Undying Love
Carole Mortimer
Carole Mortimer is one of Mills & Boon’s best loved Modern Romance authors. With nearly 200 books published and a career spanning 35 years, Mills & Boon are thrilled to present her complete works available to download for the very first time! Rediscover old favourites - and find new ones! - in this fabulous collection…Uncovering her secrets…Since her husband's death six months ago Shanna has thrown herself into her work by day and wild parties by night. Anything to avoid being alone with her own thoughts and darkest fears…But arrogant American playboy Rick Dalmont isn't taking no for an answer. His relentless pursuit is annoying—and more than a little exhilarating! But Rick seems to know that the last months of Shanna’s marriage had been far from happy—and he is dangerously close to discovering the tragic reason why…!
Undying Love
Carole Mortimer
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Table of Contents
Cover (#u5b59e679-8b80-576a-b4cc-29db79b0c725)
Title Page (#uf0937b93-8fe2-5573-9f23-2f8ad55e7d31)
CHAPTER ONE (#u5971efd2-a9ab-5034-b0d8-ff0388924750)
CHAPTER TWO (#u997fa01d-610f-5371-936e-42b718266e25)
CHAPTER THREE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE
THE first person Shanna saw when she entered her brother’s spacious lounge was Rick Dalmont. And that was enough to make her want to leave again!
But she met that black-eyed gaze without blinking, nodding cool acknowledgment before turning to talk to her sister-in-law, Janice. But she knew those strange dark eyes still watched her, was always aware of Rick Dalmont’s gaze on her whenever they happened to meet. And that had been all too often lately as far as she was concerned.
‘I’m so glad you made it,’ Janice said with some relief; she was a small blonde-haired woman, married to Shanna’s brother Henry for the last ten years; their two offspring, a boy and a girl, were fast asleep upstairs.
Shanna didn’t need to question her sister-in-law’s feeling of relief; she knew the reason for it—Rick Dalmont. Half Spanish, half American, the black-haired, black-eyed business tycoon had made no secret of his pursuit from the moment they met two weeks ago. Until that time a young up-and-coming actress had shared his life; she had been asked to leave the night Rick met Shanna for the first time. A lot of women would have been flattered by the almost single-minded pursuit by such a man—Rick Dalmont was a very eligible bachelor—but Shanna would rather he turned his attention elsewhere. Ricardo Dalmont, to give him his full name, wasn’t her type at all. His reputation with women was no secret, his method of ending those relationships was not always gentle. In fact, it was very often cruel; the women were simply replaced, without notice.
But that wasn’t the reason for Shanna’s lack of interest, she simply wasn’t interested in any man at the moment. Clinically she could admire Rick Dalmont’s looks, the over-long black hair, the hard tanned face, the jet-black eyes that revealed none of the man’s thoughts; his mouth was a cynical twist, his tall body leanly muscled, his sexual magnetism tangible even to the immune Shanna. But as a person she disliked him intensely, disliked all that he stood for.
‘For goodness’ sake get him away from Henry,’ Janice pleaded with her. ‘This is supposed to be a party, not a business meeting,’ she groaned.
‘I’m sure Henry doesn’t mind,’ Shanna said dryly, knowing her brother’s preoccupation with business. She hadn’t reached the age of twenty-five without learning that of her older brother.
‘He probably introduced the subject,’ the other woman nodded. ‘But he suddenly seems to have lost Rick’s attention,’ she mocked dryly.
Shanna followed Janice’s amused gaze, her green eyes clashing with his black ones. She had never seen eyes like Rick Dalmont’s before, so dark a brown they appeared black. That dark gaze moved slowly over her body, from the smoothness of her straight shoulder-length black hair with the feathered fringe from a centre parting, her green eyes surrounded by dark sooty lashes, the small straight nose, the bright lip-gloss on her slightly pouting lips, the slenderness of her throat, the perfection of her body in the clinging knee-length red dress, her long legs thrust into black high-heeled sandals, adding to her already considerable height.
She met that intimate gaze with a challenge of her own, and made herself return the inventory, the over-long black hair swept back from the wide intelligent forehead, the harsh features carved as if from stone, the animal elegance of the powerful body beneath the black evening suit, the material stretched over wide shoulders, tapering to a narrow waist and powerful thighs. Rick Dalmont was a magnificent specimen of manhood; and he left Shanna cold, both physically and emotionally.
And he knew it too, had known of her coldness from the beginning, and it only increased his desire for her. She should have known such a man would consider her a challenge, that he would meet that challenge head-on. If she had known of his presence here, at what was primarily a private party for a few friends of her brother’s, she would have refused the invitation. That was probably the reason Henry had remained silent; her brother was well aware of her feelings in regard to his new business acquaintance.
The newness of Henry’s apparent friendship with the other man bothered her somewhat. Rick Dalmont wasn’t a man’s man, his relationships were mainly sensual, his many business interests seeming to be his only other occupation. The Dalmont fortune had been made by Todd Dalmont, Rick’s father, originally in oil, but since Rick Dalmont had taken over fifteen years ago he had diversified the family fortune, successfully, into a number of different industries. A man like Rick Dalmont would be successful at anything he set out to do, from winning the woman of his choice to getting the best deal for Dalmont Industries!
And that was what bothered her. Henry and Rick had absolutely nothing in common socially. Henry was a staid family man, very much in love with his wife, whereas Rick Dalmont had made his opinion of marriage known on more than one occasion; he approved of it for other people, but not for himself. So that only left business that Henry could have in common with the other man, and yet even that didn’t seem plausible, for as far as Shanna knew Rick Dalmont had no interest in the newspaper business, and as Henry ran and owned one of England’s biggest newspapers…
‘He’s coming over,’ Janice whispered softly.
She had been expecting it, could sense his presence even now, was aware of the warmth of his body as he came to stand beside her, could smell the spicy aftershave that was exclusive to him, as were the cheroots he smoked.
‘Shanna,’ he greeted in a voice of gravel and honey. She had been surprised by that voice the first time she heard it, had never heard such a smoothly seductive voice cloaked in such husky tones, his accent softly American.
‘Mr Dalmont,’ she returned smoothly, knowing he found her distant behaviour amusing.
‘Could I get you a drink?’ he offered gruffly.
‘I’m sure Henry——’
‘Rick knows the way to the bar,’ her brother dismissed unhelpfully.
Shanna gave a haughty inclination of her head, left with no other choice. ‘Then I accept your kind offer, Mr Dalmont.’
Her arm was taken between vicelike fingers as she was steered away from Henry and Janice and through to the bar in the adjoining room. ‘I wasn’t being kind at all, Shanna,’ Rick told her softly. ‘Not unless you count to myself. You left Doug Gillies’ party two evenings ago before I even had the chance to talk to you.’
She would have left this evening too if it hadn’t been her brother’s party. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said coolly, only reaching up to his shoulder despite her own considerable height.
He grinned, deep grooves in the hardness of his cheek, his eyes a deep enigmatic black. ‘You aren’t sorry at all,’ he derided. ‘But I’ll let it pass for now. Dry Martini, isn’t it?’ he nodded towards the bar.
Shanna didn’t question his knowing her preference in drinks; this man would make it his business to find out her preferences in everything! ‘Thank you,’ she accepted distantly.
‘My pleasure,’ he drawled suggestively.
Shanna ignored the innuendo, realising that this man was used to a more positive reaction from women, that her indifference to him intrigued him. She had had no choice, she either showed him her indifference or gave him what he wanted. And as he wanted her, made no secret of the fact, she had decided to show him indifference. Either way he was sure to lose interest soon, and this y there was no harm to her. She had no intention of sleeping with a man just as a means of getting him out of her life! Rick Dalmont wasn’t a man who enjoyed the chase for long, she just hoped he would tire of her soon; he was making it awkward for her to go anywhere, always seeming to be where she was.
