The Price of a Wife

'Now, now, darling, keep those sharp little claws under control.' As Charlotte tapped him lightly on the arm with red-tipped fingers she waved a languid hand at Josie. 'See you later, sweetie, and don't forget, he really is the original love-them-and-leave-them type wolf. Not your cup of tea, I'm afraid.'

'Charlotte, I work for him, that's all,' Josie said evenly. 'And you know it.'

'Yes, in your case I probably do,' the other woman acknowledged with a wry smile. 'You really do have the most marvellous control over your libido, darling—'

'Unlike you,' her companion cut in again. 'Which is probably exactly why the man in question had the sense to choose Josie.'

'Sweetie, you really are in the most foul mood…'

As Charlotte and her associate walked off, bickering amiably, Josie caught Penny's indignant glance across the table.

'That woman really is a first-class bitch,' Penny stated flatly. 'Hasn't she heard of losing gracefully?'

'Don't let it bother you.' Josie smiled at her assistant's fierce face. 'That's just Charlotte's way; it doesn't mean anything.' Her casual answer, combined with an unconcerned smile, seemed to diffuse the interest of the other office staff, but as the conversation ebbed and flowed about her Josie's mind was in a different dimension altogether.

So he liked women, did he? Well, so what? She hadn't exactly imagined he was inclined any other way, so it was no big deal to find out he was something of a philanderer. She had seen the way the women hadn't been able to keep their eyes off him in Germany, and what man, when offered it on a plate, would refuse?

He was very attractive, very wealthy and powerful, with an air of dark ruthlessness that could well work as a dangerous aphrodisiac to most females, as Charlotte had pointed out. No. She hadn't expected anything different. So why, in view of all that, was it smarting so much? she asked herself with a touch of surprise. And why did she have this ridiculous feeling that the day had just become overcast, grey?

'Are you OK, Josie?' As Penny touched her arm, her good-natured face concerned, Josie was jerked abruptly out of her thoughts to the realisation that she had been sitting in silence for a good five minutes. This wouldn't do; it wouldn't do at all, she thought irritably. If anyone should even begin to guess at what she had been thinking…

'I'm fine, apart from exhaustion and an imminent nervous breakdown,' she joked quickly, forcing a bright smile to her face. 'Thank goodness the main bulk of the decisions have been made now; I can start a normal working routine again until the middle of October. I think I could fall asleep at any time of the night or day at the moment.'

'I don't know how you do it,' Penny said quietly. 'You work far harder than any of the others. Still, it's paid off, hasn't it?'

'Uh-huh.' Josie nodded her agreement as the little voice in her head made itself known again. Yes, her one hundred per cent commitment to her career had paid off, if you could count going home to an empty flat with just Mog for company each night payment, that was. The thought shocked her, coming as it did from nowhere, and she found herself staying even later than usual at the office that evening, simply to prove she was where she wanted to be.

She was just leaving at a few minutes past nine, her briefcase and portfolio full of sketches and papers weighing a ton, when the telephone began to ring shrilly as she reached the far door. She turned, hesitated for a few moments as she waited for the caller to give up, and when it still continued hurried back quickly, expecting it to stop just as she picked it up. It had been that sort of day after all.

'Hello? Top Promotions,' she stated breathlessly as she lifted the receiver to her ear.

'Why aren't you at home with your feline friend?' The dark voice was deep and husky and unmistakably Luke's.

'I— How did you know it was me?' she asked weakly as a little shiver snaked down her spine.

'I could ask you the same thing,' he drawled slowly. 'But to answer your question, what oilier female would still be working at gone nine on a Friday night? Anyway, I already phoned your flat and there was no reply.'

'I could have been out,' she answered quickly as the shiver was replaced by anger at the fact that he assumed she had nowhere else to go other than home or the office.

'You were. You were at work,' he said calmly' 'And don't get on your high horse, Miss Owens. It was you yourself who told me that the moggy and work filled your days and nights.'

'I did not.' She hadn't, had she? she asked herself helplessly. No, she hadn't. 'I said I had friends and—'

'Why so defensive anyway?' he asked, with a calm arrogance that made her literally grit her teeth. 'There's nothing wrong with working late, especially when the work in question is for me. I find it highly commendable.'

'Do you?' Count to ten, Josie, count to ten, she told herself tightly, the dry, mordant mockery in the deep voice grating on her nerves like barbed wire. The man was impossible! Totally, absolutely impossible—but she wouldn't win in an argument with him; that much she had learnt in their short acquaintance. She took a long, hard breath and forced her voice into tones of honeyed sweetness. 'Then that makes all the long hours worthwhile, doesn't it?' she said, with an innocent sarcasm that wasn't lost on the man listening to her.

'Quite so.' There was a moment of silence and then he spoke again. 'I wondered if you'd like to have dinner tomorrow night and we can discuss how things axe going? There are a couple of small points I feel need attention, but I only arrived back in England tonight so I haven't been able to give them my full consideration.'

'Dinner?' Just for

a moment, in spite of all her good intentions, and the logical if painful reasoning of the last few days, she was tempted, and that fact alone put steel in her voice. 'I'm sorry, Luke, I'm afraid that's not possible. However, I'd be glad to call in at your office first thing Monday morning, if you like. Would that be soon enough?'

'No problem,' he agreed easily. Too easily, she thought testily. No doubt there were women lining up to have dinner with Luke Hawkton. 'Make it first thing, would you? The day is bound to be chaotic with my having been away for a week.'

'Certainly. Nine OK?' she asked briskly.

'Fine. Allow an hour or two, would you?' he said coolly. 'It might take us some time to come to that mutually agreeable solution you mentioned once before. Now,' he continued before she had a chance to speak, 'I'd call it a day if I were you and go home and feed that poor animal of yours. What's it called, by the way?'