A Man To Tame - Rachel Lindsay (Roberta Leigh) (10 page)

'I think you do.' His look around
the room spoke volumes and the glass in her hand shook again, this time with anger.

'I know my lack of domesticity
annoys you, Mr Howard, but as I am the only one to
suffer by it…' .

'Are you the only one?' he
countered. 'As a doctor, surely you know the importance of being well looked
after? You've worked hard all day and now you have to come home and make
yourself a meal.'

‘Thousands of people have to do the
same.'

'Because they
have no choice. But I'm giving you a
choice.'

That's exactly what you aren't
doing!' she flared. ‘You are giving me an order and I won't accept it! I don't
need a housekeeper and I have no intention of engaging one.'

'I have already engaged her for
you. Can't you see I’m doing it for your own good? I don't know what you've
eaten all week, but I'm prepared to bet this is the fifth omelette
you've made yourself in as many days!'

'It’s none of your business what I
eat,’ she said furiously.

'I pay your salary and I expect a
hundred per cent efficiency—which I won't get if you go around looking as pale
as a candle!'

'I can't help being pale,’ she
almost choked with anger.

‘You're more than pale,’ he
stormed. ‘You're as thin as a rake. I could pick you up with one hand.'

He moved forward and, afraid he was
going to do exactly what he said, she whirled round to run out.
As
she
turned, the room seemed to turn with her and then began to revolve faster,
until one wall merged with another and everything blurred into an indescribable
vortex. With a cry she put but her hands for support and felt them taken and
gripped hard. She tried to speak, but no words came, nor did the revolving
cease. Instead it intensified while the light around her faded and grew dark.
She knew she was going to faint and with an immense effort she tried to control
it. If only she could lie down and put her feet higher than her head. She went
to drop to the floor, but even as she tried to do so the hands holding her
caught her under her knees and shoulders and she felt herself lifted in the
air.

‘Put me down!’ she gasped.

'Be quiet,’ the man said fiercely,
and lowered her on to the settee.

She lay supine and slowly darkness
gave way to light and the room righted itself. Joshua Howard's face came into
focus, so close to hers that she saw his eyes were not black, as she had supposed,
but a warm brown. His eye-brows were thick too, yet well arched and smooth.
Embarrassed by her thoughts, she hastily sat up.

‘Take it easy,’ he warned, 'or
you'll faint again,’

'No, I won't. I'm not normally the
fainting type.'

'You look as if you are!'

'I can't help my looks,’ she
snapped.

‘They don't need any help.’

Colour came into her cheeks and she
wished he would go away. But before he did, she must talk to him about the
housekeeper. 'I don't want anyone to look after me,’ she reiterated. 'I'm
perfectly capable of taking care of myself.’

‘You proved that by fainting,’ he
said dryly.

‘You made me lose my temper and—and
I was a, bit overwrought.’

‘That should make you an excellent
doctor and able to cope with emergencies,' he said sarcastically, and pushed her
back on to the settee. Then he bent lower, making it impossible for her to rise
without coming up directly against him. ‘You need someone to look after you, Dr
Gibson,' his voice was deep and quiet. ‘Under normal circumstances I am sure
you can take care of yourself, but until you
are
normal I want you to
accept Mrs Pugh's help.'

I’m perfectly normal,' she said
quickly. 'I'm a bit tired today because——-'

I’m not casting doubts on your
ability to be a good doctor,' he interrupted. ‘You've already proved to me how
well you can cope. What I am saying is that you have no reserves of strength
and that if you want to do the best for your patients, you will start to look
after yourself. You can move into a hotel if you wish, but if you want to stay
in this house, then you must have someone to live here with you.'

She opened her mouth to protest,
but he interrupted her again. ‘I had dinner with Peter Frisco when I was in
London and he told me why he had wanted you to take a less strenuous job. I was
annoyed with him for not telling me the full facts when he recommended you——-'

‘You wouldn't have taken me on if
you'd known,’ she said.

