Kissed by Moonlight, page 12
“The chef has excelled himself tonight. That lobster was truly delicious,” Geoffrey Hyland said, patting his lips with his napkin.
It had been served in a spicy sauce, and now that her portions were more manageable, Petrina’s empty plate was in total agreement.
She knew that by drawing her out, by talking to her, Geoffrey Hyland was endeavoring to be kind, but his manner was over fond, cloying, like that of a womanizer. She tried to like him. She remembered the house in the unspoiled serpent’s tail bay. Its creator must be a man of discriminating taste and deep sensitivity. But search as she might, she couldn’t find any such streak in this autocratic man whose smile seemed to point at a perverse sense of humor. This was borne out by the fact that he gave no indication of minding that Justine was flirting outrageously with David. He seemed to find it all highly amusing, in fact – a performance put on especially for his entertainment.
One thing emerged clearly. There was no plot – or if there was, Justine wasn’t in on it – to introduce a new wife to the scene to put a suspicious husband off the scent. Justine didn’t care. She was quite blatant in her attitude toward David, charming and cajoling him and pouting her lip at him when he continued to remain grim-mouthed and unresponsive to her coquetry.
Petrina put her dessert spoon down on the remains of an epicurean’s delight of cream and cake and fresh fruit, aware that coffee would be served in their choice of the several lounges. A quiet lounge with deep armchairs to relax in. A television lounge. A lounge where tables were set up for after-dinner card games. Or a lounge with a space cleared in the center for those energetic enough to want to dance.
On leaving the dining room, Justine made the decision and led the way to the lounge that gave out strains of music. Already the lively beat of a group had tempted one or two couples onto the floor.
“Geoff will order the coffee, won’t you, darling? David, dance with me.” Justine’s slender hand strayed possessively to David’s shoulder, denying him the right to refuse.
He sent Petrina a slight shrug, as if to say he wasn’t interested in her opinion, and took Justine onto the dance floor.
Geoffrey Hyland said, “You must not mind my wife, Petrina – I may be permitted to call you by your first name, I trust?” She nodded to give her permission and he continued. “She is like a naughty child who can’t bear to have her nose put out of joint. She has always flirted with David and he has been too kind to rebuff her. Perhaps he has been ... ‘kinder’ ... than we shall ever know. He is having to suffer for his gallantry now and finding it quite a strain. Don’t you think so?”
“I don’t know what to think, Mr. Hyland.”
“Come, please, you must call me Geoffrey.” He pressed his hand over hers, and although his touch sent a shudder through her body, she tried to conceal her revulsion by not dragging her fingers away.
“Thank you, Geoffrey,” she said, tentatively testing his name on her lips. “I’m baffled by your frankness. Wouldn’t it be better to pretend not to know about them instead of so obviously condoning their behavior?”
“For David’s sake, perhaps it would. It must be distressing for him to have his indiscretions played out before the eyes of his lovely bride, but no one gets away scot-free in this life. David should have known that eventually he would have to pay for his fun.”
She now hated Geoffrey Hyland intensely. What she had taken to be a slightly mischievous, if dubious, sense of humor was evil. She wished David would come back and rescue her from his wicked, cruel tongue. But David was still dancing with Justine, and the music showed no signs of letting up. She was trapped.
“As for my wife,” Geoffrey Hyland continued smoothly, tormentingly, “can’t you see how much she’s enjoying extracting payment?”
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
“No. I like to see her enjoying herself.”
“Don’t you mind that she’s –”
“Unfaithful to me? That’s the proper term, Petrina, so you shouldn’t be afraid to use it. A too faithful wife can be a shackle. I, too, like to feel free of restrictions. You have very expressive eyes, my dear. I can tell you are shocked. Don’t be. It’s perfectly normal for couples who have been married a number of years to go their separate ways. As you will find out.”
She shook her head in growing perplexity. “No, never! Wouldn’t divorce be a more honorable solution?”
