Fantasy Girl Read online

  Natalie moved with unhurried grace to sit in one of the four black leather armchairs in the luxurious office with the huge poster-size pictures of past advertising on the walls, having no idea how long she would be kept waiting. Ten minutes later she was glad she had sat down, as the secretary was still in with Adam Thornton.

  It was a full five minutes after this when she emerged, swaying over to stand in front of Natalie’s chair. She was a woman of about thirty, with a cool sophistication that enabled her to look down her haughty nose at Natalie. ‘Mr Thornton will see you now, Miss Faulkner,’ she drawled, just as if she hadn’t kept Natalie sitting here for the last fifteen minutes.

  But Natalie was very aware of it, glancing at her wrist-watch. Exactly eleven-thirty! So it was to be that sort of meeting, was it.

  She stood up to follow the secretary, three or four inches taller than the other woman, the heels on her shoes adding extra inches to her already five feet eight inches in height, this fact giving a boost to the confidence that had started to wane during the fifteen-minute wait.

  ‘Miss Faulkner,’ the other woman introduced with a flourish before leaving the room, closing the door softly behind her.

  But introduced to whom? The office looked empty to Natalie. It was the plushest office she had ever been in, with a sitting area to the right of her, with the same deep armchairs as in the office outside, a large drinks cabinet in the same mahogany as the wide desk directly in front of her, a wide black leather armchair with its back turned towards her the only thing remotely out of place. It was smoke spiralling from the latter that told her where Adam Thornton was, although he seemed in no hurry to acknowledge the fact.

  Suddenly the chair spun slowly round. ‘You managed to get here this time, Miss Faulkner,’ the deep, gravelly voice mocked harshly, much more effective when not muffled by a crackly telephone line. Dee would have loved it!

  Effective was a good way of describing the man himself—or electric. He seemed to fill up most of the wide-backed chair, his height as he sat seeming to indicate that he was extremely tall when standing, the dark grey pin-striped suit fitting smoothly across his shoulders, wide powerful shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist, leanly masculine. But it was his face that was electric, holding her startled blue-green eyes mesmerised. Taken as a whole it was a ruggedly handsome face, dissecting each feature in turn it was the face of a man who looked caged by the bonds of civilisation, it was the face of a savage.

  Eyes the blue of an ocean glittered beneath dark jutting brows, a hawklike nose, firmly compressed lips, the cheeks lean and hard, deep lines grooved beside his nose and mouth adding to what she already guessed to be late thirties, early forties, his jaw was square and commanding, the column of his throat rugged, dark hair grew over-long past the collar of the white silk shirt he wore, the grey wings of hair over his temples adding to his distinction. His hands as he leant forward to rest them on the desk in front of him were long and tapered, the fingers on his right hand loosely holding a long thin cheroot, the smoke from which was fast filling the room, the aroma not unpleasant, as wasn’t the subtle smell of his aftershave.

  It seemed to Natalie as if she had been looking at him for ever, and yet it had taken only a matter of seconds to notice everything about this man, all the time knowing that she was being subjected to as thorough appraisal herself, the fierce blue eyes giving away nothing of his thoughts.

  Her outwardly calm demeanour gave away nothing of the inner jolt she had felt at coming face to face with such a man, although inwardly she was a conflicting mass of emotions. He had the appearance of a leashed tiger, impatient with the bonds of civilisation that meant he had to sit behind this desk, comfortable as it was, and be outwardly polite to someone like her.

  But Natalie gave away none of her own feelings, the shock at his appearance, the confusion at his magnetism, meeting his gaze steadily. ‘I’ve already apologised,’ she said smoothly. ‘But if you would like me to do so again…?’ She arched dark brows over aquamarine eyes.

  ‘That won’t be necessary,’ he dismissed dryly. ‘I’ve already ascertained the fact that you were not informed of our earlier appointment.’

  Natalie looked startled. ‘You have?’ she frowned.

  He gave an inclination of his dark head, leaning back in the chair. ‘You were surprised by my call, seemed unsure of the mention of our ten o’clock meeting.’ He shrugged. ‘You knew nothing about it, so how could you be anything else? Please, sit down, Miss Faulkner,’ he invited softly.

