She was saved from further reflection by Drew calling down to say she was fixing scrambled eggs on toast and Robyn must come now, not a minute, not a second later.
The two women worked non-stop for the rest of the day with just a ten-minute break at lunch for sandwiches and more coffee, and after Robyn had waved Drew off at just gone five o’clock she continued at her desk until her brain was as scrambled as the eggs at breakfast and the sky was pitch black outside.
After a long hot bath which she had to vacate when she found herself sliding under the water, having fallen fast asleep, Robyn took a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of her favourite shortbread biscuits to bed with her, snuggling down under the duvet as soon as she’d finished after setting her alarm clock for five the next morning. The early start was essential with all she had to do.
She was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow and woke just before the alarm the next morning, her mind focused on the launch, and the hard work of the day before paying dividends with the facts and figures she had at her fingertips.
The day went well and everything ran like clockwork, which was fortuitous as due to a last minute problem with another client Drew had had to stay in Kensington and didn’t accompany Robyn to the launch as they’d planned. But it wasn’t ideal; the same thing could happen again when Drew would be needed, Robyn thought to herself as she drove home that evening. She’d had several approaches by prospective clients that very day, and very soon it was going to be case of refusing work she wanted to take which would break her heart, or gambling on the quality of service she could give which wasn’t an option. She was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
She was still mulling over the conundrum when she arrived back in Kensington and parked the car outside her house, which was probably why she didn’t notice the low-slung Aston Martin sports car several yards away…
‘Hi, Robyn.’ A very flustered, pink-cheeked Drew sprang up from her desk as Robyn stepped into the office, but Robyn wasn’t looking at her assistant. Her horrified eyes were fixed on the large, lean figure sprawled in one of the easy chairs at the side of the room, a cup of coffee in his hands and an innocent—too innocent—expression on his face.
‘What are you doing here?’ she snapped abruptly.
It was ungracious to put it mildly, but Clay’s voice was the epitome of charm as he drawled, ‘Hello, Robyn. Drew’s been looking after me admirably, as you can see.’
She didn’t care if Drew had been looking after him or not! Or rather she wished Drew hadn’t let him over the threshold let alone fed him coffee. ‘I asked you what you’re doing here,’ she repeated tightly, her face straight and her eyes narrowing on his cool, relaxed countenance. He had a nerve!
He looked marvellous. That thought was as unwelcome as the realisation that her heart was doing its level best to jump out of her chest. He had been smooth and suave and sophisticated Saturday night, and he was still all those things, but the black silk shirt open at the neck and dark charcoal trousers he was wearing today took the brooding maleness inherent in his attractiveness to another dimension.
‘I called by to see you of course.’ The husky voice was as deep and disturbing as ever, and Robyn had to force herself not to betray the shiver of awareness it produced in the core of her being, but it was unnerving. He was unnerving.
‘Why?’ she asked stiffly, fighting hard to keep cool.
‘To renew our old friendship?’ he suggested silkily.
Robyn just stared at him, her mind racing as she prayed with silent desperation that Cassie hadn’t revealed anything of her business predicament after her warnings to her sister Saturday night. Please, God, not that. She couldn’t bear that.
Her prayer was in vain.
‘And to perhaps suggest a new one,’ Clay continued smoothly.
‘A new one?’ Robyn was aware of Drew shifting uncomfortably at the side of them. ‘We were never friends, Clay,’ she said tightly.
‘No?’ The devastating ice-blue eyes surveyed the tall slender woman in front of him, the silver gaze taking in Robyn’s warm creamy skin, wide, heavily lashed velvet eyes and mass of rich red-gold curls. ‘Perhaps we weren’t at that,’ he drawled slowly.
‘Then, I repeat, why are you here?’
‘I would like to be your sleeping partner, Robyn,’ Clay said with magnificent coolness.
Robyn heard Drew’s swift intake of breath at the side of her. The other woman had obviously been wondering if she’d done the wrong thing in letting this six-foot-plus dreamboat in the front door by the warmth of Robyn’s reception of him, and now she clearly couldn’t believe her ears.
Robyn hated to spoil what was undoubtedly the highlight of Drew’s otherwise unremarkable day, but…‘You’ve been talking to Cass,’ she said flatly, before turning to Drew and adding, ‘Business, Drew. We’re just talking business here, so don’t go running away with any fancy ideas, okay?’
‘I wouldn’t dream…I mean, it’s nothing to do with me, and you’re not the sort— That is…’
Robyn took pity on Drew’s ramblings and touched the other woman’s arm as she said, her voice soothing, ‘Mr Lincoln is a friend of Cass’s and my sister decided I needed a partner in the business when the bank manager was unforthcoming recently. That’s all.’ Drew knew all about the dilemma Robyn was in.
‘Right.’ Drew nodded, her pretty face expressing something that looked suspiciously like disappointment. Like Cass, she was forever encouraging Robyn to find herself a man, and as men went this one was sheer dynamite.
‘Look, Drew, why don’t you nip off now,’ Robyn added quietly. ‘You’ve put in a long day and you were here all day yesterday; I don’t want to work you to death.’
‘Are you sure?’ Drew’s gaze flashed to Clay’s dark face for a moment and then back to Robyn’s. In spite of this hunk being the sort of guy only found in dreams, Robyn didn’t seem too happy he was here. ‘I’m not in any rush.’
‘Quite sure.’ Robyn understood what Drew was not saying and appreciated the concern, but what she had to say to Clay Lincoln was best said without an audience, especially one that couldn’t keep her eyes off him!
She had to keep control of this situation; it was already escalating into something acutely embarrassing, thanks to her sister. She needed to be firm and polite when she made it clear she had no intention of taking advantage of his offer, which had clearly been made as a favour to Cass and Guy. She didn’t doubt Clay could afford to buy and sell a thousand little concerns like hers ten times over, but he was an astute businessman first and foremost and would never normally entertain such an undertaking. She was small fry, as much beneath his notice as an ant scurrying about on the ground and the last thing she needed—the very last—was any favours from Clay Lincoln.