‘I thought you were supposed to be in the States,’ she said evenly.
‘I was.’
‘Venturing your capital?’
‘Negotiating a deal.’
‘Did you win?’
‘He always wins,’ said Jo grumpily.
‘I’m sure you do,’ she said smoothly, pulling her hand out of his and surreptitiously flexing her fingers to stop the tingling. ‘Anyway, naturally we’re delighted to see you.’
‘Really?’ he said raising an eyebrow. ‘In that case, I can only imagine my invitation got lost in the post.’
Phoebe frowned. ‘You refused it.’
‘Did I?’ he said flatly, his expression turning even stonier.
‘You were obviously too busy to remember refusing it as well as being too busy to come.’
‘Obviously,’ he drawled and somehow Phoebe instantly knew that he’d been nothing of the kind.
‘So why the change of heart? A hitherto unrecognised fascination for women’s accessories?’
A slow smouldering smile curved his lips, and she felt herself heating up. ‘This is my little sister’s debut. How could I possibly miss it?’
‘Then why refuse in the first place?’ Something wasn’t right here, but for the life of her Phoebe couldn’t work out what. Alex had turned her brain to mush.
‘All right,’ said Jo, throwing her hands up in the air. ‘Phoebe, Alex knows perfectly well that I never sent him an invitation.’
Now she was baffled. Phoebe blinked and swung her attention back to Jo. ‘So why did you tell me you had?’
‘Oh, I really don’t remember,’ said Jo vaguely, waving a hand.
‘Forgetfulness seems to run in the family,’ Phoebe said dryly, not believing her for a second. Jo had been very unforthcoming about her brother, despite the fact that he’d contributed so much to her fledgling career, and now that she thought about it Phoebe realised that whenever she’d mentioned the financial generosity of Jo’s elusive brother, Jo had deftly changed the subject, which she’d thought odd at the time. However Phoebe had enough experience of tricky sibling relationships to steer well clear of other people’s and hadn’t probed.
With hindsight, she should have insisted on knowing more. His name at least. That would have saved her a whole lot of trouble.
‘Anyway, you two should get to know each other.’
No, they shouldn’t. Phoebe already knew far more about Alex than she was comfortable with, and his rigid expression gave her the impression that he wasn’t particularly keen on the idea either.
‘We met earlier,’ she said pleasantly. ‘The encounter was brief.’
‘But intense,’ he said, shooting her a searing look.
‘And wet, by the looks of things,’ said Jo, frowning as she glanced at the damp patches on Alex’s suit.
‘I decided to take a stroll round the gardens. It involved an unexpected detour via the pond.’ Alex rubbed his chest and Phoebe was instantly transported back to the moments before he’d kissed her. Images flashed into her head. The way he’d stared at her mouth, the hunger in his expression and the fire in his eyes. So different from the cold, controlled man standing in front of her.
Surely he couldn’t be that upset about not being sent an invitation? But if it wasn’t that, what was it?
‘If you’re falling into ponds,’ said Jo lightly, ‘you must be more jet-lagged than usual.’
‘I must be,’ murmured Alex. His eyes locked with Phoebe’s and her stomach flipped.
‘Jet lag makes him do the oddest things,’ said Jo, clearly thankful that the attention had shifted away from her. ‘The last time he had it he shredded a six-figure cheque instead of banking it and stashed his car keys in the fridge.’