Ruthless Passion by Penny Jordan

Author:Penny Jordan [Jordan, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488091537
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1991-12-21T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

AS THE clapping died down, Christie walked sedately back to her seat with the other speakers.

‘Great speech,’ the man seated next to her told her. ‘You really made them sit and think. And with any luck it will make the dailies. There’s nothing they like more than the combination of a controversial subject and an attractive woman.’

Christie acknowledged his comment with a half-smile, her attention not on him but on the audience. This wasn’t the main lecture hall, of course; subjects such as hers that seemed to cover all the more outrageous and unscientific elements of fringe and alternative medicine had been relegated to an old mission hall on the outskirts of the city, some distance from the main conference centre, but nevertheless her lecture had been well enough attended.

It hadn’t been a first for her, speaking to an audience; her subject was very dear to her heart and she was a powerful orator, making up with emotion for what she lacked in manipulation and subtlety.

She felt the man seated next to her edging his chair slightly closer to her own. The next speaker was now standing at the podium, and as he announced his subject Christie noticed that several people got up to leave. ‘It’s not as hot a topic as yours,’ her companion told her. ‘And he isn’t as attractive.’

Christie could feel the irritation beginning to edge up under her euphoria. She turned her head, giving him a cool, assessing look that told him quite categorically that he was wasting his time. She knew the type far too well: forty-something, married, full of his own self-importance, thinking himself God’s gift to the female sex and looking for a temporary—very temporary—bit on the side.

She saw that he wasn’t pleased at her visual rejection, but she didn’t care; her attention was already back on the audience, her eyes scanning the seated figures below her. What was she actually looking for? Confirmation of what she already knew? That he wasn’t here? Her mouth twisted with self-mockery. What had she expected? What had she wanted?

She had behaved more like a schoolgirl than a woman after their taxi had disgorged them outside their hotel, hanging back deliberately and trying at the same time to pretend that she was not doing so, while she watched him at the reception desk.

He seemed to be having some trouble with his reservation, or was it simply that the receptionist, an over-made-up brunette with pan-sticked skin and a full, sulky mouth, was deliberately keeping him there? In the end pride had won out over desire; the reception area was full and she was being jostled by the busy crowd. The last thing she really wanted was for him to turn round and see her standing there, too obviously waiting for some sort of recognition or contact with him.

After all, if he had been interested in her he had had ample opportunity to do something about it on their taxi journey here, she reminded herself as she fought her way through the crowd and headed for the lifts.

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