Man Hater Part 9

CHAPTER SIX.

kellyopened her eyes, tensing as she glanced at the motionless figure in the other bed, but Jake was still asleep, one brown shoulder visible above the thin cotton cover. She had been asleep when he came to bed. Her headache had grown worse during the evening and she had excused herself early, hating the mocking smile Jake gave her as she walked past him. Her body felt heavy and lethargic, aching with an emptiness she didn't want to acknowledge. Perhaps a dip in the pool would help refresh her?

Jake didn't stir as she slipped out of bed and gathered up her clothes. Their bedroom opened directly on to the patio by the pool, and Kelly slipped through the window as quietly as she could, expelling her breath slightly when Jake didn't move. She glanced at her watch; it was barely seven and she seemed to have the morning to herself. The air was pleasantly warm, small fluffy white clouds moving on the merest puff of wind.

The swimsuit she had put on was a new one--it had been years since she had last had a seaside holiday, and she had been pleased to discover an excellent selection of beachwear in the shops before her departure. She had been determined not to wear a bikini, but the swimsuit she had thought so sensible when she bought it was far more revealing then she had realised, dipping low at the front to mould and accentuate her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and cut high at the sides, lengthening her legs. If she had realised how revealing it was, she would never have bought it, Kelly decided, catching a glimpse of herself mirrored in the azure water of the pool.

The water was pleasantly warm, and she swam for several minutes before turning over to lie blissfully on her back, paddling idly and letting the tension flow out of her. It had been foolish to be so concerned about her reactions to Jake. He was after all a very handsome and experienced man, it was only natural that she should feel some response to him. It was unfortunate that he was here in Corfu with them, but if she was sensible and level-headed there was nothing to worry about. She bit her lip, remembering his reaction to her accusation and the swift reprisals which had followed. Her body quivered and she turned quickly, swimming strongly for the side of the pool, dashing-the water out of her eyes as she pulled herself out.

"Good morning."

A p.r.i.c.kle of awareness shivered across her skin as she looked up and saw Jake watching her. He was dressed in cream jeans and a thin shirt opened at the neck, and although he looked perfectly relaxed Kelly was aware of a difference in him. She frowned as she tried to pinpoint exactly where it lay; the nearest comparison she could come up with was that he appeared to have changed from a basking indolent jungle cat into a ferociously angry predator deliberately stalking its prey.

He reached for her wrap before her, stretching behind her to place it round her shoulders, his hands lingering deliberately on her still damp skin, tracing the shape of the bones beneath her skin. She shivered suddenly as her eyes met his and read the cynical message in their grey depths.

"Who chose the swimsuit?" he drawled, his eyes roaming with almost brutal s.e.xuality over her body.

Kelly could feel her temper rising; resentment filling her.

"I chose it," she gritted.

"Without trying it on?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"You look s.e.xy in it." He sounded quite bored, and looked it too, apart from the hard gleam in his eyes.

"Very s.e.xy," he added softly, 's.e.xy enough for me to. " His fingers tightened on her shoulders, pulling her hard against the length of his body, kissing her with a violence that robbed her of breath and even the will to resist. Her lips softened and parted and she was drowning in the sensual spell woven by Jake's touch, hungry for the feel of his skin beneath her palms. A fierce dry heat invaded her body and she didn't try to resist when Jake's lips left hers to explore the slim column of her throat. She couldn't understand what was happening to her, she thought, Jake only had to come near her and she melted; No, not melted, burned up, consumed by a heat that ached explosively Through her body He way it was doing right now. So suddenly that it Was a shock for her unprepared body Jake released her, lifting her Hands from his chest to the lapels of her own robe where they trembled In rejection and humiliation.

"Hope I'm not interrupting?" Sue eyed her curiously and Kelly quickly Tried to compose her.

"I've just been having a swim," she chattered over-brightly.

"The water was lovely, Jake..."

"I came down to see what she was doing," Jake drawled laconically, Propping his lean length up against one of the patio tables, 'but the Pool's a little too public for the kind of swimming I prefer. "

Sue laughed.

"I came down to tell you that we've been invited out to a party Tonight. Some neighbours who know Dad, and hadn't realised that he had Lent the villa to us. They called round last night, and when I Explained that we were borrowing they invited us all along instead.

Should be fun. The villa belongs to Came Wray- man, the television Producer. He has a yacht, which he keeps here as well. His villa has Its own private mooring. "

"Sounds fun, doesn't it, darling?" Jake murmured before Kelly could Speak.

"Oh, good. I'd better go and give Jeremy the news. He'll be quite Pleased." Sue pulled a face.

"He'll look upon it as a good opportunity to get new business. Don't Worry about hurrying for breakfast. It's very much an alfresco meal--a Help-yourself affair really," she added as she hurried back to the House.

"She obviously thinks we want to continue what she interrupted," Jake Mocked, when Sue had gone.

"You'll notice that I don't charge extra for these convincing little Touches."

