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At the image of Abby standing there, beautiful blue eyes flashing while she set him straight, magnificent in her indignation and her efforts to hide it, a wave of heat surged through him, making his pulse spike and, to his frustration, his body harden.
Ruthlessly deleting the image, Leo reminded himself of the ice-cold shower he’d just taken, and as the lift doors opened and he stepped out he decided to delete the rest of the episode up there in his bedroom too, because how the hell was he supposed to get through this evening if he kept remembering how much he’d wanted to take her to bed?
Doing up the button of his dinner jacket, he strode in the direction of the venue for tonight’s celebrations, searching for the clarity of thought and steely self-control he’d always taken for granted and just about finding it.
There was nothing he could do to undo what had happened, he reasoned, but with any luck his and Abby’s paths wouldn’t cross again. She’d be working and he’d be doing the thanking of his staff and attempting—though probably failing—to dispense the festive cheer she’d mentioned. Once the evening was over he’d never have to think of her or his fifteen minutes of complete mental meltdown ever again.
Taking a certain amount of comfort from that, Leo felt the churning in his stomach subside and the mess in his head dissolve, and walked through the double doors that led into the room that was being used to serve drinks and canapés.
Inwardly wincing at the noise level—which had to be ten times anything he’d ever encountered on a building site—he accepted a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter, and set about draining it in the hope it might obliterate the memory of that humiliating half an hour in his bedroom.
‘Good of you to make it,’ came a dry, amused voice from his left that had him jolting mid-swallow and nearly choking on the champagne.
‘Thanks for that,’ said Leo, once he’d recovered from both the champagne going down the wrong way and his brother’s efforts to rectify the situation, which had involved a lot of back thumping and drink spillage.
‘Sorry,’ said Jake, not sounding in the slightest bit apologetic. ‘So what kept you?’
‘Jet lag,’ he muttered. ‘Knocked me for six.’
‘Ah. I did wonder. I thought you might be deliberately avoiding the party.’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘You hate them.’
That was true, but, ‘This isn’t a party,’ he said. ‘This is work.’
‘Try telling that to our guests.’
Leo swapped his empty glass for a full one, took a long gulp and forced himself to focus. ‘How’s it going?’ he asked, his gaze drifting over the throngs of people all drinking and eating and full of the Christmas spirit he found so hard to muster up while he identified staff members, clients, architects, planning officers and financiers among the guests, and resolutely did not look for a certain slim, strawberry blonde event organiser.
‘Pretty good so far.’ Jake helped himself to something that looked like a mini Yorkshire pudding. ‘Thanks to Abby,’ he added. ‘Whom you’ve met, I gather.’
‘I have,’ said Leo, annoyed with himself for being tempted to seek her out when she shouldn’t even be crossing his mind, and then thinking that actually ‘met’ wasn’t quite the word he’d have used. Insulted. That was probably an appropriate one. Or offended. That would work equally well.
‘What did you think of her?’
He thought she was gorgeous. Sexy. Very very beddable. ‘I didn’t think anything of her, particularly,’ he said, his voice not betraying a hint of the lie. ‘Why?’
Jake wiped his fingers on a napkin and grinned. ‘Just wondering.’
‘What do you think of her?’ asked Leo before he could stop himself.
‘She’s great. Extremely capable. Has a knack for knowing exactly what’s needed, a talent for solving problems with the minimum amount of fuss and a rare ability to stick to the budget. Plus, she’s single and incredibly hot.’
Leo felt his jaw tighten for a second but channelled nonchalance he really didn’t feel and said, as if he couldn’t give a toss, ‘Is she? I hadn’t noticed.’ Which was another lie because like hell he hadn’t.
Jake grinned. ‘No, well, you wouldn’t, would you? A dozen naked women could parade right in front of you and you’d be oblivious.’
‘I prefer subtlety.’
‘As I don’t, I might ask her for a dance later.’
‘Go for it,’ said Leo, just about managing not to grit his teeth.
‘Although I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if she said no.’
‘Why?’
When Jake didn’t immediately answer, Leo glanced over to find his brother looking at him questioningly. ‘What the hell happened up there?’
Hmm.
Leo picked up a tiny blini topped with sour cream and caviar and ate it slowly, largely to give himself time to work out how he was going to respond, because wasn’t that the question of the night? And one to which there was no answer, because for one thing he still hadn’t entirely worked it out, and for another, hell would freeze over before he shared the details of the misunderstanding that made him look like such a complete and utter fool with anyone, least of all his no-holds-barred brother.
‘What do you mean, what happened up there?’ he said evenly, deciding that bluffing was the only way through this. ‘Nothing happened up there.’
‘Right,’ said Jake, clearly not believing him for a second. ‘Then why did Abby come down looking like thunder?’
Leo shrugged and kept his eyes on the party. ‘No idea,’ he said and took another gulp of champagne.
‘What did you do?’
‘Why would you think I did anything?’
‘It’s that time of year. Makes you morose. Edgy. Unpredictable. But more than that, she was fine when I asked her to go up and find you.’
‘Maybe she had a call. Maybe something’s gone wrong with the catering. Who knows?’
There was a pause and Leo glanced at Jake to find him looking back shrewdly. ‘I think I might have some idea.’
