Tuesday was even worse. Mary reminded her. ‘You’re taking Mr Brown from Beaver Pine to lunch today.’
Lawson Designer Glass sublet two work units, which provided extra income for the business.
Lisa looked up from scanning the references of the girl they were considering employing and smiled. ‘Yes, I know. Keep your fingers crossed he renews his lease.’
Two hours later when Lisa returned to the office, her face was set in a worried frown. ‘What happened to you?’ Mary asked. ‘You look like you lost a pound and found a penny.’
‘I have. Mr Brown was very polite, but he is not renewing his lease. He’s moving to bigger premises on the new industrial estate. He also let slip that Curly Cane is thinking of expanding elsewhere as well. I’m meeting Mr George, the boss, tomorrow for lunch. I can just see it now. Both leases run out at the end of July. Come August, the height of the tourist season, we’ll be the only firm operating; two boarded-up premises will not make a very good impression on our customers.’
‘No,’ Mary murmured. ‘But it shouldn’t be too hard to find other tenants.’
Lisa hoped she was right. Picking up the references she had been reading before lunch, Lisa scanned them one more time. At the interview, Miss Clement had come across as perfect for the job. The woman’s references were excellent, but Lisa was in a dilemma. Last week she had been all for leaving Mary in charge and looking forward to a long and happy life with her husband. Now she didn’t trust her husband and she had an uneasy feeling she might not be able to hang on to the company.
‘Mary, get in touch with Miss Clement.’ She had to think positively, and, standing up, Lisa crossed to Mary’s desk. ‘Offer her the job.’
Then she called Mr Wilkinson, her lawyer. She was going to ask him to put in an offer for the Lee shares. She would find the money from somewhere. Unfortunately he was on holiday until Thursday. Lisa explained to his secretary what she wanted, and the woman promised to inform Mr Wilkinson as soon as he returned. Lisa could do no more.
Thankfully, the next day, her lunch with Mr George went well. He had looked into moving but had decided against it. He took the new lease she offered.
Lisa returned to the office in a much happier mood than the day before, and it improved even further when Mary said Miss Clement had agreed to start on Monday.
By Thursday, Lisa came back from a visit to her bank manager, with a loan agreed and a genuine smile on her face, to find Mary standing by her desk. ‘Good, you’re back. Wilkinson and Morgan just called. Mr Wilkinson said, would you call him back?’
Lisa grinned. Her problems would soon be over. Five minutes later, she carefully placed the telephone receiver on its rest, her face pale beneath her tan. She didn’t see Mary’s concerned look. Her whole vision was centred internally. Mr Wilkinson had called to tell her the Lee estate had sold their thirty-five per cent holding in Lawson’s to Xela Properties. Apparently Mr Wilkinson had tried to get in touch with her to ask if she wanted to make an offer for the Lee shares, but she had been on her honeymoon and he hadn’t been able to contact her. So had Alex been honeymooning, she thought bitterly but that hadn’t stopped him buying them, the sneaky, conniving, lying bastard!
‘Are you okay?’ Mary’s voice cut through her rage.
‘Yes, yes, I’m fine.’ But she wasn’t. She wanted to scream her fury out loud. Instead, when the telephone rang on her desk, she picked it up and yelled, ‘Yes, who is it?’ It was Alex. His timing could not have been worse. ‘What do you want?’ Apart from my company, she felt like adding.
‘Not a very lover-like greeting. I simply wondered if there had been any developments at your end. Have you managed to find a replacement for your PA yet?’
Developments! What a nerve. He knew damn well what had happened. She wanted to confront him with his duplicity, but instead she simply replied, ‘Yes everything is fine.’ Her mind was made up—she would fight him every inch of the way. She might have fallen into his arms like a ripe plum, but no way was she going to allow Lawson Designer Glass to do the same…
‘Good,’ Alex said. ‘I will be back in London tomorrow afternoon. Bert is meeting me at the airport, and I will see you at the apartment.’
‘Right, goodbye.’ She didn’t trust herself to say more, and she replaced the phone with rather more force than was necessary. She glanced at Mary. ‘I’m leaving now and I won’t be in tomorrow.’ She said, and walked out of the office, out of the building, and slid behind the wheel of her red BMW—her one indulgence—drove out of the car park and straight home.
On Friday afternoon, Lisa sat on the train to London, outwardly a beautiful, elegant young woman, but inside a mass of conflicting emotions. To say she felt mad was an understatement; she was blindingly furious! She had E-mailed Jed before she left home. But even his words of wisdom had not calmed the rage in her heart. He had advised to simply confront Alex and demand the truth. To explain to Alex that absolute honesty was a prerequisite for a good marriage. She had laughed out loud at Jed’s message. How come a young man almost the same age as herself had more insight into relationships than the older, arrogant swine she had married?
By the time the train was pulling into the station Lisa had calmed down somewhat. She had done a lot of soul-searching last night, and had analysed her behaviour, and reached a conclusion. She had allowed herself to be completely overwhelmed and overawed by her husband. Probably because it had all happened so quickly, and because Alex was her first and only lover. Or maybe because he was older and she had not considered herself an equal partner in the marriage. Obviously neither had he. He had bought shares in her company without even telling her. But he wasn’t getting away with it…
The train stopped and Lisa stood up. She had dressed carefully in a smart, double-breasted, button-through navy blue linen dress, its wide belt accentuating her narrow waist. She smoothed the skirt of her dress down over her hips and picked up her brief case and laptop before leaving the train. In minutes she was in the back of a black cab and heading for the penthouse. Alex Solomos had a lot of explaining to do. She was going to confront him, something she should have done a week ago.
Lisa fitted the key into the lock and pushed open the door, and walked into the apartment. She didn’t know what time Alex was due back, but it was now four p.m., so he couldn’t be much longer. She walked straight through to the inner hall and disposed of her briefcase and laptop in her so-called study and, turning, walked back out.
‘A bit late, Lisa.’ Alex’s deep voice held a mocking edge, and she spun around as he strolled out of the master bedroom.
‘You’re back.’ Her startled gaze focused on his tall, hard-muscled frame. He had obviously not long stepped out of the shower. Incongruously, on such a masculine man, a pink towel hung low on his hips; another was slung around his neck, and his black hair was ruffled and wet, as if he had just been rubbing it. Her mouth went dry. It had only been a week, but the familiar rush of awareness curled her stomach.
‘Not quite the response I hoped for,’ Alex revealed as he walked towards her.
‘You surprised me,’ Lisa got out. Her blue eyes clashed with his, and what she saw in their darkening depths sent a jolt of sexual excitement quivering along every nerve in her body. She couldn’t move, and she watched mesmerised as he closed the distance between them.
‘I surprise myself,’ he murmured enigmatically, and, raising his hands, he closed them over either side of her head, his long fingers raking through her hair, sending pins flying in every direction.
‘Don’t.’ She tried to shake her head but his dark head dipped and his mouth crushed down on hers, stopping the words in her throat as he ravished her mouth with deep, hungry passion that she was helpless to deny.
A tiny voice of reason told her she must stop him. Lisa reached out to push him away, but it had been so long. When her hands came into contact with his bare chest she felt him shudder, and that was her undoing…