"No, but you were quick enough to accept the invitation to that party," Kelly flashed back.

"You don't deceive me. You may have given up where I'm concerned, Because you know I'm wise to your game, but no doubt you're hoping to Find someone else to batten on to at the party--someone who doesn't Know the truth and won't know it until it's too late."

"You're right about one thing, Kelly," he said contemptuously at last When the silence between them stretched as fine as wire, and Kelly's Heart was pounding with nervous exhilaration.

"Where you're concerned I have given up. You know, I felt sorry for You at first, but not any longer. You deserve everything you get. I'll let you use the bedroom first," he added with deliberate cruelty, 'and you needn't look at me like that--I have no intention of touching you. In fact, judging by your reactions to me just then the boot is most definitely on the other foot.

"What's wrong?" he goaded, when he saw her stricken expression.

"Do you find it hard to admit you actually want a man like me? I sympathise; but s.e.xual desire has nothing to do with logic, Kelly. You can't feed it into a computer and come up with exactly the right reaction to the right man. "

"I don't want you," Kelly flung at him.

"I don't want you or any other man. Not now ... not ever!"

"Fancy coming shopping with me?"

Kelly looked at Sue.

"I thought you said we wouldn't need to buy anything for the first few days."

"Oh, not for food," Sue a.s.sured her.

"I mean proper shopping--clothes, silly--or at least a dress for this do tonight. I haven't brought anything suitable with me." She sighed, her expression suddenly sombre.

"In fact it seems ages since I bought myself anything pretty at all. I was so wrapped up in having the baby..."

They were alone on the patio. Jeremy had announced after breakfast that he fancied a game of golf and had coerced Jake into going with him.

"I've been giving myself a firm talking-to lately," Sue continued briskly, 'and I've come to the conclusion that if Jeremy is finding me boring, I've no one to blame but myself. Daddy gave me a birthday cheque before we came away, and there are some excellent dress shops on Corfu. A great many wealthy Greek women live here, so most of the fashions are Paris inspired. You just wait and see! "

"In that case I'd better buy something new myself. I've only brought a couple of casual things with me," said Kelly.

"And who knows--make a good impression and you could pick up some more business. Is it serious between you and Jake--settling down and getting married serious, I mean, Kelly?"

"I... It's too early to tell," Kelly told her, hating having to deceive her.

"Well, he's certainly keen on you. You should see the way he looks at you when you're not aware of it!" Sue sighed.

"I envy you, Kelly. You have so much--oh, not your money, I'd never envy anyone that. No, it's the way you've proved to yourself that you can live alone; that you're your own person. I sometimes feel that without Jeremy I'd only be half a person; a shadow."

"Nonsense," Kelly told her firmly, 'but if it makes you feel any better I'll let you into a secret. There are times when I feel very much alone, when I wonder if I've paid too high a price for success, especially recently. "

"It doesn't show! Do you want to come shopping?" 1 "I think I'd better," Kelly laughed.

"Are we going to drive?"

"Yes. It isn't very far, but the bus service is pretty haphazard. We'll take Jeremy's hire car."

Half an hour later Sue deftly parked the hire car outside a row of shops, and Kelly climbed out. The sun burned into her skin through the thin blouse she was wearing, and she was glad that she had had the foresight to bring a hat and her gla.s.ses.

"Hot, isn't it?" Sue commented as she joined her.

"Let's try in here, shall we?"

The shop she indicated was quite small, a simple silk suit the only garment in the window. Inside, it was decorated in couture shades of dove grey and silver, and the woman who came forward to serve them had the timeless chic of the French.

Sue explained that she was looking for a dress to wear to a party.

"Something simple but stunning," she smiled.

"Can you help?"

Several outfits were produced for Sue's inspection and finally she settled on a simple silk dress in a soft shade of lilac blue which suited her colouring. While Sue was trying it on, Kelly's eye was caught by one of the other dresses the woman had produced. Also made of silk, it had tiny shoestring straps and a low-cut back, the skirt cut on the bias so that it floated gently in the draught from the air-conditioning. In shades of pink from palest blush to deep cyclamen, Kelly knew instantly that it would suit her. She touched the fabric almost wistfully. Once she might have bought a dress like this, but not now.

"Ah yes, this is one of our exclusive models," the saleswoman told her, walking over to her.

"Would you like to try it on?"

She was just about to say 'no' when Sue pleaded eagerly, "Oh do, Kelly! You'll look stunning in it, I know."

The trouble was that she did, and she knew it too, Kelly reflected rather wryly ten minutes later surveying her reflection in the mirror.

The dress might have been made for her, it clung so lovingly to her body, making her skin glow like the inside of a oyster.

"It is very nice," she began reluctantly, 'but. "

"No " buts"," Sue interrupted firmly.

"You're having it, and then you and I are going to treat ourselves to a couple of hours in the nearest beauty salon. We don't want Jeremy or Jake looking anywhere but at us tonight!"

