The Bedroom Barter (24 page)

A mouthwatering buffet was already laid out on long trestles, and there was a large tub filled with bottles of champagne on ice standing by. A number of small tables and chairs had been set out for the guests, most of them facing towards the baby grand piano at the other end of the room.

Jordan tried it softly with absorbed satisfaction as soon as Angela had excused herself and returned to her guests.

'The programme's been agreed,' he told Chellie. 'All stuff you know, that we've practised, and space for a couple of requests. I'm going to supply some background noise while the food's being served, then you come on.' He eyed her. 'You look different tonight—glowing, somehow.'

'It's the dress.' She did a half-twirl.

'No, it's more than that.' He paused. 'But put some of it in the performance. Don't hold back, Chellie. Show them what you're made of.'

'Don't I always?'

He shrugged. 'Sometimes I get the impression your heart and mind are elsewhere.'

'Ouch,' she said. 'Then tonight they'll get all of me. They'll have to if I'm to make myself heard over the sound of chewing,' she added cheerfully.

But, oddly, she found she did not have to compete with the clunk of glasses and the scrape of cutlery after all. As she started to sing 'Out of My Dreams' from
Oklahoma
, a concert-hall hush fell on the room, and she was greeted with generous applause at the end.

She saw Angela Westlake standing at the side of the room, smiling and giving her the thumbs up.

'We usually do requests at the end,' Jordan announced. 'But we've been asked for a very special song right now— so, if it's all right with Chellie—here we go.'

Is he going to tell me what it is? Chellie thought resignedly as she smiled her acquiescence. Or am I supposed to guess?

Then she heard the opening chords and felt her heart jump crazily. Oh, no, she thought. Not this of all songs—please.

But the introduction was finishing, and there was nothing she could do but launch herself into the haunting first line of 'Someone to Watch Over Me'.

She was halfway through the first verse when she saw him, leaning in the doorway, almost unrecognisable in black tie and dinner jacket. Looking at her over the heads of other people as he'd done that other time. That first time.

Except there were no other people. The room might have been empty as she sang sweetly and wistfully for Ash alone, the slight huskiness in her voice adding poignancy to the words, an emotion that came straight from the heart. Holding his gaze with hers.

When she finished there was an almost startled silence, then the clapping began.

As she took a bow, instinctively her eyes sought Ash again, to see if he was joining in the applause—if he was smiling.

But Ash was turning away, walking to the door, pausing momentarily for a word with Angela Westlake and a swift kiss on the cheek.

Oh, God, Chellie thought frantically. He's going. He's leaving again, and if he does I'll never find him. I know it.

She turned to Jordan. 'I'm sorry,' she said. 'There's something I must do—someone I have to talk to.'

She threaded her way through the groups of guests, forcing herself to smile when a detaining hand touched her arm—to murmur her appreciation for the words of praise. When all she really wanted to do was run. Chase after him wherever he was heading.

He was nearly at the top of the stairs when she caught up with him. 'Ash—wait—please. Speak to me.' Her voice was desperate.

He turned slowly and looked down at her, the blue eyes grave. He said, 'You're wearing the dress.'

'Yes—something made me…' She swallowed. 'You don't mind?'

'How could I?' He smiled faintly. 'You look so beautiful you take my breath away.'

'In spite of my grotesque hair?'

'Maybe because of it.' He touched the silky strands, his fingers feather-gentle.

'But I wasn't asking for compliments. I want to talk…' She paused, her eyes searching his face. 'There are things to be said.'

'But maybe this isn't the right time,' Ash said quietly. 'Your audience will be missing you, songbird. You have them eating out of the palm of your hand.'

She swallowed. 'I wasn't singing for them. I was singing for you. You—must have known that. So why are you leaving? Because that's what you're doing—isn't it? You're goand leaving me behind.

'I must.' There was a raw note in his voice that she seized on.

'But why?'

He said gently, 'Chellie, your voice is going to take you to all kinds of places. I'd just get in the way. It's better that I go.'

She said with sudden fierceness, 'If that's how you feel, why did you give back the money?'

He stiffened. 'Who told you I'd done so?'

