‘Good. Grab the jacket and we’ll go.’
‘I can’t.’
‘It doesn’t fit?’
Petra beamed a smile at him. ‘She hasn’t tried it on yet.’
Eleanore trained her gaze on Lukas and wondered how she was going to get around not wearing the jacket without offending Petra, who had obviously chosen it. ‘Um...’
‘Give us a moment, would you, Petra?’
‘Sure. I’ll be in my office if you need me.’
Lukas waited for her to pass before strolling further into the office. He’d rolled his shirtsleeves to his elbows again and Eleanore really wished he wouldn’t do that.
‘What is it now?’ he asked silkily.
For some reason Eleanore felt terrible rejecting the jacket. ‘It was a nice gesture but I can’t wear it.’
‘It wasn’t a nice gesture,’ he said in a bored voice. ‘It was efficient. If you come down with an illness you’ll be useless to me. Now stop trying to be contrary and go and put it on.’
‘I’m not trying to be contrary.’ She picked up her puffer jacket from the back of the office chair and slid her arms into the sleeves. ‘I already have a jacket.’
‘You have a New York jacket that works in temperatures not exceeding minus ten. By the time you finish the site visit wearing that you’ll be frozen solid.’
‘Well, I can’t wear this one. I have a thing about fur.’
‘Want to run that by me again?’
‘It has fur on it. Real fur. Have you heard of PETA?’
‘Is he a lover who doesn’t like fur?’
‘No, it’s an organisation that supports the ethical treatment of animals.’
Half expecting him to tell her she was being ridiculous she was surprised when he only released a weary breath and jerked away from the doorway. ‘Let’s go.’
CHAPTER FIVE
‘THIS WASN’T MEANT to be a fashion stopover,’ Lukas growled, glancing at the time on his phone.
‘It’s not that easy to decide,’ Eleanore told him from in front of the store mirror.
It was for him.
One overcoat was as good as another as far as he was concerned. And frankly every time she shrugged out of one to put on the next her suit jacket opened wide and her silk blouse pulled tight across the tips of her breasts, outlining her lacy bra beneath. Did nobody else notice that but him?
‘Just pick one,’ he ordered, ‘or I’ll do it for you.’
Both Eleanore and the salesgirl looked at him as if he was mad. He felt mad.
‘Bozhe, it’s just a jacket!’
‘I don’t like wearing clothes I don’t love.’
His eyes narrowed. Was she for real? ‘Clothes are clothes.’ Although even as he said it he knew that wasn’t true. Clothes had a way of defining who you were, not that he really gave a damn personally, but those with money only wanted to mix with other people with money. It was the law of the social jungle.
‘So says the man with the custom-made shoes.’
Of course she’d noticed. She was from old money. She’d no doubt marry someone one day who was from old money and together they’d have lovely children with perfect pedigrees. And could his thoughts become any more pointless?
With a growl he rose from the ruby-red chaise and riffled through a rack of overcoats. He stopped at an olive-green cashmere coat and yanked it off the hanger. It was lined with a quilted fabric printed with rows of brightly coloured exotic birds that reminded him of her. Since it looked about the right size he marched behind her and held it up. ‘Put this on.’
Her eyes caught his in the mirror just as they had the night before in the ice bar and again he felt an unexplainable jolt somewhere in the vicinity of his solar plexus. Annoyed he shook the coat. ‘Any time this year will be good, Miss Harrington.’
‘Oh, right.’ Her long lashes swept down to cover her fascinating eyes and his groin tightened even more when she fitted first one arm and then the other into the coat.
‘Oh, it’s gorgeous.’
Lukas didn’t bother looking. He already knew the green would bring out the same tones in her eyes. He grabbed an ushanka from a hat stand and checked the tag. Fur. He went through five more before he found one she wouldn’t be offended with. It was black and soft and had ear flaps. Then he chose gloves and a muff and returned to her.