Sally Wentworth - A Typical Male (17 page)

'Will you tell him you've found out he wrote
the article?'

'That he plagiarised my notes, you mean? You
can bet your life that if I do he'll try and talk me round, use sex to dominate
me.' She got angrily to her feet and paced the room. 'The
rat! He deliberately set out to undermine my confidence, to make me
think that I was making a huge mistake in putting together the programme. And
like an absolute fool I believed him. I've never felt so unsure of myself in my
life. And all the time he was just using me—!' Breaking off, she glared at
Sarah. 'I've got to think up something that will absolutely devastate him.'

'You could take him to court for plagiarism,' Sarah offered.

With a dismissive gesture, Tasha said, 'No, that wouldn't do any good.
It would cost the earth and take too long. Don't forget, he still has all my
notes; he only has to destroy them and then it would be my word against his.
And anyway, to sue him just isn't personal enough. It has to be something that
will not only knock him for six but will get rid of him at the same time.'

'Can't you just tell him that you've met someone else who's far better
in bed?'

'That's an idea!' For a moment Tasha contemplated the thought with
some pleasure, but then frowned. 'Somehow I don't think he'd believe me. There
can be few men who are better lovers than Brett. The sex side of it was really
good. Really good,' she repeated, remembering. 'That's why he'll use it to
subdue me again.'

'Maybe he
won't try,' Sarah suggested. 'He's a man, isn't he? Now he's got what he wants
he'll probably drop you, instead of the other way round.'

But Tasha shook her head firmly.
'No. You heard his message on the phone; does that sound like he wants to be
rid of me? No, my guess is he wants to use the rest of my notes, to do
newspaper articles on all those other cases too. But even I, stupid fool that
he thinks me, would be likely to notice if he did that. So he needs to talk me
into letting him use them.'

'Yes, I see. So he'll try to
hang onto you like grim death. It really would have to be something mind- boggling, then. Especially if you
want to frighten the life out of him at the same time. What on earth
could you do to…?' Sarah's voice faded as she looked at Tasha and saw that
she had come to a stop, her eyes widening as an idea came to her. 'You've
thought of something!'

'Yes. Yes, I rather think I
have.' Tasha's face gleamed with excitement. 'I think I've come up with the
very thing to put the fear of God into Brett and get rid of him at the same
time.'

'On a personal level?'

Tasha smiled,
her eyes full of vengeful triumph. 'Oh, yes, on a very personal level.'

'Tasha?' Brett's next call came
while she was at the office a couple of days later, and this time she didn't
duck it. 'Hey, what happened to you? I've been leaving messages for you
everywhere.'

'Sorry, I've been away,' she
lied glibly. 'Doing research for my new programme. The
boss wants it in a hurry because I ditched the last one. I only got back late
last night and fell into bed completely exhausted. How about you? How's your
research going?'

'Fine.
All done. I'm at home. I expected you to have moved in
but none of your stuff is here.'

'Like I said; I've been
working like a mad thing, shooting all over the place.'

'Well, let's get together
tonight. Your place or mine?' Brett said with a
suggestive chuckle, still totally sure of her.

Playing along, Tasha said,
'Anywhere,' on a breathy note.

He laughed. 'That's my girl.
I've really missed you, darling.'

'And I've missed you,' she
responded, her words warm but her face cold, adding for good measure, 'I can't
wait to see you again.'

'I've
got a great surprise for you.'

'Really?
I've got lots to tell you, too. Where shall we meet?'

'How
about you cooking a meal at your place?'

'OK.
I'll see you there about eight, shall I?'

'Make it seven. I'll go crazy
if I don't hold you in my arms again soon. I thought I was frustrated before we
were together in Cornwall, but having made love to you, knowing how fantastic
it was, I just long to be with you again every minute of the day.'

'Oh, do you really, Brett?'
She made her voice full of gratified pleasure. 'You really have missed me,
then?'

'Haven't I said so? You're
mine, Tasha, now and for always.'

