An Unwilling Desire Read online

  With any other man Holly would have shied away from this intimacy, but after last night she knew he would have second thoughts about attempting to kiss her again, possibly even third and fourth ones!

  ‘What are you thinking?’ He was watching her with narrowed eyes.

  ‘Nothing very important,’ she dismissed coolly.

  ‘I’ll bet.’ He sat forward so that his chin was easily accessible. ‘Those violet eyes hide a multitude of sins!’

  Holly met his gaze steadily. ‘Not as many as yours, I’m sure,’ she replied tartly.

  Zack gave a deep throaty laugh of pure enjoyment. ‘I’m sure too,’ he grinned. ‘So how about taking off the tissue?’

  His jaw felt firm beneath her touch, the skin rough from the beard that grew there. It was years since she had touched a man in any way, and she removed the tissue as quickly as possible.

  ‘Tell me the bad news,’ he grimaced, looking at her expectantly.

  There was quite a deep groove in his chin, the skin looked red and sore. ‘That’s quite a nasty cut,’ she told him softly.

  ‘Mm,’ he pulled a face, rubbing his jaw ruefully. ‘For some reason I didn’t have my mind on what I was doing this morning.’

  The way he was looking at her seemed to imply that she was partly, if not all, the reason for his lack of concentration. Holly flushed, attempting to move away from him. But not quite soon enough! The door suddenly opened behind them, the soft whirring sound of James’s chair announcing his arrival before he spoke. Holly sprang away from Zack Benedict as if he burnt her, aware by the narrowing of James’s eyes that he saw the movement as one of guilt, looking questioning at his brother, his mouth firm with disapproval.

  ‘James,’ Zack stood up lithely. ‘How is Maxine this morning?’

  Holly watched as James’s face darkened, wondering why Zack Benedict felt it necessary to instantly antagonise his brother. The question about Maxine was inflammatory, and she felt sure the man seated opposite her at the table was well aware of it.

  ‘I have no idea,’ James snapped. ‘As usual I doubt if we’ll be honoured with her presence until lunchtime. I came to see if you would mind working this morning, Holly?’ he looked at her.

  ‘I—’

  ‘On a Saturday, James?’ the other man taunted. ‘Give the poor girl a break!’

  ‘Holly?’ James demanded stiffly, ignoring his brother.

  He was no less strained today, in fact if anything he looked worse. Obviously he and Maxine were still at odds with each other. Holly often worked with James on a Saturday, although with his wife back she hadn’t expected to do so today.

  ‘Why don’t you have some breakfast first?’ Zack suggested before she could make any reply. ‘Relax a little,’ he encouraged.

  Hazel eyes were coldly angry as James looked at his brother. ‘I relaxed yesterday, now it’s time to get back to work. Holly?’ He gave her a hard stare.

  She pushed back her chair and stood up. ‘I’m ready whenever you are.’

  ‘Now,’ he rasped, turning his chair to leave the room, clearly expecting her to follow him.

  Holly watched his departure with hurt in her wide violet eyes. James had never spoken to her like this before, although she realised Zack Benedict’s taunts hadn’t helped to improve the other man’s already volcanic mood.

  ‘I shouldn’t keep him waiting,’ Zack murmured mockingly. ‘He’s likely to explode!’

  She gave him a resentful look for his amusement. ‘You didn’t exactly help the situation!’

  His brows rose. ‘Was I supposed to?’

  ‘James is your brother—’

  ‘And yesterday and today are the first times I’ve seen him show any real damned emotion in the years since his accident!’ he rasped. ‘I’ll do anything in my power to make that continue.’

  ‘Even if you hurt him in the process?’

  ‘Yes,’ his eyes glittered, ‘even if I hurt him. At least that way I know he’s alive!’

  ‘Zack …?’ She looked at him with puzzled eyes, not understanding his vehemence.

  ‘Go and do your work, Holly, and don’t worry about my goading James; I know what I’m doing.’

  She left him with a worried frown and went slowly down to James’s study, moving quickly and quietly behind the desk she used when in there as he looked up with a scowl. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled as he made no effort to speak.

  ‘For what?’ he bit out.

