A Mistletoe Proposal (3 page)

‘I'm going, I'm going.'

He departed quickly. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, this was no time to argue. For some reason, she was ready to do murder. It was unfair, but there was no understanding women.

From Pippa's window, a curve in the building made the front door visible. She stood there watching until she saw him get into his car. Then she turned and glared at the photograph of her grandparents on the sideboard.

‘All right, all right. I behaved terribly. He came to return my things and I was rude to him. I didn't even thank him. Why?
Why?
I don't know why, but I was suddenly furious with him. How dare he see me naked! Yes, I know it wasn't his fault; you don't have to say it. But you should have seen the look on his face when he saw me on display. He didn't know whether to fancy me or despise me, and I could strangle him for it. Grandpa, stop laughing! It's not funny. Well, all right. Maybe just a bit. Oh, to blazes with him!'

Down below, Roscoe took a quick glance up, just in time to see her at the window before she backed off. He sat in his car for a moment, pondering.

He'd gained only a brief glimpse inside her bedroom, just enough to see a double bed and observe that it was neatly made and unused. He'd barely registered this but now it came back to him with all its implications.

So she really had refused him, which meant she was a lady of discrimination and taste as well as beauty and glowering temper. Excellent.

Later that night, before going to bed, he went online and looked up Mata Hari:

Hmm!
he thought.

It was a word that occurred to him often in connection with Pippa. With every passing moment he became more convinced that she would fit his plans perfectly.

 

The two men regarded each other over the desk.

‘Not again!' David Farley said in exasperation. ‘Didn't he promise to reform last time?'

‘And the time before,' Roscoe sighed. ‘Charlie's not really a criminal, he just gets carried away by youthful high spirits.'

‘That's your mother talking.'

‘I'm afraid so.'

‘Why can't she face the truth about Charlie?'

‘Because she doesn't want to,' Roscoe said bluntly. ‘He looks exactly like our father, and since Dad died fifteen years ago she's built everything on Charlie.'

The door opened and Roscoe tensed, but it was only a young woman with a tea tray.

‘Thanks,' David Farley said gratefully.

He was a burly man in his late forties with a pleasant face and a kindly, slightly dull manner. He cultivated that dullness, knowing how useful it could be to conceal his powerful mind until the last moment. Now he poured tea with the casual skill of a waiter.

‘Has your mother ever come to terms with the fact that your father committed suicide?' he asked carefully.

Roscoe shook his head. ‘She won't admit it. The official story was that the car crash was an accident, and we stuck to that to discourage gossip. Now I think she's convinced herself that it really was an accident. A suicide would have been a rejection of her, you see.'

‘Of all of you,' David ventured to say. He'd known Roscoe for years, right back to the time he'd been a young man who admired and loved his father. He too had suffered, but David doubted anyone had ever considered this.

Now, much as he'd expected, Roscoe shrugged aside the suggestion that he actually had feelings and hurried to say, ‘If I can pull Charlie through this without a disaster I can get him onto the straight and narrow and stop her being hurt.'

‘Do you know how often I've heard you say that?' David demanded. ‘And it never works because Charlie knows he can always rely on you to rescue him from trouble. Just for once, don't save him. Then he'll learn his lesson.'

‘He'll also end up with a criminal record, and my mother will have a broken heart,' Roscoe said harshly. ‘Forget it. There has to be a way to deal with this, and I know what it is. It's important to put the right person on the case.'

‘I shall naturally deal with this myself—'

‘Of course, but you'll need a good assistant. I suggest Miss Philippa Jenson.'

‘You know her?'

‘I met her yesterday and was much impressed by her qualities,' Roscoe declared in a carefully colourless voice. ‘I want
you to assign her to Charlie with instructions to give him her full attention.'

