Secret Passion
Carole Mortimer

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

THE man seated behind the imposing desk was not the one Aura had come here to see, and the light of battle began to fade from her eyes.

She turned sharply to the secretary who had been about to show her into the office. ‘I think there has been some sort of mistake——’

‘No mistake, Miss Jones.’ The man behind the desk stood up as he spoke, and Aura immediately understood the reason for the dark, solid furniture in the room; this man would have looked ridiculous against any other background.

He was very tall, well over six feet, with a lithe body not usually seen on a man who worked behind a desk all day, the superbly tailored suit he wore emphasising his lean masculinity. Just to look at him was to get a feeling of power, of barely leashed strength.

Aura took in his appearance in a matter of seconds, even acknowledged that he had an attraction that was as powerful as his body: thick dark hair neatly styled to his ears and collar, its slight inclination to curl ruthlessly kept in check, brilliant green eyes that looked her over speculatively as she stood poised in the doorway, his mouth a sensual slash beneath an arrogantly jutting nose, his jaw square and firm.

But it wasn’t what he looked like that concerned her, but who he was!

‘Thank you, Moira.’ He smoothly dismissed his secretary as he strode across the room to close the door behind Aura. ‘Please, sit down,’ he invited softly.

She had come prepared to do battle, and instead she had been greeted by a complete stranger. Where was Adrian? She looked about her awkwardly.

‘Please,’ the man prompted again, his eyes narrowed at her apparent reluctance to stay now that she was here.

Aura sat down in the chair that he had indicated facing his desk, wishing she had thought to telephone to make an appointment before rushing over here. But she had been so angry …!

Her mouth tightened as she remembered the reason for her anger, sherry-brown eyes sparkling warningly. ‘I came here to see——’

‘Mr Mayhew,’ the man finished as he moved softly around the desk to resume his seat.

Mr Mayhew? She hadn’t called Adrian anything that formal for weeks!

‘I’m afraid he isn’t here at the moment,’ the man excused lightly. ‘And as you said, the matter you need to discuss was of some importance … My name is Ballantine, Miss Jones,’ he added briskly as she still looked uncertain. ‘Mr Mayhew and I are business partners.’

Her eyes widened. James Ballantine; he wasn’t at all what she had expected Adrian’s partner to look like!

Adrian gave the impression that he worked with a much older man, and yet Aura was sure this man couldn’t be much older than his mid-thirties, possibly a little younger, which would make him only four or five years Adrian’s senior. Adrian spoke of the other man as if he were Methuselah!

Her mouth tightened as she remembered her reason for being here, and the fact that Adrian couldn’t be relied upon to be completely honest about anything, let alone admit that his partner was really a powerfully attractive man.

‘I really would prefer to see Mr Mayhew,’ she bit out tautly.

Dark brows rose over speculative green eyes, deep slashes of displeasure grooved into his lean cheeks as his mouth firmed. ‘I believe I just told you my partner isn’t available at this time.’ His voice had hardened too. ‘I can assure you, Miss Jones, that anything you wished to say to Mr Mayhew you can now say to me.’ Those grooves in his cheeks disappeared as his mood relented a little, although his impatience was barely concealed behind the polite façade.

Aura gave an inward sigh. She certainly couldn’t say any of the things to this man she had intended saying to Adrian!

But there was still the problem of the letter; that wouldn’t go away, no matter which of the partners she talked to.

She looked closely at the man facing her; had Adrian told his partner about her, had they laughed together as Adrian made one of those man-to-man jokes about her? James Ballantine returned her gaze steadily enough, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t completely aware of Adrian’s ‘personal’ interest in her the last few weeks.

But what choice did she have, it was either talk to this man or no one. And there was always the possibility that she had misjudged Adrian. Although she didn’t think she had.

She opened her clutch-bag to take out the official-looking envelope. ‘I received this this morning.’ She thrust the unfolded letter across the desk at James Ballantine, normally tranquil brown eyes snapping with anger.

Long lean fingers took the letter from her grasp, while the other hand lifted black-rimmed glasses that had rested on the desk top, to place them high on the bridge of his nose. He briefly scanned the letter, his brows raised questioningly as he once again looked up at her. ‘This seems very straightforward.’ He placed the letter down on his desk, regarding her through the slightly tinted lenses of his glasses.

She was well aware of the ‘straightforwardness’ of the letter, knew the exact wording on the single sheet of paper without needing to read it again. The lawyers who acted for Ballantine and Mayhew had written to inform her that the lease that ran out on her shop next month would not be open for renewal, and could she please have the premises vacated by the given date!

The letter had been waiting for her just inside the door of the shop this morning, and after making a few telephone calls she had left her assistant in charge while she went to see Adrian. The last thing she had expected was that Adrian would be out and that she would have to deal with his partner instead. Did this man have any idea of the vindictiveness behind the letter? He wasn’t a man who revealed his thoughts easily, and the glasses acted as another shield to his emotions.

‘The wording of the letter is very clear,’ she acknowledged tightly.

He frowned at the admission. ‘Then what appears to be the problem?’

‘The problem, Mr Ballantine,’ she bit out tautly, ‘is that when I signed the initial lease two years ago it was with the understanding that it would be renewable at the end of that time.’

‘Subject to both parties’ approval.’ He nodded slowly.

‘Yes. But——’

‘Obviously, from this letter, you can see that we don’t approve,’ he reasoned impatiently, obviously wondering why she was wasting his time over something that was already so clear.

Gold sparks flashed among the sherry-brown of her eyes, the below-shoulder length of her pale blonde hair seeming to crackle with anger. ‘Why has my lease been singled out for refusal of renewal?’ she rasped. ‘I’ve checked with your other tenants at Cooper Mews, and all of them have renewed their lease in the last twelve months.’ Telephone calls to the neighbouring shops were the only reason she hadn’t been here earlier this morning, needing to be sure of her facts before confronting Adrian.

James Ballantine raised dark brows. ‘You’ve checked?’ he repeated mildly.

Aura wasn’t fooled by that mildness for a minute, knew that, despite his politeness to her so far, the lines of hardness around his eyes and mouth indicated he could be a very dangerous man to cross.

‘Of course I checked,’ she confirmed impatiently. ‘We aren’t just talking about my livelihood here, I also happen to live in the flat above the shop.’

