Mistress at a Price (15 page)

The wine bar was already filling up when they arrived, but they managed to grab one of the last tables and Cat bought the first bottle of champagne. Penance, she thought as she handed over her credit card, for being ratty with her father.

At first most of the chatter was work-related, but as they began to unwind it started to get more personal.

During a sudden lull, Megs leaned forward.
‘
So, how was your cousin
’
s wedding? You did go, I suppose? Any tasty men there?
’

Cat drank some wine as she considered her response.
‘
Loads of them,
’
she drawled at last.
‘
All of them, alas, with equally tasty women.
’

She hoped that would be an end to it, but soon found she was out of luck. Cindy was getting married the following year, and wanted exhaustive details about the hotel and what it had to offer. Megs, who seemed to be on the verge of having stars in her eyes, demanded a full description of Belinda
’
s bridal gown. So she had little choice but to comply with their demands for information.

Maybe I can use it as a kind of exorcism, she thought wryly.

By the time she
’
d finished the bottle was empty, and Dorita was at the bar buying further supplies.

This would be the perfect opportunity to slip away, Cat thought, reaching for her bag, which hung from a hook under the table. As she straightened, she saw that Dorita was on her way back, and that her place at the counter had been taken by a tall man with dark, curling hair, wearing an elegant charcoal suit.

His back was turned to them all, but Cat felt herself freeze, her gaze fixed on him with painful incredulity.

Oh God, she thought. It can
’
t be him
—
it can
’
t…

‘
Did you spot him, girls? The new guy at the bar?
’
Dorita rolled her eyes.
‘
I
’
ve never seen him in here before, but seriously fanciable, I
’
d say.
’

‘
And already fancied, by the look of it.
’
Cindy nodded significantly at the petite blonde who was threading her way towards him through the crowd.

Cat felt as if she
’
d been turned to stone as the girl joined him, sliding her arm through his with possessive familiarity. She wanted to look away. She longed to get up and run, but doubted whether she was capable of making it to the door. Her legs felt weak, and hurt seemed to be punching holes in her stomach.

Then he turned slightly, smiling as he bent to kiss his companion, and she realised that he was a complete stranger.

She swallowed, her body sagging in relief. What on earth had she been thinking of? she berated herself silently. This guy didn
’
t bear even a passing resemblance to Liam. He was shorter, for one thing, and his shoulders weren
’
t as broad. How could she not have realised?

If every glimpse of a tall, dark man is going to reduce me to bug-eyed paralysis, I
’
m in real trouble, she told herself impatiently. I need to get a grip. Claw my life back from this limbo.

‘
Are you all right, Cat?
’
Megs was studying her.
‘
You look as if you
’
ve seen a ghost.
’

Cat forced a laugh.
‘
Nothing so romantic. I
’
ve just remembered I
’
m nearly out of milk and everything else, and I need to fit in a trip to the supermarket on my way home. So I
’
d better get going.
’

She firmly refused any more champagne, and headed for the door. On the way, she stole a glance at the bar, wondering how she could have been such a fool. The pretty blonde was chatting animatedly to some people beside her, showing off the sparkling ring on her left hand, but he was leaning against the counter, looking round him.

As his glance met Cat
’
s it sharpened with unconcealed interest, stripping her naked as it swept her from head to foot. He gave her an ingratiating grin, and lifted his glass in a furtive toast.

My God, Cat thought in revulsion. Someone attractive and apparently sane has staked her future on this piece of human debris.

And who was to say that Liam wasn
’
t standing in another bar, looking into some other girl
’
s eyes, telling her what a lousy weekend he
’
d had and how lonely he
’
d been without her?

The thought nearly made her gag. She half stumbled into the street, drawing deep breaths of stale air as she tried to recover her equilibrium.

She had to put the events of the weekend behind her, before they drove her crazy, and she knew it. But if only someone would tell her how.

She couldn
’
t face the struggle with the Underground, she thought, hailing a cab. She got out at her neighbourhood supermarket and wandered the aisles with her trolley, trying to summon up some interest in feeding herself over the coming week. In the end she settled for the usual staples, adding a cold roast chicken, pâté and salad, as well as dried pasta.

Spaghetti carbonara would be quick and easy tonight, she thought as she turned the corner towards her block of flats.

She was just fitting her key into the door when her neighbour emerged from the flat opposite, smiling over a dozen cellophane-wrapped red roses.

‘
For you, dear. You
’
ve got an admirer,
’
she added roguishly.
And not before time
was clearly the silent coda to that.

