Farrah sprang agilely to her feet, sparks of anger shooting from her eyes. ‘You're cruel, Mr Falcone!’ she choked.
He smiled, a slow leisurely smile that taunted and mocked. ‘Yes, I'm that too. Sit down, Miss Halliday,’ he said harshly, all humour leaving his face to be replaced by a cold mask. ‘You asked for my help when I would be quite happy to let the law deal with your father. I thought I had found a way to help him and myself at the same time. It seems I was wrong.’ He stood up in conclusion of the interview. ‘You wouldn't be co-operative, and a sulky angry companion I can do without.'
All anger left Farrah at his dismissive words and her shoulders slumped dejectedly. She dropped back into the chair. ‘Please, Mr Falcone, I—I didn't mean to lose my temper. If you have some way of helping my father then I'll gladly help—co-operate, whatever,’ she said anxiously.
‘You really are desperate, aren't you? Very well, we'll get back to my private life. You have no doubt heard of my long-standing friendship with Laura Bennett.’ His mouth curled back sneeringly as she blushed. ‘I thought so, it seems to be public knowledge, wouldn't you say?'
‘Yes,’ she agreed softly.
‘Yes. Well, up until now it has been a very—intimate relationship, shall we say? Yes, very intimate.’ Joel Falcone obviously felt no embarrassment at his conversation, but Farrah blushed fiery red. ‘I see you understand my meaning,’ he taunted. ‘And while Laura may be satisfied with that sort of close business and personal arrangement, I find that it no longer suits me at all.'
Farrah felt tempted to ask what this had to do with her, but she resisted. She daren't anger this man any further. ‘Yes?’ she prompted.
He sighed deeply. ‘So, I'm completely bored by the whole tedious affair.'
‘Then why carry—–? Sorry,’ she bowed her head, ‘I didn't mean to pry.'
‘Why carry on,’ he finished for her, feeling none of her embarrassment. ‘I've asked myself the same thing many times. I don't have an answer—except perhaps that Laura seems to deliberately ignore any hints I may give about breaking up our relationship. At the begining I needed a hostess, I entertain a great deal, and I suppose you could say I used her. But whereas the affair seems to have cooled on my side, Laura seems determined to make something more permanent out of it. Needless to say, I don't want that. I want her out of my life once and for all.'
‘Mr Falcone, I don't see why I need to know all this. It isn't any of my business, is it?'
‘I'm not in the habit of telling my private affairs to complete strangers, in fact I don't discuss them with anyone,’ his voice was bitingly precise. ‘Unless of course I have a reason for it, and in your case I do.'
‘And what is that?’ Her curiosity was fully aroused now.
‘It's quite simple really, Miss Halliday. As I've said, my affair with Laura is over as far as I'm concerned, at least in the physical sense, but she seems to want to carry on with it. It's come to the point where I don't even want to see her.'
Farrah was still puzzled. ‘If you feel that strongly about it why don't you just tell her how you feel?'
‘I've tried, but unfortunately Laura feels that her shares in this company give her some sort of special privilege where I'm concerned. They don't. I want to buy her out, but she seems to feel that if I did that she wouldn't see me again. She's right. I don't appreciate her using our business tie to force our personal relationship. I intend showing her that I don't need her—in any way. We have an agreement in our contracts that if either of us decides to sell, shares must be offered to the other partner before being put on the open market. I want to make Laura so mad she has to sell. Now this is where you come in. If Laura genuinely believes me to be in love with, and possibly contemplating marriage with, another woman, then she'll realise I mean what I say about severing our friendship. Her pride won't stand for too much of that sort of treatment. I wanted things to end differently, but she's made that impossible. So,’ he sighed, ‘in return for dropping the charges against your father you are going to become my much-loved girl-friend.'
‘I'M what!’ At his words Farrah had jumped to her feet and she stood staring at him with disbelief on her face.
‘Calm down, Miss Halliday,’ he said with infuriating calm. ‘I realise my idea isn't quite what you expected, but—–'
‘You're right, it isn't!’ Farrah burst out indignantly, glaring at him defiantly as she saw anger spark in those icy blue eyes at her interruption. ‘How dare you!’ she continued angrily. ‘How dare you suggest such a thing? I couldn't do it!’ she said determinedly, her tiny nose wrinkling with distaste.
‘I said calm down, Miss Halliday,’ Joel Falcone said without emotion. ‘My suggestion that you do this for me was not meant in the physical sense. I've already said you're too young for my tastes.'
‘Yes. Yes!’ Farrah replied impatiently. ‘But if you didn't mean for me to—to—–'
‘Go to bed with me,’ he supplied tauntingly.
‘Yes, go to bed with you! If you don't want that how will she ever think you're serious about me? That seems to be the normal way you progress.'
Blue eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. ‘Do you want to share my bed?'
‘Certainly not!’ But the question gave her a warm unfamiliar feeling inside. What would it be like to be held in this man's arms? To be held intimately against his taut naked body? She brought her chaotic thoughts to a halt, her eyes opening wide with shock as she realised how wanton her thoughts had become. ‘Then I don't understand,’ her eyes were wide with bewilderment.
‘This is all to be pretence, Miss Halliday. Just a way of getting Laura out of my life.'
‘I still don't see why you can't just tell her how you feel.'
‘I've tried, damn you! She still maintains the mistaken idea that those shares give her some sort of hold over me, another woman should convince her otherwise. Although I doubt if she'll be very happy about it, especially as her rival is so much her junior.'
He said all this with a certain amount of satisfaction and she realised he was so angered by Laura Bennett's behaviour that he would enjoy doing this to her. ‘I'm not her rival,’ she said quietly.
‘Only you and I will know that. As far as everyone else is concerned we'll be ecstatically in love with each other.’ His mouth turned back in a sneer.
‘Not if you act like that they won't.'
‘Don't worry, Farrah Halliday, my acting will be superb.'
Farrah started shaking. This man really meant what he was saying! ‘You can't really mean to do this, Mr Falcone—–'
‘Joel, please. If I'm to be your lover—–'
‘You aren't!’ she said sharply.
‘Your pretend lover,’ he amended mockingly. ‘Then you should call me by my first name.'
Farrah laughed brokenly. This couldn't be happening to her! ‘No one's going to believe this, Mr Falcone—Joel then,’ she said at his dark look. ‘No one who actually knows us, especially Miss Bennett.'
‘They'll believe it,’ he said firmly. ‘If you don't know that then you must be as innocent as you look, which no one could ever be. All those baby waves and trusting green eyes!’ he said in disgust. ‘What do you imagine all the girls down in your office are thinking at this moment? Well, I'll tell you. They probably think I'm making love to you right now. According to rumour, no woman is safe left alone with me.'
‘They—they wouldn't