‘Alone?’

He seemed as surprised by the question as she did, his gaze suddenly challenging.

Surely if Adrian had told the other man about his involvement with her James Ballantine wouldn’t have needed to ask such a question, Aura reasoned.

‘No,’ she bit out, not enlarging on the statement, deciding that if Adrian hadn’t already told this man about her, her living arrangements were none of his business; her lease didn’t say anything about listing the occupants of the flat above the shop.

‘I see.’ His tight-lipped disapproval was tangible as he picked up the letter to read it once again. ‘Have there been any problems with payment on your part to precipitate this move by us?’ he murmured frowningly.

‘Certainly not!’ Her eyes flashed her indignation.

He shrugged, throwing the letter down on top of the other papers littering his desk. ‘Then perhaps there has been a mistake made by our legal department,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I don’t believe we have any other plans for any of the properties we own at Cooper Mews.’

Aura was sure they didn’t, was equally sure that Adrian was behind this move to deprive her of her shop and her home. The old saying warned ‘beware of a woman scorned’; no one seemed to consider that it was a warning that should also apply to a man scorned. One man anyway.

James Ballantine looked at the rapidly changing expressions on her face with piercing eyes. ‘If you would just leave this matter with me——’

‘I’ve always dealt with Mr Mayhew in the past.’ It was because of a contractual problem concerning the roof that she had first met Adrian, having received no help from the legal department here. After that first meeting Adrian had made a point of calling round to the shop from time to time to make sure things were running smoothly. Then a few weeks ago those visits had ceased to concern the shop …

‘I can assure you, Miss Jones, that I am quite capable of dealing with this matter myself,’ James Ballantine informed her glacially. ‘If you would just leave this with me I will get back to you.’

She knew he was furious at her persistence, but her shop was just one of hundreds of properties the partnership of Ballantine and Mayhew owned. ‘When?’ she demanded abruptly.

He drew in a ragged breath, as if he weren’t accustomed to having his movements questioned. And maybe he wasn’t, but Aura couldn’t afford to have him put the problem of her lease—and her—to one side, and just forget about them.

In the almost two years since she had opened ‘Health is Wealth’ she had built up a steady clientele, adding new customers to their number all the time as more and more people became aware of healthy food as a way of being healthy.

The shop had become her salvation, occupying her time and thoughts completely, and she wasn’t about to lose it because a man she had stupidly considered charming had found that he couldn’t control his libido!

After weeks of casual visits from Adrian to the shop the flowers had begun to arrive. Daily. Until Aura had broken all her own rules and agreed to have dinner with the sort of charmingly wealthy rogue she had sworn never to be involved with again.

That first dinner together had been followed by yet another, and then another, until she realised she had been seeing him at least a couple of times a week. He was pleasant company, attractive enough in a rakish fashion, and if his goodnight kisses at her door could become a little too demanding on occasion, he never made any effort to get beyond the door. A week ago she had realised that was all part of his strategy, a strategy he had soon tired of when her curiosity hadn’t become piqued and she had been the one to do the inviting.

Her twenty-fourth birthday had loomed bright and clear, and she had been thrilled with the lovely red roses that arrived for her from Adrian, less than pleased with the diamond bracelet he presented to her over dinner that evening. Her refusal to accept such a gift from a man she considered a friend had resulted in the rakishly attractive man becoming viciously nasty as he informed her he had no interest in being her ‘friend’, that he wanted to be her lover. And soon.

She had cursed herself, and him, on her taxi-ride home, for not seeing sooner that he had deliberately lulled her into a false sense of security before revealing what he really wanted from her.

His retaliation to her rejection of him as a lover had arrived in the letter she had received from the lawyers of Ballantine and Mayhew today, she was sure of it. Just as she was sure that if she agreed to let Adrian into her bed after all, the matter would instantly be dropped.

Maybe it was lucky after all that Adrian wasn’t here at the moment and she was dealing with James Ballantine; his involvement could be her only way out of this situation. Even if this man knew of her past friendship with his partner, she couldn’t believe he would approve of Adrian’s harassment of her. She needed this man on her side.

‘Miss Jones,’ he began slowly in answer to her terse demand. ‘Our acquaintance has been a short one, but I was not aware that I had done anything during that time to make you doubt my ability to carry out the simple task of checking the contents of this letter with my legal department.’

Aura flushed at his unmistaskable sarcasm. Maybe she was being unfair to him, but after Adrian’s underhand methods of persuasion, who could blame her!

‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered awkwardly. ‘I’m just—a little anxious.’

His expression softened slightly, although his mouth remained forbidding. ‘I can understand that,’ he soothed. ‘And I really will get back to you as soon as I know anything.’

It was a dismissal, she knew that, and after her forceful behaviour she couldn’t really blame him for wanting to get rid of her as soon as possible. ‘I am sorry.’ She looked at him appealingly, her eyes warm, her full mouth curved stiffly above her pointed chin, the freckles that covered her nose and cheeks more noticeable against her pallor, due to the tension she was under. ‘But to you it’s just another piece of property, whereas to me——’

‘I do understand, Miss Jones, and I—excuse me,’ he rasped impatiently as the intercom buzzed on his desk. ‘Yes, Moira?’ He spoke tersely, all the time looking at Aura, as if her tenacity were a little beyond him.

‘Your luncheon appointment is here, Mr Ballantine,’ he was informed.

‘I’ll only be a few moments longer,’ he told his secretary before turning his full attention back to Aura. ‘I have to go,’ he said abruptly, taking off his glasses to dazzle her with deep green orbs while he placed the glasses in his breast pocket.

Prudence warred with necessity as she considered meekly accepting this second dismissal in as many minutes—and the latter won! ‘You won’t forget about my lease during your—lunch-break?’

Anger flared in the dark green eyes, to be replaced by incredulity—and finally humour. ‘Miss Jones——’ he glanced down at the letter on his desk. ‘Aura,’ he amended. ‘You are without doubt the most outspoken young lady I have ever met.’

She winced. ‘I am?’

‘You are,’ he drawled, smiling slightly, this time the grooves in his cheeks not looking at all menacing, ‘I am on my way to a business luncheon, not my mistress’s bed!’

