His After-Hours Mistress

‘The woman I marry will know that she has my respect and loyalty. If and when I make a vow, I’ll never break it. I only intend to get married once.’

‘Sounds to me like you’ve had a nasty experience. What caused you to get so disenchanted with marriage?’

‘Over-familiarity. My father has been married four times and my mother is currently on her third husband. Both swore it was love each time, but as soon as the passion faded, they headed for the divorce courts. I have brothers and sisters dotted around the globe from their various forays into the wedded state.’

Not exactly good role models, she agreed. ‘It doesn’t have to be that way for you.’

He shrugged. ‘It isn’t going to be. I intend to honour my vows—when I make them.’

‘I’m pleased to hear it, but have you heard the one about leopards not changing their spots?’ she gibed.

Roarke smiled. ‘There’s always an exception to the rule, sweetheart.’

‘True, but I haven’t seen any flying pigs recently,’ Ginny mocked.

He gave her a long look for that, to which she smiled sweetly and he grunted, ‘I should have fired you months ago. Lord knows why I didn’t.’

‘Because it isn’t in your power to do so. Your grandfather hired me, and only he can fire me,’ she told him confidently, only to see him give a crocodile smile.

Tugging at the knot of his tie, he pulled it free and loosened the buttons of his shirt. ‘On the contrary. I could fire you at a moment’s notice. However, you’re damn good at your job. You’ve a good eye for colour and style, and we’ve heard nothing but acclaim for what you’ve done so far.’

His praise gave her a warm glow inside, though she didn’t let him know it. ‘Would this be a good time to ask for a rise?’ she asked, tongue-in-cheek, and he grinned appreciatively.

‘You’d probably get it, too. A good worker is worthy of her hire.’

Ginny wasn’t greedy. She had had a rise only a short while ago. The company rewarded its workers for their efforts without prompting, and she had received her share. That was enough for her. ‘Don’t worry, I have no intention of taking you up on that. So, what did the poor wastebasket do to incur your wrath?’

Reminded of what had happened earlier, Roarke let his expression become rueful. ‘It grinned at me.’

Vastly amused, Ginny smiled. ‘Grinned at you?’

‘Knowingly,’ Roarke confirmed.

‘Ah,’ she nodded wisely, knowing the feeling. ‘Lunch was not a success.’

His laugh was scornful. ‘To put it mildly. Which is why I need your help.’

Her mind was rioting with questions. Ginny reined them in. ‘Things must be bad if you need my help.’

‘You have no idea!’

Ginny waited for more, but when none came she frowned. ‘Are you going to tell me, or is it a game of twenty questions?’

Roarke took a deep breath and swung his chair round so that he was facing her. ‘My sister’s getting married at the weekend.’

Whilst interesting, it was not quite what she was expecting. ‘I’m sure I’m pleased for her, but what’s that got to do with me?’

His eyes flashed sparks at her interruption. ‘I was coming to that. I’ve been invited.’

It occurred to Ginny that he was uneasy about asking her for whatever it was, and that was quite unlike the usual confident Roarke Adams. Bemused, she nodded. ‘OK, that was to be expected, but I still don’t see what that has to do with me.’

There followed a momentary hesitation, then he took the bull by the horns. ‘I need you to go with me…as my lover.’

That took the wind out of her sails like nothing else. ‘What?’ she gasped out, sure she must have misheard somehow.

Having broached the subject, Roarke quickly regained his composure. ‘I want you to attend the wedding with me,’ he repeated.

She had that part; it was the other she took exception to. ‘As your lover?’

Roarke hastily held up a hand to forestall the protests he knew were hovering on her lips. ‘I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I need you to pretend to be my lover.’

Ginny felt as if she were gaping at him like a fish, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly but nothing coming out. She shut her mouth with a snap of teeth and took a steadying breath. ‘You have to be joking!’

‘I only wish I were. Believe me, I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t important.’

Instinctively she knew that was true. Neither would seek help from the other unless business was involved. But what he was asking was out of the question. ‘What about what’s-her-name, the brunette you’re dating? Why don’t you ask her to help?’ That would be the ideal solution.

The question had him grinding his teeth again. ‘She was going to go with me, but as we are no longer an item, I’m left without a partner.’

Ginny stared at him, aware that there was a story he wasn’t telling her, and he wasn’t going to get away with keeping it to himself if he wanted her help. Not that she was promising anything. ‘What happened?’

Roarke’s fingers tapped out an irritated tattoo on the desktop. ‘She informed me at lunch that her stars told her the weekend was a bad time to travel, so she wouldn’t be going. I told her only an idiot would believe such rubbish.’

Ginny winced. ‘Bad move,’ she pronounced sympathetically and he grimaced.

‘Tell me about it! The upshot was she took offence. Apparently, her stars also said it was a good time to end relationships that were going nowhere.’

‘Oh, dear!’ Ginny commiserated, biting back a laugh.

Sensing it, he sighed ruefully. ‘I know, I know. Things went from bad to worse. Which brings me to you. Will you help me out?’

‘Why me?’ Ginny asked, spreading her hands questioningly. ‘Why not ask one of those women who aren’t in the little black book you haven’t got?’

She got some idea how serious the situation was when she didn’t get a smart comeback to her remark. ‘Because most of them are known to the family, and I need someone who is a complete stranger. Grandfather won’t be there and he’s the only person that knows you.’

‘Now, that you’ve simply got to explain,’ she insisted.

His reluctance was palpable. ‘It’s complicated. There are…family complications.’

Family complications covered a multitude of sins, as she knew only too well. As an explanation, it fell way short of the mark. ‘You’re going to have to come up with a better reason than that if I’m to help you,’ she declared bluntly, and his eyes snapped to hers.

‘Does this mean you’re going to do it?’ he wanted to know.

Ginny shrugged, kicking herself for the slip. ‘It means I’m thinking about it,’ she conceded. Families were a touchy subject. Her inclination, due to her own experience, was to help if an injustice was being done, but otherwise she preferred to keep out of it. Roarke was going to have to do some fancy talking. ‘Just tell me, Roarke. Whatever you say, and whatever my decision, nothing is going to go outside this room.’

He looked at her for so long a time she thought he would refuse, but then he nodded. ‘OK, listen up. My latest stepmother’s name is Jenna. When she was still my father’s fiancée, she thought it would be fun to make it with father and son. To put it bluntly, she did her best to seduce me. Contrary to your beliefs, I don’t sleep with every woman I meet. I especially do not get involved with those attached to my own family. Jenna did not take kindly to my refusal to play the game with her. She went running to my father with the tale that I had tried to force myself on her. Naturally, I denied it, but my father has always been jealous of his women, and he chose to believe her rather than me. The consequence was that he refused to talk to me for the better part of three years.

‘We are back on speaking terms now, but the relationship is still fragile. Which brings me to the problem. When I visited him recently on his birthday, Jenna started getting up to her old tricks again. I managed to fend her off without upsetting my father, but I know how she works. If I turn up alone, she’ll try again, and heaven alone knows what my refusal will lead to this time.’