The Yuletide Engagement & A Yuletide Seduction (7 page)

She had worked for Delacorte, Delacorte and Delacorte since leaving school at eighteen, had been steadily promoted through the firm, until she'd become George's personal secretary four years ago. It was a job she greatly enjoyed. At least, she had. The last couple of months, with the chance of bumping into Gareth around every corner, hadn't been quite so much fun. And after this evening it promised to get worse!

Toby frowned. “I don't think you need to do anything drastic just yet, Ellie,” he cautioned. “Give Patrick a bit more time to resolve the situation, hmm?”

She gave a wry smile. “You have great confidence in your employer!”

Her brother gave a rueful shrug. “I've never seen Patrick at the losing end of a fight yet.”

No, she could believe that; Patrick had the air of a man completely confident in his own abilities. But this situation was too personal, too close to home, to be dealt with like the business deals he was usually involved with.

“Hello, Ellie,” Sarah greeted her brightly, looking exceptionally beautiful in the green dress she had bought earlier that afternoon. “You don't happen to have seen my fiancé about anywhere, do you?” she added ruefully.

Ellie felt the colour drain from her cheeks. “Er—”

“He was outside talking to Patrick when I last saw him.” Toby was the one to answer. “I'm Ellie's brother Toby, by the way,” he added lightly, holding out his hand in friendly greeting.

“Sarah Delacorte.” She gave Toby a considering look as she shook his hand. “Yes, I can see the likeness.” She smiled warmly. “You work with Patrick, don't you?”

“For him, actually,” Toby corrected dryly.

Sarah's smile widened. “Of course. Well, it's very nice to meet you,” she added sincerely. “I hope you'll both excuse me while I go and find Gareth?”

Ellie looked up impatiently at Toby once they were alone. “Shouldn't you go and warn Patrick?”

Her brother shrugged unconcernedly. “One thing I've learnt from working for Patrick—he's quite capable of taking care of himself. Now, let's go and get some food; I'm starving!” With his hand under her elbow he guided her through to the dining room.

Toby had learnt something else from working for Patrick, Ellie realized: how to take charge of a situation with the same arrogance!

Somewhere along the way, she realised dazedly as she put food on her plate without even noticing what she had chosen, her little brother had grown up…

She had spent so long thinking of him as her younger brother, that she just hadn't noticed him grow into a man almost as confident as the one he worked for.

He was a handsome man too, Ellie had to acknowledge as a girl of about twenty who stood helping herself to the buffet—probably yet another relative of Patrick's—gave him more than a cursory glance from beneath lowered dark lashes.

At twenty-six and over six feet tall, with short dark hair, laughing blue eyes, a pleasantly handsome face and a healthily fit body from his visits to the gym several times a week, her brother wasn't the boy she had always
thought him; he was a man who was obviously attractive to women.

When had that happened? She—

“You aren't eating, Ellie.”

She turned sharply to find Patrick standing at her side, and quickly checked his face for signs of a fight. Thankfully she didn't find any.

“How was I supposed to eat when for all I knew you might have been lying unconscious in the hallway?” she came back, her sharpness due to her worry concerning his welfare.

Like a mother when her child came back to her unharmed after doing something she considered dangerous? Or like a woman worried about the man she loved…?

Patrick's reply didn't exactly calm her impatient anger. “Not very likely,” he drawled confidently.

Ellie's eyes sparkled angrily. “That's okay for you to say, but—”

“Ellie!” Toby cut in laughingly. “I told you that Patrick is more than capable of taking care of himself.”

She glared at them both—Toby laughing, Patrick amused, one dark brow raised mockingly. “Men!” she finally muttered frustratedly, turning away to pile more food haphazardly onto her plate.

“Are you sure you're going to eat all that?” Patrick murmured close beside her. “Maybe we should just share the plate,” he added teasingly.

Ellie turned to find that she and Patrick were alone. Toby had wandered off, was now standing across the dining room chatting to the dark-haired girl who had given him such an admiring look a few minutes ago. He hadn't wasted much time!

She looked up at Patrick, some of her anger abating
in the face of his teasing look. “I had visions of a brawl in the hallway,” she admitted ruefully.

He shrugged. “I very rarely resort to violence, Ellie. Although in Davies's case,” he added hardly, his expression becoming grim, “I could be willing to make an exception. As it is, I've made it very clear what I will do to him if he so much as comes near you again, let alone touches you.”

