He jerked upright in his chair like a puppet whose strings had been suddenly tugged. ‘Jack Livingstone, the boutique hotelier?’ His expression was quickly smoothed over, as if he was conscious of his reaction and wanted to downplay it. ‘What happened?’ His tone had switched to mild interest, as if he were making polite conversation rather than avidly searching for details.
‘He was the best man, and in a moment of weakness she had a one-night stand with him. He wanted to see her again, but she wouldn’t return his calls.’
‘Why not?’
‘He’s a playboy and she thinks he only wants to see her again because she’s the first woman who’s ever said no to him.’
Lucas twisted his mouth as if he understood all too well the way a playboy’s mind worked. ‘A challenge can be hard to resist.’ He picked up his wine glass. ‘So, will you come with me?’
A flutter of excitement danced across the floor of her belly. ‘How can I say no?’
Later that night Lucas sat in the library, sipping a nightcap on his own, mulling over his decision to take Ruby with him to his island. He wasn’t a man to make impulsive decisions, but it made sense to invite her rather than anyone else. Besides, he couldn’t bear to be at Rothwell Park while the place was being cleaned from top to bottom.
It would be too risky being there while strangers came in to clean. Strangers who might purposely or inadvertently let something slip to the press or on social media. Of course, rather than take Ruby to Greece he could have paid someone to accompany him—a member of staff, perhaps. But spending a week on his island with a staff member did not appeal to him half as much as a week with Ruby did.
A week alone with Ruby.
A warning bell sounded in his subconscious, but he blocked it out with logical argument. Ruby wanted something from him and he would give it to her if she upheld her end of the deal. She had too much at stake to betray his trust. He realised with a strange little jolt that he did trust her. She wanted this celebrity wedding to go ahead so she could build her business. He admired her goal-driven focus for it reminded him of his own. Success did not come about by wishing for it. You had to work for it—sometimes doing things you would rather not do.
But he didn’t get the sense that Ruby found the prospect of a week in his company on his island all that distasteful. Interesting... Did that mean she hadn’t outgrown her crush? She was no longer an awkward teenager. She was a fully grown woman. An intriguing and captivating young woman he found increasingly impossible to ignore.
From the moment Ruby had walked into the library something had changed for him. Something had changedinhim. Her touch had ignited a spark inside him—lit a fuse that was fizzing quietly but insistently in his veins even now. One might argue that he was being reckless in taking her with him to his island. But something about her made him feel more alive than he had felt in weeks—months, even.
She wasn’t the type of woman to kowtow to him. She stood her ground and fought from her corner and argued her case with steely determination. She was passionate and feisty and, God, how he needed someone to make him feel something other than this quiet despair at being at Rothwell Park when he could be on his beautiful island in the sun.
This actor’s wedding could be the farewell event before Lucas left Rothwell Park for good. He had no emotional attachment to the place—to him it represented pain and broken promises and shattered hopes.
He would be relieved to drive out through the gate for a final time.
‘You’re goingwhere?’ Harper said on another three-way phone call later that night.
‘It’s only for a week, and it’s the only way I can get Lucas to agree to have Delphine’s wedding here at Rothwell Park,’ Ruby said.
‘Why does he want you to go with him?’ Aerin asked with a hint of delighted suspicion in her tone. ‘What’s going on between you two?’
‘Nothing.’ Ruby was glad it wasn’t a video call, because right now her cheeks were glowing hot enough to blowtorch the sugar on the top of a crème brûlée. ‘He wants me to see his newly renovated villa. I thought I might as well go and check it out. I haven’t had a holiday in ages, and I happen to be free this week.’
‘Playboys aren’t worth the trouble,’ Harper said. ‘Take it from someone who knows about these things.’
‘Aren’t you being a little hard on Jack?’ Ruby said. ‘He did want to see you again, but you point-blank refused.’
‘Hey, you were the one who warned me about him in the first place.’
‘I know—but he asked to see you again, so you must have made an impression on him,’ Ruby said.
‘I’m not ready for a relationship—not even a fling,’ Harper said. ‘Work is my focus right now. I shouldn’t have allowed him to distract me at the Tenterbury wedding. It was unprofessional of me, and it’s all the more reason for me to stay away from him.’
‘Well,I’mready for a relationship,’ Aerin said with wistful sigh. ‘The trouble is finding Mr Right when there are so many Mr Wrongs out there.’
‘Don’t you mean Mr Perfect?’ Ruby said with a teasing note to her voice.
At nearly thirty, Aerin was still a virgin. In fact, she was so terrified of dating the wrong man she hadn’t even been kissed.
‘Paint me overly cautious, but I don’t want a trail of broken relationships behind me before I find my soulmate,’ Aerin said. ‘I want what my parents and siblings have—true and lasting love with a partner who’s perfect for them.’
‘Don’t we all?’ Ruby sighed.
‘Which is why I have serious misgivings about you spending a week with a renowned playboy on a private island,’ Harper said. ‘You had a crush on him before. It wouldn’t take much for you to develop one again.’