The first people Storm recognised as she entered the crowded living room were Tony and Valeria, obviously very much at home among a crowd whom Storm did not recognise but guessed must be friends of Jago’s from London. As Jago took her jacket, a tall blonde girl detached herself from the throng swaying seductively across the room to pout provocatively at Jago as she placed plum-tipped fingers on his arm.
‘Jago darling,’ she murmured breathlessly, ‘where have you been? I’ve missed you. I want to hear all about this darling little station you’ve bought. Come and talk to me.’
Her eyes rested disparagingly on Storm’s set face, before she curved her body against Jago’s arm, neatly excluding Storm from the conversation. On any other occasion she would have been amused by the other girl’s manoeuvres, but where Jago was concerned, she acknowledged unhappily, she was too emotionally involved to feel anything but intense, searing jealousy.
‘Madeleine, I know she’s only small, but there’s no need to crush Storm u
nderfoot,’ Jago drawled dryly, forcing the blonde to acknowledge her presence.
No doubt he was quite used to these confrontations between his female companions, Storm thought bitterly, and probably even derived a certain wry amusement from them.
Madeleine acknowledged her with a voice that dripped condescension, her eyes dismissing Storm as an unworthy opponent as she immediately launched into a conversation featuring mutual friends in London whose names meant nothing to Storm, apart from the fact that she had occasionally come across them in the gossip columns. In the opposite corner of the room she could see Pete chatting to Tony, and excusing herself, she went over to join them, glad to escape from Madeleine’s chilling glances.
’Jago’s got a great place here,’ Pete commented enviously when Storm joined them, and she could see from his expression that he was thinking of the day when he would be successful enough to own something as luxurious.
‘It is lovely,’ Valeria agreed, smiling warmly at Storm. ‘A lot of our friends were surprised when he gave up his London service flat to move down here, but I wasn’t.’
She said it so confidently that Storm looked enquiringly at her. Jago was still talking to Madeleine, his dark head bent over her blonde one. The pose was familiar to Storm from gossip column glossies, and jealousy ate into her.
‘Don’t be fooled by the sophisticated exterior,’ Valeria warned her. ‘Other people have dismissed Jago as nothing more than an elegant playboy—to their cost. What he is today he achieved single-handed, and you don’t do that without collecting a few scars on the way. Jago was an orphan, you know,’ she told Storm, who was a little surprised that as a friend of Jago’s of such long standing, Valeria should speak to her in this vein, but an explanation was soon forthcoming. Tony and Pete were deep in a discussion on the rival merits of local and national radio, and Valeria drew Storm a little to one side.
‘Look, perhaps I’m sticking my nose in where it isn’t wanted,’ she began without preamble, wrinkling the item in question with a rueful air. ‘Tony’s always telling me that I act before I think, but on this occasion intuition tells me that I’m right. It’s pretty obvious you aren’t just one of Jago’s decorative idiots. Oh, you’re pretty all right,’ she added hastily.
‘But I’m not cast in the same mould as Madeleine, for instance,’ Storm supplied comprehendingly.
Valeria grinned. ‘Would you honestly want to be? Oh, I know she looks fantastic, but once you’ve said that you’ve said the lot, and I’m not just being bitchy. I could never understand what Jago saw in those empty-headed model types he used to squire around—apart from the obvious, of course. When he brought you to our house the other week, I was astonished, at first, and then when I’d had time to think about it—the fact that he joined Radio Wyechester so quickly, without a word to anyone, buying a house down here, the whole thing—I realised that this time it must be serious…’
Storm took a deep breath.
‘I wish it was,’ she said frankly, for some reason feeling that she could trust Valeria. ‘But it isn’t. At least not as far as Jago’s concerned.’
There was a long silence, and then Valeria said briskly, ‘If that means what I think it means, I’ve really gone and put my foot in it, haven’t I? I could have sworn that Jago felt something for you, though. He looked definitely possessive the other night…’
‘He does feel something for me,’ Storm said quietly, glad of the opportunity to get it off her chest. ‘He wants me—but nothing more.’
‘I see…’ There was compassion and understanding in Valeria’s eyes. ‘And has he…?’
Storm shook her head. ‘Not yet.’
‘But once he discovers how you feel about him, it’s only going to be a matter of time?’
‘Unless he gets tired of the game first,’ Storm agreed with a wintry smile which she did little to disguise. ‘I was a fool to come here tonight, but Jago insisted and somehow it seemed more sensible to give in.’
‘Mm.’ Valeria’s eyes rested thoughtfully on her pale face. ‘You’re a lot braver than I would be in the same circumstances. Jago’s a fool,’ she added abruptly. ‘You would be just right for him, Storm. You’re just what he needs, and when I saw this house I felt sure he must be planning… I’m sorry,’ she apologised, ‘that was tactless of me.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Storm replied gaily. ‘It’s just that you made me sound like a particularly nasty dose of medicine! Pete and Tony are looking a bit suspicious—I think we’d better rejoin them.’
Tony was an entertaining raconteur with a fund of stories relating to the early days of independent radio which had both Storm and Pete laughing. Once or twice her eyes strayed betrayingly to Jago, and Pete, watching her, remarked enviously, ‘Who’s that with Jago? She looks just my type.’
‘Madeleine Rivers. She’s a model-cum-actress who’s been pestering the life out of Jago to use his influence to get her a T.V. part. She hosted a chat show on City Radio for a while, and she’s done some hostessing for one of the smaller regional T.V. stations.’
Jago was looking down at the blonde, his expression cynically amused, and Storm was bleakly aware that Madeleine Rivers wouldn’t hesitate to use her body, if she thought it might help advance her career. No wonder Jago was inclined to be contemptuous of her sex! No doubt if Madeleine had her way she would not be returning to London but spending the night here with Jago, preferably in his bed. Abruptly Storm turned away, unable to bear the pain knifing through her body.
‘Dance?’ Pete invited casually.
Storm nodded.
Their steps matched effortlessly. They often visited the local discos together, and Storm swayed to the music without having to think about moving, her body automatically adapting itself to the beat. Someone turned the lights down low, and the tempo changed. Pete’s thin, wiry body pressed up against hers as they gyrated slowly together in time to the music.