A Physical Affair

CHAPTER ELEVEN

HE had obviously just showered, for his dark hair was still damp, the ends curling where they settled on the back of his neck, and he was wiping the remnants of a tangy shaving cream from his face with a thick white towel.

His gaze met hers and he stopped, whatever he read in her face causing a sudden shift in his expression. And Keira sensed his primary emotion was now a watchful wariness. Throwing the towel on to a nearby chair, he began slowly to button his shirt.

Keira’s dry lips parted slightly and her heart twisted in her breast. If she hadn’t been sure of her feelings for him before then she most certainly was now. A surge of diverse sensations rose in her, a heady mixture of erotic desire, pure adoring longing and a burning need to beg for forever.

Her own eyes furtively drank in his tall attractiveness, the simple movements of his strong hands tucking his fresh shirt into the waistband of his trousers. As he rebuckled his belt, part of her noted disconcertedly the faint lines of fatigue on his clean-shaven face.

Keira swallowed convulsively. She knew she was in danger of allowing his indisputable magnetism to mollify her, to depreciate her disappointment at his cavalier behaviour since that morning less than a week ago. She had to remind herself he hadn’t even bothered to telephone her, and with no little effort she forced her personal feelings aside. This was business and she had to concentrate on the reason why she had sought an interview with him.

Keira held up the paper in her hand. ‘Denver Clarkson has pulled an article that was due to appear in the second issue of Natural Living,’ she stated levelly before he could speak.

‘I know. Denver called me a few minutes ago to inform me of his concern,’ he told her as he moved forward to lean with his hips against his desk, and Keira bristled.

Then Denver had lost no time, she reflected. He had ensured he’d put his side of the story to his boss before Keira arrived. She lifted her chin. ‘I don’t feel it’s Denver Clarkson’s place to interfere in the contents of the magazine.’

Eden shrugged. ‘Perhaps we could compromise here. Denver tells me the article could run with a couple of minor changes.’

‘Minor changes?’ Keira reiterated indignantly. ‘Denver’s changes would mean we’d end up with a wishywashy generalisation with no bite to it. The whole thing is ridiculous.’

‘Why are you going to bat for this particular column?’ Eden asked her reasonably, and Keira paced across the floor, needing another outlet for her anger.

‘You must see that it’s not the article per se. I feel my position as editor has been undermined, I was promised complete editorial independence but it seems when it comes down to the wire that doesn’t mean all that much.’

‘I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but would it hurt to tone down the piece?’ he suggested. ‘Then we’ll sort out the rest of it-’

‘Don’t humour me, Eden. If you’ve set Denver up as my watchdog then at least have the decency to tell me he’s just that.’

‘Of course he’s nothing of the kind. I don’t work that way.’

‘Then Denver has exceeded his authority. We wouldn’t try to tell him how to run his section.’

‘Point taken,’ he conceded. ‘However Denver has had years of experience so you in turn must see he’d have some idea of what line our publications take.’

Keira regarded him steadily, her arms folded across her chest, the article clutched to her. ‘Meaning I wouldn’t. And that my years of experience count for nothing.’

‘You’re putting words into my mouth.’

‘I really don’t see that would be worth the trouble,’ she said, raising her chin disdainfully. ‘Whatever you say doesn’t seem to mean all that much. I thought you had faith in my ability when you gave me this job, but it appears I was wrong. Or maybe you handle all the smooth talk and leave the dirty work to your lackeys.’

‘I certainly don’t allow my lackeys to tell me how to run my business,’ he retorted curtly. ‘Make no mistake about it, Keira, I own this magazine.’

‘But you don’t own me,’ she threw angrily back at him, but before he could comment his phone rang.

With a frown of intense exasperation Eden twisted around and snatched up the receiver. ‘I said no calls, Julie,’ he snapped, and then his expression changed. ‘Of course. Put her through.’ He listened for a moment and then his face broke into a delighted smile. ‘Megan, that’s fantastic.’

Keira stiffened, her arms falling to her sides.

‘Couldn’t be better news.’ His charismatic smile widened and a knot of pain formed inside Keira and began to expand.

‘Right. I’ll be back in the States on Monday. Bye till then.’ He replaced the receiver and turned back to Keira, his smile still lingering on his face.

Her pain erupted and added fuel to her already smouldering anger.

‘It seems to me that this all comes down to money,’ she took up where they’d left off, and his smile faded. ‘This article might possibly offend one of our well-known, high-profile national companies and therefore we can’t upset such influence, they hold the assets and that gives them power. Well, money doesn’t make them any less guilty in my book.’

