A Stranger's Kiss

ever believed was the one she had told Adam about wanting Hanna Rashid.
    Having decided to answer the door she almost ran. There was no way of knowing how much longer her caller would wait.
    But when she flung open the door she wished she had obeyed her first instincts. Her visitor was the last person in the world she expected to see. And the least welcome.
    ‘Hello, Tara.’
    She took an involuntary step back and Jane Townsend, reading this as an invitation to enter, sailed blithely over the threshold. ‘I’m so glad you’re home. I was just about to give up and go away,’ she said. ‘May I use your bathroom? I’m afraid Charlie needs changing.’
     

 
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    STUNNED as she was by the unexpectedness of Jane’s arrival, Tara could do nothing but direct her unwanted guest to her bedroom with its tiny en suite bathroom.
    Jane looked appreciatively around her. ‘What a lovely apartment. Adam described it to me.’ She glanced sideways at Tara. ‘Not the bedroom of course.’
    Tara felt the swift rush of blood to her cheeks. ‘Of course not,’ she said, quickly. ‘He hasn’t seen it.’
    Jane laughed. ‘That’s what he said, but I hardly believed him.’ Seeing Tara’s shocked expression, she was immediately apologetic. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t tease. In fact considering the state he’s in it has to be the truth.’ She held out the baby. ‘Could you take him while I fetch his bag from the car?’
    Tara took Charles Adam Townsend in her arms. He lay there, quite content, staring with unfocussed intensity at her. He wasn’t like Adam at all, she thought, or even much like Jane. It was probably the crop of fair hair, already growing fast and beginning to curl. She touched it and the baby grabbed for her hand, catching her little finger and pulling it down to his mouth.
    It was a moment before she realised she was not alone. She looked up to find Jane watching her and she felt quite naked, as if she had exposed herself in some very private way.
    ‘He likes you. He won’t let just anyone hold him like that.’
    Tara made an effort at a smile. ‘Then I’m flattered.’
    Jane retrieved her son and went about the task of changing him. ‘That’s better, isn’t it my darling.’ She picked him up and kissed him. ‘Much nicer.’
    Tara led the way back to the living room and her unexpected guests settled themselves on the sofa and Jane lifted fiddled with her top and began to feed the baby.
    ‘He’s grown,’ she said, and felt quite stupid at saying something so obvious. But she began to understand why mothers talked incessantly about their babies. Charles seemed to dominate the room with his tiny presence. But his mother had something else on her mind.
    ‘How are you, Tara? I’ve been trying to phone you all week. We never had a chance to talk with Adam turning up when he wasn’t wanted.’
    ‘I’ve been away for a few days. It’s been hectic at work and I needed a break.’
    ‘Adam asked me to look in as soon as you got back and explain everything. He had to go to Wales, something to do with the new factory I think and since he didn’t know when to expect you back there was no point in putting it off.’ She looked up at Tara. ‘Beth wouldn’t tell him where you had gone.’
    ‘I asked her not to.’ A headache was beginning to tighten in a band around her forehead and she just wished Jane would go
    ‘He looks terrible.’ Tara made no comment. She told herself she didn’t want to know why he looked terrible, but her eyes betrayed her and Jane went on. ‘I don’t think he’s ever been in love before and thirty-three is a bit late to taste the agony of it for the first time. If he wasn’t suffering quite so much I have to confess that I would find it amusing.’ She offered a tentative smile. ‘Couldn’t you be just a little kinder?’
    ‘Kinder?’ Tara stood up, folding her arms tightly about her chest as if she could hold in the pain. ‘I don’t understand you, Jane. Don’t you love him?’
    ‘Adam?’ Jane frowned. ‘Of course I love him.’ She pulled a face. ‘Although whether he feels the same way about me at the moment is in some doubt. According to the wretched man I’m as expensive and time consuming as a wife, but none of the fun.’
    ‘But that’s... dreadful.’
    Jane seemed quite unconcerned. ‘He’s got a point. I’m afraid I’ve exploited him quite shamefully.’ Charlie stopped feeding and began to cry. Jane murmuring gently, put