  ‘I—Well, for—I’m not too sure,’ she finished awkwardly. ‘You seem angry about something.’

  James gave a heavy sigh, relaxing a little. ‘Just how friendly have you and Zack become since he arrived yesterday?’

  ‘I—I beg your pardon?’ She gave a deep frown.

  He seemed to be avoiding looking at her directly. ‘I happen to care a great deal for Zack—’

  ‘He cares for you too.’ She had no doubt about that now, was convinced he covered that caring with taunts and jibes that would bring about a reaction in James—any reaction. She didn’t understand such caring herself, but James and Zack seemed to understand each other very well.

  ‘Yes,’ James acknowledged with impatience. ‘And it isn’t just because we’re brothers; we genuinely care for each other. It’s because I know Zack so well that I also know you shouldn’t become involved with him.’

  ‘But I—’

  ‘Zack changes his women so often I think sometimes even he gets them confused,’ James continued grimly. ‘He’s a flirtatious charmer, and if you become involved with him he’d only succeed in hurting you.’

  ‘But I’m not in the least interested in him!’ she at last managed to say exasperatedly.

  He shook his head. ‘I saw how close the two of you were just now, and I’m sure Zack didn’t waste his time alone with you last night.’

  ‘You know Maxine left straight after you did?’ Her eyes were wide.

  ‘Yes,’ he nodded grimly. ‘She came to my room in the hope of having a slanging match; I refused to assist her. Surely you’ve realised my marriage is falling apart, Holly?’

  ‘I’m sure that if the two of you talked—’

  ‘We would get nowhere,’ he finished firmly. ‘Maxine is no longer the type of wife I need, and we both know it. It’s only a question of time before we separate for good.’

  ‘I—I’m sorry,’ she said in a pained voice, knowing how much this irrevocable breakdown must be hurting him. ‘If there’s anything I can do—’

  ‘Stay with me, Holly.’ His expression was intent, one of his hands coming out to grasp hers firmly. ‘Stay with me,’ he repeated softly. ‘I need you.’

  She didn’t know how to answer him, wasn’t able to, as she saw a slight movement out of the corner of her eye, suddenly seeing Zack Benedict as he strolled casually through the garden. The french doors from this room opened out into the garden, and they were open now. How much of the conversation had Zack Benedict heard? If he had heard any of it at all he must find it very amusing, each brother now having warned her about the other. Although it looked as if his warning about James wasn’t altogether unwarranted. The question was, what was she going to do about it!

  ‘I’ll be your secretary for as long as you want me to,’ she was deliberately naïve. ‘You know I enjoy working here.’

  ‘That wasn’t quite what I meant,’ James scowled his impatience. ‘I want—’

  ‘Sorry to interrupt you, James,’ Zack spoke in a voice that said he wasn’t sorry at all, as he walked in from the sunlit garden, ‘but I just thought I should let you know that I’m driving Maxine into town for an hour; she needs to buy some things she forgot in London. I didn’t interrupt you—working, did I?’ He raised blond brows at Holly’s hand still clasped in his brother’s.

  Holly removed her hand with a guilty blush, knowing by the mockery in the dark green eyes that he had chosen to misunderstand the situation. He had no reason to condemn her on so little, not when he was so obviously more than a brother-in-law to the beautiful
Maxine! She noticed the green eyes narrow slightly, almost as if he had been able to read her thoughts. Well, she didn’t care if he had, she had been doing nothing wrong when he came into the room.

  ‘Maxine is up, then?’ James didn’t bother to answer his brother’s question, asking one of his own.

  ‘Well, I could hardly be taking her into town if she weren’t,’ Zack baited.

  James’s scowl deepened. ‘Why doesn’t she drive herself? You aren’t a taxi service.’

  ‘It just so happens that I offered to drive her,’ the other man told him sharply. ‘It is her first day here,’ he added abruptly. ‘I thought she could do with the company. Unless you …?’

  ‘No,’ James rasped. ‘Holly and I have some work to do.’

  Mocking green eyes raked over her assessingly, almost as if Zack Benedict were accusing her of something. It wasn’t too difficult to imagine what, not after what he had seen and heard! How could she possibly claim her innocence after this?

