‘Tomorrow night, then,’ he prompted.
How the hell had it happened? Sally asked herself for the second time today in the luxury of his limousine. This time it was much worse, and it was Zac Delucca’s fault again. When he had spoken of his skills as a lover she had never dreamt he meant to try and prove his statement with such explicit speed that the defensive wall she had built around herself would crumble with just one kiss…
‘Sorry, no. I am going away for the weekend.’
‘Cancel and spent the weekend with me,’ he demanded arrogantly.
Staring at him, her blue eyes widening, Sally unconsciously ran the tip of her tongue over her slightly swollen lips, where the taste of Zac still lingered. It would be so easy to say yes to a weekend of mindless pleasure instead of sadness, and suddenly she was afraid of the speed with which he had turned her life upside down. Then she realised he had been nowhere near as affected by the passionate interlude as she had been, and, given the churning in her stomach, still was!
He probably seduced women in his limo on a regular basis, and she had very nearly been his latest conquest…
She thought of her mother, who really needed her, as opposed to a man like Delucca, who certainly did not—except in the shallowest way. Zac was undoubtedly a formidable man, used to getting whatever and whoever he wanted, and he was her father’s new boss.
But then again, Sally thought, she didn’t give a fig for her father. If she offended his boss, so what?
‘That’s an outrageous suggestion and not one I would ever consider,’ she said bluntly. ‘And I promised my mother.’
‘Loyalty to your mother is an admirable trait. We can make it dinner on Monday night.’
Not only was he arrogant, he was also pig-headed, and she did not bother to reply as, to her relief, the chauffeur opened the car door. She needed to get as far away from Zac Delucca as she could, and, swinging her legs out of the car, she stood up. She hesitated and glanced back at Zac. Good manners were ingrained in her.
‘Thank you for lunch, Mr Delucca, and the lift,’ she said formally. ‘Goodbye.’ And, turning, she hurried along the street.
She did not go into the store, Zac noted as he watched her walk along the pavement. Her rear view was as enticing as the rest of her, and the reason he had eschewed good manners and not helped her out of the limousine was still causing him a problem.
‘Drive on,’ he ordered the chauffeur. Sally—or Salmacis, he smiled to himself—intrigued and also confused him.
By nature he was a decisive man. Once he decided on a course of action in both the business world and his private life he never changed his mind. Yet a certain red-haired woman had him changing his mind over and over again.
Needy was a no-no; husband-hunting was a no-no; idle little rich girl was a no-no—and he did not believe for a minute that she was spending the weekend with her mother. Partying was more her style, if the slight violet shadows under her beautiful eyes were anything to go by. He would bet on it…She wasn’t his usual type at all.
Yet, against all that, after deciding to kiss her goodbye he had changed his mind again.
As soon as their lips had met she had caught fire in his arms, melting against him, running her fingers through his hair, inflaming him further. She was the most incredibly responsive woman he had ever met, and there was no way he was walking away.
He strolled back into Paxton’s office and glanced at Raffe, who shook his head slightly. So Paxton did not know yet they were on to him. Good.
‘Your daughter and I had a pleasant lunch, Paxton. She asked to be dropped off at Harrods, though I noticed she didn’t go in the store.’
‘You know what young women are like—always changing their minds,’ he said with an ingratiating smile. ‘I gave her a studio apartment in Kensington and it is not far from Harrods. She probably decided to walk home.’
Zac knew enough about property in London to know that an apartment in the Royal Borough of Kensington did not come cheap. Sally was a lucky girl, and Paxton was looking guiltier by the minute.
Sally drove into the car park of the nursing home and cut the engine. She glanced up at the mellow stone, half covered by the rampant scarlet Virginia creeper. The sun was shinning, it was a glorious June day, and yet she felt none of the joy such a beautiful day should bring. For a moment she folded her arms across the steering wheel and let her head drop. She had to smile for her mother, even though her heart felt like lead in her chest. It was hard…so very hard…Even more so now she knew the doctor’s prognosis…
As she had guessed, her father had not rung her last night, and she had had no luck in getting in touch with him until this morning, when he’d informed her that because Delucca was there he could not possibly get away this weekend.
For once Sally believed him. After yesterday’s lunch with the man, she knew no one could refuse him—herself included. She still cringed when she thought of the way she had reacted to his kiss and, worse, the way she had spent a restless night trying to banish him from her mind—without much success.
Lifting her head, she drew in a deep, steadying breath and brushed a stray drop of moisture from her eye. At least today she would not have to lie to her mother. Her dad was tied up with business.
Five minutes later, forcing a smile to her face, Sally breezed into her mother’s room with a cheerful hello.
She was sitting in her wheelchair, an expectant smile on her face—a still lovely face, although now it was deeply lined with pain. Her hair was no longer the soft red Sally remembered. After her chemo it had grown back a mousy brown, and was now streaked with grey.
Yet her mum had not given up, Sally thought as she walked towards her. She had still applied her make-up—and even if the
foundation was a bit streaky and the lipstick not perfect she had tried…Probably because she expected her husband. But she was destined to be disappointed yet again.