Carole Mortimer - To Be A Husband

Jonathan shook his head. ‘That still doesn’t tell me which way.’

She gave him the directions precisely, distinctly, before once again lapsing into silence.

This woman was certainly different, Jonathan decided; he had never met a woman who talked as little as she did. Not that he could stand chattering females either, but this young lady closely resembled a clam! All he knew about her was what he could actually see with his own eyes. She was a trained midwife, tall, blond, green-eyed, probably ten years younger than his own thirty-seven.

But he had known he wanted her from the moment he first looked at her!

Cool, detached, ethereally beautiful—what Jonathan most wanted was to see her naked and wanton in his arms, every vestige of that outer coldness melted away. He had always been ambitious, he acknowledged wryly—if anything, Gaye was more frosty towards him now than she had been earlier!

‘You spoke to Mr Gilchrist.’

She spoke so softly, Jonathan wasn’t even sure he had heard her correctly. ‘Sorry?’ he prompted.

‘You spoke to Mr Gilchrist earlier.’ She spoke more certainly this time. ‘In fact,’ she went on, ‘I think you must have done a little more than talk to him; he actually apologised to me for shouting at me in Theatre in front of everyone!’

Jonathan’s mouth quirked at her astonished tone. ‘Not in character, hmm?’ He had found the specialist bombastic and full of his own importance, but nevertheless he had let it be known that the Hunter family were not impressed by his bullying tactics to a midwife who had, after all, only been trying to do her duty.

He couldn’t say he was exactly proud of his own tactics where the other man was concerned, but once again the Hunter name had won through; there had to be some advantages to being one of three brothers who ran one of the most successful corporations in England! Whatever, his conversation with Mr Gilchrist had obviously worked, if he had gone so far as to apologise to Gaye rather than the other way around!

‘Not exactly.’ She grimaced. ‘But I thank you for your intervention, anyway.’ There was the ghost of a smile on those wonderfully sensual lips.

Jonathan nodded. ‘My pleasure. Would you be feeling grateful enough to have dinner with me this evening?’

Her smile instantly faded. ‘Thank you, but no.’

‘Just no?’ He showed his disappointment; he already had a date for this evening, but he would be happy to break it if it meant he could spend the time with Gaye. ‘You aren’t even going to think about it?’

‘No,’ she confirmed flatly.

‘Are you married, is that it?’ he guessed with a sinking feeling; he could never remember being this intrigued by a woman before. ‘If you are, then I’m sorry if I—’

‘I’m not married,’ Gaye assured him. ‘I—I have another commitment this evening.’

The feeling of elation that she wasn’t married, after all—his worst fear!—was instantly followed by irritation so strong he had trouble containing it. She was seeing someone else! The thought of her being with another man, smiling at him, laughing with him, kissing him, perhaps doing even more than kissing him, suddenly filled Jonathan with such rage, he had to grip the steering wheel tightly to control it.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was thirty-seven years old, had known many beautiful women in his lifetime, and it had never bothered him before that there had been other men in their lives before him, or, indeed, after him. Yet the thought of some other man laying naked with Gaye made him so angry he could actually have hit something—or someone!

‘Break it!’ he snarled—and then felt surprised at his own vehemence. If Gilchrist had acted out of character earlier when he’d apologised to Gaye, then he was acting out of character too now; he was the charming one of the family—he left the arrogance to Jarrett!

Gaye gave him a startled look. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Never mind,’ he muttered, shaking his head in self-disgust. ‘What about tomorrow evening?’

‘I—I’m sorry, but no.’ She gave him a pained look

‘The evening after,’ he persisted, anticipating her refusal before it was even made. ‘Name the evening!’ he ground out as she did exactly that.

‘Mr Hunter—’

‘For God’s sake call me Jonathan,’ he bit out impatiently. ‘You make me sound like your dentist!’ Trying to make a date with this woman was proving as difficult as extracting teeth!

She smiled at that, her eyes instantly deeper in colour, like twin emeralds now. ‘My dentist is fifty and going bald,’ she pointed out.

‘So could I be by the time you accept a date with me!’ Jonathan countered.

Gaye laughed—and it was the most magical sound Jonathan had ever heard, like delicately tinkling bells. When it stopped, he wanted nothing more but to hear it again. But as she sobered he knew he wasn’t going to be that lucky...

‘It isn’t a policy of your employment or something like that, is it? Not dating the clients,’ he explained at her frowning look.

Her mouth quirked ruefully. ‘As our clients are all pregnant women, and the men their husbands or partners, it’s an unlikely policy,’ she returned dryly.

She had a point there! But the alternative was... ‘So you just don’t like me,’ he said harshly.

It didn’t happen very often, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had been refused a date, either. For goodness’ sake, he didn’t feel attracted to every woman he met; in fact, he had become very choosy over the last few years. It was just that his attraction to this woman was so strong, he found it difficult to accept that it wasn’t reciprocated...

She sighed. ‘I didn’t say that...’

Somehow this didn’t cheer him up! ‘But you won’t go out with me?’