  Natalie sank gratefully into the black leather armchair facing his across the desk, crossing one leg gracefully over the other, uncomfortably aware of the expanse of slim silky leg that was exposed as Adam Thornton rose slowly to his feet, his height seeming to fill the room, well over six feet, as she had suspected, making her feel small and slightly vulnerable.

  He moved to sit on the edge of the desk in front of her, his legs long and lean, his thighs powerfully muscled. His eyes narrowed as delicate colour entered her cheeks, leaning sideways to stub out the cheroot in the onyx ashtray with slow, stabbing movements. Suddenly he straightened, his expression harsh. ‘We may as well get straight to the point,’ he bit out, obviously intending to do so whether she wanted to or not. ‘I want the Grant girl taken off the Beauty Girl contract.’

  Natalie gasped with the bluntness of the statement, biting her bottom lip as she saw the gleam of satisfaction in his eyes. Damn the man, he had enjoyed disconcerting her! But he also meant what he had said; his expression was inflexible. Her head went back in challenge. ‘Why?’

  His brows rose, as if he weren’t accustomed to being questioned about his decisions. ‘Do I need a reason?’ he asked coldly.

  She doubted this man ever felt the need to give a reason for any of his actions! And yet she felt she was owed one about such an important matter, and whether Adam Thornton liked it or not, she would have one. ‘I think so,’ she nodded stubbornly.

  He looked at her silently for several minutes. ‘Okay, Miss Faulkner,’ he finally shrugged. ‘You can have your reason. Your Miss Judith Grant is having an affair with the head of my Advertising Department, Jason Dillman.’

  The statement was delivered calmly, without emotion, and it had all the bigger impact because of that, robbing Natalie of speech. Not that she doubted the truth of what he said, she knew Judith too well for that.

  ‘My married head of Advertising,’ Adam Thornton added pointedly at her silence.

  Natalie closed her eyes momentarily. Judith had pulled some stunts in her time, but this was definitely the worst one to date! She had known how important this Thornton contract was to Natalie, and not only did she not turn up for photographic sessions, she was having an affair with a married employee of Adam Thornton’s, something he obviously frowned upon.

  A mental image of Jason Dillman came to mind—tall, a very smart dresser, very good-looking in a film-star sort of way, with blond hair and flirtatious brown eyes. He certainly didn’t give the impression of being a married man; he had asked her out several times when they had first consulted together on the choosing of the Beauty Girl. His over-confident charm hadn’t appealed to her in the slightest, so she had turned him down, little dreaming he had turned his attention to Judith, and with much more success by the sound of it.

  But she had to at least attempt to defend the other girl. She felt a loyalty towards her, even if Judith had proved by her actions that she didn’t feel the same loyalty. ‘Maybe she doesn’t know he’s married—’

  ‘She does.’ ‘She—does?’ Natalie faltered reluctantly.

  ‘Yes,’ Adam Thornton confirmed grimly. ‘And if you aren’t careful, she’s going to get your agency a reputation for more than just modelling!’

  Natalie paled. ‘What do you mean?’ she gasped, very tense.

  The blue eyes taunted as he looked down at her, his mouth twisting mockingly. ‘Use your imagination, Miss Faulkner,’ he drawled. ‘There’s a name for models who supply more than
modelling.’

  ‘How dare you!’ Natalie stood up indignantly, and then wished she hadn’t as she stood only inches away from Adam Thornton, dangerously close, she felt as she moved away jerkily.

  ‘Oh, I dare,’ he drawled hardly, not at all impressed by her anger. ‘And I want it stopped.’

  Her eyes flashed as she looked at him, hating the way he could sit there looking so calm and relaxed when he had just accused her agency, her models, of procurement. ‘Then talk to Jason Dillman,’ she snapped. ‘It takes two, you know.’

  ‘I’m well aware of the facts of life, thank you,’ he snapped coldly.