A delicate blush coloured her cheeks. ‘I’m sure I didn’t imply——’

‘Yes, you did,’ he mused. ‘And I suppose I should be flattered,’ he added drily.

She didn’t know why. He was undoubtedly a sensual man, despite that rather unapproachable air he wore like a protective cloak; a man didn’t reach his mid-thirties without realising his sexuality was a tangible thing, no matter how well he tried to subdue it. ‘I just assumed——’

‘Too much,’ he put in softly. ‘I don’t have a mistress, Aura. Or a girlfriend. Or even a casual date.’

She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his, sherry-brown locked with emerald green. Why had he told her that, for goodness’ sake? He surely didn’t think that she——! ‘Your personal life—or lack of it— holds no interest for me, Mr Ballantine,’ she snapped coldly. ‘It’s your business interests that concern me.’

He gave a weary sigh, rubbing his temples with long sensitive fingers as his elbows rested on the desktop. ‘The day started out so well, too …’

Her mouth tightened. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve done anything to ruin that for you——’

‘No, you aren’t,’ he derided. ‘You had something to say, and you would have said it no matter who you upset.’

‘Yes,’ she grimaced.

He laughed softly, his eyes warm, the amusement remaining in his smile. ‘I’m not upset, Aura,’ he murmured thoughtfully. ‘Intrigued, perhaps, but certainly not upset.’

She stood up abruptly; the last thing she needed was a complication like this man in her life! ‘I’ve taken up enough of your time.’ She moved determinedly towards the door.

Somehow he was there before her, having crossed the room with a stealthy grace that was unnerving at the same time as his suddenly close proximity sent a shiver of awareness down her spine.

‘You haven’t taken anything I wasn’t willing to give,’ he told her softly.

Aura looked up at him with alarm, that alarm increasing at the unmistakable warmth in sensual green eyes. ‘I have to go,’ she insisted sharply.

He nodded slowly. ‘I’ll be in touch.’

Now what did he mean by that, she puzzled irritably all the way down in the lift and on the walk out to her car. The last thing, positively the last thing she needed, was for Adrian’s partner to become interested in her.

Unless the two men had discussed her, she worried on the drive back to the shop. James Ballantine didn’t seem the type of man to indulge in locker-room gossip, but that didn’t mean Adrian hadn’t told him about the obstinate woman he was dating who refused every move he made to share her bed. Maybe he had even challenged his partner to see if he could do any better with her!

She wouldn’t put that sort of challenge past the type of man Adrian had proved himself to be, but she was sure James Ballantine wasn’t like that. She was letting her insecurities of the past colour her judgement.

But no matter what conclusions she came to about James Ballantine, it didn’t alter the fact that Adrian had repaid her rejection of him by refusing to renew her lease, or that once Adrian returned to the office later today he might manage to convince his partner that he had acted that way for a good reason, and James Ballantine might just decide to go along with that decision …

It wasn’t the most relaxing day she had ever spent, expecting a furious Adrian Mayhew to appear in the shop at any moment, at the very least anticipating a telephone call from James Ballantine to tell her there was nothing he could do about renewing her lease.

Neither of those things happened. Each ring of the bell over the door as it opened brought in only customers, and the only two telephone calls she received were from other customers with queries. By five-thirty, as she and Jeanne, the middle-aged lady who helped her run the shop, closed up for the day, Aura’s nerves were frayed to breaking-point.

‘Everything all right?’ Jeanne took time out from the mad dash she always had at the end of her working day to get home and cook the dinner for her invalid husband and their three young children. ‘You seem very tense,’ she explained her concern.

Aura sighed. ‘It’s just been one of those days,’ she evaded; the other woman and her husband had enough trouble meeting their bills as it was, without worrying them with the fact that Jeanne might soon be out of a job because the shop was having to close. ‘I’m sure it will be better tomorrow.’ Oh God, she hoped so. If James Ballantine didn’t call her first thing tomorrow morning she was going to call him, and damn the fact that that was sure to make him angry straight away!

Once Jeanne had left to hurry to the nearby supermarket before it closed she paused while cashing up to look around the shop that had become her pride and joy. It was light and airy, the shelves well stocked and varied. It was hers, damn it, and she refused to lose it because Adrian didn’t like to hear the word no! She would take him to court over it if necessary—no, she wouldn’t do that, she admitted to herself dully. She wouldn’t do anything that would draw attention to herself, and claiming sexual harassment by her landlord would certainly do that!

But all the anger and frustration of her situation faded as soon as she looked at the gentle face of the woman waiting upstairs for her in the flat. No one, least of all she, was able to resist this delicately lovely woman’s vulnerability, Aura feeling protective as soon as she looked at the other woman.

‘Hello, Mummy.’ She greeted her mother softly so as not to startle her.

Vague brown eyes focused on her with effort as her mother looked up from the television set showing a popular children’s cartoon. ‘Is it that time already, dear?’ She frowned as she saw the till-roll and books in Aura’s hands.

‘Yes,’ she confirmed indulgently, kissing her mother on the cheek before glancing at the television screen. ‘Has the cat been put out for the night yet?’ she mused.

‘No, dear.’ Her mother patted her cheek. ‘And talking of cats, have you seen Marmaduke today?’

‘He came in with me and went straight for his food bowl in the kitchen,’ Aura assured her, knowing how her mother fretted about the wandering tomcat. ‘Just give me five minutes and I’ll get our dinner started.’

‘I’ll get it, shall I, dear?’ her mother offered, but her attention had already wandered back to the television programme.

Aura smiled as she went up to the next floor to her bedroom, knowing her mother would still be immersed in the cartoon—or another programme like it—when she went through the lounge in a few minutes on her way to the kitchen. Every night her mother offered to get dinner for them, and every night she either forgot or wandered off to do something else.

At only forty-five, with the sort of beauty that had only increased with the years, her mother had retreated into a world where pain didn’t touch her, where she saw only good in everything, because to see things any other way would be to see reality. It had been like this since Aura’s father died.

Her mother had never been a forceful personality, but the death of the man she loved had somehow pushed her into a world where she took responsibility for nothing, and where no one expected her to do so. When she wasn’t watching the childishly uncomplicated programmes on television she would just sit and daydream, and from the faraway tranquility of her expression when she did that Aura guessed her thoughts were as childishly unfettered by reality.