You mean until you get what
you want out of me, you skunk! Tasha thought angrily as she replaced the
receiver. Then smiled as she thought of the shock Brett was going to get
tonight.

She
set the stage carefully, going home early to shop
and then prepare a meal. On the table she put a low flower arrangement with a
stumpy candle in its centre. Even though it was still light outside, Tasha drew
the curtains and lit only a couple of lamps. She plumped up the cushions on the
settee and for good measure sprayed some of her French perfume in the air. Then
she stood back and grinned with pleasure; the place looked like a film-set for
a big seduction scene.

Brett arrived promptly, carrying
a bouquet of flowers so large she could hardly see him behind it. Dropping it
on the coffee-table, he swept her into his arms, lifting her off her feet, then laughed with sheer pleasure before kissing her deeply.
It was a long time before he let her go, slowly lowering her until she was
standing again but going on kissing her as if he never wanted to stop. Eventually,
though, he raised his head and gave a long sigh of contentment. 'God, I needed
that.' He smiled down at her, his eyes tender. 'You'll never know how much I've
missed you.'

Tasha returned the smile, at the
same time wondering how on earth she'd been so gullible. Was it his tough good
looks or his air of worldly self- possession that had so seduced her? Or was it
the wonderful way he made her feel when he kissed her? Even now, even though
she knew him for the cheat he was, she had for a few minutes fallen under the
spell of his kiss. His warmth and closeness got to her, making her remember how
gloriously wonderful it had been when they made love. It took a huge effort to
put those thoughts out of her mind, to feel instead the emotions that had been
choking her since she'd found out the truth about him.

Inwardly she
felt terribly angry and bitter. The anger was directed mostly at herself; she'd thought herself adult enough to judge
character, but Brett had lied to her about his past almost from the first
moment she'd met him, and she had believed every word he'd said. Well, then,
let's see if she could be a good enough actress to deceive him in turn.

Playing with the hair at the back of his neck, she said huskily, 'Me, too. How are you? Are you OK?'

'Fine—except that I've scarcely stopped thinking about you every minute
of the day. Here, these are for you.' Picking up the flowers, he gave them to
her.

'Oh, how gorgeous!' Tasha buried her face in
them so he couldn't see the malevolent look that came into her eyes. She had
been right; such lavish flattery could only mean that he did want to use the
rest of her notes.

They had dinner and Tasha was careful to keep the conversation light,
impersonal. Brett, too, seemed to like it that way; he had every opportunity
but he made no mention of the article that had appeared in the paper. He seemed
on a high, laughing and smiling a lot, sometimes even smiling at his own
thoughts. As well he might, if he thought that he was easily going to persuade
her into letting him write a whole series based on her idea, her research, her contacts. Somehow Tasha managed to conceal her feelings.
She cleared away after the meal and then Brett pulled her down to sit beside
him on the settee.

'Don't you want to know what my surprise is?' he asked.

'Of course. But first…' Leaning forward,
Tasha put her hands on either side of his face and kissed him lingeringly. Then said breathily, 'It was so wonderful when we were together
down at your cottage.'

'The best,' he agreed. 'The most fantastic time in my life.'

He sounded so sincere, the
hypocrite! Mentally fuming, Tasha nevertheless made herself sound anxious and
in need of reassurance as she said, 'You do rare about
me, don't you, darling?'

'You know I do.' His voice was
thick. 'I want to share everything with you.'

But most of all my notes on the
sexual exploitation programme, she thought vindictively. But somehow Tasha
managed to smile and say, 'Why, that's marvellous. Because I have something I
want to share with you.'

Putting his arm round her and
looking deep into her eyes, Brett said intensely, 'I want us to be close,
Tasha. Not just as lovers. I want us to be close in every way. As friends,
companions, partners. To share everything. To work
together, even. I just know we'd make a really good partnership. Together we
can do anything, get anywhere we want to be.'

His voice, his
eyes, were full of enthusiasm, and it was all Tasha could do not to show
him up for the liar he was. But she pretended to be carried along with him,
laughing with delight. 'Oh, yes! I'd love that too—especially now.'

