A Physical Affair Page 7

  ‘Then I suggest you reconsider. I’m a stickler for the equality of the sexes. I’d slap you back.’

  Keira felt his eyes lock steadily with her own, felt their strength of purpose in spite of the shadowy light. She suspected he’d carry out his intentions, too.

  Eden Cassidy represented all that was mysteriously forbidden, a walk over uncertain ground, an untravelled path that held a tempting unknown. But it all led to a world she’d visited before and her experience had not been a happy one. She had no desire to go through the pain again, she reminded herself.

  Yet the temptation was there, glowing like a welcoming beacon in the dark. It would only take one step. But Keira knew she couldn’t take it. Not on the terms he was offering.

  ‘Equality of the sexes.’ It was Keira’s turn to laugh. ‘Next thing you’ll be telling me you’re sensitive, caring and vulnerable. Now, why can’t I picture you in that role? Maybe because you like playing to the gallery too much.’

  ‘You think I’m theatrical?’ He raised dark brows and Keira shrugged.

  ‘I think you also enjoy playing the field.’

  He gave a soft, nerve-honing laugh. ‘So I flit from flower to flower?’

  ‘Precisely,’ Keira said sarcastically.

  ‘You should know not to believe everything you read in the glossies,’ he countered, moving imperceptibly, yet enough for Keira’s acutely vigilant senses to react, tensing her muscles in reflex defence. ‘I’m a one-woman-at-a-time man. Always have been. A woman always knows she has my complete and undivided attention.’

  ‘Nice sentiments. But only for as long as it lasts, I’d say. Well, I just don’t intend to be the latest blossom for you to add to your bunch. Now, I’ve really had enough of this conversation. I’m a little tired and I’m going inside.’

  ‘Running away, Keira?’ His words stopped her immediately. ‘I thought you’d enjoy a challenge.’ His fingers settled on her shoulder, searing her through the fabric of her dress, and she jumped like a startled colt.

  ‘I’m not playing power games, Mr Cassidy. And no means no in my language,’ she made herself add bitingly, looking meaningfully down at his hand on her upper arm.

  ‘"No” is not what your body language is saying to me,’ he said softly, his fingers sliding down her arm, his thumb gently teasing the soft inner skin of her elbow.

  Keira’s physical response to his touch rose almost to choke her and she was just as suddenly terribly afraid of the strength of her reaction, of the knowledge that she didn’t want to reject him.

  ‘I can’t believe this.’ She made herself snatch her arm from his hold. ‘Only hours ago I wasn’t good enough for your precious nephew and now you’re lowering yourself and your lofty standards to take me on yourself. You’re either selling yourself cheaply or you’re desperate. Neither of which I am, fortunately. I told you before I don’t sleep around. I never have—’

  ‘I don’t recall implying you did,’ he cut in concisely.

  ‘And I don’t intend to start now with you,’ Keira continued, the bit well and truly between her teeth. ‘No

  matter how—’ she paused, regarding him scathingly

  from head to toe ‘—impressive your credentials are. So, to correct any misapprehension you may be under, let’s use some old but straightforward clichés. Don’t call me, I’ll call you. Goodnight, Mr Cassidy. Oh, and I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the phone to ring if I were you.’

  With that Keira marched back into the ballroom, not looking back to see if he was following her. Once back inside she went in search of Daniel and pleaded tiredness, retiring to spend a sleepless night in the opulent bedroom. And when Daniel and Keira appeared for a late brunch the next morning Burton informed them that Eden and Megan had already left to return to the city.

  After a perfunctory knock on the office door Keira’s assistant walked in waving a newspaper around in front of her, and Keira sighed resignedly. At this rate she’d never get any work done.

  Daniel had already interrupted her unnecessarily and it was hard enough keeping her errant thoughts from drifting to other, more regrettably disturbing incidents, without these intermittent intrusions.

  ‘How long have we known each other, Keira?’ Roxie Denahey demanded without the usual preliminaries as she tossed her well-proportioned frame into the chair in front of Keira’s desk. The chair creaked in protest.

  ‘Do you really want me to admit out loud that it’s been over twenty years?’ Keira asked with a faint smile. She and Roxie had attended primary school together.

