The Scent of His Woman (5 page)

Just at this point Lexie re-entered the room and catching the tail end of his sentence
retorted with venom.
‘Edgy, if I’m edgy then you’ll know all about how that came about.’
She threw at him. Then regretted saying anything as she caught the look he aimed
at her sister, “see”, it seemed to say. Turning to Florence, she said pointedly.
‘Mr. Mathias was just leaving’ and she turned to pluck his half empty coffee cup
from the table, but before she could remove it, he covered her hand with his and took the
cup back. ‘
‘Hey not so fast, I haven’t finished and this constitutes part of the payment that you
insisted on remember.’
Infuriatingly he reseated himself and proceeded to explain to Florence how he had
been happy to help but that her sister had been adamant he must be paid for his trouble.
‘A cup of coffee for the meal and the usual fee for rescuing a damsel in distress,
that’s right isn’t it cariad?’
Florence was open mouthed by now, what had her madcap sister got herself
tangled up in? Gethyn Mathias, Welsh playboy extraordinaire sitting in her conservatory
calling her cariad! And just what did he mean by the expected payment for rescuing
damsels in distress?
Geth watched Lexie’s stricken face and relented, getting to his feet he proffered his
hand to her sister.
‘Charmed to meet you but I really must leave now.’
Then taking a stunned Lexie by the shoulder, he guided her out through the door,
saying as he went.
‘Come now cariad, and see me out properly.’
Lexie allowed herself to be propelled to the outer door and watched as he turned
the key in the lock and opened it, standing stock still she waited for him to kiss her,
determined not to respond, not at all, she would show him how impervious to him she
really was.
‘Well, time to pay up don’t you think,’ the amusement was infuriatingly evident in his
voice.
When all she did was stand and wait, he gently prompted.
‘This is where you kiss me, one kiss bestowed upon your knight in shining armour
as we agreed.’
Lexie steeled herself, knowing he was making her give him the kiss rather than take
it just to emphasis the point. Stepping forward and reaching up she put her hands on his
shoulders and quickly planted a peck on his cheek, slightly rough now with the days
growth of stubble, even that brief contact was searing, hot and sexy. She’d intended to
step back quickly and escape through the shop door before he could object. Geth however
knew just what she intended and slipped his hand around her waist stopping her escape.
‘Now come on, that is not entirely in the spirit, is it?’
His voice was gently mocking as he moved his face close to hers.
‘Have dinner with me tomorrow and we will renegotiate.’
‘No.’
Her one word answer made him smile.
‘OK, then pay up nicely now,’ he rejoined as he lowered his head and claimed her
mouth.
Lexie tried to fight the kiss but it was as if she was drugged, it was all she could do
to keep any hold on her thoughts as his mouth moved against hers, gently coaxing until
she surrendered completely and moved in closer to his warmth. Geth felt it, her sweet lack
of resistance and wrapped his arms around her as he delved deeper into her soft open
mouth. Then suddenly he broke the kiss, not wanting to push her too far.
‘I have to go away on business for a couple of days, but I will pick you up Saturday
at eight, I know a nice little pub not far from here that will do quite nicely for our first proper
date.’
He stepped away as he said it and unlocked the car but turned back quickly when
she retorted.
‘I won’t be here, and I’m not interested in a date with you.’
He grasped her upper arms pulled her back to him his voice edged with impatience.
‘Oh but we know that’s not true don’t we cariad, be here and be ready,’
Then he gave her a quick kiss on her pouting mouth and walked away, leaving her
in no doubt he’d won the argument as he drove off. Neither of them noticed a furtive
movement as a camera lens was drawn surreptitiously back into the shrubbery across the
green, if they had they would also have seen the smirk on the face of the photographer as
he muttered ‘gotcha!’
Lexie returned to her stunned sister.
‘Don’t just don’t say a word, just pour me a drink and let me be.’
Florence poured out two glasses of wine and it was quite a while before she left,
having elicited as much of the whole sorry story as she could from her sibling. Lexie kept
some of the fine detail about the night at the apartment to herself though, no need to let
even her sisters know the whole tragic truth, not after all the years of pretense that was
just unthinkable.
Chapter 4
The following morning Lexie woke early feeling as if she’d not slept a wink. She had spent
the night of tossing and turning, nothing had helped, not even her usual fail-safe lemon
balm tisane. Try as she might, she could not get thoughts of Gethyn Mathias out of her
head and by 5 am she’d given up, wrapped herself in her favourite fluffy toweling robe and
got up. Quickly making a strong cup of coffee she wandered out into her little garden to
enjoy the early morning sun. Things did indeed seem a little clearer in the light of day, she
thought as she sat sipping coffee and breathing in the soft fragrances of her herb garden.
