Claiming His Hidden Heir. Carol Marinelli

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СКАЧАТЬ he asked if there was anything he could do to keep her.

      ‘No.’ Cecelia said, and then she cleared her throat, for the word had come out huskily. ‘Luka, I will be here for another month and I will find the best replacement that I can. I’ll train her myself. It really has been an amazing year but I’m ready for a new challenge.’

      ‘So I’m no longer a challenge?’

      ‘Of course you are,’ Cecelia said.

      He was actually a constant challenge to her senses—recklessness crept in whenever he was near, which Cecelia had to fight constantly just to keep it in check.

      ‘How was the bourdeto?’ Cecelia asked as his plate was removed unfinished.

      Luka shrugged.

      He had far more on his mind than food.

      ‘What if I promise to stop calling you Cece?’ he suggested. ‘It takes twenty-one days to form a habit.’

      ‘It actually takes sixty-six days,’ Cecelia corrected. ‘So there isn’t time for that. But thanks for offering.’ And then she smiled, something Cecelia so rarely did.

      Rather, she rarely smiled properly, but now, as she did so, Luka watched as she checked herself midway and it dimmed.

      For Luka, the fading of her smile felt like summer was ending.

      It was, of course.

      In a few weeks’ time summer would be gone.

      Of course it would come around again, but this summer, this one, would never return.

      ‘Was Gordon upset when you finished with him?’ Luka asked. ‘And before you tell me that it’s private, I know it is.’

      ‘So why ask now?’

      ‘Because you’re the best PA I’ve ever had, and I didn’t want to push you into leaving by getting too personal, but now that you’ve already resigned I don’t have to behave.’

      ‘Yes, you do,’ Cecelia said, and though her voice remained even there was a flurry of nerves low in her stomach as to what her boldness today had unleashed.

      So she answered the question.

      ‘Yes, he was upset, although, to be honest, I think he was more embarrassed than upset.’

      ‘No, I imagine he was very upset,’ Luka said in his deep, low voice, and met her eyes. Suddenly the cool breeze from the river felt like a warm one.

      At times, Luka would disregard her professional boundaries and flirt with her.

      Like now.

      That little hint of his silken charm carried from his lips and sent a slow shiver the length of Cecelia’s spine.

      ‘I’d better get back to the office,’ Cecelia said, ‘and set up for your meeting.’

      But he would prefer to linger.

      The changing world was waiting and it was nice to be here by the river.

      With her.

      ‘Garcia can wait,’ Luka said.

      ‘One day he might get tired of waiting.’

      ‘I doubt it,’ Luka said. ‘Right now he wants to wrap up the purchase.’

      ‘I thought you wanted a hotel in New York City.’

      ‘I do,’ Luka said, ‘but at a price of my choosing. Anyway, we need to talk about your replacement.’

      ‘I’ve informed the agency you generally use,’ Cecelia said, and Luka frowned.

      ‘You weren’t referred via them?’

      ‘No.’ Cecelia shook her head.

      ‘Ah, that’s right, you were working for Justin. How did you end up with him?’

      ‘Via the agency,’ Cecelia said, and she itched to get back and away from his gaze but Luka wasn’t letting her go just yet.

      ‘How did you become a PA?’

      More questions, Cecelia thought, but this wasn’t such a personal one and so she was a little freer in her response. ‘I never intended to be. When I finished school I had wanted to travel,’ she told him, ‘or go to university, but...’ Cecelia hesitated. ‘My uncle had a friend who needed a nanny in France. I spoke French—well, a little—and he said that way I’d get to travel and work at the same time.’

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