Pride & Consequence Omnibus (26 page)

When Leo made no response her mouth went dry. What if he had changed his mind? What if he no longer cared about his own reputation or felt it was his responsibility, as he had put it, to protect hers?

And then she heard the click as the receiver was suddenly replaced and her heart lurched sickeningly. He
had
changed his mind!

Now what was she going to do?

Ten minutes later she curled herself up into her sofa in a forlorn little ball and then frowned as her front doorbell suddenly rang.

It would be Nigel again, no doubt, she decided wearily, getting up and padding barefoot to the door.

Only it wasn’t Nigel, it was Leo, and as she stepped into her hallway she realised that he was carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses.

‘There’s only one real way in my book an engaged couple should celebrate their commitment to one another,’ Leo told her in a laconic drawl as she stared at him, ‘and it involves privacy and a bed. Preferably a very large bed, and a very long period of privacy, but, since our engagement is not of the committed-for-life variety, this will have to be the alternative...’

As he finished speaking Leo looked at her, and Jodi knew that her face was burning—not with embarrassment or anger, she realised guiltily, but with the heat of the sheer longing his words had conjured up inside her.

‘Of course,’ Leo was suggesting softly, ‘if you would prefer the first option...’

Jodi gave him an indignant look.

‘What I’d prefer,’ she told him, ‘is not to be in this wretched situation at all.’

As she turned away from him Leo wondered what she would say if he told her just how dangerously close he was to picking her up in his arms and taking her somewhere very private and keeping her there until she was so full of the love he wanted to give her that...

That what? he asked himself in mental derision. That she would tell him that she loved him?

‘How did the parents’ meeting go?’ he asked her gently as he opened the champagne and poured them both a glass.

‘Our engagement opened to mixed reviews,’ Jodi told him wryly.

She wasn’t going to tell him that Myra had informed her before she had left that she had decided it was her moral duty to inform the education authority of the situation.

‘It’s only a storm in a teacup.’ Leo told her gently. ‘Six months from now all this will be forgotten.’

That wasn’t what he’d said earlier, Jodi thought, when he’d insisted that the only way to protect her job was for them to be engaged. Jodi bit her lip. Still, in six months’ time Leo might have forgotten her but she would never be able to forget him.

Leo handed Jodi one of the glasses of champagne. Shaking her head, she refused to take it.

‘No, I can’t,’ she told Leo bleakly.

To her relief he didn’t press her, simply putting the glass down before asking her quietly, ‘Because of the effect the cocktail at the hotel had on you? Jodi, from the smell of the jug, it contained the most lethal mixture of alcohol...’

Before he could finish Jodi was shaking her head. Oddly perhaps, in the circumstances, that had not been her reason for refusing the champagne.

‘It isn’t that,’ she told him hollowly. ‘It’s that I hate having to pretend like this,’ she told him simply. ‘I abhor the deceit, and it just seems wrong somehow to celebrate in such a traditional and romantic way what is, after all, just a pretence...a fiction—’

‘Jodi!’

Her honesty, so direct and unexpected, had brought a dangerous lump of emotion to Leo’s throat. She looked so sad, so grave-eyed, so infinitely lovable that he wanted to take hold of her and...

‘It doesn’t...’

‘Please, I don’t want to discuss it any more.’ Jodi told him, getting up and moving restlessly around the room.

She knew what he had been going to say. He had been going to say that under the circumstances their dishonesty didn’t matter, and perhaps it didn’t—to him, but it mattered to her. Most of all because there was something unbearably hurtful...something that was almost a desecration, about them cynically using a custom that should be so special and meaningful, and reserved only for those who truly loved each other and believed in that love, for their own practical ends.

‘I...I’d like you to go now,’ she told him chokily.

For a moment Leo hesitated. She looked so vulnerable, so fragile that he wanted to stay with her, to be with her, and she looked pale and tired as well...

Frowningly Leo checked and studied her again.

‘Jodi. I know we’ve already been through this, but...if there is any chance that you could be wrong and you are pregnant, then I—’

‘I am not pregnant,’ Jodi interrupted him sharply.

If she had been wondering if perhaps she had misjudged him, her defences weakened by his unexpected sensitivity towards her and the situation she was in, then he had just given her the proof that she had not, she recognised bitterly.