That's true,' he agreed, ‘but now
that you
are
working for me, I insist that you let me make things as
easy for you as I can. Mrs Pugh needs someone to look after and you need to be
looked after. What could be more simple?’

Put this way it seemed churlish to
go on refusing his help. ‘How much will I have to pay her?' she asked
cautiously.

“That’s all been arranged.'

'I don't want your charity, Mr
Howard.'

His intake of breath was sharp and
his lids lowered, turning his eyes into slits. The Company is paying for Mrs
Pugh,' he said softly. 'And if you are not willing to accept it,
you
will
have to resign.'

‘There is no mention of my having a
housekeeper in my contract.'

'For heaven's sake,' he said
furiously. 'Don't you know when to give in? What sort of woman are you?'

'One with a mind
of her own.'

Then use it and stop acting like a
fool! Anyone else would jump at the chance of a housekeeper.'

Kate knew he was speaking the truth
and the knowledge made her crosser. ‘Very well, Mr Howard,' she bit out the
words. I’ll do as you say.'

‘Excellent.’ His smile was
brilliant, showing his strong white teeth.
‘Now
I suggest we go into the
kitchen so that you can have your omelette before we polish off the rest of the
champagne.'

'I don't think I'd better drink any
more.' Seeing his mouth tighten, she added quickly: I’m
not being rude, Mr Howard, but since the—the fire I have to be careful what I
drink. I'm sorry that you have wasted your champagne on me.'

'As long as I haven't wasted my
time,' he said softly. That is much more to the point.'

Colour came and went in her cheeks.
She was terribly, conscious of his nearness and of his dark trousered
leg almost brushing her knee. She rose quickly, hoping he would step back, but
he didn't do so and she moved sideways to get past him. His hand came up to
grip her elbow and she felt the hardness of his fingers. Her eyes were on a
level with his chest. His jacket was undone and through his fine silk shirt she
saw thick black hair on his breastbone. It brought with it more intimate
pictures and she shook her head as though to put them from her mind. What was
the matter with her? She was a doctor. She had seen men's bodies before, yet
here she was trembling like a frightened schoolgirl merely because she was
standing next to a handsome brute of a man who was trying to control her life
while she was working for him. She took another step sideways and he released
her arm.

'Do you feel well enough to be left
alone?' he asked.

‘Yes, thank you.'

'I don't suppose you'd care to get
dressed and come and have dinner with me.'

That isn't necessary, Mr Howard. I
was making myself an omelette when you called and I'll finish making it when
you go.'

'How hospitable you are!'

'I don't feel hospitable,’ she said
raggedly, 'and I do wish you'd go and leave me alone.'

Two quick steps brought him to the
hall and another one put him at the door. ‘I’ll see you in the office tomorrow,
Dr Gibson. Goodnight and sleep well.'

‘The door closed behind him and
Kate weakly leaned against the wall. Joshua Howard had come here tonight in a
spirit of friendliness, yet she had been unable to accept the olive branch he
had offered. Because she was not normally the type to bear malice she found her
behaviour hard to understand and concluded it was because he made her feel she
was unfeminine. He believed her to be a career woman who cared only for her
work and not her home comforts, and since she knew this was not the case, she
reacted by disliking him. But to tell him he was misjudging her would only
serve to make him think she minded what he thought of her—and she didn't care
in the least!

Then why am I standing here
thinking about him?' she asked herself, and irritably went into the kitchen.
The omelette mixture looked unappetising and she was about to tip it into the
sink when she stopped. To go to bed without supper was exactly what Joshua
Howard would expect her to do. She re-beat the eggs vigorously and tipped them
into a pan frizzling with hot butter. She must make more of an effort to be
friendly with him; to continue to dislike him would be giving him an
importance; he did not deserve. She had come to Llanduff to do a job for a
specific length of time and when it was over she would return to London calmer in
mind and better in health. Her stay here was but an interlude —- as were the
people she met—and it would be as well to remember that.

