Kate Hardy - His Permanent Mistress - Mistress Under Contract

Sinead rolled her eyes as Lucy approached her on the door. ‘You’re supposed to be having a night off.’

‘I am. I’m going to sneak this into the back, then I’m going to have a game of pool and relax.’

‘Yeah, right, you’ll be back behind that bar before you can help yourself.’

Sinead was right. But, Lucy mentally argued, it was a particularly busy night. A film crew had wrapped and the club was the post-party destination point. The place heaved with beautiful people all wanting drinks right this instant. Corey and the other tenders pounced on Lucy as soon as they saw her. Lucy loved it. It felt great to be wanted. Fantastic to be needed.

She slugged back her food and, after a freshen-up, headed out to face the punters.

It was after eleven when she spotted Daniel. Her heart stopped, then accelerated alarmingly. He’d just entered with a couple of guys at his side. Lawyers-doing-casual. But it wasn’t them who caught her attention. It was the striking-looking brunette on the other side of him. She was tall—almost as tall as Sinead. Slim with perfectly formed corkscrew curls ringletting around her face. It made Lucy loathe her own unruly waves. The brunette wore a black top—close-fitting, showing off her small waist and gentle rounded curves. She’d teamed it with a royal-blue skirt—slim line with a pencil-pleated trim around the bottom. Underneath her long shapely legs tapered to slender ankles and stylish shoes. Definitely a lawyer. Definitely interested in Daniel. It was obvious in one second—the way she looked at him, the way she stood close to him.

Question—was Daniel interested in her?

Lucy looked to his face—although usually it was inscrutable. Only when she was up close and able to see the changing molten gold in his eyes did she have some idea of what he was thinking—and feeling.

But right now he wasn’t wearing his usual poker expression. He was looking straight at her, and he was looking mad. She glanced again at the woman by his side, the one standing too close. He’d told Lucy not to come here tonight. Was this why? He didn’t want his one-night stand getting anywhere near his girlfriend? Is that who she was—his girlfriend?

Damn lying lawyer.

Lucy squared her shoulders and turned to the next customer waiting. Hiding her rising fury with über-efficiency.

Within minutes Daniel was standing at his usual spot on the end of her bar, alone. ‘Lucy.’

She finished serving the customer she was dealing with and turned to the next.

‘Lucy.’ Her hair stood on end. That wasn’t a tone she’d heard from him before.

She smiled an apology to the customer after that and turned towards Daniel. He glared at her grimly, grabbed her arm and pulled her close so he could talk right into her face. ‘What are you doing here?’

She glared right back. ‘What does it look like?’

‘I told you not to come in here tonight.’

She tried not to be dazzled by the molten gold. ‘I’m a free agent.’

‘I told you I’d sack you.’

‘Go right ahead. You can serve all these people yourself.’Any sense of camaraderie they’d shared that afternoon was smashed.

He glanced along the bar—people queuing four or five deep the length of it. He glowered. ‘You can work out your notice period—tonight.’

Hell. He really was mad.

‘Fine.’

She turned her back on him and stomped back a few paces to serve another customer. Lying, cheating jerk. How on earth could she still want this guy? How was it possible she wanted him more than ever right this very instant? She wanted to pounce on him, knock him back on the table and show him exactly who was boss. Wanted to fight it out in the most passionate way.

And he’d win, of course. Then he’d be able to walk away and she’d be left wanting more.

That knowledge made her even madder. She glanced back to him and met his angry stare full on. For the next ten minutes he stood at the end of the bar and they traded optical daggers.

When she looked up at the next customer she stiffened to see it was the brunette blessed with legs that went for ever. Her big brown eyes weren’t exactly warm and friendly.

‘You know Daniel?’ Straight to the point.

Lucy smiled—saccharine. ‘Sure.’

‘I’m Sarah. I work with him. And you are?’

‘Lucy.’ So Sarah wasn’t a girlfriend—yet. But if the proprietary air was anything to go by, it wouldn’t be long.

‘You’re a friend?’

This woman was definitely a lawyer—the way she shot out questions. Irritated, Lucy decided to toss in a spanner. ‘Actually we live together.’

She saw the other woman’s eyes widen. If it didn’t matter so much she’d have laughed at the look on her face. ‘Really? I didn’t know Daniel was seriously involved with anyone. Rumour is he’s a two-dates-and-it’s-over player.’

Lucy poured the drinks and tried to hide the shake in her hand. ‘He likes to keep his personal life personal. Sorry.’

Her adversary went to pay.

‘On the house.’ It wasn’t a needle of guilt Lucy felt, more like a chainsaw. What was she doing interfering in Daniel’s life? This woman might turn out to be the love of his life—she certainly fitted the ‘polished’ bill. But if that was the case, what was he doing having sex with Lucy in the middle of the night? Especially mind-blowing, best-in-all-your-life sex. Unless it hadn’t been for him. Maybe that was just normal. Oh, God. She had to stop this agonising. She felt the itch in the soles of her feet; she should cut and run. But then she looked about the bar, saw the happy crowds and wanted to stay. And she saw the tall, dark, unfairly handsome suit striding back to his lawyer mates and really, really didn’t want to leave.

Daniel was seriously annoyed. The woman was tired. She’d been working far too hard all week—not a day off, crazy long hours, and she was growing paler by the minute. And he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He had a complex case starting and here he was worrying about some woman he’d known less than a fortnight. She was contrary. She was ornery. She was everything he didn’t need.

And she was so beautiful.

He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She distracted him. He’d had to get out of the flat after this afternoon. He’d worked well enough in the morning but the knowledge she was sleeping in the next room had called to him. Until he’d been able to stand it no longer and he’d got her up. Wanting to spend time with her. Wanting to know if she wanted more. He suspected, but he wanted certainty.

He’d been playing it cool all week but he was dangerously close to flaring. He’d worked in the office tonight with the team because he’d needed to escape her presence in his apartment. Perversely he’d come to the club after to relax, because he felt oddly at home on his barstool. But he didn’t want her to be here. He just wanted to be in her space without having her there stretching his nerves to break point. He was fast losing the fight against the out-of-control desire to have her again.

Sarah appeared in front of him and handed him a whiskey. His thoughts were halted with her direct comment.

‘You’re a dark horse.’

She smiled but he could see sharpness in her eyes. Something had set his junior on edge.

‘Why’s that?’

‘I didn’t know you were living with someone.’

He looked to where she looked.

Lucy.

The gulp of whiskey burned. ‘She told you?’

As they watched her pulling a pint Lucy looked over to them. Her quickly hidden startle pleased him. She turned away as soon as she saw his gaze on her. Out of the corner of his eye he kept watching her and within an instant she was looking their way again. And away. And back. Much as she wanted to she couldn’t help herself. He knew the feeling.