Shock, the doctors had diagnosed her condition, at the sudden death of Aura’s father. They had all predicted she would as quickly recover from the shock, that it was something that occasioanlly happened to the deeply grief-stricken. They had been wrong, and despite constant counselling, her mother still lived in that state where she knew the man she loved had gone, but where she preferred to think he had just briefly left their lives.

At times Aura felt her father’s loss so acutely she wanted to share her own pain with her mother, but as time passed and her mother continued to live in her world without pain the doctors had feared that the sudden jolt into awareness could result in permanent damage. Sometimes, as Aura watched her dreamily vague mother, she wondered if it weren’t already too late to do anything to help her.

Once she had changed into peach cotton trousers and a brown blouse, she went down to the kitchen, her mother, as she had predicted, still watching the television, having switched off the news in favour of a nature programme.

Aura didn’t know how her mother would react to the move if they had to make one. She didn’t seem aware of her surroundings most of the time, had made no comment when they moved here two years ago, and yet this flat was part of her mother’s security.

Her mother’s distracted, ‘I could have done it, dear,’ as they sat down to the dinner Aura had prepared, made her smile sadly.

Her mother had never been a forceful person, had always been content to go along with the will of the majority rather than argue her own point of view, but Aura did remember her as a woman whose complete happiness enveloped all around her; the way she was now, neither happiness nor despair touched her. It was heartbreaking for Aura to witness.

The fact that Adrian, when he had called for her here, had been unfailingly kind to her mother had only made her like him more; now she was sure that kindness had just been another part of his plan to persuade her into a deeper relationship with him.

Her sudden loss of appetite was due solely to Adrian Mayhew and what he was trying to do to her, and she refused her mother’s offer of helping her clear away, needing to be alone to try to work out what she would do if James Ballantine refused to reconsider renewing her lease. She would have to look for another property if that happened, and she wearily thought of the time it would take to find somewhere that was suitable. Why didn’t—who was her mother talking to? Oh God, she hadn’t started talking to herself too, had she!

Aura was hastily wiping her hands dry as she rushed into the lounge, entering the room just in time to see her mother inviting James Ballantine into the flat.

He looked over the top of her mother’s head at her flushed and dishevelled appearance, frowning at her suddenly fierce glare. ‘If I’ve called at an inconvenient time …?’

Any time would be inconvenient with him looking like that!

He ought to have a ‘Danger’ warning sewn onto the waistband of the faded denims he wore; the way they clung to his hips and thighs was positively indecent. He had no right to reveal how broad his chest was in the dark green shirt and black leather jacket, and he certainly had no right to have his hair falling rakishly over his forehead like that, ruffled by the gentle breeze outside!

Aura realised she had stopped breathing as soon as she saw him only because her starved lungs suddenly demanded air, her ragged breath audible as her mother moved to turn down the volume on the television set.

‘Not at all—Mr Ballantine, wasn’t it?’ Her mother gave him one of her vague smiles. ‘Aura has just finished clearing away. And I——’

‘Mummy,’ she warned as her mother picked up a book that lay open on the sofa.

‘—was just off to my room,’ she finished serenely as if Aura hadn’t spoken, dazzling James Balantine with another of her beautiful smiles before going up the stairs.

James Ballantine watched her go with vaguely disturbed eyes. ‘She’s very lovely,’ he said suddenly.

‘Yes,’ Aura snapped, suddenly in control again. OK, so out of the dark suit he had worn earlier today and wearing casual denims and a leather jacket instead, he looked devastating; that was no reason to forget that this man had to be here for a purpose, and she had to know what that purpose was. ‘Have you come to tell me——’

‘She seems a little—not quite of this world.’ He still gazed after her mother.

‘Yes,’ she bit out tautly. ‘Now would you——’

‘But so very beautiful,’ he said again dazedly, as if completely mesmerised.

‘Mr Ballantine——’

‘James,’ he corrected gruffly, crossing the room to her side in two strides. ‘Don’t expect me to be coherent when I’ve just seen what you’re going to look like in twenty years’ time,’ he murmured softly. ‘Aura …!’

She didn’t have time to prevent the contact as his head bent to hers and the mouth that she had classed as sensual on sight took possession of her. That was the only way to describe what happened to her, James not just claiming her mouth but branding the whole of her body with his touch.

One hand curved about her nape while the other one held her tightly about the hips, making her aware of the difference in their heights as the hardness of his thighs was crushed against her stomach, stirring a strange emotion there while the hand at her nape offered her mouth up to his like a sacrifice. Like a starving man he took and took, and still he hadn’t taken his fill. Not that Aura didn’t take too, standing on bare tip-toes to entangle her hands in the thickness of his hair as she matched the hunger.

She looked up at him with dazed eyes as he slowly put her back down on the carpeted floor, wondering how she had ever thought him unapproachable, his emotions held firmly in check; there was no mistaking the hunger displayed in his eyes—and it was all directed towards her!

She stepped back, swallowing hard. ‘You shouldn’t have done that.’ She should have sounded firmer and not quite so breathless! He shouldn’t have done that, had left her weak and dazed.

‘I’m going to do it again in a moment,’ he promised throatily. ‘But before I do we had better get business out of the way; I don’t think either of us will be capable of discussing it later on!’ he added ruefully.

She held up protesting hands. ‘What happened between us——’

‘Happens every time I look at you,’ he admitted softly, dark green eyes devouring her parted lips as his gaze rested upon them. ‘I want you.’

Aura was speechless. Men just didn’t say things like that, so bluntly it made her blush. They flattered, and cajoled, and coerced, they didn’t tempt. And that last description fitted exactly what James was doing to her, only having to look at him to feel a leap of her senses. But the first three exactly described what Adrian had tried to do to her.

Her mouth tightened at the thought of the other man. ‘You said you came here to discuss business,’ she prompted abruptly.

‘To start with,’ he drawled, reaching into the inside breast pocket of his jacket to hand her the envelope he had removed. ‘Your lease,’ he explained at her questioning look. ‘All it needs is your signature, duly witnessed, of course.’