'My father—who else? He said you were a fool.'

'Yes,' he said. 'I'm sure he did. But I didn't expect him to tell you what I'd done. I thought he'd want to keep that a secret'

'I'm sure he'll wish he had. Because you're not leaving without me. Never again.'

She lifted a hand, touched his cheek. 'He made you lose your job, Ash, and I'm so sorry. Because he'll probably stop you getting another one.' She bit her lip. 'You have no idea the kind of influence he has.

'I got a good idea from seeing the effect he'd had on you,' Ash said grimly. He sat on the top step and pulled her down beside him. He said, 'Chellie, no one got me fired, least of all your father. I was already planning to go—it had all been arranged totally amicably, and then I was asked to do this one last job because it was my kind of thing.'

He shook his head. 'At first I said no, particularly when I found out what was involved. I had you down as some rich bitch who liked to live on the edge. My least favourite kind of person. But then your father started offering silly money, and I knew the business could do with a cash injection just then, so—for better or worse—I agreed.'

He sighed. 'I had all these strict rules for myself. Get the job done quickly, and no personal involvement—ever. And I tried my damnedest to stick to them—right up to the end.

'But with you, the ground was shifting under my feet, and there were no bloody rules. I saw you, and I was lost. Caught up in this incredible, miraculous thing that I'd never really believed in. Knowing that I didn't have to be paid to keep you safe, because I'd lay down my life for you if necessary.'

He paused 'All this I wanted to tell you, my beloved girl, and so much more. And then that dangerous buffoon showed up a day early and my chance went, and everything descended into chaos. I thought that I'd lost you for ever, that what we had was damaged beyond repair. You had every right to be hurt and angry about the way I'd tricked you, and any explanation I could give was only going to sound like some lame afterthought.

'Anyway, I told myself I'd blown it completely, and consequently nothing else seemed to matter. I made sure Victor got the money for the company, and then I—walked away.'

She said, her voice shaking, 'But that wasn't all of it, Ash. You had another reason to leave. There was Julie. You never really told me the truth about her, did you? And I have to know. Does she love you? Are you in love with her?'

'I should damned well hope not,' Ash said with asperity. 'Or my father will have me arrested. Julie's my young sister, and dying to meet you.'

She drew a deep breath. 'Your sister? Oh, I don't understand any of this. You said she was the owner's daughter. You had her photograph beside your bed.'

'Beside my father's bed, actually. He's the owner in question, and he can be a sentimental old devil, so there's usually one of me too. But I decided to put that particular piece of evidence away for the duration—in a very safe place—along with your passport,' he added, straight-faced. 'Just in case you started putting two and two together at some inconvenient moment. It didn't occur to me, however, you'd do exactly that and make five. Jools and I are fairly alike, if you look.'

'So Mr Howard—is your father?' She tried to unscramble her thoughts as the joy inside her began to spread like wildthrough her veins.

'Mr Howard Brennan, yes. I can show you my birth certificate, if you want. And Julie's, too.'

'Oh, God,' she said on a little wail. 'Why didn't you tell me all this? Why didn't you explain at Arcadie?'

'Because in the kind of job I've been doing you keep personal details to a minimum. I learned that in the Army. You don't form relationships with the client. I was trying hard, against tough odds, to be disciplined, and stay away from you until the assignment was over.' His mouth twisted. 'And we both know what happened to that good intention.'

He took her hand. 'Anyway, darling, I thought you knew—that you'd guessed who I was and what I was about. Or some of it, at least. You said so.' . 'I was talking about Julie.' Her fingers clung to his. 'I thought you and she were practically engaged,' she added with a little wail.

'And, that being the case, I was still trying to get you into bed?' Ash's tone was wry. 'You can't have a very high opinion of me.'

'I didn't know you. You'd done too good a job of keeping me at arm's length. I was just trying to make sense of it all, and failing miserably. I was so completely wretched I couldn't think straight' She paused. 'And that's an explanation, not an excuse.'

She hesitated again. 'Tell me something now. Why did you come here tonight—if you meant to walk out again?'

