The Alpha Male

She didn’t need Miles to remind her of last night’s folly. The memory was burned into her brain as though with a red-hot branding iron. In any case, it was too early in the morning to exchange repartee with Miles.

She went inside, ignoring him.

The wisdom of last night was, at best, dubious. But however tangled her emotions were, her body evidently felt no regrets. The lingering melancholy in her system seemed to have been burned away. Her heart was beating a little faster and the blood in her veins was defying the snowy weather to make her skin flushed and glowing.

She glanced at herself in the mirror that hung in their tiny bathroom. Those roses in her cheeks had been what had caused Miles to snigger when he’d seen her. There had been a definite transformation.

She forced her thoughts away from Ryan. There was no time for introspection. She already knew that it was going to be another busy day.

The day after tomorrow was Saturday, and she had not one, but two weddings. Both were big weddings, too, meaning not just bouquets and buttonholes for the wedding parties, but churches to do as well. They would have to co-opt Tara. Luckily Tara, who was saving up to go to Australia, needed the money and never minded doing extra work.

Their business was really prospering. Hard work had never frightened Penny, and she was prepared to fight for her success.

She had no sooner started work when the phone rang. She picked it up with a hello, and was greeted by a husky, all-too-familiar voice.

‘I’m sorry last night ended on a bad note. That was not the way I had planned it.’

She felt her nipples tighten in response to his voice. ‘I didn’t realise you’d planned it, Ryan,’ she retorted, ‘but I suppose I should have guessed.’

‘I put that badly. I should have said, that wasn’t the way I’d dreamed of it.’

‘Well, I’m sorry I disappointed you.’

Ryan chuckled softly. ‘Stop trying to pick holes in everything I say. Last night was wonderful. I’ve ached for you for so long. It was heaven to hold you, to kiss you…I only meant to apologise for offending you at the end. You took my words the wrong way.’

‘Did I?’

‘Penny, you still don’t understand me. Sometimes I wonder if you ever will.’

‘You’re right,’ she replied. ‘I don’t understand you, Ryan. I don’t understand why you’ve come looking for me. The fact that you’ve taken the trouble to track me down shows that you don’t understand me, either. Or that you simply don’t care.’

His voice softened. ‘Wasn’t last night wonderful for you? I know it was. And I know that this morning your blood is tingling, just like mine. You feel alive for the first time since you left me. Isn’t that true?’

She felt an awkward resentment at his accuracy. ‘Sex is a completely different thing from love. Sex can be wonderful between total strangers.’

‘Oh?’ There was a different note in his voice now. ‘You know this from experience?’

‘That doesn’t concern you,’ she replied smartly. ‘I’m very busy, Ryan. Was there anything else?’

‘I want to see you tomorrow night.’

‘No!’

‘I’m back in London,’ he went on, ignoring her protest. ‘I have business here until tomorrow. I want you to have dinner with me at Northcote tomorrow night. You can advise me on how to furnish the place—it’s still empty.’

‘I keep telling you, but you won’t listen—we have nothing to say to each other!’

‘And I have some things of yours,’ he concluded smoothly. ‘When you ran out on me in London, you left half your stuff behind. Photographs of your parents, letters, the jewellery I gave you.’

‘I don’t want the jewellery,’ she assured him. ‘Please take it back.’

‘Well, there’s a beautiful Adam fireplace at Northcote,’ he said. ‘I’ll make a nice big blaze, and throw everything on it, shall I?’

‘No! I want the photographs!’

‘Then come and get them,’ he said succinctly. ‘Tomorrow night at seven.’

‘Ryan—’

The line had clicked dead in her ear.

She slammed the phone down with a growl of frustration.

‘So who is he?’ Miles Clampett asked through a mouthful of nails. He had sauntered in, and was leaning against the door jamb with his usual smirk. ‘An old flame, obviously.’

‘Have you been eavesdropping?’ she demanded.

‘Not half,’ he admitted, taking the nails out of his mouth. ‘But then, you were shouting so loud I could hear you in the mews. Come on, Penny, we’re old friends. Who is he?’

‘His name’s Ryan Wolfe,’ she said with a sigh. ‘I knew him in London.’

‘What’s he do for a living? Rob banks?’

‘More or less. But not at gun-point. He’s a financier in the movie business. He puts together projects for films.’

Miles looked impressed. ‘What kind of films?’

‘Anything that interests him. Short films, long films, documentaries, serious films, commercial blockbusters. Whatever he thinks is going to work. He brings together consortiums of investors and introduces them to the creative people.’

Miles whistled. ‘Looks like he’s successful.’

She shrugged. ‘He’s very good at what he does. Not all his projects make money. Sometimes he does things because he believes in the talent of the people involved, even though he knows it won’t be a huge commercial success. But generally, he comes out of each project considerably ahead of the game.’

Miles was examining the nails in his hand. ‘And you and him? You had a big scene together in London?’

‘We knew each other.’

‘That much is obvious, darling. In the biblical sense, and all other senses. So what went wrong between two such beautiful people?’