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‘You sure are. I like you, Velvet Dale.’
‘Mrs Velvet Dale,’ she said pointedly.
Greg frowned. ‘You’re married?’
‘Widowed.’
‘At your age?’
She shrugged. ‘It happens. Besides, twenty-two isn’t young any more.’
He pulled a face. ‘What does that make me at thirty?’
‘Ancient!’ She laughed, the laugh dying in her throat as she became aware of piercing blue eyes watching her.
The man called Jerard was walking in the direction of the lift, his fierce gaze fixed savagely on her as she talked to Greg. And he looked furious, so much so that Velvet stayed talking to Greg while the other man got into the lift. She daren’t get in there with him, there was no telling what he would do if she did.
It took ages for the lift to come back down again, but luckily it was now empty. She hoped that man’s room wouldn’t be anywhere near hers.
She hadn’t really brought many evening dresses with her, not realising she would be dining with their important client. She wouldn’t wear anything too daring, at his age she might give him a heart attack. Charles Daniels must be at least seventy by now. No wonder Paul had warned against the black gown—it really was too seductively daring.
The brown one was ideal, attractive without being too revealing. Her hair was newly washed and gleaming, her make-up light and unobtrusive. She looked beautiful enough to make an impression but not to raise the poor man’s blood pressure.
‘Perfect,’ Paul told her when they called for her.
He was looking very distinguished himself in a black evening suit and white shirt, Carly as beautiful as usual in a clinging black gown.
‘How was Ocean World?’ Velvet asked them in the lift on the way up to the penthouse suite.
‘Well?’ Carly looked at Paul for the answer.
‘It was—it was good, very good,’ he admitted grudgingly. ‘Okay, okay,’ he sighed at Carly’s triumphant look, ‘so I enjoyed myself.’
‘You’ll have to go. Velvet,’ the other girl said enthusiastically. ‘If Grouchy here liked it then you know it was good.’
Velvet nodded. ‘I’ll see if I can get there some time tomorrow. I wanted to call my brother this afternoon.’
They stepped out of the lift. ‘How’s Tony?’ Paul enquired.
‘Wrecking the place, as usual,’ she laughed, looking around her appreciatively. ‘This is something, hmm?’
Paul nodded, their surroundings luxurious in the extreme. ‘Wait until you meet our host, he’s more than just something.’
Velvet laughed. ‘Seventy-year-old men don’t really appeal to me.’ Paul frowned. ‘Seventy-year-old——? He isn’t seventy, Velvet.’
‘But Charles Daniels——’
‘Died two years ago. His son’s been in charge ever since.’
She blinked. ‘His son?’
‘Yes, Velvet,’ a man appeared from a room to the left of them, a man with startlingly familiar fierce blue eyes. ‘I took over from my father,’ he confirmed his identity as Charles Daniels’ son.
She went pale. This man was the man who had stopped her in reception earlier, the man who claimed to know her—he was Jerard Daniels! Paul was right, he was more than just something, he was overpowering in the white dinner jacket and black trousers, every inch the powerful businessman he undoubtedly was.
He came forward to take her hand, the intensity of his gaze not allowing for the other couple in the room. ‘We meet again, Velvet,’ he said huskily.
She was mesmerised, held immobile by the intimacy of his expression. ‘I—Yes,’ she confirmed stupidly.
‘The two of you have met before?’ Paul sounded puzzled.
‘I——’
‘A couple of years ago,’ Jerard Daniels answered for her. ‘Although Velvet chooses not to remember that,’ he added harshly.
‘I don’t choose to, Mr Daniels,’ she snapped. ‘It happens to be the truth.’
‘But I remember you—vividly.’
She blushed at the familiarity in his eyes, her smile strained. ‘I’m sorry,’ she shook her head, ‘but I really have no recollection …’
‘Never mind,’ he put her hand in the crook of his arm, smiling at the other couple. ‘Shall we go through and have a drink before dinner?’
For the next fifteen minutes he was everything the polite host should be, although he didn’t let Velvet leave his side, his hand snaking out to grasp her wrist if she should attempt to do so.
He frightened her. There was about him an air of suppressed violence, a dangerous quality to him that disturbed her.
‘Have you lived in Florida long, Mr Daniels?’ Carly asked him as they ate their dinner, Velvet placed opposite him at the long table.
‘Jerard,’ he put in smoothly. ‘And I don’t live here, Carly. I’m only here at all because Velvet is.’
