Flawless. Sara Craven
sound sorry at all. ‘I’ll begin our acquaintance solely through the lens of a camera, and in no other way, I swear.’ He stretched out a hand to her across the table, and reluctantly she allowed his fingers to close round hers. ‘Will you work with me, Carly North? Will you be my Flawless Girl?’
‘I can’t tell you now. I have to think about it.’ She withdrew her hand from his grasp. ‘May I have the weekend?’
‘I won’t argue with that.’ He took a diary out of an inside pocket of his dinner-jacket, tore out a page and scribbled down a telephone number. ‘Call me on this when you’ve decided.’ He paused. ‘You say that your sister’s getting engaged. What about you, Carly? You’re not wearing any rings, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot in these liberated days. Are you attached? Are there any lovers or husbands lurking in your vicinity?’
‘There’s nobody.’
‘You astound me.’
‘It’s through my own choice.’ She despised the defensiveness in her own voice.
‘I’m sure it is.’
‘Am I allowed to ask you the same question? How many ex-wives have you left sighing over you?’
‘None at all—and no present Mrs Kingsland either.’ He was laughing openly. ‘I am entirely without encumbrances.’
Of course he was, she thought. Saul Kingsland was a rolling stone, a man who would never settle or opt for an ordered existence. He would walk into a woman’s life, take what he wanted, and walk on without a backward look. A wreaker of havoc, unknowing and uncaring. And you didn’t even have to be a woman to suffer at his hands.
Abruptly, Carly pushed back her chair. ‘I really should be going.’
‘Already? It’s still relatively early.’
‘I have to leave first thing in the morning. My mother will be needing help with the arrangements.’
‘Ah, yes,’ he said softly. ‘The devoted daughter rushing back to the bosom of the family. Oddly enough, that’s not the impression I had of you. When I saw you standing in the moonlight, I thought I’d never seen anyone look so solitary—so used to being alone. It just shows how wrong one can be.’
‘First impressions are often misleading.’ She made her voice deliberately dismissive. ‘Would you ask someone to find me a cab, please?’
Saul looked at her in surprise. ‘There’s no need for that. I’ll drive you home.’
‘I—I don’t want to take you out of your way.’
‘That’s very thoughtful of you.’ His smile was sardonic. ‘How do you know that you will be?’
‘I—don’t, actually.’
‘Then there’s no more to be said,’ he told her, indicating to the head waiter that he required the bill.
Carly bit her lip, trying to hide her annoyance.
‘Do you never take “no” for an answer?’ she enquired acidly, when they were in the car, and he was following her reluctantly given instructions.
‘It depends on how positive the “no” is,’ he said. ‘In your case it was just a ploy to prevent me knowing where you lived for some reason, and a useless ploy at that.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because there are plenty of ways of finding your address if I were sufficiently desperate,’ he said. ‘There’s the phone book, for starters.’ He slanted a frowning look at her. ‘So, for goodness’ sake calm down, and stop being so damned uptight,’ he went on. ‘There’s nothing to be scared of. You have my word on that. I’m not going to pressure you, or make a nuisance of myself by camping on your doorstep. Perhaps events have moved rather too fast tonight, but from now on we’ll take things just as easily as you wish.’
‘Thank you.’ Her hands gripped tautly together in her lap.
‘I learned some relaxation techniques in the States.’ He didn’t miss a thing. He added, with a smile in his voice, ‘If you asked me nicely, I might be prepared to teach them to you.’
‘I’ll bear it in mind.’ She made herself speak lightly. She’d let him think she’d been instantly attracted to him, for heaven’s sake. Now she was treating him as if he was some plague carrier. ‘Actually, you’re quite right. This evening has been—totally outside my experience. I’m in a state of complete confusion.’
‘I’m still in shock myself,’ Saul said drily. ‘Perhaps the weekend will help us get our heads together.’
The remainder of the journey was completed in silence, to Carly’s relief.
Saul stopped the car, and glanced up at the block of flats. ‘Very nice,’ he commented. ‘Your career really is doing well.’ He paused. ‘Do you live by yourself?’
She shook her head. ‘I share with another girl. She works for a television company.’
‘Is she there at the moment?’
‘No,’ Carly said, before she could stop herself. ‘She’s abroad with a film crew.’
‘Then I’ll go up with you,’ he said.
She looked at him in total dismay, and his mouth tightened.
‘And not for the reasons you seem to think,’ he added bitingly. ‘My motives are actually quite chivalrous. I want to make sure you get home safely.’
‘Don’t you feel you’re being rather over-protective?’
‘No, I don’t. I took a girl home from a party in New York over a year ago. She was independent, too, and insisted on saying goodnight on the pavement. When she got up to her apartment, someone had broken in, and she was attacked and badly injured. If I’d insisted on escorting her to the door, it might not have happened. I’m not taking the risk again.’
‘In case you hadn’t noticed, this is London, not New York.’
‘Just a different part of the jungle, lady.’ He walked up the steps beside her, and opened the swing doors.
She stood beside him in the lift in resentful silence. Walked along the passage to the door, still without speaking.
“May I have your key?’ Saul held out his hand.
‘Oh, this is silly,’ Carly burst out in exasperation as she gave it to him. ‘Just how many times do you think I’ve come back here alone at night? Lucy’s away a lot.’
‘That was in the bad old days.’ He unlocked the door, and pushed it open. ‘Now you don’t have to be alone any more, unless you want to be.’
Carly lifted her chin. ‘Is that a hint that you want to stay for more coffee—or a nightcap—or whatever the current euphemism is? How very obvious.’
‘No,’ he said calmly. ‘It’s more a declaration of intent.’
He was standing very close to her. She could actually feel the warmth of his body. Suddenly Carly found it difficult to breathe. Any moment now, she thought wildly, and he would reach out for her, take her in his arms, and she was terrified. She felt as if she was balanced on a knife-edge, every nerve-ending tingling in alarm and anticipation.
Kiss me, she thought, her heart beating violently against her ribcage. Kiss me and get it over with.
As he moved, her eyelids fluttered down, and her lips parted in a little unconscious sigh. Her whole body tensed, waiting to feel his hands on her, his mouth against hers.
He said quietly, ‘Goodnight, Flawless Girl. Call me after the weekend, and let me know what you’ve decided.’
The door closed softly, and he was gone.
Carly’s eyes flew