“You are charmingly naive. The settlement a wife can claim makes it too costly. As extravagant as Justine is, it’s cheaper to keep her as a wife than to divorce her.”
“But you’re a very wealthy man. You don’t have to concern yourself about the cost of anything.”
“I concern myself because I intend to keep my wealth, not dissipate it in that way. Divorce is habit forming. If you do it once, it’s easier the next time. I could find myself going through the whole costly business several times over. So you see, it’s better this way.”
“No, I don’t see. And I never will,” she said with passionate resistance.
“I’m sorry, my dear. I did not mean to upset you. Now I feel dreadful. Especially as it was my intention to apologize to you for delaying the start of your honeymoon. I got here as soon as I could. As you probably know, David needed to discuss certain matters of finance with me before feeling free to depart. Can you forgive me?”
“Of course. There’s nothing to forgive.”
“As sweet as you are forgiving. What a charming nature you have. And what a fool David is. I would never be so dedicated to duty that I would delay my honeymoon, especially if my bride were as lovely as you. You have an enchanting innocence that I have never known in a woman. Perhaps if I’d met someone like you when I was younger, I wouldn’t be such a wicked old cynic now. I even venture to say that if I met someone like you now, I might be prepared to change my views on divorce. But this is not the time to go too deeply into the matter. In a year or two, when the novelty of your marriage has worn off, we might reopen this conversation, yes?”
“No, I think not,” she said, aware that her blush was rising under the keen penetration of his eyes, trying with extreme difficulty not to show her dislike too much because it wasn’t a polite thing to do. Which was a laugh, really, on her upbringing if nothing else, because Geoffrey Hyland was not observing the social code of niceties, so why should she?
To her great relief, Justine and David returned.
Justine said, “That was fantastic. Where’s the coffee, darling?”
That sardonic smile came to Geoffrey Hyland’s lips. “Sorry, my angel; Petrina and I were so engrossed in our conversation that I didn’t get around to ordering it.”
“Not to worry,” Justine said amiably, “no hurry. I hope they play a rumba for us next, David.”
Petrina was wondering how David was going to extricate himself, or even if he wanted to, when Geoffrey Hyland effected the release for him.
Smiling, he said, “I obeyed a selfish impulse in asking to meet Petrina, but we must remember that it is the child’s honeymoon. You must not monopolize the bridegroom.”
Petrina suspected that Geoffrey Hyland had not spoken out of consideration for her, but merely to thwart his wife, who shrugged her shoulders and showed her displeasure in a sulky look.
Geoffrey Hyland snapped his fingers to alert a waiter, but before he had time to order the coffee, David said, “Make it for two. It’s time we were on our way.”
Justine’s eyes narrowed on Petrina in acute antipathy, but she said nothing. Not even goodbye.
David’s hand came out as though to go around Petrina’s waist, but she skipped ahead of him, her jaw rigid. She had to fight to stop herself from breaking into a run, so desperate was the urge to get away from Justine and her horrible husband as quickly as possible. Her mind was in equal turmoil. She had such a lot of things to puzzle over, but no time to do so now. Why had David married her? It was not, as she had thought, to blind Justine’s husband to the truth. So why? How could such a vile man as Geoffrey Hyland have the good taste to build that elegant house in that beautiful, unadulterated setting? And then her thoughts swung back again. Why had David married her? Geoffrey Hyland encouraged his wife to have affairs, because it gave him the freedom to do the same, so . . .
Her wrist was taken in the steel clamp of David’s fingers. “Don’t struggle, darling, you’ll only cause a scene. Simmer down; you’re smoldering.”
She swallowed on anger that shrouded her like a mist. “That vile man. His eyes. The way he looked at me. I felt –” His eyes had ravished her in full public view. She felt unclean and had some inkling of how a rape victim must feel. She modified her thoughts and said – “insulted.”
