‘Liar.’ His voice was silky with laughter. ‘Don’t you want to know exactly how much you have to be embarrassed about? How wild and uninhibited you were in the seamless dark...?’
‘No,’ she lied fiercely. ‘As far as I’m concerned the whole thing was a ghastly mistake. OK, so it was me. I was there, I did whatever you say I did. Now you’ve got your damned confession we can consider it over and done with,’ she gritted.
‘Unless you’re pregnant.’
‘What?’ she screeched, stopping dead still in the middle of the dance-floor as if she had been pole-axed. She stared at him in disbelief.
‘You mean we didn’t—? You didn’t even—?’ Her mouth quivered with horror as she breathed, ‘Oh, God, I don’t believe this!’ It had never occurred to her that a cautious man like Benedict Savage would not have taken every precaution...and then some!
‘I take it this means you’re not on the Pill,’ he murmured gravely, nudging her back into motion.
‘Of course I’m not!’ She moaned softly, her body weakly moulding to his as she grappled with this utterly appalling new relevation.
‘No, “of course” about it. A lot of women prefer to take responsibility themselves—’
‘But I wasn’t responsible that night, was I?’ she said frantically. ‘You must have known I wasn’t!’
‘How? It was pitch-dark and what you whispered in my ear wasn’t exactly calculated to inspire reasoned conversation—’
‘Couldn’t you smell the wine on my breath?’ said Vanessa hurriedly, eager not to hear what she had said.
‘Smell, no—taste, yes. But then, you tasted equally intoxicating all over—by the time I got to linger in your mouth I was raging drunk myself...’
Vanessa felt a blush sweep over her from head to toe and quickly got back to the main point. ‘How could you take such a risk, with someone you didn’t even know—?’
‘Oh, Dane assured me you had a certificate of health.’
‘He what?’ She trod on his toe and he winced.
‘It turned out he meant the car, remember? Only at the time I thought he was talking about you, you see, so...’
‘So you didn’t use anything! How could you? Didn’t you care that I might—might—?’
‘Have my baby? I’m afraid I was so stunned when I got into bed and found a warm, willing body waiting for me that I completely lost my head. And you certainly didn’t give me any opportunity to politely excuse myself...’
‘Oh—my—God!’ Her head bowed, sinking on to his shoulder. He tightened his grip still further, supporting her trembling body. Her only consolation was that it was unlikely that she would have fallen pregnant at what had been a low point in her monthly cycle. Still, she now faced weeks of horrible uncertainty.
‘If you are pregnant I suppose Wells will insist on your having tests—’
‘What?’ Her head jerked up again.
Benedict smiled into her pale, frowning face. ‘To see whether the baby is his or mine. After all, I don’t suppose either of us would want to claim the other’s child. Shall we ask him for his opinion when we get back to the table?’
Her nerveless feet tangled again with his and this time it was her foot that was momentarily crushed. Benedict came to a halt.
‘Sorry. Have you had enough of dancing? Shall we go back to Wells?’ He began to draw away from her politely and Vanessa reacted instinctively.
‘No!’ She practically flung herself against his lean strength, unconsciously leading as she forced him back into the safety of motion. She couldn’t face Richard yet, not after the way she had flirted madly with him earlier. The beautiful meal congealed like a block of concrete in her stomach at the very thought of him discovering that she had casually slept with someone else during the time she had been acting like a nervous virgin with Richard. ‘No...the music’s still playing...’
He meekly followed her agitated footsteps, making no attempt to hide his amusement. ‘Poor Vanessa, torn between two lovers...’
‘We are not lovers!’ she denied automatically.
‘Then what would you call us?’
‘Not us!’ she blurted confusedly. Unfortunately his intelligence was equal to her confusion. He comprehended instantly what she hadn’t meant him to know.
‘My God, hasn’t the stud performed for you yet?’