  ‘Twenty years, Keira Strong. And you can’t even tell me, can’t even breathe so much as a whisper, when something momentous happens in your life.’ Roxie frowned disgruntledly.

  ‘This is a particularly momentous something, I take it?’ Keira raised her eyebrows. ‘You know what an exciting life I lead, Roxie, so would you care to give me a hint about which significant event I’ve failed to give you details of, thus maliciously ruffling your sensitive feathers?’

  ‘Which significant event?’ Roxie scowled. ‘This one.’ She fluttered the newspaper. ‘Featured all over the social pages of the Sunday paper.’

  Keira’s heart sank. It had to be Sir Samuel’s party. She hadn’t given a thought to the public interest such a distinguished occasion would generate. Or, until this moment, recalled the camera flashes. But in her defence, she had had other things on her mind. Like Eden Cassidy. And his outrageous proposition. Keira almost groaned.

  ‘Don’t tell me you haven’t seen it?’ Roxie’s voice rose in disbelief. ‘Good grief I You haven’t!’ she exclaimed at Keira’s expression. ‘Well, let me be the first to flash it by you.’

  Reluctantly Keira took the newspaper from the other girl and glanced down at the grainy photographs. Then she did groan out loud.

  One photograph was larger than the six or seven others. And it immediately drew attention. Any photograph of Eden Cassidy’s incredibly rugged good looks would, Keira acknowledged.

  However, it wasn’t simply a shot of Eden Cassidy. He was in the photograph, looking as attractive as he always did. And so was Sir Samuel Ford, smiling broadly at the camera, his arm around his only grandson.

  But on his right stood a reasonably tall woman with shoulder-length fair hair, a heart-shaped face and a firm chin. The photographer had caught that chin as its owner lifted it with a hint of tenacity as she gazed levelly into the lens.

  ‘Newsy little caption under the photo, too,’ Roxie remarked and recited it off pat. ‘Helping to celebrate Sir Samuel Ford’s eightieth birthday were his grandson, Daniel Ford Cassidy (right), Eden Cassidy (left) and Keira Strong. Eden Cassidy is the younger son of William Cassidy, Sir Samuel’s late partner and co-founder of the Cassidy-Ford media conglomerate. Keira Strong is the assistant editor of the family company’s highly successful Chloe magazine.’

  Keira’s eyes were drawn from her own features to those of the man standing so close beside her, so close that their shoulders appeared to be pressing together. Keira moved in her chair to disguise the sudden quiver that began in the pit of her stomach and rose to set her skin tingling. Almost as if Eden Cassidy were touching her again.

  ‘I didn’t even know we’d been photographed,’ she said a little breathily.

  ‘Shucks! And I didn’t even know you’d been invited to the social bash of the year,’ Roxie stated mockingly.

  ‘You were away last week and Daniel didn’t ask me to go with him until Thursday,’ Keira began to explain.

  ‘Daniel?’ Roxie’s mouth fell open in amazement. ‘Daniel Cassidy? Are you putting me on?’

  ‘Of course not. Would I dare?’ Keira threw back quickly.

  ‘Our young, our very young Daniel Cassidy?’ Roxie continued as though Keira hadn’t spoken.

  ‘Daniel asked me to go with him as a favour.’

  ‘You had a date with—’

  ‘Roxie, please,’ Keira appealed. ‘It wasn’t a date. He needed someone to go with him to his
grandfather’s party and I, well, I agreed. End of story.’ End of story! A mocking voice inside her laughed at her blatant distortion of the truth.

  ‘Daniel!’ Roxie repeated. ‘And here I was fantasising that while my back was turned you’d been whisked off by Eden Cassidy, the heart-throb of the social set.’

  ‘Are you kidding, Roxie?’ Keira’s heartbeats performed their recklessly uninhibited dance yet again» as if their cue was simply the mention of Eden Cassidy’s name. What would her friend think if she told her about that very same Eden Cassidy’s preposterous proposition?

  ‘If I’d known you were interested in younger men—’ Roxie began, but Keira quelled her friend with a constraining look.

  Briefly subdued, Roxie gazed at Keira for long moments and then she sighed. ‘How long have I been working with you, Keira?’

  ‘More twenty questions?’ Keira asked quizzically and shook her head in capitulation, knowing Roxie wouldn’t let it rest until she’d had her say. ‘About ten years, including the last five years on Chloe.’

