The Man at Key West (12 page)

‘Two more days seems reasonable,’ he said maddeningly.

‘Two more days?’ she echoed indignantly.

He nodded. ‘That’s right.’

‘But I...’ Sue lifted a fluttering hand to push back a.shiny tendril of hair from her damp forehead. ‘Why do you want to marry me?’ she asked
.

She
waited on bated breath for his answer.

His
eyes were on the delicately rounded arm she hail lifted revealed when the loose sleeve of her w
ra
p fell away.

'I like your body and I find you extremely attractive, physically. You excite my senses,’ he said
lazily,
running the back of his fingers up the
s
moothness of her face.

Sue drew back as if she had been stung. ‘And
you
think that’s all a woman wants from a man?’
she
demanded scornfully.

‘
There’s a lot to be said for it,’ he shrugged,
and
crushed out his cheroot into an ashtray in
ne
arby and Sue trembled, knowing that possibly her father and Connie could be crushed in like manner if the trouble they were in was serious. The
air
was fraught with anti-climax as she rebelled against Jay’s masterfulness and masculine arrogance.

Drawing herself up, she said coldly, ‘I...’

The peal at the door bell shrilled through the house, and they looked at each other.

Jay asked, ‘Are any of the staff on duty, or is it
t
heir night off?’

Sue pulled herself together. He must not know that there was no staff and that the house was to
be
sold. He was going away the next day, so he would not know for some time.

‘The ... Vera and her husband have gone ... out. I’ll answer it,’ she stammered, and made for
th
e door.

‘Oh no, you don’t,’ he said gripping her wrist as the made to pass him. ‘Not at this time of the night in your present attire.
I’ll
go.’

'No. Let them ring. They’ll go away when there’s no reply,’ she pleaded knowing that it could only be Henry Cassells returning because he had found out about her father and stepmother leaving.

His dark eyes narrowed down at her. ‘But it might be your father gone without his keys.’

She shook her head. ‘He keeps all his keys together with those of his car, so it can’t be Daddy.’

H
e lifted a brow. ‘And you don’t want to know who it is?’ he asked in surprise with a strange gleam in his eyes.

‘No, and I will marry you on Friday.’

Sue lifted her arms around his neck and drew his face down to hers. Slowly his arms went around her as a second ring of the doorbell sounded through the house. To Sue it had a hollow ominous sound as if the house was indeed empty of everything, even the furnishings. She trembled.

Jay’s grip tightened. ‘You’re trembling,’ he said. ‘What are you afraid of?’

She clung. ‘Kiss me,’ she breathed. ‘I won’t be afraid of anything then.’

He bent his head and his lips pressed deeply into her tremulous mouth as his arms squeezed the breath out of her. Sue was no longer aware of door bells ringing or anything else as she returned his kiss, cupping his face as his mouth moved sensually and deeply over hers. When at last he released her s she was palpitating and breathless.

Then because she was almost hysterical about the thought of Henry Cassells calling she began to giggle uncontrollably. Jay laughed with her, the
n
gradually his eyes became serious. His arms tightened around her and he was taking her mouth in a passion of feeling. Sue sobered as her heart leapt to meet his and their breathing quickened. All fear
of Henry Cassells or anyone else left her as, with senses inflamed, she became warm and yielding.

It was impossible for her to resist even when Jay’s hand slipped inside her wrap to make its way beneath the loose neck of her nightdress to her breast. Lost in the intense pleasure his caressing hand evoked, she felt bereft when he drew away.

Somewhat thickly, he said, ‘I think you’d better go to bed. Whoever was calling has obviously gone. I trust your father will soon be back.’

Sue gasped on breath regained. ‘Oh ... er ... yes, of course.’

‘And you meant it when you said you would marry me on Friday?’

‘Yes. When will you be back?’

‘Thursday night.’

He gave her a quick kiss. ‘I’ll see myself out—and don’t look at me like that, all melting and just waiting to share my bed. I might take you up on it, father or no father.’

