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That was a surprise in itself. The Lucinda he’d known so many years ago hadn’t been someone you liked. She hadn’t let anyone close enough to find out any of her likable qualities. Locked up in her room studying, running off to the library or covering the tiny kitchen table in the flat with papers and textbooks. That was how he remembered her. The way she’d always run off to her room when he and Mandy had arrived home. Apart from a few hastily eaten dinners together, when Mandy insisted on them ‘getting to know each other’, that was all he’d known of her. He’d never been able to understand how someone as outgoing and fun-loving as Mandy could even be friends with her. Hadn’t believed her when she’d said that Luce could be fun sometimes.
He could see it now, though. She was the sort of woman who grew into herself. Her confidence and self-possession had let her beauty, humour and personality shine out at last. And she’d grown into her body, too. Had she grown into her sexuality in the same way?
It bothered him how much he wanted to find out.
And now the weather had given him the perfect chance to do just that. It might not have been a plan in the way Luce had accused him, but it certainly was an opportunity to take advantage of.
One night in a secluded cottage was even more perfect than one night in a luxury hotel. As long as it was just one night and the snow didn’t strand them there any longer. Two nights in a row and women started to get ideas, Ben had found. Which was why he’d committed to his one-night rule.
And Luce was up to something; that much was clear. Given another glass of wine, he was pretty sure he could figure out what, and how it might affect his seduction plans.
The barmaid handed over their drinks and Ben took them with a wide, friendly smile before heading back to Luce. He had hopes for what was going on here, and if he was right the evening could be set for a much better ending than he’d dared to assume the night before.
‘So, what are you fancying?’ Ben put the drinks down on the table and tried not to smirk when Luce looked up, eyes wide and face flustered.
‘Um...’ Her gaze flicked back down to the menu. ‘The sticky toffee pudding?’
‘Good choice.’ Dropping into his chair, Ben reached his arms out across the back and felt his muscles stretch. ‘Tracy says she’ll be over to take our order in a moment.’
‘Great.’ Placing the menu back on the table, Luce folded her hands over it.
Ben braced himself for whatever line of questioning was coming next.
‘So, what do you do when you’re not working?’
To his horror, Ben actually had to think about an answer. When had he become so obsessed with work? That was Seb and Dad. Not him.
‘Oh, you know. The usual. Fine dining. Trips abroad.’ That sounded obnoxious. She already thought he was obnoxious. He really shouldn’t make it any worse. ‘I have a château in France—well, my grandmother did. She left it to me. I’m renovating it.’ Or he should be. He would be. As soon as he found the time.
Luce raised her eyebrows and Ben cast his gaze over to the bar to see where the hell Tracy the barmaid had got to.
‘You’re interested in property development? First the cottage, now the château?’
‘Yes,’ Ben lied. It had nothing to do with making money. He’d done up the cottage so he had somewhere to escape to. And he wanted to do the château because...well, he couldn’t just leave it there to crumble, now, could he?
‘So what’s next?’ Luce asked, then glanced up and said, ‘Oh, the sticky toffee pudding for me, please.’
It took Ben a moment to catch up, to realise that Tracy was standing patiently behind him with her notebook. ‘Same for me, please.’ He gave her a smile and watched her walk back to the bar. Maybe Luce would get cross enough at him paying attention to another woman that she’d stop asking questions he didn’t want to answer.
No such luck.
‘So?’ she repeated. ‘What comes after the château?’
‘No idea,’ Ben said with a shrug. ‘You know me—I’m a take-one-day-at-a-time kind of guy.’
Except he wasn’t any more. Not really. He couldn’t be—not when Seb was relying on him so much these days. He knew exactly what would be next. More visits to more hotels. More reports on what was working and what wasn’t. Long, long meetings with Seb and his team about where the company was going. More spot inspections on longstanding members of the Hampton & Sons chain. More firing old managers and putting in their own people. More budget meetings where the accountants told them they should get the hotels to improve drastically without giving them any money to do it.
