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Fran flushed. ‘You know what I mean.’
‘Yes, I know what you mean, but it’s a little late in the day for references, surely? Especially since I’ve already given you the job.’ His eyes glimmered. ‘And am unlikely to change my mind about that. Unless you start committing unforgivable acts. Like wasting my time,’ he finished deliberately. ‘Again.’
Fran maintained a pleasant smile with the ease born of years of dealing with difficult clients and she could see that Sam was going to take first prize for being difficult. ‘My time is as precious as yours, Mr. Lockhart—’
‘I told you to call me Sam!’ he grumbled.
‘Okay. Then let’s get on with discussing your needs, shall we, Sam?’
Sam was relieved that the waiter chose precisely that moment to deposit two plates of salad in front of them. Why, he wondered, did everything she say come out sounding like a sexy invitation? Especially when she definitely wasn’t flirting. In fact, he’d go so far as to say that she was deliberately trying to avoid the instant physical attraction which had mushroomed between them at their first meeting.
Maybe that was why. He was so used to women coming on to him that it was novel, if somewhat confusing, when a member of the opposite sex kept sending out signals he simply couldn’t recognise…. One minute she was hot, hot, hot. The next she was running scared.
He sat back in his chair and smiled. ‘Okay. What exactly do you need to know?’
For one bizarre moment, she felt like asking him whether he had ever really been in love? Or whether women were just sport to him. Like some men hunted foxes, did he hunt women before moving in for the kill and then moving on?
Fran fished a notebook and pencil from her shoulder bag. ‘Right. How many guests?’
‘About a hundred and fifty. Strictly by invitation only.’
‘Well, that goes without saying.’
‘And definitely no gatecrashers,’ he growled.
This bald statement gave Fran the first glimmering of an idea. ‘Oh? Are you expecting any?’
‘Maybe. You know what it’s like. Think you can cope with them?’ He seemed to relax and actually grinned at this point, and suddenly Fran understood exactly why Rosie didn’t seem able to get him out of her system. Even after two years. He wasn’t just gorgeous, she thought despairingly—he was absolutely irresistible!
‘Yes, of course I can. Trust me.’ Oh, heck! Her tongue had very nearly tripped over those lying words. Guiltily, she sipped at the water in front of her. ‘Any ideas about the venue?’
‘At my house in Cambridge,’ he said immediately. ‘I was thinking of a marquee in the garden.’ He fixed her with a quizzical look. ‘Though I guess it might be too cold to party in a tent in February?’
Fran shook her head. ‘Not at all. They can make marquees as warm and as comfortable as palaces these days.’
‘Can they now?’ he teased.
‘Um, yes.’ Fran rapidly sipped some more water, wishing that he wouldn’t look at her like that. Her cheeks felt so hot. ‘But London would be a much better place to hold it, especially if you have people flying in from other countries to attend.’
Sam’s mouth flattened. ‘No way. If people can afford the air fare to travel to a ball, then they can afford the connection from London to Cambridge! And a hotel for the night.’
Fran flapped her notebook in front of her face, wishing that she had worn something cooler than the woollen dress. Did all women get hot and bothered around him?
‘You’re looking a little flustered,’ he told her softly.
‘I’m hot!’
‘Yes,’ he murmured as he allowed his gaze to drift over her flushed cheeks. ‘So I see.’
His smile was so devastating that Fran felt quite faint. She drew an unnecessary question mark in the margin of her notebook and kept her voice efficient. ‘We haven’t discussed the proceeds,’ she said.
‘So let’s discuss them now.’
‘Er, have you decided whether you’re going to donate the profits to charity?’
‘As opposed to donating them to my Swiss bank account, you mean?’ he asked drily. ‘Actually, yes—I have. Every penny will go to the cardiology ward of the local Children’s hospital.’
‘Very admirable,’ she said carefully. ‘And, of course, paediatrics is always a very popular choice of charity.’
