Wife in Public (11 page)

Ivy remembered Jordan’s insistence on her being fair,
not making assumptions about him, despite all the evidence that painted a very clear picture.

He hadn’t actually let her down.

She had let herself be blinded by her growing love for him, wanting what was special between them to encompass much more than it did. Nevertheless, her mother was right. It was only fair to tell Jordan face to face why she had decided their time was over.

‘Don’t worry. He won’t be sending you any more roses,’ she said dryly. ‘He’s expecting me at Balmoral this afternoon. I’ll go and see him, speak to him.’

‘Make sure you listen, too, Ivy,’ Sacha advised, still looking as though she wanted to argue Jordan’s case.

Because of who he is,
Ivy thought. The billionaire tag
was
blinding and the power of wealth was seductive, providing all the luxurious living she had done over the past two months, which she had undeniably enjoyed.

Because she had been with him.

Weaving foolish dreams.

‘I’ll listen,’ she promised, picking up the menu from its stand on the table. ‘I don’t want to talk about this any more, Sacha. Let’s order lunch.’

She had no appetite.

Her stomach was cramped with tension.

She simply wanted some distraction from what she had to do later in the afternoon. They could talk about her mother’s paintings—the life she had made for herself apart from her marriage. It was what she had to do without Jordan—make a life alone because there would be no other man. There couldn’t be another man like him. It just wasn’t possible.

H
IS
mobile telephone rang just as Jordan was about to go into a meeting with a consortium of property developers.
Ivy,
he thought, smiling as he whipped the phone out of the breast pocket of his suit. It was almost three o’clock. Possibly she had finished shopping and was about to drive over to Balmoral. No doubt she’d chat with Margaret until he arrived. He motioned for his aide-de-camp to go ahead and settle everyone in the boardroom as he answered the call.

‘Jordan, it’s Olivia.’

A frown replaced the smile. What did his sister want of him now?

‘I think I might have made a mistake,’ she went on.

He rolled his eyes. Indulging his sister by listening to her troubles was not on at the moment. ‘Olivia, I have people waiting on me for a business meeting,’ he said curtly. ‘I’ll call you back when it’s over.’

‘No, wait!’ Urgent anxiety was in her voice. ‘It’s about Ivy.’

His impatience was instantly ejected by red alert signals going off in his brain. The only time Olivia had met Ivy she had been extremely nasty to her. ‘What mistake did you make?’ he asked, needing to know the worst.

‘I was with Caroline Sheldon and we went to Double Bay to do some shopping.’

Tension whipped through Jordan’s body at the mention of Double Bay and Caroline Sheldon, who could be as bitchy as Olivia about other women. This was shaping up to be a bad scene.

‘Anyhow, we walked into the Liz Davenport boutique and there was Ivy, trying on a pantsuit I know was priced at over seven hundred dollars.’

‘So?’ he snapped.

‘Well, naturally I thought you’d given her the money to make herself look fashionable enough to fit into our crowd. I did the same thing with Ashton.’

‘Ivy is nothing like Ashton,’ he grated out, furious with Olivia’s assumption.

‘How was I supposed to know that? You’ve kept her to yourself all this time. Mum told me she worked on a farm and that fitted what I saw of her with you.’

‘Ivy
owns
a very profitable rose farm. It’s a solid business. I’ve checked it out,’ he almost shouted in his chagrin. ‘She can afford to buy whatever clothes she likes.’

‘Well, it’s your fault for keeping so mum about her,’ came the typical defence. Everything was always someone’s else’s fault in his sister’s life.

He sliced straight to the vital point. ‘What did you do, Olivia?’

She huffed. ‘I’ve had to ask you to rescue me. I liked the idea of saving you for once.’

‘Saving me from what?’

‘A fortune-hunter! Except…I don’t think she is one. What she said back to me…the way she looked…it didn’t fit at all. And the more I thought about it, the more I felt I should ’fess up to you about making a mistake,
be cause I think she means to walk out of your life and you might not want her to.’

‘You’re quite right. I don’t,’ he said grimly, knowing he could very well lose Ivy because of Olivia’s interference.

‘At least give me credit for telling you, Jordan. I’m sure you can fix it up now that you know.’

Removing all guilt from herself.

Jordan unclenched his jaw enough to say, ‘Thank you, Olivia. You might also call Caroline Sheldon and correct the false impression you gave her of Ivy who happens to be the most genuine and delightful person I’ve ever met.’

It was the truth. Not once had she ever given him reason to doubt the character she had shown him throughout the whole time they had spent together.

‘Then why haven’t you introduced her around?’ came the swift retort, loaded with self-justification.