The saleswoman, no doubt pleased to have made two good sales, gave them the address of a beauty salon which she recommended, and the girls there certainly seemed to know their business, Kelly thought approvingly as Helena, the girl who was looking after her, deftly produced a nail polish which picked out exactly the soft pink of her dress.

"If you don't mind me making a suggestion," Helena murmured half apologetically as she worked expertly on Kelly's nails, "I think your hair would look very pretty left loose for your party, perhaps swept to one side with a comb?"

"Oh yes, Kelly, it would be lovely," Sue enthused.

Somehow, Kelly found herself being persuaded into the new hairstyle, which wasn't what she would have chosen herself at all. For one thing, the long dark sweep of hair, secured with a comb of mother-of-pearl, gave her features a sultry sensuality she had never expected. All at once her lips seemed fuller and softer, her eyesslumbrous and softly veiled. She looked. She looked as though she had just been pa.s.sionately kissed, Kelly thought, startled by the knowledge.

"Kelly, you look fantastic!"

She gave Sue a vague smile. This wasn't how she wanted to look at all.

Looking like this made her feel vulnerable.

Dusk was falling as they drove back to the villa. They had spent most of the afternoon shopping and then had a light meal, as Sue explained that she thought the men would eat at the golf club.

There was no sign of the other hire car when they returned. The party wasn't due to start until nine, which gave them plenty of time to get ready, Sue a.s.sured her, but Kelly decided that she would go to her room and get changed now--with luck she would be finished before Jake returned. What was the matter with her, she wondered ironically. They had shared a room; a bed; he had touched her and she had responded to him--and yet suddenly she felt afraid. But it was not the same sort of fear she had felt with Colin. Frowning and uneasy, she stripped off the clothes she had worn for shopping, securing her hair on top of her head as she went to turn on the shower.

Maisiehad given herher favourite perfumed showering gel as a goodbye present, and Kelly used it lavishly. Even at her most austere she had not been able to deny herself the pleasure of perfuming her skin.

Colin had never bought her perfume and so there were no unpleasant a.s.sociations, but tonight as she smoothed the gel over her skin and stepped under the shower's fine spray, the fine needles of water against her body seemed almost erotic, the perfume released by the warmth of the water clinging to her flesh. If she closed her eyes she could almost imagine that Jake was touching her, arousing her already inflamed body with his skilled hands, kissing the firm peaks of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, letting his mouth wander at will over her perfumed skin until at last he possessed her lips. The dull thud of the bedroom door as someone closed it jerked Kelly back to reality, and a deep wave of colour seared over her as she tried to deny the truth of Jake's earlier claim that she wanted him.

"Kelly?"

She stiffened as he called her name, hurriedly stepping out of the shower and reaching for a towel.

"I'm in here," she called back, her mouth dry with tension. He could so easily have simply walked in and found her. And if he had done so would his experienced eyes have noted the aroused state of her body--and worse, known the reason for it? It must be some sort of jet-lag she was suffering from, she decidedmuzzily . She had never felt like this before, not even with Colin. It was completely out of character for her. Was it? She stiffened, trying to blot out the tiny voice that mocked acidly that she had never allowed her own s.e.xual character to develop. She had killed it at birth, refused to admit it into her life, and now she was being paid back with a vengeance.

Outside, she heard sounds of movement and hurriedly pulled on a robe.

"Don't come in, I won't be a moment!"

She had barely finished speaking when Jake pushed open the door and leaned indolently against the frame.

"I asked you not to come in," Kelly snapped angrily, trying to tie the sash of her robe.

"Or didn't you hear me?"

"Oh, I heard all right, but you've been around long enough to know that a remark like that is tantamount to asking for the opposite, and so as a mere employee what else could I do but oblige?"

It was the way he said There employee', rather than the words themselves, that underlined the deep cynicism she could see etched alongside his mouth, but surely that couldn't account for theb.u.mingly intense anger that turned his eyes from flint to smoke and seemed to rob her of the ability to think or move with her normal efficiency?

"What's the matter?" Jake demandedsmokily .

"You don't know what to do when you're confronted by a man who doesn't toe the line--your line--do you, Kelly? You just love calling the shots, don't you?

Making men squirm, turning them on and then paying them off, but it won't work with me. So," he drawled, folding his arms and studying her mockingly, 'if you want me to make love to you, lady, you're d.a.m.n well going to have to ask this time."

"Ask?" Kelly was too furious to be careful.

"You're the last man I'd ask for anything and... and besides," she added on a flood of triumph, 'if I wanted a man to make love to me there's always Jeremy! "

"So there is." His mouth went hard.

"You know, Kelly, I can't quite figure you out. One moment I think you genuinely care about Sue, and really want to protect her from finding out what a creep her husband is, the next I begin to think you're playing some deep game where the prize is Sue's husband with a ring through his nose and that you mean to win him."

"Think what you like... You're here for one reason and one reason only, and that's because I'm paying you, and if you..."