‘Here,’ he held the long glass out to her, somehow managing to touch her slender fingers in the process. ‘Not very subtle,’ he acknowledged the slight raise of her brows. ‘But I figured it’s the only way to touch you at all. Do you usually freeze men off the way you’ve been freezing me?’
He was beginning to tire, she could tell that. Until tonight Rick Dalmont had shown her of his attraction to her, but it had always been charmingly done, never a word or movement out of place. Tonight his behaviour was noticeably different; the chase was over, the feline abobout to catch his prey, any way he could. It was the time she had been dreading the most; her own polite but distant behaviour was no longer enough to repel him. She would have to be as blunt as he intended being.
She met his gaze unflinchingly, her black hair swinging back over her shoulders. ‘Yes,’ she answered abruptly.
The charm had gone from his face now, leaving his expression harsh, his mouth taut, his eyes narrowed. ‘So I’m not the exception?’ he bit out, seemingly unaware—or just unconcerned—of the people standing near them, the conversation and loud laughter doing a lot to mask this very private conversation.
‘No,’ she drawled, knowing the idea displeased him. Rick Dalmont was a man who arrogantly dismissed women when they displeased him; he was never dismissed himself. It would have been that way all his life; the Dalmont fortune had been made long before Todd took his young Spanish bride and produced Ricardo. Rick Dalmont had grown up with a gold spoon in his mouth, and the determined line of his mouth said he wasn’t going to allow a mere woman to deny him something he wanted—even if it was her! For thirty-seven years nothing had been denied him, and Shanna Logan wasn’t about to be the exception, not even when it was her body he wanted. ‘What do you and my brother have to talk about so earnestly?’ She decided attack was still the better form of defence.
Rick’s mouth twisted derisively. ‘He hasn’t told you yet?’
‘No,’ she evaded.
‘I wonder why?’ he taunted.
She gave a careless shrug. ‘I have no doubt he will, in time.’
Rick gave a haughty inclination of his head. ‘In time. But will that be too late?’
‘I have no idea. Will it?’
He gave a husky laugh. ‘It could be,’ he mocked her attempt to get information out of him.
‘Then perhaps I’d better go and talk to Henry now.’ She turned to leave.
Firm fingers grasped her arm, strong relentless fingers that held Shanna to his side. ‘It can wait,’ he dismissed abruptly. ‘Maybe if you ask me nicely enough I might be persuaded to tell you.’
She eyed him coldly. ‘I can get the information from Henry with much less effort.’
His breath was warm against her cheek. ‘Would it be so much of an effort?’
‘Yes!’ she snapped—and then cursed herself for her show of anger. She had intended to show this man no emotion at all, but his manhandling of her couldn’t go without retaliation of some sort. She pulled pointedly out of his grasp, knowing her arm was going to be bruised in the morning from his reluctance to release her. ‘Yes, I’m afraid it would, Mr Dalmont,’ she repeated coldly. ‘And I hate having to make an effort of any kind.’
‘Poor little rich girl,’ he rasped.
Her cool green eyes openly mocked him. ‘Isn’t that slightly ridiculous, coming from you?’
‘I worked for my place as head of Dalmont Industries from the time I could understand what stocks and shares were,’ he bit out fiercely. ‘My father never gave anyone anything for nothing in his life, and he wasn’t about to start with me. What’s your excuse?’
She had hit a raw nerve, she could tell that; Rick Dalmont would lose his temper only rarely. He had just done so very effectively. ‘I don’t have one,’ she told him quietly. ‘I’m the editor of a magazine Henry owns.’
‘So he informed me,’ Rick nodded abruptly. ‘A cursory title, I’m sure.’
‘Then don’t be,’ she snapped. ‘Fashion Lady may only be a women’s magazine, and unimportant to a man like you, but I run it to the best of my ability.’
‘And how good is that?’
She flushed at the quietly intended insult. ‘Ask Henry!’ her eyes flashed.
To her chagrin Rick Dalmont began to smile. ‘At least this is an improvement. I’ve made you lose your temper with me three times in the last five minutes.’
‘I think that probably makes us even,’ she taunted.
‘Nothing like it,’ he still smiled. ‘My temper has been much less controlled since I met you. But you could soon change that,’ he added throatily. ‘All it would take is one word from you.’
And she knew exactly what that word was! ‘I haven’t been using that word too often lately,’ she said abruptly.
‘Since your husband died.’
Shanna froze. ‘What do you know about that?’
Rick shrugged. ‘It’s no secret that he died, is it?’
‘No.’ She avoided that black-eyed gaze, knowing this man could see into her soul if he wanted to. And from what she knew of him he would want to.
‘Or how he died?’ His eyes were narrowed now, sensing her increased hostility.
She swallowed hard. ‘No.’
It had been no secret how Perry died, it had been emblazoned across the front page of every newspaper in the world. A famous ex-racing driver killed in a road accident was world-wide news.
‘Or that you were in the car with him at the time?’ Rick continued his prodding into her personal pain.
This time she didn’t even answer him; her expression was wooden, refusing to show any emotion to this man. He would take any sign of weakness and use it to his advantage.
‘Or that your marriage had already ended.’
The cruelly stated words brought a light sheen of perspiration to her brow, although her dull gaze remained fixed on one of the light-fittings on the far wall.
‘That the two of you be together at all was an unusual occurrence.’
Her gaze slowly moved back to the hard face of the man standing in front of her, missing the taut enquiry of his expression, seeing only the determined cruelty of his eyes and mouth. ‘If you’ll excuse me, Mr Dalmont——’
‘And if I won’t?’ Once again his fingers bruised her arm, but this time she didn’t even feel the pain.
‘You will.’ The cold dullness of her voice made his hand drop away, and without another glance in his direction she walked away.
People rarely spoke to her of Perry, most of them respecting the fact that she must still feel her husband’s loss after only six months. But Rick Dalmont had a hard cruelty about him that didn’t respect anything, even a widow’s grief. He had even mentioned the reports in some newspapers that her marriage to Perry had been far from happy at the end. Only an insensitive swine could have done that. Rick Dalmont would use anything to get what he wanted, including her grief for Perry.
‘Shanna,’ Henry touched her arm lightly. ‘What have you said to Rick?’ he asked anxiously. ‘He looks like thunder.’
She blinked up at her brother, her elder by five years, his receding hairline adding to his air of maturity. Although right now he looked very worried.
‘You haven’t upset him, have you?’ He kept shooting worried glances at the other man.
‘Does it look like it?’ she mocked. Rick Dalmont was now leaning against the wall talking softly into the ear of a giggly blonde.
‘Rick isn’t interested in Selina,’ Henry dismissed.
‘Oh?’ She was regaining control now, wishing she hadn’t made her distress quite so obvious to Rick Dalmont. He was a man who shouldn’t be given any advantage, and she had just given him one.
‘You know he isn’t,’ her brother sighed.
‘Do I?’
‘You’re too old to play coy games, Shanna,’ he said impatiently. ‘The man wants you, and you know it.’
‘I also know he isn’t going to have me!’ Her eyes flashed deeply green.
‘Shanna——’
‘Henry, I think we should talk,’ she watched his flushed face warily. ‘I don’t like the way you’ve suddenly become involved with that man.’
‘That’s business, Shanna——’
‘But what business? When did Rick Dalmont become interested in the world of newspaper publishing?’
‘He isn’t——’
‘Then what business are you involved in with him?’ she frowned.
‘We can’t talk about it here, Shanna,’ he avoided. ‘This is a party. And you know Janice doesn’t like business discussed at her parties.’
She sighed. ‘Tomorrow, then?’
‘Sunday? Mm, come to lunch,’ he added. ‘Peter and Susan will like that.’
Her expression softened at the mention of her nephew and niece. And she had a feeling she was being manipulated once again, and this time by her own brother; Henry knew how fond of Peter and Susan she was.
‘We’ll talk about Rick Dalmont before lunch.’ She didn’t let him even think he had got away with the distraction. ‘I’ll come over about twelve.’
He grimaced. ‘Fine.’