Ellie raised dark brows. “Oh?”

Patrick nodded abruptly. “I think we need to discuss your continued involvement in all this.”

Ellie felt her heart stop for a moment. What did he mean? Was he suggesting that it was no longer necessary for her to be involved?

She might have decided minutes ago that she needed to rethink her life, to perhaps consider giving up her position at Delacorte, Delacorte and Delacorte as a way of avoiding accidentally bumping into Gareth any more. But she hadn't included not seeing Patrick any more in that rethinking… The very thought of that filled her with desolation.

A week ago Patrick had just been her brother Toby's boss—a man she had once shared an embarrassing experience with—but he was now so much more than that. How much more she still didn't want to admit to herself. She just knew she couldn't bear the thought of not seeing Patrick again!

Her mouth tightened. “You can manage without me now—is that it?” She was waspish in her disappointment.

“I didn't say that.” Patrick gave her a reproving look. “I just think that it might be better for you—”

“I'll decide what's best for me, if you don't mind,”
Ellie told him shortly. “And while I can still be of any help in preventing Sarah making a terrible mistake I intend staying very much in Gareth's face!” she announced firmly—in complete contradiction of what she had decided minutes ago!

But the only way she could continue to see Patrick was to remain a thorn in Gareth's side.

And she very much wanted to continue seeing Patrick…

“I
'M SORRY,
how did you say Toby was getting home?” Ellie yawned tiredly as Patrick drove her home a couple of hours later.

He shrugged dismissively. “Someone he met at the party is driving him back later, I believe.”

Ellie would take a bet on it being that pretty dark-haired girl who had looked at him so interestedly as they stood at the buffet table; she certainly hadn't seen much of her brother during the rest of the evening.

Oh, well, good luck to him, Ellie thought slightly enviously. She had spent the whole evening with Patrick glued to her side—but for completely the wrong reason!

“I felt so sorry for George and Mary this evening.” She sighed heavily. The older couple's unhappiness at their daughter's choice of future husband had been perfectly obvious to Ellie as they'd looked at Sarah so wistfully. She frowned. “Does Sarah really have no idea how they feel about Gareth?”

“George has voiced his—reservations concerning the speed of the engagement.” Patrick grimaced. “Anything else is sure to just make her all the more determined to have her own way.”

Ellie turned to smile at him in the semi-darkness of
the illuminated streets they were driving through. “Runs in the family, does it?” she teased.

He gave a slight smile. “Something like that.” She couldn't believe it. They were certainly an attractive family, but stubbornness seemed to be one of their less endearing characteristics.

“Gareth is going to cling like a leech,” Ellie warned heavily.

Patrick's mouth tightened. “I agree. He's a parasite.”

How embarrassing it was for her that she had been the previous woman taken in by Gareth's charm! In fact, she would rather not talk about Gareth at all.

“So what's the next move?” she prompted briskly.

“Dinner on Tuesday, I thought,” Patrick came back lightly.

Ellie turned to him frowningly. “What's happening on Tuesday evening?”

“I just said—dinner,” he dismissed.

“Yes, but—what's it for?”

He shot her a sideways glance. “So we don't starve?”

“Yes, but—”

“You're repeating yourself again, Ellie,” he mused teasingly. “I'm inviting you out to dinner on Tuesday evening,” he explained lightly.

Ellie's frown deepened. “But—”

“Ellie, will you or will you not have dinner with me on Tuesday evening?” Patrick cut in patiently.

“Well, of course. I've already told you I'll do everything I can to help—”

“This is dinner with me, Ellie.” He parked the car in the driveway and turned in his seat to look at her. “No
one else. Well…I suppose there will be other people in the restaurant. But they will have nothing to do with us. Have I made myself clear now?”

If she understood this correctly, Patrick had just invited her out on a date!

He gave a smile at her perplexed expression. “I believe it's usual to invite your escort in for coffee at the end of the evening.”

Ellie was still so dazed by his invitation out to dinner on Tuesday that she did ask him in, getting out of the car to unlock the front door of the house and lead the way in to the kitchen.

“Leave that for a minute,” Patrick murmured softly, and he took the coffee pot out of her hand, turning her to face him. “I want to see the bruises on your arms,” he told her grimly as he removed the wrap from her shoulders.

She felt the colour warm her cheeks as he turned the sleeves back on her dress. There was a huge thumb-print-size bruise on the front of each arm, one already turning a sickly yellow, the new one a blue-black. Ellie stood still as Patrick walked around to look at the back of her arm, hearing the angry hiss that followed.

