From Mistresses To Wives?: Mistress to a Bachelor / His Mistress by Marriage / Accidental Mistress. Susan Napier

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СКАЧАТЬ why me?’

      ‘You’re Leonie’s cousin, which vouches for your background, and I’m in urgent need of someone available at short notice.’ He glanced at his watch again, and pulled a face. ‘I’m afraid I have to go. We’ll discuss the detail over dinner tonight.’

      Pushing back his chair, he stood up, six feet of virile manhood calculated to stir any woman’s blood. ‘I’ll pick you up at eight.’

      He strode away before Jessica could draw breath to respond. Not that she was at all sure what she would have said. The offer had come right out of the blue.

      An intriguing one, she had to admit. What would prompt a man of his kind to offer any kind of job to someone on the strength of what appeared to be a fairly casual relationship at best?

      Listening to what he had to say over dinner in no way committed her, she reasoned. At the very least, she would be spared another long evening on her own. She turned a deaf ear to the voice cautioning against any further as sociation at all with a man who not only sent her pulse rate into overdrive, but made it quite obvious that he found her something of a draw too.

      The waiter shook his head when she asked for the bill. Señor Prescott, he said, had already attended to the matter. Jessica wondered if the man knew why Zac was here.

      She spent the rest of the afternoon following the lesser frequented route back to her starting point, gaining a glimpse of the real Majorca, almost totally untouched by the tourist trade.

      Back at the apartment by five, she made herself coffee, and spent the next hour or so vacillating over whether to ring Leonie or not. The latter was still at the office when she finally made the call.

      ‘You only just caught me,’ declared her cousin. ‘Another five minutes and I’d have been on my way out for the evening. So, how’s it going?’

      ‘Fine,’ Jessica assured her. ‘I really like the island. What I’ve seen of it so far, at any rate. I’ve met a friend of yours,’ she went on. ‘Name of Zac Prescott?’

      There was a pause before Leonie responded. ‘Met where exactly?’

      Not for anything, Jessica had already decided, was she going to let on about last night, although she doubted if Leonie would find it anything but amusing. ‘Valldemosa. The Mirador Hotel. Apparently he works for the company proposing to use the place.’

      ‘Works for?’ Leonie gave a laugh. ‘Sweetie, he is the company. Leastways, a major shareholder. You’ve heard of Orbis?’

      ‘Vaguely.’ Jessica was nonplussed. ‘I’d have thought he’d be way above sussing out new prospects?’

      ‘Zac’s what you’d call a hands-on man. He hates sitting around in offices. Orbis is one of Prescott Incorporated’s subsidiary interests. Caters for the upper end of the travel market. Even more successfully since Zac took it on board.’

      Jessica hesitated. ‘He’s offered me a job.’

      ‘He has?’ Leonie sounded taken aback. ‘Doing what exactly?’

      ‘I’m not sure yet. I’m having dinner with him tonight to discuss it.’

      The response was a moment or two coming. ‘I hate to prick any bubbles, but it all sounds a bit pie in the sky.’

      ‘I know.’ Jessica kept her tone light. ‘No reason why I shouldn’t take advantage of an evening out though, is there?’

      ‘Don’t go losing your head, that’s all. Zac’s seduction technique is second to none.’

      ‘I’ve no intention of losing my head,’ Jessica assured her. ‘Especially,’ she added with purpose, ‘over a man you’ve been having an affair with yourself for two years.’

      ‘No woman lays a claim on Zac Prescott,’ came the dry reply. ‘He’s a totally free spirit. Just take care. You’ve been through enough over Paul.’

      Jessica replaced the receiver, allowing herself no backsliding in her determination to oust Paul from both heart and mind. Zac’s offer of a job might be spurious, but then again it might not. There was only one way she was going to find out.

      He arrived at eight on the dot. Wearing off-white trousers and dark tan shirt, he set her pulses hammering the moment he walked through the door. She had a sudden premonition that she was getting into something she would come to regret.

      They drove down into Palma for drinks at one of the seafront bars near the cathedral, moving on afterwards to a restaurant overlooking a tree-shaded plaza.

      The clientele were clearly of the monied variety, with a fair scattering of English among them judging from snatches of conversation drifting Jessica’s way. Good quality though the natural linen suit she was wearing might be, in her estimation it stood out like a sore thumb among the designer outfits sported by others in the place.

      If Zac held the same view, he certainly didn’t show it. He’d made no secret of his attraction earlier in the day, and was making no attempt to do so now. As the evening progressed, with no mention of the job he was supposed to be assessing her for, she began to share Leonie’s opinion that it might simply have been a means to an end.

      There was a part of her, Jessica had to admit, that yearned to just go with the flow and enjoy what her every sense told her would be an experience to remember. Most people her age regarded sexual freedom as a way of life. Why fight the trend?

      Because she wasn’t most people, came the answer. If Zac really did have designs in that direction, he was going to be very disappointed.

      Even more so if she played him along a little, she thought vengefully. He deserved a kick in the teeth.

      ‘I rang Leonie this afternoon,’ she said over dessert. ‘She tells me you’re a company VIP.’

      Zac gave her a quizzical look. ‘Does it make a difference?’

      Her smile was slow. ‘Who was it called power an aphrodisiac?’

      ‘Kissinger, I believe.’ The grey eyes had acquired a definite glint. ‘You reckon he was right?’

      ‘It depends, I suppose, on the way it’s handled,’ she said. ‘Some men are born to it.’

      ‘While others have it thrust upon them. Or is that greatness?’ The glint had crystallised into amusement. ‘Are you aiming to seduce me?’

      ‘Am I hell!’ she exclaimed, abandoning the act. ‘You got me here under false pretences!’

      Amusement gave way to some other, less discernible expression. ‘If you mean the job, you’re partially right,’ he admitted. ‘What I want from you is—’

      ‘Whatever it is, I’ve no interest,’ Jessica cut in. ‘Leonie’s welcome to you!’

      ‘Leonie isn’t here,’ he returned. ‘Neither would she be right for the part if she were.’

      Jessica’s brows drew together. ‘The part?’

      ‘That’s right.’ СКАЧАТЬ