Chase a Dream. Jennifer Taylor
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voice, and he turned to stare calmly back at her.
‘Not what you evidently imagine I’m planning on.’ He closed the door, then leant back against it while he studied her. He was dressed in a navy T-shirt this morning with white trousers which emphasised the slimness of his hips and the length of his powerful legs, and in the light pouring in through the window his hair gleamed with an unrestrained fire. He was a startlingly attractive man with that unusual colouring, the sort who would draw any woman’s eyes, and Stephanie wasn’t immune to his appeal.
Nervously she turned away to pick up some of the coins from the pile on the table, tossing them from hand to hand as she tried to think of something to say to dispel the mounting tension; but typically it was Logan Ford who spoke first.
‘Let me make this clear from the outset: I am not here for any personal reasons. You don’t need to worry that I have designs on your...virtue. This is strictly business.’
She flushed at the note in his voice which implied that she’d probably lost her claims to virtue years before. She’d had her share of admirers, her attractive looks and vivacious personality being enough to guarantee that, but she’d never felt any desire to allow the friendships to develop into intimacy. One day she would meet the man she would want to share such a relationship with, but until that happened she wouldn’t settle for second best. She remembered the heartache her friend Laura had gone through when such a relationship had gone sour, and used it as a warning. She was probably far more ‘virtuous’ than Logan could begin to imagine, but there was no way she was going to inform him of that fact!
She returned his ironic look as levelly as she could, yet couldn’t quite keep the bite from her voice. ‘Then I suggest that you tell me exactly why you have come. I cannot imagine what sort of business we have with one another, Mr Ford.’
He laughed as he went and sat down on the chair, crossing one long leg over the other as he looked up at where she stood stiffly by the table. ‘Did that hit a bit too close to home, Stephanie? Sorry. I merely meant to reassure you as to my intentions.’
She ignored the taunt, setting the coins down with a clatter. ‘Then why are you here? If this is some sort of a game, then let me tell you that I am in no mood to play it.’
‘I’m sure you’re not.’ He flicked a lean hand at the small pile of money. ‘That’s why I’m here.’
Stephanie frowned as she glanced down at the table. ‘I don’t understand.’
He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair to push it back from his forehead. ‘It’s quite simple. You told me last night that you had lost your bag, and I assume that you lost most of your money with it. Am I right?’
‘Yes, but I don’t see how it’s any concern of yours. Look, if you feel responsible because I lost it when I was looking after Jessica, then don’t.’
‘Don’t worry. I have no doubt it was the result of your own carelessness—that plus poking your pretty little nose in where it wasn’t wanted.’ He ignored her gasp of outrage as he stood up and walked over to the window, staring out for a few seconds before he turned back to her. ‘However, unfortunately Jessica once again doesn’t share my view. She feels that what happened was her fault, and the last thing I want right now is for her to start worrying about it.’
‘I can understand that, but I explained last night that it was just an accident. I don’t want her worrying about it any more than I want you to. I am quite capable of looking after myself!’
‘Even in view of the fact that that is all the money you have left in your possession?’ He picked up the notes and fanned them between his fingers. He had beautiful hands, long-fingered and strong, the skin deeply tanned and sprinkled with the same dark gold hair that covered his forearms. Stephanie found herself studying them, then quickly took the money from him and laid it back on the table in a gesture of defiance.
‘I don’t see that it is any business of yours how much money I have. Now if you have reassured yourself that I don’t hold either you or Jessica to blame, may I suggest you leave? I have a lot to do, as I am sure you can appreciate.’
She turned towards the door, but he continued as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘As I was just saying, I don’t want Jessica worrying. She’s been through a lot recently without having this on her mind as well.’
The harsh note in his voice brought her head round, and she saw a flicker of regret kindle briefly in his dark eyes. It made her hesitate, when what she had been intending was to order him to leave. ‘I don’t understand. Has she been ill?’
He shook his head, his expression guarded once more. ‘No. Her mother died recently, and naturally she’s been very upset.’
‘Oh, how awful for her! Poor little thing.’ She flushed and added hurriedly, ‘And awful for you too, of course. I am sorry, Mr Ford.’
He smiled with a faint derision. ‘You can save your commiserations. Jessica’s mother and I parted several years ago. Anything we may have felt for each other was gone well before she died.’
He sounded so devoid of emotion that Stephanie was shocked. ‘Why, that’s heartless! She was the mother of your child, after all. That should count for something, surely!’
‘My relationship with Amanda isn’t under discussion here. It’s Jessica’s well-being which concerns me.’ He sounded so aloof that a shiver raced down Stephanie’s body, sliding coldly along every vein. He must have cared for the woman at one time if they’d conceived a child together. Yet there had been no reflection of it in his voice, no trace of regret that the woman was dead. Was Logan Ford really as unfeeling as he appeared to be, or was it just a cover to hide emotions that ran so deep that he was afraid to admit to them?
It might have been a desire to find out which or a feeling of compassion for Jessica which made her carry on with the unsettling conversation; Stephanie didn’t really know. ‘Why are you telling me all this? Why have you come?’
He seemed to hesitate, studying her in silence. ‘Because I believe that we can help one another. What exactly did you lose last night?’
Stephanie sighed, not understanding what he wanted with her, yet prepared to go along with him a while longer. ‘Money, obviously, plus my passport, credit cards, bank cards... all those things. They were all in my bag.’
‘So what do you intend to do now?’
‘I was just trying to work that out when you arrived.’ She sank down on the chair, worry shadowing her face. ‘I can probably get an emergency passport issued via the Consul, but that’s the least of my worries when I don’t have the money now to pay for a ticket home.’
‘Your credit card company can cover that. They should issue you with another card within a couple of days.’
‘I’m sure they will, but, seeing as I have reached my credit limit, it won’t help. And I doubt if they will be keen to extend it, in view of the fact that I don’t have a job at present.’
‘How about friends, family? Can they wire you some money? The Consul can arrange that too.’
Stephanie rubbed her aching temples as she went back over ground she’d covered time and again since she’d got up. ‘I don’t have family. My mother died when I was a child, and my father a few years ago. There’s a cousin in London and another in Manchester, but...’ She trailed off with a defeated sigh. ‘The two close friends I went away with are in no better position financially than I am, even allowing for the fact that Rachel has quite enough to worry about at present and that Laura is still in Spain.’ She glanced at Logan in near despair. ‘There’s no one I feel I can turn to for help!’
‘Apart from me.’ He smiled coolly when he saw the shock on her face, leaning against the edge of the table as he watched her.
‘You? But why should you give me money?’
‘Not give, Stephanie. Pay. I am willing to let you earn what you need to pay