Page 18 of The Tycoon's Shock Heir

He was beginning to recognise her little signatures: the overly bright smile, the wide-eyed stare, the happy to help tone in her voice. Those little idiosyncrasies could pull a man under if he wasn’t careful.

‘I’m sure everything will work out for you, Ruby,’ he said. ‘Even if it’s not performing on the stage there must be other things you can do with the company—assuming you want to stay with them? Education or... I don’t know, maybe you want to see a bit more of the world? Aren’t there jobs in other companies?’

‘Of course there are, but I’m not exactly in a position to plan anything yet. It all depends on what my consultant says next month.’

‘And if you get the all-clear would you move? Is there anything—or anyone—holding you here?’

‘I don’t have anyone special in my life if that’s what you mean?’

‘That’s exactly what I mean.’

She screwed up her face. ‘My track record with men isn’t exactly my strong suit. I’ve never been much for socialising, and this injury has completely drained me—so, no, there’s no one special in my life.’

‘My track record with women isn’t exactly my strong suit either.’

Her lips curled into a mocking smile. ‘For completely different reasons.’

‘So the press would have you believe,’ he said, grateful for the arrival of the waiters. He didn’t particularly want to go into any of his relationship back story with her. Nor did he want to know hers. Sharing all that stuff gave out the wrong signals—as if he cared, as if there was going to be a future between them.

They sat silently at the circular table, watching as napkins were flicked and laid over their laps, as platters of cheese and meat, olives and artichokes and glistening melon were laid down and wine sloshed gaily into their glasses.

All the while her eyes widened, and in the candlelight the hollows of her cheeks seemed to deepen and the column of her throat lengthen as she sat forward to stare at each plate.

Finally the waiters bowed and left.

‘Tuck in,’ he said, steepling his fingers and watching as she began to eat, cutting cubes of melon and ham slowly at first, swallowing delicately, then devouring them and washing it down with sips of wine.

It satisfied something deep within him that he was able to provide food for her. He’d taken dozens of women to dinner, and never once before had he ever taken such pleasure in watching anyone eat. She was fresh and new and lovely and she didn’t care about what the all the others cared about. She hadn’t shown any interest in the jet or the car, or the people who clambered all over him to get their picture taken. She genuinely wanted to make him like the ballet and the dancers. She cared.

He knew that feeling. It was buried deep inside him. The passion for his game, the hunger to train and win. The drive to get better and better and then the ultimate payback: the chance to play for his country.

He would never forget that soaring feeling of joy when the coach had pulled him aside and told him he was under consideration. He hadn’t even told his parents—only Sophie. She’d been the only one he’d trusted, the only one who had known what it meant to him.

But that was all in the past now. Even if he hadn’t had the heart ripped out of him, he was never going to be able to dedicate himself to rugby again. Not with a widowed mother and a bank to pull back from the brink. His family pride as well as billions in sterling, euros and Swiss francs were in the balance. There was no possible way he could turn his back on that and run out onto a muddy field.

Sometimes money sickened him. Greed climbed inside people’s souls and turned them black. Like Claudio. The man had always been rich in his own right, but he wanted even more than money. And look where that had got them all.

He looked up to see Ruby sitting back from the table with a happy, sated smile.

‘Is that better?’

She beamed, revealing her dimples to him. ‘Oh, yes, thank you. It was delicious.’

‘That was just the starter. You’ve got space for more?’ he asked as the table was cleared and restocked with all sorts of sharing plates of pasta, fish and salad.

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