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‘You think Stephen is going to propose marriage to you?’ Nick looked totally shocked.
‘No, I think he’s probably going to propose that I become his business manager,’ Kate drawled sardonically. ‘Of course marriage—why are you looking at me like that? Is it really so hard to believe that Stephen would want to commit to me?’
‘No…of course not.’ Nick shook his head. ‘It’s just… I didn’t think you two were getting on so well lately.’
‘What made you think that?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe it was my imagination.’
‘Well, everything is fine between us.’ Kate swallowed hard and tried to ignore the ominous feelings inside her. Was everything all right between them? Would she be making a terrible mistake if she said yes to Stephen?
‘If he does ask, will you be pleased for me?’ Suddenly she was seeking reassurance. Her eyes held with the intense darkness of his, she felt as if she was holding her breath.
‘If it’s what you want,’ Nick said steadily, coolly. ‘Of course I would be pleased for you. I want you to be happy, Katy, you deserve to be happy.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled at him, but at best it was a tremulous smile. Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. Cycling here, she had felt a moment’s disquiet…but that was nothing to the weight of foreboding pressing on her now, and she couldn’t place where it was coming from.
She tried to picture Stephen in her mind as he proposed to her, a faintly nervous, anxious look in his blue eyes, his hair flopping down on his forehead in that Hugh Grant way. ‘Stephen is right for me.’ She smiled at Nick. ‘Oh…I know you think he’s a bit irresponsible and I suppose he is sometimes…but he loves me and he’s kind and he’s funny and—’
‘Why are you working so hard to convince me, Katy?’ Nick cut across her quietly.
‘I’m not!’ Kate frowned. ‘I’m just saying that I think this is the right thing for me. I’m ready to make the commitment.’
‘Well, I’m pleased for you.’
There was an edge to Nick’s voice, an expression in his eyes that she couldn’t fathom. She frowned again. ‘I shouldn’t have told you today.’
‘Why?’
‘Because you’ve just finished with Serena and you’re obviously not in the best of moods.’
Nick shook his head. ‘I’m fine, Katy,’ he said gently. ‘And I’m really happy for you.’
‘Really?’
He nodded and reached to take her hand across the table. ‘He’s a lucky guy.’
Kate looked down at his hand against hers. The touch of his skin made her heart thump peculiarly. She felt odd, as if she had been running somewhere and had suddenly lost her sense of direction.
Nick took his hand away and looked at his watch. ‘Well, I guess we’d better get going. You’ve got a big night ahead of you, and I’ve got work to do.’
‘You work too hard,’ she murmured. ‘You need to cut down on the time you spend in front of those computers, find a nice girl and settle down.’
‘I don’t think that’s very likely. I’m just bachelor material.’ Nick grinned and shook his head. ‘And you sound like my mother—’
‘A very wise woman,’ Kate inserted promptly. She felt a bit better again, as if whatever had been wrong had passed like an eclipse of the sun and things were back to normal.
Nick caught the waitress’s eye to indicate he wanted to pay her. ‘I’ll get this,’ he said as Kate reached to open her bag.
‘Thanks. I’ll get it next time.’ They both stood up and walked together around the tables to the edge of the pavement.
‘Have a good evening.’ He bent to kiss her on the cheek. Although she was tall, almost five seven, Nick always made her feel petite; she wondered how tall he actually was—six feet four, she’d say at a guess.
‘I’ll ring you tomorrow and tell you all.’
He grinned at her. ‘Maybe you’d better spare my blushes.’
She smiled.
‘See you later, Kate.’
‘Yes, see you later.’ She turned away as he walked towards his open-topped Mercedes sports car. She unlocked her bicycle and put her bag over her shoulder. Before turning to go home, she noticed the woman who had been sitting at the next table to them was walking towards Nick. She smiled at him and said something and he stopped.
Would Nick ever get married? Kate wondered as she rode away. She supposed one day, despite all his protestations, a woman would sweep him off his feet, and he would have eyes for nobody but her. The thought settled around her like a dull cloud. He’d still have time for his friends, of course, she told herself swiftly. And anyway, it would probably be years before he decided to tie the knot; she could be old and grey with four children before Nick decided to walk down the aisle. Men could afford to take their time; they didn’t have a biological clock ticking inside them.
She looked at her watch as she rode slowly down by the side of the canal. She was nearly an hour early. She’d told Stephen that she’d be home by seven-thirty. Usually she had a couple of coffees with Nick, and as she hadn’t seen him for so long she had thought today that they would spend at least an hour chatting and catching up on news from London. But maybe it was just as well that she was going home early—as Nick had said, she had a big evening ahead. This way she’d have plenty of time to do her hair and get changed before Stephen got in from work.
