by Kate Hardy
He had also been curious to see the people she worked with, not that that had been possible given the size of the place.
‘Where can we go?’
‘At five-thirty?’
‘Maybe we should just head back to your house. It’s close enough.’
‘No!’ Overreacting again. And also forgetting about the little chat because she had been so wrapped up bickering. All fodder for his oversized ego. ‘There’s a brasserie about half an hour away. Joe’s Brasserie. On Fields Road. I guess there’s as good a place as any.’ She turned away and stared out of the window, acutely conscious of his muscular thigh way too close to hers for comfort. Just being alone with the man in this confined space made her feel guilty. He belonged to Lily and to Lily’s world. She shouldn’t even recognise his physical attributes, although she gratefully accepted that she was human, after all, and, anyway, she disliked him intensely so what did it matter?
‘You’re tense. Why? Does it make you nervous sitting in this car with me?’
‘Why should it?’ Rose turned to look at him and blinked away the disconcerting impact his shadowed, angled face had on her. ‘I’m tense because I don’t know what you’re going to tell me but I have a feeling that I won’t like it.’
‘In that case, take your mind off the possibilities and tell me about your job. I didn’t expect you to work for such a large organisation.’
Rose shrugged. She didn’t want to talk about herself or her job, but she couldn’t see a way around it. ‘I like it there. The size doesn’t bother me. Anyway, don’t tell me that your offices are sweet and small and cosy.’
Nick laughed under his breath. ‘Better designed.’
‘How?’ Rose asked grudgingly, interested to find out how a big clump of concrete and glass could be designed into something less soulless than Fedco.
‘Clever use of partitions and copious amounts of plants.’
‘Right. And you did that yourself?’
‘I approved it at every stage, yes. Does that jar with your picture of me striding through offices, whipping the employees and making sure that they’re chained to their desks until I tell them that it’s time to leave?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact it does.’
Nick laughed louder and gave her a brief, appreciative glance. When he sifted through his extensive repertoire of women, he couldn’t think of a single one who had ever made him laugh.
‘In that case, accept my apologies. Is this the place you were talking about?’
Rose nodded, pleased to see that it was already beginning to get busy. Brasseries in London never seemed to be quiet, and that suited her because she didn’t want that weird, discomforting feeling she got when she was alone with him. And that laugh had done something in her, made her feel oddly hot and uncomfortable.
‘So,’ she said without preamble as soon as they were seated at the circular chrome table and a waitress had taken their order. Orange juice for her and a lager for him. ‘What is it that you wanted to tell me about Lily?’
‘You’re very good at cutting to the chase,’ Nick commented drily. ‘How much has she told you about…our relationship?’
‘We don’t discuss you.’
‘Strange, considering you seem to discuss me freely with everyone else.’
Rose went pink but held his gaze. ‘I don’t think she would appreciate some of the things I might have to say and I can’t put her in a position where she feels that she’s having to take sides.’
‘How big-minded of you.’ Did the woman have no social graces? he wondered.
‘I know you’ve been meeting up,’ Rose ploughed on, ‘but I don’t know how serious it is. Are you telling me that it’s…serious?’
‘Oh, very serious indeed.’ Nick sat back and took one long sip of lager, enjoying its coldness. ‘I think it’s now your cue to warn me off because I’m such a big, bad wolf.’
‘Lily could have told me this herself.’
‘Maybe she’s scared of making a stand for herself because you’ve never allowed her to.’
‘Is that what she told you?’
‘I’m reading between the lines.’
‘Then don’t bother. You don’t know anything about us.’
‘I don’t need case notes to see what’s in front of my nose. You’ve always made the rules and Lily has always obeyed them.’
‘If she’s pregnant, then I expect you to do the honourable thing and marry her.’
For the first time in his life, Nick found himself lost for something to say and Rose watched his stunned expression without saying a word, waiting for him to be the first to break the silence. He had an annoying habit of throwing her into a tizzy and making her gabble like someone who couldn’t operate the brake pedals on their mouth, but she could tell from his face that she had thrown him into a hole and she wasn’t about to help fish him out.
This was the thing she feared the most—that Lily would do something stupid like fall for the man, hook, line and sinker. She hadn’t seen her sister actually being even more stupid and getting herself pregnant, but if she had then Rose would be there, as she always had been, to lend the helping, guiding hand.
‘You think that…’ Nick shook his head incredulously. ‘Shooting your mouth off again. Do you ever think before you speak?’
‘What am I supposed to think?’ Rose demanded, unfazed by his attack. ‘You accost me at work—’
‘I was doing you a favour.’
‘You accost me at work, where, incidentally, you have no right to be, and insinuate that there’s something you have to tell me that’s so awful that my own sister just can’t tell me herself.’
‘And you think that pregnancy is the most awful thing that could happen to a woman.’
‘No, of course I don’t. When two people love each other and have a stable relationship, then pregnancy is the most beautiful thing that could happen, but in Lily’s case…’ She glared at him because he had started staring at her as though she had begun speaking in tongues.
