you’re willing to take advantage of my work ethic? That isn’t fair. Jamie has his school nativity play on Wednesday. Nothing is going to stop me going.’
‘Fine. I’ll fly you home on Monday in the jet, but you’ll be exhausted because the party won’t finish until the early hours.’
‘Have you considered that this might backfire on you? The only party I’ve been to in the last few years is when our neighbours invite us in for drinks on Christmas Eve. To even call it a party is probably being over-generous. I’m not really a party person.’
‘That doesn’t matter.’
‘I will embarrass you! I can look nice, but not glamorous.’
He thought about the way she’d looked lying on the rug, her hair gleaming in the red glow from the fire, and knew she was wrong, but he didn’t want to say that to her because he knew he shouldn’t even be thinking it. ‘I’m not asking you to dance or win a fashion contest, I’m asking you to stand by my side as another representative of Jackson and Partners. It’s networking. For me the party is as much business as the meeting scheduled to take place before it. You talk to many of these people on a daily basis. People speak to you before they speak to me. It’s good for you to put faces to names and good for other people to know you. For many people you’re their first contact with my company.’
Torn by conflicting responsibilities, she gave him an exasperated look. ‘I can’t believe you’re asking me to do this. It’s unreasonable.’
Lucas didn’t relent. He told himself that if she was angry towards him that was good. Hopefully that anger would supplant other, far more dangerous, feelings and the truth was he did need her there. ‘I’ve never claimed to be reasonable.’
‘You’re supposed to be embarrassed. You’re ruthless, self-centred and uncaring.’
‘Yes.’ He didn’t waste time apologising for it, nor did he tell her anything about the events that had made him that way.
She sighed. ‘I don’t know anything about Zubran. I can barely put it on a map.’
‘What do you want to know? It’s a Sultanate. A peaceful, progressive country, mostly due to the influence of the Crown Prince. Mal is super-bright and very charismatic. Women love him and so will you, so you can relax.’
‘Mal?’
‘Short for Malik.’
‘You’re on intimate terms with a Crown Prince?’
‘We were at college together. He’ll be at the party, but you already know that because you’ve seen the guest list.’
‘All the more reason why I’m the wrong person to take! I don’t know any of these people and I will have no idea what to say to them. Please tell me he has a really friendly wife.’
‘Not yet, and that is a very sore subject so I advise you not to mention it.’
‘Why is it a sore subject? He’s divorced? He wants a wife and he can’t find someone to marry him?’
‘He’s rich, so it goes without saying that there are plenty of contenders. There was someone, but—’ Lucas broke off, knowing that there was no one less qualified to comment on relationships than him. ‘Never mind. Let’s just say that for Mal duty comes before personal choice. It comes with the territory, I believe.’
‘So he won’t marry for love?’ Her innocent question would have made him smile had the circumstances been different.
‘No. Which will probably ensure the success of the union.’
She tilted her head as she studied him. ‘When I get my T-shirt made, I’m getting you a matching one that says “Don’t tell me you love me” on it. I can tell you now that I won’t be any use at this party, not just because I’m not glamorous but because I know nothing about the politics of Zubran. What if I say the wrong thing?’
Every other woman he knew would have died before admitting to feeling out of their depth socially.
‘You won’t say the wrong thing. And if you do—’ he shrugged, fighting the desire to take her straight back to bed and lose himself again in her soft warmth ‘—I know him well enough to have you bailed from a jail cell.’
Her shoulders slumped in a gesture of defeat. ‘I’ll have to call my sister.’ Her expression suggested that wasn’t something she relished. ‘Angie has Jamie all week and she relies on me at weekends so that she can go out. She’ll be really annoyed if I tell her I can’t make it.’
‘And yet you’re the one who slogs all week to provide the money for the family—’ He caught her frown and bit off the rest of the sentence. What did he know about a functioning family? Absolutely nothing so he wasn’t in a position to offer advice or opinion. ‘Tell her you’ll be back for Wednesday with a big fat bonus. The truth is you wouldn’t have been driving there today, anyway. The roads around the castle are impassable and we are always low priority for the snowplough and the gritting lorries.’
‘Can’t you get them cleared?’ Her innocent faith in the breadth of his power and influence almost made him smile.
‘I can have the estate cleared, but there are five miles of country lanes between us and the main road. I can work miracles, but local government bureaucracy requires more than that.’
‘So if we’re snowed in, how do you propose getting us to Zubran?’
‘We’re flying. We’ll take the helicopter to the airport and then the private jet.’ Relying on a well developed instinct that told him exactly when to push and when to retreat, Lucas strode towards the stairs without giving her the opportunity to argue further. ‘Call your sister and then meet me downstairs in the kitchen. I’ll make us breakfast.’
‘Fine, I’ll ring,’ she muttered, ‘but she’s going to kill me. As long as you don’t mind having that on your conscience.’
Lucas chose not to remind her that he didn’t have a conscience.
* * *
It was a difficult phone call, not least because for the first time in her life she wasn’t being honest with her sister.
‘You stayed overnight with your boss? Are you crazy? Haven’t you listened to a single word I’ve said to you over the years?’ Angela’s tone was sharp and Emma felt colour flood into her cheeks as she contemplated her sister’s reaction if she were to find out the truth.
‘I didn’t have any choice. Have you looked out of the window? It’s like the Arctic. The roads here are impassable.’ There was no point in trying to explain that she’d been worried about her boss. That concern and care had kept her here long after she should have left. There was no way Angela would understand that. Nor was she going to understand the next part of the conversation. Bracing herself, Emma tightened her grip on the phone. ‘Angie, do you remember the project I told you about? The Zubran Ferrara Resort that is opening next week?’
‘Of course. It’s all over the news. They’re calling it an iconic structure and your boss is apparently a progressive genius much loved by eco nuts everywhere. They’re missing out the fact that he cares more about buildings
