To Have And To Hold

He kissed the end of her nose. ‘Ask me again when you’re an adult.’

‘I am an adult!’

‘OK, when you’re not a teenager, then.’

‘So when I’m twenty will we get married?’

Rhys glanced at her, laughter in his eyes, but then the laughter died as his gaze lingered on her face, on the long dark lashes and brows that were such a contrast to her fair hair, on her high cheek bones and straight nose that gave her ageless beauty, but mostly on her eyes, as blue as sapphires and full now of loving eagerness. Lifting a finger he traced the tip along the soft, full curve of her lips. ‘Maybe I might at that,’ he said almost under his breath, so softly that only her alertness let her hear it. But then he spoiled it all by sitting back, giving a twisted smile, and saying, ‘You’ve got a lot of living to do yet, urchin, before you even think of settling down.’ A gleam came into his eyes and the grin broadened. ‘And so, for that matter, have I.’

Rhys had made such a success of the Botswana project that he was promoted and was centred more on his company’s office in London, where he rented a flat. He still went abroad a lot but not for such long periods now, acting more as head of an estimating team for contracts, and also as a kind of trouble-shooter, ready to fly anywhere in the world where he was needed. He was, according to his proud parents, his boss’s blue-eyed boy and was heading for a directorship before too long.

As for Alix, she got over her disappointment almost at once, and was happy in the knowledge that in only two years she would be twenty, when Rhys had told her to ask again. And she hugged that murmured ‘I might at that’ to her like a talisman, knowing that for a moment at least he had looked at her as a woman. She went to college to take a two-year business studies course, refusing to take an additional year that would have given her a higher qualification, because Rhys had said twenty, not twenty-one.

As Rhys was living in London and she was away at college, Alix didn’t see him for those two years. His visits home never seemed to coincide with hers, not even at Christmas, because he was away both years and his mother and father flew out to be with him.

By now both sets of parents were the firmest friends; neither had had more children, and they were fast coming to the opinion that Rhys and Alix were absolutely right for each other. Not that they pushed at all; with Alix it wasn’t necessary, and Rhys’s parents knew that he had a mind of his own. But when the time came for Alix to leave college and get a job, Rhys’s father, who had got to know several people in his son’s company, found out that there was a vacancy in the London office. She applied and, probably because she wanted the job so badly, survived several interviews to win the position. ‘Don’t let’s tell Rhys. Let’s all keep it as a surprise,’ his father suggested.

Alix grinned, and kissed him. ‘It’s our secret, Uncle David.’

Rhys was away in South America when Alix went to work for his company as a secretary. She soon made friends there, her open, animated character making her popular with both sexes. But she wasn’t open about knowing Rhys; that she kept to herself. There were a great many unattached men working for the company and several of them asked her for a date—some of the attached ones, too—but she confidently told them that she was already seeing someone and expected to be engaged very soon, so they left her alone.

There was one girl in her office, Kathy, with whom Alix became especially friendly, and who would pass on all the office gossip over lunch. One day they were sitting in the window of a café not far from the office building when Kathy pointed out a girl walking by. ‘You see her? That’s Donna Temple. She’s Todd Weston’s personal assistant when he’s in London.’

‘Todd Weston? He’s one of the Canadian directors, isn’t he?’

‘That’s right. And not only a director but the son of George Weston, the company president, who started the firm and still more or less owns it. They say Todd is in the running to inherit the company.’

‘And is Donna interested in Todd?’ Alix asked, watching the tall, dark-haired girl as she waited to cross the road.

Kathy shook her head. ‘He’s already married and has a family. No, Donna is putting out her hooks for the man who’s next in line to take over from Todd when his father retires and he goes back to Canada.’

‘Oh? Who’s that?’

‘His name is Rhys Stirling, and he is absolutely gorgeous. You wait till you see him.’

Alix’s stomach turned over and she had to swallow hard before she could say, ‘What do you mean—putting out hooks for him?’

‘Well, they’re a number whenever he’s in England—he’s away a lot, you see—and everyone’s pretty certain that they’re having a hot affair.’

‘You mean—you mean they’re in love?’ Alix managed to ask, every word a cut to her heart.

‘Oh, no, I’m not saying that. Just that Donna is out to catch him.’ Kathy chuckled. ‘Although she’ll have to be very clever if she does; from what I’ve heard about Rhys, he has women falling for him wherever he goes. And he hasn’t been caught yet.’

That last sentence gave Alix a little comfort, but she said, ‘And these women; does he have affairs with all of them?’

Kathy shrugged. ‘That I don’t know; he’s good-looking enough to be able to pick and choose, but he certainly has quite a reputation within the company.’ She made a yearning face. ‘I just wish he’d ask me.’