His reading of what she’d deliberately not said could account for the violence of his frown. Yet, puzzlingly, she felt part of the condemnation was vented against her. “He wouldn’t consider it an insult to find you desirable in that way. I’ve seen that look in another man’s eyes and you haven’t cringed away from him.”
She faltered at the scathing accusation. “You’re referring to yourself, of course?”
“Actually, I wasn’t,” he retorted, regarding her thoughtfully and rewarding her perplexity with a milder tone. “I’m sorry that it was necessary to inflict tonight on you. Business colleagues are rarely chosen on a personal basis. My opinion of Geoff Hyland is much the same as yours, but I have to put up with him.”
Why? her brain shouted furiously. To be near Justine? “Well, I don’t,” she said angrily.
She should have known that he would not let that go unchallenged. He stopped walking. Much as she longed to stride on ahead, his hand on her wrist prevented it.
“I’m sorry to correct you, Pet,” he said in an insidiously quiet voice, “but you’ll have to put up with it if I say so. You’re my wife. You have to accept the people I’m involved with.”
Did he mean Justine? She was choking on hurt and temper. “Would you accept it if it were the other way around?”
He replied disparagingly, “Speculation has got to have a sound footing. The question of whether I could accept your doubtful acquaintances is unlikely to arise.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked, immediately on the defensive.
“Don’t be so prickly. I merely meant that it would be inconceivable to find such a character in your little world.”
She was not appeased. On the contrary, his satirical tone heightened her suspicions. “Are you sniping at my father? I know he wasn’t always respectable in his business dealings.”
“I was not. Your father was more foolish than dishonest. I didn’t think you had a complex about that.”
“I haven’t. It’s just – Her slender shoulders lifted in a gesture that spelled out the futility of trying to explain what she didn’t properly understand herself.
She didn’t know how lost or desolate she looked, so she didn’t know why his face settled into such grim lines or the reason for the tone of his voice. It was so tense it seemed in danger of snapping off midsentence. “Let’s get out of here. I left instructions for our cases to be brought down and put in the car. Have you anything to go up for?”
“I’d like to change, please, if there’s time. Is there? I don’t fancy boarding a plane dressed like this.”
“You have time to do anything you may desire,” he said with scantily veiled implication. “But did I say anything about boarding a plane?”
“No, you didn’t.”
Ruling out the slight possibility that they were going somewhere by boat, because she was just as unsuitably dressed for that, it meant their honeymoon destination was somewhere on the island. Curiosity was a minor thing and barely registered in her thoughts. It was unimportant where they went.
A quiver of passionate urgency leaped between them. Every pulse in her body was beating out her awareness of him. Her nerve ends were jumping, stimulated to respond by the torrid dominance of his eyes.
Drawing a ragged breath, she said, “I’ve still got to go up, I want to take my other handbag with me.”
His mouth closed on a small teasing smile that was, curiously, mocking and tender at the same time, and he seemed to make a tentative exploration into thought. “I suppose I could fetch it for you.”
“Thank you. That’s considerate of you.”
“Perhaps you should come with me. It may be more considerate of me than you think.” His hand slid under her chin. “If I got you up to the privacy of our suite, we wouldn’t be venturing out again too soon.”
Wasn’t he aware that she knew that? Just as she knew he wanted her to go up with him. That was what she wanted, too. She wasn’t happy to be in constant discord with him; it was much more pleasant to tangle with him in passion. Her body was submissive to this thought – it had dismissed all differences and was ready to yield. Not so her mind. It was still too full of the recent encounter with Justine and her husband. Her body had forgiven, but her mind was still angry with David for causing her the humiliation of making her accept his mistress and that vile man. He’d been brutal in his insistence. She was his wife. She must do as she was told, and he had told her to accept the situation. She’d jumped to his inclination then; she would not be a puppet to his pleasure now.
“I’ll keep you to your offer to fetch it for me.” She tried to keep it cool, but was partially defeated by the bright patches of color in her cheeks. She could not include Justine and Geoffrey Hyland in her thoughts and keep all traces of revulsion from her expression.