Sue watched him go with utter despair, wanting the truth to spill out before it was too late. But the only thing rushing through her brain was the fact that Jay had not mentioned that he loved her. But neither had she said that she loved him. What a mess! What a heartbreaking mess.

CHAPTER TEN

Sue would have found the next two days unbearable without Jay had she not had her work for the magazine. She developed the pictures she had taken at Key West and smiled at the bosomy ones of Gloria and several other beauties. She could imagine the staff at the office crowding round to look at them. It was five o’clock when her work, including the article, was complete, and she was thinking of enjoying a bath when the telephone rang.

‘Hello, Sue,’ Gloria said brightly. ‘Doing anything tomorrow?’

‘I have to see my editor in the morning to take him my pictures. The photographs of you are very good. I think he’ll be pleased with them.’

‘Fine. I wondered if you’d come shopping with me tomorrow for something to wear at the wedding. It’s awfully difficult. Demure dresses aren’t for me. I look simply dreadful in them.’

Visions of Gloria looking way out in outlandish gear with her hair sticking out in spikes, her usual style, brought a smile to Sue’s lips. She said reassuringly and with warmth.

‘We’ll find something. We can go shopping after lunch.’

It occurred to her as she took a bath that she had not given a thought to her own wedding outfit; until Gloria had telephoned.

Her heart was not in it, so it had not bothered her unduly. Nevertheless, she knew that she owed it to Jay to look nice. It was not the kind of wedding she would have chosen. Sue had always dreamed of a wedding in church with the organ pealing excitingly as she walked down the aisle on her husband’s arm.

But this was not to be a real wedding. It was one which would eventually be annulled. Sue felt anger against Jay that was not justified and she wished fervently that she could remain unaffected by him. But she doubted whether any woman on meeting him could remain unaffected by him. She knew that should she live to be a hundred the thought of Jay would always enchant her.

Henry Cassells did not call at the Villa again, but her father rang at eight o’clock on the chance that Sue had returned from her trip to Key West.
He
said that he and Connie had gone away on the spur of the moment to take a much-needed holiday. They were in Hawaii.

Sue thought he sounded brighter as she told him she had enjoyed her visit to Key West. She did not tell him that she was marrying Jay on Friday. She could see no sense in him rushing back from a holiday in order to be there. He gave her the telephone number of his hotel and promised to tele
p
hone again.

Jay telephoned at ten o’clock.

‘Hello! How are you?’ he wanted to know.

‘Fine. And you?’

‘I
’m bearing up away from you,’ he said, and Sue could detect the smile in his voice,
‘I
’m calling from New York. We shall have to come he
r
e for part of our honeymoon. It’s a fantastic place, and it will be more so with you beside me.’

‘Sounds interesting,’ she replied, trying to feel enthusiastic about it. She had no intention of going on a honeymoon with him anywhere, but he was
n
ot to know that.

‘Told your father about our forthcoming marriage?’ he asked.

Sue’s heart turned over. She had forgotten that her father was supposed to be with her at the Villa. Jay would also expect to find him there when he
r
eturned.

‘No, I haven’t yet,’ she answered. ‘He and Connie have gone away for a few days. It was a last-minute decision and I thought it better to wait; until they come back. I didn’t want to bother, them.’

‘But they will be there on Friday, won’t they?' It’s going to be a very quiet affair with no one on my side, but you’ll want your father along. Every girl does.’

She said quickly, ‘I shall have you, which is the most important.’ Before he could reply, she said quickly, ‘I’m going shopping with Gloria tomorrow; to help choose her wedding dress.’

There was a pause while Jay thought about this, Then he said darkly, ‘As long as she isn’t helping you to choose yours.’

Sue, with a vision of Gloria on the flight from Key West with her crimped black hair standing out wildly above a band around her forehead and her way-out clothes, giggled helplessly.

Convulsed, she asked, ‘What colour would you like to see my hair, blue or pink?’

‘Don’t you dare!’ he warned with a growl.

But her mirth soon vanished as she put down the telephone. Thank heaven for Gloria, she thought. At least she would help her keep on an; even keel.