‘He hasn’t, then?’

‘Fat chance. Not with Donna around. I mean, just look at her.’

Both girls turned to watch Donna Temple as she walked along the opposite side of the street. In her late twenties, she was rather severely dressed, in a beautifully cut suit that outlined a good figure, walked with head high, aware that she drew admiring glances, and was completely assured and sophisticated.

Alix’s heart sank a little—but not very much; she had been in love with Rhys for so long that it had become part of her, but it made her very thoughtful. She had never considered Rhys in the light of other women before; OK, she knew he’d been out with girls, of course she did, but it had never even occurred to her that he might fall in love and marry someone else. She had always been so sure of him. But only now did she realise that there was competition out there. And the competition, in the shape of Donna Temple, might be dangerous.

That was her first reaction. Her second was jealousy. No way did she want to think of Rhys making love to another woman. But there again, she had somehow known that Rhys had become a man of the world, in every sense. But so long as the girls in his life had been shadowy, mythical creatures and could be put down merely to experience, then it hadn’t mattered, but it came as quite a shock to see one in the flesh, as it were.

Was Rhys really attracted to that kind of woman? she wondered. Or was he just amusing himself while he waited for her to grow up? Alix decided it just had to be the latter, although she wasn’t quite so sure of Rhys as she had been, and she waited with anxious eagerness for him to come home.

From time to time news of him filtered down to her, either at work or at home. From South America he had moved straight on to another project in Australia, so it was over three months later before she heard that he was finally returning to England. The office buzzed with the news, because there was also a rumour going around that old Mr Weston was retiring at last, so there would be a big reshuffle among the directors. A lot of people thought that this was the main reason Rhys was coming home.

Alix heard the rumours but was too concerned with her own reasons for wanting to see Rhys again to think anything else very important. He was due to fly in on a Friday, and everyone, Alix included, thought that he would go straight to his parents’ home for the weekend. She could hardly contain her excitement, and had asked for the day off so that she could be waiting for him when he arrived, but a draft contract for a power plant in one of the Gulf states had to be finished and she had to work. Frustrated, and longing for the end of the day, Alix had to sit at her desk and wish the hours away.

But in the afternoon the phone on Kathy’s desk rang. She listened then swivelled round towards Alix. ‘Hey! Guess what? That was the girl on Reception. She says Rhys Stirling has come here straight from the airport.’

‘He has?’ Alix’s face lit with excitement she couldn’t hide.

But Kathy thought it was just eager interest and said, ‘Now you’ll be able to see for yourself how gorgeous he is.’

‘You think he’ll come in here?’

‘I should think so; he usually comes to say hello when he gets back.’

‘And goodbye when he goes,’ chimed in another girl.

It was quite a large office with about a dozen girls and young men, all doing more or less equal jobs, situated on the fifth floor of the building. The directors’ offices were on the floor above, so no one saw Rhys as he went up in the lift to see Todd Weston. Alix made for the cloakroom to check her make-up and brush her hair. When she’d last seen Rhys it had still been a mass of short curls, but she wore it longer now, so that it caressed her shoulders in a shining, golden mane. Not having expected to see him, she’d put on normal working clothes: a skirt, and sweater over a shirt, but the skirt was tight enough to outline the slimness of her hips and the sweater a shade of blue that emphasised the sea-blue of her eyes. Anyway, it would have to do.

When Rhys finally came to the office over an hour later, Alix was standing at a filing cabinet over by the wall, and had her back towards him. She heard his voice and began to quiver with excitement so strong she thought her heart would burst, but she didn’t turn round. No one had told Rhys that she was working here and she wanted to take him completely by surprise. He worked his way down the room, greeting everyone he knew by name, came to say hello to Kathy. Then he glanced past her at Alix and said, ‘You’ve got a new girl, I see.’

Alix took a deep breath and swung round, her face radiant. ‘Hello, Rhys.’

Rhys’s eyes widened incredulously. ‘Alix?’

With a laugh of pure delight, she ran to him and threw her arms round his neck in spontaneous joy.

He gave a whoop of astonished laughter, and put his hands on her waist to lift her up and swing her round. ‘Urchin!’ And then he kissed her, right there in front of them all. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ he demanded when he straightened up.

‘I work here.’ She still had her arms round his neck and he his hands on her waist, and to Alix it was the best moment, ever. ‘I’ve been here for months.’

‘And no one told me?’

‘We wanted it to be a surprise.’

‘It was certainly that.’ His grey eyes laughed down at her. ‘I shall have words to say when I get home.’

‘Are you going now?’

‘In about half an hour. I’ve got a car laid on. Want a lift?’