He said with sudden harshness, 'I'm not even sure what I intended. I only knew that I needed to see you one more time. That I was gasping for you like air. But if you hadn't come after me, Chellie, I would have given you back your life and disappeared.'

'And I would have found you again,' she said. 'Some time—somehow.'

There was another round of applause from the basement, and Ash rose to his feet, pulling Chellie up with him.

'I think it's time we were on our way,' he said. 'Any moment Angie's gang are going to be pouring through here looking for the disco, the loos, or more drinks. They could trample right over us.'

'But I can't leave now,' Chellie protested. 'I'm supposed to be here to sing. I've got to see Jordan and explain—that's if he'll ever speak to me again.'

'He'll be fine. Angie's putting him straight at this moment.'

'The Westlakes are friends of yours?' She gulped. 'Of course. They would be.'

He grinned. 'Relatives, actually. Angie's mother and mine were first cousins, and pretty close. Why? Did you think I was gatecrashing?'

'I don't know what I thought. All I could see was you. All I could hear in my head was your name. It was like a miracle.'

Chellie paused suddenly, her eyes widening. 'Except it's nothing of the sort—is it? It's not even a coincidence,' she added on a note of breathless accusation. 'You arranged for me to be here. Ash Brennan—you set me up.'

'Just a little,' he admitted. 'Do you mind?'

'No,' she said. 'Considering I was going to call Laurent tomorrow and beg him to tell me where you were.'

'Oh, my love,' Ash said softly. 'My sweet love.' He paused. 'We could go back to your house, but I'd rather not run the gauntlet of the other girls yet. I need to have you strictly to myself.'

Chellie halted, staring at him. 'You even know where I live?'

He nodded ruefully. 'I asked Vic, my former partner, to keep an eye on you. We were in the Army together, you see, which is where we got the idea for the business, and we went through a lot together, so we've always been close.

'Besides, I was terrified you'd marry that idiot who came looking for you just to spite me,' he added, his mouth twisting. 'And I was hungry for any morsel of information about you—that you were well—that you were happy.'

'And what did he say?'

'Yes, to the first. Not very, to the second.'

'Well, he was right,' she said. 'And, after all, I have said more than once that I need someone to watch over me. So I can hardly complain when it happens.'

'I'm staying at a hotel temporarily,' he said. 'Will you come back there with me?'

'Anywhere,' she said. 'As long as we're together.'

'Oh, I can guarantee that,' Ash said. 'In fact I shall have serious trouble ever letting you out of my sight'

'Then don't,' she said sedately, and went out with him into the night.

She'd expected a decent room—Ash was too fastidious for anything else—but not a penthouse suite in one of the capital's most prestigious hotels.

'Well?' Ash finished ordering champagne from Room Service and put the phone down.

'Very well.' She gave her surroundings another long look. 'Are you quite sure you gave back your share of the money?'

He shrugged. 'You had it straight from the horse's mouth. And you can always check my bank account later.' 'Later,' she said, 'has a nice sound.' 'Want to check the rest of the accommodation?' The bed in the adjoining room was king-sized, and it was hard to notice anything else, but Chellie was determined to try.

'Heavens,' she said. 'How many channels on this television set?'

'I've no idea,' he said. 'And I have no plans to find out.'

Aware of his eyes following her, Chellie felt suddenly shy. She walked to the row of fitted closets and flung open a door. 'Oh.' She swallowed. 'You've brought rather more than a shirt and a pair of jeans this time.'

'I came prepared for a lengthy campaign.'

'You certainly did.' Her fingers slid along the rail and met silky fabric. 'And what's this?'

She just managed to catch the black dress as it slipped from its hanger. Turned to him with it spilling from her hands, her lips parting incredulously.

'You—took this?'

'I had to have something,' he said quietly. 'I didn't think you'd miss it. And it had some good memories for me.' He paused. 'Would you rather I threw it away?'

'Oh, no,' she said. 'In fact, I might even wear it again sometimes—birthdays—anniversaries—times like that. Create some more memories for both of us.' She let it drop to the floor. Unfastened the silver dress and sent it to join the pool of black at her feet. Stepped over both of them towards him.

She whispered, 'Darling—do we need champagne? I'm— really not thirsty.'