tumbling curls down her back; while long lashes of the same colour surrounded eyes the colour of emeralds, her skin the colour of magnolia, her nose small and pert, covered by a sprinkling of freckles, her mouth wide and smiling, a poutingly sensual mouth, the red lip-gloss she wore a perfect match for the long painted nails on her slenderly expressive hands. She was tall and slender, the tailored grey suit and white blouse she wore adding to that impression of height; her legs were long and shapely beneath the knee-length skirt.
But it wasn’t only the woman’s obvious beauty that made Quinn stare across the room with narrowed eyes; Rome Summer had grasped both of those slender white hands in his, even as he bent down and kissed one pale magnolia cheek!
Quinn’s brows rose knowingly. Obviously—despite their own appointment today!—life wasn’t all business for the older man. But as Rome Summer had been a widower for the last ten years, and was obviously still a very attractive as well as powerful man, that wasn’t surprising. Quinn just wished the other man’s current girlfriend—for this young woman must be almost thirty years younger than Rome Summer—had waited until Quinn had finished his own business with the older man before disrupting their meeting!
Rome put his arm about the woman’s slender shoulders as he brought her further into the room, his grin more boyish than ever. ‘Come and say hello to Quinn McBride, darling,’ he invited softly.
The woman walked like a dream too, Quinn thought contemptuously, her movements fluid while at the same time totally feminine. Sheer perfection, in one five-foot-eight-inch package, Quinn acknowledged grimly. But then, with Rome Summer’s wealth, Quinn wouldn’t have expected anything less of the current woman in his life!
‘Mr McBride,’ the woman greeted huskily, standing only inches away from Quinn now.
He found himself looking down at one of those artistically slender hands, at the same time becoming aware of the light headiness of her perfume, a perfume that jolted a memory for him from somewhere, although for the moment he couldn’t remember where.
But one thing he was sure of, he’d never met this woman before; she wasn’t the sort of woman any man would ever forget once having seen her!
He took the slender hand in the largeness of his own—and almost pulled it away again as quickly!
Something that felt very like an electric shock had passed from the woman’s fingers through to his own; a slightly tingling sensation remained in his hand even now, although he resisted the urge to massage away that sensation with his other hand.
His eyes were narrowed to aqua-blue slits now as he looked at the woman for any sign in her own expression that she’d also felt that electrical charge. The gaze that steadily met his own was as cool and impersonal as the jewels they resembled.
Beautiful but cold as ice, Quinn decided, impatiently dismissing his own reaction as he turned to look at Rome Summer once again. ‘I have to be back in town by early evening,’ he prompted the other man pointedly.
‘Of course,’ the other man accepted lightly, indicating Quinn should resume his seat. ‘Fire away,’ he invited cheerfully once they were all seated, Rome having opted now to sit on the sofa beside the young woman.
Quinn gave her a frowning look. Okay, it was a weekend, and the other man obviously had other, more pleasurable plans to occupy his time, but Quinn still had no intention of discussing his private business in the presence of Rome Summer’s girlfriend!
‘I’ve already explained to you that my business is private,’ he began tautly.
‘And I’ve already assured you—’ the other man nodded abruptly ‘—that anything you say in front of Harrie will be completely confidential.’ He looked at Quinn challengingly.
It took tremendous effort of will on Quinn’s part—helped by years of running and controlling a worldwide banking concern, where his own tremendous control could mean the difference in millions of pounds for his bank and investors alike—to keep his own expression bland.
Harrie! This woman, obviously an intimate friend of Rome Summer’s, was the lawyer he’d said would be in on their meeting!
Quinn looked at the woman with fresh eyes, reassessing her businesslike appearance in the tailored suit and blouse, the cool beauty of her face, noting the confidence in her gaze that seemed to say, whatever her private relationship with the older man, she was nevertheless a lawyer, and a damned good one!
Strangely enough, despite her unprofessional intimacy with her employer, Quinn had a feeling she was, too!
He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘This is, nevertheless, a private—very private—matter, to me,’ he repeated grimly. ‘One that doesn’t require legal advice,’ he added determinedly.
Not being in control of a situation wasn’t something Quinn was particularly comfortable with, and this situation had already been out of control before he’d been made aware of it. Rome Summer, he felt, was the only one now who could put a halt to it in any effective way. If he chose to do so… And Quinn resented having to appeal to this man in the presence of a third party. Especially a third party who, as well as being Rome Summer’s lawyer, was obviously the other man’s mistress too!
‘Quinn—I may call you that, I hope…?’ Harrie looked at him enquiringly, the perfect black arc of her left brow raised questioningly.
He gave an acknowledging inclination of his head. ‘Mr McBride’ might put this meeting on a more formal level, but in the circumstances it was that very formality that he was trying to avoid.
She smiled in acknowledgement of his agreement, her teeth very white and even against the red lip-gloss. ‘Then, Quinn, wouldn’t it be better if you just told Rome what your problem is, and tried to forget my presence here altogether?’ she suggested smoothly.
For one thing, she wasn’t the sort of woman any man could easily ignore! ‘Just what makes you think I have a “problem”—Harrie?’ he bit out, his narrowed gaze levelled on her challengingly.
She blinked once. Just the once. But it was enough to tell Quinn he had briefly disarmed her. But the brief satisfaction he felt at that knowledge was as quickly dispersed as he inwardly admitted there was a problem, even if it wasn’t of his own making. But it also made him wonder whether Rome Summer already knew exactly why he’d wanted to see him today… After all, Rome Summer was just as likely to have done his homework on him once the appointment had been made!
Harrie shrugged slender shoulders. ‘I believe you told Audrey as much when you made this appointment. Rome’s secretary,’ she explained at his questioning look concerning the mention of the other woman.
He recalled the friendly efficiency of the other woman’s voice when he had telephoned Rome Summer’s head office yesterday. And, yes, he had told her that. He would never have got this appointment to see Rome Summer so quickly if he hadn’t!
But he could also see that, with true legal guardedness, the beautiful Harrie had eluded actually answering his question…
Pompous ass, Harrie thought inwardly, knowing there would be no outward sign of her inner feelings as she continued to look across at Quinn McBride with cool impartiality.
He’d looked at her when she’d entered the room earlier, summed her up, pigeon-holed her as a frothy female friend of Rome’s, and as quickly dismissed her as nothing more than an unwanted irritation.
