Ransacked Heart. Jayne Bauling
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into her lungs. She hated Luke Scott, so——
Just say no.
Maria suppressed rising panic that was fatally laced with hysteria. Where had that stupid slogan come from, the facile answer of those who thought there were easy solutions to all the world’s problems? Nothing was that simple.
The way he was looking at her——
‘When I’m so cheap and nasty?’ she jeered, a soft acknowledgement of the contempt with which he was regarding her.
‘Cheap,’ he granted her ruthlessly, and smiled as she glanced in the direction of Florian, who was now dancing energetically with the exotically lovely Nicky Kai. ‘No, Jones won’t be rescuing you, even supposing Nicky is into sharing. He can name his price and I’ll pay it because he’s a brilliant jock, but that’s it and he knows it.’
In a happier moment, Maria might have laughed at the idea of Florian troubling to rescue anyone from anything.
‘I don’t need rescuing.’ She lifted her chin. ‘No one has mistresses any more.’
‘I know, but what other word is there? We’d both balk at “lover”. People just get married or live together,’ Luke went on relentlessly. ‘But those don’t apply to us as they imply a sharing that’s total, and there’s only one area of my life that I can bring myself to share with you.’
The insult enraged her.
‘Unfortunately there isn’t a single square inch of my life I want to share with you,’ she told him levelly, the mad, febrile fluttering of her heart a private weakness.
‘This time I’m not considering you,’ Luke returned callously, and produced a brilliant smile. ‘Come, let me introduce you to people. Who haven’t you met yet?’
As they moved around the room, Luke introducing her to the people with whom she would be working, Maria struggled to put his threats out of her mind and minimise her own reaction to him, both six years ago and now. Whatever she had felt at nineteen, hatred was all that was left now, and hatred ought to impart strength. Luke Scott meant nothing to her; he couldn’t do anything to her if she refused to let him.
But she remained disturbed, acutely aware of him at her side and only grateful that he despised her too much to allow himself to be seen touching her in public.
Even the convention of a hand at her elbow would have been intolerable. That was how much she hated him.
She glanced at him, almost hopefully, but the impact of his virility and arrogance remained undiminished, and her fingers curled into her palms, painted nails slicing the soft skin. He was quite simply devastating, a combination of grace and power, allied to the pride implicit in strong, superb facial bones over which dark coppery skin was stretched tautly. He was clean-shaven, although a faint darkness marked his jaw at this hour; inevitable with his colouring, she knew, her eyes moving upwards to his jet-black hair and then—a betrayal of herself—down to where the open neck of his shirt provided tantalising glimpses of subtly gleaming flesh shadowed by softly curling dark hair, all so emphatically masculine.
It was a dangerous moment, fascination obliterating resentment, but when Luke suddenly turned his eyes her way again, the contempt Maria saw in them restored hatred.
‘CAN we give you a lift?’
Maria flung Luke Scott a hostile look as he and Cavell Fielding appeared just as she was taking her leave of Giles and Ursula Estwick, with Florian and Nicky on either side of her.
‘I’m going home with Florian and Nicky, thanks.’
It was deliberately dismissive, but a scorching anger rose in response to the searingly contemptuous look he gave her.
‘We’ve managed to wangle her an apartment just a floor below Nicky and me,’ Florian volunteered cheerfully. ‘Well, it was Nicky’s influence really, I have to admit. It takes Taipei’s most famous daughter to buck our letting agent’s system of waiting lists like that.’
‘It sounds like a convenient arrangement,’ Luke commented urbanely, and Maria saw his lip curl sar-donically, as if everything he believed of her had just been confirmed.
What did he think they were going to do? Toss a coin to determine on which floor Florian spent the night?
‘Cosy,’ she offered flippantly with a defiantly challenging smile.
‘Obviously,’ he drawled.
Maria met Cavell’s watchful sapphire eyes and a furious resentment gripped her, felt on Cavell’s behalf almost as much as her own, because Luke couldn’t have spoken to her as he had earlier, openly stating that he intended to make her his mistress, if he had had any real regard for Cavell, or women in general, for that matter.
‘See you tomorrow, then, Cavell,’ she confirmed an arrangement they had made during the course of the evening, ignoring Luke now but still acutely conscious of his attention as she thanked the Estwicks again and departed with Florian and Nicky.
‘Luke Scott doesn’t like you any better yet, Flo,’ Nicky commented amusedly when they were in a taxi.
‘I’m a woman’s man,’ Florian returned complacently as their driver eased his slow way out of one of the traffic jams that were a major problem in Taipei. ‘Other men can resent that.’
Maria shook her head, her smile a little cynical.
‘You don’t think his dislike might be a little more personal than that?’ she wondered casually.
‘As gorgeous as she is, I don’t go for women like Cavell Fielding.’ Typically, Florian laughed, natural vanity making him misunderstand her. ‘Although I suppose he might suspect her of fancying me! I have to say this, though—whatever it is, he’s never let it become a big issue. He ignores me when he can and I co-operate by keeping out of his way, because I like the job. He’s never allowed his dislike, personal or otherwise, to influence his professional judgement in any way. He knows I’m the best jock he’s got here. But generally it’s been unnecessary for us to have much contact. As I told you earlier, he spends most of his time in Hong Kong, where his major interests are.’
It was just a pity that Luke hadn’t decided to ignore her as well, Maria reflected wryly. The policy he applied to Florian would have suited her perfectly.
As it was, the most she could hope for was his speedy return to Hong Kong, but for now she supposed she would just have to endure a certain amount of contact, as he had warned her earlier at the party just before leaving her with Cavell Fielding and Penny Seu Chen.
‘I plan to be around over the next few weeks while we get this new image launched, and we expect you to be very visible. Obviously we haven’t gone for whole-sale personnel changes, so you’re the hook on which we’re hanging the idea, a new programme manager whose own image is the station’s—young, smart, sophisticated and committed to the music. Taiwan is one of the most Westernised countries in this region, and our last few surveys have shown that we’re attracting an extensive local listenership now, covering an age-group ranging from mid-teens to late thirties, so we want to ditch a lingering perception that we exist solely for the benefit of non-nationals. Giles Estwick will have discussed it with you, and you’ll have ideas of your own. Cavell will want to hear what they are, as well as some appropriate biographical details for Press releases, as she’s handling the publicity angle for us. She’s the best there is, so consult her if there’s anything you’re unsure of on that side.’
‘But only on that side?’ Maria had prompted derisively.
Luke’s smile was equally mocking. ‘Obviously we understand each other perfectly already.’
‘I understand you,’ she corrected him sharply. ‘I should. Rats aren’t exactly rare.’