‘Oh.’ Carly sounded unsure of his direct answer.
Colour blazed in Velvet’s cheeks at the puzzled glances Paul and Carly kept shooting her. This man was embarrassing her, was giving her friends the impression that they had a relationship. ‘Is your wife with you, Mr Daniels?’ she asked waspishly.
His expression darkened, his gaze rapier-sharp as he looked at her. ‘My wife is dead, Velvet,’ he rasped.
‘Oh!’ She moved uncomfortably. ‘I—I’m sorry.’
‘She isn’t,’ he said abruptly. ‘To die from heart disease isn’t very pleasant.’
‘Oh.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘And your husband is dead too.’
She blinked at him, bewildered by his knowledge of her when she knew absolutely nothing about him. ‘He died in a flying accident,’ she supplied.
‘I know that too—you were a passenger. You were carrying his child at the time.’
She swallowed hard. ‘I—Yes.’
In that moment Jerard Daniels looked satanic, as if he would like to hit out and hurt someone. He seemed to control this urge with effort. ‘You have a son,’ he said in a curious flat voice.
‘Tony, yes.’
‘Named after his father.’
‘I—yes. You see, Anthony never saw him. He was born on the day Anthony died.’ She didn’t know why she was explaining herself to this man, her life with Anthony had nothing whatsoever to do with him.
‘I have a daughter,’ Jerard Daniels told her.
‘You do?’ she asked interestedly, her assumption that this man wasn’t father material instantly contradicted.
He was watching her closely. ‘She’s eight years old.’
‘Is she here with you?’ Carly wanted to know, obviously feeling that she and Paul had been excluded from the conversation long enough.
Jerard Daniels smiled at her, a completely charming smile. ‘Not at the moment, no. She’ll be joining me soon.’
‘That will be nice for you,’ Carly responded to that smile, instantly captivated.
‘Very nice,’ he nodded. ‘How’s the photography going, Paul?’ He suddenly seemed to be remembering his manners.
Velvet relaxed for the first time since she had entered the apartment and discovered Jerard Daniels was their host, his attention at last removed from her. How did he know all those things about her life? And why did he maintain that they had met before when she knew they hadn’t?
She listened to his conversation, sensing that he knew almost as much about photography as Paul did. He was a man who would have a knowledge of many things—and she seemed to be one of them!
Carly was giving her a frowning look, as if to say ‘What’s with you two?’ She wished she knew that herself? She shrugged at the other girl, knowing that Carly was curious about the past relationship Jerard kept insisting they had had. Well, she was curious about it herself!
She wanted to excuse herself after dinner was over, but the two men were still discussing photography, making it highly unlikely that Paul would want to leave just yet. And she could hardly leave without him and Carly, not without making a scene.
So she sat in one of the armchairs, a polite smile of interest fixed falsely on her face as she tried desperately to remember if she and Jerard Daniels had ever met before. He was so adamant that they had, and he didn’t seem the type to lie about something like that. Besides, he was very attractive, having charmed Carly until she was starry-eyed, so he didn’t need to go to such extremes to get a woman.
She watched him as he talked to Paul. He really was very attractive, in a harsh sort of way. Still, it sounded as if life had dealt him a series of hard blows lately, first of all his wife dying of heart disease and then his father dying too. But she really couldn’t say she knew him.
Maybe she reminded him of his wife or something? She could come up with any number of excuses for his mistake in thinking he knew her, but she had no way of knowing if any of them were right.
When Paul finally suggested they leave she stood hurriedly to her feet, eager to be gone.
Once again Jerard Daniels took hold of her arm, holding her easily at his side. ‘You two go ahead,’ he said politely to Paul and Carly. ‘I just want to have a private word with Velvet.’
She swallowed hard. ‘It’s late, Mr Daniels,’ she told him sharply. ‘Perhaps we can talk in the morning?’
‘Tonight,’ he insisted in a hard voice that brooked no argument. ‘Now.’
‘I——’
‘We’ll see you in the morning, Velvet,’ said Paul before he and Carly stepped into the lift.
‘How dare you!’ Velvet turned angrily on Jerard Daniels once they were alone, forgetting for the moment that he was employing her, remembering only that he had embarrassed her. ‘You know what they’re thinking!’
He raised one dark eyebrow. ‘And what would that be?’
‘That I’m spending the night up here with you!’ she snapped, two bright spots of angry colour in her cheeks.
