In Bed with the Enemy (18 page)

‘Oh, for God’s sake, stop being a pain in the neck, Colin,’ Darcie broke in wearily, her tears forgotten. ‘This is Leon Price. He owns this inn, and could buy us both a thousand times over and still have some change in his pocket.’

 It was odd how money equalled credibility, Leon thought as Colin’s attitude began to change before his very eyes. Was his bank balance a measure of his worth as a man? To a banker, yes, it seemed.

‘Leon Price of development company fame?’ Colin looked slightly bewildered, though definitely impressed. ‘You’re the man who bought the spare block of land next to Darcie’s place from my uncle. I never realized?’

A sense of impending disaster centered in Leon’s diaphragm when he heard Darcie give an astonished gasp. Eyes narrowing, she transferred her gaze from her cousin back to him.

‘The
spare
block of land?’

Mystified, Leon shrugged and spread his hands.

‘The one your father always talked about building a tea room on - I remember him applying for a loan once but I had to turn him down. He had absolutely no business sense. 

Darcie’s ears turned red and helicopters buzzed in her stomach She has a home
,
Colin had said.

But
Leon pulled my home down!

A growl gathered in Darcie’s throat as she locked her gaze on to Leon. ‘Are you saying that dad didn’t sell the house, Colin, only the adjoining block of land?’

‘Of course he did. He never intended to leave here permanently. He was keeping the old place for holidays, and his retirement. He came in to collect one deed, but the second is still in a safety deposit box in the bank.’

‘Was the block paid for? I discovered the bank account had been closed.’

‘Yes, it was. Your father did better out of it than he expected. He transferred the balance to a branch in Sydney just before he died. He didn’t make a will, so everything’s been frozen by the public trustee until the process of probate goes through/’

‘There must be some mistake,’ Leon broke in. ‘I understood I’d bought all of the property.’

Darcie gave an angry, disbelieving snort.

Looking mystified, Colin gazed from one to the other. ‘Am I missing something?’ ‘No, I am.’ Darcie sounded calm and reasonable even to her own ears. ‘Leon pulled down my home and had it carted away, along with everything in it - and is now building his dream home on both blocks.‘

‘But it was there a couple of months ago. I checked it over before I went away.’

Leon drew in a deep breath. ‘I had it demolished.’

She would not have hysterics. She would not shout and scream or stamp her feet. She would behave in a perfectly reasonable manner, and not kill Leon until she’d thought of a way to commit murder and get away with it.

Watched by Leon’s wary eyes and Colin’s mystified ones she dragged a jacket over her sweater and headed for the door.

Neither of the two men had seen her look so flaming mad before.

‘Where are you going?’ Leon dared to called after her.

Her eyes scalded him. ‘To
my
block of land - the one that you
stole
. I’m going to tear down that fancy house you’re building brick by brick and ... and throw it all in the sea. I don’t care if it takes me a month of Sundays.’

‘Stop her,’ Colin said as the door slammed. ‘When she gets riled up she can be totally unreasonable.’

‘She’s
your
cousin.’

‘And she’s
your
wife.’

Leon shrugged, saying with calm practicality, ‘There are no bricks to pull down, and even Darcie can’t tear up a concrete slab single-handed.’

‘I wouldn’t bet on it,’ Colin said glumly.

Taking his phone from his pocket Leon stabbed in a number. ‘Bernie, I want a double check on that block of land I bought at Petrel Point. I’ve now been informed it was on two titles. Yes ... as soon as possible please.’ He stared hard at Colin Channing as soon as he finished his conversation with his lawyer. 

‘There’s something I intend to say to you. Darcie has had a lousy time of it since she’s been back. If you threaten her with the law again I’ll withdraw every cent I’ve got invested in your bank, and let head office know the reason why. Do you understand?’

Colin paled, but whether it was from fear or anger, Leon couldn’t tell. ‘I had no intention of charging Darcie. We may not see eye to eye very often but we grew up together, and I’m very fond of her.’

‘Good, because she might feel she has to turn to you for help.’

‘You can take it as read that I’ll do anything I can to help her.’

