Authors: Jessica Steele
'I didn't know how you would feel if it leaked into the papers,' she lied, and tried to lead him, 'I thought you might want a quiet divorce somewhere,' only to find as he gave a harsh unamused laugh, that rankled, that he had seen straight through her lie, straight through her.
'So that's it,' he said triumphantly. 'At first I thought it was a fat alimony settlement you were after. The limited resources you've just told me you possess backed that up.' So that had been the reason for his question of what did she do for money nowadays, she thought, growing angry despite the inner voice that warned her to keep quiet. 'But it isn't that, is it?'
'No, it isn't,' she came back sharply. 'I want nothing from you but my freedom.'
With sparking green eyes she saw Nash looking at her thoughtfully as he registered her swift denial that it was his money she was after. 'There was a doubt in my mind it was money you wanted,' he let her into his thoughts. 'That's why I agreed to see you. It occurred to me you would have made your play long before this had a gold-lined settlement been what you were after.'
'I've just told you,' Perry stormed, getting to her feet in her agitation, 'I want nothing from you.'
Nash pushed his chair away and stood towering over her, tall, broad-shouldered and dark in his immaculate suit, his grey eyes hard, giving her face the closest scrutiny she had ever had to endure. Then when her agitation was threatening to get out of hand, he said calmly:
'I believe you. I believe you want nothing from me but one thing.'
Sorely needing to swallow again as grey eyes pinned, refused to let her look away, she was stunned when without fuss he brought out what his intelligence had told him; the reason she had written to him instead of getting on with it as was her right.
'The only thing you want from me Perry, am I not right, is a
quiet
divorce?'
Shaken, she stared at him. Then as it came to her that she had been the biggest sort of fool to just write her note and expect Nash to agree without question, hope rose that even not knowing the reason he might yet do as she asked. True, he had let it be known he was married, but surely it still wasn't impossible for a man like him to arrange a quiet divorce?
'Oh, all right,' she said, dragging her eyes away from his hypnotic hold at last. 'You've guessed accurately, of course.' Her mouth firmed at having to confess her lie. 'I apologise for not being straight, But—but it's important to me that we're divorced without it getting into the papers.'
'Why?' he asked shortly. And never, she thought, had any one man made her swing from wanting to be pleasant, on the surface at any rate, to sudden infuriated anger.
'Because—because—oh, if you must know,' she said, angry that he wanted it all when he could so easily have said, 'Certainly, leave it to me', 'I want to marry someone else.'
She knew from the way his brows rose that he hadn't been expecting that. And it did nothing for her anger that it clearly hadn't dawned on him that some man somewhere might find her attractive enough to fall in love with.
'It's urgent,' she added, revealing all the cards in her hand in one go, ready then to tell him everything if only he would agree. 'Please, Nash,' she said, ready to beg as she visualised her next date with Trevor and her no further forward, still tied with no chance of getting free without his mother reading it in large print in every newspaper. 'I have to be free as soon as possible.'
Already hating herself for so far having forgotten her pride, be ready to beg, she felt her anger go wildly out of control that Nash appeared to look insolently down his nose at her before bringing out the accusation:
'You're pregnant.'
And that was the final frustration in her dealings with him and getting nowhere, that he could so insolently stand there and try to besmirch her character. It was more than she could take. Blistering fury broke at what his clear-thinking brain had summed up; that for the sake of her unborn child it was urgent that she was free of him and married to the child's father without delay, and her hand went whipping through the air. It was the crack that echoed back, notwithstanding the fierce way she was hauled into his arms, that made her realise she had hit him.
'You...' he ground out.
But whatever offering he was about to abuse her with, it never got uttered. For enraged grey eyes met furious green eyes, and suddenly the first natural smile she had ever seen on Nash was breaking.
'Was that slap because I hit on the truth, or because you took exception to my remark?' he asked, rage disappearing the longer he looked into her face.
'B-because...' Perry tried, growing confused that he still held her, through the pain of his grip mesmerised by the warmth she saw ousting the anger in him. She cleared her throat. 'I'm not pregnant,' she managed to get out.
