‘It’s been pleasant meeting you, Mr—er—— But I have to go now,’ she finally managed to release her hand. ‘If you’ll excuse me …’ and she turned to leave, already dismissing him from her mind.
A strong hand came out to stop her, blue eyes narrowing as the man moved to stand in front of her. ‘Velvet, I know things ended abruptly between us, but I thought you understood——’
‘Now look, Mr——’
‘Jerard,’ he put in tersely.
‘Mr Jerard,’ she said impatiently. ‘You——’
‘Just Jerard,’ he snapped. ‘Don’t play games, Velvet, not now, and not with me.’
She pulled out of his grasp, knowing there would be bruises on her wrist tomorrow. Paul would love that! ‘I don’t play games, Mr—Jerard,’ she snapped. ‘And I don’t particularly like the people who do.’
‘I don’t play games either,’ he rasped. ‘I never have.’
‘Then I wish you wouldn’t now,’ she rubbed her tender skin. ‘I’m in a hurry, and I really don’t have the time to talk to you right now.’
‘Velvet!’
She glared up at him. ‘Will you please leave me alone!’
He frowned. ‘Why are you pretending you don’t know me?’
‘Because I don’t!’ she cried her exasperation. ‘And if this is a pick-up it really isn’t a very original one,’ she dismissed scathingly.
‘Pick-up!’ he exploded, his eyes blazing, a pulse beating irratically at his jaw. ‘Don’t do this to me, Velvet. I may deserve it, but don’t do it.’ His expression was haunted.
She shook her head. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘I’m talking about us,’ he sighed. ‘You and me.’
‘There is no you and me. Now if we’re supposed to have met in the past, then I’m sorry, but I don’t remember the meeting.’
‘You do remember,’ he snarled, very tense. ‘You’re just trying to punish me.’
She bit her lip at the savagery of his expression. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about. But you and I have never met before. Now I really do have to go.’ She brushed past him, and this time he made no effort to stop her.
She was shaking as she stepped into the lift, turning to press the button for her floor, seeing the man called Jerard still standing where she had left him, looking as if she had struck him a physical blow.
What had seemed to be a conventional pick-up, a ‘haven’t we met before’ approach, had turned out to be something else entirely. The man had to be insane, or else genuinely suffering from mistaken identity. And yet he hadn’t seemed mistaken, he had even called her by her name. But she didn’t know him, would never forget such an intense personality. Unless …? No, no, it wasn’t possible she had ever met him before.
She put the call through to Simon once she reached her room, just managing to talk to Tony before Janice put him to bed. His lisped question of when she was coming home brought a lump to her throat, and she quickly reassured him that it would be soon. She had only left him twice before, and each time it had only been for two days. Talking to her son like this, made conscious of the miles separating them, made her wish that she had never come to Fort Lauderdale.
‘How are you, love?’ her brother asked once Tony had gone off quite happily with his aunt.
‘I’m fine,’ she told him huskily. ‘Is Tony behaving himself?’
‘Does he ever?’ Simon laughed.
‘Oh dear,’ she sighed worriedly. ‘What’s he done?’
‘Nothing too serious. He tried to eat the cat’s food——’
‘Ugh!’ she grimaced.
‘Quite,’ he agreed dryly. ‘The only thing was he tried to eat it at the same time as the cat did. You can imagine what happened!’
‘I’m trying not to.’ Simon and Janice had a huge grey tabby, a placid creature, until it came to her food, that she would defend with her life. ‘What happened?’
‘Tiger turned round and swiped him one. That’s when Tony grabbed her tail and wouldn’t let go.’
Velvet was laughing so much she had tears streaming down her face—or could they be due to the fact that she was missing her son so much? ‘Who won in the end?’
‘I think they called it a draw. Tony had a scratched hand, and Tiger slunk off into a corner to wash her tail. They’re friends again now, though, they’ve been playing together for the last hour. Now, how’s the work going?’
‘Quite well. But it’s so hot. You know me, I can’t stand the heat. Also—No,’ Velvet bit her lip, reluctant to tell her brother about the strange man she had just met. ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she dismissed.
‘What is it, Velvet?’ he asked sharply, always having been the one she ran to with her problems.
‘There was this man——’
‘Looking the way you do there was bound to be,’ he derided.
‘No, it wasn’t like that, Simon. He—he was so strange.’ She went on to describe her meeting with the man called Jerard.
‘Did he upset you?’ her brother wanted to know.
‘Not really,’ she frowned. ‘He disturbed me more than anything.’
‘Good-looking, was he?’ Simon teased.
‘I didn’t mean that sort of disturbed,’ she told him crossly, in a way glad that he hadn’t taken the incident seriously; it made her feel she didn’t have to either.
‘I don’t see why not—it’s some time since Anthony died. You’re too young and beautiful to be alone for ever,’ he said gently. ‘Besides, Tony needs a father.’
‘Simon!’ she spluttered her indignation. ‘This man definitely wasn’t father material, not at all,’ she added with certainty. ‘And even if he were I’m not interested. He was weird,’ she shivered, the memory of his fierce blue eyes burning into hers still very much with her.
‘Then you make sure you stay away from him,’ her brother warned. ‘I’d better let you go now, this call must be costing a fortune.’
‘Okay. Give Tony a hug for me, and a hug and a kiss for you and Janice.’
‘See you soon, love.’
She felt quite dejected once she had rung off, feeling a need to get out of her room and be among people. But she didn’t feel like walking back over to the beach, opting to use the hotel pool instead. She just hoped she wouldn’t run into that hateful man again!
It seemed her luck was in; there was no sign of the man, and the pool was mainly deserted in favour of the beach. The pool was gloriously cool, and she swam for half an hour or more before getting out to lie on one of the loungers scattered about its edge.
‘You swim well,’ remarked someone at her side.
Her eyes flickered open to meet warm blue ones; a tall blond American was standing beside her, his tan a golden bronze. But Velvet didn’t welcome a pick-up twice in one day. ‘Thank you,’ she said uninterestedly, closing her eyes again.
‘You’re one of the models staying