The Wrong Kind Of Wife. Roberta Leigh

I’m free.’

      ‘Good. I’m staying at Bedford House, Park Avenue. Apartment eleven. I’ll expect you at seven-thirty.’

      The line went dead and she gave a gasp of astonishment. What cheek! Ordering her to call for him as if she were his personal assistant.

      ‘Anything wrong?’ her secretary asked.

      Lindsey shook her head. Maybe she was being childish. Robert Lawson probably had a tight schedule and shouldn’t be judged by normal standards.

      Despite her irritation, she arrived on time at his apartment that evening.

      When she refused a second drink, he suggested they leave for dinner and, expecting him to take her to a restaurant where he might possibly make an item in a gossip column next day, he surprised her by taking her to Mr Albert’s, a discreet dining club in an elegant brownstone house.

      ‘Have you been here before?’ he asked as they were immediately shown to their table. Mr Albert’s guests did not sit at the bar drinking with strangers!

      ‘Yes.’ Lindsey was glad she could answer affirmatively. She didn’t want Robert thinking only he could take her somewhere special. ‘The head of a rival network brought me here last month to try to bribe me away from Universal.’

      ‘Did you accept?’

      ‘No. Doing a chat show isn’t my scene. I believe the documentaries we do are worthwhile.’

      ‘So you turned down fame and fortune for—’

      ‘Job satisfaction,’ she cut in abruptly.

      To his credit, Robert instantly saw she was in no mood to be taken lightly. ‘I can appreciate that. Job satisfaction means everything to me too. The day I decide I no longer enjoy the cut and thrust of business, I’ll sell out and retire.’

      ‘Sell out? Wouldn’t you prefer to appoint someone to take over from you?’

      ‘I’d be watching him like a hawk to make sure he carried on the company the way I would. And nobody is as good as I am. That’s why, when I’ve had enough, I’ll give up completely.’

      ‘Are you always so modest?’ Lindsey couldn’t help asking.

      ‘I believe in being honest. I started with nothing and now have one of the biggest engineering companies in the country. I’m negotiating to buy another one, and if I can persuade them to sell it to me I’ll be the biggest.’

      ‘Which is the biggest at the moment?’

      ‘Semperton Engineering. It’s a part of Semperton Trust. A damn octopus that has its tentacles into everything.’

      Lindsey wondered whether to tell him that they had bought her father-in-law’s engineering company a few years ago. Indeed, only last week she had read a flattering article about him in Time magazine, saying that Semperton Trust rated his business acumen so highly that they had just elected him chairman and managing director of the main board; a remarkable achievement for a man who had only come into the organisation three years ago.

      As she opened her mouth to speak, the waiter presented them with the menu, and by the time they had chosen their meal, she decided that she didn’t know Robert Lawson well enough to disclose anything about her private life.

      ‘Let’s not talk any more about me,’ he said as their first course was set before them. ‘Tell me about yourself. You’ve been married, I believe. I asked Phil, and he couldn’t evade a blunt question.’

      ‘You could have waited to ask me.’

      ‘You seemed to have some doubts about seeing me, and I wanted to know what I was up against.’

      ‘And do you?’

      ‘I think so. You’ve been hurt once and have put up your guard. It’s usual when a person has been divorced.’

      ‘Are you speaking from experience?’

      He shook his head. ‘Until recently I’ve been too busy building my fortune to have time to build a private life.’ He set down his fork. ‘How long have you been free?’

      ‘I’m not. I’m still married.’ She was pleased to see he looked put out at being wrong-footed. ‘Didn’t Phil tell you that too?’

      ‘No. He said as little as possible.’ A blunt-fingered hand, the nails well kept, rubbed the side of his face. ‘Look, it’s no crime to be curious about you. If we’d met in London I’d have played it differently, but I’m not here long and—’

      ‘I’m flattered,’ Lindsey cut in. The poor man had suffered enough for his curiosity, and she genuinely was flattered by his interest. ‘Are you always so inquisitive about the women you date?’

      ‘Only when they’re as beautiful and bright as you.’ He leaned towards her. ‘Are you hoping to get back with your husband?’

      He was blunt all right! No one had asked her this, and she found it painful to answer. Yet perhaps there was catharsis in pain.

      ‘My marriage is over. We’ve just been rather dilatory in making it official.’

      Robert pursed his lower lip. It drew her attention to his mouth, which was well shaped but thin. ‘Is your husband in entertainment too?’