Freedom To Love. Carole Mortimer

tea was very welcome, the club sandwich she had ordered a meal in itself. Goodness, she had never seen such a sandwich, tomato, bacon, thick slices of beef, all layered between several slices of bread.

      A quiz programme came on the television, and she sat and watched it as she ate, not bothering to dress now. It was already seven-thirty, and she would be going to bed in a moment.

      She jumped nervously as the telephone rang, knowing it must be Gemma and Gerald. She had only just begun to relax, and could well do without their taunting. ‘Yes?’ she spoke coldly into the receiver.

      ‘Katy?’

      Her heart fluttered at the sound of that deep husky voice with the sexual undertones. Adam Wild! She would recognise his voice anywhere. ‘Yes?’ she asked suspiciously.

      ‘Adam here,’ she could almost hear the humour in his voice. ‘Adam Wild,’ he supplied unnecessarily. And he knew it was unnecessary, damn him. ‘Come down and have dinner with me,’ he invited.

      ‘You’re in the hotel?’ She couldn’t contain her surprise.

      ‘In reception,’ he confirmed. ‘I just saw your sister and her boy-friend going in to dinner, so I know you’re alone.’

      ‘Taking pity on me once again, Mr Wild?’ she snapped angrily.

      ‘And if I am?’

      ‘It isn’t necessary,’ she told him distantly. ‘I’ve already eaten. I’m just about to go to bed.’ A slight exaggeration, but it wouldn’t be too long before she went back to bed, she felt very tired.

      He gave a husky laugh. ‘If that’s an invitation, I accept.’

      ‘It wasn’t,’ Katy snapped. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me …’

      ‘Is that any way to treat me, Katy Harris?’ His voice had hardened.

      ‘When you’ve just invited yourself into my bed it is. What happened to your friend?’

      ‘Jud? He had business elsewhere.’

      ‘Look, I’m sorry, Mr Wild, but——’

      ‘If you don’t come down, Katy,’ he interrupted softly, ‘I’m likely to come up there. Do you want that?’

      ‘No!’

      ‘Well?’

      ‘All right,’ she said crossly. ‘You go ahead and have your dinner and I’ll meet you in—say, an hour.’

      ‘Fine,’ he agreed briskly. ‘Don’t be late,’ he warned before ringing off.

      She wouldn’t dare, not with the threat of him coming to her room. How had he found her? More to the point, why had he found her?

      She dressed with care, wearing one of the only two dresses she had brought with her, deciding that denims and tops were more practical for the type of holiday they were on. But as they were staying two nights at this hotel, once this evening and once on the eve of their departure, she had brought two dresses with her. Thank goodness she had; she had the feeling Adam Wild expected sophistication from his companions.

      Her dress was chocolate brown, below knee-length, with a fitted bodice and pencil-thin shirt, with a slit up one side of the skirt so that she could walk without hindrance. It was quite a daring dress, very figure-hugging, but the other one was even more so, the bodice on that one consisting of a thin wisp of material held up by two very thin shoulder-straps. At least the brown dress covered her body, even if it did outline every curve!

      Her hair she brushed loosely down her back, completely straight, held back from her face by two thin slides at her temples. Her make-up was light, just a light touch of brown eyeshadow and mascara, with a peach lip-gloss on her mouth. She felt satisfied with the result, feeling cool and self-assured.

      That coolness and assurance disappeared as soon as Adam Wild’s warm gaze slid over her with slow assessment, reducing her to the blushing young girl that she really was. He had changed from the disreputable denims and shirt, and was now wearing navy blue trousers and a light blue silk shirt that fitted tautly across his broad shoulders. He looked very lithe and attractive, emitting an aura of male dominance that made Katy feel protected and resentful at one and the same time.

      He took her arm in a firm grasp. ‘Drink?’

      ‘Thank you,’ she accepted gracefully.

      He left her seated in one of the corner booths of the lounge-bar, going up to get their drinks. Katy couldn’t see Gemma and Gerald anywhere in the room, so her gaze strayed back to Adam Wild as he chatted easily with the bartender. He was very self-assured, the lazy charm he displayed shielding a much more steely nature. Those warm blue eyes could harden with cruel anger, the relaxed body tense with fury. He had reached the top in a profession that was highly competitive, and he hadn’t done it by sitting back and taking it easy.

      ‘Thank you,’ she accepted the Martini he put in front of her.

      He relaxed back on the padded bench-seat next to her, his arm across the back of the seat and almost touching her. ‘You’re doing very well so far,’ he said with amusement.

      She gave him a sharp look. ‘In what way?’

      He shrugged, his expression amused. ‘You haven’t fallen over anything yet, not in my sight anyway, and the hotel still looks pretty much intact.’

      Katy bristled angrily. ‘Do you have to keep bringing up a few trifling mistakes I made on the plane? I can assure you I’m not usually so accident-prone.’

      ‘I believe you,’ he scorned.

      ‘Tell me, Mr Wild,’ she said sweetly, ‘did you call me out of boredom or did you just lose your little black book for Canada?’

      ‘Well, I certainly didn’t lose my little black book,’ he drawled infuriatingly.

      ‘Thank you!’

      He grinned. ‘You asked for that one, Katy. Actually, the explanation is much more simple. I was neither bored nor bereft of my “little black book”. I just happened to see your sister, put two and two together, and decided that there was no point in both of us being alone tonight.’

      ‘I see.’ Katy smoothed her dress down over her knees, then wished she hadn’t as she realised she had drawn Adam’s attention to the thigh-length slit up the side. Her cheeks warmed with colour as he made no effort to hide his interest.

      ‘You have nice legs, too,’ he remarked bluntly.

      ‘Nice legs, shame about the face,’ Katy taunted.

      He took her remark seriously, seemingly giving each feature careful consideration. ‘Nice face,’ he corrected.

      ‘But you’ve seen better,’ she said dryly.

      ‘Yes,’ he agreed with cruel honesty.

      She bent forward to pick up her drink. ‘You—Oh, lord!’ she broke off as the glass slipped out of her hand and the liquid flowed all over Adam Wild’s trousers before the glass smashed on the floor at his feet. ‘Oh no!’ She looked at him in horror.

      After an initial look of surprise a look of resignation passed over his features. ‘I knew it was too good to last,’ he groaned, mopping up the surplus Martini with a napkin.

      ‘I couldn’t help it,’ Katy snapped. ‘It just——’

      His eyes went heavenwards. ‘Where have I heard this before? Why is it it’s never your fault? I didn’t see anyone around when you dropped that little lot.’

      Katy passed him another napkin. ’You were.’

      ‘So now it’s my fault. Ugh!’ he grimaced at the stickiness of his trousers. ‘When you do something you really do it well!’

      ‘Yes.’ She stood up. ‘I’ll get someone to clean up the glass.’