Aura gaped at him, sure she couldn’t have heard him correctly, quickly opening the envelope to stare at the legal document. It was the lease to her shop, for the length of five years. It was more than she had hoped for. More …?

Her smile faded as she looked up at James warily. ‘What’s the price?’ she snapped.

He frowned. ‘The terms are in the agreement——’

‘I meant your price.’ She looked at him challengingly.

He became suddenly still, and if she had thought him unapproachable this morning she now knew what unapproachable was! His eyes were glacial, his mouth a thin angry line, those ominous slashes grooved into his cheeks. And Aura knew with certainty that she had completely misunderstood this man’s motives in helping her.

‘I’m sorry,’ she rushed into breathless speech. ‘I just—why did you—and your partner, change your minds?’ she frowned.

‘We didn’t,’ he rasped. ‘I had never refused to renew your lease, and Adrian obviously only made the mistake in his haste to be off on his holiday. I’m sorry you’ve had to be upset in this way, but that’s the only explanation I can give you for the mistake.’

She had really insulted him, and he wasn’t going to forgive her easily. But she had been so used to dealing with men like Adrian! ‘I really am sorry I thought— that, about you, James. I——’

He visibly relaxed. ‘I’ll forgive you—because you called me James for the first time.’

He had far from forgiven the slight, she could see that, but he was willing to forget it, for the moment. ‘I—if your partner is away, and unable to sign this document,’ she began slowly, chewing on her inner lip, ‘is it still legal? And binding?’

James smiled at her suspicion this time. ‘Completely,’ he drawled.

‘But——’

“‘Oh ye of little faith”,’ James mocked. ‘One of these days you’ll have to tell me why you’re so distrusting. But not now,’ he accepted ruefully at her silence. ‘OK,’ he sighed. ‘Well, whenever either my partner or I are away the other has complete power. My God, if I had to wait for Adrian’s approval to anything every time he took his wife on holiday I’d never get anything done!’ he scorned.

Aura felt herself pale. Wife? Adrian was married? Oh God, not again, she couldn’t go through that again!

CHAPTER TWO

‘HE,’ James continued gratingly, unaware of Aura’s distress, ‘takes Selina away with sickening regularity.’

She swallowed hard. Married. Why hadn’t she realised that? ‘Sickening?’ she echoed dully, lost in the misery of what could have happened if she had been attracted to Adrian enough to accept the intimate relationship he had wanted.

‘Mm,’ James sighed his impatience. ‘You would have to know Adrian well to realise why. My business partner isn’t—well, he isn’t as faithful as he could be. Damn it, he isn’t faithful at all,’ he rasped disgustedly. ‘As soon as his latest affair ends he whisks his wife away on an expensive holiday. I think his guilty conscience catches up with him,’ he added grimly.

Latest affair? Oh God, was that her? Well, unless Adrian had met someone in the last week it had to be! She felt ill. ‘Doesn’t his wife realise what’s going on?’

James turned away. ‘I’ve never spoken to her about it,’ he bit out.

A wife could usually tell if it went on long enough, and if Adrian made a habit of this …! ‘Perhaps she doesn’t mind,’ Aura suggested lightly. ‘Some women don’t, you know.’

He shrugged. ‘I really wouldn’t know, Selina doesn’t discuss her marriage with me. But after ten years of it——’

‘He’s been unfaithful to her all that time?’ Aura gasped.

His mouth twisted. ‘I would say that even Adrian was faithful to begin with. Besides, there was Robert to consider.’

Aura blinked, almost afraid to ask the question, but knowing she had to. ‘Robert?’

‘Their son,’ James confirmed her worst dread. ‘He’s nine now, and away at boarding school most of the time, but I’m sure my partner would have been a little more discreet in his actions when the boy was still at home.’

A child was involved too. It was like a sickening rerun of a nightmare. Adrian had acted nothing like a man with a wife and child to go home to, hadn’t seemed to care what time of night he left her, or how often he came to see her and took her out. Surely his wife had to realise there was something strange about his constant absences? Maybe she considered the holidays ample recompense. She knew of other women like that.

But what she had learnt about Adrian today made Aura want to run away and hide so that no one need ever know that she had been out with him. My God, when she considered the times she had been out with him; anyone could have seen them together. She wouldn’t be able to survive another scandal like that.

She looked at James Ballantine with wary eyes. ‘I shouldn’t keep you any longer. Thank you for bringing round the lease, and——’

‘Aura,’ he cut in gently, ‘when I told you earlier today I don’t have a mistress, a girlfriend, or a casual date, I should also have included a wife to that list.’ He put his arms about her. ‘I’m not a married man.’

She was relieved to learn that, but she still couldn’t have anything to do with this man. If he should ever realise that she had been his partner’s ‘latest affair’ … Well, not quite, but who would believe a denial of that coming from her? And she was sure that when this man looked at a person with disgust they would feel as if they had been burnt.

She tried to pull out of his arms. ‘I think you should go——’

‘I’d rather not,’ he groaned into her hair.

She stod completely still. ‘I’m asking you to go,’ she said shakily.

He drew back slightly to look down at her. ‘Aura, I realise we don’t know each other very well——’

‘We don’t know each other at all,’ she corrected— and as far as she was concerned it was going to remain that way!

James smiled at her stubborn expression. ‘That can easily be remedied——’

‘I don’t want to know about you,’ she told him vehemently.

‘—I’m thirty-four,’ he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. ‘The only son of deceased parents. I like children, and animals—especially cats,’ he added as the sleek ginger tomcat entered the room. ‘Hello, boy,’ he greeted, going down on his haunches to tickle the ecstatic animal behind the ears.

‘Marmaduke,’ Aura supplied abruptly. ‘He belongs to my mother.’

‘He’s a beauty.’ Piercing green eyes suddenly looked up at her. ‘Couldn’t we have dinner together one evening?’

She drew in a sharp breath at the abrupt change of subject, sure he had deliberately tried to catch her off guard. ‘No,’ she answered firmly.

He straightened, ignoring the ginger cat as it twined in and out of his legs at the sudden, deprivation of his caressing fingers. ‘You have— someone, in your life?’ His eyes were narrowed.

If she said yes, would he go away and leave her alone? The determined set of his mouth said no, that he would merely set about eliminating the competition. ‘Is it unusual for a woman to say no to you, Mr Ballantine?’ She was deliberately scoffing.