He looked unconcerned. ‘So?’
‘So I want to leave now. Look, I’m sorry if I don’t remember meeting you before, but I meet such a lot of people in my profession. If we were friends——’
‘We were a little more than that, Velvet,’ he revealed tightly, his features set in harsh lines.
She looked at him dazedly, licking her lips nervously. ‘You mean …?’
He gave an arrogant inclination of his head. ‘I mean we were lovers, Velvet.’
CHAPTER TWO
SHE pulled out of his grasp. ‘I don’t believe you!’ she gasped.
His eyes were narrowed to icy slits. ‘It’s the truth, I can assure you. I loved you, I thought you loved me too. It seems I was just the first man in your life,’ he rasped.
Her eyes were wide with shock. ‘The first …’
‘I was your first lover, Velvet. You were a virgin when we made love.’ His mouth twisted bitterly.
‘I—I—Oh God!’ She turned away, shaking with reaction. ‘This can’t be happening to me,’ she groaned.
Jerard walked past her into the lounge, poured out two brandies and handed her one. ‘Drink it,’ he ordered, swallowing his own in one gulp, unmoved by the fiery liquid.
Velvet took a tenative sip, grimacing at the unaccustomed alcohol. She never drank alcohol, had always had an aversion to it.
‘I think you’d better go,’ Jerard Daniels said harshly. ‘We obviously have nothing to talk about.’
‘I—No. I—Yes, I—I’ll go,’ and she turned blindly in the direction of the lift.
‘But first——’ he swung her round to face him, ‘first I get to kiss the woman who’s haunted my days and invaded my nights for longer than I care to remember!’ His mouth ground down on hers, demanding that she respond.
No man had kissed her since Anthony, no one had been allowed close enough to take this liberty. But Jerard Daniels wasn’t going to ask her permission; he took what he wanted, uncaring whether or not she enjoyed it.
But she was enjoying it, had melted at the first pressure of his lips on hers, gave herself up to the pleasure he was evoking—was even managing to kiss him back.
Suddenly his mouth gentled on hers, tasting her lips like a thirsty man in the desert craves water. His hands moved caressingly across her bare back, probing the line of her shoulder-blade and shooting spasms of pleasure through her body.
Velvet groaned with the familiarity of his movements, distant memories flashing into her brain, memories that faded before she could recall the reality of them.
This man had kissed her before, had touched her, she knew it as surely as she breathed. She just didn’t remember it!
He swung her up into his arms, still kissing her as he carried her into one of the bedrooms, kicking the door shut behind them.
The slam of the door was enough to bring her to her senses, and she started to struggle as he gently laid her down on the bed, clearly intending to join her. ‘No!’ She broke away from him.
‘No?’ he groaned in raw agony, his eyes glazed with passion.
‘No,’ she choked, scrambling off the bed. ‘I—I don’t know what happened just now——’
‘You wanted me,’ he rasped. ‘That’s what happened.’
Velvet blushed at the accuracy of his words. She had wanted him, and that had never happened to her before with a complete stranger. But was he a stranger? He didn’t seem to think so—and neither did her body.
‘And I wanted you,’ he added sneeringly. ‘How does it make you feel to know that after all this time I still want you? Does it give you a cheap thrill to know that I was completely taken in by you and the love you professed to have for me?’
Velvet swallowed hard, frightened of his anger. ‘I——’ she licked her lips. ‘I——’
‘You’re speechless, hmm?’ he derided bitterly. ‘I thought we had something special, Velvet, the sort of love that would last even though we were apart.’
She frowned. ‘I’m sorry …’
Jerard Daniels’ eyes flashed deeply blue. ‘Get out of here!’ he snapped. ‘I’ve been in love with a dream all this time. But I can see the reality now, can see that I meant nothing to you. How could I?’ he scorned. ‘You didn’t waste any time getting married, did you, and to your nice respectable lawyer.’
‘Anthony …?’
‘Yes, Anthony Dale!’ he rasped. ‘How long did you wait, Velvet? One week, two? It couldn’t have been much more than that!’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t——’
‘You don’t remember!’ he cut in furiously. ‘No, I realise you don’t. I was just one of the men stupid enough to fall in love with you. I thought I meant something to you, that we had something special, but we obviously didn’t.’
‘Please,’ she begged. ‘You don’t understand——’
‘But I do—finally,’ he said heavily. ‘Goodbye, Velvet.’