She smiled at his lack of enthusiasm. ‘You got into this, Henry,’ she drawled at his discomfort. ‘Now you can explain it to me.’
‘Shanna——’
She touched his cheek mockingly. ‘Tomorrow, Henry. And I shall expect a full explanation.’
‘But——’
‘A full explanation,’ she repeated determinedly.
‘I’m beginning to wonder who’s the eldest in this family,’ he muttered before moving away to join his wife, as a couple of the guests were taking their leave.
‘A good question,’ drawled an amused voice from behind her, an unmistakable voice of honey and gravel. Shanna spun round, wondering just how long Rick Dalmont had been listening to her conversation with her brother.
‘You really shouldn’t pressurise Henry, honey,’ he mocked. ‘Now me, you wouldn’t have to pressurise at all.’
‘I told you——’
‘You wouldn’t even have to be persuasive,’ he cut in softly. ‘Let me take you home and I’ll tell you all.’
She stiffened at the intimate warmth of his gaze. ‘I have my car here.’
He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Then you drive me home—I came by cab.’
‘I’d rather not,’ she refused distantly.
Anger flashed in the dark eyes. ‘No wonder your husband turned to other women!’ he rasped.
Shanna went deathly pale. ‘What did you say?’
‘When a man is frozen out of his own bed it’s inevitable that he’ll turn to other women for physical satisfaction,’ he scorned.
‘Are you saying that’s what Perry did?’
‘It’s public knowledge,’ he shrugged again.
‘Is it?’
‘Was he still sleeping with you before he died?’
‘Our sleeping arrangements have nothing to do with—Oh!’ she gave a painful gasp as her wrist was grasped and her arm twisted up behind her back, her body brought dangerously close to the hard-muscled flesh of Rick Dalmont. ‘Let me go,’ she ordered between gritted teeth.
‘Smile,’ he instructed curtly, his teeth showing white against his dark complexion. ‘I said smile, damn it,’ he bit out savagely at her lack of response to his order.
She looked about them desperately, amazed that no one could see what this man was doing to her. And then she realised that several people who had come here alone were now in rather close clinches with a man or woman they had met here tonight. Janice would be shocked to know that some of these couples whom she had only just introduced would even be in bed together later tonight.
But not Rick Dalmont and herself. And he was still hurting her, his hold on her arm brutal. ‘How can I smile when you’re breaking my arm?’ she groaned.
He lightened his grip slightly, although the relaxation made her body curve more intimately against him. ‘I’m sorry,’ but he didn’t look very repentant. ‘Now answer my question,’ he ground out.
‘I’ve forgotten what it was,’ she muttered.!
‘Liar!’
She blinked at the vehemence of his tone. ‘I won’t discuss my marriage to Perry with you!’
Rick sighed, releasing her completely at the inflexibility of her tone. ‘Even in the face of danger you choose to defy me.’
‘Danger?’ She raised black brows.
‘So cool,’ he shook his head. ‘It isn’t natural. Your eyes speak of fire, of all you have to give a man——’
‘Not you!’
‘Me,’ his eyes glittered furiously. ‘I’m getting tired of waiting for you, Shanna——’
‘What is it, Mr Dalmont?’ She refused to rub her aching wrist and arm; she wouldn’t show any weakness to this man, ever. ‘Did you think that because I’ve been widowed for the last six months I would fall into your arms like an over-ripe plum? Did you think I would be so sexually frustrated that you would have no trouble at all getting me into bed with you?’ Her voice rose angrily.
‘Maybe you’re sexually cold,’ he dismissed.
‘Oh, that’s usually the next insult!’ she scorned. ‘Then I’m supposed to sleep with you just to prove that I’m not cold at all. I’ve been through it all before, Mr Dalmont. I must say, I’m disappointed in you—I expected more sophistication from you.’
His mouth tightened. ‘Why do you have to fight me?’ he asked quietly, impatiently. ‘I’ve asked you out so many times over the last two weeks that I’ve lost count.’
‘Then give up!’
‘I want you, Shanna,’ he told her forcefully, pinning her to the spot with the intensity of his gaze. ‘And I never give up on something I want as badly as I want you. I’ve left a trail of broken people behind me who could tell you that.’
She had gone very pale, believing his threat. ‘That was business——’
‘Business or personal, it doesn’t matter,’ he shrugged. ‘I always win in the end.’
She had heard of his ruthless business dealings, of the people he had ruined in his desire to add to the Dalmont coffers, but she had never heard of this singlemindedness with a woman before. Although perhaps he had never been turned down before! ‘No,’ she shook her head. ‘Not this time you won’t,’ she told him with quiet conviction.
‘You loved your husband, is that it?’
She couldn’t help flinching at the scorn of his tone. ‘Yes,’ her voice was husky, her head bent.
‘You still love him?’ he grated.
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t believe it!’
Her head went back proudly, her eyes flashing. ‘It’s the truth,’ she snapped.
‘And the parties almost every night, the men who pay you attention—that’s mourning him, is it?’ Rick derided harshly.
‘He wouldn’t want me to stay at home.’
‘I would!’ he bit out fiercely, his eyes jet-black. ‘I’d want you to lock yourself away until you died too.’
His intensity took her breath away, and she swallowed hard. ‘Maybe that’s what I am doing, waiting to die,’ she said softly.
‘At parties every night?’ he scorned.
She looked at him with steady green eyes. ‘Maybe I just don’t want to be alone when I die.’
Rick Dalmont looked as if she had physically hit him, paling slightly beneath his olive complexion. ‘Shanna…?’
She sighed, shaking off his hand. ‘Selina seems anxious for you to return to her side,’ she drawled. ‘I’m sure she’ll be much more—amenable than I could ever be.’
‘I don’t want Selina,’ he rasped.
‘Poor Selina,’ she murmured, her cool façade back in place. ‘She’s very attractive.’
‘She doesn’t have black hair and green eyes.’
‘I’m sure there are thousands of willing women who do.’
‘With emphasis on the willing, hmm?’ he taunted.
‘Exactly.’ She gave him a saccharine-sweet smile.
He shook his head. ‘It’s still you I want, Shanna.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I really believe you are,’ he frowned at her quiet sincerity.
‘Yes,’ she nodded.
‘I can’t work you out.’ Rick shook his head dazedly.
‘Don’t even try,’ she advised. ‘Just don’t become involved with me——’
‘I want to go to bed with you, not become involved!’
Her smile was genuine this time. ‘And one precludes the other with you?’
‘Yes,’ he bit out tautly at her mockery.
‘Goodnight, Mr Dalmont. We’ll meet again?’ she drawled.
‘You can bet on it!’
‘I’m not usually a betting woman, but I’m sure that if I were I would win that bet.’
‘Little tease!’ he rasped.
Her humour faded as quickly as it had begun. ‘That’s one thing I’m not, Mr Dalmont. I’ve told you bluntly to leave me alone, you’ve chosen not to take that advice. You would be doing us both a favour, and saving yourself a lot of time, if you gave up on me now.’
‘Because you’ll never give in to me?’
‘No.’
He shrugged. ‘I’m not prepared to give up on you yet. I’ll be seeing you, Shanna.’ He ran a fingertip lightly down her cheek, lingering against her mouth, nodding confidently before going over to Henry and Janice to take his leave.
Shanna wasn’t altogether surprised at his departure from the party; he knew there was no point in pursuing her any further tonight, not when she had made her feelings more than plain. And she didn’t want to stay here any longer herself now; the verbal encounter with Rick Dalmont had opened up wounds that she knew would never get the chance to heal.
‘What did you do to him?’ Henry demanded when she joined him. ‘I’ve never known Rick to leave a party at eleven o’clock before!’
She shrugged. ‘There has to be a first time for everything.’
‘Yes, but——’
‘It may have escaped your notice,’ she taunted, ‘but Selina has gone too.’
‘She left with Gary,’ her brother dismissed. ‘She gave up once Rick returned to you. She decided it’s Gary’s lucky night instead.’
‘Bitchy!’ she smiled.
