No, there was nothing about this portrait that said Hebe was telling him the truth.
But what reason would she have to lie?
Because she had been found out?
Because, having already let two wealthy men slip through her grasp, she still hoped the two of them might have some sort of relationship?
His mouth twisted derisively as he turned back to her. ‘It’s an interesting idea, Hebe, but not very plausible, is it?’ he dismissed.
She straightened defensively. ‘Why isn’t it?’
Damn it, why couldn’t she just let it go? Admit she was the woman in the portrait and tell him where the hell he could find and speak to Andrew Southern?
He shook his head. ‘Because it’s too damned convenient, that’s why,’ he snapped.
‘For whom?’ she challenged shakily. Because it certainly wasn’t convenient for her.
Her parents had told her long ago that she was adopted, of course. They were such wonderful parents, and because of this, and the fact that she never, ever wanted to hurt them, she had never even attempted to find out who her real parents were.
What would have been the point? Obviously they hadn’t wanted her when she was born, so why should they want to know about her as an adult…?
‘Look, Hebe, I don’t give a damn if you’ve posed nude for the guy. I just want a way in to Andrew Southern, past his guard-dog of an agent!’Nick told her with brutal honesty.
Hebe flinched slightly at his callousness. ‘Well, when you find it,’ she said evenly, ‘please let me know—because after this I would like to talk to him too!’
Nick’s mouth twisted derisively. ‘You’re right; talking isn’t something you do too much of when you’re in bed, is it?’
‘Insults are going to get us nowhere, Nick,’ she told him shakily, the chocolate seeming to have done very little to allay her shock. In fact, she felt decidedly sick now.
But then, it wasn’t every day you were confronted with a painting possibly of the mother you had never known. A painting, moreover, that was everything Nick said it was.
Whoever the woman was, Andrew Southern had been in love with her when he’d painted her portrait. It was there in every brushstroke, every soft nuance of the woman’s sensual beauty.
Did that mean that the artist was Hebe’s father…?
Or had that been the man who had owned the portrait all these years and kept it hidden from view?
They were questions that Hebe certainly wanted answers to.
But for the moment she had to deal with Nick’s disbelief…
She drew in a deep breath. ‘You can think what you like about the portrait, Nick. Your opinion is really of little interest to me. I know that woman isn’t me, and that’s what’s important.’
He looked at her frustratedly for several seconds. ‘You’re seriously expecting me to believe, if that portrait is of your mother, that it’s—what?—twenty-six, twentyseven years old?’
She shrugged at his sceptisism. ‘That timescale would certainly fit in with the period when Andrew Southern was still painting portraits, yes. And for the record, Nick,’ she added ruefully, ‘I’m not expecting you to believe anything. I told you, it’s what I think that’s important.’
And what she thought was that she had to see Andrew Southern herself, and ask him about the woman in the portrait…
But if a man like Nick Cavendish, with all of the prestige of the Cavendish Galleries behind him, couldn’t get past the reclusive artist’s agent, then how did she expect to do so?
She would find a way.
She had to!
There was no way she could just leave here and pretend she had never seen that portrait. The portrait of the woman who surely had to be her mother…
She would need to speak to her parents too, of course. She couldn’t just go off in search of her real parents without telling them about it first. She owed them that, and they would understand, she was sure. They had brought her up with a sure sense of how important she was to them, of how much she was loved, but at the same time had taught her independence of spirit and mind. They couldn’t fail to support her in her search for the woman in the portrait.
‘Well, if that’s all, Nick, I think I’ll go now.’ Hebe put the glass of water down on the low table in front of her before standing up.
And instantly swayed dizzily again.
In fact, she felt as if she really were going to be sick!
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ Nick stepped forward to grasp her arm, his expression dark and brooding.
She looked up at him with slightly unfocusing eyes. ‘I told you—I haven’t had any lunch today.’She tried to move away from him. Even that light touch on her arm was enough to send a thrill of awareness coursing through her veins.
So much for hating him!
Reasonably she might do so; he had been nothing but insulting today, with none of that exciting lover of six weeks ago about him. But emotionally her body still responded to his slightest touch.
‘You’re coming upstairs with me,’ he announced grimly.
‘Upstairs?’ She stared at him with startled eyes.
His mouth twisted derisively. ‘Don’t look so worried, Hebe; I’m not so filled with lust for you that I’m dragging you upstairs to have my wicked way with you!’
‘Again!’ she came back tartly, stung by his mockery.
‘Again,’ he acknowledged tauntingly, keeping a firm hold of her arm as he walked her over to the door. ‘You’re dizzy from not having eaten any lunch, and I have food upstairs in my apartment; the logical thing to do is take you up there and feed you,’ he explained dryly.
Logic? When had logic had anything to do with their relationship so far?
‘If you’re happy to let me go for the day, I can easily go home and get myself something to eat.’ She firmly stood her ground.
She did not want to go upstairs to his apartment. Today had been humiliating enough without returning to the scene of her naïve stupidity in thinking this man seriously liked her!
Nick’s mouth tightened. ‘No, I’m not happy to do that, Hebe. For one thing, you don’t look as if you could make it downstairs, let alone home,’ he derided. ‘And, for another, I haven’t finished talking to you yet.’
That sounded ominous…
‘I’ve told you—I don’t know anything about Andrew Southern,’ she insisted stubbornly. ‘Not where he is or how you might get to meet him. I wish I did!’
Nick eyed her frowningly. Did she seriously expect him to believe that?
Yes, he acknowledged impatiently after a glance at her guileless expression, that was exactly what she expected.
It was up to him to ensure that she knew she hadn’t succeeded in convincing him of anything. Not for a moment!
‘We’ll talk again after you’ve eaten,’ he told her firmly, taking her with him out into the carpeted hallway.
Hebe glared at him. ‘Do you never take no for an answer?’
Nick gave a wolfish grin. ‘You, of all people, should know that I don’t!’
That had certainly