‘I can give Pippa this case, but I can't take her off other cases. She's much in demand. Don't be fooled by her looks. She's terrifyingly bright and one of the best in the business. She qualified with some of the highest marks that have ever been seen, and several firms were after her. I got her by playing on her sympathies. She did her pupillage here and I managed to persuade her that she owed me something.'

‘So she really is qualified? She looks so young.'

‘She's twenty-seven and already becoming well known in the profession. This lady is no mere assistant, but a formidable legal brain.'

The last three words affected Roscoe strangely. The world vanished, leaving only a young, perfect female body, glowing with life and vigour, dainty waist, generous breasts partly hidden by the luscious hair that tumbled about them, beautiful face glaring at him with disdain.

A formidable legal brain!

‘What…what did you say?' he asked with an effort.

‘Are you all right?'

The vision vanished. He was back in the prosaic offices of Farley & Son, facing David Farley across a prosaic desk, drinking a prosaic cup of tea towards the end of a prosaic afternoon.

‘I'm fine,' he said quickly. ‘I just need to settle things with Miss Jenson. Can I see her?'

‘She's in court this afternoon, unless perhaps she's returned. Hang on.' He seized the phone, which had rung. ‘Pippa! Speak of the devil! How did it go?… Good…good. So Renton's pleased. You made his enemies sorry they were born, eh? I knew you would. Look, could you hurry back? I've got a new client waiting for you. Apparently you already—'

He checked, alerted by Roscoe's violent shake of the head.
‘You're already known to him by repute,' he amended hastily. ‘See you in a minute.'

Hanging up, he stared, puzzled. ‘Why didn't you want me to say you'd already met?'

‘Best not. Start from scratch,' Roscoe said. Inwardly, he was musing about the name Renton, which he'd glimpsed on the papers he delivered last night, plus a mountain of figures.

‘So she has a very satisfied client?' he mused.

‘One of many. Lee Renton is a big man in the entertainment field, and getting bigger. There were some grim accusations hurled at him by someone who'd hoped to take advantage of him, and failed. Financial stuff, all lies. I knew Pippa would nail it.'

‘So her adversary
is
sorry he was born?' Roscoe queried.

‘Nasty character, up to every trick. But then, so is she. Great on detail, reads each paper through thoroughly. Nothing escapes her. She'll be here in a moment. The court is just around the corner.'

‘Solicitors don't usually appear in court, do they? I thought that was the role of barristers.'

‘The old division still exists,' David agreed, nodding, ‘but its lines are getting blurred. These days, solicitors can act as advocates more often than in the past, and when they're as good as Miss Jenson we encourage it. You've made a good choice.'

‘Yes,' Roscoe murmured. ‘I have.'

‘Luckily for you, she's a workaholic or she might be reluctant to add to her workload so close to Christmas.'

‘Close to Christmas? It's only November.'

‘Most people start planning their schedule now so that they can grab some extra days off when the time comes. Pippa does the opposite, comes in earlier, works later. The nearer to Christmas it gets, the more of a workaholic she becomes.
I could understand it if she was alone, but she's got plenty of family. It's as if she's trying to avoid Christmas altogether.'

‘You make her sound like Scrooge.'

David grinned. ‘Well, I think I really have detected a touch of “Bah! Humbug!” in her manner.'

His phone rang. He answered it and made a face. ‘Don't send him in or I'll never get rid of him. I'll come out there.' Rising, he said, ‘Stay there and I'll be back in a minute.' He hurried out.

While waiting, Roscoe went to stand by the window, looking down on a part of London that spoke of wealth and manipulation, people in control, sophistication—rather like one aspect of Pippa Jenson. But not all of her, he thought, remembering the unselfconscious way he'd seen her joking with the headstone yesterday.

The door opened. Somebody flew into the room, speaking breathlessly. ‘Oh, my, what a day! But it was worth everything to see the look on Blakely's face when I had all the figures—'

She stopped as Roscoe turned from the window.

‘Good afternoon, Miss Jenson,' he said.

F
OR
a moment Pippa's face was full of shock. ‘You,' she murmured.