Henry grimaced. ‘Selina picks up a different man every time she comes here. I’ll have to tell Janice not to invite her again.’
‘A snob too!’ Shanna mocked.
‘Stop changing the subject,’ he scowled. ‘What did you do to make Rick leave?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Nothing?’ Henry frowned.
‘Exactly that,’ she nodded. ‘And I intend to continue doing nothing. Don’t forget to tell Janice I’ll be here for lunch tomorrow,’ she reminded lightly, intending to show him she had far from forgotten the talk she wanted to have with him.
‘She always cooks enough for an army,’ he answered vaguely.
Her brother’s air of distraction did nothing to reassure Shanna. Henry always knew what he was doing, had been a more than competent successor to their father as head of the family newspaper and magazine empire.
Poor little rich girl, Rick Dalmont had called her. He didn’t know anything about her. Until her marriage to Perry four years ago, perhaps that description would have fitted her, but marriage had matured her far beyond the spoilt girl she had been at twenty-one.
She had married Perry against her father’s wishes, something that had been hard to do considering her closeness to her single parent, her mother having died years ago. Her father had been completely against her marrying a man who risked his life for a living. But the marriage had been a success, and it had perhaps been Perry’s constant brushes with death that had speeded the process of her maturity and cherishing of the deep love they had for each other. Whatever the reason, her father had been assured of her happiness before he died two years ago. At least she had given her beloved father that, and he had been spared the pain she was still suffering, the pain of losing Perry.
No one knew or could understand the loss she felt at Perry’s death, not even those closest to her. And no one knew how she feared death for herself…
She breakfasted alone the next morning, as she had for the last six months, before tidying the apartment. Not that it needed much of that, one person didn’t make much mess, and because she and Perry had spent most of their marriage living out of suitcases she had learnt not to have too many personal possessions, so the apartment was bare of all personal imprint.
It was a new apartment since Perry’s death, the one they had used as their home-base when in London had been on the other side of town. But photographs of Perry were prominent in every room, photographs of him racing, of him winning, of the two of them together. Most of them were from before Perry’s first accident, the one that had precipitated the end of his career. A serious back injury meant the end of his career as a top racing car driver six months before his death, and she knew it had been a blow Perry had never fully recovered from. Racing had been his life, his career, and for a time he had gone wild.
Damn Rick Dalmont! She knew he was the reason for the memories. What else could she do but remember when he had pointed out so forcibly that all had not been well between Perry and herself at the time of the fatal accident? But he had been right about one thing, the fault in the marriage had been hers, not Perry’s. It was true that when a man couldn’t find satisfaction in his own bed he turned elsewhere for solace. Perry had done just that.
None of her sleepless night showed as Janice opened the door to her shortly before twelve, her expression coolly composed, looking elegant in a dress the same green of her eyes, its long-sleeved, high-necked style more provocative than a more seductive style could be.
‘I’ll never know how you do it,’ said a harassed-looking Janice, her blonde curls in disarray, a smudge of flour on her nose. ‘You always look like a fashion-plate, and I—Well, I look what I am, I suppose, a housewife.’
‘A beautiful housewife,’ Shanna smiled, kissing her sister-in-law affectionately on the cheek. ‘And I look this way because I go out to lunch,’ she laughed.
‘Hm,’ Janice acknowledged wryly. ‘Although that doesn’t explain how you still look this way when we come to your apartment for dinner too.’
‘Caterers,’ she taunted dryly.
‘You know you’re a fantastic cook,’ Janice dismissed with a sigh. ‘Well, I’d better not keep you from Peter and Susan any longer. They’re waiting for you in the lounge.’
The next few minutes were taken up with the ecstatic greetings of her young niece and nephew, although Shanna had time to realise that there was no sign in the spotlessly clean lounge of the smoky party of the night before.
Peter and Susan were five and six respectively, as alike as if they had been twins, both fair-haired and blue-eyed like their mother, although they had their father’s height and were both inclined to be serious like Henry too. But they were lovely children, and Shanna greeted them as enthusiastically as they did her.
Henry sat back in his favourite armchair and watched them with an indulgent smile on his lips, puffing away on his favourite pipe; an affectation he believed gave him a look of distinction. It just made him more endearing to Shanna. She and Henry had always been close, despite the difference in their natures, but as the time for lunch neared and Henry still made no effort to bring up the subject of Rick Dalmont she decided to broach the subject herself.
‘Henry——’
‘Lunch is ready,’ Janice came through to announce.
Henry gave a pleased smile as he stood up. ‘Thank you, darling.’
‘I’ll give you thank you!’ Shanna muttered as she accompanied her brother through to the dining-room. ‘You won’t get away so easily after lunch.’
He turned to grin at her. ‘But at least then I’ll have a full stomach!’
‘It won’t help you,’ she warned.
‘Maybe not, but you’ll seem less fierce once I’ve eaten.’
‘Fierce, Henry?’ she spluttered. ‘I’ve never been fierce in my life!’
He shook his head. ‘Sometimes you remind me so much of Dad it’s incredible.’
‘Dad was a lovely old man, despite his crustiness; I can’t see the resemblance at all,’ Shanna smiled.
‘Oh, it’s there. I’ve seen it in your handling of Rick Dal——’
‘—Mont,’ she finished triumphantly. ‘I’m so glad you haven’t forgotten about him, Henry.’
‘No,’ he mumbled. ‘But lunch first, hmm?’
‘But no longer,’ she warned. ‘My patience is wearing a little thin, Henry.’
‘I didn’t know you had any!’
Shanna grinned at his woebegone expression, and her good humour lasted all through the delicious Sunday lunch Janice had prepared. Peter and Susan helped her with the washing-up afterwards, then she carried through a tray of tea to her brother and Janice, arching her brows at Henry as he seemed settled in front of the television.
‘Henry and I will take our tea through to the study,’ she announced firmly. ‘Won’t we, Henry?’ She looked at him steadily.
‘Will we?’ He sighed at her stubborn expression. ‘I suppose we will.’ He stood up reluctantly.
‘I won’t keep him long, Janice,’ she promised.
‘Oh, I think you will,’ her sister-in-law said knowingly. ‘Good luck, Henry.’
‘She sounded as if she thought you might need it,’ Shanna questioned as she sat opposite her brother in his study.
‘I might,’ he nodded.
She frowned. ‘Tell me, Henry,’ she said quietly, ‘what business do you and Rick Dalmont have?’
‘You won’t like it,’ he warned.
‘I have a feeling not,’ she acknowledged heavily.
He stood up to pace the room. ‘You see, the newspaper hasn’t been doing too well lately, and I needed a cash flow for a while.’
‘Yes?’
‘I’ve been trying to get this deal together with Rick for months, and when he came over to England two weeks ago it was an ideal opportunity to further the talks. We finalised the deal on Friday, that’s partly what the party was about last night.’
‘Yes?’ Shanna was very wary now, Henry deliberately avoiding her gaze.
‘Well, that’s it,’ he shrugged.
‘No, that isn’t it at all, Henry,’ she refuted softly. ‘You haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know. What’s the deal you’ve made with Rick Dalmont? Has he come in as your partner or just with a financial loan?’
‘Neither.’ Henry wetted his lips nervously.
Shanna’s unease began to deepen. It wasn’t like Henry to be so evasive. ‘Then what is the deal?’
‘Look, when Dad died he left all the publishing business to me. Maybe he shouldn’t have done, but you were happily married to Perry at the time, and Dad did leave you financially secure.’
‘I never wanted any of the business, Henry, you know that,’ she dismissed. ‘You’re entitled to make whatever deals you want. I just want to know where I come into it, because I do, don’t I?’
‘Yes,’ her brother sighed heavily. ‘It’s Fashion Lady.’
‘What about it?’ she gasped.
Henry shrugged. ‘As of Friday it belongs to Rick Dalmont. You now work for him.’
