Lovers in the Afternoon Read online

  ‘Where are you going?’ Adam asked softly.

  ‘Home!’ She didn’t even turn.

  ‘How?’ his gentle question halted her. ‘Your car is still at Thompson Electronics, your keys to the car are in your handbag, your money, too, in case you were thinking of taking a taxi home, and your bag is in my car downstairs,’ he reminded softly.

  She had done it again! ‘So much for my grand exit,’ she said dully as she turned around.

  His smile was sympathetic. ‘It really was very good.’

  ‘Don’t humour me, Adam,’ she snapped.

  ‘Lovers—’

  ‘We are not lovers!’ she bit out between clenched teeth. ‘And we never will be. Now if you’ll give me your car keys for a few minutes I’ll go down and get my bag.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You can’t keep me here by force, Adam!’ There was an edge of desperation to her voice.

  ‘I don’t intend to,’ he soothed. ‘I’m going to get dressed and drive you home.’

  ‘My car—’

  ‘Will be locked into the car park by this time of night,’ he pointed out.

  She looked at her wrist-watch; it was after midnight! ‘If you will just let me get my bag I can get a taxi home.’

  Adam shook his head. ‘I can’t let you do that this late at night.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound possessive, Adam, it sounds autocratic,’ she taunted him.

  He smiled. ‘It’s concern for your welfare,’ he mocked. ‘Lovers are like that,’ he told her softly before going back into the bedroom.

  Leonie stared after him frustratedly; she should have known that today was going to end as disastrously as it had begun. She should also have known Adam would have something to do with it, had felt a premonition of his presence while waiting to be rescued from the lift, her clumsiness always more pronounced whenever he was around.

  She had been too stunned, too conscious of Mrs Carlson’s presence, to do any other than follow Adam’s lead of it being their first meeting when the other woman introduced them in his office. And once she recovered from the shock of seeing him again after all this time she was too intrigued by his behaviour to do any other than go along with the pretence. And as she had admitted to him, it was easier too. But the pleasant atmosphere of their evening together had seduced her into doing something she would rather forget, something that she wouldn’t allow to be repeated, her reaction to Adam totally unexpected, given their history together.

  Her breath caught in her throat as Adam returned to the room, the business suit replaced with a fitted black shirt and black cords. Adam never dressed this casually!

  ‘Changing your image, Adam?’ she taunted to hide her reaction to him.

  ‘Like it?’ he smiled, not fooled by her attitude for a minute.

  She more than liked it, she wanted him again! It was ridiculous when she had been married to this man for a year, when they had been separated for over eight months, to feel the same instantaneous flood of emotion towards him as she had when she first met him almost two years ago. And yet looking at him now she did feel it, her mouth dry, her palms damp.

  ‘You look very handsome,’ she told him primly. ‘Now could we please leave?’

  ‘Certainly.’ He picked up his car keys.

  ‘Lovers are obliging too, are they?’ She couldn’t resist taunting as she preceded him out of the apartment and into the lift.

  ‘Any time,’ he said suggestively, his body pressed up against the back of hers. ‘Just say the word,’ he encouraged throatily.

  She frowned her irritation, moving gratefully away from him as they walked over to the car, their footsteps sounding loud in the black stillness of the night. Adam proved to be right about her bag, it lay on the floor of the car as he opened the door for her to get in.

  ‘You can pick your car up tomorrow,’ Adam suggested during the drive to her home, the car roof up now in the cool of the night.

  ‘Tomorrow?’ she frowned.

  ‘When you come for our meeting,’ he nodded.

  Her eyes widened. ‘You don’t seriously expect me to still come to that?’

  He glanced at her, his brows raised. ‘Of course.’

  ‘But I—Wasn’t that just a set-up?’ she frowned.

  ‘I wanted to see you again,’ he acknowledged. ‘And it seemed a good way to arrange it in view of the way you’ve felt about seeing me again, but I do also want my office decorated.’

  ‘Not by me,’ she shook her head determinedly, quivering at the thought of having to see this man on a day to day basis in connection with her work.

  ‘By you,’ he said firmly.

  ‘No!’

