Rival Attractions & Innocent Secretary(38)

'Konbanwa,' Emma said, wishing Kasumi a good evening.

On Luca's instructions she had been learning Japanese in what could  loosely be called her spare time. On the drive to work or to visit her  father she practised the difficult language with some CDs Luca had lent  her-but after six weeks she was still on level one!

'Have a pleasant day,' Kasumi returned the greeting, but as Luca strode  into the room, Emma realised that the calm, unruffled Kasumi wasn't  impervious to his charms either. On the vast screen above the meeting  room Emma watched as the other woman's pale cheeks turned pink-and who  could blame her? Luca didn't just stride into the meeting room and bid  her a brief good morning. No, he walked in and stood and gave her his  full attention, bade her good morning and chatted in rather impressive  Japanese, managing to keep full-on eye contact that would make any woman  squirm-and then he treated Kasumi to one of his rare laughs.

'And that, I'm afraid, is as far as I can go!'

'You did very well.' Kasumi smiled. 'Your Japanese is improving.'

'A bit,' Luca agreed. Walking to his desk and seeing Emma's slightly  rigid lips, he turned back to the screen, catching Kasumi's waiting eyes  again as thick heat flared in Emma's throat. 'Saifu o otoshimashita,'  Luca said, and Kasumi started to giggle. 'Isha o yonde kudasai,' he  added, to Kasumi's obvious delight, and Emma was appalled at the  prickles that rose on the back of her neck, at her indignation at their  obvious flirting while she was in the room. Well, she wouldn't show it,  of course; instead, she poured his water and checked that the meeting  was being recorded, as no doubt Luca offered promises of dinner and  breakfast in bed on his next trip to Japan, or whatever it was that was  making Kasumi giggle so.                       
       
           



       

Still, the skittish giggles from the, oh, so professional Kasumi soon  faded as her boss entered the room, but it was Emma's cheeks that were  still flaming even after she discreetly left the meeting room.

'Everything okay?' Evelyn checked as Emma collected some files for the rescheduled HR meeting.

'Everything's fine,' Emma said, forcing a smile, only everything wasn't  fine. She was unsettled, restless-angry even-and she didn't want to  acknowledge why. Taking her chair in the meeting, she eyed the pale pink  blooms of an impressive display of orchids-Luca's choice of flowers for  the week-her teeth grinding against each other as she choked on that  alien emotion. It was jealousy that had flared when he had spoken with  Kasumi, and it had no place in her life.

He was a rake, a born flirt, a serial heartbreaker and a self-confessed  playboy. He'd crush her in the palm of his hand. Well, Kasumi was  welcome to him-they all were. She'd been right to say no to his  ridiculous offer. If she accepted it, well, her job would be as good as  over. Whatever Luca had implied about nothing sexual happening between  them while they were away, Emma didn't believe it for a second. And Luca  didn't like looking at his mistakes afterwards. Evelyn had warned her  of that from the beginning.

Yes, she'd been right, but then why at night did she lie there thinking,  wishing it could be different, wishing she could pluck up the courage  to say yes?

* * *

Her head buzzing from the HR meeting, she returned to find several  personal calls that needed to be returned-and not one of them brought  her joy.

The interested vendor that had been through her house at the weekend had put in a bid-on a different house.

And, though he insisted he wanted to help, her brother Rory had just  found out that his child maintenance to his ex-wife had been increased,  so, sorry, no, he couldn't.

'Rory!' Emma snapped. 'We agreed when we chose this home for Dad that we'd cover the fees between us until the house sold!'

'That was before we found out how much of a mortgage Dad had on the  house. Look, Em, even if the house does sell, it's not going to keep him  there for ever. He's only in his sixties. I've been talking with the  boys and maybe we should look for somewhere cheaper … '

They'd do it, too.

As Emma hung up on her brother, she knew without a doubt that they'd do  it-would move him from a home where he was, for the most part, happy, if  it meant they could get their hands on some cash.

And then the nursing home rang to say that her father had been asking for her all morning.