‘Jonathan—’ Gaye seemed to be choosing her words carefully ‘—I’m not married. I’m not engaged. I’m not involved with anyone. Nor do I dislike you.’

‘Then—’

‘But neither am I in the market for the sort of frivolous, meaningless affair I’m sure you have in mind,’ she stated firmly. ‘And, despite what you may think to the contrary, I do not mean that insultingly.’

‘You don’t?’ Now he was the one having trouble holding back a smile; she certainly had him weighed up. Or, at least, she had until now... He couldn’t imagine indulging in a meaningless, frivolous affair with her, either. He wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but it wouldn’t be meaningless!

Her smile returned. ‘I don’t.’ She sobered. ‘There simply isn’t room in my life at the moment for frivolity.’

He frowned at the way she said that, sensing something, but unsure what it was. ‘Have you never heard the saying “too much work and not enough play can make Gaye a very dull girl”?’ he attempted to tease. ‘What do you do in the evenings, every evening, that doesn’t leave you time for a social life? Studying for more qualifications? An Open University course? What?’

The harder he probed, the more distant her expression seemed, and the tensing of her body was tangible. He knew he was stepping on ground she considered private, that he was invading it!

‘Or maybe it’s that you prefer not to eat out?’ he continued lightly. ‘We could always go to the cinema, or I could try to book tickets for a show—’

‘No!’ she cut in sharply. ‘I’ve told you, there’s no point in my going out with you. Anywhere. At any time,’ she added bleakly.

He frowned darkly. ‘That sounds pretty final.’

- ‘It is,’ she confirmed shortly.

Jonathan didn’t like puzzles, and this woman was definitely turning out to be one. She didn’t dislike him, but she wouldn’t even go out with him, let alone anything else. Perhaps it was the Hunter name itself that put her off...?

‘You shouldn’t believe everything you read, you know,’ he told her.

She turned to give him a startled look, those deep green eyes wide. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘The newspapers and gossip-mongers have had a field day with my two brothers and me over the last few years, and since Jarrett married Abbie a couple of years ago the pressure has been placed on Jordan and myself. If we so much as look at a woman the marriage speculation begins,’ he explained. ‘I just wanted to reassure you that I don’t have anyone special in my life already.’ The woman he should have been seeing this evening wasn’t anyone serious, just someone he spent the occasional night with when they were both free. And went to bed with, he inwardly confessed. But it certainly wasn’t serious, its very casualness suiting both parties.

Gaye gave a shrug. ‘That’s nice to know.’

‘But it still makes no difference to your answer,’ Jonathan guessed frustratedly. He had never wanted any woman to go out with him as much as he wanted Gaye to. But he knew by her body language that she wasn’t going to do so.

‘Turn left,’ she suddenly instructed at a junction. ‘You can drop me off here,’ she told him once he had turned the car.

‘Here’ was the corner of the street, and, although there were several houses close by, if he stopped the car now, they wouldn’t actually be parked outside any of them; Gaye didn’t even want him to know where she lived, Jonathan realised.

‘I’ll take you to your door,’ he told her grimly. He had never felt so unwanted by a woman in his life. What was wrong with him, for goodness’ sake? Because Gaye certainly found something about him unacceptable!

‘There’s no need—’

‘There’s every need, damn it,’ he told her forcefully. ‘I said I would drive you home—and that’s exactly what I intend doing!’

He was angry, he suddenly realised. That was an emotion he very rarely felt. But at the moment he was intensely angry. And this woman, with her cool rebuff, was making him feel that way.

Was he really so arrogant that he couldn’t take no for an answer?

It wasn’t a question of arrogance, he knew; he just couldn’t accept that he wouldn’t see Gaye again...

‘I’m sorry,’ he said softly. ‘I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. But I still don’t have any intention,’ he continued determinedly as she would have spoken, ‘of just dropping you off in the middle of nowhere!’ Or of not knowing exactly where she lived, he decided.

Her green eyes sparkled now as she looked across at him. Jonathan had a feeling anger was as much an alien emotion to Gaye as it was to him. But, he decided, any emotion was better than none!

‘The second house on the left,’ she bit out, looking away so that he could no longer see her expression.

Although he could guess!

The second house on the left was much further along the road than it sounded, the houses in this quiet suburb obviously exclusive, each set within its own grounds. The buildings themselves, although Victorian in style, were very large and grand. As Jonathan parked the car and looked down the long driveway, he knew Gaye couldn’t possibly live in such a large house on her own...

‘I—’

‘Thank you for the lift home,’ she told him politely, the door of the car open even as she spoke.

‘Gaye...?’ Jonathan moved just as quickly, out of the car, and was standing on the pavement beside her as she got out. ‘I don’t suppose there’s any chance of being invited in for a cup of tea?’ he said affably. ‘After all, I was almost an expectant father today!’

Her mouth twisted wryly. ‘How could I possibly forget?’ She grimaced. ‘I’ll make doubly sure I have the right man in future. I don’t want to go dragging some poor unsuspecting male into Theatre to witness the birth of a child!’