  ‘Yes,’ he insisted softly. ‘I really was impressed by your work on the lower floor.’

  ‘Adam—’

  ‘Yes, Leonie?’

  She drew her breath in sharply at his tolerant tone. ‘I am not going to work for you,’ she told him stubbornly.

  ‘Yes, you are,’ he nodded confidently.

  ‘You can’t force me!’

  ‘I wouldn’t even attempt it,’ he assured her mildly. ‘But I think you might find it a little awkward explaining to your boss, David isn’t it, the reason you won’t work for me.’

  ‘You wouldn’t make me do that?’ she groaned.

  Adam shrugged. ‘I don’t see what else you can do.’

  ‘But David has plenty of other designers, much more capable ones than me!’

  ‘I don’t want them,’ he stated calmly. ‘I want you.’

  ‘Please don’t involve my career in this, Adam,’ she pleaded desperately.

  ‘All I want is my office decorated, is that too much to ask?’

  His innocence infuriated her! ‘You aren’t just asking anyone to do it, I was your wife!’

  His expression softened into a reminiscent smile. ‘I’m not likely to forget that.’

  ‘But I’ve been trying to!’ She was twisted round in her seat as she tried to reason with him. ‘I’ve put my life back together, made the career for myself that I gave up when I married you. I am not about to let you jeopardise that.’

  ‘But I don’t want to.’ He shrugged broad shoulders.

  ‘You’re forcing me into a situation I don’t want. You deliberately sought me out for this job, didn’t you,’ she accused.

  He nodded. ‘I bought the company because I knew you had worked there once.’

  ‘You—you did what?’ she gasped.

  ‘Well, I had to have a valid reason for seeing you, I knew you would flatly refuse to go anywhere where you knew I would be.’ He shrugged. ‘So I bought Thompson Electronics.’

  It was an example of the arrogance she had always associated with him in the past; if he wanted something then he went out and bought it. He had once bought her with that same wealth and self-confidence that had blinded her to how wrong they were for each other.

  ‘Then you wasted your money,’ she told him tautly. ‘Because nothing would induce me to work for you.’

  ‘I didn’t waste my money, the company is a very profitable one,’ he announced calmly. ‘And I don’t intend to induce you into doing anything; surely you’re adult enough that you could design something for my office suite without letting personalities enter into it?’ he raised dark brows.

  ‘It isn’t a question of that,’ she said stiffly. ‘I just don’t want to work for you. Wasn’t one member of my family enough for you?’ she added disgustedly.

  ‘You mean Liz?’

  ‘Who else?’ she scorned.

  ‘Liz was the best personal assistant I ever had.’

  She had been a little too ‘personal’ as far as Leonie was concerned! They had met because of her sister’s relationship with Adam, and they had parted for the same reason. ‘Look, I’ll talk to David tomorrow,’ she told him tautly. ‘I’m sure he’ll be only too glad to send someone else over to work with you.’

  ‘I don’t want anyone else,’ Adam said flatly. ‘I wondered about you and him f
or a while, you know,’ he added softly.

  She looked over at him with startled eyes. ‘David and I?’

  ‘Mm,’ he nodded.

  Her mouth tightened resentfully. ‘And what stopped you wondering?’ she snapped.

  He shrugged. ‘Your dates were too occasional for them to be anything more than placating the boss who has designs on you,’ he dismissed.

  Leonie’s eyes widened. ‘You’ve been having me watched!’ she realised disbelievingly.

  ‘You are my wife—’

  ‘Was,’ she corrected tightly. ‘We’re legally separated, and once the appropriate time has elapsed our divorce will be finalised.’

  ‘I was just seeing if we couldn’t speed up the proceedings,’ he explained.

  Leonie blinked at him for several timeless minutes, unable to believe what she was hearing. ‘Are you trying to say you were after evidence of adultery against me?’ she said with disbelief.

  Adam shrugged. ‘I thought you might feel more comfortable about our new arrangement if we were already divorced. I knew that I couldn’t wait three years for you.’

  ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t oblige!’ Somehow the knowledge that he had done such a thing hurt her unbearably. God knows she had enough evidence of adultery against him! But she had chosen not to subject any of them to the embarrassing ordeal of revealing their personal lives in public. Knowing that Adam had considered doing it to her made her angry.

  ‘Maybe I should have had you followed,’ she glared at him.

  ‘Oh, I’ve been living very quietly since you left me,’ he dismissed.

  ‘Quietly doesn’t necessarily mean alone,’ she snapped.

  ‘In this case it does.’

  And she knew the reason for that; Liz had continued to stay with her husband Nick. ‘Look, we’re getting away from the subject,’ Leonie sighed. ‘You’ll have to have someone else do your work for you.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Adam, I will not be bullied by you into doing something I don’t want to do.’

  He held up his hand defensively. ‘Have I tried to bully you? Did I bully you into anything tonight?’ he added throatily.

  Her mouth tightened. Tonight had been incredible, there was no denying that, and plenty of women would be only too agreeable to the sort of non-committal relationship Adam was now offering her. But not her. She had made a fool of herself over this man once, she wasn’t going to do it again.

  ‘Admit it was everything you thought it could be,’ he encouraged softly. ‘No complications of marriage, other people, just you and me making beautiful love together.’

  Just talking about the experience made her body tingle. ‘But it couldn’t stay that way indefinitely,’ she reasoned impatiently. ‘Sooner or later one of us would expect more—’

  ‘Not me,’ Adam assured her with finality. ‘I’ve tried being married to you; it didn’t work out.’

  She swallowed down the pain his casual admission of their year together caused. It hadn’t worked out, she would be the first to admit that, but to hear Adam talk so casually about the commitment they had made caused a constriction in her chest, as if someone had physically struck her.

  ‘You?’

  ‘Sorry?’ she frowned as she realised she had missed what he had said next.

  ‘You wouldn’t want more either,’ he shook his head. ‘After all, you were the one that ended the marriage in the first place.’

  ‘Someone had to make that decision,’ she bit out abruptly.

  ‘Oh don’t worry, I’m glad that you did.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m just not husband material.’

  She hadn’t thought about that at the time, although perhaps she ought to have done, Adam was already thirty-seven, had had several serious relationships, and even more that weren’t serious, and before meeting her he had shown no inclination to marry any of those women, had enjoyed his freedom to the full. It was difficult enough for any man of thirty-seven to suddenly accept the changes marriage made to his life, to a man like Adam, who could have his pick of women no matter what his marital status, it was impossible. And she hadn’t known about Liz then either.

  ‘You think you would do better as a lover?’ she derided.

  ‘Haven’t I?’ he quirked dark brows.

  She put a hand up to her aching temples. ‘It’s late,’ she sighed. ‘And I’m too tired for this conversation right now.’

  ‘There’s no rush.’ He turned to smile at her after stopping his car outside the old three-storey Victorian building that housed her flat. ‘Are you going to invite me in?’

  ‘Harvey wouldn’t like it,’ she shook her head.

  There was a sudden tension about him. ‘Harvey?’

  He had been amused at her expense all evening, and now she couldn’t resist a little amusement herself. ‘Dick wouldn’t be too pleased either.’

  Adam frowned. ‘I didn’t know you were sharing your flat with two men.’

  ‘Didn’t your private investigator tell you that?’

  ‘No,’ he ground out. ‘He—What are you laughing at?’ he questioned suspiciously when she couldn’t contain her humour any longer.

  ‘Harvey’s my cat,’ she explained between giggles.

  ‘And Dick?’

  ‘Moby Dick.’

  ‘You have a whale in there?’

  Fresh laughter convulsed her. ‘A goldfish,’ she finally managed to choke out. ‘But I thought the name might deter Harvey from eating him; so far it’s worked.’

  Adam shook his head tolerantly. ‘Klutzy, insane, adorable woman,’ he groaned as he pulled her over to his side of the car, before fiercely claiming her mouth. ‘Life has been so dull since you left me,’ he rested his forehead on hers as he held her easily in his arms.

  ‘Even a steady diet of caviar can get boring after a while; and I’m nothing like caviar!