‘Please, let me——’
‘Go!’ He scowled at her, walking out to the lounge and picking up the whisky bottle and a glass before returning to the bedroom. He threw himself down on the bed, pouring some of the whisky into a glass. ‘Close the door on your way out.’ He threw the whisky to the back of his throat before refilling the glass to the rim.
Velvet stumbled from the room, almost running to the lift. That Jerard Daniels intended getting drunk she had no doubt. She only wished she could drown her own pain in the same way.
But alcohol wasn’t the answer for her, she needed a clear head to work out this puzzle. But it wasn’t such a puzzle, it was more of a blank, a blank that she would possibly never fill.
She had wanted to explain to Jerard Daniels, to tell him why she didn’t remember him, but she had a feeling that the truth would be even harder for him to understand and believe.
She reached her room without seeing anyone, knowing that if she had they might wonder what had so upset her that she was as white as a sheet.
The doctors at the hospital had told her that it had been the shock, the shock of losing Anthony and the birth of little Tony. She had woken up in a hospital bed with the last eleven months missing out of her life, knowing only that she had lost the husband that she loved, and that she had given birth to his child.
She and Anthony had been going out together for eighteen months, had been engaged for six months of that time, and she knew that she loved him. But all their married life together was a blank to her, the trauma of his death had erased their marriage from her memory.
And now Jerard Daniels claimed to have met her during that blank eleven months, claimed they had been lovers, that he had been her first lover. She knew that she and Anthony hadn’t made love before the blank in her life, and had loved Anthony all the more for respecting her wish that they marry first.
Anthony had been older than her, was a friend of her brother’s to start with. She had been nineteen when they first met, had liked his blond good looks and serious manner. He had belonged to the same law firm as Simon, but was new to town, so Simon had taken him under his wing and brought him home to dinner. Velvet had been living with Simon at the time, their parents having recently emigrated to Australia to be close to their other son Nigel, and his wife Jennifer. Velvet was supposed to have joined them, but once she had met Anthony she had refused to go, continuing to live with Simon and Janice until she married Anthony.
So where did Jerard Daniels fit into the nice tidy pattern of her life, where did he fit into that blank eleven months? Only he could tell her the answer to that question, and after the way they had parted this evening she doubted he would be in any mood to tell her anything.
This had never happened before. No one else had come forward and claimed to have met her during that time. In fact she had come to accept the blank, to accept her life as it now was, certain that her marriage to Anthony had been as successful as the rest of their relationship. Simon had assured her it was—Simon! Perhaps he would know something about Jerard Daniels? Perhaps she would call him tomorrow and find out.
She wasn’t able to sleep, disturbed and upset by this strange turn of events. How could she have taken a lover when she was engaged to Anthony? How could she have taken a lover at all! She didn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it. Especially a man like Jerard Daniels! Anthony had been ten years her senior, but Jerard Daniels must be even older than that, and she just couldn’t believe she was ever involved with such a man. If only he weren’t so adamant!
She had been up and dressed for hours when Carly knocked on her door, and had been expecting the barrage of questions that came her way from the other girl.
‘What time did you leave Jerard’s apartment last night?’ Carly asked eagerly.
‘Just after you,’ Velvet answered rigidly.
‘Really?’ Carly looked disappointed.
‘Yes, really,’ she sighed.
‘What did he want to talk to you about, then?’
‘Just work,’ she shrugged.
Carly gave her a scornful glance. ‘I’ll bet!’
‘Carly——’
‘Look, Velvet,’ Carly grinned, ‘it was obvious the man fancies you like hell.’
‘He——’
‘He wants to sleep with you,’ Carly insisted.
‘Maybe,’ Velvet admitted grudgingly, knowing that last night that had been true.
‘No maybe about it,’ Carly scoffed. ‘Paul and I could feel the air sizzle every time he looked at you. It was a relief to get away from the heat!’ she grinned.
Velvet blushed. ‘I—He——’
‘He asked for you especially, you know.’
She gave the other girl a startled glance. ‘What do you mean?’
Carly sat down on the bed, and Velvet faced her across the room from the chair in front of the dressing-table. She shrugged. ‘Paul thought he’d asked for you because he’d seen some of your other work and liked the look of you. But after last night, after finding that you two had met before, we realised that had been the reason he requested you on this job.’
Velvet frowned. ‘You’re saying that Jerard Daniels asked Paul to bring me here?’