'He's fine,' the nurse assured her. 'Just a touch anxious … '

'Look, I know I haven't been in as much recently.' Emma closed her eyes in exhaustion. 'It's not that I don't want to.'

'We're not trying to make you feel guilty,' the nurse said. 'You asked  that we keep you up to date, and though he is confused, well … he does  notice that you're not visiting as often as you were.'

'Tell him that I'll be in soon,' Emma said.

'Can I tell him when?'

They didn't mean to make her feel guilty-except guilty was exactly how she felt.

And at times it was completely overwhelming.

She pressed her fingers into her eyes in a bid to stem the tears, stem  the urge to just throw in the towel, to let her brothers sort out the  mess. To stop caring about a father who had treated her so poorly in the  past.

When the house did sell, she'd be homeless. Oh, the profits from the  sale would cover the overdue fees of the home, but it was the backlog of  debt that was giving her nightmares.

'Problem?' Emma jumped, unsure how long Luca had been watching her.

'Not at all … ' She forced a smile. 'The meeting went well; I'll write up a report and get the information to you.'

'I wasn't talking about the HR meeting.' Luca frowned. 'Is anything wrong?'

'Nothing,' Emma said, then realising what he'd seen she relented. 'I've got a bit of headache, that's all.'

'My housekeeper's not well.'

'Oh!' Emma blinked, reaching for the phone. 'Did you want me to ring the agency and arrange a replacement?'

'I'll survive for a day,' Luca said magnanimously, 'but I am going to be  flying to Japan this afternoon. Evelyn's coming with me, she's gone  home to get ready, so can you go over to my apartment and pack for me?'

It was a strange byproduct, Emma had realised, of being rich and in  demand-there was very little personal in his personal life. There was a  whole army of people ensuring that every minute of his valuable time was  put to best use. Letting herself into his vast, luxurious apartment a  little later, Emma bent down and went to stroke Pepper, who duly growled  a warning, then waddled to the huge glass sliding door to be let out.  Emma wandered out onto the balcony and stared at the spectacular view of  the Thames, before setting to work. She headed into the bedroom,  opening her organiser and locating the list that would tell her what was  required for a two-night international business trip.                       
       
           



       

All the information was there in her folder.

His immaculate suits and shoes were packed, as was his equally  immaculate casual wear, and then she opened his underwear drawer to see  neat rows of folded hipsters and socks as if they were on display in an  exclusive store. There was nothing personal about the choices she  made-the list saw to that. These cufflinks were preferred with this tie  and shirt, these shoes with that suit …  It just felt personal, that was  all.

'Hey!' Emma jumped as Luca walked into the bedroom unannounced, blushing  as she held a handful of his hipsters. It just seemed wrong somehow to  be going through his underwear drawer, even though it was her job to be  in there.

He was completely at ease with it, of course.

Just kicked off his shoes and lay on the bed, chatting on his phone as  Emma walked through to the sumptuous bathroom to pack his toiletries and  to try and not listen as he made a couple of personal calls-cancelling  his plans for the next couple of nights and, by the sound of it,  breaking a couple of hearts in the process.

'Why?' Luca asked as she came back into the bedroom with his toiletry  bag and was finishing off his packing, 'when I say I'm going to Japan,  do they think it has something to do with them-why would they think that  I'm lying?'

'Because you usually are,' Emma pointed out.

'Well, I'm not this time.' He ran lazy eyes over her, taking in the  smudges under her eyes, the vague distraction that slightly displaced  her more usual sunny nature. 'What's wrong, Em?'

'Ms Stephenson to you!' Emma instantly pulled him up, refusing, just  refusing as she always did with him, to cross the line. 'But you can  call me Emma.'

'What's wrong, Emma? And don't give me that rubbish about a headache.'

'Nothing's wrong,' Emma insisted.

He lay back on the bed, closed his eyes and gave a low laugh.

'Now that I've stopped, I realise I have a headache too!"

He did-right there at the front of his head. He could hear the sounds of  her packing, and it would be so incredibly easy to just close his eyes  and sleep. He didn't want to go to Tokyo. Incredibly, and not for the  first time lately, he could hardly stomach the thought of the flight.