Contract with Consequences

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Late Sunday afternoon

‘I STILL can’t believe how much I like fishing,’ Scarlet said as they walked back to the apartment, John carrying a bag of provisions they’d bought at a nearby supermarket. ‘I quite liked it on Friday but I really enjoyed myself this morning.’

They’d not long returned from their heli-fishing expedition, which had involved being delivered by helicopter to a special river spot where the barramundi had practically jumped onto their lines. They’d caught too many, really. They’d given Jim a few and still had five to bring home, stashing four in John’s freezer and keeping out a large one which Scarlet planned to cook for them both tonight, hence the trip to the supermarket.

‘I quite liked the camping part as well,’ she added, though perhaps it was the place she’d loved more than roughing it in the outback. The spot John had chosen to camp next to last night had been extremely beautiful, a fresh-water billabong surrounded on three sides by rugged cliffs, and fed by a waterfall which had sparkled like diamonds in the late-afternoon sun.

He slanted her a smug smile. ‘What you liked, madam, was sharing my sleeping bag.’

Well, yes, she certainly had. It had been something else, sleeping like spoons in the one sleeping bag with their arms around each other and their bodies joined, John making love to her on and off during the night. But it wasn’t the amount of sex which Scarlet began thinking about now, but the quality of John’s love-making. It had been different to what he’d done to her on previous nights. His love-making in the sleeping bag had been slow and gentle, and rather wonderful. It had left her feeling not ravaged, so much as loved. They’d talked at length too, exchanging memories of their childhood, laughing about incidents which had once bothered them both.

Dared she hope that their relationship was deepening? That John might care for her as she was certainly beginning to care for him?

It was impossible to pretend it was just lust she still felt for the man. She liked John’s company, in bed and out. Liked his friends. Liked his surprisingly warm, easy-going way.

‘I have to say I was surprised how well you took to going feral,’ he said with amusement in his voice.

His comment surprised her. ‘What do you mean, feral?’

He grinned. ‘Once I convinced you that no one could possibly see you, you loved skinny dipping in the billabong. And sitting by the campfire naked.’

‘Don’t be crude,’ she said sharply.

‘And don’t you start being a hypocrite,’ he shot back. ‘There was nothing crude about anything we did out there. It was fun.’

Fun? Fun? Was that what being with her still meant to him? Just fun?

It was a dismaying reality, but logical. John didn’t fall in love. Even if he was capable of it, he simply didn’t want to.

Unfortunately, the opposite was true of herself-she did want to. Also unfortunately, she had an awful feeling that she already had. She’d foreseen this disastrous outcome the night they’d gone to the sailing club. What a fool she was to think she could stop it happening!

Dear God, how could she possibly have John as the father of her child now? At the same time, how could she not?

She was damned if she did, and damned if she didn’t.

Her eyes searched his for a hint that maybe she was wrong. Maybe his feelings had deepened for her. But all she saw in his face was irritation and impatience. If he cared for her-even a little-he would understand that what they’d shared last night had been something special, not just fun!

‘You’re not going to start a fight, are you, Scarlet?’ he asked her somewhat warily. Her heart sank. She wasn’t. Of course she wasn’t. But it wasn’t going to be the same after this, was it? She was sure to keep hoping for more from John. Hoping and praying. And it would never happen. Yet if she had his baby he’d be in her life for ever. And she’d be secretly in love with him for ever.

‘I think we should get back to the apartment,’ she said stiffly and, whirling, set out purposefully along the pavement.

John shook his head as he trudged after her. Everything had been going according to his plan. Absolutely everything. She’d clearly become addicted to sex with him. Extremely addicted. And he’d been only too happy to oblige. Frankly, he’d never before felt the buzz he felt when he was with her. She could fire him up with just a look. He couldn’t get enough of her. She was so damned hot, and so damned obliging.

Up till now, that was…

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked her during their ride up in the lift.

Scarlet was still struggling with the enormity of her realisation, so she didn’t have a ready or a reasonable answer for him.

‘Nothing’s wrong,’ she bit out.

‘Don’t take me for a fool, Scarlet. My using the word fun upset you. I’m not sure why.’

‘Yes, well, I obviously don’t have as casual an attitude to sex as you do. I’m not a one-night-stand kind of girl. What we’ve been doing together… it’s all been a bit much. To be honest, it’s beginning to bother me.’

‘Right. I see.’

The lift doors opened and they made their way along to his door. John extracted his keys from his shorts pocket, all the while thinking that Scarlet had just handed him the perfect excuse to put a halt to the sex till she was entering the phase when she’d be likely to conceive late on Tuesday night. Not that he wanted to stop the sex. Hell, no. He’d been looking forward to making love to her after dinner as he had every other night, a shudder of dark pleasure running through him as he recalled how total her sexual surrender was. She never said no to him any more, no matter what he wanted to do. It was going to be hard, giving that up for two days.

Under the circumstances, however, it would be wise if she spent tonight in the guest bedroom. His only problem was how to suggest it. That might be awkward. As much as Scarlet claimed she didn’t like having sex for sex’s sake, the truth was that she did. A lot.

