His mouth curved into a warm and affectionate smile and Lisi felt the dagger of jealousy ripping through her.
‘Khalim and I had developed the closeness of brothers—in so much as his position allowed. It was only right that Rose should have him all to herself once they were married.’
In all the time she had been listening to his story, Lisi had been entranced, but as he drew to the end of it reality reared its head once more.
She gave a little cough. ‘Would you like to see upstairs now?’
‘No, thanks—I’ve seen enough.’
Thank God! She nodded understandingly. ‘Well, I’m sure we’ll be getting a lot more properties on the market—especially after Christmas.’
He gave a slow smile as he realised what she was thinking. ‘You may have misunderstood me, Lisi,’ he said silkily. ‘I want this house and I want you to put an offer in.’
‘But it’s overpriced! You know it is!’ she declared desperately. ‘Ridiculously overpriced!’
He wondered whether she tried to put other buyers off in quite such an obvious way, but somehow doubted it. ‘So Marian Reece told me.’
‘And they’ve stated unequivocally that they can’t possibly accept anything other than the full asking price.’
‘Then offer it to them,’ he said flatly.
She could not believe her ears. This was Philip Caprice speaking—the man famed for driving the hardest bargain in the property market! ‘Are you serious?’ she breathed.
He saw the way her lips parted in disbelief and he felt a wild urge to kiss them, to imprison her in his arms and to take the clips from her hair and have it tumble down over that masculine-looking jacket. His eyes slid down past the pencil skirt to the creamy tights which covered her long legs and that same wildness made him wonder what she would do if he began to make love to her.
Should he try? See if she would respond with passion and let him slide his hand all the way up her legs and touch her until she was begging him for more. He struggled to dampen down his desire.
‘I’ve never been more serious in my life,’ he said, and then his voice became clipped. ‘Tell the vendors that my only condition is that I want in and I want them out. So let’s tie up the deal as quickly as possible, shall we?’
If she could have had a wish at that moment, it would have been to have been given a huge sum of money—enough to buy back her own home herself instead of letting it go to Philip Caprice. Couldn’t he guess how much she loved the place? Wasn’t he perceptive enough to realise how heartbreaking she was going to find it, with him living here.
Or maybe he just didn’t care.
He was walking around the room now, touching the walls with a proprietorial air she found utterly abhorrent. She gritted her teeth behind a forced smile. ‘Very well. I’ll get that up and running straight away.’ There was a question in her eyes. ‘Though it’s going to need a lot of work to get it up to the kind of specifications I imagine you’ll be looking for.’
His answering smile was bland. ‘Just so.’
‘You certainly couldn’t expect to be in before Christmas. Probably not until springtime at the earliest,’ she added hopefully.
Her wishes were beautifully transparent, but, unfortunatelyfor her, they were not going to come true. ‘Not Christmas, certainly,’ he agreed, and saw her visibly relax. ‘But I think spring is a rather pessimistic projection.’
‘All the builders and decorators around here are booked up for months in advance!’ she told him, trying to keep the note of triumph from her voice.
‘Then I shall just have to bring people down from London, won’t I?’
She glared at him. ‘As you wish,’ she said tightly. ‘And now, if there’s nothing further, I’ll call into the office and then I really must get back—’
‘To Tim?’ he interjected softly.
How she wished he wouldn’t use that distinctly possessive tone! He might be Tim’s father—but the two had barely exchanged a few words. He couldn’t just walk back into their lives unannounced and expect to be an equal partner!
‘Yes, to Tim,’ she said coldly, and began to walk towards the hall, her high heels clip-clopping over the polished floorboards.
‘Oh, Lisi?’
She stopped, something in his tone warning her that she was not going to like his next words, either. She turned round, wishing that he were ugly, and that he didn’t have those piercing green eyes which could turn her knees to jelly. ‘Yes?’
‘We haven’t discussed Christmas yet, have we?’
‘Christmas?’ she echoed stupidly. ‘What about it?’
‘I want to spend it with Tim.’
She fought down the urge to tell him that he could take a running jump, but she knew that open opposition would get her nowhere. Softly, softly it must be.
She put on her most reasonable smile. ‘I’m afraid you can’t. I’m really sorry.’
Yeah, she sounded really sorry. He kept his face impassive. ‘Oh? And why’s that?’
‘Because we’ve already made arrangements for Christmas.’
‘Then unmake them,’ he said flatly. ‘Or include me.’
She drew in a deep breath. ‘We’ve arranged to have lunch with my friend Rachel and her son, Blaine—he’s Tim’s best friend. I couldn’t possibly take you along with us!’
He thought about it. ‘I’m supposed to be having lunch with my parents,’ he reflected. ‘But I’ll drive down here afterwards. We can all have tea and Christmas cake together, can’t we, Lisi?’
‘No!’
‘Why not?’
‘Because…because he doesn’t know who you are!’
He narrowed his eyes, but not before she had seen the flash of temper in them. ‘You mean you haven’t told him yet?’
‘When?’ she demanded angrily. ‘In the hour I had this morning between waking up and being summoned into the office at your bidding?’
The accusation washed over him. ‘I thought that it was important for you to see where I was buying.’
‘Why?’
‘Because eventually Tim will come to stay with me. Naturally.’
Feeling as though her world were splintering all around her, Lisi prayed that it didn’t show. Keep calm, she told herself. He may be powerful and rich, but he can’t just ride roughshod over your wishes. He can’t.