“I should have hit him while I had the chance,” Patrick snapped angrily. “Damn it—I've a good mind to go back to the party right now and hit him anyway!” he bit out harshly.

Ellie shook her head as she pulled the sleeves back down over her arms. “He really isn't important.”

“No, he isn't,” Patrick agreed abruptly as he moved to stand beside her, his eyes gleaming metallic grey. “But I have no intention of just standing by while he hurts you.”

She gave a self-derisive laugh. “You're a little late in the day to prevent him doing that!”

Patrick stepped back, watching her with hooded eyes as she prepared the coffee. “Did you love him very much?”

“Not at all,” she answered with complete honesty. “Oh, I may have thought I did for a while. But I was just—flattered by his attention, I suppose. Believe it or not, he can be very charming when he wants to be.” Besides, she already knew that the way Patrick made her feel, just by being in the same room as her, was far deeper than anything she might have thought she felt for Gareth!

“I'm sure he can,” Patrick dismissed scathingly.

“No—really.” She gave a self-conscious laugh.

It was strangely intimate in the quiet of the kitchen—the muted light under the kitchen cupboards the only illumination, the only sound the drip, drip of the coffee percolator.

Patrick's eyes were mesmerizing now as he looked down at her, obliquely black, ringed with silver. “Dinner on Tuesday?” he prompted huskily.

“Er—Well—Yes,” she agreed awkwardly, still unsure as to the reason for his invitation. “Although—”

“Just a yes will do,” Patrick assured her mockingly, his arms moving lightly about her waist. “I would like to see you relaxed and enjoying yourself for a change,” he added frowningly.

If he thought she was going to be relaxed in his company then he was mistaken! Although she
would
enjoy spending the evening with him. If she knew the reason for it…

But he was standing so close now she couldn't even
think straight, let alone try to rationalise his dinner invitation. Her heart was beating erratically, her breathing shallow as she looked up into the handsome ruggedness of his face.

“You look extremely lovely tonight, Ellie,” he told her huskily.

“You said that earlier,” she reminded him breathlessly.

He smiled, his eyes crinkling warmly at the corners. “Some things need to be repeated.” His hands linked at the base of her spine and he moulded her body lightly against his, his head bending slightly as his lips moved teasingly across hers.

She had forgotten to breathe again, felt as if time itself were standing still. Only her hands resting on the broadness of Patrick's shoulders prevented her from actually falling down.

“You have a very kissable mouth, Ellie Fairfax,” Patrick murmured huskily as he took little sips from her lips. “A very sensuous neck,” he whispered as his lips moved down the silky column of her throat. “Divine breasts—”

“I think perhaps you should stop there, Patrick, don't you?” Ellie moved awkwardly in his arms, very aware of the sudden pertness of those “divine breasts”, the nipples hard against the silky material of her dress.

He straightened, his head tilted to one side as he regarded her quizzically. “Why do I get the impression you're an innocent?” he murmured ruefully.

“Probably because I am!” Ellie admitted uncomfortably as she extricated herself from his arms, at the same time looking up at him irritably. “There's nothing wrong with that,” she added sharply.

Patrick's smile deepened. “Did I say there was?”

“You looked as if there was,” she snapped defensively.

He shook his head, still smiling. “I don't think so, Ellie.”

Well…okay, maybe he hadn't. But he certainly seemed surprised to meet a twenty-seven-year-old virgin! Maybe it
was
odd at that; Ellie really wouldn't know. It wasn't something she had ever discussed with any of the women she worked with.

She had been out with several boys of her own age up to the age of nineteen, but after her parents had died she had been too busy trying to keep a home for Toby and herself—hadn't really had much time to think about relationships. Which was probably the reason she had fallen for Gareth's charm six months ago!

But in the face of Patrick's sophistication, his obvious experience when it came to women, she must seem rather gauche and naïve.

Well, tough! She had no intention of pretending an experience she just didn't have. And that included appearing sophisticated in the face of Patrick's appreciative comments on her body!

“Coffee, Ellie,” he reminded her lightly, moving to sit down at the kitchen table.

“Of course.” She moved economically about the kitchen, getting out the cups, cream and sugar, all the time avoiding Patrick's gaze, but knowing it followed her every movement.

“Did Davies—? Steady,” Patrick soothed as a spoon landed on the floor with a clatter when Ellie just dropped it.

