Constantinou's Mistress by Cathy Williams Page A

boss…’
    â€˜I’m not spending one week on a tropical island with you !’ Lucy denied hotly. ‘You make it sound as if…as if…’
    â€˜As if…what?’ He frowned in apparent bemusement as she became more entangled in the knots she had already created for herself.
    â€˜Well…it’s not a holiday, is it? We’re going there to work.’ At last she managed to drag her eyes away from him but she was still intensely aware of his dark, hooded stare as he continued to watch her.
    â€˜Of course we are. The only reason I asked was because I am a great believer in trust.’
    Lucy stole a sidelong look at the harsh lines of his face. His mood had changed. From his light-hearted teasing of a minute ago, she could see that he had closed the shutters and was broodingly contemplating dark thoughts that she couldn’t begin to guess at.
    But, she thought with dismay, he was probably thinking about his wife. He had opened the subject of her getting married and it must have brought a rush of memories flooding back, memories of his own marriage and the trust and love he had lost in one terrible freak accident.
    While she floundered in her own miserable thoughts their flight was called and she was spared the agony of trying to find something suitably innocuous to say.
    When he did finally take the conversational lead, they were on the plane, and he began to chat easily and casually with her about the various places he had visited over a period of years. She knew that he was well travelled but she hadn’t known quite how well travelled. He seemed to have been everywhere and to have seen far more than the average fun-seeking tourist.
    And she was a good listener. Normally on flights Nick slept. But her obvious interest in what he had to say kept him awake, and it was with a little start of surprise thathe heard the announcement that they could fasten their seat belts in preparation for the landing.
    â€˜It’s conversation,’ he told her. ‘Seems to cut the travel time in half.’
    Lucy laughed. ‘I wouldn’t know. The last time I went abroad was years ago, and even then it was to the Med. Not exactly the longest flight in the world. I’ve never been further afield.’ She paused and then confided, ‘Dad was never a great believer in throwing money away on long-haul holidays.’
    â€˜Is that why you’re always such a sensible little thing?’ Nick asked, knowing that his indulgent reference to her stature would make her hackles rise. It would also, he thought, reassure her that his motives were entirely innocent, despite his leading conversation earlier on. He could have kicked himself for falling into the trap of talking about her boyfriend.
    Dammit, he had brought her over here to forget about him! But something inside him compelled him to elicit everything he could about the nice, unadventurous, stunningly dull Robert, as he liked to think of him.
    â€˜I’m not sensible all of the time!’ Lucy snapped obligingly, only realising that he had been pulling her leg when he shot her an amused, crooked smile, to which she responded with a sheepish smile of her own.
    â€˜Why are you so provocative?’ she asked sternly and he laughed.
    â€˜I like to see you blush,’ he admitted honestly. ‘Even the freckles on your nose look outraged.’ He lightly traced the bridge of her nose with one finger and her breath caught in her throat.
    â€˜That’s wicked.’ Her voice sounded shaky, at least to her own ears, and she hoped that he didn’t notice.
    â€˜I’m a wicked man,’ Nick murmured, which sent her pulses into further overdrive.
    â€˜In which case, I wonder why you didn’t bring your date here with you to keep you company.’
    â€˜Date? What date?’ The frown he gave her was one of genuine puzzlement.
    â€˜The leggy brunette who was waiting for you at your table when you