cobalt-blue, his nose was straight and arrogant, his lips perfectly sculptured—the lower lip sensually fuller than the top—his jaw was square and determined, and his body tall and muscular, totally belying the thirty-five years or so that Cally guessed him to be. All that and rich too, Cally dismissed scathingly.
‘Er—do you two know each other?’ Pam was the one to break the chilly silence that had descended after Noel Carlton’s initial outburst, her gaze accusing as she shot Cally a pointed glance.
Completely deserved, Cally accepted with an inner wince. But she simply hadn’t had a chance yet to calm down enough to be able to rationally discuss the full events of this morning with her sister. Not that she thought Pam would be too impressed with that explanation, but it was the only one she had.
‘No!’
‘Yes.’
Noel Carlton and Cally spoke at the same time, Cally in the negative, Noel Carlton in the positive.
But if he thought having invited her out to dinner two months ago, and then promptly forgetting he had ever made the invitation, along with the argument this morning, gave him any right to claim an acquaintance with her then he was sadly mistaken; in fact, it was the opposite!
Pam gave the two of them a gleeful smile. ‘Come on, now, which one is it?’ she taunted.
‘We most certainly do not know each other,’ Cally answered before he even had chance to do so.
‘Oh, come on, Cally,’ Noel Carlton drawled, those deep blue eyes mocking now as he looked at her challengingly. ‘That’s not the impression I had earlier this morning.’
Cally’s eyes widened indignantly, a blush creeping into her freckle-covered cheeks as Pam repeated, ‘Earlier this morning, hmm?’
‘Don’t take any notice of him, Pam.’ Cally glared at her infuriating neighbour. ‘He’s just trying to be clever!’
‘And succeeding,’ Pam pointed out. ‘Dare one ask how it is the two of you happened to be together earlier this morning?’ The look she gave Cally clearly said, You certainly didn’t tell me that!
Cally drew in a sharp breath at her sister’s speculative expression. ‘It’s really quite simple—’
‘Oh, very,’ Noel Carlton agreed mildly. He folded his arms across the width of his chest now as he looked at the two women. ‘Tell me, are the two of you related? I seem to see a certain resemblance in the colouring and bone structure…’
‘Sisters,’ Cally supplied economically, not seeing what possible interest that could be to this man; if he had come here to cause trouble, then why didn’t he just get on with it instead of standing there looking so damned irresistibly attractive?
Because he most certainly was! Cally found her pulse was beating rather faster than it should be, that blush having stayed in her cheeks as she became fully aware of his mere physical presence—mere? There was nothing ‘mere’ about this man!
Everything about him was overpowering, from the way he looked, to the way his height and size just dominated the room. And the people in it!
Well, they would see about that, Cally decided, giving herself a mental shake. Okay, so the man was good-looking and rich as Croesus, but that didn’t mean that every woman he met had to fall down worshipping at his feet. Even if, that little voice taunted inside her again, her real anger towards him was based on the fact that he had never followed up on that dinner invitation…!
‘Hmm, I should have guessed.’ Noel Carlton gave Pam a smile warm enough to melt the flesh from her bones.
Something her elder sister welcomed, Cally realized disgustedly as she saw Pam return that smile and look at him from beneath lowered lashes.
Really, her sister had been happily married to Brian for the last eight years, had two little boys of school age, and yet here Pam was blushing like a schoolgirl herself just because Noel Carlton had smiled at her!
‘I can’t imagine why you should,’ Cally dismissed. ‘And while I appreciate that you went to some trouble to find me, I really have no intention of continuing our earlier conversation here.’
‘That’s very good,’ he mocked, turning to smile at Pam once again. ‘Your sister seems to be—the more emotional one of the two of you, shall we say? Has she always been that way?’ he enquired.
‘Always,’ Palm confirmed, grinning at Cally’s obvious discomfort at being discussed in this way. Her sister had patently decided it was the least Cally deserved after not telling her that she had actually met this man earlier this morning.
But there was a perfectly good reason why she hadn’t told Pam about that meeting. In fact, there were several reasons. Firstly, losing her temper was never something she was particularly proud of. Secondly, even as she had been losing her temper with Noel Carlton she had found herself once more attracted to him. Thirdly, she had been able to tell by the warmth in his gaze that he returned the attraction…
‘Hmm,’ Noel Carlton murmured now appreciatively, at the same time giving Cally a look that it was impossible to see as anything else but a totally male assessment, taking in the rich redness of her long hair, the wide green eyes, her heart-shaped face dominated by those freckles, her determinedly raised chin, her slenderness in the black business suit, the long length of her legs.
Really, Cally thought crossly, did this man ever switch off his playboy mode?
‘Could you just say what you want to say, Mr Carlton, and then leave?’ she encouraged impatiently.
‘Of course. I’m sure we’re all busy people.’
‘Nice of you to realize that,’ she drawled.
‘Cally,’ Pam began warningly.
‘Oh, don’t be concerned, Pam,’ she assured her sister lightly. ‘Mr Carlton is perfectly well aware of my opinion of him!’
‘Now, let me see…’ Noel Carlton paused for dramatic effect. ‘“A rich, overindulged, totally selfish, egotistical idiot” was the phrase you used earlier, I believe. Did I miss anything out?’ he asked, eyes openly laughing at her now.
‘You know that you didn’t!’ Her cheeks were burning with indignation at the realisation that she had obviously amused him. And something else. It was that ‘something else’ that caused her to look away from him in some confusion.
She simply couldn’t still find this man attractive! Oh, of course he was good-looking, but as far as she was concerned, after inviting her out and then not even bothering to call her, he had nothing else to recommend him, and she had no intention of being taken in by looks alone. That had already happened in her life once, and look what a disaster that had turned out to be…!
‘Actually—’ he glanced at the name on the badge attached to the lapel of her jacket ‘—Mrs Turner—’
‘Miss,’ Cally corrected. ‘Miss Turner,’ she enlarged almost defensively as he looked at her enquiringly, at the same time waiting for some cutting comment from him. One of the things she had thrown at him this morning in their heated exchange—well, to be honest, hers had been heated, Noel Carlton had looked as if not too much made him exert himself
