The Mistress Purchase by Penny Jordan

words he had used to describe her. Even if Raoul had been lying, the sum he had agreed to pay him for the business and the property was, in his opinion, on the dangerous side of generous—and he knew that his board would agree with him.
    Sadie would by virtue of her one-third holding in Francine receive one-third of that money. When he included in that sum the extra amount he had now offered, via Raoul, to pay in respect of Sadie giving up her own business to join the company, he was looking at a very large amount indeed—and Sadie’s share was well in excess of what he knew to be the value of the Grasse property.
    It was on the tip of his tongue to challenge her statement, and a small frown wrinkled his forehead as he contemplated what might lie behind Sadie’s seemingly artless comment.
    Could she actually be angling for him to offer to hand over the Grasse property to her? Somehow he hadn’t thought of her as a person who was either manipulative or grasping—unlike her cousin. But he was enough of a businessman to respect the fact that she was in a position where, if she chose to do so, she could set an extremely high value on her expertise.
    Unusually for Raoul, he had been unexpectedly and unhelpfully vague about what he thought Sadie’s financial requirements might be for joining Francine, and soLeon had sought the advice of a local firm of headhunters, asking them what the going rate for a person of Sadie’s skills would be. Once they had told him he had decided that in view of the fact she was giving up her stance on natural raw materials, and agreeing to create a new perfume, he had added a large extra amount onto the sum he had informed his legal team he would be paying her as a salary.
    If she was after the Grasse house as an additional ‘sweetener’, though, she was going to be disappointed!
    Aware of his unexpected and certainly unwanted withdrawal from her, but totally unaware of what Leon was thinking, Sadie questioned lightly, ‘Is something wrong?’
    â€˜No, nothing at all,’ Leon assured her smoothly. ‘If you’re ready, we ought to make a start. The mas is a good three hours’ drive away.’
    Relieved to see the sombre look replaced by a much warmer one, Sadie nodded her head.
    The tables on the open air terrace of the restaurant where they had eaten their breakfast were filling up with other guests now, and Sadie was glad that they’d eaten early enough to have virtually had the place to themselves.
    This hotel would make a wonderful venue for honeymoons, she acknowledged as she stood up and Leon came to pull her chair back for her. What with its spa facilities and suites with their own private hot tubs. If she and Leon were sharing such a suite…
    As he saw her eyes darken and her face flush, Leon wondered what it was that had brought that soft look to Sadie’s eyes and caused her sudden intake of breath.
    Standing close to her now, breathing in the warm scent of her, he wondered if he was being entirely wise in choosing to spend a whole day with her—especially afterlast night! And it wasn’t the fiercely passionate kiss they had exchanged before going their separate ways he was thinking about, but the hours afterwards, when he had lain awake in bed, aching for her so much that he’d had to grit his teeth against the sheer intensity of it, and will the hard, angry throb of his erection to subside.
    Â 
    When Leon picked up the keys for the hire car he had ordered from the foyer, the receptionist announced, ‘The hire car firm has asked me to apologise to you because unfortunately they have not been able to supply you with the car you requested. They have instead delivered a smaller one. Apparently there was a mix-up at the main office, and with Cannes being so busy with a big trade fair…’
    Sadie could see that Leon was frowning a little, and so she offered calmingly, ‘As there are only the two