CHAPTER TWO
SHANNA’s breath left her in a hiss. Fashion Lady now belonged to Rick Dalmont! She couldn’t believe it. Fashion Lady had become her lifeline the last year, had given her something worthwhile to do after Perry’s death six months ago. And Fashion Lady had continued to thrive under her control, her natural flair for what was fashionable and what would interest the fashion-conscious woman of today increasing the magazine’s circulation considerably.
And now it all belonged to Rick Dalmont. ‘I’ll have to leave,’ she said dully.
‘Er——’
‘Yes?’ Her tone was sharp at her brother’s hesitation, sensing there was more to come.
Henry looked anxious. ‘Part of the deal was that you would stay on for at least a transition period.’
‘And how long is that?’ she frowned.
‘Six months,’ he revealed reluctantly.
Shanna rose slowly to her feet. ‘No, Henry,’ she told him coldly. ‘You had no right to sign a deal like that without consulting me. Or were you asked not to?’ she realised sharply.
Henry looked sheepish. ‘I knew you’d never go for it——’
‘You knew?’ she accused.
‘All right, both Rick and I knew.’
‘Then you were both right,’ she snapped. ‘I could never work for him.’
‘But I’ve signed the contracts now!’
‘But I haven’t,’ she pointed out stiffly. ‘You knew I would never agree to it, Henry,’ she shook her head. ‘And your signature can’t commit me to anyone.’
‘You’re contracted to Fashion Lady, regardless of who owns it.’
‘Then I resign,’ she snapped.
‘Your contract requires three months’ notice,’ he reminded her.
‘I rescind all right to the money owed me,’ Shanna told him. ‘Just give me my references.’
‘I can’t do that,’ Henry shook his head. ‘I’m no longer your employer. And if you leave now Rick would sue you and me for breach of contract.’
‘Then let him!’ Her eyes flashed in challenge.
‘Shanna, I signed my part of the bargain in good faith.’ Henry’s voice lowered pleadingly. ‘One breach of the contract could ruin the whole deal.’
She glared at her brother. ‘Then it will have to ruin it!’
‘And the Chronicle could go under!’
She frowned, searching her brother’s face, seeing the lines of worry there, the strain he had been hiding from her. ‘That bad?’ she said softly.
‘That bad,’ he nodded grimly.
‘Rick Dalmont wouldn’t call off the whole deal just because I won’t work for him!’
‘He will,’ Henry said with certainty.
‘He—will?’
Her brother nodded. ‘He refused to even consider signing the contract until you were included in it.’
‘God,’ she said shakily.
‘It’s normal practice for senior staff to stay on after such a negotiation,’ Henry pushed his point as he sensed her confusion.
‘Nothing about Rick Dalmont is normal,’ she flashed. ‘You know why he’s done this, Henry. I won’t go out with him, so he’s forcing me to relate to him from a work point of view.’
‘That’s rubbish,’ he dismissed abruptly. ‘I told you, we’ve been discussing the deal for months.’
‘And when did I enter into it?’
‘About—Well, I——’ Henry broke off, frowning.
‘About two weeks ago, right? Before that I’m sure he had no interest in the staff of Fashion Lady,’ she scorned. ‘That he didn’t give a damn if they stayed or went.’
‘That isn’t true,’ her brother blustered. ‘The future of the staff of Fashion Lady has always been high on my list of priorities.’
‘Your priorities, Henry,’ she pounced triumphantly. ‘Rick Dalmont doesn’t give a damn about the little people who get in his way. He told me so himself.’
‘No one at Fashion Lady is in his way.’
‘I will be. His being my boss won’t make the slightest difference to how I feel about him personally. I don’t like him, nothing will change that.’
‘You don’t have to like him, just work for him.’
‘That isn’t what he wants, and you know it,’ Shanna sighed. ‘Henry, how could you do this to me?’ she groaned. ‘You’ve seen the way he follows me, the way he never stops looking at me. I’ll be handing in my notice—I have to, Henry,’ she insisted as he went to protest. ‘But don’t worry, I’ll give him his three months. With any luck he’ll leave the acquisition of Fashion Lady to one of his hirelings.’
But she knew he wouldn’t, knew this was just the opportunity Rick Dalmont had been waiting for. She wasn’t conceited enough to think he had bought Fashion Lady just to get a hold over her, but she felt sure he would lose no opportunity in using it as such. She would have to be very careful of Ricardo Dalmont in future; he didn’t play by any rules she knew, in fact he didn’t play at all!
Everything seemed normal when she went in to work on Monday morning; no high-powered executive was waiting for her to tell her of her new employer. Gloria, her secretary, sat in her normal place behind her desk, handing over the mail and messages that had already come in.
But Shanna knew that she was different, that inside she was a seething mass of emotions. If Rick Dalmont thought he was going to breeze in here and take her by surprise as the new owner of the magazine then he was going to be out of luck; she intended greeting him as coolly as ever. And she didn’t intend that he should have the upper hand in anything.
‘Gloria,’ she buzzed through to her secretary, ‘get Mr Dalmont of Dalmont Industries for me. He’s at the Excellence, I believe.’
‘Rick Dalmont?’
‘That’s the one, Gloria,’ she said lightly, releasing the intercom button. Gloria was a good secretary, and had worked for the previous editor too, but even her usually unruffled demeanour had been unnerved by the mention of Rick Dalmont. He would have that effect on most women, and as most of the staff at Fashion Lady were women she envisaged more than a little hero-worship once it was known he was the new boss.
‘Mr Dalmont, Shanna,’ Gloria announced a few minutes later.
She picked up the blue telephone on her desk that matched the blue and white décor of her executive office. The cover of Fashion Lady was always in blue and white, and for the most part so was Shanna’s office. Blue was a colour she tended to avoid away from work.
‘Mr Dalmont?’
‘Shanna,’ he returned throatily.
‘I believe we should meet, Mr Dalmont.’ Her tone was briskly businesslike as she imagined his mocking humour at the other end of the telephone.
‘You’ve spoken to Henry?’ he drawled.
She could now visualise the look of satisfaction on his smug face. ‘I’ve spoken to him,’ she acknowledged. ‘Would twelve o’clock in my office be convenient?’
‘Are you inviting me out to lunch, Shanna?’ he taunted.
Her mouth tightened, the gleam of revenge in her eyes making them glow deeply green. ‘I’m inviting you to my office at twelve o’clock,’ she told him stiffly.
‘I’ll be there.’ He rang off abruptly.
And so would she. She could sense his feeling of triumph even over the telephone, and she was determined he wouldn’t know any more such feelings where she was concerned. He had won this round, and she would see that Henry didn’t have to go back on his word as a business man because of her, but Ricardo Dalmont wouldn’t win any more rounds over her. She was going to be one step ahead of him from now on. Ignoring him hadn’t worked, being polite to him hadn’t either, she would have to try and make sure she stayed that one step ahead of him in future.
She had warned Gloria to buzz through to her office when Rick Dalmont arrived, and it was exactly twelve o’clock when the single buzz alerted her. She moved smoothly to her feet, ethereally thin in the black dress, her black hair caught in at her nape, her eyes like twin jewels above her high cheekbones.
Rick Dalmont’s eyes widened appreciatively as she went out to greet him, those same dark eyes narrowing at her formality.
‘Please come in, Mr Dalmont,’ she invited coolly, vaguely irritated by the way Gloria couldn’t seem to stop staring at the man. Admittedly he looked very handsome in a fitted iron-grey three-piece suit and snowy white shirt, but he was only a mere man after all. She didn’t notice the power that emanated from the force of his body, or the shrewdness in the dark eyes, the determination on the sensuous mouth. She should have noticed all those things about him, but she didn’t, was blind to it all. Perhaps if she had noticed…
She opened her office door for him to enter, standing back as silence fell over the seven people waiting inside the room, all of them looking at Rick Dalmont with open curiosity. Rick’s reaction to this unexpected meeting with Fashion Lady’s heads of department was harder to discern, and a hard mask fell over his face as he raised dark brows at her in acknowledgment of the first round going to her.
