,’ he chuckled before ringing off.

Caroline stared at the telephone for a moment before gently replacing it back on its stand. Her father hadn’t taken her plans too badly under the circumstances, and she was looking forward to teaching André Gregory a lesson. But she had to go carefully or he would become suspicious. But there was no time like the present to start her plan.

The man so much in her thoughts of late was sitting back comfortably in an armchair before the warm fire, his bare feet roasting, in front of the flames. A cigar burnt slowly between his slender fingers and his attention seemed to be wholly on the book he was reading.

She sat impishly before him on the carpet, instantly feeling the heat of the fire. ‘Is it good?’ she asked huskily.

The book slowly lowered and a pair of deceptively sleepy green eyes looked at her over its top. ‘Very good,’ he replied shortly.

‘I’ve read quite a lot of Alistair Maclean books myself. But I haven’t read that one,’ she tried to draw him into conversation.

‘You can have it when I’ve finished it. Perhaps it will keep you out of trouble for a while.’ He returned his attention to the book.

Caroline put out a hand and lowered it again. ‘Couldn’t you talk to me?’

He raised dark eyebrows. ‘Now what could we possibly have to say to one another? As far as I know we have nothing in common.’

She grinned at him. ‘That isn’t quite true, we have Alistair Maclean. Now that’s a start, wouldn’t you say?’

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. ‘Perhaps,’ he conceded. ‘But it isn’t very encouraging, is it?’

She stood up with enthusiasm. ‘Come shopping with me,’ she invited gaily.

‘What?’

‘Come shopping with me.’ She took his book out of his hands and tried to pull him to his feet. ‘I’ll buy you steak and cook it for you with my own fair hands,’ she said enticingly when he resisted her efforts.

‘Is that supposed to encourage me?’ he asked dryly.

‘Mm,’ she grinned. ‘I cook steak divinely.’

‘I only have your word for that.’ He stood languidly to his feet, tucking his shirt back into the low waistband of his faded denims.

‘But I can, truthfully.’

‘Right, I’ll believe you. Get your coat and we’ll go out.’

‘Oh, lovely,’ she smiled.

André’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. ‘Why this sudden partiality for my company? I’m sure Matt was full of how dark my intentions are if I’m encouraged.’

‘And even if you’re not encouraged too,’ she laughed. ‘And as you’re the only other person here I can hardly have a partiality for anyone else’s company.’

‘True.’ He put out his cigar. ‘What did Matt say about your staying on here with me?’

‘He wished me luck.’

‘What did he mean by that?’

‘I haven’t the faintest idea,’ she lied. ‘But I suppose he meant that he hopes I behave myself—not that I don’t normally,’ she added hastily.

‘I’m sure,’ he said dryly. ‘Innocent girls, like you profess to be, often stay in deserted cottages with complete strangers. I realise it’s done all the time.’

Caroline held on to her temper with difficulty, pouting prettily at his brooding expression. ‘You aren’t a complete stranger.’

‘Oh no, I forgot, you’re the mistress of one of my best friends. That makes you an acquaintance of mine too, I suppose?’

‘You’re not being very nice to me,’ she said sulkily.

‘Am I not?’

‘You know you’re not.’

‘Maybe.’ André picked up his jacket from the chair. ‘But I don’t trust people who don’t fit into my first impressions of them.’

‘And I don’t?’

André shook his head, his eyes flickering appreciatively over her slim body. ‘Afraid not. One minute you’re spitting like a wildcat, and the next you’re purring like a kitten.’

Caroline’s eyes sparkled mischievously. ‘I thought men liked variety in their women.’

He grinned, tapping her sharply on the bottom to usher her out of the room. ‘We do,’ he agreed. ‘But not all in the same woman.’

She held back her angry retort at his familiarity, and ran quickly up the stairs to collect her coat while he put on his shoes.

The man below watched her with narrowed eyes, conscious of the deliberate swaying of perfectly curved hips.

CHAPTER THREE (#u5074b75c-0a51-585b-b09d-91868c494543)

THEY came out of the foodstore, their arms laden with groceries. Caroline giggled. ‘I think we have enough food here to feed an army for a week!’

‘Mm,’ André agreed, looking at her over a bag full of shopping. ‘You shouldn’t have brought me out with an empty stomach.’

‘I like that!’ she laughed. ‘You had your breakfast not two hours ago.’ Surprisingly she had enjoyed her shopping expedition with this almost total stranger. It had been fun, and she couldn’t believe the amount of food they had collected when they eventually got to the checkout. André Gregory had insisted on paying for it all, insisting that as she was going to do the cooking it was only fair that he paid for the food. ‘Oh, look,’ she exclaimed, pointing to a stall that sold ice-cream. ‘Can I have one?’ she looked at him beguilingly.