She had to admit though, that she was no closer to deciding what to say or do to get him
to understand that she wanted nothing more to do with him and that dinner was certainly
out of the question Saturday evening or any other evening for that matter.
The next few days passed uneventfully enough, in a determined effort not to think of
Geth and the mix of unfamiliar emotions he roused in her, Lexie threw herself into spring
cleaning the shop. It was therapeutic, delving into forgotten corners and lifting the dust,
rearranging the sweet smelling goods on display and generally sprucing things up. On
Friday her bag turned up, wrapped in brown paper and posted by some unseen GLM
employee she assumed, as there was no note simply an unsigned company compliments
slip. It was a relief to have her bits and pieces back. By the weekend she had begun to get
things back into perspective, when Geth called for her, if he called for her, she would just
explain that she really did not want to go to dinner with him, simple. He couldn’t make her
go out with him, he would have to see that, she thought as she bent to pick up the
Saturday morning post.
Leafing through the usual mix of bills and circulars she found a heavy official looking
envelope. Upon opening it she stopped dead in her tracks, the letter from the leasing
company she rented the shop and her little flat from wrote to inform residents of a change
of ownership. She scanned the letter with growing unease, it was vague about the details,
only seeking to inform residents of the change, reassure them there was nothing to fear
and promising to pass on any relevant information as it became available. it did indeed
sound as if there was nothing to worry about, but she resolved to check her tenancy
agreement and make an appointment the following week with her solicitor to check her
legal position anyway.
She had also decided that she would get around to the protest site as early as she
could this morning, to see what they planned to do next and play her full part in whatever
that may be. She was fairly certain no-one would find out how GLM had got the upper
hand, but she felt the least she could do was be up there in the forefront of the next phase
of the battle. Not only to assuage her guilt, but the thought had come to her that if Gethyn
saw she was still set on supporting the enemy, he might think again about his misplaced
interest in her. Maybe he would see that to her, he was not so irresistible. So an hour later
she loaded the car with supplies, enough breakfast muesli and goats milk for all and set off
for the protest camp, which was just over a mile away on the outskirts of Llan-aberth.
As she’d expected the camp was alive with activity, far from giving up, the protestors
were in the process of blockading the road and preparations were well in hand, she soon
found out, to cut through the newly erected chain link fencing and re-occupy the land they
were fighting to save. All around the site entrance was chaos, GLM 4x4s were edging their
way in despite the efforts of the protestors, who were doing their utmost to stop anyone
entering the site. There was very little room for other vehicles and Lexie decided to unload
all her supplies and then drive back down the road to park about fifty yards away. If the
cutting of the fence did take place, then you could be sure the police would be involved
and she might be glad to slip away unnoticed if things got too much. Geth’s promise to
handle things legally was fresh in her memory. By the time she walked back to the protest
things were a little calmer, no more GLM vehicles seemed to be driving through and
protestors were milling around a little aimlessly waiting for whatever would come next.
Lexie took the opportunity to pass around breakfast and as she did so she chatted with a
few people she was a little familiar with, trying to get a feel for how they might progress. It
seemed their leader, a small, intense, wiry individual who went by the adopted name of
Rowan, hadn’t arrived yet, once he did, they warned, it might get nasty, for that was when
the fence would be cut and they would re-occupy the land. Rowan was just making sure
the press was there, it would be essential that they reported on any heavy handed tactics
from the opposition, for they were sure GLM would bring in the police and try to forcibly
eject the peaceful protestors. The boss had arrived already and his ruthless reputation was
well known. So Geth was there already she thought, wondering if he was watching, if he’d
seen her playing her part in opposing him.
Just at that moment she heard a commotion at the gates, Rowan was back and she
could hear his voice raised in anger. It took her a minute to realise that whatever he was
saying, it involved her, somewhere in the tirade he was issuing she could make out her
name and the others around her were starting to make the link too. Pushing through the
crowd Lexie made her way to the front, her heart in her mouth, please don’t let him have
found me out she prayed, but how could he know, it just wasn’t possible? As she reached
the front of the crowd the ranting Rowan was waving a newspaper in the air, almost
incoherent with rage and as he caught sight of Lexie, she knew with certainty that he did
know and somehow it had to do with the rag in his hand.