If, too, she had been foolishly reading some kind of selfless and caring emotion into his arrival at her house tonight, and the things he had said to her, then she was certainly being made sharply aware of her error.

Of course there was only one reason he was here, only one reason he was concerned, and only one person he was concerned for! And that person certainly wasn’t her, or the child he quite obviously did not want her to have.

‘I’m tired,’ she told him flatly. ‘And I want you to go...’

As she spoke she was already heading for the front door.

Leo followed her.

As he got back in his car, he wondered what he had hoped to gain by his actions. Had he really thought that the simple act of calling to see her, bringing her champagne so that they could celebrate their fictitious engagement together, was in any way going to change her lack of love for him? How could it?

He might be a fool, he decided determinedly as he drove back to Ashton House, but he was still an honourable man and he damned well intended to make sure that both Jodi and her reputation were protected for just so long as they needed to be, whether she wanted it or not. As of now they were an engaged couple in the eyes of the outside world. And soon she would be wearing his ring to prove it!

CHAPTER NINE

U
NABLE
TO
STOP
herself, Jodi stared at the discreet, but flawlessly brilliant solitaire diamond engagement ring she was wearing.

She had protested long and loud against Leo’s decision to buy her a ring, but he had refused to give in. In the end she had been the one to do that, partially out of sheer weariness and partially out of a cowardice she was loath to admit to.

Her aunt and uncle, Nigel’s parents, had invited her and Leo to have dinner with them, and Jodi had known, as indeed Leo had warned her, that, being of an older generation, they would expect to see a newly engaged woman wearing a ring.

And it had been because of that and only because of that that she had allowed Leo to drive her to the city and buy her the diamond she was now wearing on her left hand.

At first she had tried to insist that she should wear something inexpensive and fake, but Leo had been so angered by her suggestion that she had been shocked into giving in.

She hadn’t been allowed to know the price of the ring Leo had finally chosen for her. She had tried to opt for the smallest diamond the jeweller in the exclusive shop had shown her but Leo had simply insisted that she try on several rings before announcing that the one he liked best was the solitaire she was now wearing.

His choice had been another shock to Jodi, because it was in fact the very ring she would have chosen herself—under different circumstances. Now, as she sat next to him in his car, she couldn’t help touching it a little self-consciously as the diamond caught the light and threw out a dazzling sparkle.

She wasn’t exactly looking forward to this evening’s dinner, much as she loved her aunt and uncle. They were a very traditional couple, especially her aunt, who was bound to ask all manner of difficult questions.

‘You didn’t have to do this,’ she told Leo awkwardly as she gave him directions to their home. ‘I could have come up with an excuse. After all, with the takeover...’

It was all over the village now that Jeremy Driscoll was being investigated by the revenue authorities, but even that gossip had not been enough to silence Myra Fanshawe’s repeated references to her concern over Jodi’s behaviour.

* * *

‘You want to speak to Mr Jefferson?’ Leo’s new secretary at the factory asked the woman caller who had asked to speak to Leo. The woman had explained that she hadn’t been able to get through to him on his mobile and that she hadn’t heard from him in several days.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, but he isn’t here at the moment. And I expect he’s switched off his mobile, because he’s gone to meet his fiancée.’

On the other end of the line, Leo’s mother, Luisa Jefferson, almost dropped her receiver.

‘His fiancée,’ she repeated. ‘Oh, well, yes...of course.’

‘Shall I tell him you called?’ Leo’s secretary asked her helpfully.

‘Er—no...that won’t be necessary,’ Luisa informed her.

Replacing the receiver, she went in search of her husband, whom she found seated on a sun lounger beside their pool.

‘I have to go to England to see Leonardo,’ she informed him.

* * *

The evening had gone surprisingly well. Leo had laughed obligingly at her uncle’s jokes and praised her aunt’s cooking with such a genuineness that it was plain that they were both already ready to welcome him with open arms into the family.

Jodi, with the benefit of far more objectivity at her disposal, watched the proceedings with pardonable cynicism.

‘So,’ Jodi heard her aunt asking archly, once they were in her sitting room with their after-dinner coffee. ‘what about the wedding? Have you made any plans as yet?’

‘No—’

‘Yes—’

As they both spoke at once her aunt looked from Leo’s smiling face to Jodi’s set one with an understandably baffled expression.