  She could imagine he was more than aware of them, that he familiarised himself with those facts very often. There was an air of sexuality about the man that seemed to indicate the need to indulge in a regular physical relationship. With his wife…? Natalie somehow doubted he was married; she had an impression of a lone wolf, who only returned to the pack out of necessity and not through choice. That impression of a savage again!

  ‘However,’ he continued curtly, ‘I feel this matter is your responsibility.’

  ‘Mine?’ she protested.

  ‘Judith Grant is your model—’

  ‘And you chose her for the job!’

  Once again his brows rose. ‘Not me,’ he shook his head, his eyes narrowed. ‘Jason.’

  ‘But he said—’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Nothing,’ she snapped, flushing at his sarcasm. ‘All right, Mr Thornton, I’ll talk to Judith—’

  ‘You’ll do more than talk to her if you want to keep the Thornton business.’ He stood up to sit back in the swivel chair. ‘You either get the girl to stop this affair now, or we drop her as the Beauty Girl.’

  ‘That would cost you a lot of money,’ Natalie reasoned, knowing the launching of Beauty Girl had cost thousands.

  Adam Thornton sat forward, resting his arms on the desk-top. ‘I can afford it,’ he said arrogantly.

  ‘Look, what does it matter to you?’ she sighed her impatience. Judith was far from the first girl to have an affair with a married man! ‘So they’re having an affair—’

  ‘It matters to me, Miss Faulkner,’ he ground out. ‘And I think it should matter to you—or do your models offer extra services?’ He looked at her with cold blue eyes.

  Natalie had never felt so angry in her life, her hand itched to make contract with the hardness of his cheek, although she restrained the impulse with effort. Losing her temper with this man wasn’t going to help this situation at all.

  ‘Well?’ he rasped at her silence. ‘Do they?’

  Natalie’s mouth compressed angrily. ‘I believe I require an apology for the insult you just gave to me and the women who work for me.’ She refused to waver under the steely gaze he directed at her.

  ‘Does that mean the answer is no?’ he mocked.

  ‘Yes!’

  ‘Pity,’ he drawled unrepentantly. ‘I may have had a proposition—for you.’

  ‘Mr Thornton—!’

  ‘All right,’ he put up a silencing hand. ‘If your agency is as innocent as you say it is then I apologise.’ He didn’t look as if the word came easily to his lips. ‘But that doesn’t alter the fact that one of your models is conducting an affair with one of my married employees.’

  At twenty-five Natalie should have been past the stage of blushing when a man made a personal remark, and yet she hadn’t expected it from Adam Thornton; their conversation until that moment had been totally removed from themselves. With that one softly spoken comment he had made her totally aware of him, of the aura of sensuality that was part of the fundamental man. And after the insults he had levelled at her today she didn’t like being made aware of him in this way; she considered him the enemy—and he would remain that way! Certainly the less she had to do with him the better.

  She collected up her clutch-bag, straightening her shoulders. ‘I’ve told you I’ll talk to Judith,’ she said stiffly as she stood up.

  ‘And if she won’t listen?’

  ‘I’ll make sure she does,’ she told him with much more confidence than she felt. She was the last person Judith was likely to listen to. But she had to try!

  He nodded dismissal. ‘I’ll leave it in your—capable hands, then.’

  Natalie gave one last angry glance at the dark head bent forward as he lit another cheroot, and the man was instantly shrouded in smoke, shielding his expression.

  But she was aware of him watching her as she walked to the door, and some of the tension left her once she had reached the relative peace of her car.

  But not all of it! How could Judith be so stupid as to get involved with another married man? Only too easily, as she knew from past experience.

  It was just after twelve when Natalie got back to the office, and none of the anger or embarrassment she had felt when Adam Thornton made his accusations had left her, although to look at her calm demeanour no one would have guessed at her seething emotions.

  Dee looked up from her work as she came into the room. ‘Visitor for you in your office,’ she told her cheerfully.

  ‘Judith,’ Dee nodded with a grimace.

