Snowbound Seduction. HELEN BROOKS
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to him order two champagne cocktails and then returned her gaze to the enormous embossed menu the waiter had placed in her hand after she’d been seated.
The menu was printed in several different languages but the words blurred as her head swam. It was hard to take in that she was sitting in these sumptuous surroundings with Zac Lawson. She hadn’t known he existed twenty-four hours ago, but from the moment she’d met him he’d invaded her thoughts whether she was awake or asleep. Which was difficult to come to terms with.
She took a deep breath as the cocktail waiter reappeared, thanking him as he placed a champagne flute in front of her. Zac held out his own glass so she was forced to do the same, and as they touched, he murmured, ‘To a pleasant evening.’ And then he smiled, adding meekly, ‘Is that acceptable?’
She couldn’t help smiling back. ‘I guess.’
‘At last,’ he said, very softly.
‘Sorry?’ She stared at him, puzzled.
‘I’ve been waiting for that first real smile.’ He tilted his head slightly as he studied her. ‘I wasn’t wrong.’
Was he going to be this enigmatic all night? ‘Wrong?’
‘I knew your smile would light up your face.’
That was so something Giles would have come out with. She knew her face had stiffened but she couldn’t do anything about it. Charming, and delivered in such a way it didn’t sound cheesy.
‘Whoops, I take it I’ve made another mistake. You’re a woman who doesn’t like compliments,’ he said quietly.
Rachel stared at him for a moment as she tried to formulate a reply. ‘I like them if they’re genuine,’ she said at last, and she didn’t care that it sounded rude.
‘And you think I wasn’t being genuine?’ he said thoughtfully. ‘Interesting. Very interesting.’
Had he taken lessons in being aggravating? She lifted her chin, determined not to ask him what he meant this time, and took a sip of her cocktail. It was delicious. She’d had what had passed for a champagne cocktail before but it hadn’t tasted anything like as good. This was in a league all of its own.
Zac’s gaze had returned to his menu and after another sip she put her glass down and focused on the choice of food. By the time the ever-attentive waiter, who’d been hovering nearby, glided to the table she was able to order the smoked salmon and bean salad, followed by grilled chicken with honey-glazed figs in a manner that declared she was perfectly in control.
‘No steak?’ Zac asked softly.
‘No, I prefer chicken.’ Ridiculous, because she would probably have had a small steak but for him suggesting it earlier. She shook her head mentally at herself, marvelling that there was a whole side to her personality she hadn’t known about, and a side she wasn’t particularly proud of. She had to get a grip.
Zac ordered the smoked salmon too, followed by his 20-ounce steak, along with a bottle of wine from the wine waiter, and then settled back in his seat, a faint gleam in his eyes. It wasn’t a gleam that inspired confidence and Rachel knew she’d been right to be wary when he said, ‘Are you always so prickly?’
‘Prickly? I’m not prickly,’ she said immediately.
‘Defensive, then. Wary. Call it what you will.’
‘I’m not—’ She stopped abruptly. She was so tense, her muscles ached. Something had to give, and considering he really hadn’t done anything wrong it was her. She forced her vocal cords to form coherent words. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said carefully, ‘I don’t mean to be. This hasn’t been the greatest year and perhaps I just need the Christmas break more than I knew.’
His eyes roamed over her face for a moment, and when he spoke there was no amusement in his smoky voice. ‘I’m sorry too,’ he said very quietly, ‘that it hasn’t been a good year for you. Do you want to talk about it?’
She shrugged in what she hoped was a casual way. ‘I got involved with someone who wasn’t what he seemed, to put it mildly. A couple of days after he proposed, his wife came to see me.’ She pulled a face. ‘Big surprise.’
‘You didn’t know he was married?’ He’d sat up straighter.
‘Of course not,’ she said, shocked.
He nodded. ‘No, of course not,’ he murmured, almost to himself. ‘How long had you been seeing him?’
‘A few months.’ She didn’t want to do this. ‘Still, lucky escape,’ she said with forced lightness. ‘At least I was able to walk away without any messy complications, unlike his wife.’ She turned her head, glancing round the discreetly lit room. ‘This is a lovely place. If the food is as good as the decor, it will be wonderful.’
The rain was beating against the windows of the restaurant but in the womb-like surroundings all was soft music and muted conversation, the glass chandeliers overhead, fine linen tablecloths and gleaming silver cutlery and crystal creating an aura of cosseted comfort. Another world.
This time he didn’t allow her to change the conversation so easily. Quietly, he said, ‘Do you still care for him?’
She brushed her hair off her shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. ‘No, not in the least. Within weeks I was quite clear about that, if nothing else. I just couldn’t…’ She paused, amazed her tongue had run away with her.
‘What?’ He leaned forward in his seat, his eyes narrowed.
She swallowed. ‘I couldn’t believe I could be with someone for so long and not suspect anything, not realize it was all false, make-believe. Giles was so plausible, so…’ She shook her head. ‘Big learning curve,’ she said brightly. ‘And what about you? Is there someone back in Canada? Someone special?’
Calm golden eyes held her. ‘No,’ he said.
Rachel reached for her champagne flute and finished the rest of her cocktail. It had been a big mistake to come here with Zac tonight. He was too…Her brain failed to come up with a definition and she set her glass down carefully. Too everything. ‘So what’s the business that’s brought you over to England?’ she asked, when the silence became uncomfortable. ‘If it’s not confidential, of course.’
He’d relaxed back in his seat once more and now he smiled. ‘It’s part business, part pleasure, to be truthful.’
She felt a frisson of something she couldn’t name at the word ‘pleasure’ and hoped desperately the golden eyes hadn’t noticed anything. This really was ridiculous.
‘I’m here to liaise with a large manufacturing group about an advance in new technology—pick their brains, if you will. My father is aware the world is changing fast and the glass industry constantly needs to change with it. He’s something of a visionary, if the truth be known, but he’s rarely wrong. And I liked the idea of coming back to the old country and seeing again where I was born, looking up the old haunts and family too, of course. I haven’t had a holiday for years, so I don’t feel too guilty.’
She returned his smile, hers just a bit shaky, and as the waiter placed their first courses in front of them, she was glad of something to do with her hands. She didn’t want to get to know Zac Lawson, she thought, panic-stricken. It was much too dangerous. He was the type of man it was far better to keep at a safe distance. Like at the other side of the world.
She took her first bite of the smoked salmon and bean salad. The thin strips of fish, cooked beans and salad were enhanced by a mustard dressing and dusting of mozzarella, and her taste buds exploded. ‘This is gorgeous.’ She raised her eyes to see Zac studying her. ‘Absolutely gorgeous.’
‘Just what I was thinking,’ he murmured softly.
Again, it ought to have sounded cheesy but it didn’t, which was more scary than anything else. She took another bite of smoked salmon and wondered