‘Exactly,’ Carly nodded.
Velvet didn’t like that, just as she didn’t like the fact that Jerard Daniels seemed to know so much about her life. It was like an invasion of privacy, leaving her naked and defenceless.
She stood up briskly. ‘Are we working today?’
Carly looked disappointed. ‘Does that mean the subject of Jerard Daniels is closed?’
‘Very much so,’ Velvet nodded.
‘Will it always be?’
‘I’m not sure, but I think so.’
‘Shame,’ Carly sighed. ‘You meet some creeps in this line of work, but he’s such an interesting individual. Interesting!’ she dismissed in disgust. ‘He’s gorgeous. Tall, dark, and mysterious.’
Velvet smiled. ‘And Paul?’
‘Oh, heavens—Paul! We’re supposed to be meeting him in reception. He wants us all to have an early breakfast and then get to work before it gets too hot.’
‘Good idea. The heat finished me off yesterday.’
‘Me too,’ Carly grimaced. ‘And if we don’t go down now Paul will probably complete the job.’
Velvet laughed. ‘Then let’s go.’
Paul was scowling when they stepped out of the lift. ‘I thought I told you not to stop and ask questions,’ he told Carly impatiently, marching them both into the dining-room.
Carly poked her tongue out at him across the table. ‘Only because you wanted to know the answers yourself. And they say women are nosey!’
He gave the waitress three orders of coffee and toast, scowling heavily at his girl-friend. ‘Velvet’s relationship with Mr Daniels is none of our business,’ he hissed.
‘Who says so?’ she scorned.
‘He does,’ Paul sighed.
Velvet frowned. ‘When did he tell you that?’
‘Just now, on his way to the airport.’
He had gone; Jerard Daniels had left! Velvet felt the tension draining out of her. ‘He had no need to do that,’ she said lightly, feeling suddenly free now that she knew he wasn’t going to suddenly appear. ‘We really didn’t have a relationship.’ Not one she remembered anyway. ‘And I didn’t want toast for my breakfast, Paul,’ she effectively changed the subject, ‘just coffee.’
‘You’ll eat the toast,’ he growled. ‘You hardly ate any dinner last night.’
She smiled. ‘I won’t kid myself that you’re concerned for my health.’
His mouth twitched and then he too smiled. ‘Sorry, Velvet. I think the heat is getting to me too.’
‘I should treasure that apology, Velvet,’ Carly put in cheekily. ‘It’s almost unheard-of.’
Both girls burst out laughing at Paul’s outraged expression, and soon he joined in.
The subject of Jerard Daniels seemed to be forgotten by the other couple, so Velvet decided to do the same. She wouldn’t bother to call Simon about the other man, not now that he had left the hotel. If it was still bothering her when she got home she could ask her brother about it then.
Greg Boyd had just come into the dining-room, dressed much more formally than yesterday as he came over to their table, his grey lightweight suit and white shirt very smart, as was the rest of his neatly groomed appearance.
‘Hi,’ he greeted them with a smile.
‘Good morning,’ Velvet returned with a smile, and made the introductions.
He sat down at the fourth chair at their table. ‘I’m going to be free this afternoon,’ he told Velvet. ‘I wondered if you would be too.’
‘You’ll have to ask Paul that.’
He looked at the other man. ‘Well?’
‘Why not?’ Paul shrugged. ‘It’s too hot to work in the afternoons anyway.’
‘So gracious!’ Carly grimaced.
Paul quirked an eyebrow at her. ‘I thought you wanted me to drive you to the Everglades?’
‘I do,’ she nodded eagerly.
‘Then shut up.’
Velvet laughed. ‘Don’t mind them, Greg,’ she advised at his worried frown. ‘They love each other really.’
‘Huh!’ Paul scoffed.
‘I have vays of making you suffer,’ Carly said in her most ham German accent.
‘Sexual threats, no less,’ Paul taunted.
‘Are you sure they love each other?’ Greg teased.
‘Very sure,’ Velvet laughed. ‘They just have a strange way of showing it.’
‘You’re not kidding,’ he drawled.
Paul put his arm about Carly’s shoulders. ‘I might even make an honest woman out of her one day.’
‘You should be so lucky,’ she answered in a disgruntled voice.
He nuzzled his lips against her earlobe. ‘I will be.’
‘Huh!’ but Carly was obviously weakening towards him, and snuggled into his arms for further kisses.