‘Because I’m still in the process of winning her over to wanting to be in my life.’

‘Why wouldn’t she want to?’

Unimaginable to Olivia.

‘Because she doesn’t feel she belongs with people like you,’ he answered harshly, unable to contain his anger. ‘And you know what, Olivia? She doesn’t!’

He pressed the disconnect button and stood still for several moments, needing to calm himself and assess the situation. His heart was thumping like a battle-drum. What the hell could he do to counter what Olivia had done! Some things couldn’t be fixed. Ivy would be all the more convinced now that she wouldn’t fit into his world. That conviction had taken her away from him once. He had to fight it again to keep her.

Ivy had brought more joy into his life than any other
woman. It was always a pleasure to be with her, in bed and out of it. He’d had more fun at her friends’ parties—relatively uncomplicated people, satisfied with their lives in the country—than he did at the parties revolving around who’s who with the socialite A-list. He knew where she was coming from, knew what she would go back to and, although he understood why, somehow he had to stop it because he was not prepared to accept the hole she would leave in his life.

He quickly tapped in her mobile number, needing communication.

No answer.

She’d turned it off.

Was she on her way home?

No, he decided. Ivy would not skip out on him as she had before. There’d been too much between them to go without a word. She’d promised to be fair, which surely meant facing him with whatever Olivia had said. Therefore, she would be at Balmoral later this afternoon, as arranged. He would have the chance then to employ every hold he could think of to sway her into staying with him. Whatever it took, he was not going to lose her.

Feeling more confident he could do it, one way or another, Jordan switched his mind to the business meeting, determined to get through it as fast as possible. Two frustrating hours later he was out of it, trying to call Ivy again. No answer. He called Margaret, needing to know if Ivy had arrived.

‘Yes. About twenty minutes ago. But…’ She left the word hanging, as though in two minds whether to express the thought.

‘But what?’ Jordan pressed, wanting every bit of in
formation he could get about the situation. Forewarned, forearmed.

‘Not that it’s any of my business…’

‘Make it your business, Margaret.’

‘Well, she’s not herself. You know how much I like Ivy and we always have a nice chat. She’s never been uppity or off-putting like some I could mention. I actually look forward to her visits because she’s so nice and natural and funny, and I’m quite sure she enjoys my company, too. But not today. I think something’s upset her. Badly. She declined a cup of coffee and said she’d wait for you out in the pagoda.’

Not in his house. Withdrawing…

‘She didn’t bring in an overnight bag, either,’ Margaret went on worriedly. ‘I checked.’

No intention to stay.

‘And if she’d been happily shopping, which you told me was the plan, I’m sure she would have been all bubbly about what she’d bought. So, since you’ve asked my opinion, I think something’s very wrong, Jordan, and I don’t like it.’

Neither did he.

‘Her phone is switched off. Would you please take your receiver down to the pagoda so I can speak to her?’

‘Okay. Doing it now.’

His whole body was tight with tension as he waited, his mind zapping through an array of opening lines, wanting what might be the most effective one.

‘Hello…’ Her voice was dull, no joy in it.

‘Ivy, Olivia called me,’ he rushed out. ‘She’s very sorry for what she said to you.’

Silence.

Then flatly, ‘I’d rather not discuss it on the phone,
Jordan. We’ll talk when you get home. Thank you, Margaret.’

Cut off.

But at least she was waiting for him.

Peak-hour traffic slowed his journey to a crawl. Jordan applied several relaxation techniques to keep tension at bay. Nothing worked. At one of the many red lights delaying his progress, he removed his suit coat and tie, flicked open the top buttons of his shirt and thought about how to get Ivy naked. Bodies spoke a better language than words. The sex between them was still fantastic. She couldn’t deny that.

But it hadn’t stopped her from walking away in the past.

He clamped down on the negative thought. He’d win her over. He’d done it before. He’d do it again. That determination rode with him the rest of the way home.

Margaret intercepted him as he strode through the house to the back terraces. She handed him a tray which held a wine bottle in an ice-bucket, two glasses and a selection of savoury dips and crackers. ‘This might help,’ she said.

‘Thanks, Margaret.’ He took the tray. ‘Ivy still out there?’

‘Hasn’t returned to the house,’ she threw over her shoulder as she moved quickly to open the exit door for him.

‘It’s Olivia’s doing,’ he tossed at her as he passed, too vexed with the situation to accept the blame shooting at him from his housekeeper’s eyes. Damn it all! He’d done the best he could, keeping Ivy away from the gossip-mill of the socialite world, the jealous snipes, the boozy parties, the self-destructive fools who indulged
in recreational drugs. He shouldn’t be shot down over his sister’s transgression.

