Julia James - Innocent Cinderella

He had her at a total disadvantage, of course. The dark formality of his charcoal business-suit set off the lean virility of his tall body, while the grey brocade waistcoat accentuated his slim waist. His shirt was white and crisp, and his tie was deep-red silk.

He couldn’t have been more fully dressed if he’d tried, she thought with bewilderment, so how could he give her the troubling impression that he was exactly the opposite? That, in fact, he wasn’t wearing any clothes at all?

She needed to return to safer ground—and fast. She said, dry-mouthed, ‘What do you mean—your premises?’

‘This is a company flat, Miss Wade,’ he drawled, his mouth quirking now in open sensuality. ‘It belongs to me, and I use it for foreign clients who don’t care for hotels. Lynne is borrowing it, as her landlord, much against his will, is being forced to carry out a major refit of her flat, and all the others in the property. Didn’t she explain that before inviting you to move in?’

She shook her head. She said in a small, wooden voice, ‘There wasn’t much time for explanations. And she didn’t know I’d be coming until I rang her from the airport and told her I was pretty much stranded.’

He frowned. ‘What happened? Were you robbed on holiday?’

‘No, nothing like that. I was working in France, and it—went wrong. And my own place is let for five months.’

‘I see,’ he said slowly. ‘So, that would seem to make you homeless, unemployed and broke.’

‘Thank you,’ she said, lifting her chin. ‘I don’t need to have that pointed out to me.’

‘Therefore,’ he went on as if she hadn’t spoken, ‘We might be able to do a deal. How much would you charge to spend the evening with me?’

Marin gasped in sheer outrage. ‘What do you take me for?’ she burst out, then stopped, furiously aware of the response she was inviting.

‘Well, clearly not what you’re thinking.’ He had the audacity to laugh.

‘No matter how fetching you may look in that towel—which has slipped a little,’ he added softly, ‘in case you hadn’t noticed.’

Colour stormed into her face as she tugged it hastily back to its former level, cursing his powers of observation.

‘And I’m making you a bona fide offer,’ he continued. ‘I have to go to a party tonight, and the girl I was taking has succumbed to a virus. That’s why I called Lynne—because I don’t want to turn up at this shindig flying solo, and I’d have paid her over the odds for helping me out. But, as she’s not around, you’ll do instead.’

There was a taut silence, then she said, ‘You have to be joking.’

‘Now, there’s a stock response,’ he commented. ‘Your earlier eloquence seems to have deserted you.’

‘But not my sense of humour.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Thank you for your gracious invitation, Mr Radley-Smith, but—no. Not if my life depended on it.’

‘I was thinking more of your immediate fiscal future, Miss Wade. Can you really afford to turn down several hundred quid for a couple of hours in my company?’

No, she probably couldn’t, she admitted silently, but what difference did that make?

She said, ‘I don’t belong in your high-powered PR world, Mr Radley-Smith, believe me. I don’t mingle well, I never network and I’m hopeless at parties. Spend your money somewhere else.’

‘On the other hand,’ he said softly, ‘If you obliged me in this, I could be persuaded to turn a blind eye to Lynne’s infraction of her tenancy here by taking in waifs and strays. I might even let you stay until your life takes a turn for the better.’

He smiled at her again. ‘So, why don’t you slip on your little black dress and come with me tonight?’

‘Because I do not have a little black dress,’ Marin said angrily. ‘But I’m sure you have a little black book, Mr Radley-Smith.’

In fact, she knew he had, because Lynne had once told her, laughing that his list of girlfriends was legendary, right up there with the telephone directory. Marin had looked back at her stepsister, so confident and so pretty, and asked, wide-eyed, ‘Has he ever made a pass at you?’

Lynne had shrugged. ‘Once, in the early days—almost. But never since. I’m not his type—and he certainly isn’t mine,’ she’d added firmly. ‘That’s why we work so well together.’

‘It’s a little late in the day to start ringing round,’ he said. He paused, frowning a little. ‘Besides, you’re an unknown quantity, which suits my purpose far better. So stop arguing, like a good girl, and go and get dressed—black, white or sky-blue pink, I don’t care. If you’ve nothing suitable, borrow from Lynne. You’re about the same size, as far as I can judge.’

She could have done without that particular judgement, that lingering blue gaze that seemed to treat her towel as if it had somehow ceased to exist.

‘Of course,’ he went on more slowly, ‘We could always give the party a miss and stay here together instead. There’s champagne in the fridge, so we’d be able to relax while you tell me all about yourself, including how you lost your last job.

‘And then you wouldn’t need to change. You could stay looking as delightful as you do now, give or take an adjustment or two,’ he added silkily. ‘And subject to negotiation, naturally. Maybe I could persuade you to let that towel slip a little further next time—or even a lot. What do you say?’

‘I say,’ Marin returned between gritted teeth, aware that she was not only blushing but that her heart was thudding erratically, and resenting him on both counts. ‘That on reflection I’d prefer to go to your bloody party.’

His grin made her long to hit him. ‘A wise decision, sweetheart. And I’ll wait dutifully, if reluctantly, here while you carry out the necessary transformation.’ He paused pensively. ‘But if you need any help don’t hesitate to call me.’

‘Count on it,’ she said with poisonous sweetness. ‘The moment I can think of a name bad enough.’

And, still clutching her towel, Marin beat a strategic if not wholly dignified retreat.

‘I MUST,’ MARIN muttered under her breath, ‘be completely out of my mind.’

She looked at her reflection with disfavour. Even with the aid of Lynne’s cosmetics, she still looked—ordinary. And no one was ever going to believe she was Jake Radley-Smith’s girl of choice, even for five minutes, let alone an entire evening.