Trish Wylie - His After-Hours Mistress

‘Lucinda? Give me your answer.’

She threw her shoulders back, drew in a deep breath and said, ‘I don’t see why I should, but, yes, I suppose I will. Until you sort yourself out at least.’ Whether she’d regret it later she didn’t know, but for the moment she was being given a second chance and she knew that it was something she had to do.

She heard the soft whistle of his breath, knew that he’d been holding it while he waited for her answer. ‘Thank you, Lucinda. I’ll make sure you never regret it. I’ll send a car for you now.’

‘Oh, no, you won’t!’ declared Lucinda vehemently. ‘I have a day’s work to finish. Then I need to go home and pack. I’ll start in the morning.’

‘But—’

‘But nothing, Zane! I’ll come in the morning or not at all.’ And she put down the phone, guessing that he had never had anyone do that to him before. But she didn’t care. He couldn’t walk all over her; she wouldn’t let him. And even now, only seconds after agreeing to help him out, she was having doubts. Would she be making a fool of herself? Was it really only for Tim’s sake that he needed her? Nothing to do with his own feelings! Or was she walking into a trap? He wanted her to mind Tim, yes, but that could be an excuse because he also wanted her body.

For the rest of the day Lucinda found it difficult to concentrate and when she went home that evening and told her mother what she was doing Ruth was delighted. ‘Forget the nanny stuff,’ she declared. ‘He’s missing you. This is fantastic, Lucinda. He’s quite a catch.’

‘I’m not interested in his money, Mother, you know that.’

Ruth shrugged. ‘Whatever. I know he has a reputation, but I think he’s finally been hooked. I knew when you came back from St Lucia that something had happened between you; I could see it in your eyes. I’m happy for you, darling.’

Lucinda didn’t feel happy. She felt worried. And excited! It was an odd mixture of feelings—apprehension laced with anticipation.

When the car came to pick her up she was still feeling unsure. She’d had an almost sleepless night worrying whether she was doing the right thing. It was her heart leading her, not her head, and she feared that she might be on course for disaster. Nevertheless she had to go through with it. Some demon inside drove her on.

The last time she’d been here, recalled Lucinda as the car proceeded along a winding drive lined with plane trees, was when Tim was two. Zane had said that his nephew remembered her but Lucinda wasn’t so sure. Three years was a long time for a child. She had a feeling that Zane had used that as an excuse.

But when they got to the house—a huge red brick building with formal lawns at the front and a swimming pool at the back—she remembered the pool because she had always been fearful that Tim might wander out there and drown—the door opened and Timothy himself stood shyly on the step. She caught sight of an older woman in the background.

How he had grown! She hurried towards him and gave him a big hug. ‘I’ve missed you,’ she said with a warm smile. ‘What a big boy you are now.’

He smiled at her then. ‘I remember you,’ he said slowly. ‘I think. You looked after me.’

‘I certainly did and I’m going to look after you again. Where’s your uncle?’

‘At work,’ he announced importantly. ‘He’s a very busy man, that’s why he needs someone else to look after me while Nanna is in hospital. She’s very poorly.’

Lucinda nodded. ‘So I hear. Shall we go inside?’

Tim nodded and put his hand trustingly into hers.

Lucinda’s heart went out to him.

Her bags were carried up to the room she had used the last time she was here. It was next to Tim’s and the fact that she had been given this room told her in no uncertain manner that this was going to be her place, that Zane had no intention of asking her to share his bed. She ought to have known. And, for just a few seconds, she wished that she had never come. And then she looked at Tim and knew that she had done the right thing.

Zane had a housekeeper, Mrs Burton, and a maid and sometimes a butler if he was entertaining, but none of them were qualified to look after Tim. Had he left his nephew in their care these last few days? she wondered. Or had he taken time off himself? Somehow she doubted it; he’d been away from his affairs too long, the same as she had.

His staff had probably coped but he’d felt that he needed someone more professional. Though why he had asked her when he could have rung any agency he liked she didn’t know. If her sleeping arrangements had been any different she would have suspected that he wanted to carry on their affair—but his instructions told her very clearly that this was not the case.

It was late evening before Zane came home, which was very much what Lucinda had expected. There was not much about him that surprised her. She was curled up on a sofa in the sitting room watching TV. She had been tempted to go to her room, to make a point of telling him that she knew where her place was, but had decided against it at the last minute.

And she hadn’t really been watching TV. Her ears had been alerted to his return and she’d scarcely heard what the characters in the film were saying.

‘So you really came.’

Lucinda’s heart thumped so hard that she thought he must surely see it throbbing against her ribcage. Zane hadn’t changed at all. He was still magnificently handsome, still had the same gorgeous smoky blue eyes and still had the power to turn her world upside down.

Not surprising considering it was only a few days since she had last seen him. Yet it felt like a lifetime. And now she was here Lucinda wondered whether she had made a big mistake. There was nothing in Zane’s eyes to tell her that he was as delighted as she. They were matter of fact and considering, watching her gravely for a few seconds before he stepped further into the room.

‘How’s Tim?’

Not How are you? But How’s Tim? Not, I’ve missed you. Nothing like that! It felt like a slap in the face. ‘He’s fast asleep.’

‘Was he pleased to see you?’

Lucinda nodded. ‘I was surprised he remembered me.’

‘He couldn’t stop talking about the lady who was here before. He remembered you all right. As do I,’ he added sotto voce.

She almost didn’t catch those last words; perhaps she wasn’t intended to. But it made her look at him questioningly. Of course he remembered her. Was there some hidden meaning behind them? Perhaps he meant he was remembering their nights of passion?

They had been unforgettable nights. But they may as well never have happened if they meant so little to him. ‘How’s your health these days?’ she asked instead.

‘Back to normal,’ he acknowledged. ‘If you’ll excuse me I’ll take a shower and then I’ll join you.’

‘Fraternising with the hired help?’ The words slipped out without her intending them to. But he was making her feel like that. After all they’d gone through together, it would have been perfectly normal for him to stride across the room and take her into his arms. Instead he stood there in the doorway making no attempt to come any closer. He couldn’t have made it any clearer that that particular part of their life was over.

Zane’s lips tightened. ‘I’ll try to ignore that remark.’

‘It’s what you make me feel like.’

‘Nonsense!’

‘Is it?’ she asked pointedly. ‘You used me, Zane Alexander. And for that I will never forgive you.’

‘And yet you came here today?’ Sandy brows rose, blue eyes looked coolly into hers. ‘Doesn’t that tell you something? It certainly does me.’

Lucinda frowned. What did it tell him? That she was still his for the taking? Lord help her, it would be so easy. But she could see Zane clearly now for what he was and she stiffened her resolve. While she was living in Zane’s house she would never let him touch her, never let him kiss her.