John was thinking about how he could solve this problem whilst he opened the door. He didn’t say a word as he walked in and headed for the kitchen with the shopping, leaving Scarlet to close the door and trail after him. The ring tone of a phone-not his-suddenly split the silence in the apartment. Scarlet ran off into the guest bedroom where she’d obviously left her mobile. John heard her answer but then she closed the door, shutting him out.

Ten minutes later, she emerged. John knew immediately that this time, something was really wrong.

‘That was Joanna,’ Scarlet said before he asked. ‘She’s one of the hairdressers at the salon. Mum had a fall on Thursday when she came home from shopping. Slipped on some wet tiles and broke her wrist. Her right wrist. The thing is, John, I have to go home.’

‘Hold on a minute,’ John said, his stomach instantly churning. ‘What do you mean, you have to go home? Why do you have to go home? I’m sure your mother can manage. It’s just a wrist, not an arm or a leg. She has good friends and neighbours. They’ll all help. Have you rung her? Did she say she wants you to go home?’

‘Of course I haven’t rung Mum, because she’d say to stay here. But I can’t do that, not now that I know what’s happened. She needs me, no matter what you think. And the salon needs me. They can’t operate without two of their full-time hairdressers. We’ll lose clients. Joanna said it was chaos there on Friday and Saturday. Fortunately, tomorrow is a slow day. By Tuesday, however, I’ll have to be there.’

‘Can’t they find a temp?’

Her laugh was short and dry. ‘When one of the girls went on maternity leave last year, we had the devil of a time finding someone to fill in for her. No way could we get someone on short notice. Look, there’s no point arguing with me over this, John. My mind is made up. I’ve already rung the airline and got a seat on a flight leaving first thing in the morning. I have to be at the airport no later than six-thirty.’

‘What? For pity’s sake, Scarlet!’ John exploded. ‘This is ridiculous. Three more days up here. That’s all you need. Three short days. And you’re going to throw it all away. Think of yourself for once. Your mother will survive. The business will survive. Okay, so you’ll lose a bit of money and maybe a couple of clients. But you’ll have what you’ve always wanted-a baby.’

One part of Scarlet-the selfish part-agreed with him. But she could not bear the thought of her mother struggling along at home without her. Neither could she let the girls in the salon down, not now that they’d asked for her help. On top of that, there was that other critical little matter of her having fallen in love with John.

This was her way out, Scarlet realised. Her escape clause. She would never have been able to walk away from him by herself, but she could do it for other people. Strange, how calm she felt about her decision. Maybe you were always calm when you knew you were doing the right thing.

‘Even if I stayed here three more days, John, there’s no guarantee of a baby.’

His eyes narrowed on her, his expression fierce. ‘Why aren’t you more upset about this?’

‘I am upset about it.’ God, did he honestly think she wanted to fall in love with him?

‘No, you’re bloody well not. You’ve grabbed onto this because you want to leave. You don’t want me to be the father of your child. That’s the bottom line, isn’t it?’

She almost lied again. But what would have been the point?

‘Yes,’ she confessed. ‘That’s the bottom line.’

John could not believe how furious he was.

‘So what did I do to change your mind?’ he snapped.

‘Nothing. The problem lies with me.’

‘Meaning?’

Scarlet decided that a version of the truth would serve her purpose nicely. ‘As unlikely as it seems, I’m in danger of becoming emotionally involved with you. It’s a flaw in some women when they have great sex with a guy. But I don’t want to fall for you, John. I really don’t.’

‘Why not?’ he demanded to know, stung by her dismissive words.

She just stared at him, not believing that he could ask such a stupid question. ‘Why do you think? You don’t do love and marriage. You’re a committed loner who only ever comes home at Christmas and has no concept of what it is to care about anyone but yourself. I don’t believe you really want to be a father. I still can’t fathom why you made your offer in the first place. It never did make sense to me.’

‘Or to me,’ he threw at her, his temper getting the better of him. ‘It was an insanely impulsive gesture and one I regretted as soon as I made it. But then you contacted me, and I thought what the heck? Like I said, I’d always wanted you. And there you were, serving yourself up on a silver platter.’

Scarlet winced. She guessed she deserved that. But it hurt, oh so much. ‘Charming,’ she said, her chin lifting in defiance of her pain. ‘It shouldn’t bother you, then, if we call it quits at this stage. After all, you’ve already had me.’

‘I sure have, sweetheart. I’ve already had everything I wanted from you!’

Tears threatened but she refused to cry in front of him. ‘I always knew you were a bastard. I won’t be cooking any of that fish. I couldn’t eat a bite. I’ll also be sleeping in the guest bedroom tonight.’

‘Really? You don’t want a goodbye session?’

She gave him a long, hard look, fully understanding how easily hate could become the other side of love. ‘Don’t bother driving me to the airport,’ she bit out. ‘I’ll order a taxi.’

He almost called her back when she whirled to walk away. Almost told her… what?

That he was desperately sorry for what he had just said? That he hadn’t meant any of it? That he did care? That he did want to be the father of her baby?

Let her go, his conscience insisted. She’s right. You’re a selfish bastard. You’d make a rotten father. Even worse than your own. Go back overseas somewhere. Africa, maybe. Get as far away from home-and Scarlet-as possible.

Yeah, that’s what I’ll do, John decided grimly. As soon as possible.