‘What’s this really about, Keira?’ he asked wearily, and she quelled a sliver of remorse that he was most probably suffering from jet-lag.

‘It’s about allowing wealth to censor our subject matter.’

Eden pushed himself to his feet. ‘Cassidy-Ford would never tolerate that kind of blackmail and I’m sure you know that. As I said, I haven’t read the column in question but I can’t see Denver bowing to such extortion no matter how covert. He knows our policies too. There has to be some other basis for his objections against running the story.’

For some reason his championing of Denver Clarkson twisted a knife inside her. Part of her told her she was being unreasonable but another part of her only saw it as a further distancing of himself from her.

‘Denver gave me to believe this article would upset some close friends of yours. Some rich and influential friends,’ she finished emphatically.

‘You must have misunderstood.’ Eden frowned. ‘I find it hard to believe Denver would depart so radically from what he knows to be rigid company policy.’

‘Well, he did. And apart from that, how can you make a ruling on something when you admit you haven’t taken the time to read it?’ she asked, waving the paper in the air, knowing she was behaving even more irrationally but unable to restrain her reckless tongue. ‘And the article has been checked through the legal department, in case you may want to enquire about whether or not I’ve followed the proper procedures.’

‘Keira-’ he interrupted irritably, but she rushed on, anger dissipating her discretion.

‘You’ve apparently made up your mind on a word-of-mouth account and it seems to me that makes you more dangerous than I thought. A media magnate who misconstrues situations, who takes a glance at something and reports it incorrectly.’

In two strides he was mere millimetres from her and she had to lift her chin to hold his now angry gaze.

‘What situations are we talking about?’ he asked portentously, and Keira swallowed, her resolve faltering under his challenging scrutiny.

‘You know what I’m talking about.’ She was playing for time and they both knew it. How she wished she could rewind this scene like a video movie and edit her dialogue. But it was too late.

‘Oh, no, Keira. You can’t expect it to be that easy.’ His cool smile went nowhere near his eyes. ‘You’ve opened this can of worms. Don’t expect me to let you replace the lid without explaining your blatantly provocative accusation.’

Keira knew she’d painted herself into the proverbial corner so she valiantly gathered her composure and prepared to brazen her way out of it. She knew he had no intention of allowing her to back off. And a secret part of her didn’t want him to.

‘I simply meant you seem to make a habit of misinterpreting certain incidents and I feel you’re running true to form with this one.’

‘Which particular incidents are we discussing and just how have I misinterpreted them?’

‘Well, the first time you met me you had me in bed with your nephew. You made that assumption without a shred of evidence,’ Keira threw at him and the cool smile returned.

‘Only the fact that as I drove up to the house I saw you locked in Daniel’s arms on the bedroom balcony. Anyone might have been excused for thinking you and Daniel were more than nodding acquaintances,’ he said mockingly.

‘Daniel had given me a teasing brotherly peck. We were scarcely locked in each other’s arms.’

Eden sighed. ‘Perhaps we should agree that at the time we saw that particular incident from different perspectives.’

‘Let’s wave it aside by all means,’ Keira said indignantly. ‘However, I simply don’t care to be branded as some scarlet matron who devours toy-boys.’

‘Now that scenario you’ve definitely miscast. By no stretch of the imagination would I describe you as a matron, scarlet or otherwise.’ His lips twitched and, with a glimmer of suspicion, Keira thought she saw an amused sparkle in his eyes before his lids fell to shield his expression.

The tone of his voice had changed too, had become evocatively low, and for tantalising seconds Keira felt her conviction teetering on very shaky ground. If she let herself take that so small step forward…

Her heart trembled, parading a dizzyingly vivid picture of the two of them together in her bedroom, while her head reminded her that he was convinced he could use his infamous charm to distract, to appease her.

She tensed, each nerve-ending so aware of the charged atmosphere that surrounded them. Just that one small step, she tortured herself, and she’d be in his arms again. And wasn’t that where she wanted to be?

She saw his lips move and her brain began slowly to decipher the words, unravel the message.

‘I missed you.’

Had he voiced those inciting words? Yes! Yes! He’d said he missed her. As she’d missed him.

Oh, yes? a part of her gibed brutally. He missed you so much he left without a word. And if his telephone conversation was any indication, he was leaving again. To rejoin Megan Donnelly.

Keira’s entire body went numb. She wasn’t going to allow him to pick her up and put her down at his whim. She might have to deal with him on a business level, but on a personal level, well, she’d close and lock that door with a final decisiveness.