‘We’ll discuss this over lunch,’ he told her softly, a smile to his lips, only the flare of anger in his dark eyes telling her it would be far from a pleasant conversation.
She moved forward hastily, and silence fell over the room where conversation had begun to buzz as Rick’s identity was realised. Her body moved gracefully beneath the black dress, the heels on her sandals adding to her height. ‘I’m sure you all know Mr Ricardo Dalmont,’ she introduced unnecessarily, knowing that they all realised who he was. ‘What you aren’t yet aware of is that he is now our new boss.’ She turned to him with a challenging smile, the conversation behind her increasing to a roar as the information was absorbed and disbelieved. Like her, her heads of staff had had no idea a takeover was in the offing. Henry had certainly played this close to the ground, and she didn’t need two guesses at whose instigation that had been.
Rick met her challenge with an arrogant inclination of his head. ‘Mrs Logan has been—premature in her announcement,’ he drawled reproachfully. ‘I had meant to talk to you all when Mr Blythe was present. But as I was here to take Mrs Logan out to lunch she thought I should have a few words with you before we leave.’ It was his turn to give Shanna a challenging look, triumphantly so.
Shanna was so angry that she didn’t hear a word he said over the next few minutes, but she could see by the pleased expressions on her colleagues’ faces that they liked what he was saying. He might think he had just trapped her into having lunch with him, but he was wrong, no one forced her to do anything she didn’t want to do. And she didn’t want to have lunch with Rick Dalmont.
‘So I can assure you all that I will make as little change in the format of Fashion Lady as I can,’ he concluded. ‘I look forward to working with you, ladies—and gentleman,’ he acknowledged the single male head of department in the room with the six ladies. ‘A little discrimination in reverse?’ he mocked.
Joe Deane gave an appreciative laugh. ‘I have no complaints.’
‘I don’t think I would either.’ Rick looked at the women with open appreciation.
‘If you’ve quite finished?’ Shanna said icily. ‘We still have a magazine to run,’ she reminded him curtly.
Rick’s eyes narrowed dangerously before he turned to smile at the others. ‘I’m sorry I kept you so long,’ he told them smoothly. ‘I’m sure I’ll meet you all later, individually, in the week.’
Shanna could have cringed at some of the open smiles of encouragement on some of the faces of the women she could have sworn were hardbitten career women. Was no woman immune to this man’s rakish charm!
‘That was not only unethical,’ a cold voice of gravel and honey told her softly. ‘It was also unprofessional,’ Rick bit out tautly; the two of them were completely alone now, and the tension between them was almost unbearable.
‘Unprofessional?’ she echoed quietly. ‘You don’t call buying this magazine without even informing the editor unprofessional or unethical?’ she demanded angrily.
He shrugged broad shoulders. ‘It isn’t required of me to tell you anything.’
‘Not even when I’m included in the deal?’ she snapped.
‘As editor of the magazine, of course,’ he drawled.
‘Of course!’
Again he shrugged. ‘It’s normal practice——’
‘For senior members of staff to stay on after such a negotiation,’ she finished dryly. ‘You coached Henry very well, Mr Dalmont, he used exactly the same argument.’
‘Did it work?’ He leant casually back against her desk.
‘No!’ she told him curtly, holding out an envelope to him. ‘I’m giving you three months’ notice.’
He took the envelope, putting it away in the breast pocket of his jacket. ‘Can you train your replacement in that time?’ he enquired coolly.
Shanna bit back her chagrin with effort; he hadn’t even tried to talk her out of leaving, damn him. ‘I’m sure I can,’ she confirmed waspishly.
He nodded. ‘I think so too.’
‘You don’t seem—surprised,’ she couldn’t prevent the words spilling out of her mouth.
‘I’m not,’ he shrugged. ‘You’re an independent lady, you don’t like being manoeuvred.’
‘You’ve learnt that much about me at least!’ she snapped.
Rick moved closer, his aftershave tangy and pleasant to the senses, as was the good tobacco in the cheroots he smoked, their aroma clinging to his clothing. ‘I’d like to learn a lot more about you—if you would let me.’
Her eyes flashed deeply green. ‘No!’ she took a step away from him. ‘I’ve already told you, I’m not interested. Just leave me alone, Rick.’
‘Rick,’ he repeated softly. ‘I think that’s the first time you’ve ever called me that.’ He touched her cheek with gentle fingers. ‘It makes a pleasant change after the cold “Mr Dalmont” I’ve been used to from you.’
She had realised her slip as soon as she said his name. But she was beginning to tire of this man’s constant pressure on her; she hadn’t slept well the night before, and she felt as jumpy as a kitten about this man as a result of that. ‘It won’t happen again,’ she told him stiffly.
‘Won’t it?’ he derided confidently. ‘I have a feeling it will happen a lot in future. You see, I am the new boss around here, and I like my senior employees to call me Rick. Let’s go to lunch, hmm?’ he taunted. ‘I have a lot of things to discuss with you.’
‘No, I——’
‘Concerning the magazine,’ he gave her a sideways glance.
Shanna eyed him warily. ‘Is that all?’
Dark brows rose mockingly. ‘I can’t promise not to throw in a few personal remarks of my own, but for the most part—yes, that’s all,’ he mocked.
‘A business lunch?’
‘Exactly,’ he agreed with satisfaction.
She still didn’t trust this man, knew that he was capable of lying to get his own way. But for now she had to fall in with his plans, she owed him a certain amount of loyalty as the new owner of Fashion Lady. ‘I’ll just go and tell Jane I’m leaving,’ she nodded coolly.
‘Your assistant editor?’
He certainly didn’t forget much, she had only briefly introduced him to Jane Meakins, her assistant editor, and yet he had remembered her. She didn’t know why that should surprise her, she doubted many things escaped Rick Dalmont’s notice. ‘I shouldn’t be long,’ she told him abruptly. ‘If you need anything I’m sure my secretary, Gloria, would be pleased to help you,’ she added with veiled sarcasm.
‘I won’t need anything,’ he drawled, making himself comfortable in the chair behind her desk.
‘Trying it out for size?’ she taunted.
He gave her a pitying glance. ‘Editor of a women’s magazine is not something I had in mind for my future!’
Shanna shot him an impatient look before leaving the room, wondering how one man could induce such violence in her; simply to be with him now made her want to fight or scream at him. And they were both destructive emotions. But also ones that made her feel vibrantly alive, something she hadn’t felt for a long time. And she didn’t thank Rick Dalmont for arousing such emotions now. Three months of working for him; it could be the longest three months of her life!
He was frowning when she went back into her office several minutes later, standing up ready to leave. ‘Do you actually like the décor in this room?’ he grimaced.
‘It’s very—effective.’ She shrugged into her jacket with a little help from him, moving away as she realised how close he had suddenly become.
‘It’s disgusting,’ he said bluntly, opening the door for her. ‘Your predecessor had abominable taste.’
Her eyes widened as she looked at him. ‘How do you know I didn’t choose it?’
‘You have too much style.’ He smiled at her gasp. ‘You’re a classy lady, Shanna Logan. That’s part of your attraction for me. You have style from the tip of your head to your toes.’ He handed her into the black London taxi he had miraculously managed to flag down in the busy lunch-hour traffic. ‘The Savoy,’ he instructed the driver, getting in beside her.
She sat back, very conscious of the length of his thigh pressed against hers as he deliberately sat as close to her as he could, although there was plenty of room on the seat the other side of him. ‘You’ll have to change your eating habits if you’re going to claim this lunch on Fashion Lady’s expenses,’ she taunted.
His mouth twisted. ‘Dalmont Enterprises can pick up the tab for this one,’ he smiled. ‘And get the decorators into your office first thing tomorrow, will you? It must give you nightmares!’
‘Yes,’ she admitted reluctantly. ‘But Henry always thought it was——’
‘Effective,’ he echoed her description of earlier mockingly.
‘Yes,’ she confirmed defensively.
