Part Time Marriage (13 page)

Her mother made contact with her several times during the following week, always asking after Noah, but assuming, since Elexa was at her own apartment, that Noah was working out of the country somewhere. With each of her phone calls, however, she particularly mentioned that Rory would feel slighted if she attended his wedding without her husband. Elexa knew full well that Rory would be so absorbed with his bride, Martina, that he wouldn't give a button if neither she nor Noah turned up to wish them well.

By Friday Elexa was starting to feel a degree or two frazzled. She was, as ever, extremely busy at work, though as she loved her job that was no problem.

The problem, she fully accepted, was that she was feeling lovesick for Noah. He hadn't telephoned again, but she hadn't expected him to. But aching for a sight of him, she had lunched at the Montgomery on Tuesday, and had taken a client there again on Thursday. She had sat facing the door, her heart racing each time the door opened, only for her heart to slow down to a dull thud when no tall, darkhaired, grey-eyed, good-looking male came in. She had decided against lunching there in future. The whole thing was too distracting. Her clients deserved better. In any case, what did she think she was going to do, to say, even if she did see him? What if he didn'tso much as nod in her direction? It hadn't been in their contract, unwritten though the contract was, that he had to acknowledge her if he saw her out somewhere.

Elexa, seeing no reason not to, had taken to wearing both her wedding ring and her engagement ring. But it was at that point that the irrationality of being in love took another nip at her. If Peverelle couldn't be bothered to speak, then she couldn't be bothered to wear his rings?

It was at that moment that her sense of humour woke up and she had to smile at how ridiculous her thinking was. Poor darling, she'd hanged him without giving him a chance. His rings stayed on her finger.

On Friday she was on her way to see a client a fifteen-minute walk away from her office. It was a nice day; her meeting was at three. She decided to walk; it would give her an opportunity to get away from her desk and marshal her thoughts.

She did not have to walk by the Montgomery restaurant, but, as if to prove that she didn't care if she did see Noah and he ignored her, she just seemed incapable of taking any other route. Not that she would see him, of course, and she wasn't looking anyway.

Determined not to look over to her right as she neared the Montgomery, Elexa looked straight ahead. Noah was probably in the States or somewhere anyhow, and...

'Elexa!'

A voice, a male voice, a male voice she knew, was calling her name, causing her to glance to her left. She halted and scarlet colour flooded her face. Noah, across the pavement from the Montgomery, had been just about to step into a taxi when, turning, he had caught sight of her.

He let the taxi go and came over to her, his glance not missing her high colour as he took in her long length of leg in her well-fitting charcoal-shade trousers, her charcoal-and white-pebbled tweed fitted hip-length jacket and her long, pale gold- lit blonde hair.

`How have you been?' he asked conversationally, stopping at the side of her, his glance once again on the warm colour of her face. `Great,' she answered, wanting to laugh with joy-he hadn't ignored her, but had actually hailed her. He looked so wonderful... `As busy as ever?' she queried lightly.

`Enjoying every minute,' he answered. And then he smiled, a gentle smile, and she felt that there were no two people in the world but their two selves. But, just when she felt her scarlet colour was starting to subside, he went on, `At the risk of making you blush again, I think you should be prepared...'

`Prepared?' she queried when he paused.

`It may not have happened-the first time,' he quietly let fall.

She did not at first comprehend his meaning, but she did blush again, scarlet colour scorching her cheeks, as it dawned on her he was saying that it was quite possible that perhaps she had not managed to conceive his child that first time.

With difficulty Elexa strove to live up to her outer sophisticated image. `You mean we've got to go through all that a second time?' she drawled lazily, and watched as this man she had once thought stern laughed out loud, not at all offended by her reply but very clearly amused by it. But, as sensitive as she was beginning to know he was, Noah was serious when he quietly assured her, `It will be better for you the next time.'

She hadn't thought it so very dreadful the first time, but, fearing her ears would burst into flames if she went any redder, she hurried to change the subject. `You don't fancy coming to my cousin Rory's wedding two weeks tomorrow, do you? I'm sorry,' she apologised at once. `Cancel that. It was never in our agreementt that you, we...'