‘We’ve only just got engaged,’ Jodi defended her denial.

‘I’d marry Jodi tomorrow if she’d agree,’ Leo told her aunt with a wicked, glinting smile in Jodi’s direction that made her want to scream. He was enjoying this. She could tell.

‘Well, of course Jodi will want to wait until her parents return,’ her aunt said lovingly, before asking, ‘And what about your parents, Leo?’

‘I want to take Jodi out to Italy to meet them just as soon as I can,’ Leo responded truthfully, ‘but I already know that they will love her as much as I do.’ And then, before Jodi could guess what he intended to do, he leaned towards her, taking one of her hands and enfolding it tenderly between both of his before bending his head to brush his mouth against hers.

Jodi could feel the quivering, out-of-control wanting begin deep down inside her the moment he touched her; it shocked and frightened her, and it made her feel very angry as well. She felt angry with Leo for making her love him, and angry with herself too, and yet she still couldn’t stop herself from closing her eyes and wishing that all of this was real; that he did love her; that their futures really lay together.

Jodi’s aunt and uncle said goodbye to them at their front door. Leo had placed his arm around Jodi as they walked to the door, and he kept it there whilst they walked to the car, even though it was parked out of direct sight of the house.

‘You can let go of me now,’ Jodi told him as they reached the car. ‘No one can see us.’

‘What if I don’t want to let go of you?’ Leo demanded softly.

There was just enough moonlight for Jodi to be able to see the hot glint of desire that glittered in his eyes as he looked down at her.

Shakily she backed up against the car, her heart hammering against her ribs—but not with fear.

‘Leo!’ she protested, but he was already sliding his hands slowly up over the bare flesh of her arms. His touch made her tremble with desire, her emotions so tightly strung that she was afraid of what she might do. If just the casual caress of his hands could make her feel like this...

But she was so hungry for him. So very, very hungry!

‘We’re engaged,’ Leo breathed against her ear. ‘Remember...we’re allowed to do this, expected to...and, God knows, I want to!’ he told her, his voice suddenly changing and becoming so fiercely charged with sensuality that it made Jodi shiver all over again.

‘But our engagement isn’t real,’ she told him.

‘It may not be, but this most certainly is...’ Leo growled.

And then he was holding her, one large hand on her waist, whilst the other cupped her face, tilting it, holding it. Jodi held her breath as she felt him looking at her, and then he was bending his head, and his mouth was on hers and...

When had she lifted her own hand towards his jaw? When had she parted her mouth for the hot, silent passion of his kiss? When had she closed that final tiny distance between them, her free hand gripping his arm, her fingers digging into its muscle as the ache inside her pounded down her defences?

‘What is it about you that makes me feel like this?’ Leo was demanding thickly, but Jodi knew that the words, raw with longing, helpless in the face of so much desire, might just as well have been her own.

She knew too that if Leo was to take her home with him now there was no way she would be able to resist the temptation he was offering her. Right now she wanted him more than she wanted her pride, her self-respect, or her sanity!

‘Right now,’ she heard Leo telling her thickly, ‘I could...’

An owl hooted overhead, startling them both, and abruptly Leo was moving back from her, leaving her feeling cold and alone as he turned to unlock the car doors.

* * *

Jodi stared mutely at the package she was holding in her hand. She had bought it when she had been in the city with Leo, the day he had taken her there to get her engagement ring. She had seen the chemist’s shop and had managed to slip away to get what she had begun to fear she needed.

That had been well over three weeks ago now and... Reluctantly she turned the package over and read the instructions. It was just a precaution, she told herself firmly, that was all.

It was practically impossible that her suspicions were anything more than simple guilty anxiety. Sometimes odd things happened to bodies, especially when their owners were under the kind of stress she was under right now.

Myra had informed her that her committee had felt that they had no option other than to report their concerns over her behaviour to the education authority, and that was exactly what they had done.

Jodi had already had to undergo an extremely difficult and worrying telephone interview, and now she was waiting to see what they were going to do.

At best, she would simply get a black mark against her for having been reported, and at worst... Jodi didn’t want to think about what the worst-case scenario could be.

Jodi was under no delusions about the seriousness of the situation she was in, but right now...