  He nodded slightly. ‘I’ll leave you to it, then. Don’t work too hard.’ He left the same way he had entered, leaving an awkward silence behind him.

  Holly didn’t know whether to be grateful or angry at his interruption, knowing by his attitude that he had chosen to misunderstand what he had heard.

  ‘Where were we?’ asked James with impatience.

  ‘We were going to do some work on the book,’ she said briskly, wanting to divert his attention away from what they had really been discussing. She stood up. ‘I have the research notes you wanted in my desk, I’ll go and get them.’

  ‘Holly—’

  ‘Yes?’ She turned at the door, willing him not to tell her again how much he needed her.

  He seemed to hesitate, then he nodded. ‘Go and get the notes,’ he said gruffly.

  She escaped the room with relief, leaning back against the door for several seconds, then moving quickly to her office as she realised James would become concerned with the passing of time.

  She had unlocked her desk and taken the papers out of the drawer when her office door opened without warning. Zack Benedict entered the room, closing the door to lean back against it, his arms folded in front of his chest.

  Holly straightened at the blatant mockery in his face. ‘What can I do for you, Mr Benedict?’ she enquired coolly.

  ‘You can tell me what you intend to do now that it appears my brother thinks he’s in love with you too.’ His eyes were as hard as the emeralds they resembled.

  CHAPTER THREE

  ‘YOU were listening?’

  He gave her an arrogant inclination of his head. ‘Perhaps instead of looking so outraged you should think yourself lucky that I was the one who decided to take a walk in the garden.’

  Holly paled a little. ‘Maxine …?’

  ‘She is his wife—’

  ‘If you think I encouraged that scene you witnessed with James then you’re mistaken,’ Holly snapped. ‘You have no right to accuse me of—’

  ‘I haven’t accused you of anything,’ Zack reasoned smoothly. ‘I just want to know what you’re going to do about this situation.’

  She flushed. ‘I’m not sure there is a situation—’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Holly,’ the usually lazily mocking man lost his temper with her. ‘Of course there’s a situation!’ He glanced impatiently at his wrist-watch. ‘I just don’t have the time to argue with you about it now, you have to get back to James and I have to drive Maxine into town. But we’ll talk when I get back,’ he warned, opening the door. ‘I may not have accused you of anything yet, but I will if you can’t think of a way to sort out this mess so that no one gets hurt.’

  ‘Mr Benedict—’

  ‘Give it some thought, Holly,’ he advised softly, all laughter missing from a man she had thought found humour in everything. ‘Because this certainly can’t go on.’

  The room was curiously silent and empty after he had gone, and Holly knew that although she had done nothing personally to merit his anger he had a perfect right to feel it. The whole situation was turning into a farce, and she was going to be the innocent victim if she wasn’t careful. Once again! She had been blamed for something that wasn’t her fault once before, she couldn’t let it happen again.

  Fortunately James seemed to have forgotten all about the conversation she found so embarrassing by the time she returned with her notes, and with Maxine and Zack out of the house they were able to work steadily through the morning, James only calling a halt to it when he heard the other couple returning for lunch.

  ‘I suppose we’ll have to join them.’ He didn’t looked very pleased at the prospect.

  ‘I’ll just go and freshen up,’ she nodded, no more eager to see Zack again than James seemed to be about his wife. And only yesterday morning she had thought how happy she was here; that idea was fast disintegrating.

  Neither Maxine nor Zack was anywhere to be seen as she made her way up to her room, although she knew Zack was a man of his word, that they would talk some time today. Zack Benedict might not be anyone’s idea of a confidante, but she knew she had to tell him her feelings towards James were merely those of affection, and if James had misunderstood those feelings she had no idea what to do about it other than leave here as soon as possible.

  The atmosphere between the three occupants of the lounge was tense to say the least when she entered the room a short time later, still wearing the fitted black skirt and cream blouse she had worn all morning. Maxine’s dress was as sophisticated as usual, its purple shade suiting her dark colouring. The two men were sipping what looked like whisky, surprising Holly; she could never remember James drinking in the middle of the day before.