‘There she is’, he screamed, ‘there is the traitor, the one who sold out to the
capitalists, it must have been worth it because here she is still spying on our work so she
can sell us out a second time.’
Geth must have spoken to the papers, she thought, but why it made no sense. She
tried to take hold of the paper Rowan was waving in front of her face as he shouted, but he
whipped it away handing it to the others, who passed it around and as they did so the level
of anger escalated frighteningly. Lexie, struggling to make sense of it all, was aware of
being pushed and shoved around, of Rowan and others accusing her, of camera flashes
exploding all around. The world seemed to take on a new and frightening reality in which
she was the focus for all this anger, all this contempt.
Then Geth was there, pushing through the crowd of angry faces, a couple of big
men each side of him also pushing back the protestors. Lexie didn’t for one moment
question why he had come for her, all she knew was that he was here and she felt safe.
Within seconds, he and his men had extricated her from the crowd and they were headed
back through the now open site gates. Lexie vaguely heard the sound of the gates
crashing shut and before she knew it she was bundled into one of the temporary site
offices.
All at once the noise stopped, she was seated on a hard backed chair in someone’s
untidy office and the clamour had stopped. Slowly she regained her senses, there were a
number of men in the room too, Geth was one of them and he was asking her something,
but she couldn’t make sense of it to answer.
‘Lexie, cariad, speak to me, are you alright? Did they hurt you?’
Looking up he barked at the others, ‘ok boys good work now get out and give her
some air, will you? Alun we need an ambulance.’
At the word ambulance Lexie woke up to what was going on around her and found
her voice.

No, please no I’m alright there is no need...’
All of a sudden he was back at her side, all concern.
‘It’s alright cariad, you’re safe now, what happened back there?’ ‘
I don’t know,’
Her voice was shaky still as she tried to make sense of it all.
‘The newspaper, there was something in the paper, did you speak to the papers?’
He didn’t answer, turning to the man he’d called Alun who still stood by the door.
‘Can we get the papers for today?’
The man didn’t answer, just turned on his heel to obey. Geth moved to the corner of

the room and flicked the switch on an electric kettle, soon he pressing a cup of something
warm into her hands.
‘Drink this it will help.’
He was still hunkered down beside her, encouraging her to drink the awful
concoction when Alun returned, a paper in his hand and a grim look on his face. Passing it
to his boss he then beat a tactful retreat, best not be around when the boss saw what was
on the front page of the paper, he thought.
Geth looked at the article together with its damning photograph and cursed himself
for a fool. How many times had he been caught like this, he ought to know better, indeed
he did know better than to kiss a woman in the open and when the press were likely to be
watching a new project like this one with local interest. To make matters worse it had
nearly resulted in her getting injured, she was not going to like this not one little bit.
‘What,’ she asked ‘what is it.’
She took the paper he proffered, reading the front page article in silence.
“GLM’s spy in Llan-aberth” the headline screamed and the article began, “Gethyn
Mathias of GLM construction has a direct line to inside information at the Llan-aberth
protest camp that gave him the upper hand this week, our reporter discovers. The spy in
the protest camp was identified today as Alexandria Owen a local resident. Despite
standing to make substantial gains when GLM carry out the promised renovations to a
number of village properties newly acquired by the construction giant. Ms Owen has
played a prominent part in the protest against the development, giving her numerous
opportunities to gain the inside information she needed to pass on to GLM. Our sources
also reveal a romantic link between Ms Owen and the Welsh playboy construction boss.”
There was a photograph of her and Geth at her front door last night in what could only be
described as a passionate clinch.
Lexie slowly put the paper down on the desk beside her, not wanting to read any
more.
‘I don’t understand... what does this mean? I understand they think I told you when
everyone would be in London, but what does the rest mean? What does renovations to
properties have to do with me? How did they get this picture...’
She tailed off in confusion, waiting for Geth to explain. He shrugged.
‘We bought some properties in the village, your shop is one of them. Renovating
them and renting them to locals is one of the requests the village council wanted in return
for supporting our planning application. The papers must have found out. As for the
photograph, it happens, they hang around just waiting for a shot that they can hang this
kind of rubbish on, it’s not worth worrying about.’
‘You’re the new owner? I got a letter but it didn’t say who.’
Turning on him she continued, eyes blazing as the impact of what she’d just read
and his culpability began to sink in. ‘