Rick Dalmont was obviously known at the Savoy, from the doorman to the maître d’, and one of the best tables in the restaurant was made available to them. It obviously paid to have influence and notoriety; the only time she had brought one of the so-called stars here after an interview for the magazine she had had trouble getting a table at all.
‘Tell me, Mr Dalmont,’ she said once they had ordered their meal. ‘If you knew—expected me to hand in my notice, why did you make my being editor part of the deal?’ She looked at him with cool green eyes.
He sat back, satisfaction and triumph in every line of his body. ‘It gives me three months with you I wouldn’t otherwise have had.’ He smiled at her puzzled frown. ‘Making you—as editor,’ he taunted. ‘Part of the deal, makes you feel obliged to at least work your notice. I’m sure Henry has explained to you the pitfalls of leaving a job without references. Also it could affect the rest of the deal I have with him if you leave now. But I’m sure you know all this, otherwise you would already be walking. Wouldn’t you?’ he prompted confidently.
‘Very clever, Mr Dalmont,’ she said tautly.
His mouth quirked. ‘Why do I get the impression that was an insult?’
Green eyes clashed with black. ‘Because you’re a very astute man, Mr Dalmont!’
He laughed softly. ‘And you’re a fascinating woman, Shanna,’ he said without rancour. ‘And the name is Rick. I told you, I like all senior members of staff to use it.’
She eyed him sceptically. ‘Those poor people you assured you would make no changes to Fashion Lady?’ she derided hardly.
His mouth tightened. ‘You doubt my word?’
Shanna gave him a considering look. ‘Not at all. I’m sure that “as little change in the format as you can” will mean exactly that, as little change as you can accept until you have the magazine exactly as you want it!’
His brows rose in silent appreciation of her deduction, as if he hadn’t expected her to be that intelligent.
She sighed. ‘I grew up in the world of business, Mr—Rick,’ she amended reluctantly. ‘My father built up his empire during my childhood, and because my mother died years ago he used to discuss his business with Henry and me.’
‘The Stock Exchange for breakfast, hmm?’
‘Yes,’ she nodded.
‘Sounds similar to my own childhood.’
She recoiled from any similarity between herself and this man, regretting telling him even the little she had. ‘I doubt it,’ she derided. ‘We were rich, but not that rich.’
His eyes darkened at the barb, although luckily the arrival of their lunch prevented the biting reply he had looked about to make. ‘Let’s just enjoy the meal,’ he suggested once their food had been served. ‘I don’t like to argue while I eat.’
‘I can’t argue with you, I work for you.’
His hand grasped hers as it lay on the table-top. ‘At least give me a chance to be pleasant to you. I can assure you I don’t usually get as ruthless with women as I have been with you.’
Shanna purposefully disengaged her hand from his. ‘As you said, let’s eat.’
He gave an impatient sigh, but as he picked up his cutlery she knew they were to at least eat in peace.
‘What do you think of Jane for my replacement?’ she asked as they drank their coffee, having decided it was time for the ‘business’ discussion he had asked for.
Rick frowned, giving the idea some thought. ‘No,’ finally came his blunt answer.
She held back her sharp retort with effort. When she had taken over Fashion Lady a year ago Henry had more or less given her complete control, to do what she felt best for the magazine, to make what decisions she felt were necessary, and without being conceited she knew that the majority of them had been the right decisions. For her to have consulted Rick Dalmont at all just now had been hard enough, to have him turn down her suggestion so emphatically was a damned insult.
‘Why not?’ she snapped in challenge.
He shrugged. ‘I want someone with a new approach, not a staff member who still has her loyalties to you and the new projects you started.’
‘Then you agree I’ve given Fashion Lady some input?’ Her sarcasm was barely contained.
Rick raised dark brows at her vehemence. ‘It’s good to see that something can fire your interest.’
‘Plenty of things do that, Mr Dalmont!’
‘But not me?’
‘No, not you! Now about Jane——’
‘I said no,’ he rasped.
‘And that’s the last that will be said on the subject?’ she scorned.
‘Yes!’
She drew in a deep controlling breath. ‘Very well,’ her tone was once again cold and remote, ‘I’ll see about advertising for a replacement.’
‘It was your decision to leave, Shanna,’ he reminded softly.
‘And I don’t regret it for a moment!’ She stood up. ‘If you’ll excuse me, my lunch-hour was over long ago.’
Rick stood up too, putting some money down on the table to cover the bill. ‘I didn’t think you had noticed,’ he taunted, his hand firm on her elbow as they left the restaurant together.
‘I noticed,’ she derided. ‘But it’s your time…’
‘In that case,’ his mouth tightened, ‘I’d like you to spend the afternoon with me at my hotel, discussing business, of course.’
‘Of course,’ she said dryly. ‘I have too much to do at the office, Mr Dalmont,’ she refused.
‘Some other time, eh?’ he mocked.
‘I doubt it.’
‘So do I,’ he grinned, suddenly looking younger. ‘I wish you would reconsider your decision to leave, Shanna. With a few changes, and your dedication,’ he taunted, ‘Fashion Lady could become the top women’s magazine in the country.’
‘I doubt I would like your changes, Mr Dalmont.’
‘Even if they are for the good of Fashion Lady?’ His eyes were narrowed.
‘In your opinion!’ she scorned. ‘Since when did you become an expert on publishing, Mr Dalmont?’
‘Since I bought Fashion Lady and made it my business to be!’ he snapped angrily, stopping a passing taxi to open the door for her to get inside, leaning on the open window after closing the door behind her. ‘I’ll be seeing you, Shanna,’ he told her grimly before nodding to the driver to take her back to her office.
Shanna stared straight ahead as the taxi moved off into the heavy London traffic, knowing Rick Dalmont’s last words had been in the form of a threat. She would indeed be ‘seeing’ him—he would make sure of that.
It wasn’t until she got back to her office that she realised that, except for her asking about Jane, they hadn’t discussed business at all during lunch. Rick Dalmont was more than distrustful, he was dangerous!
‘What a shock!’ Jane came into her office on her return. ‘I had no idea Fashion Lady was for sale.’
Shanna grimaced. ‘Neither did I until yesterday.’
Jane’s eyes widened. She was a pretty woman in her early twenties, the same as Shanna, her blonde hair kept short and easily styled, her make-up light and attractive, her clothes always fashionably smart. ‘Henry didn’t tell you?’ She sounded surprised.
‘Not until it was too late.’
‘Mm—well, Mr Dalmont does have the financial backing Fashion Lady needs.’
She frowned. ‘You don’t mind that he’s the new boss?’
Jane shrugged. ‘I know it must be difficult for you, with Henry being your brother, but a boss is a boss as far as I’m concerned. The way things are for unemployment in this country at the moment we’re all lucky to have jobs at all.’
Jane’s down-to-earth attitude was something she needed at the moment. They were all lucky to have a job, and jobs as editors didn’t come along every day, she doubted she would be lucky enough to find another one, even with references.
It was something that bothered her as she prepared to go out later that evening. Financially she didn’t need to work, both Perry and her father had left her very well off, but mentally and emotionally…? Heavens, she couldn’t spend her days sitting around the apartment just counting the minutes away! That would only lead to thoughts of Perry, of the last traumatic months of their marriage.
Damn, she was thinking about it already! She had taken great care to fill all of her time, with work in the day, sometimes until she felt like collapsing, and with a round of parties in the evenings. She rarely gave herself time to think, let alone dwell on the past.
And tonight would be no exception! So she would be out of a job in three months, she would find something else, she would make sure she did.
She looked her usual cool and composed self later that evening when she arrived at Steven and Alice Grant’s for dinner. The middle-aged couple were old friends of her father’s, and her own friendship with them had continued even after his death. This evening was a celebration of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, and she knew Alice was pleased with the jade figurine Shanna had given her to add to her already extensive collection.
She already knew most of the other guests at the Grant house, and made a beeline for her brother as she spotted him across the room, a smiling Janice at his side.
‘Going somewhere?’ drawled the familiar gravel and honey voice that she was beginning to feel was haunting her.
