The Collector's Edition Volume 1 (4 page)

Her gaze slid down to the child, contentedly propped against his broad shoulder. Could she accept a baby that was his and not hers?

‘What is her name?’ she asked gruffly.

‘Baby.’

‘Not your pet name for her. Her Christian name.’

‘I never thought of any other name but Baby.’

‘For God’s sake, Dan! She has to have a proper name.’

‘What’s wrong with Baby? She likes it. She responds to it. I’m not going to confuse her by calling her something else.’

‘What about when she goes to school? Grows up? You can’t expect her to live with a name like
Baby,’ Jayne cried in exasperation at his stubborn obtuseness.

‘The only nickname she can get is Babe. She’ll be fine.’

‘Only a man could think like that!’

‘So I’m a man. She hasn’t got a mother to give finer female consideration to a name.’

‘Any mother would be tossing around names while she was pregnant. You must know what her mother wanted,’ Jayne fired at him.

‘I wasn’t with her mother, so I don’t know.’

‘Why weren’t you with her? It’s absolutely unconscionable to get a woman pregnant and…’

‘I didn’t.’

‘What do you mean…you didn’t?’

‘Baby isn’t mine biologically. I inherited her.’

Jayne was hopelessly lost. ‘You can’t inherit a baby! No one inherits babies! Apart from which, you don’t have any relatives to inherit from!’

He’d been an only child of parents who’d also been only children. His mother and father had been killed in a cyclone that had ripped through the Philippines. That had been when Dan was at university, studying for an engineering degree. He had been as alone in the world as she was when they had met and married.

‘Do you remember Nina?’ he said softly. ‘Nina and Mike Lassiter?’

Nina had been her one friend in Iran, kind and sympathetic, although far more accepting of the hardships they faced. Before meeting and marrying
Mike, who was an engineer attached to American relief forces, she had worked for World Vision in Ethiopia, nursing starving children.

‘What about them?’ she asked, aware that Mike and Dan had cemented an even closer friendship.

‘They moved on to Somalia. Mike was killed in a skirmish organised by one of the warlords.’

‘Oh, no!’ Jayne cried in anguish for the loss of a man whose lifework had been dedicated to helping wherever help was most needed. It was clearing up after an earthquake that had taken him to Iran.

‘I was in Madagascar,’ Dan went on. ‘Nina called me for help. She was close to giving birth and was afraid for the baby. She’d caught some virus that was going around and was weak and feverish. None of the medics could do anything for her. I think she knew she was going to die. She asked me to look after Baby for her. I promised I would.’

‘Nina…’ Jayne murmured sadly, her eyes blurring with tears as she looked at the baby once more…Nina’s daughter…orphaned…with no close family to claim her and love her as Nina would have loved her.

Jayne’s feeings about the baby…Dan’s fatherhood…were completely changed around. She was deeply moved that he had taken on the responsibility of parenthood with a generosity of heart that could shame many natural fathers. He
had given his word to Nina and he was keeping to it, no matter what!

A man of his word.

That was what she had told Lin Zhiyong.

‘Ah, Mr. Drayton, Miss Winter…’

Lin Zhiyong’s voice! They both turned to see him making a beeline for them from the bridge. He was accompanied by a man in formal Arab dress. Behind them were two other men, similarly robed. The recollection flashed through Jayne’s mind that Dan had been about to close a deal with a sheikh when she had called him in Casablanca.

This then was the competitor for Dan’s services.

And she had not yet settled anything with Dan!

T
HE
moment Omar El Talik was hit by a full-frontal view of Jayne, he came to a dead halt. Dan winced. He knew what that meant.

First came the kick in the gut at seeing such a spectacularly beautiful woman. Then the mind snapped out of its initial stunned state and busied itself registering all the visual lushness of her femininity; the tumbled splendour of fiery curls framing her face and shoulders, the fascinating paleness of her skin, the womanly curves outlined and emphasised by the exotic jacket, the shimmering flow of her skirt with the suggestive image of long, long legs that could wrap around a man and offer him heaven.

That was when the tingling began in the loins, when desire smashed all other thought processes, when hands started itching to undo the buttons on the jacket and capture the full warm swell of her breasts, when the mouth went dry from the heat coursing through every vein, stirring, arousing, wanting like hell.

