‘So—tell me about your father,’ he said encouragingly. ‘How old were you when he died?’

Lucinda pursed her lips and her eyes grew sad. ‘Fifteen. I was heartbroken. He’d spent most of his life in and out of hospitals; we didn’t have any money, but he more than made up for it. There was always love and laughter in our house. I was so happy. What I didn’t know was that my mother gradually resented the fact that we were poor.

‘After my father died she met Goldberg, a very wealthy property developer. She shamelessly threw herself at him and within a few months they were married. We moved from our tiny rented property into his palatial mansion. He paid for my higher education; I appreciate that, but he will never replace my father. He was the most wonderful man.’

Tears misted her eyes and instantly Zane leaned forward and gathered her into his arms, dabbing her eyes with his handkerchief, murmuring words of reassurance. At first Lucinda didn’t resist; she actually felt comforted by his action, but then the reality of the situation hit her.

This man had employed her to do a job, and he was in the same league as David Goldberg; there was no way in this world that she was going to have an affair with him. He may have been only consoling her, but that wasn’t the point. She had seen the hungry look in his eyes; she knew his reputation. If she weren’t careful she would end up in his bed.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, straining to pull away. ‘It always gets to me when I talk about my father. If he knew what my mother had done he’d turn in his grave. He loved her so much. Love was all he had to give. And he gave it in bucketfuls.’ Tears welled again.

Zane pushed her head into his shoulder and held her there until she began to feel better. He stroked her hair, which had become free from its restraining tie. It amazed Lucinda that a man as important as Zane Alexander should have this caring side to him. It was totally unexpected.

Unless, of course, it wasn’t because he cared! Maybe he was using her distress as a way of getting through to her? Maybe he thought it would lead to other things? Even as the thought occurred to her Lucinda pushed her hands hard against his chest. ‘I’m all right now.’

‘Are you sure?’ He blocked her escape by cupping her face between warm firm hands. There was something almost primeval in his eyes as they locked with hers, a desire as old as man himself, and Lucinda felt unwanted warmth steal into her. It started in her toes and gradually worked its way through each limb until her whole body raged with fire. This was a situation she had told herself she would avoid at all costs. This was Zane the playboy in action. And already her needs were being fuelled by his closeness.

ZANE knew that Lucinda was torn between letting him kiss her and doing the right thing and pushing him away. He was sorry about her father, of course he was, and when he persuaded her into his arms it hadn’t been his intention to take the situation any further. But holding her against him, feeling the warmth of her body and smelling its sweetness, had aroused all of his base instincts. He wanted her! And he wanted her now.

It took all of Lucinda’s will-power to move out of Zane’s embrace. It felt as though she was wrenching herself free of an iron clamp instead of the light touch of his hands. It really had been a big mistake coming here. She had put greed for his business before what was best for her.

‘I wish you hadn’t done that,’ she told him tightly, the words crackling out of a throat gone tremendously dry.

‘Done what?’

Did he really need her to spell it out? ‘You know what I’m talking about,’ she retorted. ‘I appreciate the use of your handkerchief but I don’t need comforting in other ways.’

‘And what way would that be?’

A steely glint appeared in his eyes and Lucinda began to wonder whether she had misjudged him. Whether it was her fertile imagination that had seen something that wasn’t there. Whatever, he looked far from pleased.

She shook her head and got up from her chair. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘And I say it does matter,’ he rejoined fiercely. ‘I do not like being criticised.’

‘It doesn’t count that you’re already cast as a playboy?’

‘You’ve heard the rumour?’ A faint smile curved his lips. ‘Who told you that, I wonder?’

Lucinda jutted her chin and stared hostilely. ‘Actually I’d had my suspicions, but my stepfather confirmed it.’

‘Ah!’ Enlightenment filled his eyes. ‘And you took his word as truth? A man you incidentally hate the sight of? It didn’t occur to you that he could be saying it because he didn’t want you working for me?’

It was true; David Goldberg definitely didn’t like to think that her career was taking off. He liked to think that she hadn’t the intelligence to do well for herself. Why, she had no idea. Maybe because she had always resented him! At the age of fifteen her hormones had been all over the place; she’d just lost her beloved father, her mother had all too quickly remarried and Lucinda’s resentment of the new man in their life had caused ill feelings between them, which had never gone away.

‘I don’t care whether it’s true or not,’ she told him now. ‘And I have no wish to continue this conversation.’ She sprang up from her seat and ran round to the other side of the house, where she stripped off her skirt and top and dived cleanly into the pool. She desperately needed to cool off.

She was feverishly hot and the water mercifully cold, and after a few energetic lengths her ragged nerves were calmed. She had half expected Zane to follow and was both relieved and pleased when there was no sign of him. She kept telling herself that it wasn’t going to work, staying here with him, feeling his presence, knowing that at any minute she could give in to temptation. And he was a big temptation. She could hardly believe that she was attracted to him. It was totally inconceivable.

Finally she hauled herself out of the pool, rinsed herself down beneath the huge outdoor shower and headed back towards the house. Zane appeared in front of her as if from nowhere.

‘You swim like a mermaid,’ he complimented. ‘Graceful, swift and beautiful.’ A pair of dark glasses shielded his eyes but she felt his eyes studying her body in its neat white bikini. The heat returned.

‘You were watching me?’ Accusation made her voice shrill.

Zane inclined his head. ‘And very pleasant it was too. I wanted to join you but I wasn’t sure that you’d appreciate it.’

‘No, I wouldn’t have done,’ snapped Lucinda, her green eyes flashing magnificently. ‘In fact I don’t appreciate your presence here at all.’

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