LUCINDA studied her wardrobe, wondering what to wear for her evening out with Zane Alexander. The red slinky number, or perhaps something more decorous? She didn’t want him getting the wrong impression. How about the amber suit? Or even the lime-green dress, which everyone else hated but she loved? It was certainly demure.
She had thought long and hard about accepting Zane’s dinner invitation but ultimately decided to put her personal issues about him to one side. This project was too good an opportunity to miss. Now, though, as she stepped into an elegant black dress, she wondered whether she was doing the right thing.
A job in St Lucia! It sounded too good to be true. Except that she would be out there with Zane, a man she didn’t particularly like. But whom she found devastatingly attractive! It was an admission she hated making—but it happened to be true. There really was something about him that could not be ignored.
Would he stay while she developed thoughts and ideas? Would he want to talk them over with her as she went along? Or would he simply show her around and then wait to hear what suggestions she came up with?
He was a very busy man, of that she was well aware. When she had looked after his two-year-old son, Zane had spent very little time at home. In fact Tim had rarely seen him. Zane was not a good father. On the other hand, perhaps because of Tim, he would not stay on the island the whole time she was there—unless, of course, he had business interests in St Lucia? It could well be the case.
They certainly had a lot to discuss.
And time was running out. Zane was picking her up at seven-thirty; he would expect her to be ready. She finished her make-up and ran a final brush through her hair. It was long and silky, almost to her waist, and her pride and joy. At the last minute, though, she decided to sweep it up. She didn’t want Zane Alexander thinking she looked anything less than professional.
She watched for him to arrive and was out of the door almost before he had stopped his car. Lucinda lived with her mother and stepfather in a large house where she had her own suite of offices. It didn’t really suit her and her bank balance was such these days that she was almost ready to buy a place of her own. In fact she’d been looking at property only the other day.
‘A lady who’s prompt,’ commented Zane with a dry smile, jumping out to open the door for her. ‘I like that. And may I say how elegant you look.’
Lucinda inclined her head in thanks. Zane looked pretty good himself in an oatmeal linen jacket and crisp dark trousers, and as he slid into the sleek silver Mercedes beside her the faint smell of his cologne wafted beneath her nostrils. It was masculine and woody and reminded her of nights spent on an exotic island paradise.
She suddenly realised where her mind was going and checked it. How would she know what it felt like? Was she thinking about the job that lay ahead? Was it wishful thinking? Never! Not with Zane Alexander. Not in a million years.
Besides, wasn’t he married? Not that there’d been a wife around. Maybe they were divorced. Maybe there wasn’t a Mrs Alexander any longer. Maybe she’d dumped the child on him on that occasion and, Zane being Zane, he hadn’t wanted to give up his precious time.
‘You must be doing rather well for yourself, judging by where you live,’ commented Zane as he pulled away from the house.
‘It’s not mine,’ she answered quickly. ‘It belongs to my stepfather. I’m moving out shortly.’
‘You’re not happy there?’ he asked intuitively.
Perhaps her tone had given too much away. But she didn’t get on well with David Goldberg. He had once told her that she hadn’t the imagination of a sparrow and would never enter the world of business. How she had loved proving him wrong. Her own father had died when she was fifteen and her mother had remarried far too quickly in Lucinda’s opinion. They’d gone from being very poor to very rich in a short space of time; not that she had accepted any help from her stepfather when setting up her design company.
‘I feel it’s time I have a place of my own,’ she answered quietly.
‘Of course.’
She had expected him to probe, to make some disparaging remark about her still living at home, but he didn’t.
‘How old are you?’ he asked instead.
‘Twenty-eight,’ she answered.
‘And running your own successful business. Congratulations.’
His compliment pleased her.
‘What is your ambition?’ He kept his eyes on the road in front where it looked like a young mother was ready to roll a pushchair out in front of them. ‘To have a team of workers under you so that you can sit back and count your pennies? Or to always be a hands-on person?’
Lucinda thought she heard sarcasm and tossed her head. ‘Ultimately I want to get married and have children. I love children; I used to earn money looking after them when I was a student.’
‘The nanny job?’
Lucinda nodded. ‘I could have made it a career but it would have been a waste of the design course I was taking. I’d always set my heart on interior design. Each job is different. It’s a new challenge. I love it.’
‘Then I shall very much look forward to showing you over my place in St Lucia.’
‘You’re assuming I’ll take the job?’ she questioned, glancing at him, seeing nothing but the hard contours of his profile. Until he turned briefly to look at her and she caught a twinkle in his smoky eyes.
‘I thought you already had,’ he said. ‘Otherwise why would you be here?’ And he looked back at the road.
There was nothing more for Lucinda to say. There was trepidation in her heart but a sense of excitement too.
The restaurant was small and intimate and not the sort of place where business deals were done. It had a more romantic atmosphere, where couples looked into each other’s eyes and drank champagne and wished for the moon. Lucinda felt uncomfortable, her heart beating far louder than it should.
‘Have you been here before?’ Zane asked.
Lucinda shook her head.
‘Then you should have,’ he admonished. ‘The food is superb and the head chef incidentally is a very good friend of mine.’
They sipped their drinks as they studied the menu and, while they were waiting to be seated, Zane made no attempt to talk business. Instead he asked her questions about herself, almost as though they were on a date. Which made her feel even more uncomfortable.
‘I don’t see that it has anything to do with the job,’ she protested when he wanted to know whether she had any brothers or sisters.
‘I’m curious about you, that’s all,’ he answered with a disarming smile, a smile that probably made many women go weak at the knees. And she was in grave danger of following suit!
‘All you need to know are my qualifications,’ she told him, her voice a little more cool than she had intended, ‘and you’ve already seen those. When are we going to get down to business?’
Zane smiled, his teeth amazingly white in his subtly tanned face. ‘There’s not really much to discuss, is there, not until we arrive on site, so to speak? I’ve already decided I want you to do the job; this is merely an opportunity to get to know you.’
Lucinda swallowed hard. ‘A complete waste of time.’
Zane frowned. ‘I don’t understand?’
‘Is this the way you usually conduct your business affairs?’ she questioned coolly. Perhaps it was. Especially with members of the opposite sex! And how did he expect the evening to end? Lucinda realised she was being fanciful. There was nothing in his attitude