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She pulled herself together forcibly. ‘I’m...I’m not sure...’ she got out.
‘What’s this you’re plotting?’
Max’s voice sounded behind her. It sounded amused, but with a pointedness in it that Sarah was not deaf to.
Philip turned. ‘I was asking Sarah if she would come over to the villa for lunch on Sunday with my cousin and me,’ he relayed.
‘Cousin?’ Max raised his eyebrows.
‘My cousin—Bastiaan Karavalas,’ supplied Philip. ‘It’s his villa I’m staying at. He’s visiting me from Greece.’
‘Karavalas...’ murmured Max.
Sarah knew he was storing the information away and would check it out later—just as he’d checked out Philip’s name. Any cousin of Philip’s would be rich as well, and for that reason she knew she might be disheartened by what Max said next, but she could not be surprised.
Max smiled at Philip. ‘Why wait till Sunday?’ he said blandly. ‘Make it tomorrow—I’ll rejig the schedule so Sarah can get away at noon. How would that be?’
Philip’s face lit. ‘Fantastic! I’ll go and tell Bast now. Brilliant!’
He beamed at Sarah and Max, and then rushed off to front of house.
Sarah turned to Max. ‘Max—’ she began, about to remonstrate.
Max held up a hand. ‘Say nothing. I know your opinion about asking Philip for money. But...’ his voice changed ‘But this Bastiaan Karavalas, the cousin—well, that’s a different matter, isn’t it? A grown man who owns a villa on Cap Pierre—and presumably a whole lot else—doesn’t require kid-glove-handling, does he? So, cherie, off you go to lunch with these lovely rich people and make yourself agreeable to them.’
Sarah’s expression hardened. ‘Max, if you think—’
‘Cherie, it’s just lunch—nothing more than that. What did you think I was suggesting?’
He sounded amused, and it irritated Sarah. ‘I don’t know and I don’t care,’ she shot back, shutting her dressing room door in his face.
Consternation was flooding through her. She did not want to go over to Bastiaan Karvalas’s villa and spend the afternoon there. She didn’t want to spend a single moment more in his company. Didn’t want another opportunity for him to work his dark, potent magic on her senses...
I don’t need this distraction. I have to focus on the festival—it’s all that’s important to me. Nothing else. I want Bastiaan Karavalas gone—out of my life!
She stilled suddenly as she started to change out of her costume. Her mind raced.
Maybe going to the villa wasn’t so bad an idea after all. Maybe she could turn the invitation to her advantage. Find an opportunity to get Bastiaan Karavalas on his own and suggest that it would be a really good idea for him to whisk Philip away. Distance would soon cause his youthful crush to atrophy.
And it would take Bastiaan Karavalas away as well... Stop him disturbing her the way he did so that she could get back to the only important thing in her life now: preparing for the festival. Not being swept away by what was in his dark, desiring eyes.
Yes. She took a steadying breath. That, surely, would make it worth enduring an afternoon of his company. Because there was no other reason for wanting to spend an afternoon with Bastiaan Karavalas.
Liar, said a voice inside her head. A voice that whispered to her in Sabine’s soft, seductive tones...
* * *
‘She’ll come over tomorrow!’ Philip exclaimed happily as he re-joined Bastiaan.
‘How surprising...’ murmured Bastiaan.
Of course Mademoiselle Sabine had jumped at the invitation to get a foot...literally...in the door.
His cousin completely missed the sardonic note in his voice. ‘Isn’t it?’ he answered. ‘Considering how—’ he stopped short.
Bastiaan cocked an eyebrow. ‘Considering...?’ he prompted.
‘Oh, nothing,’ Philip answered hastily, but looked as if he were hiding something.