CHAPTER SEVEN

At lunchtime the next day Kate
received a call from Joshua Howard's secretary-to tell her she was expected to
lunch in the directors' dining room. Kate put down the telephone and made a
face at it, wondering how the man had known she had not lunched with the other
directors during his absence. Did he always interfere in everything or was he
just doing so with herself out of perversity? She longed to ignore his request
and go to the canteen, but knew that such behaviour would be construed as
deliberately baiting him and, having made up her mind last night that she would
try and stifle the antipathy he aroused in her, she reluctantly obeyed his
dictum.

Entering the dining room, she found
Joshua Howard at the centre of a small group. He saw her and immediately
disengaged himself from them and came over to her. He Was
holding a glass of whisky and a small, dark cigar ao4i always when she saw
someone smoking, she could not refrain from a look of disapproval. He was quick
to notice it but misconstrued her reason.

'I know you like wine, Dr Gibson,
so is it that you object to hard liquor?'

'It isn't my business to object to
anything you do, Mr Howard, but as a matter of fact it was your cigar I was
looking at.'

‘Better than
cigarettes, surely?'

‘Not as safe as a pipe.'

'Do you see me as a calm pipe smoker?'

‘Not exactly,' she said with a
slight smile. .

'But 1 handle
a gun well and I do go for walks with a dog.'

Her smite broadened even though she
knew he was teasing her. 'I am sure you have many admirable qualities, Mr
Howard, not the least of them being a dog-lover!'

He grinned at this and led her tack
to the small group with whom he had been talking. At once conversation centred
on the outbreak of food poisoning; and the effect it had had on production.

'It's lucky it wasn't a lunchtime
meal that was contaminated,' she said, 'or you would have had the whole labour force ill.'

‘That's bound to happen sooner or
later,' one of the , directors said. That's always the
problem where you do mass feeding. There's a lot to be said for everyone
bringing their own lunch box the way they did in the old days.’

'Some men still do.' Dermot joined
the circle, smiling a welcome at Kate as he spoke. 'It beats me why so many
wives bother when their husbands can get a far better meal here than the stodge
and sandwiches
they
provide.'

'I imagine that the women who
provide their husbands with lunch boxes are the ones without children,’ Kate
said. 'It makes them feel they're contributing to the marriage.'

‘Being a real wife, you mean?'
Dermot asked, and looked at the other directors. 'You see how important it is
to have a woman's point of view!'

Then you should employ a few more,’
Kate rejoined,

Dermot grinned. 'If Mr Howard could
run the plant as an all-male concern he would, but unfortunately men don't type
as well as women!'

They would also want more money, as
secretaries,’ Kate said crisply, 'so women do have their uses.'

‘Excellent uses,' a deep voice said
behind her, and uncomfortably she wondered how long Joshua Howard had been
listening to the conversation; most of the time apparently, as his next words
signified. Women don't want only their husbands to need them, they also like
their employers to show the same attitude. I have yet to have a man sulk
because,’ I didn't thank him for staying late to get some work done, or flounce
out in a temper because I objected to their having a long telephone
conversation.'

‘Women do talk longer on the
telephone,’ Kate agreed, ‘but you can't blame them if they want to be thanked
for staying late. After all, secretaries rarely get paid overtime, though I bet
none of your men stay late without being paid for it.’

The dark eyes glinted, though it
was not until they moved towards the table that Joshua Howard spoke softly to
her. ‘You enjoy attacking me, don't you, Dr Gibson?'

'Only because you
enjoy provoking me.'

‘You think I do it deliberately?'

‘Yes.' She glanced at him and then
looked away quickly, uncomfortable beneath the intenseness of his gaze.

'I suppose I do,' he murmured.
'It's probably because I like to watch the way you sparkle. You should have had
red hair.’

‘You mean I'm not the mouse I look!’

He held her
chair
for her
and she saw with dismay that he had placed her next to him.

'Never a mouse,
Dr Gibson. A marmot
perhaps, with sharp little teeth.'

She instantly pictured a small and
nondescript furry creature and wondered what animal he would liken Felicity
Davis to? A sleek black panther perhaps? Seeing he was
still watching her, she hurriedly picked up her spoon and began to eat her
grapefruit.