Then shock was swiftly replaced by a smile. ‘So prayers do get answered after all,' she said.

‘I'm the answer to your prayers?' he queried. ‘Now that I wasn't expecting.'

‘Meeting you again is the answer to prayer,' she said. ‘It gives me the chance to say thank you, otherwise I'd have had to search for you all over London. You came to my rescue three times last night—towing me to the garage, taking me home, bringing my papers over—and then I was rotten to you. I can't forgive myself.'

‘No, that's my job,' he agreed. ‘Let's forget it now.'

‘That's kinder than I deserve. When I think—'

The door opened. It was David with the man he'd been trying to get rid of, and who was now talking nineteen to the dozen, causing David to make a face of resignation.

‘We're in the way,' Roscoe said. ‘Let's have a bite to eat. Cavelli's is very good, and it's nearby.'

‘Great. I'm famished.'

Cavelli's was a small restaurant over the road, just opening for the early evening. They found a table by the window.

‘I'd toast you in champagne,' Roscoe said, ‘but I'm driving. What about you?'

‘I'm afraid my car's still on the sick list. I came in by taxi.'

‘Champagne, then.'

‘Not on my own. What I'm really dying for is a cup of tea.'

He placed the order and sat regarding her for a moment. Her hair was pinned back again, as he'd first seen it, but the rich honey colour still had a luxuriant appearance. She was dressed for business in a dark blue trouser suit of decidedly mannish cut. But if she thought for a moment that it masked her vibrant sexual allure, she was deceiving herself, Roscoe thought.

He pulled himself together. This was a time for business. The ‘other' Pippa, the one he'd seen last night, must be firmly banished. He did his best to achieve that, but it was hard when all around them people were turning to look at her in admiration.

They toasted each other in hot tea, and Pippa sighed theatrically with relief.

‘You don't know what I owe you,' she said. ‘Those papers won the case for me. Without them, it would have been a disaster.'

‘Yes, you couldn't have made Frank Blakely sorry he was born, which I gather you did.'

She gave a triumphant chuckle. ‘I reported the figures, he disputed them, I produced the papers that proved them, he demanded to know how I came by those papers, I said my lips were sealed—'

‘That sounds a bit dodgy,' Roscoe said, grinning, pleased.

‘Do you mind?' she demanded, mock-offended. ‘I am not “a bit dodgy”.'

‘I beg your pardon—'

‘I'm
very
dodgy—when I have to be. It depends on the
client. Some need more dodginess than others. Some don't need any.' She added wickedly, ‘They're the boring ones.'

‘I see you believe in adjusting to their requirements,' he said appreciatively.

‘That's right. Ready for anything.' She chuckled. ‘It makes life interesting.'

‘Miss Jenson—'

‘Please, I think we've passed the point where you could call me Pippa.'

She didn't add,
After the way you saw me
, but she didn't need to.

‘Pippa—I'm sorry if I embarrassed you last night. I only wanted to return your property.'

‘It wasn't your fault. It was just unlucky that you turned up…well…at that moment.'

‘He seemed to feel very strongly about you.'

She sighed. ‘He's a nice boy but he can't understand that I don't feel the same way. We went out for a while, had some fun, but there was nothing in it beyond that.'

‘Not on your side, but surely his feelings were involved?'

For a moment Roscoe fancied a faint withered look came over Pippa's face.

‘And if it had been the other way around, do you think he'd have cared about my feelings?' she asked quietly.

‘Perhaps. He seemed to have really strong emotions about you.'

The look vanished so fast he couldn't be sure he'd seen it. ‘Life's a merry-go-round.' She shrugged. ‘You have to look forward to the ups but always be ready for more downs.'

‘So there's nobody special in your life at the moment? Or are there a dozen like him ready to spring out like last night?'