‘One that kisses me the way you do, yes,’ he nodded slowly.

A flush burnt her cheeks, and she knew this man wasn’t flirting with her, that he didn’t know the meaning of the word; he seduced with candour and the certainty of his own feelings. ‘Mr Ballantine, I have no wish to have dinner with you,’ she told him abruptly. ‘I have a business to run, my mother to take care of——’

‘That can’t take up all your time,’ he chided.

‘It does!’

‘What do you do for relaxation?’

She sighed. ‘I read, occasionally go for long walks, play tennis——’

‘I’ll pick you up Sunday afternoon and we’ll hire a court for a game——’

‘—badly,’ she finished ruefully. ‘Martina Navratilova has nothing to fear from me.’

‘Sunday,’ he said again firmly. ‘Two o’clock. I’ll give you a coaching lesson; John McEnroe taught me everything I know about tennis.’

Her eyes widened. ‘You know——? But——’

‘I’ll see you Sunday afternoon, Aura.’ He gave her a quick kiss on her parted lips before leaving.

For seconds after he had gone Aura was unable to move, unable to believe she actually had a date with James Ballantine despite all her objections. He was attractive and sensitive, but he was also one of the most forceful men she had ever met!

She moved to the curtained window, drawing one of them back just in time to see the sweeping U-turn of a sleek grey Jaguar as James accelerated the car away.

She had a feeling that when James wanted something badly enough, as he had seemed to want her company on Sunday, he just refused to accept the word no. As Adrian had? No, she was sure that James would always deal fairly for what he wanted, that he always attained it without hurting anyone to do it. Hadn’t he just done so? She wasn’t hurt; she was bewildered and slightly off-balance, but she wasn’t hurt.

‘Has Mr Ballantine gone, dear?’ Her mother sounded disappointed as she entered the room from the stairway.

‘Yes.’ Aura was still a little dazed.

‘Such a nice young man,’ her mother smiled warmly, having an ageless quality about her that refused to recognise she was only a few years James Ballantine’s senior. ‘Will we be seeing him again, do you think?’ she asked innocently.

‘No. Yes. No! I don’t think so,’ Aura said with determination.

‘What a pity.’ Her mother sighed. ‘He had such kind eyes.’

Aura looked indulgently at her mother, a woman who saw no evil in anyone or anything. Although she had, Aura recalled with a frown, remarked upon the fact that Marmaduke didn’t seem to like Adrian, and that ‘animals knew, didn’t they?’ At that time she hadn’t paid too much attention to the vaguely made comment, but now she looked at her mother with sharp query.

‘You deliberately made sure I couldn’t talk to you until today, didn’t you?’ Aura glared accusingly at James as he drove the Jaguar with relaxed control.

It was Sunday, and promptly at two o’clock, as she had known he would, James had arrived at her home. He had then proceeded to charm her mother with gentle teasing, and enlist her help in persuading Aura to take a break when she had already told him she didn’t have the time to play tennis—no matter who his personal coach had been! He had even asked her mother if she would like to join them, genuinely disappointed when she had politely refused.

He glanced at Aura now with innocently wide eyes. ‘I don’t——’

‘And don’t deny it,’ she warned. ‘I’ve been calling your office for the last two days, and each time your secretary told me you were “unavailable”,’ she said with disgust.

‘And you don’t believe I was?’ he mused softly.

‘I’m sure you weren’t,’ she snapped impatiently.

‘I’m a very busy man, Aura,’ he mocked.

‘Not that busy!’ she glared.

He sighed. ‘You’re right. I told Moira not to put any of your calls through to me so that you couldn’t cancel our date for today.’

‘It was your date, I don’t remember at any time agreeing to it. And you might at least have lied about your duplicity,’ she added disgustedly.

He looked at her intensely. ‘I’ll never lie to you about anything, Aura.’ His hand covered hers as it rested against her thigh, the brief white shorts she wore leaving most of her long legs bare. ‘I want you to always remember that.’

The cool touch of his fingers against her skin, the knuckles brushing her thigh as he briefly clasped her hand, had completely disarmed her.

She had no idea what she was doing here with him, had intended sending him away as soon as he arrived today, and instead, at his and her mother’s insistence, she had meekly found herself changing into the shorts and a brief white sun-top.

Maybe it had been the way that he looked in his own white shorts and T-shirt that had thrown her; she had taken one look at him as he stood on the doorstep, his legs tanned and muscled, his arms and torso rippling with power, and she hadn’t been able to say no to joining him for a game of tennis. What could possibly be wrong with a harmless game of tennis? she had told herself as she changed. Looking at him now she knew exactly what was wrong with it; she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything but the complete masculinity of this man. She had a handicap before they even started the match, and there was no such thing as a handicap in tennis!

‘You could always have asked Moira to pass on a message,’ James said softly at her silence.

Aura looked at him, and then quickly looked away again. She could have asked his secretary to give him a message. Why hadn’t she? She couldn’t actually have wanted to spend the afternoon with him; it would be pure madness to allow herself to be attracted to him. She was already attracted to him; the madness would be to do anything about it!

‘I didn’t think of it,’ she told him abruptly.

He looked disappointed that she wasn’t about to give him the same honesty he had promised her. ‘Did you know that when you lie the freckles stand out on your nose?’ he confided softly.

Her hand automatically moved up to cover her nose and those tell-tale freckles. ‘James——’

‘I wish your mother had agreed to come with us,’ he remarked thoughtfully, cutting off her protest. ‘She’s very pale, I think the fresh air might have done her some good.’

Aura turned away, her hand dropping back to her thigh. ‘She doesn’t go out much.’

‘What happened?’ he frowned.

‘Trauma,’ she supplied abruptly. ‘My father’s death,’ she added at his expectant silence.

‘I’m sorry,’ he told her gently. ‘It must have been awful for both of you.’

‘Yes,’ she acknowledged abruptly. ‘She likes you,’ she heard herself add, and then wondered why she had done it; the last thing this man needed was another dose of self-confidence, he was already arrogant enough for two men, had completely taken her over since they had first met. She had gone to the offices of Ballantine and Mayhew to do battle, and instead ended up with this forceful man in her life. ‘I’m not altogether sure she’s a good judge of character,’ she told him caustically.