Her lips tightened and she stepped around him, placing Gail’s article on his desk. ‘I think you should read that and then perhaps you’ll see your way clear to overriding Denver’s decision. And perhaps in future Denver might be encouraged to discuss any problems he has with our decisions with the editorial panel.’

Eden’s dark eyes roved over her to settle on the bitter twist of her lips, and she made herself start walking towards the door.

‘Is this another maidenly retreat?’ he asked evenly and Keira turned, her hand on the door-knob.

She raised her eyebrows coolly. ‘This was a business appointment, Mr Cassidy. I’d prefer to keep it as such.’

‘Ah! And you never mix business with pleasure, do you?’ he commented mockingly.

Pleasure. The sensuous way the word flowed over her almost took her breath away but she managed to hold on to her composure, be it extremely precariously.

‘I don’t care what you choose to call it. However, perhaps I should clarify an awkward situation. I consider I made a huge mistake last weekend. And I’m not inclined to repeat that particular mistake.’ Her voice fluctuated and almost died as her throat dried. ‘I think it would be prudent if we put it down to a brief lapse on both our parts.’

‘Again?’ he put in scornfully. ‘I think you’ve said all this before.’

‘I’ve already forgotten that what happened between us last weekend ever happened.’ She ignored his sarcasm and finished in a determined rush.

The air between them thickened again as the silence stretched for long seconds. ‘You have?’ he asked at last, and Keira knew a surge of panic as her neatly coiled composure frayed and began to unravel.

‘Of course,’ she replied with only volume to add credence to her assertion.

Of course you have, Mrs Strong,’ he echoed with caustic formality. ‘And I’d forgotten you make a habit of forgetting-’ he paused ‘-brief lapses.’ He held her gaze for heavy seconds before turning on his heel. ‘I have a lot of work to get through so I’ll say goodnight,’ he said as he walked back through the same door off to the left.

Keira stood staring at the empty space where he’d been and told herself she should be duly satisfied. She’d called the shots and he’d taken her at her word. It was all over. Just as she’d wanted.

In a daze Keira walked out of the office, along the hallway and past the secretively curious receptionist. The lift seemed to take a year to reach the floor this time but she finally stepped into its sanctuary. And she had to grab at the handrail for support as her knees threatened to give way beneath her.

Keira’s whole body felt almost unbearably heavy as she crossed to her office, thankful that everyone seemed to have left. Sinking down on to her chair, she covered her eyes with her hands. But she was too numb for the relief of tears.

What seemed like minutes later her telephone jangled and she jumped, instinctively reaching for the receiver.

‘Keira?’ The curt voice had her fingers tightening until her knuckles showed white.

‘Yes,’ she got out.

‘The article stands as is,’ he continued without any conversational preliminaries. ‘I’ll talk to Denver.’

‘Thank you,’ Keira began before she realised that he had broken the connection. Slowly she replaced the receiver. So, that appeared to be that. She’d won that point. However, the victory had a disturbing hollowness to it.

It was probably all for the best, she tried to tell herself. Without a shred of conviction.

A sharp knock on the panelling outside her open door made her start as Roxie swept in.

‘Did I give you a fright? Sorry. Didn’t expect you’d still be on the job.’ Roxie sat on the corner of Keira’s desk. ‘Am I exhausted? You know, I’d forgotten how tiring these assignments are. A week away from the office seemed wonderful before I went. Now I’m pleased to get back to my desk. And talking about desks, why are you still at yours? Burning the midnight oil isn’t a job prerequisite, you know.’

Keira glanced at her watch, surprised to see it was almost six o’clock. No wonder everyone had gone home. ‘I was just about to head home,’ she fibbed as she stood up.

‘And I’ve been dying to know, how did you like your flowers?’ Roxie motioned for Keira to precede her through the open door.

‘What flowers?’ she asked absently, and glanced around at the other girl’s exclamation of disbelief. ‘I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about, Rox.’

‘I’m talking about the biggest bunch of red roses I’ve ever seen in my life that was sitting out in Reception.’

‘I didn’t see any flowers. They must have been delivered to the wrong floor or something.’

Roxie shook her head. ‘Card had your name on it.’

Keira frowned. ‘When was this, Roxie? You must have been mistaken.’

‘Me, mistaken? I’m deeply wounded. I saw them out at Reception bright and early on Monday morning, before I left on the assignment. The flowers were definitely for you, Keira. I can assure you I’ve got twenty-twenty vision. The card said “Keira Strong”.’ She raised her eyebrows expressively. ‘In very distinctive script, too, I might add.’