‘Possibly. I don't keep count. Look, I just wanted to
apologise for the way I flew at you. After what you did for me, you deserved better. Today was a triumph. I had two job offers as I was leaving the court, and without those papers I'd have got nowhere. So I owe you, big time. I meant what I said. I'd have hunted you down through all London to tell you that.'

‘And if I hadn't known exactly where to find you, I'd have hunted you down too. I have a job that only you can do.'

‘Are you the client David mentioned?'

‘That's right.'

‘Ah, I begin to see. You want someone good with figures, right?'

‘Among other things,' he said carefully. ‘The case I want you to take concerns my younger brother, Charlie. He's not a bad lad, but he's a bit irresponsible and he's got into bad company.'

‘How old is he?'

‘Twenty-four, and not very mature. If he was anyone else I'd say he needed to be taught a lesson, but that—' he hesitated before finishing stiffly ‘—that would cause me a certain amount of difficulty.'

‘You couldn't afford to be connected with a convict?' she hazarded.

‘Something like that.'

‘Mr Havering—'

‘Call me Roscoe. After all, what you said about me calling you Pippa—well, it works both ways, doesn't it?'

For a moment the naked nymph danced between them and was gone, firmly banished on both sides.

‘Roscoe, if I'm to help you I need full information. I can't work in the dark.'

‘I'm a stockbroker. I have clients who depend on me, who need to be able to trust me. I can't afford to let anything damage my reputation.'

His voice was harsh, as though he'd retreated behind steel bars. But the next moment the bars collapsed and he said roughly, ‘Hell, no! You'd better know the real reason. If anything happens to Charlie, it would break my mother's heart. He's all she lives for, and her health is frail. She's been in a bad way ever since my father died, fifteen years ago. At all costs I want to save her from more suffering.'

He spoke as though the words were tortured from him, and she could only guess what it cost this stockbroker to allow a chink in his confident facade and reveal his emotions. Now she began to like him.

‘Why is he in trouble?' she asked gently.

‘He went out with his friends, had too much to drink. Some of them broke into a shop at night and got caught. The shopkeeper thinks he was one of them.'

‘What does Charlie say?'

‘Sometimes he says he wasn't, sometimes he hints he might have been. It's almost as though he didn't know. I don't think he was entirely sober that night.'

Pippa frowned. This sounded more like a teenager than a young man of twenty-four.

‘Do you have any other brothers or sisters?' she asked.

‘None.'

‘Aunts, uncles?'

‘None.'

‘Wife? Children? Didn't you mention having a daughter?'

‘No, I said
if
you were my daughter I'd give you a piece of my mind.'

‘Ah, yes.' She smiled. ‘I remember.'

‘That'll teach me not to judge people on short acquaintance, won't it? Anyway, I have neither wife nor children.'

‘So, apart from your mother, you're Charlie's only relative. You must virtually have been his father.'

He grimaced. ‘Not a very successful one. I've always been so afraid of making a mess of it that I…made a mess of it.'

Pippa nodded. ‘The worst mistakes are sometimes made by people who are desperately trying to avoid mistakes,' she said sympathetically.

Relief settled over him at her understanding.

‘Exactly. Long ago, I promised my mother I'd take care of Charlie, make sure he grew up strong and successful, but I seem to have let her down. I can't bear to let her down again.'

It felt strange to hear this powerful man blaming himself for failure. Evidently, there was more to him than had first appeared.

‘Does he have a job?'

‘He works in my office. He's bright. He's got a terrific memory, and if we can get him safely through this he has a great future.'

‘Has he been in trouble with the police before?'

‘He's skirted trouble but never actually been charged with anything. This will be his first time in court.'

She wondered what strings he'd had to pull to achieve that, but was too tactful to ask. That could come later.

‘Was anyone injured?' she asked.

‘Nobody. The shop owner arrived while there were several of them there. They escaped, he gave chase and got close enough to see them just as they reached Charlie. He began yelling at them, which attracted the attention of two policemen coming out of the local station, and they all got arrested.