He smiled. ‘Of course she is.’ He sobered. ‘Can anything be done to help her?’

‘Not unless you can bring my father back.’ She couldn’t keep the edge out of her voice. ‘Unless you can do that I don’t think she wants to be helped.’ She turned her attention to their surroundings as she sensed his sharp gaze on her. ‘Are we almost there?’

‘Almost,’ he confirmed distractedly. ‘Aura——’

‘Do you really know John McEnroe?’ she asked sceptically.

He looked as if her disbelief had deeply offended him. ‘Of course I know him.’

Five minutes into their game of tennis Aura knew that whatever his coach had tried to teach James about the game, very little of it had actually been absorbed or utilised.

She eyed him mockingly after winning the first set six love. ‘OK,’ she sighed. ‘So who was he?’

‘Who was who?’ James was busy wiping the perspiration from his brow, having been running all over the court chasing the ball.

Aura felt a little sticky, but she hadn’t even worked up a sweat, sitting beside him on the wooden seat at the side of the court. ‘The John McEnroe you know,’ she said drily, sure it hadn’t been the John McEnroe.

‘He was my sportsmaster at school,’ James revealed unabashedly, his hair damp across his forehead. ‘I believe his opinion of my game was that I “showed absolutely no aptitude” for it.’

Her mouth twisted. ‘I can believe that. I’ve never won a set from anyone before, let alone whitewashed them!’

His eyes were warm as he gazed up at her, his arms resting along the length of his thighs as he sat forward. ‘My talents obviously lie in other directions,’ he told her softly.

Aura readjusted the colourful band about her forehead. ‘How did you and your partner ever go into business together when you seem to have so little in common?’ She deliberately opted for an innocent channel for his ‘talents’ to be directed in.

He shrugged broad shoulders, the T-shirt clinging damply to his back. ‘His father was initially my partner, and when he died I inherited Adrian,’ he added drily. ‘It has, to say the least, been a rocky partnership.’

She wished now that she hadn’t introduced the subject of Adrian into the conversation; just talking about him made her remember what a fool she had been about him. ‘Do you want to play another set or would you like to go and get an ice-cream? My treat,’ she offered.

‘The ice-cream can wait.’ He stood up fluidly. ‘I have to try and leave this game with a little of my dignity left intact.’

He was definitely an athletic man, obviously kept himself fit, and yet when it came to tennis he just didn’t have the co-ordination. It was nice to know there was something he didn’t do well!

She took pity on him in the second set and let him win one game, although she still won the match six-love, six-one.

‘I think I’ve suffered enough humiliation for one day,’ he said with a grimace, putting away their rackets. ‘A work-out in the gym and jogging are my usual forms of exercise.’

She had guessed he hadn’t attained that physique just sitting behind a desk all day, had found it hard not to let her attention sway to the masculine power of his body as he moved around the court rather than concentrating on the game. And she had no intention of falling a victim to that power again.

‘Come on,’ she teased. ‘I know a place where they serve ice-cream that’s home-made and hasn’t been crammed with a load of additives.’

The shop was run by a friend of hers, and the two of them strolled into the park opposite as they ate them.

‘You’re really into healthy food yourself, aren’t you,’ James remarked admiringly.

She nodded. ‘I have a friend who has a little boy who becomes a monster when he eats any food that contains the additives E100 to E300. When he was younger she fed him on all the things it’s easy for little children to eat, hamburgers, sausages, white bread, cakes, crisps—interspersed with the goodness of vegetables and fresh fruit—and he was like something demented most of the time. Helen, his mother, nearly had a nervous breakdown because he was so bad. He was aggressive, violent, didn’t sleep at night—and so neither did she. It became so bad that Helen finally insisted their doctor refer him to a psychiatrist.’

‘And?’

‘And apart from the fact that he was hyperactive they said there was nothing wrong with him,’ Aura drawled. ‘And so it went on, with Helen becoming more and more run down, and Jonathan being a little demon. And then one day Helen read an article on colourings and preservatives in food, and the effect they could sometimes have on children. She was so desperate by this time that she would have tried anything. She changed his diet completely, which didn’t please him at first, especially when he had to drink pure fruit juice instead of the diluted or fizzy kind—most of them are full of colourings and flavours. Within three days Jonathan was already a different child, bright, happy, loving. It was difficult to believe the difference it had made in him. At first Helen feared it might just be a fluke, that any day he would revert to the little monster. It’s been two and a half years now, and he’s one of the most adorable children you could ever wish to meet—as long as he doesn’t accidentally get any of those additives in his food! Helen has even had a second child, something she swore she would never do after the first year she had with Jonathan.’

‘Where do you come into it?’ James asked, interested.

‘At the time people were still very sceptical about the harm of the additives, especially as they make the food look and taste more attractive most of the time, and a lot of the manufacturers refused to accept that their products could produce this Jekyll and Hyde effect. Consequently Helen had tremendous difficulty finding food for Jonathan that wouldn’t make him feel too different from everyone else. I was looking for a business at the time——’

‘So you opened “Health is Wealth”,’ James realised appreciatively.

She nodded. ‘I’m sure that if those additives can be harmful to children then they must also be harmful to adults, in ways we don’t even realise. I refuse to have anything that contains additives in my shop. You have to eat healthily to be healthy, I believe. Does that sound too much like preaching?’ she grimaced, realising how long she had gone on about her favourite subject.

He shook his head. ‘It sounds like a woman who believes in something.’

She gave a rueful shake of her head. ‘Like a woman who had Jonathan to stay with her for a week to give Helen a break—before she had managed to sort out his diet,’ she corrected self-derisively. ‘After only one day with him I understood why Helen couldn’t cope. As for the nights——! Five minutes’ nap in between hours of playtime nearly killed me. Of course some children just are hyperactive, although luckily Jonathan wasn’t one of those ones. He often stays with us now, he and Mummy get on very well together.’ Because Jonathan accepted ‘Aunt Meg’ exactly as she was.

‘I don’t know what was in or out of it, but the ice-cream was delicious.’ James put the last of it in his mouth before throwing the tub in the bin.