As she had thought, the staff of the magazine at the office were tickled pink at the topless pictures
t
aken at Key West.

‘Couldn’t have done better myself,’ the editor told her. ‘Enjoy your trip?’

‘Yes.’ Sue smiled to hide her heartache and wondered how he would take her marriage to his boss. Since she intended to go on with her job she
th
ought it would be wiser to tell him after the event and not before it. While she was just Sue Blake he would find it easy
to sack her. When she was Sue Denver he would have to think twice before doing so.

The editor was studying the topless picture of Gloria.

‘I’ve seen this dame before,’ he murmured thoughtfully. ‘Isn’t she a model or something?’

Sue nodded, feeling dreadful at not telling him
t
hat Gloria and herself were being married on the following Friday.

Gloria was delighted when Sue told her about her own wedding.

‘You’re a bit of a dark horse, keeping it to yourself until now,’ she said. ‘I suppose you’ll be buying a trous
s
eau like me. You won’t find any difficulty in getting fixed up.’

Sue smiled reassuringly. ‘Neither will you.’

The beauty parlour they went to first had a rich cream carpet, ivory walls and mauve alcoves filled with flower arrangements. Gloria wrinkled her nose at the gilded elegance, and looked helplessly at Sue as a well enamelled woman came forward
t
o serve them.

The woman took one look at Gloria' and murmured, ‘I think an entirely new image is called for, madam. If you will come with me, Monsieur Ray, our hair and beauty expert, will be happy to take care of you.’ She admired Sue’s tawny hair with approval as they went with her to meet Monsieur Ray.

He was a willowy young man with long beautiful hands and the large soulful eyes of a spaniel. His whole appearance and mannerisms sent Gloria and Sue into smothered giggles.

He attended to Sue first while an assistant washed the tangle of frizz sprouting from Gloria’s small head. Sue’s hair was washed with a conditioner and trimmed before being blow-dried, Ray murmuring ecstatically over the colour and richness of it. Gloria’s Cleopatra frizz was at last toned down into a long dark mass of smooth satin. It was backcombed and folded into a French pleat at the back of her head. In the make-up department Gloria’s witchy pale look, achieved by light and dark contrast culminating into a smudgy look, was obliterated and a professional foundation was properly applied.

The result was achieved with sponges adding the shader, blusher and highlighter with great precision on the right places for a good photograph. Gloria sat looking at herself in astonishment, and the look she turned to Sue was pathetic.

‘This can’t be me?’ she hissed on an aside. ‘Let’s get out of here!’

‘I think a boutique is called for,’ said Sue, and they made a beeline for one.

After looking around Sue brought a trim little suit in pure silk in cream with a matching scarf to tie bandwise around her hair. Gloria settled for a brown suede dress, off the shoulder, with a heavy fringe around her bust and a matching fringe around the skirt.

Clutching their purchases, which included delicately strapped high-heeled sandals to match their dresses, they headed for home.

Gloria said gleefully, ‘Why didn’t I think of a boutique before? It was all this stuff Lee’s been giving me about no expense being spared and I was to go to the best salons.’

Sue looked at the black hair released now from the demure French pleat and allowed to riot over Gloria’s shoulders.

‘I hope Lee likes your choice,’ she said darkly, and they both laughed.

Gloria said, ‘What about coming back to stay with us at Jay’s villa? That way we can all set off tomorrow with no trouble.’

Sue said, ‘But isn’t it bad luck to see your future husband before the ceremony?’

Gloria laughed with scorn. ‘How on earth can it be bad luck to see the man you plan to spend the rest of your life with? Besides, we needn’t see them tomorrow if it bothers you. Jay can drive me to the Town Hall and you can follow with Lee. Besides, we can have fun this evening by dining together.’

Sue saw the logic in this, and Gloria drove her in the new car Lee had bought her for a wedding present to the Villa Repose for Sue to pack a bag.