‘The owner insists Charlie was actually in the shop with the others, although I don't see how he can be sure. He must have just seen a few figures in the gloom.'

‘What about the others? Haven't they confirmed that he wasn't in the shop?'

‘No, but neither do they say he was. They hum and haw
and say they can't remember. They were really drunk, so that might even be true. But the owner insists that he was there and is pressing charges.'

She considered. ‘Any damage?'

‘None. They managed to trick their way in electronically.'

‘So the worst he might face is a fine. But he'd have a criminal record that would make his life difficult in the future.'

‘It's the future I'm worried about. They're a bad crowd, and they're not going to stop. It will get worse and worse and he'll end up in jail. I've got to get him away from that bunch.'

‘Doesn't he begin to see that they're bad for him if this is the result?'

‘Charlie?' Roscoe's voice was scathing. ‘He doesn't see the danger. So what if he's convicted for something he didn't do? He'll just pay the fine and laugh his way home. There's a girl in this crowd who's gained a lot of influence over him. Her name's Ginevra. He's dazzled by her, and I think she gets her fun by seeing what she can provoke him into doing.'

Pippa frowned. ‘You mean he's infatuated by her. There's not a lot I can do about that.'

‘But there is. You can break her hold over him. Instead of being dazzled by her, he could be dazzled by you. He's easily led, and if Ginevra can lead him into danger you could lead him into safety.'

‘And suppose I can't get that kind of influence over him?'

‘Of course you can. You're beautiful, you've got charm, you can tease him until he doesn't know whether he's coming or going. If you really set your mind to it you can get him under your thumb and make him safe. I know you can do it. I've known you were the perfect person ever since we met and I learned who you worked for.'

So carried away did he become, explaining his plan, that he missed the look of mounting outrage in Pippa's eyes.

‘I hope I've misunderstood you,' she said at last. ‘You seem to be saying that you want me to be a…well…'

‘A mentor.'

‘A mentor? That's what you call it?'

‘You point the way to the straight and narrow and he follows you because he's under your spell.'

‘Ros— Mr Havering, just what kind of a fool do you take me for? I know what you want me to be and it isn't a mentor.'

‘A nanny?'

The discovery of what he really expected from her was making her temper boil again. ‘Be careful,' she warned him. ‘Be very,
very
careful.'

‘I may have explained it badly—'

‘On the contrary; you've explained it so perfectly that I can follow your exact thought processes. For instance, when did you decide that you wanted me for this job? I'll bet it was last night when you arrived at my home. One look at me and you said to yourself, “She's ideal. Good shape. Handy with her fists and no morals”. Admit it. You don't want a lawyer, you want a floozie.'

‘No, I want a lawyer, but I can't deny that your looks play a part.'

‘So you admit I look like a floozie?'

‘I didn't say that,' he said sharply. ‘Will you stop interrogating me as if I were a prisoner in the dock?'

‘Just demonstrating my legal skills which, according to you, are what you're interested in. Tell the court, Mr Havering, exactly when did Miss Jenson first attract your attention? Was it when she was naked, or several hours earlier when you saw her in the graveyard? You saw her swapping jokes with a
headstone and decided she was mad. Naked
and
mad! That's a really impressive legal qualification.'

He took a long breath and replied in a slightly forced manner. ‘No, I too sometimes talk to the headstone when I visit my fa— Never mind that. I didn't know we were going to meet. It was pure chance that your—that Miss Jenson's car broke down, we got talking and she told me where she worked. That firm has handled legal work for me before and I was planning to approach them about Charlie. I saw that she would be the ideal person to take his case.'

‘You decided at that moment, knowing nothing about her legal skills? But of course those weren't the skills that counted, were they? What mattered was the fact that she was a vulgar little piece—'

‘I never—'

‘A ditzy blonde with curves in the right places, who could be counted on to seduce your brother—'

‘I'm not asking you to—'