Leo went still, his fingers tightening around the stem of his glass as his pulse sped up. Had Abby said something? Given Jake a minute-by-minute account of what had happened? And were there perhaps ramifications to what he’d done? Hadn’t people been sued for less?
‘Really?’ he said, hedging his bets but bracing himself for the worst.
Jake nodded. ‘Yup. She’s a perfectionist. She doesn’t like things to go wrong.’
‘No, well, what event planner would?’
‘So perhaps finding you passed out after a drinking session piqued her sense of responsibility and orderliness.’
Leo frowned and wondered if his brain was still on go-slow because what on earth was Jake on about? What drinking session? ‘Passed out?’ he echoed.
‘That was her guess.’
‘It was the wrong one.’
‘You should have mentioned the jet lag,’ said Jake dryly. ‘Then she might have been a little less disapproving.’
‘I doubt it,’ said Leo, wishing that his state of sobriety had been the only misunderstanding of the night.
‘Why, what else happened?’ said Jake, and Leo mentally kicked himself for forgetting that while his brother sometimes came across as being so laid-back he was horizontal, he also had a sky-high IQ and an irritating talent for zooming in on things that one might prefer to be glossed over.
‘There may have been a slight misunderstanding,’ he said, resigning himself to the knowledge that he was going to have to divulge at least something of the events of half an hour ago because Jake could be surprisingly tenacious when the mood took him.
‘What kind of misunderstanding?’
‘Nothing important, and it was cleared up.’
‘Did it involve me?’
‘Why would you think it involved you?’
‘Because when she was telling me you were on your way down she kept giving me the filthiest looks. It made me want to ditch the champagne and break into the bottle of single malt I was planning on giving to you.’
Leo went still. ‘Single malt?’
‘To drown your woes and cheer you up. The present I was talking about to get you through Christmas.’
‘That was the present?’
‘Of course. What else would I have meant?’
What else indeed? Damn. He really had got things wrong. Badly badly wrong.
‘Are you all right?’
Leo snapped back to find his brother watching him closely. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘You’ve gone pale and you’re frowning.’
‘I’m fine.’ Or he would be once he’d come to terms with the realisation that for the first time in years he’d abandoned logic, reason and self-control, and had basically totally lost his mind.
What the hell was wrong with him this evening? he wondered for what felt like the hundredth time. Was it really merely jet lag and the time of year? Or was he coming down with something? Something he’d picked up on his travels maybe?
More to the point, why was Jake looking at him like that?
‘Oh, my God,’ said his brother, his jaw dropping as his expression turned to one of disbelief. ‘You didn’t.’
‘I didn’t what?’
‘Think Abby was the present.’
‘Of course not,’ said Leo with a short laugh that didn’t sound as dismissive as he’d intended.
‘You did.’
‘Don’t be absurd.’
‘I’m not the one being absurd. You did. You really did. And you claim to prefer subtlety.’
As this was a conversation he really didn’t want to be having Leo ran a hand along his jaw, shifted his attention to the party going on in front of them and, in a probably pointless effort at distraction, said, ‘Did I mention how great this place looks? Excellent tree.’
‘Forget the decorations,’ said Jake, sounding astounded, incredulous and appalled. ‘How on earth could you think I’d ever do something like that?’
Leo arched an eyebrow and swung his gaze back to his brother. ‘Well, it wouldn’t be the first time, would it?’
Jake looked as stunned as if he’d thumped him in the stomach. ‘What?’
‘Remember the stripper?’
‘That was twelve years ago,’ said his brother, after a moment. ‘For a mate for his eighteenth birthday, and he’d specifically requested it. Don’t you think I might have matured a bit since then?’ He ran his hands through his hair and then shook his head in disbelief. ‘Jeez,’ he said, blowing out a breath. ‘Thanks for that. I think I might be seriously offended.’
‘I think Abby might have been too.’
There was another stunned silence as Jake stared at him apparently briefly lost for words. ‘You confronted her with it?’
Leo shrugged, keeping the cringing very firmly on the inside. ‘I wasn’t thinking straight. Half asleep, in fact. Disorientated. Like I said, jet lag.’
‘Not an excuse.’
‘I know.’
‘How did she take it?’
‘How do you think?’
Jake, who wasn’t nearly as good as Leo at containing his emotions, winced. ‘Did you apologise?’
‘Yes.’
‘And explain?’
‘I didn’t get the chance. She didn’t stick around.’
Now he thought about it, he hadn’t had a woman flee from him quite so fast since the excruciating afternoon exactly five years ago when Lisa had raced back down the aisle the wrong way, leaving him standing, jilted, at the altar. But he could hardly blame Abby. He’d probably been lucky to get away without a slap to the face.
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Jake.
‘Neither am I.’
There was a moment’s silence during which Jake, presumably struggling to come to terms with what had happened, gave his head a couple more shakes in disbelief. Then he sobered, fixed Leo with a look that spoke volumes and said, ‘So do you think it’s going to be a problem?’
‘Not if I can help it,’ said Leo darkly as a pair of doors swung open and dinner was announced.
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_df5ab083-f9e1-560f-a2b7-646b64b3ca7e)
FOR SOMEONE WHO didn’t merit a moment’s thought, Leo was remarkably difficult to ignore.