She looked unhappily at the pregnancy-testing kit she was holding. She didn’t really need to do it, did she? After all, it was only a matter of a few days late—well, a week or so—and she was one hundred per cent sure that that unwelcome feeling of nausea she had been experiencing recently was simply nerves and tension.

And the craving for anchovies?

She was careful about her health and followed a low-fat, low-salt diet. Her body had decided that it needed salt, obviously. Obviously!

Taking a deep breath, Jodi took the kit out of its packet. It was going to show negative, she knew that. She knew it.

* * *

Positive.
Jodi stared at the testing kit, unable and unwilling to accept the result it was showing. Her hand shook as she picked it up for the tenth time and stared at it.

It must be wrong. A faulty kit, or she had done something wrong. Panic began to fill her. She couldn’t be pregnant. She couldn’t be!

Leo’s baby! She was going to have Leo’s baby! Why on earth was she smiling? Jodi wondered in disbelief as she saw her reflection in her bathroom mirror.

This was quite definitely not smiling territory...

Downstairs she heard her post coming through the letterbox. The school term had finally come to an end, so she did not have to rush to get to work. She finished dressing and went downstairs, collecting her letters on the way.

There was a card from her parents, and a whole bunch of unsolicited trash mail.

Jodi had to sit down before she could bring herself to look at it. Her parents. No need to ask herself how they would feel about what had happened. There would be gossip, there was bound to be, and she knew that life as an unmarried mother was not the life they had envisaged for her or for their grandchild. If she was honest it was not the life she had ever envisaged for herself either. Jodi’s throat felt tight and dry.

She had asked her aunt and uncle not to say anything about her engagement to her parents if they spoke to them, explaining—quite truthfully—that she wanted to tell them herself, in person.

Then, knowing that they weren’t due home for another two months at least, she had convinced herself that she had plenty of time to get her life back to some kind of normality before their return, but now...!

Her parents would love her and support her no matter what she did, she knew that, and her baby, their grandchild, no matter how unconventional its conception, would be welcomed and loved. But there would be gossip and disapproval, and, with Leo continuing to be a presence locally through the factory, Jodi knew there was no way that she could stay. How could she? How could she inflict such a situation on her family, and as for her baby...how could she allow him or her to grow up suffering the humiliation of knowing that he or she had been rejected by their father?

No, life would be much easier for all those she loved if she simply moved away.

After all, she decided proudly, it wasn’t as though it was her teaching skills that were in question.

And as for the fact that she would be a single mother, well, a hundred or more miles away, just who was going to be concerned or interested in the malicious criticism of Myra Fanshawe?

* * *

‘Mother!’

Stunned, Leo stared into the familiar face of his very unexpected visitor as he answered his front doorbell. He had told his parents that he had moved to a rented property in Frampton and that he would be living there until he had sorted out all the complications with the business. He knew he had not been able to keep his promise to go and visit his parents again, in Italy, but he had certainly not expected to have his mother turn up on his doorstep.

‘Where’s Dad?’ he asked her, frowning as he watched her taxi disappearing down his drive.

‘I have come on my own,’ his mother told him. ‘I cannot stay more than a few days,’ she added, ‘but I am sure if we apply ourselves that will be sufficient time for me to meet your fiancée.’

Leo, who had been in the act of picking up his mother’s case, suddenly straightened up to look at her.

Several responses flashed son-like through his brain, but his mother was his mother, and one very astute woman, as he had had over thirty years to find out and appreciate.

‘I think you’d better come inside,’ he told her steadily as he took hold of her arm.

‘I think I’d better,’ his mother agreed wryly, pausing only to tell him, ‘This house is a very good family house, Leonardo; it is well built and strong. Children will grow very well here, and I like the garden, although it needs much work. Is she a gardener, this fiancée of yours? I hope so, for a woman who nourishes her plants will nourish her husband and her children.’

His mother was the only person in the world who called him Leonardo with that particular emphasis on the second syllable of his name, Leo reflected as he ushered her into the hallway and saw her glance thoughtfully at the vase of flowers Jodi had arranged on the hall table earlier in the week.

Leo had taken her home with him prior to visiting her aunt and uncle so that he could drop off some business papers. His telephone had rung, and the consequent call had taken some time, and when he had finally rejoined her he had discovered that she had collected some wind-blown flowers from the garden and arranged them in a vase.