don’t.’ Dominic was already walking away down the corridor. ‘But you need a briefing before they arrive.’
He turned a corner and was gone. Apparently busy executives didn’t have time to finish conversations properly. Or tell people where to meet them when they were decently dressed.
An elderly couple appeared at the end of the corridor and Faith realised, a little belatedly, that she was standing in the open in her really inappropriate nightie. Stepping back inside her room, she shut the door firmly behind her and headed for the shower.
Time to prove to Lord Dominic Beresford that she was capable of doing any job he needed doing, whatever she was wearing.
* * *
Good God, did she sleep in that every night? Even when she was alone and exhausted and straight off a plane, Faith managed to slip into a sexy little number for bed. Dominic shook his head. What kind of a devil temptress had he hired?
Unless, of course, she’d put it on especially for him that morning. Unless she planned to seduce and ruin him, just like Katarina had tried to do. Just like his mother had done to his father.
It was all still a little too neat. Dominic didn’t believe in coincidences, or serendipity, or any of the other things Faith had chattered about on the plane, her smile too wide, her lips too tempting. She’d been in exactly the right place at exactly the right time and, in his experience, that sort of thing didn’t happen without some forward planning.
Still, he did need a tour guide, and she seemed to be an adequate one. All he had to do was stay out of her way while she worked, and she’d never get the chance to put any sort of plans into action. It would be fine.
As soon as he could erase that image of her in fiery red silk from his brain.
Figuring she’d take an insane amount of time to shower and dress, Dominic headed down to the restaurant and ordered coffee while he perused the papers. He wasn’t much for breakfast, but he’d grab a piece of toast or some fruit when Faith joined him. They had too much to discuss to waste time on food.
However she’d come into his life, and whatever she hoped to get out of it, the only thing that mattered to Dominic was that she did the job he hired her to do: take care of his clients. He knew his strengths weren’t always in the socialising side of things—he’d generally rather be in his office. That was why his arrangement with Katarina had worked so well. She’d taken care of the smiling, small talk and looking interested side of things. He took care of the business.
Bloody Katarina. She was right up there with Shelley on his list of women determined to thwart him right now. He just hoped that Faith wouldn’t be added to it before she and the Americans left at the end of next week.
Sooner than he’d expected, Faith appeared at the entrance to the hotel restaurant. She waved a hand in his direction but, instead of heading for his table, she made for the breakfast buffet.
Holding in a sigh, Dominic watched as she bypassed the platters of fruit and the glass containers full of cereal. Instead, she loaded up her plate with eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, fried bread...and grabbed a side plate for a couple of mini pastries, too.
Apparently those curves were made entirely of breakfast.
‘Hungry?’ he asked, eyebrow raised, as she finally made it to the table.
Depositing her plates, Faith ripped off a bite of pain au chocolat as she dropped into her seat. ‘Starving. Do you think they’ll bring me some tea?’
His mother’s lessons in etiquette and good manners towards women were deeply ingrained, and Dominic found himself motioning over a waiter to request a pot of tea and more coffee for himself before he even realised he was doing it.
‘You’ve eaten already?’ Faith asked, after swallowing an enormous forkful of eggs and toast.
‘I don’t usually eat breakfast,’ he replied, folding his paper neatly across the middle and placing it on the empty table beside them. ‘Especially when I’ve an important day ahead.’
‘That’s just when you need it,’ Faith said, sounding eerily like a nanny he’d had when he was eight.
‘I’ve made it this far. I think I’ll survive. Now. To business.’ Casting his gaze over her outfit, he was relieved to find it less revealing than the day before, and certainly less fantasy-inducing than the silk concoction she’d had on first thing. The skirt, he realised, was the same as yesterday, but paired with a plain white T-shirt. Still, while the higher neckline hid the very tempting cleavage the blouse had displayed, it emphasised her curves even more.
I’m not thinking about this. I am not thinking about this.
Of any man alive, surely he knew better than most the perils of giving in to temptation and forgetting obligations. Faith was here to work, and that was all. He had to remember that.
‘Yes. Work,’ Faith said, bringing his attention back to the topic at hand. ‘I wanted to run through a few things with you, actually.’ To his surprise, she whipped a small notebook from her bag, uncapped a pen and sat poised to write down his answers. ‘First, can your office send me an itinerary for the week so I know exactly what you’ve got planned for your guests, and I can work around it? Also, it means I can make myself available if anyone has any questions between meetings.’
‘I’ll ask Kevin to fax one over,’ he said, trying to remember if Kevin even knew how to work the fax machine.
‘Great. Once I have that, I’ll put together a tentative itinerary and email it to you for your approval.’
‘You’ll need a laptop,’ Dominic realised, belatedly.
‘No need.’ Pulling a tablet computer from her bag, she waved it at him. ‘I use this.’
He blinked at her. ‘Well, great. Okay then.’
‘Next, do you have any background details on the clients themselves? Their lives, their families, their businesses, anything that I can use to get to know them?’
‘You do realise you’re a tour guide, not a dating service, right? You don’t need to find them their perfect match.’
Her face turned stony, and he regretted the joke. She was trying to do a good job, after all. He should be encouraging her, not ridiculing her.
‘These people are a long way from home for almost two whole weeks. It’s my job to make sure they enjoy themselves and feel comfortable here. Knowing a little about them makes that easier. I’ll talk to them myself when they arrive, of course, but a little forward knowledge would mean I can get going sooner.’
‘Of course,’ Dominic said contritely. ‘Well, their businesses I can tell you about. But, as for the rest of it...’ He spread his hands out. ‘Katarina used to handle that sort of thing, I’m afraid.’
* * *
Faith paused with her mini cinnamon swirl halfway to her mouth. Katarina. That was a new name. ‘Is Katarina your secretary?’ If so, she could call and ask her for all the gossip.
‘No. Not my secretary.’ Dominic shifted in his chair, looking sorry he’d ever mentioned the woman. Not a secretary.