Leon’s eyes confronted those of Colin’s. ‘Actually, I’d be happier if you’d find some excuse not to help her. But if she proves to be stubborn, I wouldn’t want her to be without money ... if you catch my drift.’

Colin caught Leon’s drift without any trouble at all. Trying not to smile with the sudden relief he felt, he nodded.

‘And Colin ... ’ he said, as the man turned to leave. ‘That old furniture and stuff that was left at the shack. I had it removed to the storage facilities in town when I demolished the shack. If Darcie asks - which she will eventually, because although her mind works in mysterious ways she always remembers what’s important to her - can you leave me out of it?’

Colin grinned. ‘I’ll tell her where it is - but if she asks me how it got there ...’ He shrugged. ‘I guess I can think of something.’

* * * *

 Leon didn’t go after Darcie. He waited up until midnight, then went to bed and lay there staring into the darkness. He heard her come in an hour later, heard Wee Georgie attack his late evening meal with a noisy slurping sound, then burp loudly as he settled himself into his basket for the night.

Darcie crept into the room she’d occupied before their marriage. The door closed gently, then he heard nothing. She’ll get over it, he told himself, feeling abandoned and slightly sorry for himself.

The next morning she was gone before he woke. He panicked for a moment, then realized she hadn’t taken anything, not even her toothbrush. He sighed with relief.

All she was doing was showing her displeasure by sulking, giving him the deep freeze treatment. He’d take her a red rose. Women liked that sort of thing.

Darcie wasn’t even thinking about Leon at that point. She was in her office arranging her first wedding. She was going through the glossy brochures, working on several variations of weddings within the price range of the couple who were coming to see her later that day. Her intention was to have several plans with different wedding options, all printed out for them to consider.

The adverts had brought in several inquiries and Shirley had made half a dozen appointments whilst she’d been in Perth. It looked as though she’d be busy for some time to come.

She glanced up when Leon came in, and steeling herself successfully against his smile, said frostily. ‘Did you want something?’

He tickled under her chin with a red rose and placed it on the desk in front of her. ‘We need to talk, Darcie.’ 

 When she pushed it aside it tumbled off the desk into a waste paper basket. She didn’t even afford it a second glance. ‘Not now if you don’t mind. I’m busy.’

‘I didn’t know about the land, Darcie.’

She didn’t believe him. Leon was a businessman. He would have checked that the land was free of encumbrances before he’d started building.

‘Oh, for God’s sake.’ Impatience rode his voice. ‘What does it matter? We’re married aren’t we? I’ll simply put the house in joint names.’

‘I don’t want to share it with you, Leon. You tricked me into marriage because you knew you’d stolen my land and that was the only way you’d get to keep it.’

‘I knew no such thing. Besides which, buying it would have been a cheaper option than marriage, in the long term.’

She glared at him. ‘Are you saying I’m expensive?’

‘Stop twisting things, Darcie. You’re no more expensive than any other wife would be.’

Trust him to remind her that he’d bought her ... that she was just an incubator for the future Price dynasty!

She closed her eyes, wishing he’d go away so she didn’t have to see him, so she didn’t have to smell him, so she didn’t have to remember the way his hands touched her body or how he made her feel when his lips brushed against hers, so soft and moist and tempting …

‘Stop it, Leon,’ she hissed, jerking away from him and scrubbing her knuckles across her lips. ‘You think sexual attraction fixes everything.’

His eyes had darkened with remembered pleasure as he gazed at her trembling mouth, which was suffering from acute withdrawal symptoms from the aborted kiss.

‘I missed you last night.’

‘You can go on missing me.’

‘U-huh!’ His eyes filled with amusement. ‘If you think you can ignore what’s going on between us you’re out of your mind. Like Adam and Eve, we’ve eaten of the fruit.’

‘It just so happens that I found the fruit to be rotten. I also have more constraint than Eve.‘

You didn’t have much constraint when you jumped on that bobcat at the site and damaged Leon’s concrete slab yesterday, did you?. 

 
Mind your own business voice. That was yesterday. It’s better than him being the victim of murder isn’t it - my first intention if you recall? Besides - I had second thoughts. It’s not my fault I couldn’t switch the damned thing off in time.

His feelings will be hurt. You know how much store he sets on having a home and family.

