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'No way.' Lindsay met his eyes levelly. 'He's part, of my past, nothing more. I've locked him away with the old photos and theatre programmes.'
'He seems to have escaped,' Aston commented drily, and she laughed, relaxing.
'Houdini is his middle name.'
'So long as you can laugh at him,' he shrugged. 'If you took him, seriously, he'd be quite alarming, I should think.'
'Understatement is your forte,' Lindsay agreed. 'Oh, don't talk about him, let's enjoy ourselves and forget Daniel exists.'
'I'll drink to that,' said Aston, getting out of the car, his rugged face alight with dry amusement.
They walked into the restaurant together, talking, and the head waiter came over to greet them politely but without warmth. The place was crowded, every table seemed to be taken, but when Aston mentioned his name the man inclined his head. 'Your table is ready, Mr Hill. Would you like to have a drink at the bar first or…'
Aston glanced at her. 'Want a drink, or shall we go to the table right away?'
'We'll go straight in,' said Lindsay, and they followed the head waiter through the closely set tables a moment later. A group was playing on a tiny dais at one end of the room, their blend of traditional jazz kept low so that it didn't interfere with the conversations of clients. As she walked past tables, Lindsay saw any number of familiar faces, the restaurant was a popular night spot with film and stage people.
The head waiter seated her and Aston at a small table in a corner of the room. A blue glass vase holding a white carnation and a spray of feathery fern occupied the centre of the table, and Lindsay glanced up to smile at Aston. 'Pretty, isn't it?' she said, and as her eyes moved away from his amused face she found herself looking at Daniel. He was sitting at a table on the far side of the room and he was watching her with an impassive face. Lindsay felt her face freeze, she looked away quickly, but not before she had noticed the girl sitting opposite him. She was tiny and blonde and very pretty, she was also a familiar face from television since she was one of the stars in a current soap opera. Lindsay both recognised her and was surprised, she looked much smaller and more human in. that atmosphere. In that one quick glance, Lindsay took in the stunning red silk dress she wore, the carefully casual chic of her hair-style and the fascinated glow with which she was talking to Daniel. She felt her heart constrict as she looked away.
'Aperitif, madame?' the head waiter was asking.
She forced herself to concentrate. 'Oh, yes, thank you, I'll have a glass of white wine— Sauternes, I think.' She accepted the large menu he handed her and he bent forward to recommend several of the dishes which were the speciality of the house. Lindsay tried to listen, smiling too tightly. She couldn't keep her mind on food while Daniel sat there, one brown hand lying casually on the white tablecloth only an inch away from the blonde girl's fingers. She could see the two hands out of the corner of her eye, she didn't want to watch them but she couldn't help herself .
What was Daniel doing there with that girl? Lindsay couldn't even remember her name, she only knew her face, like everybody else she had watched the soap opera now and then. The girl was too pretty for their relationship to be anything to do with business.
Of course, a girl like that would be a feather in his cap; everyone would recognise her and envy him. Lindsay had never liked the soap opera much, herself, the character the girl played was testy, and silly into the bargain, and from the way she was turning on charm for Daniel she didn't need to do much acting, either. Risking another quick look, Lindsay was rewarded by seeing Daniel's hand touching the other girl's now. Her teeth set and she looked back at the menu fixedly.
'Seen something you like?' Aston asked, and she looked up at him, her eyes wide and startled.
'What?' He had his back to Daniel, she didn't think he had noticed him.
'On the menu,' said Aston, laughing. 'What did you think I meant? I hope you haven't been smitten by some famous star at another table, I wouldn't want to be forced into drastic action to get rid of him.' He put out a hand and took hers, raised it to his lips and kissed it softly. 'I can be possessive, too.'
She smiled at him and felt Daniel's eyes on them, but refused to look in his direction again, angry with herself for the brief, agonising stab of jealousy she had felt as she saw him touch the other girl's hand. She wouldn't let herself care, hadn't she learnt even now that Daniel Randall refused to belong to anybody? Tonight he was here with a blonde, tomorrow he would be with someone else. It was none of her business, thank heavens, he could date a whole harem and she wouldn't care!
'I'm having difficulty choosing, it all reads like a poem.'
'The chef is a very good,' Aston agreed. 'That's why it's so popular.'
'Crowded, isn't it?' Lindsay let her eyes move around the room, being careful not to look towards Daniel's table. 'I can see why it takes all evening to be served.'
She let her gaze drift casually over Daniel and felt her throat close up in agitation at the expression in those hard, grey eyes. He looked grim, his jaw taut, his mouth straight, and Lindsay was angrily pleased, she felt a fierce rush of satisfaction at knowing that Daniel was not pleased to see her with Aston. It might only he a dog-in-the-manger sense of possession because she had been his wife, but at least he wasn't indifferent, and despite the melting smiles of his blonde companion his attention was on what was happening at Lindsay's table rather than his own. Lindsay liked that, she smiled at Aston over her menu.
'I think I'll start with the Waldorf salad,' she said. 'I like this place, it's fun.'
'Good,' said Aston, his eyes wrinkling in amusement. 'I told you we would enjoy ourselves, didn't I?'
'So you did,' Lindsay agreed. 'And that's just what I mean to do…' And then she had a twinge of conscience about him, because she knew she was far more interested in scoring off Daniel than she was in Aston. Keeping her eyes firmly on Aston's face, she asked: 'How are your sister's twins? They must be nearly two by now, or is it three?'
'Three,' he said, smiling, and settled down to talk about his family while she listened intently, and did not allow herself to look away. Why couldn't she fall in love with Aston? He was a fantastic man, the nicest she knew, he was funny and kind and attractive, and she ought to be mad about him, anyone with any sense would adore him. An intelligent girl wouldn't even be aware there was any other man in the room; certainly not one who was selfish, egotistic, totally ruthless and hadn't a scruple to his name.
CHAPTER SIX
Daniel rang her the following evening. She had spent the day with Aston, in the country, and had barely got back into her flat when the phone rang. The weather had been gorgeous all day, Lindsay had sunbathed in a tiny white bikini, and her skin had that tight, warm glow the sun leaves, she felt lazy and relaxed, she was still smiling after Aston's parting remark. Aston always made her smile, and today he had helped her to banish Daniel from her mind, but as she picked up the phone Daniel sprang back again like the Demon King in a pantomime, scattering her thoughts.
'Where the hell have you been all day?' he demanded without telling her who it was—not that he needed to, Lindsay knew at once from the first syllable. 'I've been ringing since early this morning—did you spend the night with him?'
'Hallo, Daniel,' she said while she tried to gather herself together, then could have kicked herself. It would have been much better to say: 'Who is that?'
