‘Because I told him I would introduce you to him, that’s why,’ said her father firmly. ‘Now don’t start being difficult. I’ve asked him here for the weekend, and I want you to at least be polite to him. You’ll like him, everyone does.’

‘You mean most women do! And if they like him that much, they can marry him, because I’m certainly not going to!’ She glared indignantly at the equally stubborn man sitting opposite her. Her father often had weird ideas, but this was definitely the weirdest. No one in their right mind could seriously expect her to consider this ridiculous scheme of his, except for her father, of course.

Matt Rayner sighed heavily, his mouth set in disapproving lines. ‘For goodness’ sake, Caroline, no one’s suggesting you marry him—yet. All I’m asking is that you meet him and try to like him. I don’t know why you have to make such a fuss about one little meeting.’

‘Because I know you too well. I bet you’ve already booked the church and hired the cars. It’s just not on, Daddy. I won’t do it,’ she told him adamantly, smoothing back her long blonde hair behind her ears. ‘He can’t be much of a man if he can’t find his own wife.’

Matt looked at the rebellious look on his young daughter’s face and knew he had pushed the subject of Greg Fortnum enough for one day. ‘Greg is very much a man, but he’s also a busy one and badly in need of a wife. All right,’ he put up a silencing hand, ‘I won’t mention the subject any more—for the moment. But he’ll still be coming here for the weekend, and I do expect you to be polite to him.’

Caroline picked up her handbag in preparation of leaving. ‘Of course I would have been polite to him, but why you suddenly have this feeling of friendliness towards the man I have yet to work out. You’ve always told me he’s an arrogant, ruthless and sometimes callous man.’

‘Business man,’ Matt corrected. ‘There’s a difference. Inside business Greg is all of those things, but outside the boardroom he’s—–’

‘Just the same,’ finished Caroline. ‘I’m not completely stupid, Daddy, I can read. And some of the things I’ve read about that man just don’t bear repeating. And you want me to marry such a man,’ she added with disgust, flouncing angrily to the door of the lounge.

‘I do not! I just think it would be a good idea for you to—–’

‘And what can he possibly think of me?’ she interrupted him again. ‘I ask you! You probably made me sound like a husband-hunter. And don’t bother to deny it, I know your sales talk too well to believe anything else. You’ve given me the same rubbish about four times in the last two years, so I can imagine what you told Mr Fortnum. I can almost feel sorry for him!’

‘Well, mat’s a start.’

‘No! How many times do I have to tell you? Anyway, I’m going away this weekend, so you’ll have to entertain your guest on your own.’

‘Caroline! You can’t just go off like this. What can I possibly do with Greg all weekend?’ Matt ran a frustrated hand through his prematurely grey hair.

‘I’m sure you’ll think of something,’ she smiled sweetly before letting herself out of their apartment. Let him sort that one out for himself.

Life roared into the powerful engine of her low sports car and she accelerated out of the forecourt of their apartment block. It literally was theirs—or at least, her father’s—and they lived in the penthouse apartment. Caroline breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if a heavy weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. She just couldn’t believe her ears when her father had made that ridiculous proposal, and it was ridiculous. But then she should have guessed, he had been very reasonable when she had told him of the end of her friendship with Anthony. She should have realised he had another applicant in mind.

For the last two years, since she had left finishing school, her father had periodically presented respectable young men for her approval, and she had just managed to shake off the most recent contender for her father’s money. But this latest development was something completely new. Greg Fortnum was anything but a youthful gold-digger.

As one of the most wealthy men in the world, he was much in demand himself, and nothing at all like the manageable young men her father had previously produced for her inspection. This was why she couldn’t understand why her father was so adamant about the two of them meeting. From what she could gather, Greg Fortnum wasn’t a ‘yes-man’, and wouldn’t meekly agree to her father’s wishes. So there must be another reason for his insistence. She only wished she knew what it was.

Another thing that puzzled her slightly was Greg Fortnum’s agreement to the idea. Even if he looked like a monster she was sure that some women would still be interested in marrying him, if only for his money. But then he didn’t look like a monster, at least, so she had heard. He was older than the crowd she usually went about with and so their paths had never crossed. But she knew he was constantly in the company of some of the most beautiful women in the world. In fact, the last she had heard of him he had been having a tempestuous affair with one of the rather more well-known actresses. So why didn’t he marry her if he needed a wife so badly? Why indeed? Yet another question she had set to puzzle herself.

She smiled impudently at the taxi-driver as she overtook him, and received a cheery smile back. She hadn’t been going away this weekend, but she would certainly make sure she did now. No one, not even her father, was going to browbeat her into marrying someone she didn’t love.

Esther was already at the table when she arrived at the restaurant for their luncheon appointment. Esther was one of her oldest friends, the two of them having met at school and continued to keep in contact even after Caroline had gone to finishing school and Esther had married John, her sober lawyer husband. With Esther being such a lighthearted girl and never taking anything seriously, and John being the exact opposite, Caroline had often wondered at the success of their marriage—and it was very successful. The two of them were just as much in love now as they had been when they first married two years earlier, in fact, probably more so.

‘Hi,’ grinned Esther, her short black curls bouncing impishly as she spoke. ‘What’s wrong?’

Caroline never ceased to be amazed at how Esther could always discern her moods without her even having to say a word. Even though she didn’t particularly

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The Tempestuous Flame Carole Mortimer

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

The Tempestuous Flame

Carole Mortimer