There were actually tears in his eyes, as well as in his voice, Sadie recognised.
‘You don’t know what a weight off my shoulders it will be to get this contract signed…and to get away from here,’ he added, giving the dusty room a dismissive, disparaging look.
‘Get away?’ Sadie queried.
‘Yes. This place is obviously part of the deal, and quite frankly I am relieved that it is. I cannot wait to buy myself a decent modern apartment. But first I have to make a short trip…a family matter…an elderly relative on my mother’s side. She lives outside Paris in…in straitened circumstances. She is my godmother, and I want to do a little something to help her. Your agreement to the sale of Francine means that I shall be able to do so!’
He cleared his throat and his voice thickened. ‘I shall let Leon know what you have said. I can’t tell you how much your agreement means to me, Sadie. With the money I receive from Leon I shall be able to see that Tante Amelie receives the care she needs. It is the least I can do. And you, Sadie—I expect you will be wanting to return to your own home. There will be much for you to do there, I know, before you begin working for Francine and Leon!’
Sadie frowned. She supposed she should not have been surprised to discover that her grandmother’s childhood home was to be included in the sale of the business, but she owned that she was surprised by Raoul’s revelations about his ailing godmother! And she would have to return to Pembroke, of course. But she had not planned to do so as yet.
‘Won’t Leon want to…to discuss his plans with me?’ she questioned Raoul.
‘Yes, indeed, but not right now. I suspect he will want to wait until after the formalities of the contract being signed for that.’
Disconcerted, Sadie digested her disappointment at the thought of not seeing Leon again for some time. She hadn’t actually wanted to see him, had she? That wasn’t why she was changing her mind, was it? Because…
No, of course it wasn’t! How could it be? She barely knew the man!
Guessing from the way he kept looking at his watch that Raoul had other things to do, Sadie took her leave of him.
She might as well see out her stay in France, she decided, as she got into her car. And then if Leon did want to discuss anything with her over the next couple of days she would be on hand.
Her decision was based entirely on common sense, she assured herself as she pulled out into the traffic. Common sense. That was all…nothing else, she assured herself firmly.
Raoul waited until he was sure that Sadie had gone before telephoning Leon, his fingers drumming impatiently on the wall as he waited for Leon to answer his call. When he did, Raoul began immediately.
‘I’ve spoken to Sadie, and it is just as I said it would be, Leon,’ Raoul announced boastfully. ‘I soon made her see reason. All you need to do now is get the contracts organised. Oh, by the way, speaking of the contracts—I was wondering…is there any way you could let me have an advance on the buyout figure? Only I’ve got a couple of obligations I’d like to get cleared up.’
Leon frowned as he listened to Raoul. He knew all about Raoul’s debts, having had him thoroughly investigated prior to their negotiations. Illogically, he acknowledged that whilst he was relieved to hear that Raoul had managed to talk Sadie round, he also felt surprised, and almost a little bit disappointed that she had given in to her cousin so easily. Somehow he had expected her to put up more of a fight!
Suspiciously, he challenged Raoul.
‘You haven’t forgotten what I said to you about my not being agreeable to changing my decision on the ingredients of any new scent she creates, have you, Raoul?’
‘Of course not,’ Raoul responded promptly.
‘Did she say why she had changed her mind?’ Leon probed.
On the other end of the line Raoul frowned in irritation. Leon was asking for too many questions. Why on earth couldn’t he simply accept what he was saying to him?
‘She’s a woman, Leon,’ Raoul told him. ‘Who knows why they do the things they do? About that advance…I need to leave Grasse for a few days, and…’
‘I shall arrange for five hundred thousand euros to be transferred into your account today, Raoul.’
‘Five hundred thousand—that is all?’
He could hear the disappointment in the other man’s voice.
‘Five hundred thousand,’ Leon confirmed grimly. ‘Take it or leave it!’
After Raoul had rung off, Leon stared frowningly through the open glass door of his suite. His attention was not focused on the stunning view that lay beyond his private balcony, but instead on something or rather someone that the male core of his memory found even more stunning.
Sadie!
It still surprised him that she had changed her mind and given in, agreeing not just to the sale of Francine to him but also agreed to work for him as well. Somehow it seemed a little out of character. Almost as if she’d submitted to him…
Hastily he dragged his thoughts back from the brink they were careering towards and reminded himself that he had work to do!
Since leaving Grasse earlier he had spent far more time than he wanted to admit thinking about her! And not just because of the problems she was causing him with the takeover. Not just? Be honest, he derided himself Not at all! No, the reason she had gained so much control inside his head was quite simply because she, or rather his reaction to her, his awareness of her, his desire for her, had assumed far too much control of his senses!
To put it bluntly, he ached for her in a way that had not just caught him off guard, but was also actively making him…
Making him what? Making him want to rewind life right back to that second when he had first seen her in Cannes, so that he could do what every male instinct his body was packed with had urged him to do then? Pick her up in his arms, get her the hell out of there and take her somewhere where….
It was at times like this that his Greek blood was most at odds with his Australian upbringing, Leon acknowledged wryly. Right now, hormonally he was quite definitely all Greek male, but cerebrally—thank heaven—a part of him remained an Aussie businessman! And that was the part of him he needed most to focus on!
He had certainly enjoyed focusing on Sadie, he mused. He had never liked over-thin women, and Sadie was just right—her waist so tiny he could span it with his hands, her hips sexily curved, her legs long…long enough to wrap right around him when he…and her breasts. Ah, her breasts…Just the thought of touching them, holding them, brushing his lips against their tender quivering crests and then…
Leon gave a low groan and closed his eyes. Bad mistake, since immediately a vision of Sadie formed behind his shuttered eyelids. He must be going crazy—either that or he was well on his way to falling head over heels in love with her.
In love? In lust, more like! Anyway, falling in love right now was a complication he definitely did not need in his life. Unlike Sadie. He needed her all right. In his life. In his arms. In his bed…
Raoul had told him that she was going back to England and Leon told himself that he ought to be glad!
His grandmother would certainly have enjoyed seeing him in the state of turmoil he was in right now!
Thinking of his grandmother made Leon frown again. He had been just fourteen when she died. A sensitive age, which was no doubt why—
His mobile phone rang, breaking his train of thought.
Was she doing the right thing? Sadie asked herself soberly as she parked her car in the hotel car park and made her way to her room.
She wished passionately that her grandmother were here for her to talk to. Would she approve of what she was doing? The wave of euphoria which had carried her back to Grasse had receded now, leaving her feeling shaky and insecure. What if she couldn’t create a saleable perfume? And, even if she did, what made her think that her scent could succeed where so many others had failed? They lived in a different world now from the one in which the classic scents had been created. Consumers were more d
emanding, more fickle—but if she could succeed…if she could create a new scent that would take the world by storm and…
She was beginning to feel light-headed with excitement again. What if, between them, she and Leon…?
Between them? She and Leon? A fresh surge of excitement gripped her, but this one had nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of a new scent!
Why didn’t she give in and admit it to herself? She had been attracted to Leon the first moment she had seen him.
Attracted to him! To describe her feelings as mere attraction was like trying to compare cologne with full-strength perfume.
Her heart started to thud, her palms suddenly becoming damp. Why was it that the look in one particular man’s eyes could make a woman feel so…? Hot-cheeked, Sadie acknowledged that she did not want to explore just what it was that Leon made her feel right now! At least not in public.
‘I just hope that I’m doing the right thing.’
Sadie’s voice wobbled a little, and she held her mobile just that little bit tighter as she voiced her uncertainty to her friend.