Trish Wylie – His After-Hours Mistress: The Rich Man's Reluctant Mistress (страница 8)

It took all of Lucinda’s will-power to move out of Zane’s embrace. It felt as though she was wrenching herself free of an iron clamp instead of the light touch of his hands. It really had been a big mistake coming here. She had put greed for his business before what was best for her.

‘I wish you hadn’t done that,’ she told him tightly, the words crackling out of a throat gone tremendously dry.

‘Done what?’

Did he really need her to spell it out? ‘You know what I’m talking about,’ she retorted. ‘I appreciate the use of your handkerchief but I don’t need comforting in other ways.’

‘And what way would that be?’

A steely glint appeared in his eyes and Lucinda began to wonder whether she had misjudged him. Whether it was her fertile imagination that had seen something that wasn’t there. Whatever, he looked far from pleased.

She shook her head and got up from her chair. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘And I say it does matter,’ he rejoined fiercely. ‘I do not like being criticised.’

‘It doesn’t count that you’re already cast as a playboy?’

‘You’ve heard the rumour?’ A faint smile curved his lips. ‘Who told you that, I wonder?’

Lucinda jutted her chin and stared hostilely. ‘Actually I’d had my suspicions, but my stepfather confirmed it.’

‘Ah!’ Enlightenment filled his eyes. ‘And you took his word as truth? A man you incidentally hate the sight of? It didn’t occur to you that he could be saying it because he didn’t want you working for me?’

It was true; David Goldberg definitely didn’t like to think that her career was taking off. He liked to think that she hadn’t the intelligence to do well for herself. Why, she had no idea. Maybe because she had always resented him! At the age of fifteen her hormones had been all over the place; she’d just lost her beloved father, her mother had all too quickly remarried and Lucinda’s resentment of the new man in their life had caused ill feelings between them, which had never gone away.

‘I don’t care whether it’s true or not,’ she told him now. ‘And I have no wish to continue this conversation.’ She sprang up from her seat and ran round to the other side of the house, where she stripped off her skirt and top and dived cleanly into the pool. She desperately needed to cool off.

She was feverishly hot and the water mercifully cold, and after a few energetic lengths her ragged nerves were calmed. She had half expected Zane to follow and was both relieved and pleased when there was no sign of him. She kept telling herself that it wasn’t going to work, staying here with him, feeling his presence, knowing that at any minute she could give in to temptation. And he was a big temptation. She could hardly believe that she was attracted to him. It was totally inconceivable.

Finally she hauled herself out of the pool, rinsed herself down beneath the huge outdoor shower and headed back towards the house. Zane appeared in front of her as if from nowhere.

‘You swim like a mermaid,’ he complimented. ‘Graceful, swift and beautiful.’ A pair of dark glasses shielded his eyes but she felt his eyes studying her body in its neat white bikini. The heat returned.

‘You were watching me?’ Accusation made her voice shrill.

Zane inclined his head. ‘And very pleasant it was too. I wanted to join you but I wasn’t sure that you’d appreciate it.’

‘No, I wouldn’t have done,’ snapped Lucinda, her green eyes flashing magnificently. ‘In fact I don’t appreciate your presence here at all.’

‘That’s a pity,’ he said with a disarming smile, ‘because I was actually enjoying myself. And I think I’d enjoy myself more if you’d allow me to…’

His words ceased as his hands caught her hips and urged her against him and, before she could even draw breath to ask what the hell he thought he was doing, his mouth found hers.

It was a heart-stopping kiss that filled her body with intense pleasure. How a man she didn’t particularly like and certainly didn’t trust could do this to her she did not know. Thankfully he let her go just as abruptly. ‘I’m sorry, I just had to do that,’ he declared immediately. ‘You have no idea how tempting you looked.’

Lucinda struggled for breath. She didn’t believe his apology for one second. He’d planned this. He’d known from the moment he invited her out here that he would make a play for her. It was what he did. And she had been a fool to think otherwise.

‘Not only do you swim like a mermaid but you also looked like one as you stood there with your hair hanging loose.’ His eyes lowered and Lucinda became aware of her nipples pushing against the silky fabric of her top. It was plain white and far too revealing. In fact, she realised with instant horror, it had gone almost transparent!