Sue was told to select what room she wanted from the guests’ quarters at Jay’s villa, and she unpacked her bag with some doubt as to the wisdom of coming to stay beneath Jay’s roof. Being in the same house as him was going to be much more of a trial because of the real reason for her marriage to him.

One thing was certain—directly they were married she was going to lose no time in bringing whatever was troubling Connie and her father out into the
o
pen. Beyond that she refused to think.

Jay did not return that night as he had said he would. Sue dined with Gloria and Lee and left them afterwards with the feeling that they would rather be alone. In any case they had nothing in common, and conversation ran out before the meal was over.

The evening air was warm as she strolled in the grounds of the villa. There was scarcely any breeze and she looked up at the velvet sky, aware of delicious nocturnal scents from the grounds. The thought occurred that perhaps Jay was not coming back after all. But there was nothing to prevent her changing her
mind at the last moment and leaving before he eventually arrived.

With a resigned shrug Sue knew that the need to look after her father was ingrained in her nature. She could never let him down, and the problem concerning him had to be sorted out as soon as possible. Jay could look after himself and she was sure that when he discovered her real reason for marrying him he would not hesitate to put an end to it.

Slowly she made her way back to the house and her own room. On her way to the guest rooms she paused at what she thought would be Jay’s bedroom and acting on impulse opened the door. His hairbrushes were on the dressing table with the initials J.D. on the back. Sue looked round the room at the king-size bed, capable of taking his length. At the side of the bed there were some books, and she picked them up.

One was science fiction and the other two were espionage thrillers. It was strictly a masculine room, with a wine-coloured dressing gown thrown over a chair and no frills. She sat down on the bed and smoothed the coverlet with her hand. She wondered how many women had shared this bed with him, then told herself that it was no business of hers.

Had he got a honeymoon lined up? Or were they supposed to spend their first night right here? Sue rose quickly to her feet, and caught her breath as the door opened and Jay stood there.

‘Well, well,’ he drawled, putting down his case. 'Why didn’t you let me know what sort of a welcome I was going to have? I telephoned you, but there was no answer at your place, so I called just to make sure that nothing had happened to my prospective bride.’

He strode across the room to take her into his arms, and his kiss was cool and fresh. Sue closed her eyes and rested her hands on his arms. Not for anything would she put her arms around his neck. She would keep cool no matter what happened. What an idiot she had been to walk like the fly into the spider’s lair.

All the same, that kiss shook her to the very core of her being. It told her that she loved Jay more than anything else in the world, hopelessly and recklessly as well as for ever.

Gradually the magic seeped through to her as
h
is lips moved over her mouth. When he lifted his head he smiled down at her crookedly.

‘You’ve no idea how I’ve been longing for this moment to meet you like this—and to give you your ring again.’

The large diamond solitaire was on her
finger before she could speak. She certainly could not speak for the next few minutes, because Jay was kissing her now with a new possessiveness which
ca
me from the giving of the ring ... hungrily.

This time he was indulging in a caressing, provocative exploration that blew away all her defences like matchwood before the wind. At first Sue did nothing but cling as his kisses shattered her defences. Then she abandoned herself to his embrace.

‘Did you think I wasn’t coming?’ he asked, his eyes mocking her expression of bewilderment. ‘The wedding is still on, my sweet Sue.’

‘Oh, is it?’ she replied, totally bewildered.

‘What is it?’ he demanded. ‘Are you overwhelmed at the thought, or have my kisses knocked you sideways?’ He began kissing her face, moving his lips down to her quivering mouth. ‘I hope it’s my kisses, because you’re going to have to stand a lot of loving.’

He released her in order to lift her arms around his neck, then he pulled her back into his arms and continued to kiss her very thoroughly. Poor Sue had absolutely no resistance left. Her hands caressed his dark head and she returned his kisses with a glorious abandon.

Her bewildered brain took a last stand, telling her that all he wanted was her body. He had not been able to possess it without marriage, so he was marrying her. Never let it be said that Jay Denver had been defeated by anything—not even Sue Blake. But she would have the last word as to their real marriage, much as she wanted those heavenly nights which only he could give to her.