‘All right, Peter. Goodnight.’
Enjoying herself. Essie stood for a moment more before she put the telephone down and thanked the receptionist. Enjoying herself wasn’t quite the term she would have used…
Xavier’s dark presence seemed to fill the whole restaurant when Essie stepped back into the quiet surroundings some moments later. It all looked the same—the pianist was still playing, the other diners were quietly enjoying the excellent food, the odd hum of conversation and genteel laugh adding to the overall gentle ambience of the hushed room; but there, in the distance, was Xavier.
She hardly knew how to walk as she approached their table; she was vitally aware of the narrowed gaze trained on her face and the grimness that was reflected in every line of his big frame, but then she was sliding into her seat and looking straight into the icy countenance.
‘Well?’ One word—but more telling than any tirade.
‘I’m sorry.’ It was little more than a whisper.
‘Not good enough. Not nearly good enough.’ He stared at her for a moment more before saying, his voice biting, ‘You’re telling me you are Esther Russell, have I got that straight? Which means you are Christine’s best friend, not her cousin, and you’re a veterinary surgeon?’ The tone held a note of incredulity even the cold rage couldn’t quite hide, and that, more than anything else, put steel in Essie’s backbone. He still thought it was virtually impossible that she was an intelligent, successful and capable human being, she thought furiously.
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Her head was up and her chin was out and further thoughts of apology were out of the question.
‘So how old are you?’ he asked tightly.
‘Twenty-eight.’ It was a little snap. And then, before he could say anything else, she added, ‘And all this wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been so darn rude.’
‘What?’ His bark brought a number of heads turning towards their table and, as Xavier became aware of the attention and glared back at the unfortunate diners, heads were quickly lowered to their plates. ‘I really don’t believe you just said that,’ he growled savagely. ‘You spin me a pack of lies and then you tell me it’s my fault?’
‘I didn’t spin you a pack of lies, not really,’ Essie shot back quickly. ‘You came to me, remember, and stated a number of things before I even opened my mouth. You assumed I was Janice; you lectured me on my lifestyle, my morals, everything, and we hadn’t even been introduced!’
‘You lied to me.’
‘I merely went along with your assumptions, that’s all. And, while we’re on the subject, they were pretty insulting,’ Essie said bitterly. ‘You looked at Janice and you looked at me, and in your mind there was no doubt about which of the two bridesmaids was the hopeful budding actress leading a somewhat wild lifestyle. You hadn’t spoken to either of us, you didn’t know us from Adam, and yet you labelled me a dumb little blonde. Right or wrong?’
‘This is crazy!’ Dark colour flared across the hard cheekbones and Essie had never seen someone look so furious in all her life. There was certainly no vestige of the cool, controlled ice-man left, she thought somewhat hysterically. The man in front of her was positively smouldering with fury.
‘Right or wrong?’ she ground out determinedly, refusing to be intimidated, even though her stomach was churning and her hands were damp with perspiration.
‘Wrong,’ he snarled grimly. ‘If I had thought you were just a dumb little blonde, I wouldn’t have asked you out tonight.’
‘Whatever you say, however you try and turn this round, you know full well I’m right,’ Essie said proudly, staring right back into the angry male face as she forced her fear and panic back down into the hidden depths of her. ‘I admit I shouldn’t have continued what you started—’ here Xavier, who had just taken a swig of his brandy, nearly choked ‘—but it was too good an opportunity to miss, if you want the truth.’
‘The truth? You don’t know the meaning of the word.’
‘Actually, I do.’ Violet-blue eyes held iced silver and neither would give way. Essie was conscious of the cry deep inside her that was saying she hadn’t wanted it to be like this, that she should have told him before, should have set things straight as soon as she had seen him tonight to prevent just such an occurrence as this; but it was too late now for regrets. ‘I’m a very honest person normally, but your arrogance annoyed me, if you want to know.’
‘My arrogance?’ he ground out with dangerous calm.
He looked as though he couldn’t believe his ears and perhaps he couldn’t, Essie thought faintly; it was quite likely no one had ever spoken to him like this in his life.
‘Yes, your arrogance,’ she said a little shakily. ‘You were pompous and high-handed and unforgivably rude, and you had absolutely no right to assume anything about me—or Janice, if it comes to that. I’ve worked hard to get where I am, Xavier Grey. No one has given me anything ever, but I’m a damn good vet. And I don’t appreciate any label—whatever it is—by someone who doesn’t know me. Is that clear?’
‘Abundantly.’
He had settled back in his seat during her quietly spoken tirade, the laser-sharp gaze assessing the angry young woman in front of him, and now the cool, sardonic tinge to his voice was incredibly galling.
‘And you can cut the lordly disdain,’ Essie fired back angrily, ‘because it doesn’t wash with me. I don’t care how rich or how powerful you are—you’re still ill-mannered and presumptuous and—’
‘You’re going to run out of adjectives before long,’ he said expressionlessly, his face now betraying nothing of what he was thinking. And the discipline he had brought into play, the regaining of that icy control and cool restraint, told Essie she had to get out of there fast before she further compounded her sins by flinging the contents of her brandy glass straight into that implacable countenance.
‘Goodbye, Mr. Grey.’ She rose abruptly, her face as white as a sheet but her voice firm. ‘And I shall settle the account for my own dinner, thank you.’
‘Now you’re being boorish.’ It was a soft, low Canadian drawl and had Essie’s hands clenching at her sides as her innate British sense of propriety warred with the red-hot desire to see Xavier Grey with brandy dripping off the end of his nose. The natural reserve won, but it was a close thing.
Essie was very aware of the subdued interest of the surrounding tables as she turned to leave, but it was the silver-blue eyes boring into the middle of her back that kept her stride measured and controlled as she left the restaurant with her head held high.
The control held until she reached her room, but, once she had closed the door behind her, she sank down onto the thick blue carpet. Her legs refused to hold her any longer.
How could she have said all that? She pressed her hands to her burning cheeks as she swayed back and forth in a little heap on the floor. Not that he hadn’t deserved it—he had—but she wasn’t normally like this, for goodness’ sake. He brought out the very worst in her, she reflected miserably. In fact, there was a whole side of her nature that had seemed to develop over the last few hours that was positively alarming.
She continued to sit for a few moments more, leaning back against the door as her mind went over every word and action that had happened below in the restaurant. And then she leapt up from the floor, walking over to the telephone and picking it up with a hand that trembled slightly.
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