Her cheeks flamed. It was a new bikini, not tried out in the water, bought more for sunbathing than anything else. She had thought it would look good against a tan. Inwardly, though, she stiffened her spine. Not for anything would she let Zane see her embarrassment. With her chin high she met his gaze. ‘Maybe I was one in a previous life.’

‘I’m surprised you don’t have a boyfriend.’

The statement was sudden and unexpected and Lucinda’s eyes widened. ‘Why do you want to know?’

‘Because it’s unusual for a woman as beautiful as you.’

Lucinda shook her head, wishing he wouldn’t keep complimenting her. She knew he was doing it so that she’d feel flattered and fall into his arms. Hadn’t he realised yet that he’d picked the wrong person?

‘I was engaged once,’ she finally admitted.

Blue eyes expressed interest. ‘And?’ he prompted when she didn’t continue.

‘I went out with him for nearly four years.’

Zane’s eyebrows rose and his interest increased. ‘That’s a long time.’

‘Too long, I guess,’ she acknowledged with a hint of irony in her voice.

‘So what happened?’

‘He dropped me for someone else. We’d actually planned the wedding. I was devastated.’ Lord, why on earth was she opening up to him? It was so out of character. And in any case Zane was the last person she wanted to tell her life story to. She couldn’t believe the effect he was having on her. First she’d let him kiss her, now she was revealing confidences. What next?

Zane saw the pain in her eyes, mistook it for unhappiness over her past and immediately pulled her into his arms.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

The hell he was! How could he be when he didn’t know her or Simon? It was another excuse to get close. She should never have told him. She’d actually given him some ammunition. ‘I don’t need your pity,’ she declared, struggling to free herself. ‘I’m over it now.’

Zane released her but he didn’t move away. ‘No, you’re not,’ he declared. ‘You’ve erected a barrier.’

He was right; Simon was her defence. She had only to think about the way he’d treated her to put her off any man who tried to get close. And that included the gorgeous, extremely sexy Zane Alexander.

It didn’t count that his brief kiss of a few seconds ago had aroused feelings that she had thought long since dead. And, if she were honest with herself, they were sensations that went incredibly deeper than any she had ever felt with Simon. Simon had been her one and only lover so she’d had no one to compare him with. Until now!

At this point Lucinda angrily dashed her thoughts away. They were unwanted. It didn’t matter whether Zane was the most fantastic lover of all time; she had no intention of finding out.

‘I don’t want to discuss this any more,’ she declared tightly. ‘I’m going to rest in my room for a while.’ She might even stay there until morning. She’d had enough of Zane’s company for one day.

Zane’s smile told her that he knew exactly what she was thinking. ‘Have you ever sat outside on a tropical night and watched the stars?’ he asked quietly. ‘Have you ever listened to the chirruping of cicadas? Have you smelled the heady perfume of the flowers? Don’t miss out on it all because of a misguided sense of trust.’

Misguided? Lucinda didn’t think so. Zane was forgetting that she knew exactly the sort of uncaring person he was. He might try to romance her, to seduce her even, but once they returned to England and her job was finished she would be just as quickly forgotten. Maybe other girls were into affairs, especially with rich, handsome men, but not this one.

To her relief Zane didn’t insist on an answer. She fled to her room, showered and then flung herself down on the bed. To take her mind off Zane and his kiss, she began planning how she would decorate the room. She had brought several fabric swatches with her as well as paint samples and pages out of furniture catalogues, but it soon became clear that she would be far better going into Castries and seeing what they had to offer there. It needed something with a local flavour. The capital was sure to have a good selection of shops. She would suggest it to Zane tomorrow and hopefully he would put a car and driver at her disposal.

But all thoughts of decorating left her when a tap came on her door. Instantly she thought it was Zane and was prepared to tell him to go away, when the door was pushed tentatively open and the maid popped her head inside. ‘Excuse me, Miss Oliver. Mr Alexander has asked for you to join him,’ she announced with a wide smile.