It was precisely what Dan had felt when he’d seen her walking toward him earlier. It had taken every atom of his willpower to appear unmoved, to retain his independence of her, to remind
himself that having and holding her was not on the agenda tonight, and the urge to kill whomever the man was who had inspired her to dress so sexily was not appropriate.

Dan felt a little easier about that now. Monty Castle was not a contender and she had more or less admitted to long, lonely nights. Maybe she had simply dressed up to feel good about herself. Possibly even for him. This last idea made Dan feel a lot better.

But Omar El Talik wasn’t seeing anything beyond the impact Jayne made with her appearance tonight. Neither would any other man here if he had a full complement of male hormones. Dragon Lady had to be slaying them all.

The Chinese, of course, were never obvious in showing their thoughts. Omar El Talik had no such compunction. The hot desire in his flashing dark eyes was naked to anyone’s view as he propelled himself forward again, eager to get closer to Jayne, touch her, woo her with all he had at his disposal. Dan’s free hand instinctively clenched into a fist.

‘Mr. Drayton you know,’ Lin Zhiyong said with a graceful wave and a respectful nod.

‘Omar,’ Dan acknowledged, unclenching his fingers and holding out his hand.

He barely restrained himself from crushing the bones of the slim, brown, beautifully manicured hand of the oil-rich sheikh who had pursued him to China, still puffed up with the power of his
wealth and unable to accept Dan didn’t have a price.

‘All is revealed,’ Omar replied with arrogant certainty.
‘Cherchez la femme
!’

Not as simple as that, old son, Dan thought savagely, watching with jaundiced eyes as the charm started oozing toward Jayne.

‘Miss Winter, may I present Sheikh Omar El Talik,’ Lin Zhiyong continued, completing the formalities.

Jayne’s politely offered hand was enveloped by both of Omar’s, his long, soft fingers caressing her skin as though valuing a precious piece of merchandise.

‘I am honoured to meet you, Miss Winter,’ he gushed. ‘Never have I been so privileged! A woman who outshines the sun. You have entranced…no, enslaved me on sight.’

‘Sorry to interrupt your enslavement, Omar, but I think I’m getting a cramp in my left arm. Would you mind holding Baby for a while, Jayne?’

Dan congratulated himself on catching her unawares, holding Baby out in such a way that the automatic reaction was to take the offered child. Jayne looked startled but she quickly settled Baby on her hip, balancing her there as though she had been doing it for years. Women’s hips were obviously made to accommodate babies.

Dan shook and flexed his arm a few times to give veracity to his statement, observing with
considerable satisfaction that Baby took up both Jayne’s hands and Omar didn’t have a chance in hell of continuing his seductive ministrations.

‘It’s a journey wasted, Omar,’ Dan said coldly. ‘I gave you my answer in Casablanca.’

‘I understand completely,’ came the magnanimous reply. ‘And I assure you my trip is not wasted. I have not visited China before. Clearly there are opportunities for investment.’ He smiled at Lin Zhiyong who nodded sagely. The smile sparkled more brightly as it moved to Jayne. ‘And it contains a treasure that is brighter and more beautiful than any I have seen. You, Miss Winter.’

‘You are very gallant, Your Excellency. Thank you for the compliment,’ Jayne said without any marked enthusiasm. Which demonstrated she had not lost her good taste!

Baby reached up to explore the elaborate pearl and gold necklace that dangled provocatively above a shadowed hint of cleavage. Jayne gently prevented her from tugging it by guiding the little fingers over the beaded mesh. It was perfectly plain to Dan that Omar desired his fingers in the same place.

‘You should be draped in diamonds, Miss Winter. And sapphires to match the flashing brilliance of your eyes,’ he raved on, determined to recapture and hold Jayne’s attention. ‘To pay you the homage you deserve I would lay the world at
your feet. Anything you desire, Miss Winter. All you have ever dreamed of.’

‘I don’t believe any one person can give another all that is desired,’ Jayne replied with an edge of irony. ‘Complete satisfaction is hard to come by. It seems to me that compromises always have to be made and men expect women to make them.’ She looked directly at Dan, her eyes blue slashes of mockery. ‘While they do as they wish.’

Dan gritted his teeth, biting down on a cutting retort. He hadn’t deceived her about the kind of life he led and she’d been perfectly happy to marry him. It wasn’t his fault she’d changed her mind about what would make her happy.

‘You are right,’ Omar agreed with fervour. ‘You are a queen amongst women, Miss Winter. You should be in command of men. I am at your command. Ask anything of me and I will do it.’