Aura was suddenly mesmerised by the smear of ice-cream on his top lip. What would his reaction be if she reached up and——

His eyes darkened. ‘Lick it off, Aura,’ he encouraged throatily.

Her breath lodged in her throat, her startled gaze clashing with his, a blush darkening her cheeks as she realised he had been well aware of the eroticism of her thoughts. ‘We had better be going——’

‘Not yet.’ He clasped her shoulders, his hands a sensual caress against their nakedness. ‘Lick it off, Aura,’ he urged again. ‘I want to feel your tongue on me.’

Aura didn’t think her breathing would ever return to normal as it once again stopped in her throat. He wanted to feel——! The images that statement aroused in her mind went much further than his top lip.

‘Please, Aura!’

His eyes compelled her to move, and she slowly went up on tip-toes to place her mouth against his.

As always, when she was close to this man, she was lost at the first touch, their mouths open and moist as they tasted each other.

James finally raised his head. ‘Your tongue, Aura,’ he groaned raggedly. ‘Give it to me!’

Her eyes closed as he enfolded her against him, feeling dizzy and excessively warm at the same time, obeying his command mindlessly, tasting him and the ice-cream together, having no doubt about which one was making her head spin; she had eaten a whole tub of the delicious ice-cream without feeling in the least light-headed, but the smallest taste of James left her hungering for more.

And she took more, moving down his jaw and throat with open-mouth kisses, reaching the open neck of his T-shirt, the slightly salty taste of his flesh making her thirst, and melt, and ache …!

His hands threaded through the silky softness of her hair as he raised her face to his once again, the kiss fiercer this time, their bodies touching from chest to thigh.

Aura felt herself spinning out of control, wanting to be even closer to him, caressing the hardness of his back as she clung to him.

‘—youngsters of today have no shame,’ muttered a disgusted male voice. ‘In our day we would at least have gone somewhere a little more private to do that sort of thing!’

It took a few seconds for the words to penetrate the sensual spell Aura and James were under, but it finally did, and they looked about them dazedly, the park as deserted as it had been earlier—except for an elderly couple walking their dog some distance away, the woman seeming to be asking her husband exactly how often he had ‘gone somewhere a little more private to do that sort of thing’ when he was younger—because he certainly hadn’t been with her at the time!

Aura and James looked at the elderly couple and then at each other, their joined laughter breaking the sudden tension.

‘For my part,’ James drawled drily, ‘I’m just grateful to be included under the term “youngster”!’

‘I think I am too,’ Aura laughed softly as they walked side by side back to the car. ‘Anyone over twenty-one is considered old nowadays.’

‘In that case I’m ancient—and being with you makes me feel far from that.’ He unlocked the car door for her. ‘I’ve enjoyed today,’ he told her softly as he got in the car beside her, making no effort to turn on the ignition.

She swallowed hard. ‘I have too.’

‘Can we do it again?’

‘Me slaughter you at tennis?’ She attempted to tease, her palms damp with tension. How could she not see him again when she enjoyed being with him so much! He made her laugh, was genuinely interested in what she had to say, made her feel very much alive and aware of what was happening about her. She hadn’t felt so alive since—she couldn’t care for this man, she realised desperately. ‘I don’t think so,’ she told him harshly. ‘It wouldn’t be a good idea to mix business and—and pleasure.’

‘You have enjoyed being with me, then?’ His eyes were narrowed, those ominous grooves in his cheeks appearing and disappearing, as if he couldn’t decide if he were angry or not.

‘Who doesn’t enjoy winning?’ She deliberately misunderstood him.

His mouth tightened, the grooves very much in evidence now. ‘There isn’t going to be a loser between us, Aura. We can both win, if you’ll only let us.’

‘I really do have to get back now,’ she told him lightly. ‘I don’t like to leave my mother alone for too long.’

‘The subject of my taking you out again is closed?’ he rasped.

‘Yes.’

‘Very well.’ He nodded abruptly, switching on the ignition. ‘But I’m not going to lose you now I’ve found you.’

Why did that sound so much like a promise, and not a threat?

CHAPTER THREE

THE next day he came to the shop to buy everything he needed for a ‘naturally healthy diet’; the day after that he came in to tell her how much healthier he felt already and to deliver some magazines he had thought her mother might enjoy reading; the day after that he arrived with an article he had found on additives that he thought might interest her.

He was pushy in the nicest possible way, possibly because he knew she wouldn’t accept anything else; she was sure he wasn’t usually quite this obliging, always making sure he never stayed long enough that she had to ask him to leave. It was as if he were making a place in her life for himself without making her feel any pressure, and she knew she was coming to look forward to his daily visits in spite of her dire warnings to herself that she shouldn’t.

‘Is James coming over this evening, dear?’ her mother asked eagerly over their early dinner.

Aura had been waiting all day for him to turn up at the shop, intending to tell him that the visits had to stop. When he hadn’t arrived she had been disappointed instead of relieved, and that made her angry. ‘I have no idea,’ she dismissed tautly. ‘But if he does I won’t be here!’

Her mother blinked at her vehemence. ‘Has he done something to offend you?’

Only become a necessary part of her life. And she wouldn’t, she couldn’t accept him into it. James might not be a married man, but there was too much danger attached to going out with him, and it didn’t just come from her innocent involvement with Adrian.

‘No,’ she assured her mother lightly, rewarded by her mother’s serene expression. ‘I just told Helen that I would go over to see her tonight, Simon’s away on business and she could do with a little company.’

‘That will be nice,’ her mother approved. ‘I often think you don’t get out enough. Especially now that Adrian——’

‘Whatever you do don’t ever mention Adrian to James,’ she said frantically as she realised her mother was one way James could find out she had once dated his married partner, albeit unknowingly.

‘As if I would, Aura,’ her mother reproved gently. ‘James seems to be a very possessive man to me; I doubt he would like to hear about the men you saw before the two of you met.’

She frowned. ‘Mummy, I hope you aren’t reading more into James’s visits to us than is actually there?’

Her mother gave one of her more serene smiles. ‘Of course I’m not, dear.’

Now why didn’t she feel reassured by that assurance? Possibly because her mother had shown a decided preference for James from the first, and because his kindness to her mother was something he genuinely felt and not just something he affected for her benefit. Between the two of them she could find herself involved in a situation that could only spell disaster!

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