After the Affair(23)

Jason said, 'The car was terrific, but the helicopter was super!'

Cassie's head snapped up to see Dan striding down the front steps of the house. Her breath caught in her throat seeing him at such close quarters, his very male frame dressed in blue jeans and a maroon shirt, the casual attire far more reminiscent of the Dan she had first met.

Made of faded denim, the jeans were tightly fitted, moulding his slim hips and powerful thighs. The long sleeves of the shirt were rolled up, the collar open at the neck. No watch or jewellery adorned his smooth, tanned flesh which drew Cassie's gaze like a magnet. Her insides tightened as she remembered how she used to run her hands over his hairless chest, loving the velvet feel of him.

Cassie blinked. What had Dan just said? She couldn't think.

Unnerved, she turned to her son. 'Ready to go home, Jason?' Even as the words popped out of her mouth she knew that she was acting like a fool. Dan would not let her go so easily. But the blistering sexual awareness he always evoked in her made Cassie want to run.

'Mrs Bertram is making us coffee,' Dan said smoothly. 'We can have it on the veranda and talk while Jason plays with Hugo.'

The enormous black dog must have heard his name, for he bounded around the corner. Cassie stiffened. 'Are you sure he ‑'

Her protest was cut off by the sight of her son hugging the slavering Dobermann around the neck. The animal's huge tongue slurped up Jason's face, bringing squeals of objection. 'Oh, yuk! You sloppy old thing. Come on... Let's play fetch.' And the happy pair ran off.

'Don't concern yourself,' Dan reassured in a soft, kind voice. 'Once Hugo has been introduced to a person as a friend, he is devoted. He would protect Jason with his life now.'

Cassie could not help being surprised by Dan's pleasant manner. Where was the mocking devil of last night? 'Have...have you had the dog long?' she asked.

'Five years. Since he was a pup.'

'He's certainly a beautiful animal.' She kept watching the dog in the distance. It was safer than looking at Dan.

'He was Roberta's dog.'

Cassie's heart stopped. 'Roberta?'

Her eyes turned slowly to see Dan observing her closely. 'My wife,' he said evenly.

'Oh...' A chill came over Cassie. She didn't want to hear about Dan's wife. She couldn't bear to think that he had belonged to another woman all the time he'd been having an affair with her. A woman he had returned to and stayed with despite his talk about separation and divorce.

Mrs Betram's arrival with the coffee was timely.

She was a slim, efficient-looking woman of about fifty. Not a local. Cassie allowed Dan to take her elbow and lead her silently up the steps and over to the table set up on the veranda. The coffee-service was exquisite—made of the finest cream pottery. A selection of delicate pastries rested on a serving plate.

Mrs Betram smiled at Cassie. 'And you'd be Jason's mother?' the woman asked.

Dan stepped in and effected a proper introduction. Cassie could not help noticing the woman's open curiosity about her. Or was it astonishment that her boss was interested in such a country bumpkin? She wished now that she had stopped to improve her appearance.

'That's a lively lad you've got there,' Mrs Betram commented as she poured the coffee.

Cassie chewed her bottom lip. 'He hasn't been any trouble, has he?'

'Oh, good heavens, no!'

'He's had a whale of a time,' Dan added with a laugh. 'But I think Paul was glad to go back to Sydney.'

'Paul?' Cassie repeated enquiringly.

'My pilot.' Dan's eyes rested on Cassie in dry amusement. 'You almost met him last night. Thank you, Mrs Bertram, we can manage now. Cream and sugar, Cassie?'

Cassie was glad of the woman's departure, for a fierce blush was creeping up her neck. How could Dan refer to such an embarrassing encounter so... so casually? It was tactless. And tasteless. And there she'd been thinking he'd turned over a new leaf?

'Yes, please,' she said stiffly. Then added, 'Mrs Bertram seems a nice person.'

'She is,' Dan agreed. 'Not that I've known her all that long. She's only been my housekeeper since Roberta died. Prior to that ‑'

'Do you have to keep referring to your first marriage?' Cassie flared.

Dan replaced the cream-jug with a sigh. 'Cassie...I want to explain...about Roberta ‑'

'But I don't want to hear,' she retorted wildly, knowing she was over-reacting, but finding it impossible to stop. 'I never want to hear about her. Never! Not if you want me to marry you!'

She raised furious eyes to his, almost daring him to continue, to ruin what he so obviously wanted. He glared back at her, his mouth setting into a thin, angry line.

'Right,' he bit out, and, with an abrupt movement, stood up and strode inside, returning shortly with a wad of papers and a biro. He pushed the coffee-cups aside and spread the sheets out on the table before her. 'You have to sign here.' He jabbed at some blank spaces on the forms. 'And here. This last one is an authority for my solicitor to pick up a copy of your birth certificate. Marriage licences require paperwork. And a special licence requires even more.'