Penny Jordan Collection(6)

                ‘So what? We’ll just have to increase this year’s funding,’                     Lloyd told her with typical laid-back geniality.

                ‘Lloyd,’ Sylvie protested, ‘you’re talking about an increase of                     heaven alone knows how many million dollars... The Trust...’

                ‘I am the Trust,’ Lloyd reminded                     her gently, and Sylvie had to acknowledge that he spoke the truth. Even so, she                     gave him an ironic look to which he responded by informing her loftily, ‘I’m                     just doing what I know the old man would have wanted me to do...’

                ‘By buying a decaying neoclassical pile in the middle of                     Derbyshire?’ Sylvie asked him dryly.

                And she was still shaking her head as Lloyd told her winningly,                     ‘You’ll love it, Sylvie...I promise you!’

                Cravenly Sylvie was tempted to tell him that she was far too                     busy and that he would have to find someone else to take charge of this                     particular project, but her pride—the same pride which had kept her going, kept                     her head held high and her spirit strong through Ran’s rejection of her and                     everything that had followed—refused to allow her to do so.

                This time she and Ran would be meeting on equal ground—as                     adults—and this time...this time...

                This time what? This time she wasn’t going to let him hurt her.                     This time her attitude towards him would be cool, distant and totally                     businesslike.

                This time...

                Sylvie closed her eyes as she felt the tiny shivers of                     apprehension icing down her spine. The last time she had seen Ran had been when                     he had unexpectedly turned up at the airport three years ago when she had been                     leaving England to finish her degree course in America. She could still remember                     the shock it had given her to see him there, the shock and the sharply sweet                     surge of helpless pleasure and longing.

                She had still been so vulnerable and naive then, a part of her                     still hoping that maybe, just maybe, he had changed his mind...his heart... But                     of course he had not. He had been there simply to assure himself that she was                     actually leaving the country and his life.