  His expression was darkly scowling as he put his empty glass down on the table. ‘Shall we go in to lunch now?’ he rasped.

  ‘Oh, Holly and I aren’t lunching here.’ Zack was the one to answer, strolling across the room to her side, the mockery in his eyes taunting her open-mouthed surprise at his statement. ‘We’re going out for lunch,’ he added as he turned to face the other couple.

  To say they looked stunned was nothing to how Holly felt. This might be his idea of a joke, but she for one didn’t find it funny. Although he didn’t seem to be laughing either!

  ‘You didn’t mention this earlier.’ Maxine looked at her brother-in-law accusingly.

  ‘I didn’t think you would be particularly interested in my plans with Holly,’ he dismissed.

  ‘Really?’ Maxine was tight-lipped.

  ‘Well, I’m very interested,’ snapped James. ‘Holly is my secretary, Zack, I don’t expect you to come here and start flirting with my employees.’

  ‘No one would have wanted to flirt with Miss Preston,’ Zack mockingly named Holly’s predecessor, a woman in her early fifties with a sergeant-major manner. ‘You shouldn’t have got such a beautiful replacement for her,’ he drawled.

  Holly hated the way he constantly thrust her in the middle of the tension between his brother and himself. ‘I’m sure that if James would rather I didn’t go out we could change our plans—Zack,’ she added the latter awkwardly.

  ‘No matter what he may have led you to believe to the contrary, Holly,’ Zack ignored the way she stiffened as his arm came about her shoulders, although one glance at her rigidly set features made him ease the pressure so that he barely touched her, ‘my brother doesn’t control your every waking moment. I believe even slaves had some time off.’

  James became flushed with anger at the taunt. ‘How dare you even suggest—’

  ‘Calm down, big brother,’ taunted Zack, guiding Holly towards the door, whether she wanted to go or not. ‘You had Holly this morning, now it’s my turn.’

  She waited only as long as it took him to close the door behind them before turning on him angrily. ‘I do not want to have lunch with you,’ she burst out fiercely. ‘And I do not like your innuendoes about your brother and myself. We spent the entire morning working, and I—’

  ‘Calm down
,’ he gave her the same advice he had given James seconds earlier. ‘I’m quite sure you did spend the morning working, I’m equally sure you don’t want to have lunch with me.’ He was suddenly serious. ‘But we have to talk, remember?’ he said grimly, the jagged cut on his chin giving him a fierce appearance. ‘You do remember, Holly?’ he prompted hardly, all lazy humour gone now.

  She was finding it hard to cope with this man’s lightning change of moods, had a feeling that the lazy charm and mockery hid a dangerous will of steel, that he rarely exerted that will unless he felt it very necessary. At the moment he found it so.

  ‘Yes,’ she mumbled. ‘Although you don’t have to take me to lunch. We can talk here.’

  ‘I’d prefer it if we didn’t.’ He gave her a critical look. ‘Do you have anything less—formal to wear?’

  She blinked. ‘Less formal?’ She had never thought of the blouse and skirt as such.

  ‘Jeans and a tee-shirt?’

  Her frown deepened. ‘Just where to you intend taking me for this lunch?’

  His mouth quirked at her worried expression. ‘Wait and see. Do you have denims and a tee-shirt?’

  ‘Yes. But—’

  ‘God, you’re an argumentative woman!’ he put in impatiently. ‘Go and change and meet me here in five minutes.’

  Holly would have liked to press him for more information about their destination, but the complaint of her being argumentative kept her dumb, going up to her bedroom to change. The denims were old and faded, very rarely worn, their cut and style drawing attention to the curve of her hips and the lean length of her legs; her tee-shirts were a little more numerous, as she occasionally wore them with a summer skirt, choosing a pale blue one with short sleeves, resting on her hips over her denims. Her reflection in the mirror showed she looked young and attractive, an impression she didn’t normally cultivate. But nothing about Zack Benedict could be called normal; the man was a law unto himself!

  ‘Much better.’ He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her, taking hold of her elbow to guide her out to the car, a low green sports model that she had to climb down into, fitting his own long length into the confined space next to her out of familiarity, driving the car with ease out on to the main road.