She schooled her features to remain calm, turning slowly to face Rick Dalmont. Goodness, he was dressed to kill tonight! The black velvet jacket fitted smoothly across his powerful shoulders, the white of his shirt making his skin appear swarthier than ever, his black trousers moulded to the lean length of his long legs. His dark eyes were filled with amusement as he met and held her gaze, his black hair brushed back from its side-parting to rest low over his ears and collar. He held a drink in his hand, evidence that he had been here for some time.
‘Good evening, Mr Dalmont,’ she greeted softly.
He moved closer to her. ‘Hello, Shanna.’
‘We do seem to—keep meeting.’
‘No, we don’t seem to do anything,’ he drawled. ‘But then I’m sure you already knew that.’
‘Steven and Alice are friends of yours?’ She ignored the intimacy of his tone.
He shook his head. ‘I’ve never met them before this evening.’
She gasped. ‘You gatecrashed their party?’
His mouth quirked. ‘I came with Henry and Janice.’
Shanna’s mouth tightened as she shot a resentful glare at her unsuspecting brother. ‘I should have known! Well, if you’ll excuse me——’
‘No,’ his hand on her arm stopped her leaving. ‘I’m still trying to be pleasant, as I tried at lunchtime,’ he smiled tightly. ‘But you angered me then, and you’re angering me now,’ he added tautly. ‘What do you think I can possibly do to you here, Shanna?’ He looked pointedly about the crowded room.
She blushed at the rebuke of his words, and knew she was behaving ridiculously. There were at least forty people in the room; not even Rick Dalmont would try anything here.
‘Exactly,’ he correctly read her thoughts. ‘Although most women don’t show such aversion to the thought of my wanting to make love to them.’
‘I’m not most women,’ she snapped.
‘I agree, you aren’t.’ He took her hand and placed it in the crook of his arm, holding it there with his other hand. ‘Which probably accounts for the way I ache for you,’ he lowered his voice seductively. ‘Put my plain speaking down to my Spanish ancestry,’ he chuckled at her tight-lipped outrage. ‘I want you very badly, Shanna.’
‘You told me that the other evening,’ she dismissed abruptly. ‘And what you’re talking about is sex, Mr Dalmont, not making love.’
‘The way I would worship your body it would be making love,’ he murmured against her earlobe.
‘I——’
‘Ah, Shanna, you found Rick,’ Alice Grant, an attractive woman in her late forties, beamed at them both. ‘With the rush of the Sinclairs arriving at the same time as you I completely forgot to tell you Mr Dalmont had already arrived with Henry,’ she told Shanna hurriedly. ‘And how silly of you to think we wouldn’t have room for your—for Rick,’ she corrected awkwardly. ‘We’ve all been so worried about Shanna, Mr Dalmont,’ she confided to the silently watchful man at Shanna’s side. ‘We all miss Perry enormously, but Shanna really is too young and lovely a woman to deny her company to some lucky man.’
Much as she liked Alice Grant, who was the nearest thing she had to an aunt, Shanna could cheerfully have strangled her at that moment. And this ‘lucky man’ was going to be told a few home truths as soon as they were alone! How dared he have implied to Alice that he was her partner for this evening!
‘I do consider myself very lucky, Mrs Grant,’ Rick drawled confidently. ‘And I’ve also been very worried about Shanna. But she has me now, don’t you, sweetheart?’ He looked down at her in mocking challenge.
Anger lit up her eyes. ‘I——’
‘Ah, the Daniels have arrived,’ Alice sighed her relief. ‘Steven’s boss,’ she confided softly. ‘I’ll talk to you both later,’ and she hurried to be at her husband’s side as he greeted the other couple.
Shanna wrenched away from Rick Dalmont, breathing deeply in her agitation. ‘What did you tell Alice when you arrived?’ she demanded to know.
He met her gaze with bland innocence. ‘That you were working late and would meet me here as soon as you could get away.’
‘You—I—And Henry went along with that?’ she gasped indignantly.
‘Why not?’ he shrugged. ‘I told him the same thing when I spoke to him on the telephone and he told me you were all going to a dinner party this evening.’
‘You arrogant—My God, I can’t believe this!’ she shook her head. ‘You have the cheek of the devil!’
He nodded. ‘Some people have even claimed we’re related,’ he said with amusement. ‘But I doubt Alice would understand if you tried to explain the true facts to her. She’s a romantic lady, and she thinks that by seeing me you’re finally getting your life back together after your husband’s death. Don’t ruin her evening, will you?’ he mocked.
‘What about mine?’ she bit out.
‘Yours is already ruined,’ he shrugged dismissively. ‘Look, I’ll be on my best behaviour, okay?’
‘That isn’t good enough! I don’t——’
‘Behave yourself!’ Rick rasped as Henry and Janice walked over to join them. ‘Save your insults for when we’re alone and stop behaving like a child! Just think of this as an exercise in employer/employee relations.’
‘I don’t want any sort of “relations” with you,’ she snapped.
He gave her a mocking smile before turning to charm her brother and Janice. The last thing she needed was an example of his lethal charm at work, and she was too angry to notice the curious looks her brother kept shooting her. And she didn’t want to feel angry either, didn’t want to feel anything for this man, not even dislike.
‘By the way, Henry,’ Rick gave Shanna a sideways glance, ‘Shanna has already introduced me to some of the staff at Fashion Lady.’
Henry frowned his puzzlement. ‘She has?’
‘Mm,’ Rick nodded. ‘Only casually, of course, on our way out to lunch.’
Henry looked even more puzzled. And well he might after her vehement avowal of dislike of Rick Dalmont over the weekend. To all intents and purposes she had already lunched with him today, and now she was spending the evening with him too!
Rick’s arm moved about her waist, pulling her close against his side. ‘And how could I resist your sister when she asked me out so persuasively?’ he added throatily.
‘Shanna invited you out to lunch?’ Henry was astounded—and unable to hide it.
Before Shanna could defend any such misconception dinner was announced, and to her chagrin Alice had put Rick Dalmont next to her at the table. His smile of triumph was enough to make her ignore him throughout the meal, although this only seemed to amuse him. Trying to reject this man was like hitting her head against a brick wall, and she just didn’t know what to do next. How pleased he would be if he even knew he was succeeding that far!
‘I like your friends,’ he told her as they circulated after the meal, his hand on her arm refusing to be shaken off as she would have gone alone to speak to Henry and Janice.
‘They like you too,’ she muttered, knowing he had been at his most pleasant as they spoke to the people she knew at this dinner party, his hold on her enough claim of possession for him at the moment. In this lazily charming mood it would be difficult for anyone to dislike him, but she knew the other side of him too well to be fooled for a moment; when thwarted this man was lethal. ‘I think I’d like to leave now,’ she said tightly.
‘What a good idea,’ he nodded. ‘Let’s go and make our excuses.’
‘You don’t have to leave with me,’ she faced him.
He quirked one dark brow. ‘Now wouldn’t it look a little odd if you left and I stayed?’
‘That didn’t seem to bother you earlier when you arrived without me!’
‘Ah, but I had a good excuse for that.’ He looked at her mockingly.
‘All right,’ she agreed tightly. ‘We’ll leave together.’
‘Could I have a word with Henry before we go?’
‘Why not?’ Her voice was taut, her nerves at breaking point. ‘You seem to do everything else you want to!’
Rick laughed softly. ‘I’m glad you realise it.’
‘Almost everything,’ she amended hardly.
His chuckle deepened. ‘Let’s go and see Henry,’ he prompted lightly.
Her brother was looking very pleased with himself when they joined his group, and Shanna didn’t need two guesses as to the reason for that; he believed she had decided to accept Rick Dalmont after all. She could have told him she intended leaving Rick Dalmont as soon as they were out of Steven and Alice’s door, and she didn’t intend being caught in this position again. So much for keeping one step ahead!—she had taken half a dozen backwards this evening.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/carole-mortimer/undying-love/) на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.