This felt like fate saying, ‘Now…’
‘No?’ he repeated, his face expressionless, giving nothing away. For a moment, when he’d taken the pin from her, kept it, anything had seemed possible. Since then he’d kept all interaction on a strictly business level, kept his distance, not just physically, but emotionally.
‘I’m desperate for a cup of tea,’ she said, losing her nerve. ‘Let me freshen up and then we can both go.’
‘I thought you might want a little privacy in order to phone your Antipodean friend,’ he said, stiffly. ‘Explain that you won’t be home tonight.’
‘I don’t have to explain myself to anyone, Max, least of all Cal Jameson.’ Or him, for that matter, but it was time to put an end to this. Set the record straight. ‘And after the state he and some girl he brought home with him on Saturday night left my flat in, he’s very far from being my friend. In fact the next time I find him on my doorstep at two in the morning, I’ll be very tempted to leave him there.’
‘Girl?’ Max repeated, homing in on the one important word, going to the heart of what she was telling him.
‘He must have picked her up when he went clubbing. They woke me coming in at some unearthly hour…’ Then, all innocence, ‘Oh, please. You didn’t think I was sleeping with him, did you?’
‘You implied as much-’
‘No, Max,’ she said cutting him off, dropping the pretence. ‘You implied it. In front of a valued client, what’s more. You implied I was sleeping with him, too, I seem to recall, which might have been funny if it hadn’t been so insulting.’
‘He certainly implied as much.’
‘Cal? Or Oliver Nash?’
His mouth tightened. ‘You know who I mean.’
‘Well, yes. Apart from the fact that he’s married, Oliver is far too much a gentleman to have done anything of the sort.’
‘Not too married, or too much of a gentleman, to be above asking you out to dinner.’
‘Too much of a gentleman to have boosted his ego by implying I was sleeping with him.’ Then, furious with him for being so dense. ‘The man’s an incorrigible flirt, Max, but it doesn’t mean anything.’
‘It might have meant nothing to you, but I can assure you that given half an inch of encouragement, he’d have been in like Flynn.’
Jealous, jealous, her heart sang…
‘He didn’t have any encouragement because I never mix business with pleasure,’ she said, firmly. ‘As for Cal, he’s like a big overgrown puppy. He understands the word no, but believes that if he ignores it, I’ll forget I said it.’ Then, because it was suddenly vital that he was absolutely clear. ‘The most intimate exchange between us was that kiss under the mistletoe at the family party. In full view of everyone.’
‘But you went home with him.’
‘Yes, well…’ She turned away, feeling hideously exposed, but knowing that she had to clear the air between them if they were going to work together. If they were ever going to finish what they’d started. ‘Taking Cal home wasn’t my idea of fun, but Jodie found the idea of sharing her honeymoon with her brother-in-law less than enthralling and, since she’d sent him gift-wrapped as my date for the evening, I returned the favour by letting him stay in my spare room.’ She looked back at him, willing him to understand, cut her some slack. ‘It’s what sisters do, Max. They help each other out. You’d have done the same for Jack, wouldn’t you?’
‘Taken home a good-looking woman who fancied the pants off me to give Jack some space with Maddie? I could see how that might work,’ he said.
‘Oh, forget it!’ She grabbed her bag, headed for the bathroom.
‘No.’ He raked long fingers through his hair, ruffling it in a way that she found unbearably sexy. ‘I’m sorry. Tell me.’
An apology from Max now? They were coming along…
‘There’s nothing to tell, Max. That’s the point. Except that Cal now treats my flat like his own personal hotel, turning up unannounced whenever he’s passing through.’
‘I’m sorry, Lou.’ Another apology? ‘I should have called you, offered to take you to the Christmas party.’
No, this wasn’t an apology. It was something far more significant…
Afraid he’d see, read the unbearable yearning in her eyes, she turned quickly away with, ‘Oh, right. Like I’d have said yes.’
She didn’t wait for his response, but scooted into the bathroom, not coming out until she’d combed her hair, freshened her lipstick. Wiped the need from her face.
‘I’ll see you downstairs,’ she said, when she emerged, heading for the door before he could say any more. Not looking at him, because to look at him was-as it had always been-to invite disaster.
She rang the bell, explained about the rooms, asked for tea, and by the time Max joined her the footman had returned with a tray laden with tea things, accompanied by a maid with a three-tiered tray containing tiny sandwiches, cakes, pastries.
‘You know, I don’t think we need a hotelier,’ Louise said as she handed Max a cup of tea. ‘I think we just need to keep these people on to run the place.’
‘I doubt they’d want to trade the quiet life they have at present for the long hours and hard work of the commercial world.’
‘I was…’ Joking. ‘Never mind.’ She shook her head, putting down her own cup. ‘I’m going to take a look around.’
Without waiting for him, she walked out into the magnificent entrance hall with its marble tiled floor, grand staircase, open hearth in which a fire had been lit since their arrival.
‘This would make a perfect wedding venue,’ Max said, joining her. Then, taking the lead, opening the door to a richly decorated banqueting room, ‘It’s not quite the way I imagined it would be.’
‘You pictured stone walls running with damp, cold enough to freeze your marrow?’
‘No, but a fishing lodge does suggest a certain rustic finish.’
‘Yes, well, maybe we were being a little too literal in our use of the word. According to Emma, “going fishing” turns out to have been something of a euphemism within the royal family for meeting the mistress. This place might look mediaeval, but it was actually built as a folie d’amour by some goaty minor royal in the late nineteenth century. It’s practically new by Meridian standards.’
‘You weren’t just discussing ball dresses when you disappeared for girl talk, then?’
She gave him a withering look. ‘It belongs to a branch of the family who spent money like water and lived a hedonistic lifestyle. The owner of this place is what used to be known as a “remittance man”. He’s paid a pension by the old king to stay away. Sebastian takes care of the running costs, pays the staff just to keep them in work. Nothing would please him more than to see it put to good use.’ Then, as if as an afterthought, ‘He is also extremely keen to expand the tourist industry.’
‘I know.’
‘You do?’
‘We discussed all this at length when he rang me last week.’
‘He rang you?’
‘He wanted me to know, if I was serious, that local laws mean I would have to have a Meridian partner, which isn’t a problem. As you already pointed out, we’ll need someone to run the residential side of the property.’ He looked around. ‘He also wanted me to know that it will have to be preserved as it is.’
‘And no doubt Bella Lucia will be responsible for conserving it?’
‘That would be the deal.’ He looked up at the gilded ceiling. ‘It’s a good one, too. We couldn’t hope to find anything like this; certainly couldn’t build it.’ Then, ‘The only thing he didn’t tell me was how beautiful it is.’
‘Maybe he thought you knew.’ She gazed about her. ‘So, was that one of the things you planned to discuss with me on Saturday?’
He smiled. ‘You’ll never know, will you? Shall we continue the tour?’
They found a library, a billiard room with a number of rather splendid stuffed fish mounted in glass cases- possibly the origin of the ‘fishing’ euphemism-a charming morning room and a vast, heated conservatory.
‘Oh, yes,’ Max said, turning slowly to take it all in.
‘You like it?’ Louise asked, only then realising just how important it was to her to have got it right. Demonstrated her worth.
