Last Stop Marriage

Ex-wife wasn’t technically correct since neither of them had bothered getting an official divorce, but it was factually correct. Jayne didn’t think Dan would quibble about it.

There was a long, disconcerting silence before he answered. Then to disconcert her even further, he spoke in his soft, sensual voice. ‘I remember. What can I do for you, Jayne?’

It brought back memories that pierced the shield she’d put around her heart. So many times he had said those words, wanting her to be content with him, not seeing or understanding her need to find some self-fulfilment. They never stayed in one place long enough for her to settle to anything productive and interesting.

But that was over for her. She had to take control of this call, forget the past. ‘I work for Monty Castle. I’m his personal assistant. He asked me to call you on his behalf.’

Another silence. Jayne hoped Dan was taking in that this was purely business, nothing personal at all. She heard some indistinct sounds that suggested someone else was with him, but she was totally unprepared for what came next.

‘It’s okay, Baby,’ Dan murmured. ‘Nothing to get disturbed about. This is the Jayne who was with me long before you came along. Here now, you can listen, too.’

The soothing, sexy drawl had a mind-shattering effect. The indulgent tone conjured up a baby-doll woman curled up to him, their heads sharing the same pillow. Jayne couldn’t bear to dwell on what other level of intimacy they were sharing.

It didn’t help at all to tell herself it was only natural for Dan to have found some other woman, or any number of them, to ease his sexual needs. She didn’t want to hear the evidence of it. She remembered all too well how voracious his need for her had been when they were first married.

And for him to have told this current woman about her, about their marriage, felt like the worst kind of betrayal. What they had shared was private. Couldn’t he have left it that way? As she had?

‘So what’s the problem, Jayne?’

She gritted her teeth and forced her mind back on to business. ‘We’re in China,’ she blurted out, defensively emphasising the distance between them.

‘Fascinating country.’

‘Mr. Castle was called in as a consultant on the new Denjing city project.’

‘I know.’

Had the two men discussed it? Perhaps Dan had recommended Monty after he himself had turned the contract down. Was that why Monty had chosen Dan to replace him?

‘The construction could be threatened by a mudflow,’ she hurried on.

‘Nasty things, mudflows.’

‘The threat has to be diverted,’ Jayne explained, struggling to get her thoughts focused on the main issue.

‘The right explosives in the right place. Simple.’

If only it was! Jayne took a deep breath, savagely berating herself for feeling so unreasonably…distracted…at discovering Dan was occupied with a woman on a level that was certainly not strictly business.

‘A few big booms. That’s what you like best, isn’t it, Baby?’ he went on, evoking a spluttering that sounded like a smothered giggle.

Jayne was not amused. Monty could be in danger of having another stroke, a fatal one, while Dan Drayton was playing stupid games with his Baby. Although to be fair, he couldn’t know how tasteless this conversation was until she told him.

‘Monty Castle had a stroke a few hours ago,’ she stated bluntly.

Another silence. A sobered silence, Jayne hoped, fiercely clamping down on the stupid churning stirred by Baby’s intrusive presence. Dan was entitled to do whatever he wanted. She had claimed the same right. It was just that it was…demeaning to be replaced by some brainless bimbo.

‘How bad?’ came the serious question, his voice deeper, sharper, driving her wandering mind back to the horror of Monty’s grey face and stricken body. She desperately hoped the effects of the stroke would not last long. Monty was only in his fifties and one of the most vital people she had ever met.

‘I don’t know,’ she answered, her concern for him uppermost as she explained further. ‘He was still conscious and talking when he was taken to the hospital, but he’d lost control of his left side. He asked me to contact you. He said you’d take over the consultancy for him and fulfil the contract.’

There! It was all said now. How Dan reacted and responded was entirely up to him. She had done her part. Although a niggle of conscience told her she could do more. And should do more if more was needed to get Dan here. It was not only for Monty’s sake. Lin Zhiyong had to be satisfied, as well.

‘Give me your location and the name of the hospital.’

She complied with the demands, bridling at the thought that Dan intended to check the facts she had given him before making a decision. His next statement stunned her.

‘I’ll get there as soon as possible.’

For a moment, Jayne couldn’t take it in. Dan was coming. Just like that. Just as Monty said he would. The assurance should have lifted a huge burden off her shoulders but it didn’t. She felt the pressure of her mettle being tested, and Dan wasn’t even here yet. It took an enormous effort of willpower to rise above the uneasy prospect of coming face-to-face with him again and concentrate on the more immediate problems to be resolved.

‘How soon will that be?’ She was amazed at how matter-of-fact she sounded.

‘Mmmh…a little tricky. I was about to close a deal with Sheikh Omar El Talik, whom I don’t care to offend.’

He could offer Baby as a candidate for the sheikh’s harem, Jayne thought, then silently castigated herself for the shockingly sexist idea. She excused herself on the grounds that she needed Dan Drayton without any other ties. Monty needed him, she swiftly corrected, frowning over her muddled thinking. The faster Dan could come and go, the better.

‘We should be there within a week,’ came the considered estimate.

That made things easier. Lin Zhiyong’s seven-day limit could be met. ‘That’s great! Thank you.’

She quickly explained the concerns of the Chinese official and passed on the invitation to the festival party, privately congratulating herself on coming to grips with the situation with growing aplomb.

‘We’ll be there,’ Dan Drayton assured her decisively.

The repetition of we finally sank in. ‘Are you bringing someone with you?’

‘Baby goes everywhere with me. Wouldn’t dream of leaving you with anyone else, would I, cuddlepie?’

Another bubbly splutter.

It was sickening. A ghastly vision leapt into Jayne’s mind; a simpering nymphet clinging onto Dan’s arm as he surveyed the mudflow problem with a bevy of intense Chinese engineers.

‘There isn’t going to be much time for entertainment once you’re here on the job,’ she warned, her mouth tightening, her stomach tightening at the thought of him turning up at Lin Zhiyong’s party with another woman. How on earth would she save face in those circumstances?

‘Don’t worry about Baby. I’ll look after her. Just book us a room in the best hotel there is in Xi’an.’

‘It isn’t five star international,’ she said tartly. Surely Dan couldn’t be serious about a woman he called Baby.

‘I don’t expect Baby will notice. A roof over her head, food to eat, me to love her…’

A bed was probably the only requirement, Jayne thought waspishly. ‘Could you please send a confirming fax of your agreement to take over from Mr. Castle? It will prevent any problems from developing here.’

‘Give me your fax number.’

She did so, trying to quell her irritation that he would not be as single-minded as she in completing the project for Monty. If Baby caused complications or delays…Jayne shook her head. She had no choice but to accept the situation and do what she could to circumvent any distractions from getting the project completed on schedule.

‘Which way will you be coming in?’ she asked. ‘From Tokyo or Hong Kong?’