At Her Boss's Bidding

Rachel gave a little shake of her head and dredged up a covering smile. ‘You haven’t shown me all the lovely things you bought in Hong Kong yet,’ she said brightly.

‘I was just saying that to Isabel,’ Rafe replied. ‘Why don’t you two girls take your coffee into the bedroom and do just that? We two men can stay here and talk about man stuff.’

Isabel rolled her eyes as she handed the stylish blue and white mugs of steaming coffee around. ‘In that case, you have a deal. Two arrogant, self-opinionated males exchanging macho bulldust is not my idea of a fun time. Come on, Rach, let’s get out of here and leave these two to play one-upmanship all by themselves.’

‘I’ll have you know that I never play one-upmanship!’ Rafe called after the girls as they retreated, mugs in hand.

Rachel and Isabel’s laughter lasted till the bedroom door was safely shut behind them.

‘What happened out there?’ Isabel asked straight away. ‘You were both happy as larks when Rafe and I left to go make the coffee, and as tense as anything when we came back.’

Rachel sighed. ‘The conversation came round to you and Rafe expecting a child and I stupidly asked him if he’d wanted children when he was married.’

‘Stupidly asked!’ Isabel exclaimed, her expression one of outrage. ‘What’s stupid about a normal question like that? Truly, Rachel, you’re not going to turn into one of those women afraid to ask their boyfriend anything about his past. Or your future together, for that matter. I, for one, would like to know exactly what his intentions are towards you.’

Rachel had to smile. Dear Isabel. She really was a good friend. When she wasn’t playing bossy mother. She didn’t know it but she was just like her own mother in some ways, a fact which would pain Isabel if she realised it.

‘He wants me to be his lover, his friend and his PA,’ Rachel answered patiently. ‘But not necessarily in that order of priority. He doesn’t want me to be his wife. And obviously not the mother of his children. He doesn’t love me. Neither does he want to remarry. He told me so upfront. He’s been very honest with me, Isabel, and I have no right to cross-question him, or try to change the status quo.’

‘Oh, Rachel, that’s just so much crap.’

‘No, it’s not. I’ve gone into this affair with my eyes wide open. I know the score. Justin doesn’t want my love. He wants my friendship, my companionship and my body.’

‘And you can live with that?’

‘For the time being. That doesn’t mean I don’t have a very different long-term agenda. I’m not that self-sacrificing. I love Justin more than I ever loved Eric and I aim to marry him one day.’

‘Wow. Now, that’s more like my old Rachel. So what are you going to do? Get pregnant accidentally on purpose after a little while?’ Isabel asked excitedly.

Rachel was taken aback. ‘Are you insane? That strategy would never work with Justin.’

‘How do you know? Rafe said it’s a winner if the guy cares about you at all, and you obviously think he does.’

‘Yes, I do. But he hasn’t totally got over his wife yet. I’m hopeful he will, though, the same way I eventually got over Eric. Time does heal all wounds, you know.’

‘No, it doesn’t,’ Isabel countered sharply. ‘Sometimes people get gangrene. On top of that, it took you damned years to get over that rotter, my girl. By the time Justin is ready to move on from his slutty ex, you might be too old to have children. Don’t wait, I say. Take a chance and get preggers and see what happens.’

‘Uh-uh, Isabel. That worked for you and Rafe because you loved each other. Justin doesn’t love me yet. He wouldn’t marry me at this point in time and I don’t want to be a single mum. I want any child of mine to have it all. Both parents who love him or her, and who love each other.’

Isabel frowned, and cocked her head on one side. ‘Are you sure he doesn’t? Love you, that is?’

‘What? Look, what are you playing at now, Isabel?’

‘Just looking at the situation from a different angle. To be honest, if I didn’t know Justin’s personal history I would have said he was quite besotted with you.’

Rachel could feel herself blushing. ‘You really think so?’

‘Absolutely. He might very well be in love with you. He just doesn’t know it himself yet. Rafe didn’t realise he loved me for ages. So tell me one thing. Is Justin going to tell his mother about you, or is your sleeping together to be kept a tacky little secret?’

‘Funny you should ask that. I thought he’d want to keep our affair a secret. But no, he’s already told Alice over the phone and we’re going to her place for lunch tomorrow. Apparently, he has lunch with his mother practically every Sunday.’