Jessica Hart - Bride for Hire

‘Astra Bentingger.’

‘Astra Bentingger?’ Daisy’s voice rose to a squeak. Astra Bentingger had inherited one of the largest fortunes in the world at the age of eighteen but, far from being crushed by the responsibility, she had taken her vast business into her own capable hands and made herself even richer. Barely a week went by without her picture appearing in some newspaper or magazine. Clever, effortlessly beautiful, fluent in five languages, known and courted and gossiped about the world over, Astra Bentingger was a name to conjure with. The original Superwoman, thought Daisy glumly, intimidated by the mere idea of her.

She looked at Seth with a touch of awe. If he was contemplating marriage with Astra Bentingger he must be even richer and more powerful than she had thought at first. It was well known that Astra only liked men who played in the same league... ‘But isn’t she—’ Daisy broke off as she remembered where she had last read about Seth’s fiancée. ‘Married to Dimitrios Klissalikos?’ he finished for her, unperturbed. ‘Yes, she is. That’s part of the problem.’

‘I can see that already having a husband might be a bit of a drawback if she’s contemplating marrying you,’ said Daisy.

Seth’s brows drew together at her facetiousness. ‘Naturally, Astra will be obtaining a divorce, but we’re still negotiating a pre-nuptial contract and for the moment we have to be extremely careful that our names aren’t linked at all. That’s where Dee came in. I need to be seen around with someone else to divert attention from my relationship with Astra. For the time being, I’ll only appear to meet her in large parties while the press think I’m involved with someone quite different—someone who’s prepared to act the part of a besotted girlfriend.

‘A friend of mine met Dee when he was over here last year and, when I mentioned the matter to him, he said she’d be ideal. I gather that she’s not much of an actress but she’s apparently stunning enough to be a likely girlfriend and, quite apart from being discreet, has the other undoubted advantage of being prepared to do anything for money.’

Seth paused and looked across at Daisy, who was listening with her wide, dark eyes and clear face. ‘Are you the kind of girl who’d be prepared to do anything for money, Daisy Deare?’

She looked wary. ‘Almost anything,’ she said and, to her consternation, the unsettling amusement chased across his face again, warming his eyes, lightening the fierce lines of his face and lifting the corners of his mouth in a way that made Daisy wonder desperately what he would look like if he really smiled. Astra would know.

‘Very wise,’ he said. ‘You’re obviously the cautious type. No doubt you appreciate now why you wouldn’t be an adequate substitute for the real Dee Pearce?’

Daisy saw her chance of finding Tom in the Caribbean slipping away from her. ‘I don’t see why,’ she said stubbornly. ‘It seems to me that all you want is someone to hang on your arm at a few parties. I could do that. If you’re going to marry Astra Bentingger it’s not as if you would want...you know...’

‘Sex?’ Seth was clearly not a man to waste time on euphemisms. ‘No, if I’d wanted a call-girl I could get one easily enough, but I’m not reduced to buying women yet.’

‘What’s the pre-nuptial contract about, then?’ asked Daisy tartly, irritated by his arrogance.

For a moment she wondered if she had gone too far. Seth’s eyes bored into hers and his mouth tightened ominously but, to her relief, he decided to let her unwise remark pass. ‘What I want is a girl who can put on a convincing performance,’ he said in a gritty voice. ‘I want a girl who can act as if she’s in love with me without getting prudish or involved in messy emotions. A girl who will take the money and disappear discreetly as soon as Astra’s divorce comes through in a couple of months. A girl who looks like the kind of girl I might fall in love with...and I wouldn’t have said that you’d fit into any of those categories.’

Was he being deliberately insulting or was he just naturally rude? ‘I’m only interested in the money,’ said Daisy with a frosty look. ‘I can assure you that I’m not in the least likely to fall in love with you myself, if that’s what you were worrying about.’

‘Why not? If it’s money you’re interested in I ought to be just your type.’

Really, the arrogance of the man was unbelievable! ‘I’ve already got a boyfriend,’ she said coldly, mentally crossing her fingers and thinking of the ever-hopeful Robert. ‘He’s much more my type than you are!’

Seth’s steel eyes had sharpened. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means he’s kind and considerate and not so puffed up with his own importance that he thinks every girl he meets is going to fall in love with him!’ The words were out before Daisy could stop herself. Aghast, she cursed her quick temper but after one frozen moment, to her astonishment and intense relief, Seth threw back his head and laughed.

Daisy’s bones felt suddenly weak and she was glad that she was sitting down. Relief, she told herself firmly. Nothing whatsoever to do with the effect of his laugh or the way his cheeks creased when he smiled. Nothing to do with the whiteness of his teeth or the extraordinary way he had changed into someone younger, warmer and more approachable—someone disastrously attractive.

‘You’ve got a nerve, I’ll give you that,’ said Seth, speculation replacing the lingering amusement in his eyes. He got abruptly to his feet. ‘Stand up,’ he ordered.

If anything, Daisy was grateful to see the return of the old arrogance. It helped to remind her that Seth Carrington was not a good man to start finding attractive. Taking a firm hold on herself, she tilted her chin in unconscious hauteur.

He sighed. ‘Stand up, please.’

Daisy stood, relieved to find that her knees would hold her after all. Eyes narrowed, Seth walked round her as if she were a car he was considering buying. At any moment she expected him to ask her mileage or demand to see under her bonnet, and she couldn’t help stiffening under his critical inspection.

‘Maybe you’ve got some potential after all,’ he admitted grudgingly. ‘Properly dressed, we might be able to make something of you. Different from my usual style, of course, but that might be no bad thing.’ He came to a halt in front of her, studying her fine-boned faced with a frown. ‘Why are you so keen to do this?’ he asked brusquely.

Daisy considered telling him the truth, but she didn’t think that Seth Carrington would want to get involved in her family problems. He was the kind of man who only understood one thing. ‘I need the money,’ she said badly. It was true, anyway. She certainly couldn’t afford to get to the Caribbean any other way.

‘Hmm.’ Seth began his unnerving prowl once more. He even moved like a big cat, with that easy but somehow deliberate tread and the sense of a coiled strength which was liable to explode into action at any moment. ‘What about this boyfriend of yours? What’s he going to think when he sees pictures of you out with me?’

‘I’ll explain everything to him, of course. Naturally, once he knows that there’s no question of us sleeping together he’ll understand.’ Privately Daisy thought that Robert would be appalled at the very idea but, in spite of his years of dogged devotion, she had never given him any reason to think that she thought of him as anything other than an old friend.

‘Will he?’ Seth’s expression was saturnine. ‘I wouldn’t let a girl of mine go out with another man, no matter what she told me.’

‘Given that your girl is currently married to another man, I hardly think that puts you in a position to criticise Robert,’ flashed Daisy, and Seth’s eyes narrowed dangerously once more.