The thought of that kiss thickened Lucy’s throat and throbbed deep inside her, tingling over her skin and tightening the base of her spine. She was sitting there, not even touching him, and it was as if she could still feel his lips, so warm, so sure, still taste his mouth, still shiver with the pleasure of pressing into his hard, solid body.
‘You’re right,’ said Guy after a moment. ‘I shouldn’t have done that. I think we both behaved rather badly yesterday. The question is, what do we do about it now?’
‘Do we need to do anything? It was a stupid thing for me to say, but nobody knows about it except the Pollards.’ Lucy wondered briefly if she should mention Richard’s nurse. But why on earth would Mairi be interested in her supposed engagement, let alone go running off to the papers with the news? ‘They’re not the type to tattle to tabloids, if that’s what you’re worried about.’
‘It had crossed my mind that it would be awkward if the news got out.’
‘Why should it, and anyway, why would they be interested in you?’ said Lucy. ‘I realise that Frank thinks you’re some kind of superstar but, to be honest, I’d never heard of you, and I can’t see the rest of the world being that bothered either. Who cares if you’re getting married or not?’
‘My mother?’ suggested Guy. ‘My friends, my board…and that’s just for starters.’
‘I can understand your mother wanting to know, but why should your board care?’
Guy got restlessly to his feet and paced behind the sofa. ‘It just happens that we’re at a delicate stage of negotiation with another bank, with a view to a possible merger,’ he explained, choosing his words carefully. ‘It’s a deal that could transform the way we do business, but it hangs on the decision of their chairman, Bill Sheldon. Personality and trust play a huge part in these kinds of negotiations and, however much he thinks he’s making a business decision, he’s still going to be influenced by what he thinks of me. I’d rather he didn’t associate me with irresponsibility or unpredictability in any way.’
‘Oh, pooh, why shouldn’t you get engaged if you want to?’
He sighed. ‘The point is that I
‘This Bill doesn’t know that, though, does he? You could be an incredibly romantic type who’s fallen madly in love with me at first sight and swept me off my feet.’
‘That’s precisely the impression I don’t want to give,’ said Guy dryly. ‘I want Bill to think of me as steady and responsible, not an impulsive romantic.’
‘He’s not going to know anything about our engagement,’ said Lucy, getting up from the sofa, too. ‘The Pollards won’t tell anyone, you won’t tell anyone, and I won’t tell anyone. It’s not going to be a problem.’
Guy looked at her, amusement warring with exasperation in his blue eyes. ‘I hope you’re right.’
Lucy wasn’t quite as confident as she sounded, but when two days had passed without any hint of a rumour, she began to relax and believe that no more would be heard of it. She would leave it a week or so and then tell the Pollards that her engagement to Guy was off, she decided as she swiped her card at the ticket gate and joined the press of people heading down the escalator for the Central Line the next morning. They probably wouldn’t even be surprised, given that they clearly believed him to be well out of her league.
That was one problem sorted, anyway, she thought with relief. Now she just had to prove to Guy that she was capable of being responsible, and get Meredith back from Wirrindago. Lucy had admitted to herself that she wasn’t that desperate to go back to the outback yet. She was embarrassed whenever she thought about how obvious she had made her crush on Kevin, who was little more than a vague romantic memory now, and she was enjoying being in London in a way that she never had before.
Previously she had always been looking for reasons to leave, but it felt different this time. She liked being one of the crowd going in to work. She liked the way the commuters surged in and out of the city like a tide. She liked going out for a sandwich at lunchtime and reading the free newspaper on the tube. She liked meeting friends for a drink in busy bars and pressing her nose up against the windows of all the famous shops where she would never dare walk in, let alone be able to afford to buy anything.
She was even liking work. Reception work wasn’t brain surgery, it was true, but she was learning that there was satisfaction in doing a job well, however unimportant it might seem.
The only thing that she didn’t like was the way Guy seemed to be ignoring her again. She had barely seen him over the past two days and she wondered if he were crosser with her about their supposed engagement than he had let on. She missed the glint in his blue eyes and the laughter in his voice and the way everything seemed sharper and clearer when he was around. She even missed the annoying way he called her Cinders.
The phone was ringing as Lucy arrived at Dangerfield & Dunn and she picked it up from the other side of the reception desk before she had even taken off her coat.
It was Sheila, Guy’s PA, calling from Wales. Her elderly father had fallen the previous evening, she told Lucy, and she was on her way to see him in hospital. She hadn’t been able to reach Guy yet, she said.
‘The thing is, he’s got a series of really important meetings today and he’ll need some information that’s still on my computer. And there’s a reception tonight…someone needs to contact the caterers…’
Lucy shrugged off her coat and reached for a pen. ‘Tell me what needs to be done, Sheila, and I’ll sort it out.’
There was no one else around as Lucy made her way to Sheila’s office, and she allowed herself a spin on the desk chair. It was very quiet up here. What would it be like to have an office to oneself? she wondered. To have a job that you could do well, and to really understand how everything in the organisation worked, as opposed to getting by on charm and hoping for the best?
Not that she was ever likely to know. She couldn’t see herself ever having a proper job. With a little sigh, Lucy switched on the computer and typed in the password Sheila had given her.
There was still no sign of Guy by the time she had worked her way through Sheila’s list of instructions and printed everything out, so she rummaged through some drawers until she found a file and went to leave the information on his desk.
The huge office felt empty without him. Drawn by the spectacular view of the cathedral, Lucy went over to the glass wall and stood looking down at the city, the file clutched to her chest.
‘Here you are.’
Guy’s voice behind her made Lucy jump and she spun round, her heart jerking madly, although whether from the shock or the sight of him she couldn’t tell. Just by standing there in the doorway, he managed to charge the hushed, exclusive atmosphere with energy so that the very air seemed to be vibrating with his presence.
‘It’s you,’ she said faintly.
‘It
And he was probably wondering what a lowly receptionist was doing there gaping at the view. ‘Er…Sheila asked me to print this out for you,’ said Lucy, hastily laying the file on the desk. ‘Her father’s in hospital so she’s had to go and see him. She gave me her password and told me where I would find the files.’
‘Yes, she said she’d spoken to you. She managed to get hold of me on my mobile in the end, but it sounds as if she’ll have to be in Wales for a few days at least.’
Guy picked up the file and flicked through it. He was wearing a classic charcoal-grey suit and she found herself watching his hands. They were strong and capable-looking, with deft fingers and very clean nails, and the memory of them holding that lasso made Lucy suddenly giddy.
She shouldn’t have skipped breakfast.
‘Thank you for doing this.’ The blue eyes held an arrested expression as he looked up from the papers. ‘This is exactly what I needed.’
‘I just did what Sheila told me to do.’
‘She explained what she’d asked you to do, but I can’t say I expected you to have it done quite so soon.’
‘I’ve sent those emails she mentioned, too,’ said Lucy, ‘but it’s too early to contact the caterers about the reception this evening. I’ll do that later.’
She glanced at her watch. ‘There should be someone in Human Resources now. Sheila suggested contacting them for some temporary cover while she’s away. Would you like me to do that for you, or will you ring them yourself?’
‘Why can’t you do it?’ said Guy, dropping the file back onto his desk.
‘Me?’
‘Why not? You can obviously use a computer.’
‘Well, yes, but-’
