‘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.’