‘I’ll be waiting in the car—madam,’ he added, as he turned away, heading for the exit. Leaving her staring after him.
‘We only came down here to do a story about the delay in track repairs,’ Jason Tully announced jubilantly as Rhianna recovered herself, posing obediently for the camera. ‘This is a real bonus.’
Your bonus, she thought. But my can of worms.
‘Have a nice visit,’ he added as she began to walk away. ‘I hope you enjoy yourself with your—friends. When you meet up with them.’
The innuendo was unmistakable, and she rewarded it with another dazzling smile, wishing that she could knock him down and jump on him.
He’ll be on to the nationals as soon as he can get his mobile phone out of his pocket, she thought bitterly as she left the station. I only hope that idiot Rob is staying with his parents in Norfolk, and hasn’t chosen to go to ground somewhere, in true dramatic fashion. Or nowhere west of Bristol, anyway.
But she couldn’t worry about that now. She had her own problems to deal with. The most major of which was standing beside his Jeep, his face bleak and hostile, his pale eyes brooding as he watched her walk towards him.
Her mouth felt dry, and her hands were clammy. If there had been anywhere to go she’d have turned and run. But that wasn’t possible, so she’d have to fall back on sheer technique.
Treat it as stage fright, she thought. Then go on and give a performance. The kind that saves the show.
‘Mr Penvarnon,’ she said, her voice cool and detached. ‘What a surprise. I thought you’d be on the other side of the world.’
‘You hoped,’ he said, as he opened the passenger door for her. ‘Was that why you decided to ignore my advice?
Her brows lifted. ‘Is that what it was?’ she asked ironically. She climbed into the vehicle, making a business of smoothing the skirt of her plain café au lait linen dress over her knees. ‘I thought I was being threatened. And I don’t respond well to threats.’
‘But you deal very well with inconvenient questions from reporters, I notice,’ Diaz said smoothly. ‘I’m so glad you didn’t use that coy old cliché, We’re just good friends, when he was quizzing you about your involvement with Robert Winters.’ He paused. ‘So, what is he? Your consolation prize for missing out on the man you love?’
Her heart seemed to stop, but she managed to keep her voice level.
‘No,’ she said. ‘Both Rob and his wife are genuinely friends of mine, but Daisy and I are closer because we met at drama school. And the reason they’re having problems is that she wants to stop work and have a baby, whereas he sees them as some starry theatrical couple on a smooth and uninterrupted ride to the top. I see no reason to mention that to the press, local or national.’
She paused, drawing a swift breath that she tried to keep steady. ‘And I’m telling you this only because I’m sick of the implication that any other woman’s man is fair game as far as I’m concerned.’
‘Your protest is touching,’ he said, as the Jeep moved forward. ‘But the evidence is against you.’ His mouth twisted. ‘Perhaps it’s genetic.’
‘If you mean like mother, like daughter,’ she said. ‘Why don’t you just say so? I have no objection. Because I know that whatever my mother did it was for love, and that I am no different.’
‘Slow curtain,’ he said sardonically, ‘and tumultuous applause. I loved the authentic quiver of sincerity in the voice, sweetheart. You could make a living in straight drama without needing to take your clothes off on television. But perhaps you enjoy it.’
He paused. ‘Incidentally, how did this good friend of yours react to the sight of you cavorting naked with her husband?’
She shrugged. ‘She thought it was funny.’
Even now she could remember being in Daisy’s kitchen, the pair of them hooting with uncontrollable laughter as they waited for Rob to come back with their Indian takeaway.
‘Do you know how long it took me,’ Daisy had asked tearfully, ‘to put concealer on his bum because he thought he was getting a spot?’
‘He didn’t mention that.’ Rhianna shook her head, hiccupping. ‘He just kept c-complaining about the draught on the set.’
‘He does that when we’re in bed,’ said his loving wife, wiping her eyes. ‘Invariably at the wrong moment. He’s terrified of catching a cold. Some people have champagne in their fridges. We have gargle, bless him.’
God, but they were so right for each other, Rhianna thought. Rob—his ambition and talent battling his anxieties. Daisy—serenely grounded.
Their love for each other had been unquestioned and unquestioning—until Daisy’s biological clock began ticking away.
If they were now separated it had to be a glitch, she told herself passionately, because they belonged together in a way she could only observe and admire. And, if she was honest, envy.
‘So what are you doing here, Rhianna?’ Diaz’s voice broke harshly across her thoughts. His hands were gripping the wheel so fiercely that the knuckles stood out. ‘God knows there isn’t a soul that wants you at Penvarnon—apart, I suppose, from Carrie. In her case, love is indeed blind, or she’d have seen you a long time ago for the treacherous, self-serving little madam you really are.’
‘Heavens,’ she said. ‘What a turn of phrase. If we ever need a scriptwriter for Castle Pride I’ll recommend you. Unless, of course, you’re planning an alternative career as a cabbie?’
‘You didn’t really think I’d risk Simon coming to meet you from the train?’ he said softly. ‘Because my poor trusting Carrie would have let him do it if I hadn’t stepped in.’
‘Dear me,’ she said lightly. ‘Is he so little to be relied upon?’
‘No.’ His voice hardened. ‘You are. You’re the loose cannon around here. The snake in the grass. And don’t think I’ll let that slip my mind even for a minute.’
They were outside the town by now, and he swung the wheel suddenly and sharply, pulling the Jeep on to the verge at the side of the road and bringing it to an abrupt halt.
‘And this isn’t more advice,’ he went on. ‘It’s a warning to be taken seriously.’
He drew a deep breath. ‘You probably have every red-blooded man in Britain lusting after you, but that’s not enough for you—is it? Because you didn’t learn your lesson five years ago. You had to make another play for Simon, and this time it worked.’
He paused. ‘But, sadly for you, the Rhianna effect didn’t last. You can’t have been too pleased when the stupid bastard came to his senses just in time, and realised what was genuine and worthwhile in his life, and how easily he could have lost it. After all you’re irresistible—according to the television company’s publicity machine.’
His voice roughened. ‘You betrayed the best, most loyal friend you’ve ever had in order to bed Simon, just to prove that you could. But on Saturday she’s still the one he’s going to marry. And you will say nothing and do nothing to jeopardise that in any way. Do I make myself clear?’
‘As crystal.’ She stared straight ahead of her through the windscreen. ‘Tell me—did Simon receive a similar lecture, or was this fascinating diatribe designed for me alone?’
‘I didn’t need to have another go at him,’ he said. ‘Simon is subdued enough already. And he’s made it clear that he bitterly regrets the criminal stupidity of putting his entire