“I see.” His eyes turned to blue ice again, fixing on her with compelling, hypnotic brilliance.
“While you’re gone, I’ll try to find Ginny and Bob. I want to say goodbye to them.”
“I’ll go along with that, but watch it,” he cautioned darkly.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t be obtuse. Bob’s taken a tumble for you. He’s not as hardy as I am, so don’t try to wrap him around your finger.”
Was he inferring that she’d tried to wrap him around her finger? The idea was so preposterous that she couldn’t summon up the words to refute his statement about Bob.
“You can’t deny that he’s carrying a torch for you, can you?” he demanded abruptly.
Was it possible? Could he be jealous? She didn’t know which surprised her the most – the fact that David might be jealous of the friendship and affection she and Bob shared or the reply that came startlingly to her lips. “I deny it most emphatically. The truth is, even if Bob has been slow to realize it, he’s really crazy about Ginny.”
The cold contempt in his laugh flicked over her.
“Don’t be ridiculous! They fight all the time.”
“People in love do,” she said quietly.
“Really?” he drawled. “By that piece of absurd reasoning, we must be very much in love.”
He walked away, leaving her clenching her fingers on that bitter taunt.
Chapter Nine
Going through to the bar in search of Ginny and Bob, she was wryly amused to find them occupying adjacent bar stools. They weren’t fighting now. Bob’s arm was slung carelessly around Ginny’s shoulders and Ginny’s lively features had acquired a fascinating glow.
“Hello, Trina,” Bob greeted on spotting her. “Honestly, I meant to come and see you off, but” – he grinned sheepishly – “I got waylaid.”
“Don’t believe him. I mean, who’d want to lay a trap for this big oaf?” Ginny chipped in predictably, while the smile on her face proudly proclaimed that the situation was firmly in hand.
“I’m glad, Ginny,” Petrina said simply.
“Thanks, amiga,” Ginny said.
Goodbyes were exchanged, and then she went back to wait for David. He didn’t keep her waiting long.
“Let’s go,” he said, taking her arm and making her run to keep up with his long stride. “It’s best to make a speedy exit. There’s always an emergency waiting to happen. If I’m not around someone else will have to deal with it.” He was not apologizing – merely showing his awareness that he was rushing her. .
“You do too much,” she said. It was a soft protest, overshadowed by the happy prospect of getting away without further delay.
His car had been brought around to the front of the hotel. He waved away the man standing in attendance and opened the passenger door himself so she could get in. His zest for work – his ambition – was something she knew all about. But the importance he’d achieved was something that was going to take some getting used to. He opened his own door and slid behind the wheel.
She kept her eyes fixed on the windshield, her thoughts still very much in chaos. Despite his big pretense of urgency, David made no attempt to start the car, and eventually the uneasy silence that followed made her look at him. His eyes were directed to the front, but his thoughts, in keeping with hers, were turned inward. There was something reproachful about the forbidding hardness of his profile that stirred up an unpleasant torment in her.
Without warning his head turned around. Pinned under his dark gaze, her sensations of uneasiness grew. His hand touched her cheek, and lit a fire there that even the harshness of his laugh couldn’t totally quench. No sound on earth could sound as cynical as his dry, weary, sarcastic “Mm.”
His eyes continued to hold her on the knife edge of pain and remorse, feelings she tried to shake off by telling herself she had nothing to feel penitent about. “We communicate well enough physically, don’t we, Pet?” he said, rotating his finger in the hollow of her cheek in a gesture that was pure sensuality. “But on all other levels we might as well be on different planets.”
“We don’t talk – is that what you mean?” Her voice seemed as tight and uncomfortable as she felt.
“That’s precisely what I mean.”
“That’s not my fault, David.”
“I’m not suggesting it is,” he growled, but his tone belied his words and laid heavy censure on her heart.
