Heaven Here On Earth. Кэрол Мортимер

home, and she had no intention of letting the Montgomerys get to her. Nothing and no one was going to stop her using that beautiful studio.

      She dressed with care for dinner, having brought a couple of long skirts and contrasting tops with her, just in case she was invited up to the house while she was here. She was glad she had now that she was actually living in it!

      She wore a long black woodgrain skirt, the pale blue of her silky blouse deepening the colour of her eyes, making her hair appear more golden than usual; her make-up was light, her lip-gloss the palest plum-colour.

      She looked quite respectable as she gazed at herself in the full-length mirror, not at all like a Bohemian! Oh, how that rankled, the sheer arrogance and bias used in the judgment angering her. To Grant Montgomery she was an artist, and it naturally followed that she was untidy and without morals too.

      Only Mandy was in the lounge when she entered the room several minutes later, and she offered no explanation for Grant’s absence. But it soon became obvious where he had been; a car sounded in the driveway, and then footsteps out in the hallway. But she needn’t have worried about facing him again, because accompanying Grant when he opened the double doors was a tall raven-haired woman of about his own age, an exquisitely beautiful woman, even if her brown eyes were a little hard as they flickered over Ryan. Probably pricing her skirt and blouse to the last penny, she thought bitchily. The woman’s own clinging black dress looked like a couture model, the sort where you never looked at the price tag—because it didn’t have one!

      Grant looked very impressive in a black evening suit, the snowy white of his shirt emphasising his rugged tan, his eyes appearing greener than ever. He really was a magnificent specimen of manhood, and in his dinner suit he took Ryan’s breath away. How much more lethal he would be if he were actually charming too!

      The woman at his side seemed to read her thoughts; her hand was possessive on his arm, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. ‘Introduce us, darling,’ she said throatily.

      He did so smoothly. ‘Valerie Chatham, Ryan Shelton.’

      ‘I’m so pleased to meet you.’ Valerie’s voice lacked sincerity, and she made no effort to offer her hand. ‘You didn’t bring Mark with you?’ Her arched eyebrows rose censoriously.

      ‘He’s busy. In London,’ Ryan replied abruptly.

      ‘Isn’t he always?’ the other woman taunted. ‘Shall we go in to dinner now, Grant darling? I’m sure that, like most young people, Miss Shelton is starving.’

      Ryan bit her tongue to stop the caustic comment she had been going to make back, and looked up to meet Mandy’s amused hazel eyes, a certain sympathy for her in their depths. Maybe against the beautiful Valerie they could be allies?

      The older woman certainly went out of her way to be condescending during dinner. And she made sure that Ryan was no longer under any misapprehension as to who she was; her claim on Grant was made time and time again, both physically and verbally. Grant’s expression remained bland as he smoothly played the part of perfect host, and Ryan used the word ‘played’ in her mind deliberately. Grant gave every impression of being lazily relaxed, and yet his gaze, whenever she happened to encounter it, was rapier-sharp. Nothing escaped his attention, not even her nervousness when she dropped her napkin, nor the way her hand on her wineglass shook slightly as his gaze lingered on her longer than usual.

      She blushed as that same enigmatic gaze lingered on her once they all returned to the drawing-room, and she wondered at his thoughts behind those shuttered green eyes.

      Valerie’s expression hardened as she intercepted that look. ‘Shouldn’t we be going now, darling?’ she prompted Grant. ‘We did tell Giles and Anna we’d put in an appearance after their dinner party.’

      He looked away from Ryan with effort. ‘Of course.’ He rose slowly to his feet. ‘Perhaps Ryan and Mandy would like to come too?’ he looked at them both enquiringly.

      She liked the way he said her name; she had been startled the first time he had called her it during dinner, but somehow it sounded right in his deep gravelly voice. Somehow she found it hard to use the same informality with him, and did not call him anything.

      ‘I doubt it.’ Valerie’s harsh voice interrupted her thoughts. ‘The company would be a little—old for their tastes, darling.’

      ‘Of course,’ he nodded abruptly. ‘If you’ll excuse us, girls?’

      Mandy managed to keep a straight face for as long as it took the other couple to leave the room, then she burst out laughing. ‘Poor Grant,’ she giggled. ‘Valerie likes to give him the impression he’s as old as Methuselah,’ she explained, suddenly sobering. ‘The only trouble is, he’s beginning to fall for it!’

      The air of sophistication was gone from the other girl now, and Ryan found she liked her better without it.

      Mandy grimaced. ‘She’s trying to convince him that he should get married, before he’s too old.’

      ‘But he isn’t old,’ Ryan frowned.

      ‘I keep telling him that, but he won’t listen. I can’t imagine anything worse than having Valerie as a sister-in-law—unless it’s having you as one!’ she added insultingly before leaving the room.

      Ryan’s gasp was for her own benefit only, as she was suddenly left alone. That last shot had been totally unexpected, and it had had all the more effect because of it. Mandy knew exactly when and where to throw her little poison arrows. So much for liking her!

      With a shrug of resignation Ryan made her way to her bedroom, feeling suddenly weary. And yet so much had happened, her mind was still so active, that she was still awake when Grant returned shortly after twelve.

      What a strange man he was, enigmatic and remote, a very deep man indeed. Although he made no effort to hide his opinion of artists!

      She could hear him walking up the stairs now, a door opening some distance away, and then the sound of a shower being run. Did he and the beautiful Valerie sleep together? She wouldn’t be surprised, Valerie’s possessiveness seemed to stem from experience of an intimate relationship. And yet she hadn’t persuaded him into marriage yet. Ryan wondered why she hadn’t.

      Suddenly a soulful noise broke the stillness of the night, a sound she had already heard once today. It was Ragtag howling again!

      Oh dear, he was going to wake the whole household if she didn’t stop him!