Kate Hardy – Surrender to the Playboy Sheikh (страница 6)
‘No. And don’t suggest I throw a sickie on them, either,’ she warned. ‘I’d never cheat my clients.’
‘Good,’ he said. ‘You have integrity. I respect that.’ He paused. ‘Whatever your usual rates are, I’m happy to double them.’
‘No.’
‘You want to negotiate?’ He shrugged. ‘Fine. Let’s save us both some time. Name your price, Lily.’
She folded her arms. ‘You honestly believe everything can be bought?’
‘Everything has a price.’
She scoffed. ‘You must have a seriously sad life.’
He laughed. ‘On the contrary. But it’s basic business sense. Someone sells, someone buys. The price is negotiable, depending on supply and demand.’
‘You can’t buy people, Karim.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘I know that. I’m not asking to buy
‘I’m flattered that you’ve sought me out,’ she said, ‘but, as I’ve told you plenty of times already, I’m afraid I’m already booked and there’s nothing I can do about it.’
‘Firstly,’ he said, ‘persistence is a business asset. And, secondly, there’s always a way round things if you look.’
‘Hasn’t anyone ever said no to you?’
He didn’t even need to think about it. ‘I always get what I want in the end.’
‘Not in this case, I’m afraid. Unless you’re prepared to take my next open slot, in three months’ time.’
‘I can’t wait that long. The meetings are already set up.’
‘Then, as I said, I’m sorry.’ She went over to her filing system, took a box down, and made notes on a pad. She tore off the sheet, then brought it over to him. ‘Here. They all come with my recommendation—and I’m picky.’
‘So,’ he said, ‘am I.’ He drained his mug. ‘Thank you for the coffee. And the cake.’
‘Pleasure.’
She was being polite, and he knew it. He also knew that if he gave in to the impulse to pull her to her feet and kiss her stupid, he’d push her even further away—she’d respond, but she’d be angry with herself for acting unprofessionally. And he wanted her willingly in his bed.
‘If you change your mind—’ and he had every intention of making sure that she did ‘—call me. You have my card.’
‘Actually, I mislaid it.’
Had she? Or had she ripped it up in a fit of temper? Because now he knew exactly what she’d been doing at Felicity Browne’s party, he could guess at her reaction that night after she’d left the balcony—anger at herself for letting him distract her when she’d been there in a business capacity. And underneath that cool, quiet exterior lurked a passionate woman. A woman who’d responded to him so deeply that they’d both forgotten where they were.
He took a business card from a small silver holder, scribbled his personal number on the back, and handed it to her. ‘To replace the one you…’ he paused, his eyes challenging hers ‘…mislaid.’
She didn’t flinch in the slightest; she merely inclined her head in acknowledgement, and went back over to her filing system. She glanced at the name on the card, then paper-clipped it into a book. Then she took a card from a box and handed it to him. ‘In case you change your mind about the dates. But please remember that I have a three-month waiting list.’
‘People plan parties that far in advance?’
‘Weddings, christenings, anniversary dinners…’ She spread her hands. ‘I don’t question my clients’ social lives. I just talk to them about what kind of thing they want, and deliver it.’
‘So you do dinner parties as well?’
‘On Thursdays to Sundays,’ she confirmed.
‘And what if one of your regular clients needed you on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday?’ he asked. ‘Or they just decide to throw a party on the spur of the moment?’
‘My clients know that I don’t cook for people on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Apart from the fact that I have other commitments, everybody needs time off.’
‘True.’ That, together with her comment about a time machine, had just given him another idea. ‘Well, it was good to see you again, Lily.’
‘And you.’
For a moment, he thought about kissing her on the cheek—but he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave it there. And he needed the business side of things sorted out before he addressed the issues between them. Before he took her to bed.
He knew that kissing her hand would be way too smarmy, so he settled for a firm handshake. ‘Thanks for your time.’
Even something as impersonal as a handshake made his skin tingle where she touched him. And, judging by the look in her eyes—a look she masked quickly—it was the same for her.
This wasn’t over.
Not by a long, long way.
CHAPTER THREE
‘YOU, my friend, are just piqued. For the first time in your life, a woman has actually turned you down,’ Luke said with a grin.
‘I’m not piqued,’ Karim said.
‘You’re distracted. Otherwise you’d have given me a better game tonight.’
Karim couldn’t argue with that. Usually their Monday night squash matches were incredibly close, and tonight he’d lost badly. But he could argue with his best friend’s earlier statement. ‘Anyway, she didn’t turn me down.’
Luke raised an eyebrow. ‘I thought you just told me she was too busy to do the catering for your business meetings?’
‘Kick a man when he’s down, why don’t you? Anyway, she’ll change her mind.’ Karim had every intention of changing it for her.
‘Maybe I can help,’ Luke suggested. Karim had explained the situation to him before the match. ‘Cathy has some great ideas about revamping the café here—if you ask her nicely I’m sure she can come up with some menus for you and organise the catering. If it helps you out of a hole, she can use the kitchens here to sort out whatever you need done.’
‘You’d let me poach your staff?’ Karim asked. Luke had bought the health club three months ago and was in the process of making it reach its proper potential—a gym and spa bursting with vitality and an excellent café.
‘Borrow. Temporarily. To help you out,’ Luke corrected.
‘But you’d want advertising or something in return.’
‘I’m not
Karim laughed. ‘Ha. You wait until next Monday. I’ll have my revenge.’
‘In your dreams,’ Luke teased back. ‘Come on. We’re both disgustingly sweaty and smelly—if we hang around here, bickering, we’ll put off all my customers.’
‘Whatever you say, boss.’
After a shower, they grabbed a cold beer in the bar.
‘You’re still brooding,’ Luke said.
Karim made light of it. ‘Just sulking about losing a match to you for the first time in a month. And by such a huge margin.’
‘Are you, hell. You don’t waste energy being competitive over something unimportant.’ Luke paused. ‘She must be really special.’
‘Who?’
‘The woman you’re brooding about. Let me guess. Five feet eight, blonde, curvy and just lurrrves parties?’
Karim laughed dryly. ‘That’s your type, not mine.’
Luke grinned back. ‘Don’t kid yourself. I go for brunettes. Preferably ones without wedding bells in their eyes.’
And just in case they developed wedding bell-itis, as Luke had dubbed it, nobody ever made it to a fourth date.
‘Actually, she’s nothing like the type I usually date,’ Karim said thoughtfully. ‘Try five feet four, mid-brown hair and very hard-working.’
Luke blinked. ‘You’re kidding.’
‘I wish I was. If she were a party girl, I’d know what made her tick. Lily…’ Karim blew out a breath. ‘She’s different.’ And maybe that was why he couldn’t get her out of his head.