No Mistaking Love

Luke glared at her sarcasm and grabbed the file from her as the phone rang.

Kate answered it. `It's for you,' she said to Luke. `Helen Slayne. I think it must be a personal call.'

Luke took the receiver with bad grace and a look which said that he had not missed the point. `Yes, Helen, what is it…? No, I can't be any nicer. I'm busy.' He was obviously regretting taking the call in front of Kate, for he turned away and lowered his voice. `I'm not ignoring you. I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment.'

There was a pause. Kate, studiously carrying on with her paperwork, could imagine Helen's sultry murmurings. Luke watched her suspiciously over his shoulder as he listened. His gaze fell on the roses and he glowered at them. `All right,' he said. `Come in later and I'll take you out to lunch.'

He banged down the phone. `I'm going out to lunch,' he said unnecessarily, still glaring at the flowers.

`That'll be nice.' Kate kept her voice bland. `Would you like me to book you a table?'

Luke's jaw was working in the way it did when he was trying to control his temper. `I'll do it myself!' he said rudely, and banged back into his office.

Kate raised her eyes heavenwards. There was no pleasing him today! It would be a relief to have him out of the office for a couple of hours.

She was frowning over some shorthand when Helen made her entrance. She looked breathtaking as usual in leopard-patterned leggings and a provocatively cut top in a dull gold colour. Really, Luke had a nerve criticising her black dress for being revealing, Kate remembered indignantly.

A pair of sunglasses pushed on top of her head held the glorious silver-blonde mane away from Helen's face as she sauntered over to Luke's door with barely a glance at Kate.

When she emerged with Luke a few minutes later Luke was looking grumpy. He stopped to give Kate a number where she could reach him if necessary.

`Don't tell me you've got another secretary, darling!' Helen said lightly, deigning to notice Kate's existence at last. `The other one didn't last long, did she? What do you do to them?'

`What other one?' Luke asked irritably, still looking through his diary for the number of the restaurant.

`The last time I came round there was a rather plain, disapproving-looking female sitting here.'

`Kate was here then. Nobody could be more disapproving than her!’

'Really?' Helen's green eyes sharpened as she took in the fact that Kate was not nearly as plain as she remembered. `Quite a transformation!' She didn't sound as if she liked the fact.

Kate's lips tightened as Helen looked at her a little more closely.

`You know, there's something familiar about you,' Helen said slowly.

Luke had finished scribbling the number down and now tucked his diary back in his inside pocket. `Funny, I keep thinking that, too.'

Kate tensed as they both stared at her with narrowed eyes.

`Must be someone on television,' Luke said, giving up.

`Perhaps you're right.' Helen sounded unconvinced. `I wouldn't have said that we move in the same social circles, that's for sure!'

Kate's eyes were cold. `I expect I look familiar because you've seen me before,' she said briskly, hoping that her dismissive tone would divert Helen's attention from the real truth of what she said. `Luke was right. I was sitting here last time you came round.'

`That must be it.' Helen shrugged, losing interest as Luke took her arm.

`Let's get a move on,' he said impatiently.

Kate watched them go to the door before allowing herself to relax with a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, Helen chose that moment to glance back over her shoulder, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the relief writ large in Kate's expression.

Kate could only hope that she and Luke would have better things to talk about than how familiar his secretary looked. If they thought about it long enough they might remember, and that was the last thing she wanted!

She was waiting nervously when Luke came back after lunch. He didn't say anything, so she breathed again, but he was in a foul mood and kept her working until half-past six.

Kate arrived punctually at nine the following morning, to find Luke prowling around her office and muttering as he rifled through files. Evidently his temper hadn't improved overnight!

Kate judged it best simply to ignore him. She wished him a cool good morning, which was not acknowledged, and hung up her coat. When he was in this kind of mood she had no trouble telling herself that she must have imagined falling in love with him!

The phone rang as she headed towards her desk, and, although she had plenty of time to answer it, Luke jumped on it as if to prove that she wasn't doing her job properly.

`Yes?' he snapped, obviously about to take his bad temper out on some poor unsuspecting employee at the other end of the line, but he was to be frustrated. With some amusement, Kate heard him say, with an effort to sound polite, `Oh, yes, how are you?'

Obviously a client, Kate thought, seating herself behind her desk and reaching for the diary. He wasn't polite to anyone else.

There was a pause and then Luke said stiffly, `Yes, she's here.' He handed the receiver to Kate. `It's Xavier Robard, wanting to speak to my charming assistant,' he said nastily. `I presume that means you.'

Kate took the phone from him with a brilliant smile and proceeded to greet Xavier with a lot more warmth than she did normally. Luke gave her no chance to be private, but remained obstinately perched on her desk, pretending to read a file but patently eavesdropping. Kate was speaking in rapid French, but she had no doubt that he was following the gist of the conversation.

`So when's he coming over?' Luke demanded as she put down the phone.

`Oh, did you miss that bit?' Kate asked sarcastically. `Sorry, I should have spoken more slowly for you!'

Their eyes clashed angrily. His were slate-grey and very hard, hers a hostile gold.

`He's coming tomorrow,' Kate added sulkily, looking away first.

`And you're having dinner with him.' It was a statement, not a question.

`Yes. Do you have any objection?'

Luke grunted for an answer. `Is he coming into the office?’

'He didn't say so. Why, did you want to see him particularly?'

`You might have thought that I might have some details to discuss with him!' Luke said unreasonably.

`I can easily ring him and make an appointment if that's the case.' Kate reached for the phone, but Luke stopped her with an irritable gesture.

`Oh, leave it! If he's coming panting after you he probably won't want to be bothered about business.'

`As a matter of fact, he's coming over on a quite different business matter,' Kate said coldly.

Luke snorted. `That's his story!' He picked up the desk calendar. `Tomorrow's the fourteenth, Valentine’s Day. Funny that his different business should just happen to be tomorrow. I suppose he chose the date deliberately?'

`I think that's most unlikely,' Kate said with a frosty look. `They don't make a big thing of Valentine's Day in France.'

`Well, since you've reminded me of it, I suppose I'd better arrange for some flowers for Helen and Lynette,' Luke said with what Kate strongly suspected was deliberate provocation. `Get a bouquet sent to each of them tomorrow, will you?'

'What, both of them?'

'Why not?' he retorted cynically. `It'll keep them both quiet, and they don't need to know that they're not the only ones.'

Kate made a neat note on her shorthand pad. She was determined not to be upset by the fact that Luke chose to send flowers to other girls. `What sort of bouquet?' she asked, very matter-of-fact.

`Oh, I don't know.' Luke shrugged irritably. `One of those big elaborate jobs. Whatever you would like.'

`Personally, I think those big bouquets are rather vulgar,' Kate said austerely. `A simple bunch of tulips, hand- delivered, would be much more romantic.'

`You're so understated, Kate!' Luke got to his feet, a hint of amusement in his voice. `Still, I think vulgar