At any other time Cat would have found it amusing, but she was too stunned to do anything other than mutter a word of thanks through dry lips, and carry the flowers into the flat.

‘
Have dinner with me,
’
begged the message on the card in a florist
’
s rounded script.
‘
Thursday 8 p.m. at Mignonette.
’

There was no signature, but they had to be from Liam, she thought, her heart thudding wildly. Somehow, once his anger had cooled, he
’
d found out where she lived and was making contact
—
and far sooner than she could ever have dreamed. Her throat was constricted with excitement mixed with incredulity as she put her shopping in the kitchen and took a tall vase from a cupboard with hands that shook a little.

At the same time she had to suppress a tiny pang of disappointment that he
’
d fallen into the red rose cliché trap. And he was also assuming that she
’
d automatically be free on Thursday.

Which I am, she thought, but that
’
s not the point.

Because he
’
d not offered her any way to communicate with him in turn, she realised. So she would have to choose whether to arrive meekly at the rendezvous
—
and she didn
’
t do meek
—
or to stand him up, which she guessed would sever any connection between them for ever.

Well, I don
’
t have to decide at once, she told herself as she arranged her flowers, and carried them back into the living room.

But in her heart she already knew what her decision would be, and she threw her head back and laughed with jubilant anticipation.

It seemed, of course, as if Thursday would never come. During the days, Cat was positive and dynamic, throwing herself into her work with renewed energy, her expectations carrying her along. But her nights were very different. She slept fitfully, her dreams wild and disturbing with an undercurrent of sensuality that often woke her, her body on fire, and a moan of sheer yearning on her lips.

‘
Mignonette, eh?
’
said Dorita, the company
’
s restaurant guru, responding to Cat
’
s studiedly casual query. She whistled.
‘
It must be a heavy date, Cat, because it
’
s the top place for couples right now.
’
She observed Cat
’
s flushed face with benevolent interest.
‘
Going there tonight?
’

Cat shook her head.
‘
Tomorrow.
’

Tonight, she thought ruefully, was her twosome with her mother at the Savoy
—
something she would have happily foregone.

But Vanessa greeted her with a radiant smile and champagne cocktails.

‘
Darling.
’
She kissed Cat on both cheeks, then stood back to scrutinise her plain grey shift dress with its matching jacket. She nodded.
‘
You look wonderful,
’
she approved.

‘
And so do you,
’
Cat returned with total sincerity, returning her embrace. Her mother seemed to have shed years since the weekend. The almost palpable tensions had disappeared, and she had that magical look of being lit with inner happiness that had been missing for so long.

If this was Gil
’
s doing then Cat could only be grateful, in spite of her reservations about him.

Or did she simply recognise it because she shared it?

‘
I went down to see Susan yesterday,
’
Vanessa said when they were seated at their table, with their first course of seafood ravioli in front of them.
‘
She
’
s planning to sell the house and move to France when everything
’
s settled.
’

Cat put down her fork, her eyes widening.
‘
She
’
s really divorcing Uncle Robert? That
’
s rather quick, isn
’
t it?
’

Vanessa shrugged.
‘
She says that when it
’
s over, it
’
s over, and she doesn
’
t want to waste a moment of the rest of her life. She taught French before her marriage, and has always wanted a place there, only Robert wouldn
’
t consider it.
’

Cat shook her head.
‘
I had no idea.
’

‘
Obviously there
’
s more than one actress in the family,
’
Vanessa said drily, and applied herself to her food.

‘
But won
’
t she be lonely?
’
Cat persisted.

‘
I wouldn
’
t think so for a minute,
’
her mother said with a touch of asperity.
‘
She
’
s still a very attractive woman. Once she
’
s got Robert out of her system I can see her having a whale of a time.
’

Cat raised her eyebrows.
‘
With you, no doubt, acting as her mentor?
’
she suggested.

Vanessa laughed.
‘
Not I, darling. At long last I
’
m planning to settle down for good, and I refuse to be distracted from that.
’
She gave Cat a long look.
‘
Well
—
I didn
’
t expect you to turn cartwheels in the Savoy, but I thought you
’
d be a little pleased to hear I was aiming for respectability.
’

With Gil
, Cat thought, aghast.
With a muscle-bound toyboy? Oh, God
,
is this what she wants to tell me? Why she brought me here tonight for a girlie chat? And I was scared she just wanted to have another go about my father.

She felt infinitely depressed, but managed to summon a smile.
‘
If that
’
s really what you want,
’
she said quietly,
‘
I wish you every happiness.
’