Well, no more…He punched the wall of the lift, and barely bruised his knuckles. Never had a woman led him on and then turned him down so callously, and he would make damn sure it never happened again.
In the morning he would face Nigel Paxton with the evidence of the man’s fraud, and from now on he would stick to the sophisticated ladies who mixed in his circles and played the game by his rules. In fact, he would make a dinner date with Margot, a lawyer who had made it obvious she would be up for anything—which, ironically, was why he hadn’t bothered before. But tomorrow he would, and he’d be fine…
Chapter Six
THE restaurant was exclusive and very expensive and the latest fashionable place to eat. Sally looked at her companion across the table and smiled. Al was just what she needed. She had dressed carefully for their date in an effort to cheer herself up. The scarlet dress she was wearing had shoestring straps, a fitted bodice with a wide soft leather belt, and a short, gently flaring skirt. She had swept her hair up in a loose pile of curls on top of her head, mainly to keep cool in the hot weather London was experiencing. Al had taken one look at her and told her she looked fabulous, which had done a lot for her confidence, and then they had caught a taxi to the restaurant so Al could have a drink.
He had spent the last ten minutes waxing lyrical about a girl he had met last weekend at a house party given by one of his father’s clients on an estate in Northumberland. Apparently, she was the owner’s daughter, and it was she who had turned him down for dinner tonight.
Sally pointed out if the girl lived in Northumberland it was hardly surprising. It was the other end of England, and not everyone owned a private Piper plane like his dad. If he was keen, he should fly up north to see her again.
‘Of course—why didn’t I think of that?’ Al laughed. ‘You are so bright, Sally. Your advice is always good.’
The wine waiter arrived with an excellent bottle of Chardonnay and filled their glasses, and they drank a toast to each other. Then Al began regaling her with tall tales of his South American trip, making her laugh.
After a delicious main course they were soon waiting for their dessert, and Al reached across the table and took her hand in his, his blue eyes suddenly serious.
‘Enough about me, old girl. Apart from your work, you have avoided telling me anything about what is going on in your life. What is really bothering you?’
‘Not me.’ She sighed. ‘My mother.’ It was such a relief to talk to someone who understood, and softly she told him about her mum’s accident and prognosis. He lifted her hand and pressed a soft kiss on the back.
‘Sorry, Sally. It must be hard. If there is anything I can do for you, anything at all, you only have to ask—you know that. You have my number, just call.’
She lifted moisture-filled eyes to his. ‘I know, Al, and thanks.’ She tried to smile. ‘And I might take you up on that one day.’
Zac Delucca, seated in an intimate booth at the rear of the restaurant, had been enjoying his dinner with Margot, the intelligent thirty-something company lawyer he had met when negotiating on an apartment block he had bought in London a few years ago. He’d been pleasantly contemplating how the evening would end when his attention had been drawn to a couple entering the restaurant.
It was Sally Paxton, wearing a low-cut red silk dress that fitted her like a glove, emphasising her tiny waist, the curve of her hips, then flaring out provocatively as she walked. It ended a good three inches above her knees. The colour should have clashed with her hair, but didn’t, and the same sexy red high-heeled sandals he had noticed the first time he saw her enhanced her shapely legs.
She was hanging onto her so-called friend Al’s arm, and Zac could not keep his eyes off her.
He had watched them sit down at a table near the entrance, a simmering anger engulfing him.
He had barely listened to Margot’s conversation, simply nodding his head occasionally, or slotting in a yes or a no. His whole attention was focused on the younger couple. Sally Paxton had turned him down in the most brutal way possible, and now she was smiling, laughing, holding Al’s hand and looking into his eyes as though he was her soul mate.
He had seen enough, and he had changed his mind again…His interest in Margot, fleeting at best, was killed stone-dead. He signalled for the bill, paid it and got to his feet.
‘You are in a rush? We have not had dessert or coffee.’
He had almost forgotten his companion, and glanced down at her.
She smiled as she stood up to join him, and clung to his arm, a blatant invitation in her eyes. ‘But we can have coffee at my place.’
He gave her the briefest of smiles and said nothing. She was going to be disappointed…
Sally glanced up as the waiter arrived with their dessert, and the emotional moment was gone. ‘This looks positively sinful!’ She smiled, eyeing the small mountain of profiteroles covered in chocolate sauce and surrounded by cream…
‘Don’t look now, but a man you know who probably is sinful is heading this way with a stunning woman on his arm,’ Al said quietly.
‘Who?’ She glanced enquiringly at Al, but before he could answer, a familiar tall dark-headed man stopped at their table.
‘Hello, Al—and Sally. Nice to see you again.’
Al
replied sociably, but the deep, dark voice had sent every nerve in Sally’s body jangling.
She looked up. Zac was standing by the table, wide-shouldered, lean-hipped and long-limbed. He was wearing a perfectly tailored grey suit, a white shirt and matching tie, and he looked fabulous.