There was a sharp edge to his tone, an embittered edge that was at odds with what Ruby remembered of his parents’ relationship. Or maybe he was right—she had been viewing them through the rose-coloured glasses of a love-starved child.
Maybe she was a glass-half-full type of person, but she’d had to live on hope for most of her life. Hope that things would get better...that life would not be uncertain and scary all the time. Hope had helped her build a business with her two best friends. Hope lived in her heart—hope that one day she would find the love of her life and have a happy family.
And her big hope right now was getting Lucas to change his mind about Delphine’s wedding before Rothwell Park was sold.
‘Lucas... I know you’ve already said no a thousand times, but please will you consider holding off on the sale of Rothwell Park until after Delphine’s wedding? You’re selling in any case. What does it matter if a wedding is conducted here in a few weeks’ time? It might be the last time I come here. I know it’s not really my home, or anything, but I can’t help looking upon it as such. It was so wonderful, coming to live here with Gran after a stint in foster care. Please will you think about it some more? I’ll stay here for the next week and get the castle tidied up while Gran’s in hospital. You won’t even know I’m here.’
Lucas let out a long-winded sigh. ‘You don’t let up, do you?’
‘I’ve learned you don’t achieve your goals in life unless you’re prepared to work at it. My credo is: if you’ve got what it takes, thendowhatever it takes.’
An enigmatic smile played at the edges of his mouth. She sensed he was mulling something over in his mind. Making calculations that somehow involved her. It gave her a secret thrill to think he might be prepared to cut a deal with her.
‘All right, you can hold the wedding here. But I want something in return.’
Ruby’s heart did a jerky somersault. ‘We’re prepared to negotiate on a hiring fee.’
‘I’m not talking about money.’
She moistened her parchment-dry lips. ‘You’re...you’re not?’
‘I want you to come with me to Greece.’
Ruby stared at him as if he had asked her to go to Mars via Venus. ‘But why?’
‘Not for the reason you’re thinking.’
Her cheeks were so hot she could have fried a couple of eggs on them. ‘I wasn’t thinking any such thing.’
His smile tilted a little higher on one side. ‘I’ll organise the cleaning of Rothwell Park while we’re away. If I’m not on site it will lessen the chance of a press leak. We’ll stay for a week on my private island and—’
Ruby’s eyes threatened to pop right out of her head. ‘You have aprivate island?’
‘I bought it a few months ago—before I was diagnosed with the tumour. It’s undergone some extensive renovations since, but I haven’t seen the finished result. I have to do a final inspection for the builder.’
‘But you can’t see anything other than vague shapes and light and dark, right?’
‘True, but I can use my other senses. Anyway, you can be my eyes. You can describe everything to me in intricate detail. But it goes without saying that if you betray me to the press the wedding is off, understood?’
‘I would never do something like that.’
‘I’ll organise someone to visit your grandmother at the hospital,’ Lucas said. ‘She has a couple of friends she plays bridge with occasionally who’ll look in on her, so you won’t need to worry about her while we’re away.’
While we’re away...
A frisson passed over Ruby’s flesh at how strangely intimate those words sounded. She would be alone with Lucas Rothwell on his private island for a week. A hot tingle rolled down the length of her spine. She would be by his side, talking him through what she saw.
But what if he sensed her heightened awareness of him? What if she was tempted to touch him again? He was a magnet to her iron—a potent, powerful force she was drawn to almost against her will. Almost, because a secret part of her still felt cheated that she had never got to experience the firm, sensual press of his lips on hers.
‘But what will I say to Aerin and Harper? They only expected me to be away for the weekend. I’ll have to tell them something...’ She bit down on her lower lip, not sure she liked the thought of lying to her friends—especially Harper, who had been lied to all her life.
‘Tell them you’re doing me a favour in order to secure Rothwell Park.’
‘They’ll think I’m having a fling with you.’
One dark eyebrow lifted. ‘Would they disapprove if you were?’
Ruby shrugged. ‘Maybe... Especially Harper. I told her a few months back to steer clear of a notorious playboy at a wedding we were doing. But Jack Livingstone was not so easy for her to ignore.’