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‘All right,’ she said and sighed.
‘And stop that damn sighing,’ he snapped. ‘You could have come to the wedding with me, but you refused.’
‘I wouldn’t have fitted in.’
‘Rubbish. It’s not too late to change your mind, you know. Come with me. Be with me.’
‘But what about the hire car? And the booking at the hotel?’
‘Nothing that can’t be sorted out.’
‘I don’t know, Alex. Are you sure?’
* * *
Not even remotely, he thought. But he couldn’t bear to see her go off alone, looking unhappy and worried. He’d brought her here. It was his job to look after her.
‘Positive,’ he said. ‘Now, I don’t want to hear another word about it. You’re coming with me and that’s that.’
Her smile did things to him that shouldn’t be allowed. Dear God, if he didn’t watch himself, he would fall in love with her. And that would never do.
‘I’ll just go along to the ladies’ and freshen up,’ she said.
‘Better be quick. We’ll be landing soon.’
‘I’m always quick,’ she told him with a wry smile. ‘I have a boss who gives me five-minute deadlines all the time.’
‘What a bastard.’
‘He can be.’
‘I’ll have to have a word with him.’
‘He won’t listen. He never listens.’
‘Stupid as well.’
She laughed, then left him. He watched her make her way down the aisle, her neat little backside encased in stylish black slacks. She wore black a lot, usually teaming it with white tops. Harriet’s top today was a simple but expensive-looking white T-shirt. He watched her walk back towards him five minutes later, her dark hair swinging in a sleek curtain around her shoulders, her glossy red lipstick a perfect foil for her black-and-white outfit. Though not classically beautiful, Harriet’s face was strikingly attractive, her big dark eyes her best feature.
‘That’s better,’ she said as she sat down and clicked her seat belt into place. ‘Can’t have your best friends looking down their noses at me.’
‘They’ll love you,’ he said, confident that neither Sergio nor Jeremy would make any girlfriend of his feel bad. Which was exactly how he would introduce Harriet. Not as his PA. As his new girlfriend. Jeremy wouldn’t care that he was sleeping with one of his staff, but Sergio might.
Alex tried to remember if he’d ever told his friends his relatively new PA’s name. He vaguely recalled saying something about her the last night they’d had dinner together a few weeks ago. Yes, he’d called her Harry, Jeremy having picked up that that was probably a nickname. Sergio, however, had been very distracted that night, his mind clearly on Bella. He was unlikely to remember what his PA was called.
Alex decided to clue Jeremy in on who Harriet really was, but he would keep Sergio in the dark. He wasn’t in the mood for any lectures where his private life was concerned, especially from Sergio, who was stupidly about to marry a possible gold-digger!
The plane’s landing was as smooth as silk, their disembarking just as trouble-free. They were whisked through Customs without a hitch, Alex collecting and loading their luggage on a trolley before proceeding to the arrivals area, an anxious-looking Harriet by his side.
Jeremy, as luck would have it, was standing not that far from a uniformed chauffeur who was holding up a card with Harriet’s name on it. It wasn’t till that moment that Alex thought of a way to soothe some of Harriet’s nervousness over having to spend too much time with his friends.
‘Jeremy! Mate!’ he called out and steered Harriet in his direction.
Chapter Twenty
JEREMY WASN’T ANYTHING like Harriet had been imagining. Since Alex virtually had described him as the best-dressed rake in London, she’d pictured a handsome but dissolute-looking man with slicked-back hair and heavy-lidded eyes, wearing a designer suit and sporting a lot of expensive jewellery.
The man who waved back at Alex was handsome, but he looked disgustingly healthy with a nice tan and sparkling blue eyes. His hair wasn’t oily or slicked back. It was clearly freshly washed, brown and collar-length, with a boyish wave which fell across his high forehead. As for his clothes...they looked expensive but were very casual. Not a bit of jewellery, either, Harriet noted as they drew closer. No earrings or rings or even a watch.
When he threw his arms around Alex in a huge bear hug, Harriet was astounded, then oddly touched. It wasn’t often that you saw grown men hug each other with such genuine warmth and affection.
