CHAPTER ONE

      AUDREY stood on the pavement outside the coffee-lounge, frowning as she glanced up and down the street. Russell was late. As usual.

      She took a deep steadying breath and let it out slowly, willing herself to stay calm, not to become agitated.

      You won’t have to worry about his being late again after today, she told herself sternly. Russell will no longer be a part of your personal life.

      But nothing could stop the pain deep down in her heart. Or the self-accusations.

      Why did I get mixed up with such an obvious womaniser in the first place? she agonised. Why did I believe all his protestations of love? And why, oh, why did I let him talk me into going to bed with him?

      Audrey suspected why as soon as she saw him striding down the street towards her, looking elegantly suave in a grey business suit. Russell had all the seductive trappings of a romantic charmer with his blond good looks and bedroom blue eyes, not forgetting his smooth line of patter which made him an excellent salesman.

      When he’d started work with Modern Office Supplies as a representative a few months ago he’d been quite a hit with the office girls, yet within days he’d singled her out for his attentions.

      Initially, she had been sceptical. After all, there were many more attractive girls at work. But he’d been so persistent, so seemingly sincere. And of course she’d been hopelessly flattered. What a naïve fool she’d been!

      Audrey flicked an unhappy sideways glance at herself in the window glass next to her, almost flinching away from her reflection. She’d only had to take a good look in the mirror to realise that Russell couldn’t have fallen in love so quickly with a girl as plain as herself.

      Lord, how she hated her looks! Her white, white skin, her big doe-like brown eyes, her bow-shaped little girl mouth. As for her hair... It had always been a disaster. She had been born with fine mousy brown locks, but it was at present a burgundy shade, and permed into a bush of tight curls. Lavinia said it suited her. Audrey wasn’t so sure. Neither did she feel comfortable wearing the red woollen dress her stepmother had given her, insisting red was one of her colours. No colour seemed to be her colour!

      With a shudder, she returned her attention to Russell, who had put a wide apologetic smile on his face at his last stride.

      ‘Sorry I’m late, darling,’ he said silkily, and bent to give her a kiss on the cheek.

      Audrey’s whole insides twisted with dismay. How happy she had been the first time he’d called her that! Now, the word was like a dagger in her heart, a dagger dipped in treachery.

      ‘Oh-oh.’ Russell tried laughing on seeing her tight pale face. ‘Methinks I’ve done something to put myself in your bad books. Is that why you asked me to meet you here for coffee this afternoon, to rap my knuckles over something? Or is the hang-dog face just because I’m a wee bit late?’ he added, a caustic edge creeping into his voice.

      How strange, Audrey thought. All of a sudden I don’t find him that handsome, or charming. ‘Half an hour late, Russell,’ she said coldly, ‘is hardly a wee bit. I asked you to meet me at three. It’s now nearly three-thirty.’

      His shrug was dismissive, his smile trying in vain to melt the ice that was gathering around her heart. ‘Yes, but I’m worth waiting for, aren’t I?’

      Audrey cringed. Had there been a time she’d actually liked lines like that? She could hardly believe herself capable of being such a mug. But she supposed unattractive girls were very vulnerable when it came to attentions from members of the opposite sex. Desperation, she decided bitterly.

      ‘Do you think we could go inside and sit down?’ she said sharply.

      ‘Sure. I’ll order us both cappuccino on the way in.’

      The coffee-lounge was typical of a thousand others one would find in main streets in suburban Sydney—a long thin rectangle with booths along one side and a shiny counter stretching along the other. Audrey had thought that at this time on a Friday afternoon it would be practically empty and would give them some privacy. But this wasn’t the case, with nearly every booth occupied. Only the back two were empty.

      Audrey headed for the furthest, aware that her nervous tension was increasing with each second. The time for confrontation had finally come.

      The second last booth was occupied after all, by a man bent over a newspaper. He glanced up briefly as she passed, but didn’t take a second look.

      Audrey sat down in the last booth with a weary sigh, then watched unhappily while Russell flirted with the girl behind the counter. The girl’s eyes followed him hungrily when he turned and swaggered towards the back booth, a cocky grin on his face. More wool fell from Audrey’s eyes. Was that how he got his kicks out of life? Making as many female conquests as he could? What number had she been? Ten? Twenty? A hundred?

      He slid into the green vinyl seat opposite and shot her an expectant look. ‘Well? Are you going to satisfy my curiosity and tell me what’s up?’

      ‘Yes,’ she said stiffly, and dragged in a rasping breath. Her heart started hammering away in her chest, and when the words came out they were high-pitched and shaking. ‘Diane told me today you took her out last Saturday night—the night you said you had a business dinner. She also said that you...you slept with her.’

      Russell’s instant scowl wiped every shred of good looks from his face. His top lip curled nastily and his eyes took on a narrowed, mean expression. ‘So this is why I’m here! To answer a whole lot of stupid bloody accusations. I would have thought you’d have more sense than to listen to a silly bitch like Diane!’

      ‘She wasn’t lying,’ Audrey said brokenly, upset by this further glimpse of the real Russell. He’d never used coarse words in front of her before. He’d always played the role of gentleman.

      ‘Of course she was,’ he sneered. ‘She’s jealous of you. If you had any brains you’d know that by now.’

      Audrey sucked