His look was one of amused tolerance. ‘Okay, but let’s get rid of these things first and then have a decent one in that café.’

Caroline watched him beneath lowered lashes as he drank his preferred coffee. ‘My treat,’ she had urged, but still he declined the ice-cream. She hadn’t let his refusal deter her, and ordered a huge banana split for herself. She paused in her enjoyment. ‘It’s typical of me,’ she smiled, her blue eyes warm, her hostility towards this man momentarily forgotten. ‘It’s freezing cold outside,’ she explained, ‘and here I am eating ice-cream.’

‘Typical woman,’ was his only comment.

‘And that, Mr Gregory, is a typical male chauvinistic comment.’

‘Why the formality? We are living together, after all,’ he chuckled wryly as Caroline looked hurriedly around the crowded café to see if anyone had overheard his comment. ‘Don’t worry, no one heard. But if our accommodation arrangement leaked out to anyone that’s the obvious conclusion they would come to.’

‘Well, that just shows how wrong they would be,’ she retorted tartly.

‘Oh, I realise that, but would Matt like that kind of publicity?’

‘I won’t profess to know what you mean.’

André shrugged his shoulders, the denim jacket he wore moulded to his powerful frame. ‘Well, if I deny any relationship between the two of us they’ll obviously wonder where you fit into the arrangement. Oh, I know you say you’re a friend of Matt’s daughter, but can you honestly see anyone else believing we would stay here together in the circumstances?’

‘No, but then I don’t particularly care for other people’s opinions. Or do you have someone of importance in your life at the moment who might take exception to us staying together?’ She waited with bated breath, then shook herself mentally for acting so stupidly.

For a moment he was silent. ‘Yes, there could be someone of importance, but somehow I don’t think she’ll mind.’

‘She won’t?’

André shook his head. ‘I’m sure of it.’

‘Isn’t she the possessive type, or doesn’t she share your feelings?’ although she didn’t think it could be the latter, even she had to admit he was devastatingly attractive, and when he looked at her a certain way her pulse began to beat erratically. And she didn’t even like him! What effect he would have on someone who actually wanted him she wouldn’t like to think.

‘You’re singularly inquisitive today, Caroline.’

‘Sorry,’ she coloured. ‘I didn’t mean to pry.’

‘Yes, you did,’ he said softly. ‘And the answer is the latter. I would think she hardly knows of my existence.’ He watched the play of emotions across her face and could imagine the numerous questions she was longing to ask. He laughed at her forbearance. ‘Your thoughts are very clear, Caroline, but I’m not going to satisfy that female curiosity of yours. It will give you something to think about.’

‘I have plenty to occupy me,’ she snapped at him, grinning reluctantly at his teasing expression. ‘But I am curious,’ she admitted. ‘I would have thought that anyone you—–’ She broke off as she realised she was about to be rude to him again.

André stood up in preparation of leaving. ‘Once I set out to get someone they wouldn’t escape my clutches, right?’

Caroline had the grace to blush. ‘Well, I—–’

‘It’s not important.’ He laid a handful of silver on the table for the coffee and ice-cream, silencing her as she would have protested. ‘You can pay the next time we come.’

‘But we may not come back again, and I did say it was my treat.’

‘We’ll be back,’ he promised. ‘I can’t see either of us staying at the cottage for the next few weeks without a break.’

‘From each other, you mean?’

‘Not necessarily. I’ve found you very entertaining so far, and I see no reason for that to change. I wait in anticipation for your next move,’ he mocked.

He propelled her towards the car, opening the door for her to get in before getting in beside her. Close to him like this Caroline found his proximity overpowering and she moved slightly away from him. He drove the car with all the confidence that she had known he would, and she couldn’t help but admire his quick decisive movements on the steering wheel.

‘What next move?’ she asked innocently.

‘The next outrageous thing you’re going to do. You change like the wind, so I should think you’re going to lose your temper over something next.’

‘I don’t have a temper,’ she said firmly.

‘No, because you keep losing it,’ he taunted.

‘Are you trying to antagonise me, André?’

He grinned at her deliberate use of his first name. ‘I don’t need to try, I seem to do it quite naturally.’ The tyres of the car swished to a halt in front of the cottage. ‘Quite an accomplishment really.’ He opened the door for her as they took the shopping into the kitchen, studying her as she began to deftly put it away. ‘You know your way around here pretty well, don’t you?’