‘You surprise me. I never thought you would have subscribed to the Happy Ever After fairy tale.’
‘What I subscribe to or don’t subscribe to is beyond the point,’ Rose snapped. ‘The fact is this—if Lily is pregnant—’
‘Oh, for God’s sake. She’s not pregnant.’ Nick leaned towards her, resting both his elbows on the table, and Rose fought not to pull back because the sheer force of his personality was so overwhelming. ‘Let’s get one thing straight here, Rose. I’m not a complete fool. I’m no shrinking violet when it comes to the opposite sex, but I make sure to always, but always, use protection. Believe me, the very last thing I would ever want would be to find myself cornered into marriage by a scheming woman who gets herself pregnant so that she can manoeuvre her way into my bank account.’
‘That is the most cynical thing I’ve ever heard in my life!’
Nick looked at Rose furiously. Respect was something he had commanded from other people for all of his adult life. Respect and admiration were the two things he had commanded from women. This one, white faced and disapproving, not only lacked both, but was actually sitting in judgement on him. Him! Nick Papaeliou, a man whose ability to instil fear was legendary.
He was finding it difficult to believe his ears.
‘You can’t be a very happy, well-adjusted human being if you think that the only reason a woman would want to go out with you would be because of your bank balance.’
‘No. I am not sitting here listening to this.’
‘And to imagine that a woman would be conniving enough to get herself pregnant just because she wanted your money…’
At long last his formidable self-control began once again gathering pace, solidifying into icy steel. ‘Do you live in the real world at all, Rose? Or are you the archetypal computer nerd everyone reads about? The one who can do amazing things with software but hasn’t got a clue when it comes to real life? Because you must be wildly naïve to think that money isn’t the
thing that makes the world go round. I have met more gold-diggers in my life than you have had hot dinners.’
‘In which case I feel very sorry for you.’
‘I think I need another drink.’ He summoned across a waitress, keeping his eyes fixed on Rose. ‘Lily isn’t pregnant. That’s all you need to know.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Rose said sincerely, thinking it prudent not to tack on that his take on women in general left a whole lot to be desired. Yes, as she calmed down, she could see that he had a point, that women might find his wealth a pretty powerful aphrodisiac. Although, a little voice inside her acknowledged, he must know that with his looks he could be as poor as a church mouse and still have the female population lusting after him. ‘And I apologise if I…went off on a bit of a tangent just then…’
‘A bit of a tangent?’
‘You were saying some pretty emotive things.’
Nick wondered how he had suddenly been cast as the villain of the piece when all he had done was to be perfectly truthful with her. He should have remembered that he wasn’t dealing with a normal, twenty-first-century woman.
‘Apology accepted,’ he grated.
‘So why don’t you tell me why…what you wanted to discuss with me…?’
‘I’m very fond of your sister,’ Nick began, ‘but before you jump in both feet first, let me just add that she and I are not having a relationship. At least, not in the sense in which you probably expect that we are.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Do I have to spell it out for you?’ He impatiently tugged off his tie and undid the top two buttons of his shirt. Was it his imagination or was this place sweltering? ‘Lily and I are not having sex. We have never had sex. It has not been that kind of a relationship between us…’ Since that made a first for him, he was inordinately proud of the fact that he was managing to sustain a great, platonic relationship with a beautiful woman. Not only that, but he felt no stirrings of attraction whatsoever. It had occurred to him that his relationships had become more problematic as the years had progressed. Women had invariably wanted more than he could offer and was it really worth the hassle?
‘What kind of relationship is it, then?’ Rose asked.
‘She’s a sweet kid. I know a lot of people in the industry and I’ve been helping her.’
‘Helping her do what?’
‘Helping her with her career.’
‘You mean putting her in touch with…’ With whom? Actors? Producers? Directors? Rose knew precious little about what went on behind the scenes in the world of acting. It was so far removed from the prosaic life she led.
‘With people who could help her.’
‘That’s…very nice of you.’ Frankly, she was slightly bewildered. ‘Is that why you wanted to see me? Why couldn’t Lily have just told me all that herself? Instead of being so secretive about…everything?’
‘Have you ever heard of Damien Hicks?’
‘Should I have?’
‘Just answer the question, Rose.’
‘No.’
‘Well, he’s an up-and-coming film producer.’
A sense of humour inserted itself in between her bemusement as to where Nick was going with this conversation. ‘Not many of those roaming around in my line of work. Do they have any distinguishing features I might identify them by?’
‘They’re fond of cigars,’ Nick answered drily. He paused. ‘I met Damien when one of my companies was doing an advertising shoot in the Maldives. Not really Damien’s thing now, but five years ago he was just beginning to make his mark. He did the campaign for me and I helped him finance his first film. Just a short feature, but since then his rise has been meteoric. He likes working with new talent.’
‘And Lily is new talent.’ Rose smiled. ‘She should have been jumping at the opportunity to tell me, after all the disappointments she’s been through.’