A wave of anger crashed through him.

There was so much good to be had in his world. Hadn’t he shown Ivy that side of it? And he could keep on showing her if she’d just let him. Ending it here and now wasn’t fair. He’d make her see that. Make her
feel
it!

Ivy had her gaze trained on the brilliant view of Sydney Harbour from her cushioned seat in the pagoda, but the images of boats and white-crested blue water barely impinged on her consciousness. Waiting for Jordan was like being in a suspended state of animation, knowing she couldn’t go back to what they’d had together, yet unable to move forward until after she had laid that out to him.

In a way it was a relief that Olivia had told him about their encounter. At least she wouldn’t have to explain that scene. Whether his sister was sorry or not didn’t matter. It was best to end the relationship anyway.

Footsteps clacking down the path from the pool terrace, fast and purposeful.

It had to be Jordan.

Ivy tensed, feeling the power of the man coming closer and closer. He stepped into the pagoda, carrying a tray of refreshments and a ruthless air of command that instantly sent tingles of alarm down Ivy’s spine. There would be no gracious letting go. Jordan was intent on fighting for what he wanted and exploiting every bit of vulnerability he could use.

As he had before, she reminded herself.

Except she wouldn’t fall for it this time.

Her mind was steel on that point, even though her body quivered weakly at his nearness.

‘A glass of wine?’ he asked, setting the tray on the table, laser-blue eyes searching hers for some chink of giving.

‘No, thank you. I’ll be driving home very shortly, Jordan. I was thinking…maybe you could contact the people you bought the cruise package from and give it back to them. I won’t be going and if you don’t want to go without me, it will be wasted.’

He left the table, took a seat on the cushioned bench facing hers, and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, transmitting a patience that had a belligerent edge to it. ‘What’s behind this decision, Ivy?’ he shot at her.

‘Our time is up,’ she answered with direct simplicity

He shook his head. ‘That’s not true. What did Olivia say to make you think that?’

‘She made me see what I am to you.’

‘Olivia doesn’t have a clue what you are to me,’ was his emphatic retort. ‘She only sees things through her own eyes.’

‘No. It rang all the bells. You have been a great lover, Jordan, and I thank you for all the pleasure you’ve given me. I wish I could have been more to you than your closet mistress, but…’

‘My
what?
’

Ivy’s heart kicked into a gallop at the violence of feeling exploding from his mouth, zapping from his eyes, shooting him to his feet in furious outrage, his hands clenched. She’d never seen Jordan angry and it was frightening.

‘Please…will you sit down and hear me out?’ she
quick ly begged, scared that he might use physical force to bring her back to him.

‘You’re talking garbage, Ivy.’

‘No, I’m not.’

He glared his impatience with her denial, saw the determined jut of her chin, the rejection of what he might do in her eyes, and resumed his seat, stretching his arms out along the backrest to defuse any sense of threat, watching her with an intensity that shredded Ivy’s nerves. One hand flipped a dismissal as he said, ‘It hasn’t been an easy three hours since Olivia’s call to me. I would have corrected what she said to you a lot sooner if you’d contacted me. Whatever you’re thinking now is wrong, Ivy.’

‘Then why have you never introduced me to your friends, your social circle?’ she bored in.

‘Because you claimed, right from the start, that you wouldn’t fit into my scene, and I wanted the pleasure of your company without anything negative taking you away from me.’

The calm, matter-of-fact reply confused Ivy for a few moments. She
had
used their different worlds as a point of resistance to Jordan, but he had proved he could fit into hers. He hadn’t given her the chance to come to terms with his. And hadn’t planned to. Ever. He had set out to keep her happy in his bed because that was where he wanted her. There’d been no intention to see if she could be his partner in life.

‘That’s not how a real relationship works,’ she said with conviction. ‘You have been keeping me in your closet, Jordan, distracting me from that truth by taking me on a lot of marvellous out-of-the-way rides.’

‘Wouldn’t you say we got to know each other very well on those rides? And enjoyed being together?’

‘Of course, I enjoyed it. Who wouldn’t? You swept me off my feet in every sense, made a perfect fantasy of our time together. And you would have kept doing it with the cruise, as well, and I would have been too besotted with you to notice.’

‘Notice what?’

‘How it was simply getaway time for you. Not real time. And when the pleasure of it finally wore thin, I’d be jettisoned from your life, like all the rest.’ She gave him a bleak little smile. ‘Without the roses.’

He stared at her in silence.

No quick comeback.

No rebuttal.

She remembered the emphasis he’d placed on honesty and realised he couldn’t lie to her.

The hope for some different outcome died in her heart.