'Do you know you're the first woman ever to strike me?' The remark was almost conversational.
Wanting to say a sarcastic, he must be pretty nimble on his feet then, she found herself saying, 'If it's any consolation, you're the first man I ever hit.' Then, pulling in vain to get free, she found the acid that a few moments ago had been lost to her. 'Though if what I've read about you is true, you're more used to—to women fawning all over you.'
Unabashed, Nash sighed, 'What it is to be popular!' Then before she could know what he was about, he had pulled her closer. And while her disquieted mind was saying this couldn't be happening, not to her, any of it, his
mouth was over hers, and he was kissing her in a way that had her thinking temporarily suspended.
How long the kiss lasted, she couldn't have said. All she knew was that she found it shattering loving Trevor as she did that she didn't in any way feel violated by it. It was thoughts of Trevor trying to get through her subconscious that had her pulling away.
'I didn't come here to—to participate in—in that sort of thing,' she said when Nash dropped his arms to his sides. Putting some space between them, she had to make her voice angry when there was only confusion inside. 'And I'll...'
'I never did get to kiss my bride at the start of the marriage,' he chopped her off smoothly, his look sardonic.
'Well, you have no right .. .' she began. Then what he might really be saying righted the confusion in her. Or maybe it was because she felt more the girl she knew she was without those strong arms holding her. At any rate all her hopes were to the front as eagerly she asked, 'Does that mean you-—er—kissed me just now because you're agreeing the marriage is over?'
Hope dimmed as a smile she didn't believe in was added to his sardonic look. 'You don't think I owed you something for the slap you just dished out?' he drawled.
'Oh, be fair,' Perry countered, starting, to get uptight again. 'How did you expect me to take an accusation like the one you made?'
'Saints preserve us,' he muttered, 'you'll be trotting out next "I'm a good girl, I am".' For the oddest unknown reason she felt her lips wanting to twitch at his mimicry of Eliza Dolittle. Controlling them, she stared stonily, un-answering, at the virile-looking man she had married. 'Very well,' he continued, seeing she wasn't going to rise, 'you've asked me to be fair—so I will be.'
'You will?' Hope was there again, so she just had to let go and smile at him.
Nash was smiling too, pleasantly—too pleasantly, she realised belatedly as calmly he told her, 'As soon as you hand over the sum of five thousand pounds I shall straight away take action to give you your freedom—er—-quietly.'
'Five thousand?' she gasped. 'But...'
'You're astonished I'm not asking for a penny interest, I can see that,' he sliced urbanely through her stupefied amazement. And while she was still gasping, he added loftily, 'Please don't thank me. I consider you did me a great favour six years ago. In all fairness the least I can do is waive the interest.'
'But...' Perry was reeling under what he had just said. 'You—we...' and pulling herself together, 'That money never was a loan. You gave it me in exchange for me marrying you.'
'Exactly.' He was smiling no longer, sincerely or insincerely. 'I paid you to marry me. Divorce was never mentioned.'
'But...'
'Well, was it?' he challenged. 'No, but...'
'There are no buts about it, Perry my dear. It suits me very well to be married and to stay married. Though since you've decided you want to back out of our business arrangement, want, urgently, to be free so you can marry someone else, I'm willing, as I said, to go against a situation that suits me perfectly well and release you from our bargain.'
'For five thousand pounds,' she put in woodenly.
'What sort of business man would I be if I let every contract I made be broken without being compensated?'
Perry espied the devilish light in his eyes, recalled how at the very beginning of this conversation she had as good as told him she lived from month to month for all she was well paid, and saw then that this was the real reason for his questioning and had nothing at all to do with him
thinking she was after his money. He had told her he thought that had it been his money she was after she would have made her play before this. Innocently, she had dropped word after word into his hands for him to make bullets of and fire back at her when he was ready. And as she thought about it, Perry grew more furious than she could ever remember being in her life before.