What should she wear? She didn’t want to appear too dressed-up—she’d look a fool if he hadn’t really booked a restaurant and suggested getting a take-away. And maybe he wouldn’t propose to her at all.
There was almost a feeling of relief inside her at that thought. Perhaps she needed a bit more time to get used to the idea. Moving in together had been a big enough step for her…marriage seemed an enormous leap into the abyss.
Certainly Nick hadn’t seemed overly pleased for her. But then, for some reason Nick had never really warmed to Stephen. Not that he had ever said anything detrimental, and the two men were always perfectly civil to each other, but Kate had always known that Nick had reservations about him.
You couldn’t be friends for as many years as they had, through school and college, and not learn to read the signs. She could tell by the sardonic gleam that lit the darkness of Nick’s eyes sometimes, and the smile that wasn’t quite so easy or relaxed when Stephen was around. Her partner was not someone Nick would have chosen for her, but it was only because he worried about her, and Stephen was so totally opposite to him in every way.
Nick took his career and his business running a computer firm very seriously. For Stephen, work was just a means to an end…he had changed jobs three times in the last year. He was wild about heavy rock music and in his spare time played in a band. Life was a bit of a rollercoaster ride with Stephen, but Kate had to admit it was exciting.
She slowed down even more as their apartment came into sight. It was on the ground floor of a very impressive patrician eighteenth-century mansion that overlooked the canal. The rent was astronomical and perhaps a bit more than they could really afford, but Kate had fallen in love with the place on sight and had decided she’d rather cut down on a few luxuries and live there than anywhere else.
She noticed the light in the front salon was on. Stephen was home early as well. She locked her bike against the front railings and ran up the steps to the door and let herself in.
The door closed with a bang behind her; her footsteps echoed on the polished wooden floor. ‘Stephen,’ she called out as she walked into the salon.
Even though it wasn’t dark outside all the side lamps were on and the main chandelier blazed over the antique furniture. She flicked a couple of the lamps off as she passed towards the kitchen. There was a bottle of champagne cooling in a bucket on the table and two champagne glasses sat out waiting. But there was no sign of Stephen.
‘Stephen honey, where are you?’ Kate walked back through to the hallway. Then heard music coming from the bedroom. It wasn’t the usual heavy rock that Stephen liked to listen to; this was softer, more romantic.
She paused with her hand on the bedroom door. There was a strange noise coming from the room, like someone gasping for air.
Kate pushed open the door.
Stephen sat up in bed and stared at her in horror.
‘Stephen…?’ In a kind of blank disbelief she stared back at him and then at the woman who lay beside him. Shock unlike anything she had ever experienced before lashed through her.
‘Oh, hell!’ Stephen raked a hand through his blond hair, an apologetic, nervous look on his handsome features.
‘Sorry, Kate.’
CHAPTER TWO
KATE sat alone in the apartment in total shock for hours watching the light fade.
The earlier scene played and replayed in her head with mind-blowing clarity. The woman—‘Natasha,’ Stephen had called her—had got up, dived into a T-shirt and a pair of jeans and disappeared into the bathroom.
‘She’s a colleague from work,’ Stephen murmured as he reached for his clothes.
His calmness had brought fury rushing through her veins. A thousand questions fought for position, but all she’d said was, ‘You’d better get out.’ her voice trembling with rage.
‘Out?’ He had looked stunned. Like a little boy who had been told that Christmas had been cancelled. ‘Out where?’
‘Out of the apartment…out of my life.’
‘Oh, come on, Kate…we need to talk things over—’
‘I think the time for talking is over.’
She had watched from the front windows as they’d left. Stephen had put a small case and his guitar in the back of a red sports car. The woman’s wheat-blonde hair had swung jauntily as she’d got behind the wheel. Then they’d roared off.
She was glad she hadn’t cried—at least she had kept her dignity. She was glad she had restrained her temper as well. Neither of those emotions would have served her well, and at least that woman hadn’t got the satisfaction of seeing her break.
But now, alone and desolate, Kate felt the tears welling up inside her. She swallowed them down, fiercely. Then on impulse she stood up, picked up her bag and left the apartment.
As she cycled along the road, the fairy lights on the bridges twinkled softly in the dusky purple of the evening. Lovers strolled hand in hand towards a brightly lit restaurant. It was a place Stephen had often taken her to. She had imagined he might take her there tonight. How could she have been so stupid? she wondered. She felt numb inside, as if all of this were unreal, some kind of sick dream.
She cut down a side street, the breeze whipping through her hair, cooling the fierce heat of her skin.
She didn’t know where she was going until she turned down Nick’s road. It was as if she were operating by remote control.
