Her throat moved up and down in a convulsive swallow.
‘There are any number of antique dealers who would gladly snatch up this little load,’ he continued when she didn’t speak, sending his free hand in an arc to encompass the priceless goods in the room.
‘You think you can persuade Howard to release me with such a bribe?’ she asked.
‘Why don’t you call him and find out?’ he suggested and pushed the phone towards her again.
She took the phone, her fingers numbly pressing in the numbers.
‘Howard?’
‘Ashleigh!’ Howard’s tone was full of delight. ‘How was your day?’ He hardly paused for her to respond before he went on. ‘Do you remember that consignment from Leura that I’d thought we’d lost to the opposition? Well, you’ll be thrilled to know that the family of the deceased have decided to give us the deal after all. Isn’t that wonderful news? With the consignment you’re getting from Jake Marriott we’ll be the toast of the town come the antiques fair!’
‘Howard…Jake has met Lachlan.’
‘My mother, of course, is beside herself,’ Howard rambled on excitedly. ‘She and my father never imagined the heights I would aspire to, but I have you to thank for that, for without your—’
‘Howard—’ she interrupted him ‘—Jake knows about Lachlan.’
‘I know it is early days but it will be in all the papers. Howard Caule Antiques will be the premier…’ Howard took a small breath. ‘What did you say?’
Ashleigh’s eyes avoided Jake’s as she said into the phone, ‘Jake knows Lachlan is his son.’ She took an unsteady breath and continued, ‘He has asked me to marry him.’
There was a tiny beat of silence before Howard asked, ‘What answer did you give him?’
‘How do you think I answered?’
Howard let out a long sigh. ‘Ashleigh, I know you’ve done your very best to hide it from me, but I’ve known for a long time now that you don’t really love me.’
‘But I—’
‘It’s all right, Ashleigh—’ he cut through her protest ‘—I understand, I really do. You still have feelings for—’
‘Is this about the consignment?’ she asked sharply.
‘How could you think that of me, Ashleigh?’ The hurt in his tone was unmistakable. ‘I would gladly let them go to someone else if I thought by insisting you marry me instead of Jake you would be happy. You are never going to be happy until you sort out your past with Jake and we both know it.’
Ashleigh clutched the phone in her hand with rigid fingers, annoyed that Jake was quite clearly hearing every word of her fiancé’s.
‘You’ll have to go through with it,’ Howard insisted. ‘If not for Lachlan’s sake, then for mine.’
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, her heart plummeting in alarm.
‘Jake has a prior claim. He’s the child’s father, after all. I could never stand in his way; it wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be decent. It wouldn’t be moral.’
‘But what about us?’ she asked in an undertone, turning her back on Jake’s cynical sneer.
‘Ashleigh.’ Howard’s voice was steady with resignation. ‘You know how much I care for you, but I’ve known for a long time you don’t really feel the same way about me. My mother has been concerned about it for ages. We could have been married months ago, but you wouldn’t commit. Doesn’t that tell you something?’
She found it difficult to answer him. She had been stalling, almost dreading the day when her life would be legally tied to his, in spite of her very real gratitude for all he’d done for her both professionally and personally.
Ashleigh chanced a glance in Jake’s direction and noted the self-satisfied curl of his lip with a sinking feeling in her belly.
She turned her back determinedly and spoke to Howard once more. ‘I’m sorry about this, Howard…I didn’t mean to hurt you like this. You’ve been so good to me and Lachlan.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Howard said. ‘We will always be friends. Anyway, it’s not as if we won’t see each other. You do still work for me, remember?’
‘Yes…’
Jake reached across and took the phone out of her hand and spoke to Howard. ‘Caule, Jake Marriott here. Ashleigh won’t be working for you once this consignment is delivered to your showroom. I have other plans for her.’
‘Oh…I see…Well, then, I wish you all the best, both of you, and Lachlan, too, of course…’ Howard’s words trailed off.