'Now?'

'Because of my
surprise that I have for you. It's really the most fantastic thing,' she
said excitedly. 'At first I wasn't certain, but after what you've just said
about sharing our lives I'm sure you're going to love it.'

He looked at her indulgently.
'And just what is this wonderful surprise?'

'I just know
you're going to be absolutely over the moon.' She strung it out, enjoying
herself, savouring the moment of revenge.

'What is it, then? Hey, come
on, after all that buildup don't keep me in suspense.'

Smiling, watching his face,
Tasha said, 'Why, it's simply that I'm pregnant, darling.'

CHAPTER EIGHT

Tasha watched as the smile
became fixed on his face and the colour slowly drained from his cheeks.

'You—you're
joking, of course.'

'Would I joke about something
like that? Isn't it the most wonderful news?'

Taking his arm from round her
shoulders, Brett sat back and looked at her. He blinked a couple of times, then
said in a strangely odd voice, 'I thought that you had taken all the
precautions necessary for this not to happen.'

'Did you? Obviously not.'

'Are you certain about this,
Tasha?' His voice was stronger now, a little harsh at the flippancy of her
answer.

'Quite certain.'

Brett could only stare at her,
feeling completely devastated. All his senses seemed to have gone numb. He felt
that he had stepped back in time, to an age when the Pill had never been
invented. This was the kind of scenario that young men had nightmares about,
but he had never thought of it happening to him; the women he knew were all too
sophisticated and worldly wise to get caught in a trap like this. But maybe it
was a trap that had been set for him. He looked searchingly into Tasha's face
but could read no guilt there. She was watching him closely, studying his face
to read his reactions, he supposed. He wasn't sure if he was behaving well or
badly; it had been too much of a shock for him to start thinking straight yet.

Fumbling, he said, 'It must be
early days yet. Isn't there a pill or something you could take to counteract it?'

'No, there's nothing I can
take,' Tasha returned evenly.

Her eyes,
so beautifully blue and clear, were still studying his face in an almost
detached way.

Brett stood up, paced the floor
a couple of times to try to start his brain functioning again, but the space
was too confined. He felt like a prisoner in a padded cell and needed space and
air. His tone abrupt, he said, 'I'm sorry, but you've given me a shock. I have
to think about this. I'll be back.'

He strode out of the flat,
yanking open the door and not bothering to shut it. Tasha could hear him
running down the stairs, taking them two at a time as if all the devils of hell
were after him, his steps fading until she heard the basement door slam closed
behind him.

So it was over. Her ploy had
worked far better even than she could have hoped. Going to the window, she saw
that Brett was already passing under the streetlight at the corner, then he turned it and was out of sight. That would be the
last of him, then; she would definitely never see him again. And he would five
in fear of her pursuing him for child maintenance for years. It was exactly
what she had expected to happen; Brett had behaved like the liar and the cheat
he was, running away at the first sign of trouble.

Tasha sat down
on the window-seat knowing that she should be feeling good, that she should be
pleased to be rid of him and that he would feel hunted for a long time to come.
But somehow she felt only as if someone had slammed a door in her face, slammed
it violently after having first led her through it to see and taste of the
wonders on the other side. Lowering her head onto her hands, she wept.

Brett just kept walking, not
noticing where he was going, but found that he had headed instinctively for the
river. There were tourists strolling along, lovers holding hands, but he
avoided them and leaned on the parapet, gazing unseeingly down at the lights
reflected in the fast-flowing water. It occurred to him that he had gone to Tasha's
flat today feeling better than he had done for years, certain that everything
was going his way. He would tell her about the surprise he had for her, she
would agree to the plan he had for the series on the sexual exploitation theme,
and then they would go to bed together and make love.

He had thought about that so
many times while he'd been away, his imagination heightened because he now knew
every inch of her perfect body. In his mind he could hear her gasps of
pleasure, even his own groans of overwhelming excitement. He had thrilled with
anticipation as he thought about what he would do to her, how he would love
her. But now… Sitting down on a bench, he put his
head in his hands.