Stolen Feelings. Margaret Mayo
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being.
She opened her suitcase and tugged out a T-shirt and shorts. She saw no point at all in unpacking if they would shortly be on the move. She fished her comb out of her bag and raked it through her hair, twisting its length into a knot on top of her head which she fixed securely with a few hairpins.
When she ventured outside, Cameron, surprisingly and pleasingly, was nowhere in sight and she was able to wander through the campsite at will. She found the kitchen supplies tent and a stove that was run by Calor gas, which she supposed she was going to have to learn to use.
Intense fury ran through her. She wasn’t the world’s best cook, and it wasn’t a task she particularly enjoyed. If Ian had deliberately let her believe she was cooking only for the three of them, if he had known all along what he was letting her in for, then he would certainly get a piece of her mind.
‘I’m glad you did as you were told.’
Julie turned quickly at the sound of Cameron’s voice. He had come up so quietly behind her that her senses triggered in faint alarm. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked with a frown.
‘Your hair.’
Involuntarily she touched it, tempted to remind him again that she would have done so anyway, but deciding there was no point in provoking further antagonism. This was a very small community—and would be smaller still far too soon! It was best that they maintain some sort of halfway decent relationship.
He looked at her appraisingly and insolently, not missing one inch of her body, starting at the tips of her toes and working his way slowly upwards, pausing to rest on the pert thrust of her breasts before finally meeting her furious hazel eyes.
‘You’re too damned beautiful,’ he growled, and it wasn’t a compliment. ‘I’m not sure that it was a good idea after all; you could prove an unfortunate distraction.’
Julie knew he wasn’t talking about himself. In the short time she had spent in Cameron’s company she had got the impression that he was always in control, always in complete charge of his life, and that no woman, however attractive, would be allowed to intrude.
‘I’m sorry we did not meet when I was in England recently,’ he added.
‘Because then you wouldn’t have insisted that I accompany Ian, is that it?’ she asked crisply. ‘I think you’re being very insulting, Mr Storm, I can assure you I do not have a roving eye. I’m not interested in other men. I’m very happy as things are.’
Before Roger she had had no steady boyfriends. After what had happened to her mother she had always sworn she would never get married. But it had happened, she had fallen in love, and had really thought she had found the ideal man—until Roger’s jealously got the better of him.
He hadn’t been able to bear her to even talk to another man. At first she had been flattered, thought it proved how much he loved her, but when he had accused her of having an affair, when he would not listen when she’d explained that Tod Martin was a lifelong friend of the family and had taken her out for a meal because they hadn’t seen each other for over twelve months, she had ended their relationship.
He had been very acrimonious, and their argument had hurt her deeply, causing her many sleepless nights.
‘Is that so?’ Cameron’s brows rose mockingly, as though he thought otherwise, as though he thought she would have a field day with twenty men to take her choice from. ‘You’re happy with Ian?’
It was the glint in his eye that did it. Why he should have this instant damning opinion of her, she did not know. ‘I am, very much so,’ she told him furiously. ‘What have I done, Mr Storm, to deserve such offensive comments?’
He actually looked amused. ‘You’ve done nothing—yet.’
‘You’re just being prepared?’
‘Something like that,’ he admitted, his lips quirking.
Julie lifted her chin and glared. ‘You will find that I shall do nothing except my work—to the best of my ability. Is that good enough?’
‘I guess it will have to be.’ Their eyes met and challenged, and then, with a sudden, surprising change of subject, he said, ‘Ian is just the person I need to assist me. I am currently documenting the life of the fur seals. They are becoming an endangered species, as he’s probably told you?’
‘Actually no,’ replied Julie. ‘I’ve no idea what sort of work you do.’
He looked suprised, and immediately launched into an explanation. ‘It’s El Niño which is the problem,’ he told her. ‘A warm current which comes at around Christmas-time. It doesn’t normally have too much effect, but once every six or seven years the flow is exceptionally large; rainfall and temperatures soar and all the fish move away. Consequently its catastrophic for life that depends on the sea.’
‘Such as the fur seals,’ she acknowledged.
‘That’s right, and seabirds and marine iguanas. Most of the young die because they can’t feed and it takes many years for things to get back to normal—if ever.’
He was a totally different man when he was talking about his work—gone was the mockery and the hardness. It was very evident that he genuinely cared about wildlife. She relaxed and smiled. ‘You’re very passionate about your work, Mr Storm.’
‘It is my one and only interest in life,’ he admitted, and then, with another abrupt change of subject, ‘I was actually suprised to hear Ian had got married. I thought he was an equally earnest young man, intent only on furthering his career. When I first met him a couple of years ago there wasn’t even a girl on the scene. He mentioned to me then about coming out here.’
Julie smiled faintly, uncomfortably. ‘It did happen rather suddenly.’
‘He seemed very sure that you would come with him. Did you take much persuading?’ His deep blue eyes were watchful on hers and Julie shifted uneasily. The heat was getting to her; there wasn’t even a breeze to counteract the sun’s intensity. It was high overhead and she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything since breakfast. She had flown the six hundred miles from Ecuador to the island of Baltra, and then taken the ferry here to Santa Cruz, and now she was both hungry and thirsty and didn’t really want to stand talking to Cameron Storm.
‘I didn’t actually jump at it,’ she admitted. But that had only been because of the deception. Otherwise it had come at a perfect time.
‘Because you didn’t want to give up your job?’
Julie shook her head. ‘Actually, I’m between jobs; I was made redundant a few months ago.’
‘So it was loyalty to your husband?’ There was a cynical tone to his voice now.
‘Of course,’ she snapped.
‘But you don’t share his interest in ecology?’
‘No. Does it matter?’
His mouth twisted. ‘Not so long as you don’t whinge all the time. This is hardly the place for someone who…’
Julie heard no more. His words receded and were lost as the heat pounded in her head. Everything began to spin, round and round, faster and faster, until finally she lost her balance.
JULIE felt herself being held against a hard, masculine body by arms that were strong and supportive, and yet surprisingly gentle. She was led to a canvas chair in the shade and a glass of water pushed into her hand.
She took a long, much needed drink and immediately her glass was refilled. ‘I shouldn’t have kept you out in the sun,’ Cameron said. ‘I’m used to it; I forget. It is easy to become dehydrated. You must drink plenty of liquids and take salt tablets if necessary.