‘Oh, Damien. Look, I—I won’t be a minute. Josie has to go out in a couple of minutes and—well, as you see, she isn’t ready.’ She moved her shoulders helplessly.
‘Yes, I can see,’ he drawled. ‘I just wondered who Josie was.’
‘Josie’s my flatmate,’ she told him shortly. ‘Josie, this is Damien Savage. Damien, Josie Walker.’
He put out his hand politely. ‘Nice to meet you, Josie.’ He looked down at her slender hand. ‘And your nail-varnish looks fine to me.’
Josie was obviously bowled over by his charm, for the moment forgetting her need for speed, her face lighting up with excitement as she looked at him. ‘Gosh, Damien Savage! It’s very exciting sharing with Kate, I’m getting to meet a lot of famous people.’
Damien’s eyes clearly mocked as he turned to look at Kate. ‘I’m sure you do, Josie, I’m sure you do. Kate’s a popular girl.’
‘Yes. She—’
‘I’m just going to iron your dress, Josie,’ Kate interrupted. ‘I should get your hair done or you’ll be late.’
‘Goodness, yes! Excuse me, Mr Savage.’
‘Go right ahead. And please, call me Damien.’ He settled himself down in an armchair. ‘I have a feeling you’ll be seeing me here quite a lot in future.’
Within ten minutes Josie had left the flat in a whirlwind of perfume and glossy black curls. She had glowed as Damien complimented her on her appearance, finally dashing out of the flat at the sound of the doorbell.
Damien smiled his amusement. ‘I like your friend, she’s cute.’
‘I’ll tell her you said so,’ Kate snapped. ‘I’m sure she’ll be overjoyed.’
His mouth tightened. ‘I’m just wondering where she fits into things. Does James have himself a harem going here? Is Josie another one of his women?’
Kate could have laughed at his outrageousness. ‘You’re really something! You say you like Josie and then in the next breath you insult her.’
‘Well, is she?’
‘Josie just happens to be the girl I share this flat with, nothing else. She has an important date this evening with her boss. She wanted to look her best for him.’
‘If he has any sense he’ll marry her. There aren’t many fresh-faced kids like her about any more.’
‘I’m sure Paul feels the same way,’ she told him dryly. ‘Or at least he will by the end of the evening.’
‘She’s out to get him, I gather?’
She looked annoyed. ‘Do you always have to mock everything? Josie happens to love Paul, and that’s the only reason she would like to marry him.’
‘Like I said, she’s a cute kid. Why can’t you be more like her?’
‘I am like her, you just don’t want to see it.’
‘Oh, but I do. There’s nothing I would like better than to find you’re as innocent as you pretend to be, if that were the case I’d probably lose interest. I don’t prey on innocents. But you’re something else completely, you like to play at being innocent. I guess I’m getting a little tired of that game now. I’ve come clean with you, I’ve admitted that I still want you like hell—do you need to wring any more admissions from me? What else does it take to get you to give in?’
Kate turned away from the desire in his eyes, looked away from the warmth in his devilish green eyes for her. He was too sophisticated, too lethal for her peace of mind. ‘I don’t give in to anyone,’ she told him quietly.
Damien stood up, his movements impatient. ‘Look, you move in with James—’
‘That was purely innocent. I had my own room,’ she insisted. ‘And James never entered it.’
‘Okay, okay,’ he silenced her abruptly. ‘But if you moved in with him what’s to stop you moving in with me?’
She gave a harsh laugh. ‘I think you know the answer to that.’
‘What the hell are you scared of?’ Damien demanded angrily. ‘Has some man frightened you in the past, forced you into some sort of situation you didn’t want to be in? Why the aversion to men? I’m sure it must be a recent acquisition.’
Kate shook her head. ‘You’re wrong. It isn’t recent at all. I learnt at an early age of the immorality of men. Do you have any idea what your sort of relationships lead to, the heartache it can cause?’
‘You would know the score from the beginning, that it would never lead to the love and marriage bit.’ His eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
She gave him a pitying look. ‘And you think that knowledge prevents those feelings developing?’ She shook her head. ‘If you think that then you don’t know women as well as you think you do. We don’t think with our bodies but with our hearts. And our heart has to be involved to a certain degree for a physical relationship to take place—at least, mine does.’
‘You want me too, Kate, so stop blinding yourself with words. If you want to move in with me for a few weeks, no strings attached, then I’m agreeable to that. I wouldn’t ask anything of you.’
The offer was so tempting, but she knew it wouldn’t work, that she wouldn’t be able to trust herself. And sooner or later Damien would want to share her bed. ‘You wouldn’t need to,’ she admitted. ‘I think you know why.’
‘Because you want me!’ he said angrily. ‘I don’t know what else I can offer you, what else you want of me.’ His face had darkened ominously with his anger. ‘I don’t aim to marry anyone just to get a body I desire.’
‘That’s all it is to you, all it can ever be to you!’ Kate snapped. ‘Have you ever thought what could happen from such an alliance? Did it ever occur to you that an unwanted child could be born through your desire?’
‘There are ways of preventing such things,’ he scorned.
‘And when they fail?’ she