‘His new film needs a lead, Rose. Don’t get me wrong, he’s auditioned countless young hopefuls and has come to the conclusion that Lily is the one through no doing of mine. I introduced them, got him to give her a chance and she’s done the rest.’
‘Why do I get the feeling that there’s a but lurking just around the corner?’
‘But,’ he said quietly, ‘and this is why Lily was having a hard time discussing this with you…the part will be shot exclusively in America and there’s more than a fifty-per-cent chance that, once she gets over there, she’ll find herself caught up in the Hollywood industry. It’s bigger, there are more opportunities and with a CV that starts with a Hicks movie…’
Rose knew that the colour was draining away from her face.
‘I know this is probably unexpected and not particularly pleasant…’
‘And Lily wants to go to America to live?’
‘She wants to give it a go, see what happens.’
‘Right.’
‘She also wants to go with your blessing.’
‘Right.’ Rose barely had any memories of a life without her sister. They had always been there for one another and she had never given much thought to the day when they would go their different ways. That had been a bridge waiting to be crossed and she had never considered how she would cross it when it did finally loom on the horizon. ‘Of course she has my blessing. I…I only want what’s best for her and if there’s a chance that she could make her dreams come true out there, well…who am I to stand in her way?’ The words were right but the hollowness inside made her feel sick.
‘Come on. Let’s get out of here.’
‘Yes.’ She stood up and took a deep breath. ‘But there’s no need for you to come. You’ve done what you came to do and you can leave me now. I’m capable of taking care of myself.’
‘Try looking in the mirror and then telling yourself that.’
Rose turned away and fumbled for her bag. She couldn’t help but think that this was all his fault even though she knew that the chance he had given Lily was the greatest favour he could have granted. Was she so selfish that she would rather have Lily stay at home than take flight and find her dreams somewhere else?
But when she thought of her sister living across the Atlantic, she wanted to burst into tears.
She made a few feeble protests about wanting him to go, but she didn’t put up much of a fight when she found herself back in his car being driven to her house.
‘Go and sit. I’ll get you something to drink.’
‘I’m not thirsty.’ Rose finally surfaced from her thoughts and tried to shoot him her widest smile. ‘And look…’ She pointed at her smile. ‘Doesn’t this prove that I’m just fine?’
‘Lily will be back shortly. Do you want her to see you freaked out like this?’
‘I am not freaked out.’ She glared at him through the smile. It was so hard to do both and in the middle of trying she felt her lower lip wobble and she knew what was coming. Not even closing her eyes could squeeze back the tears, and then she felt his arms go around her and, worse, felt herself comforted by his strength as he enveloped her.
Nick felt her melt against him and drew her as tightly to him as he could. He had never had the benefit of siblings and, yes, he had known, just as Lily had known, that Rose would be upset, but up close he was staggered by the power of her affection for her sister. He could actually feel her tears soaking into his shirt and she was sobbing, but quietly, as if ashamed at making so much noise.
He felt in his trouser pocket and located a clean handkerchief, which he pressed against her cheek, and that seemed to staunch some of her tears although when she drew back he very nearly wanted to pull her against him again.
His only experiences with weeping women had been at the end of a relationship and their tears had irritated him. What did one say to a woman at a time like this?
‘I’ll make sure you get the hankie back.’ Rose spared him the dilemma of finding the right words. She gave him a watery smile and he did the only thing he could think of doing. He wiped a stray tear from her fac
e with his finger, which made her remember who he was and she stepped back a little further.
‘Thank you for the lift back.’ Rose gathered herself sufficiently to look him in the eye. She could see the sympathy there and felt a complete and utter fool because she knew what he must be thinking: that the loser of a sister was so thrown by the thought of being on her own that she had broken down and blubbed like a baby. ‘I’m glad that I’ve got that out of my system and, honestly, I really am happy for Lily and hope that she gets everything she deserves.’
‘I’m going to pour you something strong. Or would you prefer tea?’ He couldn’t remember the last time he had made a cup of tea.
‘I would prefer you to leave, actually.’
‘No.’
‘No?’ Some of her old fire returned and Nick felt quietly satisfied, although he still knew that he was going to stay with her. At least until she was back to her full vitriolic self, trying to shoot him down in flames. He was fast discovering a masochistic streak in him he had never known existed.
‘Go sit…’ He waved in the direction of the lounge. ‘I’ll be five minutes.’
Less, in actual fact, as he decided to dispense with the tea-making and pour her a stiff drink instead. Much better for the nerves, he told himself.
‘It was just the shock of what you said,’ Rose greeted him defensively, half standing as he handed her the drink. ‘What’s this?’
‘An old family remedy for stressed nerves.’
She sniffed the glass. ‘Called?’
‘Vodka and a touch of whatever juice I happened to find in the fridge.’ He sat on the sofa by her and watched as she took a tentative mouthful. ‘Lily is actually contemplating turning down Damien’s offer if you find it too upsetting having her leave,’ Nick said quietly.
‘That would be mad.’ Rose looked at him and sipped a little more. ‘I can’t believe that you’ve been on the scene less than a month and our lives are being turned upside down.’
