Tycoon for Hire

She felt his touch drift across her mouth, along the line of her jaw and down her neck. Then his hand was cupping her head, drawing it closer as he lowered his lips to hers. Jennifer had a devastating sense of losing control. Everything about this evening had been a shock, and most shocking of all was the pleasure that possessed her as soon as his mouth rested on hers.

She lost all sense of time and space. She could no longer hear the band, or see the other couples circling around them. She was moving through the heavens in a dance that would last until the end of eternity. Her heart was beating wildly and she could hardly breathe.

‘You must let me go,’ she whispered.

‘If I had my way I’d never let you go,’ he growled. ‘I’d whisk you out of here to some place where they couldn’t find us, and discover what kind of a woman you really are. The answer might come as a surprise to you too.’

‘How dare you?’

‘Strange, isn’t it? But I already know you as David Conner never will. I know what I want from you, which I’ll bet is a damned sight more than he does.’

To her dismay the words ‘I know what I want from you’ sent a thrill through her. There had been a steely resolution in his tone that she’d never heard before from any man. She loved David for his gentleness and sweet temperament, but in a corner of her heart she had to admit he lacked decisiveness.

Not that decisiveness was all-important. She’d always told herself that. But in the arms of this purposeful man she felt a unique quiver of response that alarmed her.

She heard him mutter a soft ‘Damn!’ and came out of her dream to realise that the music was ending. The dancers were slowing and she was in Steven Leary’s arms, seeing the shock in his eyes, knowing that it mirrored the shock in her own. And nothing would ever be the same again.

For the next hour Jennifer functioned on automatic. Her mind was still whirling from the devastating encounter with Steven, and her flesh too seemed to be in turmoil, tingling with the memory of his touch.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw him waltzing with Penny. At last he appeared at her side again, taking her hand and leading her to the bar, where he procured her an orange juice. ‘You must be ready for some refreshment,’ he said. ‘So am I. I’ve been working for you.’

‘I saw you dancing with Penny,’ she said, taking his meaning. ‘How did you find her?’

‘She moves too correctly. I prefer a woman who dances with a man as though she wants to make love with him.’ His eyes challenged her.

‘I can imagine,’ Jennifer said, speaking awkwardly to conceal the fact that waves of heat were chasing themselves through her. ‘Is that the only fault you can find with poor Penny?’

‘She says “Yes” and “No” and keeps missing the step because she’s trying to keep her eyes on David. She’s his secretary, by the way, and he only invited her this afternoon.’ He heard her quick sigh of relief and said mischievously, ‘It looks as if he left it until the last minute, hoping you’d call. He doesn’t understand you because he’s full of himself. He’s happier with a girl who isn’t as pretty as he is. You two were bound to break up.’

‘David and I haven’t broken up—not finally.’

‘You have if Penny has anything to do with it. She’s keen on him.’

With a flash of spirit she said, ‘I can take him back any time I want.’

‘But is he worth taking?’

‘Yes,’ she said defiantly.

‘All right. Come on.’ Steven led her over to where David and Penny were talking. Charmingly he drew Penny away, leaving David and Jennifer together. David drew a deep breath.

‘How have you been keeping?’ he asked politely.

I’ve been yearning for you to phone, and breaking my heart when you didn’t, she thought. I’ve cried when nobody was looking, and tried to understand what I did wrong.

‘Well, you know what it’s like at this time of year,’ she said with a laugh. ‘The work just keeps crowding in and I haven’t had a moment to myself. I expect it’s the same with you.’

Let me see the old look in your eyes.

‘Well, yes, I’ve been pretty busy,’ he agreed. ‘In fact, I’ve been away for most of the last two weeks. That’s why I wasn’t there if you called me.’

‘No,’ she said tensely, ‘actually, I didn’t.’

‘Of course not. I didn’t mean—Well, anyway…’

He finished with a helpless shrug and a smile. Jennifer caught her breath at that smile, which illuminated his boyishly handsome face.

‘David,’ she said impulsively, stretching out her hand to him. In another moment he would say her name, and their estrangement would be over.

‘Don’t stand about talking, darling!’ Steven appeared out of nowhere and seized hold of her. ‘The night is young. Let’s dance!’

Before Jennifer could protest she was swept willynilly onto the floor, held firmly in Steven’s arms.

‘Why did you do that?’ she protested. ‘He was just going to—What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Saving you from making a terrible mistake. I was watching, and he wasn’t “just going to”. You were just going to fall at his feet.’

‘That’s none of your—! I wouldn’t have done any such thing.’

‘Your face said differently. Is that all it takes? He gives that little boy smile, and a sensible woman goes ga-ga?’

‘Let me go at once. You’re right out of order.’

She tried to struggle free but he drew her closer, holding her tight so that his lips were close to her ear, and his body moved against her. ‘You should be thanking me, you ungrateful woman! If you’d caved in at the first test your relationship would never have recovered.’

‘What do you mean, “test”?’

‘It was your first meeting since the quarrel, and you were the one who blinked. I’ll bet he was talking about himself. Not about you, or the two of you, but himself. He looks the kind of self-centred idiot who thinks all roads lead back to him.’

She would have died rather than admit he was right. Her heart ached with disappointment that David hadn’t come up to scratch, and it hurt that Steven had seen it.

‘What is it with women like you that you have to fall for weak men?’

‘He’s not weak. He’s not arrogantly macho, if that’s what you mean. Some men don’t feel the need to be. It’s a question of confidence.’

‘And what did you do to damage his confidence?’

Jennifer drew a sharp breath. ‘That’s a lousy thing to say!’

‘Too near the truth?’

Suddenly she’d had more than she could take for one night. ‘I think it’s time I went home,’ she said.

‘Right. Put your hand through my arm and we’ll make a grand exit. Head up!’

Jennifer drove the first mile in silence before asking, ‘Where shall I take you?’

‘Just drop me at the next bus stop.’