‘A new plan, Omar? Buy Jayne and you think I’ll follow?’ Dan interposed sardonically. The political need not to offend was erased by a primitive urge to smash Omar’s suit to Jayne. ‘Your father must be pressing you hard. Didn’t you tell him I was no longer available to advise on his mining operations?’

Dark fury stabbed at Dan. ‘You insult me. And you insult the lady.’

‘Offering her diamonds and sapphires and all she desires is not an attempt to buy her?’

‘It is a tribute to her beauty.’ He snubbed Dan and turned back to Jayne. ‘As you can see, Mr.
Drayton thinks of himself. I think of you, Miss Winter. My private jet is standing by at Beijing. I will fly you to the great fashion houses of Paris. To Amsterdam for the finest and most exquisite jewellery in the world.’

‘You are very flattering, Your Excellency,’ Jayne said, sounding somewhat bemused. ‘But I do have responsibilities here.’

‘There is nothing that cannot be rearranged,’ Omar assured her.

Dan seethed with frustration. He’d been sorting Jayne out very neatly before this fly in the ointment had arrived. Jayne would undoubtedly get a swelled head out of these extravagant bribes even if she rejected them.

Unfortunately Omar El Talik had less of a stomach for rejection than Dan did. He might be an adult physically but he had the mind of a spoilt brat. He wanted Jayne and he was used to getting what he wanted, one way or another. Dan wouldn’t put it past him to kidnap her. He had his two heavies with him. There was only one way Dan could see to spike his ardour.

‘I don’t take kindly to your rearranging anything for Jayne. Or me,’ he drawled.

The implied threat only stirred a haughty arrogance. ‘Miss Winter is far above the menial work of an assistant and she is free to choose. Apart from which, I doubt very much you would do anything to harm her.’ His hot, dark eyes coveted Jayne again. ‘Miss Winter…’

‘…happens to be my wife,’ Dan stated categorically. He glared a warning at Jayne. If she said, ‘Ex-wife,’ he would take Baby and walk out right now. If she ended up back in the Middle East, having to submit to purdah for the rest of her life, she only had herself to blame.

‘I do not believe you,’ Omar scoffed. ‘Miss Winter does not bear your name.’

‘Why should she? She has a perfectly good name of her own,’ Dan argued, repressing his burning resentment that Jayne had chosen to eschew any connection to him. He smiled at Lin Zhiyong. ‘It’s the custom in China for married women to retain their maiden names.’

‘It is so,’ the elderly official agreed, nodding affably.

‘She would have had the child with her,’ Omar astutely pointed out.

‘Jayne was busy doing what she wanted to do and I wanted the pleasure of having Baby with me,’ Dan declared, reaching out to gently ruffle Baby’s curls. ‘I can recommend the joys of fatherhood.’

Omar bristled with scepticism. He appealed to Jayne. ‘This is a ploy to keep you to himself, is it not?’

Dan tensed. This was the moment of decision!

‘It was I who called him, Your Excellency,’ Jayne replied with an emphasis that subtly drew attention to her own autonomy. ‘His expertise is required here. As my husband, he promised me
that I only had to call him and he would supply what I requested.’

The offer hadn’t been meant for this situation, Dan thought in exasperation, remembering how he had anticipated a change of mind from Jayne after a few weeks’ separation. He simply hadn’t believed she would want to live apart from him for long. To comprehensively disappear for two years had been beyond any conceivable calculations.

He watched in glowering impotence as she smiled at Lin Zhiyong, exuding all her prodigious female power, then turned her smile on him, her eyes ablaze with challenge.

‘I want Dan to fulfil Monty Castle’s contract. You are going to do that, aren’t you, Dan?’

She well deserved the name of Dragon Lady! He’d been doing the decent thing in trying to protect her from the clutches of Omar El Talik and she’d turned it into a neat piece of entrapment. Nevertheless, two could play at that game.

‘For my wife, yes. I’m looking forward to our living together again while we bring this project to completion.’

Her smile stiffened.

She knew and he knew she couldn’t walk away from him this time, not until Monty’s contract was fulfilled. Dan relished the thought of taking every day of the allotted time to do the job. He had a lot of scores to settle with Dragon Lady.

‘Starting tonight,’ he hammered home.

Caught, Dan thought, and the sense of satisfaction that flooded through him salved much of the frustration that had been eating him for two long years!