`You're being pressured?"

'No,' she denied. But, because she only ever wanted to be honest with him, `Nothing I can't handle anyway.'

Noah looked at her silently for a moment, his expression serious again. Then all at once his expression lightened, and, 'I'd be delighted to come to your cousin's wedding with you,' he suddenly accepted.

He'd be delighted! `You can't!' she refused, flattening another wave of joy. `I can.' `I wasn't being fair in asking you,' she said, but, because everything in her wanted to grab at this chance of seeing him again, her irrational love-torn self added, `You're sure you don't mind?"

'I'd nothing else planned.'

Oh, Noah. Fearing he might see in her eyes something of the love she had for him, Elexa tore her glance from him and down to watch.

`I've got to dash,' she gulped.

`Appointment?' he asked, flicking a glance to the briefcase she carried.

`Three o'clock.' she answered. `What time's the wedding?'

`I thought I'd leave about eleven. Shall I pick you up on my way?" 'Your mother would never forgive me if I let you drive me. '

`Shut up,' she said nicely-and they both grinned.

`I'll call for you at ten-thirty,' he said and, bending, he kissed her cheek, and, half turning, hailed a cruising taxi.

Elexa didn't wait to see him get into the taxi, but, looking to neither her left nor her right, she walked smartly on. Had he just done that? Kissed her cheek in parting? She could still feel the imprint of his warm wonderful mouth. Elexa arrived at her appointment with not an idea in her head of what she was doing there-so much for taking the opportunity of that walk to marshal her thoughts!

Pleasurable memories of her unexpected meeting with Noah returned again and again that day. As too did she keep remembering his lovely kiss to her cheek inparting. By Saturday, however, she had seen, as plainly Noah must have done, that their arrangement had gone far beyond a formal shaking of hands.

On the Thursday following, however, Elexa had something else to think about. She was not pregnant. She had not conceived Noah's child-and she didn't know how to tell him.

The fact that he had seen that possibility, and had warned her of it, was of no help. It seemed totally crazy to the logical side of her brain that she could have been so very intimate with him and yet be so shy to tell him what, by the sound of it, he was half expecting to hear anyway.

She spent the weekend growing more and more cross withherself that she couldn't just pick up the phone and tell him. But to do so would mean she was as good as saying they would have to try again. And she felt awkward about doing that. Elexa then started to be cross with Noah too, because, if she did ring his number, there wasevery likelihood that he wouldn't be at home.

She went to work day after day as usual, often wishing that Desmond Reynolds would go and play somewhere else-the fact that she was now married had made no difference to his flirtatious overtures. Jamie Hodges, on the other hand, while reluctantly accepting that she was married, and therefore no longer available, and while still coming into her office more times than was strictly necessary, had stopped asking her out.

Elexa had still not contacted Noah when the Saturday of her cousin's wedding arrived. I'll tell Noah when I see him today, she decided firmly. This was ridiculous; Noah had to be told. He called for her as arranged at ten-thirty, and her heart lifted as she could have sworn she spotted a look of admiration in his glance when, dressed in a fine wool suit of burnt orange that brought out the gold in her hair, she opened the door to him.

`Ready, Mrs Peverelle?' he enquired, and she thought him quite earth-shaking enough without him, albeit lightly, claiming her as his wife.

`Yes,' she answered easily, every bit as if she hadn't changed a couple of times before deciding what to wear, and had changed her hairstyle half a dozen times too, before opting to leave it loose about her shoulders.

They chatted about all manner of things on the way to the bride's home church in Wiltshire. But not once was Elexa able to bring up the one subject which she knew she should discuss.

Once at the church, surrounded by her relatives, there simply wasn't any space to discuss anything of such a personal nature with him. He seemed to bear up very well, and even appeared to be enjoying her family when, at the reception afterwards, her mother and her aunts came up and chatted endlessly to him, making sure he felt included in their clan. They were separated at one stage, and Elexa found she was standing next to her cousin Joanna. `How's married life suiting you?' her cousin asked.

