Jessica Hart - No Mistaking Love

`Thank you for the flowers,' she said. `They're lovely.'

`They didn't look much to me.' Luke shuffled the papers on his desk gruffly. `Can't see why anyone would prefer something like that to a proper bouquet.'

Kate wondered if he was waiting for her to reassure him that she hadn't read too much into the fact that he had given her flowers.

`There must be something wrong with my taste,' she said lightly. `How did the roses go down?’

'Received with shrieks of delight, I gather, Luke said callously, and then looked up at her She was wearing a straight rust-coloured skirt with the olive-green jumper she had worn in Paris, and looked quietly businesslike. `I don't suppose you shrieked?’

'No, but I'm sure I liked my tulips more.'

`Really?'

Their eyes met over the desk.

`Really,' she assured him.

`Kate-' Luke began, pushing back his chair, but just then the phone rang. With an exclamation of impatience he snatched up the receiver, and Kate took the opportunity to slip out of the room. She had heard enough to know that it was Helen.

Luke's abrupt swings of mood confused her. One moment he was brusque and cynical, and the next he would look into her eyes and she could swear that the smile that lurked there was for her alone.

Don't do this, Kate, she warned herself. Don't fall in love with him all over again, just when you were doing so well just being his secretary. She sat on the bus, reciting a litany of Luke's faults to herself, as if it were a charm to keep herself immune to his dangerous attraction. If only he would just stick to being rude and unpleasant, it would be so much easier.

She tried to concentrate on the evening ahead, but the first things she saw as she let herself into her flat were the tulips, already starting to open. She loved their clean lines and the graceful droop of their heads, and touched them gently as she went past. They were much nicer than roses.

For Xavier's sake, Kate exerted herself to make an effort. She looked at the black dress hanging in the wardrobe, but in the end chose the jade. The black dress belonged to Luke and that unforgettable walk through the dark, quiet streets of Paris.

Xavier was delighted to see her and full of Gallic charm. Kate found him pleasant and entertaining, but her mind kept drifting off to Luke. She wondered where he was, who he was with, what he was doing. She missed his abrasive presence with a nagging little ache.

This is stupid, she told herself as she smiled and pretended to listen to Xavier. How can you possibly be missing him? You saw him a couple of hours ago, and you'll see more than enough of him tomorrow. He'd only sit there and shout at you.

But still she couldn't wait for the evening to be over.

`And how is Luke?' Xavier was asking.

Impossible. Irresistible. `He's fine,' said Kate.

`He didn't sound very pleased when I told him I hoped to take you out to dinner. In fact, I wondered if he might have been a bit jealous, hein ?'

Faint colour tinged Kate's cheekbones. `Oh, no. He's just funny about mixing business with pleasure.'

`Even though he must do it all the time working with you?' Xavier asked with heavy gallantry. `He is a hard man!'

Kate ran a finger around the rim of her glass. `He's just… Luke.'

His image rose in front of her as she stared down into her wine: the cold slate eyes that could warm with sudden laughter, the hard mouth that could soften with devastating charm, the strong hands whose merest touch could send her heart into overdrive.

`And you're in love with him,' Xavier said flatly.

Kate looked up. She could deny it, the way she had been trying so hard to deny it to herself, but it was useless. She might as well accept it, and learn to live with it.

`Yes,' she said.

'WELL,' said Luke, leaning back in his chair after he had finished dictating some letters the next morning, `how did you get on with Xavier 1ast night?’

'We had a very nice evening, thank you.' Kate ignored the sarcastic edge to his voice as she picked up her notebook and got to her feet. She had no intention of telling Luke that she had spent the whole time thinking about him.

`Very nice? Is that all you can say?' Lu sneered. `It must have been dull!'

`It wasn't dull. It was… very pleasant.'

`Pleasant!' Luke gave a shout of laughter `That's even worse.' He leant over the desk towards her. `If I'd taken you out on Valentine’s Day I'd have made sure that you had an evening that was wild, exciting, unforgettable… anything other than pleasant!'

Kate clutched her notebook defensively in fro of her and kept her composure with an effort. I might not have enjoyed that so much.'

`Why not? Too daring for you? I can't belie that after the way you were carrying on in Paris!’

The mockery in his voice hurt her. So he had had a wild evening with Helen, had he? He obviously thought she was no fun compared to her.

`Surely it's who you're with on Valentine's Day that matters more than what you do?' she said coldly. `You don't have to paint the town red to have an unforgettable evening if you're with the right person.'

Luke's face closed. `How right you are!' he said, and spun round in his chair, effectively dismissing her.

He was withdrawn for the rest of the day. Kate knew that she should have been pleased at having been able to hide her feelings so successfully, but she was restless and miserable, and eagerly accepted Serena's invitation to go and see the latest release at the cinema that evening. The film had been slated in the reviews: mindless entertainment was just what she needed.

It didn't take Serena long to worm the truth out of her. In spite of all Kate's attempts to appear bright and cheerful, her friend brushed aside assurances that she was fine and demanded to know what the matter was. In the end, Kate gave in.

`It's Luke,' she admitted as they queued to buy their tickets.

`I knew it!' Serena crowed. `You've fallen for him, haven't you?'

Kate nodded, shamefaced.

`It was inevitable,' Serena reassured her. `I guessed as soon as you started going on about how difficult he was; it was a dead giveaway. I don't blame you. He's terribly attractive, even if he is as awful as you always say he is.'

`He's not awful!' Kate sprang instinctively to Luke's defence, and then subsided. `Well, not all the time, anyway.'

Serena glanced at her mischievously. `I thought you said he was rude and arrogant and horrible and thoroughly unpleasant?' she said in an innocent voice, recalling all Kate's phone conversations over the past weeks. `Not to mention overbearing and unreasonable!'

`He is, but…' Kate trailed off, unable to explain, and Serena rolled her eyes.

`Oh, Kate, you have got it bad!'

`Yes,' Kate said a little wearily. `I have.'

Serena touched her arm with quick sympathy. `What does he feel about you?'

'I don't know.' Kate thrust her hands in her pockets and stared glumly down at the pavement. `Sometimes I think he finds me quite attractive, but the next moment he's being unpleasant again. He wouldn't go out with Helen and Lynette if he was interested in me, would he?'

'He might if he was trying not to be,' Serena said not very clearly. `He's awfully proprietorial as far as you're concerned, isn't he? Look at the fuss he made about your going out with Xavier! It sounds to me as if he was jealous.'

`You wouldn't have thought so if you'd seen him this morning. He was impossible!' Kate remembered morosely. `I made the mistake of telling him I'd had a pleasant evening, and he sneered all day, comparing it to the wild, exciting time he'd had with Helen.'

`In that case, he's definitely jealous!' Serena said wisely. `Why don't you tell him how you feel?'