  You never, ever bored me; I never knew what you were going to do next!’ he smiled.

  ‘That isn’t practical for a wealthy industrialist’s wife. And I wouldn’t stay hidden out of sight as a lover either,’ she told him before he could point out that he wanted a lover not a wife. ‘Not that I’m considering becoming one,’ she added hastily as she realised it sounded as if she were.

  ‘You are one.’ His quick kisses on her mouth stopped her protest. ‘Sweet dreams, Leonie,’ he finally released her. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  She didn’t argue the point with him; so far it didn’t seem to have got her anywhere. He would find out soon enough that if he really did want his office decorated that someone else would be in charge of it.

  ‘Good night, Ad—Ouch!’ She groaned as her hair seemed to be caught on the button of his shirt. ‘Adam, help me!’ she pleaded, tears of pain in her eyes.

  ‘Sit still, woman,’ he instructed with patient amusement, his lean fingers working deftly to free her hair. ‘There you go,’ he released the last strand, his eyes gleaming with laughter. ‘I’ve heard of giving your lover a lock of your hair, but this is ridiculous!’

  ‘You’re the one that’s ridiculous,’ she snapped, getting out of the car, her exit foiled somewhat as she had difficulty unlocking the door. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment as she turned to speak to him through the open window. ‘Good night, Adam. Thank you for tonight, it was an interesting experience.’

  His smile didn’t even waver at the coldness in her voice. ‘One of many,’ he promised huskily.

  Her mouth tightened before she turned on her heel and walked over to the huge front door that was the entrance for all the tenants of the building. She was aware that the BMW hadn’t moved away from the side of the pavement, of Adam watching her, congratulating herself on reaching the door without mishap when the keys fell out of her hand straight into the empty milk bottle standing out on the doorstep waiting for collection in the morning.

  For a moment she just looked down at her keys inside the bottle in disbelief. Someone ought to lock her up for her own safety and throw away the key!

&nb
sp; ‘Are you all right?’

  She turned reluctantly to acknowledge Adam’s concern at her delay in entering the building. ‘Fine,’ she answered brightly as he now stood outside the car, leaning on the roof to look over at her.

  How could she nonchalantly pick up a milk bottle and start shaking the daylights out of it! But how could she get in to the building if she didn’t? God, she felt so stupid.

  ‘Leonie, are you sure you’re all right?’ Adam sounded puzzled as she still hesitated.

  ‘Yes, of course,’ she answered waspishly, trying to unobtrusively pick up the bottle, the keys inside rattling loudly in the still of the night as she tried to furtively shake them loose.

  ‘What on earth are you doing?’

  She was so startled by his sudden appearance at her side, having been so intent on her keys in the bottle that she had been unaware of his approach, that she dropped the bottle. Adam caught it deftly before it could hit the ground, looking down at the keys inside.

  ‘Isn’t this a strange place to hide keys?’ he frowned as he tipped the bottle up and was rewarded by them falling smoothly into the palm of his hand.

  Leonie snatched them from his hand. ‘I wasn’t hiding them,’ she snapped. ‘I dropped them.’

  ‘Ah.’

  Her eyes blazed deeply green as she turned on him. ‘What do you mean “ah’?’ she challenged. ‘“Ah, I should have guessed”? Or, “ah, that such an unfortunate occurrence should have happened to me”?’

  ‘Ah, that such an unfortunate occurrence should have happened to you, of course,’ he said tongue-in-cheek.

  Her movements were agitated as she unlocked the door. ‘I wonder why I have difficulty believing you,’ she muttered.

  ‘Darling, calm down.’ He took her in his arms once more. ‘I really don’t mind these little accidents that happen whenever you’re around,’ he soothed.

  ‘I don’t remember your saying that the time I caught the bodice of my gown on your father’s tie-pin and it took you half an hour to separate us!’ She strained away from him, but his superior strength wouldn’t allow her to move far, his thighs pressed intimately against hers.

  ‘Dad was the one that was so annoyed, not me,’ he reminded with amusement. ‘Look at it this way, Leonie, at least he was a captive audience for that half an hour; you always did say he didn’t listen to you!’