Sarah Morgan - Snowbound Seduction

‘What do you want to know? It’s a Sultanate. A peaceful, progressive country, mostly due to the influence of the Crown Prince. Mal is super-bright and very charismatic. Women love him and so will you, so you can relax.’

‘Mal?’

‘Short for Malik.’

‘You’re on intimate terms with a Crown Prince?’

‘We were at college together. He’ll be at the party, but you already know that because you’ve seen the guest list.’

‘All the more reason why I’m the wrong person to take! I don’t know any of these people and I will have no idea what to say to them. Please tell me he has a really friendly wife.’

‘Not yet, and that is a very sore subject so I advise you not to mention it.’

‘Why is it a sore subject? He’s divorced? He wants a wife and he can’t find someone to marry him?’

‘He’s rich, so it goes without saying that there are plenty of contenders. There was someone, but—’ Lucas broke off, knowing that there was no one less qualified to comment on relationships than him. ‘Never mind. Let’s just say that for Mal duty comes before personal choice. It comes with the territory, I believe.’

‘So he won’t marry for love?’ Her innocent question would have made him smile had the circumstances been different.

‘No. Which will probably ensure the success of the union.’

She tilted her head as she studied him. ‘When I get my T-shirt made, I’m getting you a matching one that says “Don’t tell me you love me” on it. I can tell you now that I won’t be any use at this party, not just because I’m not glamorous but because I know nothing about the politics of Zubran. What if I say the wrong thing?’

Every other woman he knew would have died before admitting to feeling out of their depth socially.

‘You won’t say the wrong thing. And if you do—’ he shrugged, fighting the desire to take her straight back to bed and lose himself again in her soft warmth ‘—I know him well enough to have you bailed from a jail cell.’

Her shoulders slumped in a gesture of defeat. ‘I’ll have to call my sister.’ Her expression suggested that wasn’t something she relished. ‘Angie has Jamie all week and she relies on me at weekends so that she can go out. She’ll be really annoyed if I tell her I can’t make it.’

‘And yet you’re the one who slogs all week to provide the money for the family—’ He caught her frown and bit off the rest of the sentence. What did he know about a functioning family? Absolutely nothing so he wasn’t in a position to offer advice or opinion. ‘Tell her you’ll be back for Wednesday with a big fat bonus. The truth is you wouldn’t have been driving there today, anyway. The roads around the castle are impassable and we are always low priority for the snowplough and the gritting lorries.’

‘Can’t you get them cleared?’ Her innocent faith in the breadth of his power and influence almost made him smile.

‘I can have the estate cleared, but there are five miles of country lanes between us and the main road. I can work miracles, but local government bureaucracy requires more than that.’

‘So if we’re snowed in, how do you propose getting us to Zubran?’

‘We’re flying. We’ll take the helicopter to the airport and then the private jet.’ Relying on a well developed instinct that told him exactly when to push and when to retreat, Lucas strode towards the stairs without giving her the opportunity to argue further. ‘Call your sister and then meet me downstairs in the kitchen. I’ll make us breakfast.’

‘Fine, I’ll ring,’ she muttered, ‘but she’s going to kill me. As long as you don’t mind having that on your conscience.’

Lucas chose not to remind her that he didn’t have a conscience.

* * *

It was a difficult phone call, not least because for the first time in her life she wasn’t being honest with her sister.

‘You stayed overnight with your boss? Are you crazy? Haven’t you listened to a single word I’ve said to you over the years?’ Angela’s tone was sharp and Emma felt colour flood into her cheeks as she contemplated her sister’s reaction if she were to find out the truth.

‘I didn’t have any choice. Have you looked out of the window? It’s like the Arctic. The roads here are impassable.’ There was no point in trying to explain that she’d been worried about her boss. That concern and care had kept her here long after she should have left. There was no way Angela would understand that. Nor was she going to understand the next part of the conversation. Bracing herself, Emma tightened her grip on the phone. ‘Angie, do you remember the project I told you about? The Zubran Ferrara Resort that is opening next week?’

‘Of course. It’s all over the news. They’re calling it an iconic structure and your boss is apparently a progressive genius much loved by eco nuts everywhere. They’re missing out the fact that he cares more about buildings than people. Remember that, Emma.’ Her sister’s tone was sharp. ‘The man is a heartless womanizer, incapable of sustaining a relationship.’

Not incapable. Unwilling. He’d been hurt so badly he didn’t want to risk it again.

And he was obviously concerned that she was about to declare undying love. That she might start spinning one night into a lifetime.

Her sister was still talking. ‘So what time do you think you’ll be home?’

‘That’s why I’m phoning—’ Emma closed her eyes and blurted it out. ‘I have to fly out with him to Zubran, just for a few days,’ she added quickly, ‘and I’ll be back for Jamie’s play. I’m sorry. I know the timing is bad and there are things you’re supposed to go to, but I’ll make it up to you.’ She was prepared for it and when it came it was spectacular.

‘No! You can’t do this to me! I have the staff party tonight!’

‘I know, and I’ve already thought of that. I’m going to phone Claire and ask if she’ll come and sit with Jamie so that you can go out. Why not? She was my best friend at school and she loves Jamie and he loves her.’ Emma’s heart was pounding. She hated fighting with her sister. Hated it. ‘I’m sorry, Angie, I know it’s really inconvenient but it’s just a few days. Lucas needs me.’

‘Before last night you were coming home for the whole week. And now, suddenly, he needs you? Just what form is this “need” taking? What the hell do you think you’re doing, Emma?’

‘My job. I’m doing my job.’

‘Really? You’re sure this is just about work?’

‘Of course.’ She couldn’t allow herself to think it could be anything else. ‘I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong.’

‘Lucas Jackson is rich, good-looking and single. Are you seriously telling me you haven’t ever looked at him like that?’

‘He’s my boss.’ And he hadn’t always been single, had he? There had been a woman who had meant something to him and they’d had a child together. A child they’d lost. His aversion to commitment wasn’t the attitude of a mindless playboy, but a man who had shut himself off from emotion. Realising that her sister was waiting for her response, Emma forced herself to stop speculating. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about it, so that was the end of that. ‘Stop worrying about me. I’m sorry about the weekend, but it can’t be helped.’

‘No, of course it can’t. You absolutely have to go to this urgent and very glamorous party while I’m stuck with Jamie.’

‘Don’t say that!’ This time it was Emma who raised her voice. ‘Do not say that you’re “stuck with him”. He might hear you and it would upset him so much. I know you don’t mean that.’

‘Maybe I do mean that. It’s all right for you—you’re living this amazing life in London and I’m stuck at home with a child who isn’t even mine.’