‘Distinctive…?’ Keira’s heartbeats did a skip and then settled. ‘I didn’t receive any flowers,’ she said firmly.

Now Roxie was frowning. ‘There’s something amiss here.’ She checked the time and hurried across to the nearest phone. ‘Meg was on the desk when I came past. We might catch her before she leaves.’ Roxie punched in the extension, questioned the receptionist and hung up the receiver and beamed. ‘She said Denver took charge of them. He said they gave him hay fever so he was putting them in the staff-room. Didn’t you see them there?’

Keira shrugged. ‘I’ve been having my lunch at my desk all week.’ Because she’d felt so down about Eden’s continued silence. But what if…?

‘Come on.’ Roxie grabbed her arm and led her down the passage.

On the corner counter in the lunch-room sat a huge vase of flowers, their blossoms already fading.

‘I rest my case.’ Roxie probed carefully into the greenery and held up a small white envelope. She handed it to Keira with a flourish. ‘I won’t say I told you so. But I will say Denver could have mentioned he’d put them in here. You know I wouldn’t put it past him to do this on purpose, just to be miserable, and he’s always been as thick as thieves with Dingbat Di.’

Keira only half listened to Roxie. Her fingers fumbled as she slid the card from its envelope and read the short message.

A close friend and business associate in the States has been taken seriously ill and I have to fly over there. I’m not sure when I’ll be back or if I’ll be able to get in touch. But I’ll be thinking of you. And Sunday. Eden.

‘Well, what’s it say?’ Roxie probed dauntlessly.

‘What?’ she replied, more than a little disconcerted, and Roxie clucked her tongue in exasperation.

‘The note. Eden Cassidy.’

For a moment Keira considered refuting Roxie’s conclusion but she just shook her head in dejection. A soft groan escaped her and Roxie concernedly touched her arm.

‘Keira? What’s the matter.’

‘He says a friend in the States is ill,’ she said inconsequentially and the other girl nodded.

‘That would be Kyle Ferguson,’ Roxie told her. ‘I heard Kyle and Megan had only just announced their engagement and Kyle came down with something the doctors were having trouble diagnosing. Rotten luck, wasn’t it?’

Keira stared at her friend, valiantly trying to absorb the significance of Roxie’s confidences. ‘Megan Donnelly and…?’

‘Yes. Kyle’s one of Eden’s top men over in the States. The three of them, Eden, Kyle and Megan, have been friends for years, so I heard, and Kyle’s been trying to tie Megan down for about as long.’

‘Where do you hear these things, Roxie?’

‘This particular thing I got from Meg who’s a friend of Julie, Eden’s receptionist.’

Keira raised her eyebrows.

‘Can I help it if people tell me things? Well, most people. You’re my only failure. I have to drag information from you. It’s like pulling teeth.’ She looked meaningfully at the note Keira still clutched in her hand.

Keira reread the message, her stomach contracting in despair. What had she done? If Eden thought she’d received his note then her behaviour in his office would make him think…

‘I think I’ve made a terrible mistake, Rox,’ Keira said softly.

‘If it’s as important as your expression tells me it is, then go and tell him so,’ Roxie suggested with her usual bluntness, and Keira glanced at her quickly.

‘I’m not sure it’s retrievable,’ she said almost to herself.

‘But it’s worth a try, don’t you think?’ Roxie smiled encouragingly and inclined her head in the direction of the penthouse office. ‘Come on, I’ll walk you to the lifts for moral support.’

They retraced their steps and Roxie pushed the up button, giving Keira a gentle shove forward when the doors opened. ‘Good luck. And, Keira?’ She turned back to face the other girl. ‘I’ll expect to be godmother to the first.’

The lift doors slid closed, concealing Keira’s flushed face.

In no time she was standing in the same reception area but this time the desk was unattended. Her heartbeats hammered in her chest.

Perhaps Eden had already left? She clutched the note in her damp palm and almost walked back into the elevator. But she lifted the card and read the distinctive script again. Roxie was right. She had at least to try to make amends. And Eden did deserve an apology.

Slowly she crossed to the desk and stood indecisively. Should she simply go up to his office and knock? Her legs refused to move and she drew a steadying breath. Before she could change her mind she reached over the desk and turned the phone to face her, punching in Eden’s extension.

‘Eden Cassidy.’

The sound of his voice almost caused the receiver to slip through Keira’s fingers, and when she opened her mouth no words came. She fought the urge just to put the phone down.

‘Yes?’ Eden barked into the earpiece, and Keira swallowed quickly.

‘Eden,’ she got out. ‘It’s… it’s Keira.’