'You swine!' she muttered between clenched teeth. 'You utter cold-hearted, merciless swine!' His eyebrows rose a fraction at the unconcealed fury in her, her flashing green eyes telling any witness she was boiling. 'Five thousand pounds is neither here nor there to you. But you know damn well I'd be hard put to find five hundred, let alone five thousand. I as good as told you that myself, didn't I?'
'Perhaps you were a little indiscreet,' Nash commented, seeming to be thoroughly enjoying the five feet seven firebrand standing in front of him blazing away.
'Indiscreet!' Her voice rose, all previous attempts to keep Karen Taylor from knowing any of their discussion forgotten in her fury. 'You deliberately led me into telling you about my finances!' And at his look that said taking candy from a baby couldn't have been easier, she lost control completely, and forgetful too how quickly Nash had moved the last time she had physically set about him, she aimed a crack at his shin that would have crippled him for the rest of the day had it connected. Only it didn't.
With lightning speed he moved out of the way. And since she was off balance he had not the slightest trouble in picking her up and plonking her down heavily on his desk.
The feeling of looking ridiculous sitting there with her legs dangling in no way helped to quieten her fury.
'Let go of me!' she yelled, when, taking no chances, Nash held her there.
'Like hell I will,' he retorted, hanging on to her grimly as she tried to wriggle free.
Then to her amazement, he threw back his head and laughed. It was a deep and natural sound and so entirely unexpected Perry forgot her anger and just sat and stared at him.
'Forgive me,' he said after a moment, and a more unrepentant plea for forgiveness she had never heard.
'Why should I?' she asked belligerently.
'Perhaps I'll tell you the next time we meet,' he suggested, taking his restraining hold from her.
Her anger resurfaced as she slid down from her undignified perch. 'There'll be no next time,' she said tautly, and saw his eyes narrow briefly before, his face serious, though his manner more confident than ever, he said softly:
'So you intend to set the divorce ball rolling without my help—regardless of all the accompanying ballyhoo?'
Inwardly defeated, Perry lifted her elegantly clad head proudly. 'Go to hell, Nash Devereux!' she snapped, and wished with all her heart that she had succeeded in temporarily crippling him as his laughter followed her out of the door.
She had found her interview with Nash Devereux draining. He was better looking than she had remembered, and newsprint didn't do him full justice, but that hardness that had been in him six years ago was still there.
Asking for his money back before he'd do the decent thing and quietly divorce her, she fumed, as she made her way home. Where did he think she was going to find five thousand pounds?
Still indignant at the easy way he had ruined her sophisticated image by hoisting her on to his desk, she knew she had been right to leave his office. Had she stayed she just knew he would have managed to make her feel an even bigger fool than he had already made her feel.
Unfeeling brute that he was, business was the only thing that concerned him. That he considered her part and parcel of a business deal made six years ago was obvious.
Inwardly Perry cringed at the way she had been so open with him about the state of her finances. Talk about handing him ammunition on a plate! And why, oh, why hadn't she belted him again after he had kissed her? Like a lamb she had stood in his arms for a full five seconds, mesmerised by the feel of those experienced lips on hers.
Too emotionally mixed up to think of going into work that afternoon—they weren't expecting her anyway—she changed into jeans and sweater and let her hair down about her shoulders. Then she spent the rest of the day until six o'clock with tidying her flat, doing some washing, while at the same time railing angrily against Nash Devereux and wondering what on earth did she do now.
At six a knock on her door showed Mrs Foster had opened the front door to Trevor and sent him up, explaining as he entered her sitting room that he had rung her place of work.
'The girl on the switchboard said you had an appointment and had left,' he said, letting her know the telephonist's ears were not limited to telephone monitoring, 'but I didn't believe her because you hadn't said anything to me about it. So I told her to put me through to Madge.' Feeling queasy inside that the time had come when she had to explain what her appointment was all about, Perry cleared her throat as he continued, 'Madge told me you had an upset stomach and had gone home. I knew you didn't have an appointment. How are you feeling now, darling?'