Their Scandalous Affair

THE early dinner had been a bad idea. The rest of the evening now yawned, with only the television in his hotel room for diversion. His own fault. One of his assistants should have made the trip. But occasionally the urge to escape from a desk was too powerful to resist. He smiled a little. Escape to a quiet market town was hardly a walk on the wild side.He took out a pen and turned his newspaper over. He might as well stay in the bar until he'd finished the crossword. There was company of a sort here, at least.But before he'd even solved the first clue everyone had left the bar at once in search of dinner. He shrugged. So much for company.Four clues later he was juggling with an anagram when he noticed that company had arrived in the shape of a lone female. Tall and slender, but with curves in all the right places under a mannish suit, with dark hair pulled back from a narrow face. The matching dark eyes widened in dismay as she thrust a stray curl behind her ear with a hand that wore a diamond ring. Right hand, he noted in approval.Unaware of the scrutiny, Avery Crawford made for the bar, her bright idea a lot less bright now she was actually here. With exasperating timing the room had emptied just before she arrived, leaving just one lone man reading a paper. Fat chance of fading into the background, then. She ordered mineral water from the barman, and sipped it as slowly as possible while she waited for people to arrive in search of pre-dinner drinks. This was one snag she hadn't expected. If no one turned up in time she would just have to sit at a table on her own. Unless...She took a speculative look at the man engrossed in the evening paper. Rather nice. Six feet two, judging by the length of leg stretched out under the table, probably the usual eyes of blue, too, with that sun-streaked hair. A check with the time confirmed she was running out of it -- fast -- and, taking a chance that her quarry wasn't waiting for someone, she crossed the room to his table."Would you mind very much if I sat here?" she asked. "I've bought my own drink, and I'm not trying to pick you up or sell you anything. I just need to be inconspicuous for a while. I counted on the place being crowded, so I could fade into the background, but my luck's out.""I'd be delighted," he said promptly, indicating the chair beside him."Thank you." She sat down, but shot up again at once in dismay. "Your name's not Philip, by any chance?""Afraid not; it's Jonas. Jonas Mercer." He half rose to give her a mock-formal bow."Thank heavens for that," she said with relief, and sat down again. "For one horrible moment I thought I'd blown it. How do you do? I'm Avery Crawford."His eyebrows rose above amused eyes as dark as her own. "Why do you need company while you wait for the lucky Philip?""I'm not the one meeting him. I'm here as a sort of safety net for a friend.""Safety net?" he repeated, and sat back, relaxed, with the air of a man ready to be entertained. "Go on."Avery hesitated. "It's really my friend's story, not mine, but in the circumstances I don't suppose she'll mind. She's coming here soon to meet someone.""Then why does she need you along?" 'Frances is divorced, lonely sometimes, and in a wild moment put an ad in the local paper. "Forty-something lady, slim, blonde, good sense of humour, would like to meet similar gentleman, etc." Philip is one of the men who answered. But once she'd actually arranged to meet him here she got cold feet, so I came up with a plan."He grinned. "Let me guess! If she doesn't like him you rush to the rescue?""Exactly. Look," she added, "I must be keeping you from something. If you lend me your paper to hide behind I can leave you in peace.""I was just killing time before going up to my room here," he assured her. "Don't look now," he added in an undertone. "I think Philip may have arrived."The man eyeing the tables on his way to the bar had dark hair with a hint of silGeorge, Catherine is the author of 'Their Scandalous Affair', published 2006 under ISBN 9780373820375 and ISBN 0373820372.