 
Guilt gnawed at her innards like a posse of white butterflies attacking a cabbage patch. What right had he to make her feel guilty? He should have stayed in the city where he belonged, not moved to this country town to disrupt everyone’s lives.

His outrageously intimate grin annoyed her. She drew back when he flipped the swinging curve of her hair with his forefinger. ‘One thing I’m sure of, Darcie - you would have made Adam blush. You’re an extremely talented lady.’

‘Oh!’ Feeling the color mount under her skin Darcie glared at him. ‘Why don’t you go and find someone else to annoy. I’ve got work to do.’

‘Georgie and me are going to pack our lunch and take the trail up to the bluff later on. I’m dying to see the view.’

‘Have fun.’ She gazed at the computer screen trying to appear the uncaring and efficient career woman. From now on she’d work for her supper, and there would be no sexual favors.

When he didn’t take the hint and budge from her desk she glanced sharply up at him. ‘Goodbye, Leon.’

‘Why don’t you come with us?’

It would be wonderful up on the bluff today, she thought. There was a large flat rock warmed by the sun where you could sit and dream, and a view down over the trees towards the sea. The wind was charged with ozone and pine resin. You could almost launch yourself from the rock and glide on the air currents like a seagull when the wind was gentle. When it was fierce the foliage hissed and snapped, and the hair was lashed in a stinging, whip-like frenzy about the face. 

Ruefully, she shook her head. ‘I can’t. I have work to do, and clients to see.’ She ignored his grin, her eyes becoming dreamy. ‘This is my first wedding and I want to do it right.‘

‘Second. You arranged ours, remember?’

‘My first
real
wedding. I mean, not a hasty business arrangement.’

He raised an eyebrow at that. ‘Your computer screen tells me it’s very much a business arrangement.’

‘Yes ... well.’ Her smile was sugar laced with arsenic. ‘I really do intend to earn my keep, Leon.’

Uncoiling from the desk, he murmured lazily. ‘
That,
you’ve demonstrated most admirably so far. His fingers brushed against the notice pinned to the door as he walked out. ‘Don’t work too hard, Darcie. You’ve already got everything you need.’

‘
You’ve
got everything
you
need, you mean,’ she murmured, glaring after him. As he moved out of sight she bent to retrieve the rose and held it to her nose to inhale its perfume, her expression regretful as she stared at the empty doorway. ‘Except for a couple of things, Leon ... you no longer have a pad to build your house on ... and you no longer have me in your bed.’

There was satisfaction in successfully arranging her first wedding contract that day. Forgetting her annoyance she hurried off to find Leon and report her success.

She experienced a strong sense of anti-climax to discover the chalet was empty. He obviously hadn’t returned from the bluff.

As she uneasily eyed the mist clinging to the dark heights of the hills, the telephone rang.

‘There’s a call from Bernard Chambers for Mister Price.’

She wondered what Leon’s lawyer wanted. ‘I’ll take it, Shirley. Put him through, please’

‘Ah, Darcie. Is Leon there? I can’t seem to raise him on the mobile.’

‘He’s gone bush walking. Perhaps he’s out of range.’

‘No. The telephone just rings out. He’s probably left it in his office or something. It’s not really urgent. I just thought you’d both like to know that there
was
a mistake made with the land purchase - but the mistake was made by your father in the first place.’

It seemed she’d been too hasty in her judgment of Leon. A shiver ran through her and she made a little humming noise in her throat as she remembered the damaged house pad. ‘Go on.’

‘Application was made by your father to sub-divide the land some time ago into two titles. He signed a declaration at the time, saying the original deeds had been lost before the new titles were issued. Unfortunately, someone made a mistake, and the declaration was never recorded in the appropriate manner. When your father sold the property to Leon, he handed over the original set of deeds.’

‘So Leon thought he was buying the whole of the property?’

‘Leon
did
buy the whole of the property, my dear. It’s a matter of intent.’

‘But my father’s intent was different to that of Leon,’ she argued. ‘If the land was on two titles - how could Leon have bought them both?’ A thought struck her. ‘Was the original deed canceled out by the two new titles?’

‘To all intents and purposes.’