`Not a single complaint,' Elexa laughed, but, looking at the sleeping Betsy in her cousin's arms, felt the most unexpected maternal pang.

They stayed at the reception until the bride and groom, who were flying off to Tuscany, went to catch their plane. Then, after her family took all of twenty minutes to say goodbye, she and Noah were in his car on the way back toLondon, and alone again.

They had been driving along for some while when a thought suddenly struck Elexa that she had never previously considered. Noah had once said something about her needing to be numerate in her job. But surely he would need to be numerate in his job too. He must be. Oh, heavens, he was used to calculating, to working things out. Had he worked out that it was about three and a half weeks since that Wednesday she had driven over to his house and had stayed the night? Was he even now waiting for her to say she had, or had not, something to tell him?

Elexa was all churned up inside by the time Noah was pulling up outside her apartment block. `Noah!' came blurting from her when he cut the engine and looked about to step out of the car. He turned in his seat to face her, his grey eyes as steady as ever on hers. `Elexa?' he answered.

'Er-are you-um-around next week?' she asked.

`Huh,' he said, and it seemed to her that in that one short exclamation he was acknowledging that she had just told him that she had not conceived his baby. But she then realised she could be wrong about that, and that he had assumed no such thing, because his voice was quite even when he said, `I could be.'

She knew then that that was about as encouraging as he was going to get. `I...' she let go a wound up sigh, and then plunged, `I er-need to spend some t-time at your place.' She doubted she would be able to get the words out if he asked her what for.

But he asked no such thing because, as she had only just realised, he was clearly able to work things out for himself, `Would I be right in thinking that Wednesday might be a right time?' he asked. `I'm sorry,' she mumbled. `I feel I've failed you. I...'

`Hey, don't be so hard on yourself,' he butted in. `Youwere tense then, breaking through those barriers that were so scary.' He smiled then, and she loved him all the more when he added, `I believe I suggested that you might not conceive the first time.'

There seemed nothing more to say. Elexa turned to get out of the car and found Noah was ready to open the outer door to the apartments by the time she had found her key.

`Will you have dinner with me Wednesday, or does work have prior claim?' Noah asked as he handed her door key back to her.

But again Elexa, while this time wanting to share as much time with him as she could, didn't think she would be able to eat a thing. She knew, despite having lain with him the onetime, that she was still going to be nervous.

`I'll get to you as soon as I can. B-but don't wait dinner for me,' she answered, and, rapidly needing some parting remark, 'Er-thank you for coming with me to Rory's wedding. I...' She was floundering. `I hope it wasn't too tedious for you.' `Not at all,' Noah answered charmingly. `I quite enjoyed being married...' Her heart fluttered wildly, until he added, `For the day.'

Elexa parted from him without a kiss. After those last three words she was not hanging around for him to be able to salute her in any way. Noah had enjoyed being married for the day-but all too obviously what he was really telling her was that she should not expect anything more from him than that.

CHAPTER SEVEN

ELEXA was glad to get to work on Monday. Yesterday had been so quiet with not one phone call. It was what she had wanted, of course, which made her contrary in the extreme, her mother now having a married daughter she had no need to make plans for, so she had curtailed her phone calls in this, her daughter's honeymoon period. In all honesty, however, as much as she loved her mother, it was not her voice Elexa wanted to hear over the telephone wires, but Noah's.

Though why he would ring when on Saturday he couldn't have told her more plainly that there was nothing permanent about their arrangement, she couldn't have said. But she had given up trying to cope with the illogical being she had become since Cupid had shot that mighty dart. In any event, she would be seeing Noah on Wednesday; as ever when she thought of driving over to Noah's home on Wednesday, her legs went weak.

'Elexa.'Idris Young had come to see her about a matter he was having a problem with, which gave her something else to concentrate on.

She was grateful to be suddenly swamped with work. Grateful that Tuesday proved to be just as hectic. When, just after four, the phone on her desk rang, as it had been practically all clay, she picked it up and said, `Hello?' more or less automatically, her eyes on the data she had been checking on the computer screen.