His Secretary Mistress(37)

‘We met at the wrong time, Alex; it’s too late for both of us. You have a wonderful future ahead of you. Selina will make you an ideal wife and I hope you’ll both be very happy.’

‘As happy as you?’ he queried softly, drawing his thumb-pad lightly over her lips and discovering a smear of blood on his skin. ‘God, Jenna!’

His frustration spilled over and he pulled her into his arms, but his mouth was gentle on hers, caressing her tender flesh, the kiss so sweetly beguiling that she had no thought but to respond. He forced himself to relax, to explore her mouth with a slow sensuality, waiting until he felt her lips part before sliding his tongue into her and savouring her inner warmth.

He drew back at last, when his body felt taut with a need he dared not reveal, and sensing his withdrawal she stepped back, his gentle kiss on her forehead a final benediction. He was saying goodbye.





The next few weeks were torturous, and Jenna took to scanning the appointments pages of the newspapers, in the hope of finding another job that paid as well as her position at Morrell and Partners.

November dragged into December, the leaden skies echoing the feeling around her heart, and all the while she and Alex skirted around one another like moths drawn to a flame, but determined not to singe their wings. Fortunately he was in court for much of the time, working on a lengthy fraud trial, but she suspected that his new habit of e-mailing the office from home was so that he could avoid her.

Midway through another dismal week he announced that he was joining Selina in Durban for a few days, and took the ribbing that he was having his honeymoon before the wedding with good grace. Although, had she dared look into his eyes, Jenna would have seen that his smile did not reach them.

Jenna had given up hope that the sun would ever shine again, and for once was glad of the incessant rain. Lee had phoned to say that he intended to take Maisie out for the day on Saturday, possibly to the zoo, and as Jenna listened to the storm raging on Friday night she assumed that he would ring to cancel.

Saturday dawned cold but bright, and her heart sank as the peal of the doorbell heralded his arrival, her hands shaking as she fastened the buttons of Maisie’s coat.

‘I want you to come, Mummy.’ Maisie’s lip wobbled ominously, her grey eyes glistening like silvery pools, and Jenna sought to control her own emotions as she reassured the little girl.

‘You’re going to have a lovely time with Daddy, I promise. He loves you very much, Maisie, and I’ll be here, waiting for you when you come back.’ The second was a certainty; she would be counting the hours until Lee brought Maisie safely home. Of the first, she wasn’t convinced. But Lee was Maisie’s father, she had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

‘How many children are you taking to the zoo?’ she queried faintly when Lee led the way to a top-of-the-range people carrier fitted with eight seats.

‘Louise thought we should have a big car for all Maisie’s gear,’ he explained.

‘What gear? She’s not a kit of parts, you know, just one small child—and who’s Louise?’

‘Louise is my fiancée. She can’t wait to meet my little girl, especially when she’s such a pretty little thing,’ Lee said, his satisfaction with Maisie’s appearance evident. ‘She’s been buying things for weeks—toys, clothes, a pushchair.’

‘Maisie’s too big for a pushchair,’ Jenna argued, and Lee threw her an impatient look.

‘Just leave it, Jenna. Louise has been looking forward to meeting Maisie for a long time; she’s bound to want to spoil her.’

She couldn’t find fault with the top-quality safety seat, Jenna acknowledged as Lee strapped Maisie in, but neither could she throw off her feeling of unease as she watched the car pull away.

After pacing the house for an hour she was persuaded by a concerned Chris to go shopping, her brother’s promise to stay by the phone and call her if Lee reported any problems alleviating her worry slightly.

‘I see Lee’s fallen on his feet with that girlfriend of his.’

Jenna had been staring blankly at a shop window full of Christmas decorations when a familiar voice sounded in her ear and she turned to see her neighbour, Lee’s old friend from the fire station, Brian Wells.

‘Nice motor he was driving this morning. Taken Maisie out for the day, has he?’

‘Yes.’ Jenna’s tone was cool. She had never liked Brian, never been taken in by his overt friendliness—particularly when he had always taken delight in patting various parts of her anatomy, mainly her bottom, when she had been coerced by Lee to socialise with him and his wife Ann. ‘You don’t miss much, do you, Brian?’