  ‘OK. I do know you pretty well, don’t I? I’ve been with you through thick and thin, marriage and divorce. So tell me, in the three years since Dennis died how many dates have you had?’

  ‘Quite a few,’ Keira began defensively and Roxie pulled a face.

  ‘A few is right. I’d say you’ve been lucky to average two a year.’ She held up her plump hand and ticked off on her fingers. ‘There was that cowboy. That fizzled out, thank heavens.’

  ‘I didn’t want to move to the country and he didn’t want to settle in the city. It was a mutual decision to part,’ Keira told her.

  ‘Then there was the lawyer with no sense of humour,’ Roxie continued. ‘And the computer guy who was only interested in your chips rather than your whole circuit.’

  Keira laughed. ‘There’s no need for the roll-call, Roxie. I haven’t lost any sleep over any of them.’

  ‘That’s precisely your problem. Honestly, Keira, don’t you sometimes yearn to go to bed for something other than sleep?’ Roxie sat back in the chair and grinned at Keira’s embarrassed discomposure.

  ‘Is this any way to talk to your boss?’ Keira asked with mock seriousness and Roxie rolled her eyes.

  ‘I’m not wearing my assistant-to-the-assistant-editor’s cap at the moment. Right now I’ve got on my friend-of-long-standing hat. And I won’t be sidetracked. You can blush all you want, but haven’t I gone right to the seat of your problem?’

  Keira grimaced. ‘I see no problem. Shall we just say I’ve deprogrammed that part of my life? And are you speaking from experience, Roxie?’ Keira tried once again to deflect the course of the conversation knowing she had next to no chance of success.

  ‘Now, don’t try to distract me. This is a ‘do as I say, not as I do” lecture. So can I make one tiny suggestion for you to consider?’

  ‘Would it make any difference if I said no?’ Keira quickly held up her hand. ‘And don’t even think of taking that the wrong way.’

  ‘Would I do that?’ Roxie widened her eyes innocently. ‘Look, just give a bit of thought to getting your unused programme into running order. Just in case.’

  ‘I know I’ll regret this, but in case of what?’

  ‘In case Eden Cassidy offers you some wonderfully forbidden fruit.’

  ‘You sound like a pop song.’ Keira tried to laugh lightly. ‘And I’m not into forbidden fruit.’

  ‘If Eden Cassidy—no, I’ll rephrase that,’ Roxie continued. ‘When Eden Cassidy, and I say when because the man is interested—’

  ‘Roxie, you’re being absurd,’ Keira cut in, swallowing the rush of excited anticipation she was too slow to quell. Her friend was inadvertently skating far too close to the truth.

  ‘Rubbish! Take a look at that photograph. You mark my words, Keira. That man is interested.’

  Keira shifted uneasily. If Roxie only knew…

  ‘And when he holds out the shiny red apple,’ her friend was continuing, ‘I don’t want to hear you’ve refused to take a bite.’

  ‘Not the best of analogies,’ Keira remarked wryly and Roxie leant across and picked up the newspaper again.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know, Keira. I’d say it was spot on. I mean, the man’s poetry, pure poetry.’ She shook her head. ‘All I can say is, his mother must have known something when she named him Eden because he’s the closest thing to paradise I’ve ever seen.’

  Keira didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry with Roxie, but she was saved from having to make a decision when her office door opened again.

  ‘Can you believe it’s Monday already?’ Dianna Forester, the editor of Chloe, strode into the room. ‘I spent the weekend on Tommy’s yacht and I’m totally exhausted.’

  ‘And a good time was had by all, by the look of you,’ Roxie remarked ironically. ‘With you two and your adventures I feel as though my weekend of gardening and household chores absolutely pales into insignificance.’

  Dianna’s eyes turned sharply to Keira. ‘Well, I know I’ve been partying, but what have you been up to, Keira?’

  ‘What indeed?’ Roxie held out the newspaper and Dianna took it from her, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at the photograph Roxie pointed out to her.

  ‘You went to Sir Samuel’s party? I didn’t know you were on such close terms with the family,’ she said carefully and Keira shrugged.

  ‘I’m not. I went with Daniel, as a favour.’

  ‘Would that I were asked such a favour,’ Roxie put in expressively.