  Natalie strode angrily into her office, closing the door behind her to confront the girl sitting in her chair behind the desk. Her sister, Judith…

  CHAPTER TWO

  NOT that the casual observer would have classed them as such; their colouring was so different, Judith being blonde where Natalie was so dark, Judith’s eyes were a clear deep blue, with none of the green that made the colour of Natalie’s eyes so hard to define. Their features were completely different too, although both were beautiful. Both were slender too, taking the same size in clothes, as Natalie remembered well from their childhood when her young sister had often borrowed her clothes without asking. But Judith moved with a languid grace she cultivated, while Natalie’s movements more decisive, more purposeful.

  The elder by three years, Natalie had always protected her young sister as much as she was able to, although she rarely received thanks for that protection; Judith’s inconsideration for the agency was proof of that.

  When they had both moved to London, Judith a year after Natalie, their parents had made Natalie promise to take care of the younger girl. It hadn’t proved an easy task, and the two of them had only managed to share a flat for six months before Judith moved out, claiming she had no privacy. Natalie’s main emotion at her sister’s move had been relief, but unfortunately her parents didn’t feel the same way about it.

  When she had opened the agency her worried parents had begged her to take on Judith, and although she had been wary at such a choice she had to think of her mother and father fretting for them back in Devon. Her parents couldn’t possibly know just how necessary that worry was where Judith was concerned; her young sister had seemed to be involved with one unsuitable man after another the last three years. Her parents would be devastated if they knew of Judith’s latest involvement. Well, she would just have to put a stop to it before they found out—and before Judith ruined her. Natalie didn’t delude herself for a moment. Adam Thornton meant every one of his threats to her.

  Judith stood up with that languid grace she was so well known for as Judith Grant, model. For some reason her young sister hadn’t felt that ‘Judith Faulkner’ sounded professional enough for her career, and Natalie was now glad of her sister’s conceit. At least it meant Adam Thornton couldn’t even guess at their relationship. How much more scathing he could have been if he had known Judith was her sister!

  ‘Now don’t frown, darling,’ Judith drawled in her throaty voice, coming round the desk to sit in one of the other chairs. ‘I wasn’t looking through your desk, only trying out your chair to see how you manage to sit behind that desk all day.’ She grimaced. ‘I couldn’t do it!’

  Natalie moved to sit in the chair her sister had vacated, knowing that this conversation had to be carried out on a business level and not a family one. It was going to be embarrassing enough wit
hout family involvement. ‘Judith, I have to talk to you—’

  ‘Oh, not the photographic session!’ her sister groaned. ‘Dee had already lectured me on how irresponsible I am.’

  Natalie had completely forgotten the missed photographic session of this morning, which wasn’t surprising after her meeting with Adam Thornton! ‘Then I won’t mention it again, except to say that it shouldn’t have happened. I’m running a business here, Judith, and—’

  ‘I thought you weren’t going to mention it again,’ her sister sighed wearily, obviously bored with the subject.

  ‘All right, I won’t,’ she snapped. ‘Let’s talk about Jason Dillman instead, shall we?’ She watched Judith with narrowed eyes.

  If she had hoped to disconcert her sister she was out of luck. Judith looked unimpressed with the change of subject, checking the even application of her nail-gloss with an expression of boredom.

  Natalie gave an angry sigh. ‘Judith, are you seeing him?’

  Cool blue eyes met hers steadily. ‘Of course I’m seeing him, we work a lot together on Beauty Girl.’

  ‘That isn’t what I meant and you know it!’ Natalie snapped in exasperation.

  ‘Natalie, if you mean am I sleeping with the man then why don’t you just come out and say it?’ Judith taunted mockingly.

  ‘Well, are you?’ she demanded.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Judith, he’s married!’ Natalie gasped.

  ‘So?’ her sister drawled uninterestedly.

  Sometimes she felt as if she didn’t know Judith at all. It didn’t seem to bother her sister in the least that Jason Dillman had a wife somewhere in the background.

  ‘He isn’t happy with his wife—’

  ‘They never are,’ Natalie derided, and Judith at last gave a self-conscious grimace.

  ‘Okay, so Kenny was stringing me along,’ her sister shrugged, quickly regaining her confidence. ‘And he only wanted me because his wife was having a baby and couldn’t sleep with him. But it’s different with Jason.’