Nick lived in a converted warehouse. His offices were one side, his apartment the other. Kate pressed the front doorbell a couple of times but there was no answer. Where was he? she wondered. Maybe that woman from the café had detained him; perhaps they were out having a drink together.
Relief flooded through her as she heard footsteps and the door swung open, bathing her in warm, mellow light.
Nick had changed out of his suit and was wearing a pair of blue chinos and a blue shirt. He looked relaxed, and handsome. Kate felt her heart twist painfully. She had never felt so glad to see him.
‘I was starting to think you were out,’ she said with a wobbly smile.
‘And I thought you’d be on champagne in some fabulous restaurant by now, an enormous diamond ring on your finger.’ He stepped back so that she could come inside. ‘What’s happened?’ He closed the front door, his eyes flicking over her, taking in the fact that she was wearing the same clothes as earlier, then locking on the extreme pallor of her skin.
‘Katy, what’s wrong?’
‘Stephen has been having an affair.’ She kept her voice steady with extreme difficulty. ‘I caught him with her…in our bed.’
She didn’t know what happened, but one moment she was standing there, telling him in what she thought was an incredibly brave voice, and the next she was in his arms and he was cradling her close, hushing her as she broke down into sobs.
‘It’ll be OK,’ he murmured gently, stroking her hair back from her face. ‘You’ll get through this.’
‘No, I won’t,’ she sobbed. ‘How could he do this to me, Nick? I thought when we moved in together that we were making a commitment; it was such a big step for me. He talked me into it, for heaven’s sake! Told me that he looked on it as a prelude to us getting married. I thought we were a couple, that we would be faithful and…God, I’ve been such an idiot.’
‘No, you haven’t.’
‘I didn’t have a clue, not one clue that he was seeing someone else.’ Kate closed her eyes and shuddered. ‘Talk about naïve…you must think I’m really stupid. All that talk about him proposing to me and all the time…’
‘I don’t think you’re stupid. I think you are a very intelligent and lovely woman,’ Nick said softly.
‘You’re just being kind,’ she murmured.
‘No, I’m not.’ He pulled back from her and regretfully she broke away from his embrace. She had wanted to stay in his arms for a bit longer. She liked the feel of his body, warm and masculine against hers; it made her feel protected, cherished.
He tipped her face up towards his and studied her for a moment, his hand resting against her chin. Her heart seemed to give a very strange tilt as he wiped away the remains of the tears from her cheek with a gentle brush of his fingertips. ‘He’s not worth your tears, Katy,’ he said softly.
‘Probably not.’ Her voice trembled, but strangely she wasn’t thinking about Stephen now, she was thinking about the touch of Nick’s hand against her skin. There was something sensual about the caress, something disturbingly sexy in the husky male undertone of his voice.
Kate frowned. What the hell was the matter with her? she wondered. She must be so upset by Stephen that she was imagining things.
He turned away from her and led the way through to the lounge. ‘I’ll fix you a drink,’ he said.
‘Thanks.’ Her eyes flicked over the familiar room. It was comfortable, ultra-modern in design with a masculine stylishness, no ornaments, just plain blue settees against the wooden floor, and a few coloured rugs, no curtains on the window, just plain wooden blinds that he never drew down.
He had a workstation at the far end of the enormous room; a lamp was trained on it, spotlighting the computer that was turned on.
‘I’m sorry, I’ve interrupted your work,’ she murmured.
‘You haven’t interrupted anything.’ Nick stood with his back to her as he poured their drinks. She noticed how wide his shoulders were, how narrow his hips. He has the body of an athlete, she thought idly.
‘I’m glad you’ve come over. That’s what friends are for, isn’t it?’ He turned and walked over to hand her a glass of brandy. ‘What is it they say—a trouble shared is a trouble halved?’
She smiled wanly. ‘I’m sure you could do without my problems.’ She looked at the glass. Kate didn’t usually drink spirits; a glass of wine on odd occasions was about as much as she imbibed.
‘Brandy is good for shock,’ Nick said. ‘Just take a few sips.’
She nodded and sat down on the settee.
‘I just can’t believe he’s done this to me, Nick.’ She stared at the amber liquid in the balloon glass. ‘He told me he loved me.’
There was silence between them for a moment. Nick sat down on the settee opposite her. ‘Where is he now?’
‘I told him to go and he did.’
‘With the woman?’
Kate nodded.
‘Who is she?’
‘I’d never seen her before.’ She shrugged. ‘He said she was a colleague from work. Her name is Natasha; she’s blonde and cute. Probably about nineteen.’
‘Maybe you should just be grateful that you’ve found out now…he could have strung you along for ages—’
