Mistletoe Mistress. HELEN BROOKS

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СКАЧАТЬ so short an acquaintance, don’t you think? Look, the coffee’s arrived. Shall we...?’

      ‘If you insist.’ His tone was dry.

      ‘And then you can tell me the reason for our meeting tonight and then—’

      ‘We can go home?’ he finished silkily, his eyes piercingly intuitive. ‘Sorry, Joanne, there’s the floor show to go yet; you’re stuck with me for a little while longer.’

      She smiled, a polite social smile as though she thought he was joking, before turning and walking to their table, his hand on the small of her back seeming to burn her skin through the silk of her dress.

      How was it that in just a few hours this man seemed to have established an intimacy that even her closest friends didn’t enjoy? she asked herself weakly, sinking down on to her chair with a tiny sigh of relief that she had made it without falling to the floor in a quivering heap. The questions he had asked, the things he had suggested! Her racing thoughts were brought to a stunned halt as she felt his lips on the back of her neck, his mouth warm and vibrant against the creamy softness of her skin, before he seated himself with easy composure in his chair.

      ‘Don’t . . . don’t do that.’

      ‘What?’ Her voice had been a trembling whisper and he surveyed her with brilliantly blue eyes before asking again, ‘Don’t do what?’

      ‘You know what.’ She glared at him, her temper rising as her senses unfroze.

      ‘Kiss you?’ he asked softly. ‘Is that so hard to say?’

      ‘It wasn’t a kiss, it was...’ She couldn’t find an appropriate word and he let her flounder for a minute before he said, his voice deep and dark and husky, ‘Whatever it was to you, Joanne, to me it was a kiss. Do you mean to say that you don’t wear your hair like that to tempt more of the same?’

      ‘What?’ She was absolutely lost for words.

      ‘The exposure of that soft, fragrant skin, normally hidden by a curtain of silk that keeps the secret place so private—you don’t know what a subtle turn-on that is to the average red-blooded male?’ he asked softly as she stared at him blankly. ‘It’s restraint combined with voluptuousness, lasciviousness with suppression—it’s ...sexy, every man’s dream of the perfect virginal demure beauty who turns into a seductress in the bedroom.’ ‘You’re mad.’ Joanne realised she had been holding her breath as the gravelly male voice had woven a sensual spell which had enclosed the two of them in their own little world. ‘I just wore my hair up because it looks better with this dress—’

      ‘Oh, don’t spoil it.’ He wasn’t smiling but the devilish eyes were alight with amusement.

      ‘Now, look.’ She took a long, deep, hard breath and forced herself to get control. This was ridiculous; somehow everything had got out of hand and she wasn’t at all sure how it had happened, but one thing she did know was that Hawk Mallen was playing with her like a cat with a mouse. She didn’t believe for one moment he was attracted to her—how could a multi-millionaire of the calibre of this one be interested in a little nobody like her? It didn’t add up—not for one minute, and she wasn’t stupid whatever he thought, and she’d tell him so right now. ‘You assured me this afternoon that we were meeting for a purpose, that this wasn’t a...’

      ‘Date?’ he supplied helpfully.

      ‘Yes.’ And if he interrupted her again he’d have a cup of coffee tipped over his head. ‘So we’ve eaten and danced and done the social chit-chat bit, and now I’d really like to know why you have brought me here tonight. ’

      ‘You don’t think it’s because I wanted to know you better, because I’m interested in you?’ he asked expressionlessly.

      He’d read her mind again, and she had the uneasy feeling he hadn’t found it hard to do. Was she really so transparent? she asked herself silently. She didn’t think anyone else thought so; in fact, Charles had often praised what he called her ‘poker face’, which gave nothing away whatever the circumstances.

      ‘Mr Mallen—’ she couldn’t call him Hawk, she just couldn’t ‘—you could doubtless have your pick of most of London’s finest so the answer to that is no.’

      ‘London’s finest.’ He nodded thoughtfully. ‘I see.’

      ‘So?’ She forced a smile. ‘If you don’t mind?’

      He stared at her for a good thirty seconds, his blue eyes shadowed and intent as they searched her face, and then he settled back in his seat, stretching slightly before he said, ‘Right, down to business. I don’t need you at Concise Publications, Joanne—’ her heart gave a big leap and then thudded loudly ‘—but from all I’ve heard and read and seen I think you would be an asset to the Mallen Corporation. I intend to bring in a new managing director for Concise Publications; I’ve already approached the man and he’s accepted my offer and he’ll bring his own publishing assistant with him; they’ve worked together for years.’

      She nodded slowly. So he had never intended to take on the job permanently? She should have guessed, really; Concise Publications was just a tiny little cog in the vast machine of the Mallen empire.

      ‘Are you interested enough for me to continue?’ His voice was cool and flat; suddenly he was one hundred per cent remote tycoon and businessman, the wickedly mocking, charming dinner companion having evaporated like the morning mist.

      Was she? She stared at him hard, and then nodded again. ‘Yes, please,’ she said quietly.

      The blue eyes flickered, just once, and she would have given the world to know what was going on in that rapier-sharp, ruthless mind.

      ‘Six months ago the Mallen Corporation acquired a publishing house in France, part of Mallen Books; were you aware of this?’ She shook her head quickly. ‘The undertaking was unusual in that my grandfather had decided to bale the owner out, and if you knew my grandfather you would understand why I say that. He is first and foremost a businessman and age has not mellowed him one iota.’

      She caught the thread of affection in his voice which he was trying to hide and looked at him intently.

      ‘The owner was the son of my grandfather’s best friend who died some years ago; he actually helped my grandfather financially when they were young, something my grandfather’s never forgotten. However, the son has lost thousands, if not tens of thousands, over the last decade through mismanagement and so on, and the firm is a shambles.’ The cool voice was scathing. ‘My grandfather wanted the family name to continue in honour to his friend; he also decided to keep the son at the helm... Bad mistake.’

      He glanced at her now and the blue eyes were as hard as glass. ‘The kindest thing you could say about this guy is that he’s a Jonah, and that’s the information I’ve relayed to my grandfather. The truth of the matter is that he’s been on the take for years; he’s the very antithesis of his father. My grandfather is very ill—’ Her eyes widened and he nodded slowly. ‘Terminal, but I’d appreciate you keeping that to yourself. He doesn’t need this bag of worms dumping in his lap, and for some reason his normally acute judgement is faulty where this guy is concerned. He wants to believe the best of him; he’s all that’s left of his old friend.’

      ‘What are you going to do?’ she asked quietly. He loved his grandfather very much; try as he might, the cold, clipped voice and expressionless face couldn’t СКАЧАТЬ