  ‘It was a last-minute thing,’ Keira began, wondering gloomily how long she was going to have to suffer the fall-out from allowing Daniel to talk her into going to that wretched party.

  ‘And what with one thing and another—’ Roxie

  shifted in her chair to look back at Keira ‘—I forgot to ask you if you heard anything over the weekend to substantiate the epidemic of rumours about staff shuffling here on the magazine. Did Eden Cassidy drop any hints to you?’

  Keira shook her head and Dianna pursed her lips thoughtfully.

  ‘I suppose you could scarcely raise the subject over dinner,’ she said, giving Keira another piercing look. ‘No doubt we’ll hear all soon enough. Well, I’ve got stacks to do myself so I’ll get to it.’ Dianna replaced the newspaper on Keira’s desk and left.

  ‘That will be a first,’ Roxie muttered caustically.

  ‘I should finish this, too,’ Keira said quickly, before Roxie could continue. ‘Put it around that I don’t want any more interruptions, until lunchtime at least.’

  Roxie stood up. ‘Methinks that includes me. No trouble. I’ll see you later, now that you’ve shamed me into putting my nose to the grindstone. And, Keira, do me a favour and at least consider my advice.’

  After Roxie left Keira tried valiantly to keep her mind on her work. But somehow her wayward thoughts kept slipping uncontrollably back to Eden Cassidy.

  ‘I’m an experienced man. Why waste your time with a boy?’

  The words, the whole repugnant scene, kept replaying in her head like a faulty videotape. Each time she felt the same mixture of emotions. Anger, abhorrence, repugnance. And a prurient excitement that horrified her.

  Would she, could she ever forget those unthinkable words? His outrageous offer? She thought not.

  The man was despicable, she told herself grimly as she made herself concentrate on the pile of work on her desk. He definitely wasn’t worthy of the time she was wasting mulling over his outrageousness. She had a job to do and she wasn’t going to allow the man to intrude on her thoughts any more than he already had.

  She determinedly forced the scene from her mind and some time later, as she bent over a submission for their next issue, there was a tap on her office door, followed by the sound of the door opening.

  ‘Keira—?’ Daniel began tentatively.

  Keira didn’t look up. ‘I said no interruptions, Daniel, and I meant it, so only three things will save you from a fate worse than death. If you
can see any blood. If the building’s on fire. Or if you’re bearing hot coffee.’

  ‘Having a hard day at the office, Mrs Strong?’

  Keira’s head snapped up and her startled grey eyes met cold blue ones.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ‘WHAT do you want?’ The words were out before Keira could draw them back and the tone of her voice made her cringe at the audacity. ‘I mean, I’m pretty busy.’ She indicated the work on her desk and then sighed. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound…’ She paused, searching for a placating word that might defuse her previous brusqueness.

  ‘Ungracious?’ Eden Cassidy suggested with a quirk of his lips, lips that drew Keira’s eyes without any conscious thought on her part.

  Her heartbeats had began their now familiar dance and she swallowed quickly. She closed her mouth firmly as she went to apologise again.

  Eden took a couple of steps into the room, stopping in front of her desk, and Daniel followed him, hovering awkwardly beside him, trying to convey to Keira a multitude of emotions in his expression. At any other time Keira would have been amused by Daniel’s obvious mixture of bewilderment and reticence. However, at that moment she had other matters on her mind. And they all focused on the younger man’s egotistical uncle.

  What could he possibly want? Keira hadn’t seen him since their altercation on the patio of the Cassidy mansion, hadn’t thought ever to see him again.

  She pushed herself to her feet, unwilling to give Eden Cassidy the advantage of towering over her. ‘If you’ve come to take Daniel to lunch then he’s free to go, of course,’ she said, and Eden motioned her to return to her seat, lowering himself into the chair opposite her, setting his briefcase down on the floor beside him.

  ‘I did have lunch in mind,’ he said easily. ‘But not with Daniel.’ His obvious meaning hung in the air between them as his gaze held hers, and Keira willed herself not to look away, refusing to acknowledge his enigmatic statement.

  Lunch? With him? He had to be joking. But he was persistent, she’d give him that much. Although the reason for his apparent tenacity bothered her. Had his purported interest been further piqued by her reluctance to fall in with his impertinent plans to entice her into his bed?