The Rich Man's Reluctant Mistress

‘How old are you?’ he asked instead.

‘Twenty-eight,’ she answered.

‘And running your own successful business. Congratulations.’

His compliment pleased her.

‘What is your ambition?’ He kept his eyes on the road in front where it looked like a young mother was ready to roll a pushchair out in front of them. ‘To have a team of workers under you so that you can sit back and count your pennies? Or to always be a hands-on person?’

Lucinda thought she heard sarcasm and tossed her head. ‘Ultimately I want to get married and have children. I love children; I used to earn money looking after them when I was a student.’

‘The nanny job?’

Lucinda nodded. ‘I could have made it a career but it would have been a waste of the design course I was taking. I’d always set my heart on interior design. Each job is different. It’s a new challenge. I love it.’

‘Then I shall very much look forward to showing you over my place in St Lucia.’

‘You’re assuming I’ll take the job?’ she questioned, glancing at him, seeing nothing but the hard contours of his profile. Until he turned briefly to look at her and she caught a twinkle in his smoky eyes.

‘I thought you already had,’ he said. ‘Otherwise why would you be here?’ And he looked back at the road.

There was nothing more for Lucinda to say. There was trepidation in her heart but a sense of excitement too.

The restaurant was small and intimate and not the sort of place where business deals were done. It had a more romantic atmosphere, where couples looked into each other’s eyes and drank champagne and wished for the moon. Lucinda felt uncomfortable, her heart beating far louder than it should.

‘Have you been here before?’ Zane asked.

Lucinda shook her head.

‘Then you should have,’ he admonished. ‘The food is superb and the head chef incidentally is a very good friend of mine.’

They sipped their drinks as they studied the menu and, while they were waiting to be seated, Zane made no attempt to talk business. Instead he asked her questions about herself, almost as though they were on a date. Which made her feel even more uncomfortable.

‘I don’t see that it has anything to do with the job,’ she protested when he wanted to know whether she had any brothers or sisters.

‘I’m curious about you, that’s all,’ he answered with a disarming smile, a smile that probably made many women go weak at the knees. And she was in grave danger of following suit!

‘All you need to know are my qualifications,’ she told him, her voice a little more cool than she had intended, ‘and you’ve already seen those. When are we going to get down to business?’

Zane smiled, his teeth amazingly white in his subtly tanned face. ‘There’s not really much to discuss, is there, not until we arrive on site, so to speak? I’ve already decided I want you to do the job; this is merely an opportunity to get to know you.’

Lucinda swallowed hard. ‘A complete waste of time.’

Zane frowned. ‘I don’t understand?’

‘Is this the way you usually conduct your business affairs?’ she questioned coolly. Perhaps it was. Especially with members of the opposite sex! And how did he expect the evening to end? Lucinda realised she was being fanciful. There was nothing in his attitude at this moment to suggest that he wanted anything more from her. It was all in her mind. But then didn’t she have reason to be fearful?

Simon, her ex-fiancе, whom she’d met at university, had left her wary of men. He had wooed and won her, they’d had a long and happy engagement, they’d even been planning their wedding, and then he’d dumped her without any real explanation except to say that their relationship wasn’t working. She’d heard afterwards that he’d met someone else—and it hadn’t done much for her ego. From that day on she had sworn she would be careful not to lose her heart so easily to another man. Especially one like Zane Alexander!

‘If you mean do I enjoy taking beautiful young ladies out to dinner, then the answer is yes.’

Lucinda frowned. ‘And your wife, what does she have to say about it?’ Thinking about Simon had made her feel angry and her voice was waspish.

Well-marked brows rose; his surprise very evident. ‘I don’t have a wife.’

‘You mean you’re divorced?’ she asked sharply.

‘I’ve never been married,’ he answered, more puzzlement in his tone. ‘I’ve never met anyone I’ve wanted to settle down with.’

‘So where does Tim fit into the equation?’ she asked, feeling hopelessly lost now.

‘Ah!’ Enlightenment dawned on Zane’s handsome face. ‘You think Tim is my son?’

‘Well, isn’t he?’ she questioned crossly.

‘Actually, no, he’s my brother’s child. I was merely looking after him.’

Lucinda leaned back in her seat and stared. ‘You were looking after him?’ She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was an even worse scenario than she had thought. ‘That is disgraceful—paying someone to look after a child who’d been put into your care.’ Her eyes were a vivid angry green and she sat forward on the edge of her seat, wanting to take a swipe at him. ‘How could you do such a thing?’

‘Perhaps I should enlighten you,’ Zane said tersely. A waiter showing them to their table had interrupted their conversation, but once their first course had been placed in front of them he could hold his tongue no longer. Who the hell did Lucinda Oliver think she was? How dared she condemn him?

‘Nothing you can say will excuse the fact that you let your nephew down,’ Lucinda snapped. ‘How could you offload Tim on to a stranger?’

‘Just listen,’ he rasped, annoyed now by her determination to cast him as the bad guy. ‘To start with, my brother and his wife died in a road accident when Tim was eighteen months old.’

Lucinda’s lovely eyes widened. ‘That’s awful; I didn’t know.’

‘Of course you didn’t,’ he snarled. ‘His maternal grandmother took him in. When one day she was rushed into hospital there was no one to look after him except me. Unfortunately I had a series of extremely important business meetings—hence employing you.’ Damn, why was he explaining this to her? She didn’t deserve an explanation. Except that she was beginning to get under his skin like no other woman ever had!

‘Not that I expect you to understand,’ he declared shortly. ‘I think maybe this evening was a mistake. Let’s go.’ And he pushed back his chair.

‘I’m sorry,’ said Lucinda quietly.

‘And that’s supposed to make it better, is it?’ he growled. Two miserable little words of apology after she’d made aspersions on his character. It wasn’t good enough. He’d had his fill of this woman and her patronising behaviour.

‘I love kids, that’s all,’ she added, as if reading his thoughts. ‘I don’t think they should be given a hard time. But I can see now that you did the best you could, and I’m sorry I thought ill of you. Have I blotted my copybook as far as the job’s concerned?’

Her eyes were wide and apologetic—and incredibly beautiful. Zane felt himself weakening and hated himself for it. ‘I really haven’t time to start looking for someone all over again.’

‘So you still want me?’ she asked, her voice husky now.

Want her? Of course he wanted her! Far too badly! She was exceptionally fine-looking—too gorgeous to ignore. He loved the little black dress with its rhinestone straps and a dеcolletage that stopped just short of revealing the delightful fullness of her breasts. Her skin was velvety smooth and her perfume sweet and tantalising. She looked stylish, yet there was an innocent freshness about her as well.

He drew in a long breath and let it go slowly before pulling his chair back up to the table. ‘Let’s talk about it.’

By the end of the evening Lucinda began to look forward to working in St Lucia. Zane was going to fly her out in a few days, giving them both time to sort their diaries. It would be the most exciting job of her career.

As they sipped their coffee, Lucinda telling Zane that she already had some ideas, the head chef came out to say hello.