As it was she lightly touched the other woman's arm on leaving the cloakroom, her voice mellow and her face sympathetic as she said, 'I'm sure Quinn will always look on you as a dear, dear friend, Joanna,' and left the blonde literally grinding her teeth in impotent fury.
When Meg Andrews entertained she did it in style, and there were twenty, including the hostess, seated at the magnificent table for dinner, which was a picture of gleaming silver cutlery, fine damask linen and sparkling crystal.
The conversation was witty and sharp, the endless courses delicious, and by the time she and Quinn left, just before midnight, several couples present had pressed invitations for the forthcoming Christmas celebrations upon them, all of which Quinn had seemed to accept, from what Candy could gather.
She broached the subject as soon as they were safely ensconced in the car.
'Quinn, how long had you envisaged this…tactic shall continue?' she asked carefully as he slid into the driving seat after settling her into the passenger seat as though she was breakable. Which was very pleasant And seductive.
'Tactic?' He started the engine before turning to glance at her once, his ebony eyes narrowed.
'You know what I mean. This ploy about us being together,' she answered, just a little too sharply. 'It doesn't seem fair to keep it up.'
'No?' He expertly manoeuvred the car in a semicircle on the drive and let it purr gently towards the big gates in the distance. 'Unfair to whom, exactly?'
'Just…everyone. You said for an evening, remember?'
'Did I?' He sounded genuinely surprised, but Candy didn't trust him. She had seen a new side of Quinn tonight, and she was beginning to wonder if there were other facets of his complex personality just waiting to rear their beads.
'Yes, you did,' she said firmly.
'It's not a problem to continue a while longer, is it?' he asked in tones of patient reasonableness. 'You enjoyed yourself tonight, didn't you?'
'Of course I did, but that's not the point.'
'And it kept the lechers in check.'
'What?' Her head shot to look at his dark profile but Quinn was concentrating on easing the car on to the main road.
'You mean to say you didn't notice Monty drooling into his bow tie?' Quinn asked pleasantly. 'Or Brigadier Kealey panting at the leash?'
'I don't know what you're talking about.' She was honestly bewildered.
'Candy, those guys like you. Hell, any guy would like you. You're very…likeable.'
'Quinn—'
'It worked well tonight.' He did glance at her hot face then, one swift, all-encompassing glance. 'And nothing has changed as far as I can see. We both know what we want, and it doesn't include messy romantic involvements. I enjoyed being with you tonight and I had a great time. Can you say the same?'
'You know I can.'
'Then why spoil a good thing when there's no reason to? Neither of us have anyone on the horizon we're keen to date at the moment, but if that changed we both know where we stand. I'd like to think we could still be friends, though.' His voice was rational and quiet and there was no reason at all for Candy to want to do or say something outrageous to break that cool composure but she did. If all those other men—according to Quinn—found her so attractive, how come he was immune?
Was she being petty? She darted a swift glance at him from under her eyelashes. Probably, she admitted silently. And she wasn't normally like that But then this wasn't exactly a normal situation, not as far as she was concerned at least. But as Quinn had pointed out neither of them were losing anything and they had everything to gain…didn't they? Oh, she wished she'd never started this ridiculous charade!
'Candy?' Quinn prompted lazily.
'Yes, fine, if you're happy to continue so am I,' she tossed back with detached coolness. 'I just didn't want to cramp your style, that's all.'
'There's no question of that. I've got a hell of a lot on my plate at the moment building the business up; the last thing I want is Joanna or someone similar causing problems.'
This was so cold-blooded. Candy suddenly felt totally drained, but she didn't intend to let Quinn see that. She casually fixed into place a loose curl that had come adrift from the carefully tousled knot on the top of her head, and then settled back in her seat before she said, 'In that case there's no problem.'
'Excellent.'
Quinn flashed her an approving smile and then turned back to the view beyond the windscreen. Why was he protracting this? He couldn't blame her for questioning it because he'd done the same thing himself. When he had first suggested this evening he'd had in mind a one-off—a way of introducing her into the social scene without there being any danger of someone frightening her off. She needed time to heal both physically and emotionally, that was what Essie had told him,
and he could understand that Apart from the physical trauma of the accident she had lost her fiancé; the man she had promised to spend the rest of her life with, the man she had loved and adored.