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He closed his eyes, his teeth clamped together. He would not let himself think like that. He would not doubt her. Not again. He would not!
The taxi pulled up outside the large Edwardian house. Lights blazed from the lower-floor windows, and security spotlights illuminated a sweeping driveway packed with parked cars.
Asking the driver to wait, Jake strode towards the house, unaware that the sleet had turned to heavy rain, soaking him, plastering his hair to his skull.
Bella wished she hadn’t come, and tried to hide it. Her first attempt at socialising wasn’t bringing her any pleasure—far from it.
Maybe it was simply down to the time of year. The Christmas season was for sharing with loved ones. Everyone here was part of a couple, and the crunch had come when she’d overheard one woman saying to another, ‘Getting babysitters at this time of year is almost impossible. And New Year’s Eve—we had to pay an absolute fortune!’
And her companion had confided, rubbing her slightly bulging tummy, ‘My dear, John and I will be in the same boat this time next year. Oh, lovely thought! We’re both ecstatic at the prospect of starting a family.’
Bella had wished herself a million miles away, because everything reminded her of what she wanted and couldn’t have.
Jake. Jake’s love. Jake’s babies.
Bella’s fingers tightened round her wineglass. She’d drunk half of it, but it hadn’t helped get her in the party mood, and Ruth said concernedly, ‘Are you all right? You went quite pale just then.’
‘I’m fine.’ Bella managed a creditable smile. ‘A bit tired, that’s all.’
‘Hectic Christmas?’
‘You could say!’ Traumatic, devastating, ecstatic and truly, truly painful. Did that add up to ‘hectic’? She wondered how she could still be smiling. The smile was stuck to her face, she supposed.
Ruth said, raising her voice because the noise level was continually increasing, ‘I’m going to slip away and check on the twins and Ma-in-law. Would you like to see them?’
‘I—’ Bella didn’t see a way to get out of this. But gazing at four-month-old baby boys didn’t seem a good idea right now, not when she was feeling so vulnerable.
Then Guy came to her rescue, catching the tail-end of the conversation, throwing an affectionate arm around Ruth’s shoulders.
‘Bella can gaze in wonder at my handsome twin heirs later. Right now I’ve a business proposition to put to the lady.’
‘Oh—You!’ Ruth twisted in his arms and reached up to brush her knuckles playfully over his rock-solid chin. ‘Business, business! Give the girl a break—she’s come to a party, not a strategy meeting, or whatever!’ Nevertheless, she went, wagging her fingers at Bella. ‘See you later. If you want to party, tell him to get lost!’
But Bella heaved a sigh of relief at the timely interruption. She had never felt less like partying in her life, and, though normally she would have loved to slope away and peek at the little boys, she knew it would be her undoing. Tears and abject misery for all she had lost and could never now have would have made her the party-pooper from hell!
‘Listen...’ Guy took her arm and drew her to a marginally quieter corner of the big room, away from the lavish buffet. ‘I’ve been thinking of you. We had a big—and I mean big—commission confirmed just before Christmas. In New Accounts you’ll know all about it—the new top-of-the-range sports car, aimed primarily at top-of-the-range females?’
Bella nodded; she knew all about the prestigious account. Her immediate superior had worked his socks off to clinch it. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as Guy’s bushy eyebrows met over the bridge of his crooked nose—broken on the rugby field, so Ruth had told her—his head tipped to one side as he peered down into her face.
He was her boss, and if he wanted to talk shop she was more than game. Her job was all she had now.
‘I want you on it—not on the account; I can replace you in that department without too much trouble. But on film. As you know, the company want a series of six commercials running through spring and summer. I can’t think of anyone who’d be as perfect as you. Will you do it? For me?’
His smile took her acceptance for granted, and it lit up his near-ugly face, making it wickedly attractive. Bella couldn’t help responding in kind, but she knew she’d never go back to her former career. She had grown to hate all
those greedy eyes, the endless speculation, the cruel, gossiping tongues.
She shook her head, reminding him, ‘I’ve been out of it for too long. Four years, remember.’
‘Nonsense.’ He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, eyes intently assessing every detail of her face. ‘You’re as beautiful as when you started out. More. You’ve acquired the gloss, the sophistication our clients want. You’re one classy lady, Bella, and there’s not a sag, wrinkle or line in sight!’
Her chin still captured in his hand, she gave him a wistful smile. She would do a lot for Guy, but not this. Right through her earlier career he had been her rock, her very good friend. He had always been there for her when it had mattered, and, although only around fifteen years her senior, she had come to look on him as a father-figure.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered regretfully. ‘But I’m happy as a pen-pusher. I couldn’t go back to all that hype and frenzy—flashbulbs exploding wherever I go, spiteful gossip in the press, endless speculation.’ She gave him an impish grin. ‘I only did it because we were flat broke, and the money meant Mum could take it easy and Evie could realise her full potential and not end up as another unemployment statistic. You know that!’
She saw the light go out of his eyes, and knew he’d had the campaign sorted in his head, with her in the starring role. She felt a tug of compassion. Lifting a hand, she laid it softly on the side of his craggy face. ‘With your talent for picking winners, you’ll find the perfect girl, I promise. There are literally hundreds of young and beautiful models out there, waiting for the opportunity you can offer. Go out and find that special one, Guy, and leave me pushing my pen.’
Standing in the open doorway, Jake felt his eyes home in on her immediately. He didn’t see the crowd, the groups of chattering, laughing people. Only Bella and Maclaine.
