A Night of No Return

‘Of course not. Nor do I go anywhere that I could wear any.’

‘Well, tonight you are. That dress needs diamonds,’ Avery murmured without looking up. ‘I’m going to arrange for one of the jewellery companies to loan you something for the evening. Smile—’ She snapped a photograph with her phone and then proceeded to email it to someone. ‘They will be able to decide what will look best with that colour and neckline.’

‘OK, stop! Now you’re going over the top.’ Emma backed away. ‘Tonight is about work. I’m supposed to be mingling and networking, not parading around in diamonds.’

‘I’ve never understood why a woman can’t look her best while she’s mingling and networking,’ Avery murmured. ‘I suspect Lucas Jackson hasn’t been so interested in a woman for a long time—maybe never. We should make the most of that.’

Emma found herself trapped. She couldn’t tell Avery that the only reason Lucas had slept with her was to get through a truly terrible night. So now Avery had totally the wrong impression and this whole situation was spiralling horribly out of control and all she could do was mutter a lame, ‘He’s not interested.’

‘He’s interested. He noticed the red dress. Men only notice what a woman is wearing when it makes them think of sex.’

‘Avery!’

‘What?’ She looked up from her phone. ‘You are very, very pretty. You deserve diamonds.’

‘I do not want to be wearing anything valuable. What if someone steals it from around my neck?’

‘Do you want an estimate of the combined wealth of the people attending tonight?’

‘No. I assume that the Crown Prince alone is worth a fortune. I wonder why he isn’t married?’

Avery’s smile faded and her pretty face lost some of its colour. ‘Because, like you, he puts duty before his personal needs. Only in his case he intends to marry the boring virgin princess his father has picked out for him. I don’t know who I feel more sorry for.’

‘How do you know that?’ Emma stared at her. ‘Oh! You and he—’

‘Yes. But not for a while.’ Avery gave a bright smile. ‘Our Sultan-to-be needs a well behaved obedient bride prepared to honour and obey and, as you’ve probably guessed, I am so not that person. Even if I could occasionally obey, which is a major struggle if I’m honest, I totally bombed out at the word “virgin”.’

Emma wasn’t fooled by the light tone. ‘You’re in love with him.’

‘God, no,’ Avery answered just a little too quickly. ‘I’d never be stupid enough to love a man who doesn’t like me to argue with him. I’d never be so stupid as to love a man, full stop. Now what are we going to do about shoes for you?’

Emma looked at her closely but Avery was back to normal again as she made arrangements for the dress to be delivered to the hotel.

‘I’m worried this outfit is over the top. I’m his PA. I work for him and I want to continue working for him. This whole thing is so complicated.’

‘Welcome to the real world. Love is complicated. Why do you think I’m so careful to avoid it? Nothing can ruin a perfectly planned and ordered life like love.’

‘I’m not in love.’ Horrified and defensive, Emma removed the dress carefully. ‘Absolutely not.’

‘So here’s a little tip from an expert—’ Avery’s tone was conversational as she helped Emma out of the dress. ‘If you don’t want people to know you’re in love, be careful not to let your face light up like a halogen light bulb when his name is mentioned. I’ll deal with this while you get dressed—no, not the skirt you arrived in. Try this blue linen. It’s cool and professional. Perfect for meetings.’

It was just physical attraction, Emma told herself as she slid into the blue dress. She liked him, of course she did, but she wasn’t in love.

‘How is the dress? Businesslike?’

‘It’s perfect. What about you? Has there been someone else since the Prince? You must meet gorgeous men all the time.’

‘I do. Unfortunately I have a congenital urge to want what I can’t have.’ For a fleeting moment Avery’s eyes were sad and then she shrugged. ‘Are you ready?’

‘But if you have feelings for him then this whole party must be hell for you, because the Prince is going to be here,’ Emma said slowly as the implications sank in. ‘Why didn’t you turn it down?’

‘Pride.’ Avery gave a lopsided smile. ‘If I turned it down, people would think I was broken-hearted and I don’t want him to have that power over me. I intend to go out there and show that his careless, heartless attitude hasn’t made a dent in me.’