Bedding His Virgin Mistress. PENNY JORDAN

Eddie. How are Sally and the new baby?’

      There was a genuine warmth in his voice that touched a painful nerve within Carly’s heart.

      ‘They’re both fine. Sally was over the moon that you flew her folks here for the birth. She was resigned to them not being able to be there.’

      Ricardo shrugged, and changed the subject. ‘Phil says that we’re going to have a good flight, both to Nice and on to New York.’ He turned to Carly. ‘I’ve got some work I need to attend to, but feel free to ask Eddie for anything you need.’

      ‘If you would like to sit down here, madam, until we’ve taken off?’ Eddie suggested politely to her, indicating a space on one of the sofas.

      Obediently, Carly went and sat down.

      ‘Perhaps I could get you a glass of champagne?’ the steward said, once he had shown Carly how to use her seatbelt, and explained to her how to access the power and telephone lines for her laptop should she wish to use it. ‘We’ve got a very nice Cristal.’

      Carly couldn’t help it. She gave a small shudder. ‘Water will be fine,’ she told him emphatically.

      From his own seat at a desk on the other side of the cabin, Ricardo frowned. Why had she refused champagne? She certainly hadn’t been having any qualms about drinking it the night he had seen her in CoralPink.

      Thanking Eddie for her water, Carly unzipped her own laptop. Ricardo wasn’t the only one who had work to do. Five minutes later, as the jet taxied down the runway, Carly was deeply engrossed in reading her e-mails—but not so deeply that she wasn’t acutely aware of Ricardo’s presence.

      She couldn’t forget the disturbing effect those fleeting seconds of physical intimacy in the car had had on her. Her stomach muscles clenched immediately, as though in rejection of the response she had felt, her mouth going dry.

      Eddie had said the jet had a fully equipped bedroom…The ache inside her sharpened and tightened and then started to spread.

      The jet lifted off the tarmac and Carly held her breath, willing herself not to think about Ricardo.

      ‘I’d like to ask you a few questions about certain aspects of the way Prêt a Party’s business works.’

      Dutifully Carly put aside the list she was studying. Ricardo was, after all, a potential client.