She bent to pick it up, her face averted so that he shouldn't see the heated colour in her cheeks.

“Ellie?”

Just that. Her name. Nothing else. But it was said compellingly enough for Ellie to know he wanted her to look across at him. And she did exactly that. The steadiness of his gaze as he looked at her wordlessly was as forceful as Ellie had known it would be.

“What do you want to know, Patrick?” she snapped impatiently, picking up the tray of coffee things only to put it down noisily on the kitchen table. “Whether Gareth and I came close to being lovers?” she bit out sarcastically. “What business is it of yours if we did?” she added challengingly, blue eyes bright with anger as she glared down at him.

“Black, no sugar,” he told her economically. “My preference for coffee,” he explained mildly at her blank look.

“Oh. Fine,” she muttered, sitting down abruptly to concentrate all her attention on pouring the coffee. She didn't want to think about anything else!

“You're quite right, Ellie,” Patrick began softly, “it is none of my business just how—intimate your relationship was with Davies. Except…”

She looked up sharply. “Yes?”

His gaze was intense on the paleness of her face. “Did he hurt you, Ellie?”

She felt the blood drain completely from her cheeks, her hand shook as she held the coffee pot poised over one of the cups.

“Ellie?”

She drew in a deep breath, swallowed hard, willing herself to carry on pouring the coffee without spilling it. No, Gareth hadn't hurt her, he had humiliated her. But it wasn't an incident she particularly wanted to relate
to Patrick. It was the reason she knew she had meant absolutely nothing to Gareth—the reason she knew what sort of man he really was…

She gave an over-bright smile, her gaze not quite meeting Patrick's as she handed him his cup of coffee. “It isn't important, Patrick,” she dismissed lightly. “We're all agreed that he isn't a nice person.”

Patrick reached out, his hand covering hers as it rested on the tabletop. “Tell me what happened,” he encouraged huskily.

She closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out the memory of that last time she had been with Gareth but at the same time knowing that she couldn't.

 

G
ARETH
called into her office as she was finishing work, suggesting that he drive her home. Things had been rather strained between them the last couple of weeks—forgotten telephone calls, cancelled dates—and she had welcomed this chance to talk to him alone for a while.

Toby was still at work when they arrived back at the house, and almost before Ellie and Gareth were in the door, it seemed, Gareth began to kiss her. But as the kiss deepened, with Gareth's hands roaming more freely over her body than ever before, Ellie began to pull away from him.

“Don't,” she told him frowningly, at the same time pushing ineffectually at his painful hold about her waist.

He smiled then—a smile like no other Ellie had seen him give, a smile so scornful it made her cringe. “That's always been the trouble with you, Ellie,” he told her scathingly as he released her so abruptly she staggered
slightly. “Maybe if you hadn't been so frigid I wouldn't have needed to find someone else. As it is…”

Ellie stared at him. She had suspected something; of course she had. Gareth had been far too elusive these last two weeks for her not to have realised that something had gone seriously wrong with their relationship.

Gareth raised blond brows at her stricken expression. “Of course, it isn't too late,” he drawled suggestively. “I could still be persuaded into continuing our relationship. If you were to—”

“You conceited—!” Ellie broke off angrily, glaring up at him disgustedly. “Let me get this right, Gareth,” she said evenly, eyes narrowed now. “If I'll agree to go to bed with you then you'll consider breaking off your other—relationship?”

The fact that he had another relationship had come as a complete shock to her. But she would think about that later. Once Gareth had left. Because he
was
leaving. Soon!

He smiled. “Well, I wouldn't go quite that far,” he mocked.

Her eyes widened. “You're suggesting that I become part of some harem?”

“Of course not, Ellie.” He chuckled. “If everything goes according to plan, I should be getting married soon. But that's no reason for us to break off our relationship. If things were different between us,” he added pointedly.

If everything went according to plan! What plan?

She swallowed hard. “If the two of us were lovers, you mean?” she clarified icily.

Gareth shrugged. “Well, it would hardly be worth the risk otherwise, now, would it?”

“Get out,” Ellie told him shakily, her hand on the table
beside her for support; her legs felt so shaky she thought she might fall over otherwise.

“Now, Ellie, there's no reason to be like that,” he cajoled huskily, taking a step towards her.

She straightened, her chin raised challengingly. “I said, get out, Gareth, and I meant it. And God help the poor woman you're planning to marry,” she added disgustedly.