Page 30 of A Wedding Negotiation with Her Boss

When she looked at the brand-new suitcase containing the brand-new outfits for three days of a brand-newher, however, her stomach did a few nervous flips and she broke out in a cold sweat.

Because, as well as telling her that she would have to buy some more stuff to tide her through the next three days, Gabriel had also informed her that it might be an idea to think about him when she was choosing what to buy.

‘Why would I do that?’ Helen had asked, instantly walking into the trap he’d set for her.

‘Because,’ he had murmured with silky smoothness, ‘bearing in mind you shot down my opporunity to avoid this situation, we’re going to have to present a convincing façade to Arturio and his wife and whatever assorted crowd we’re going to meet.’

He’d looked at her carefully then, and said in a low, deadly, serious voice, ‘This means a lot to me. Not just the deal—buying a vineyard, however much money I make from it, is just something to add to my portfolio. But you can’t buy family connections. We are where we are and it’s important that we are convincing.’

‘I get it, Gabriel,’ Helen had said with gruff honesty. She wondered whether he realised just how many inroads had been made into the barriers between them. She thought of his husky, passing confidences, uttered with such sincerity, and her heart clenched.

‘He has no idea what sort of clothes your girlfriends like to wear.’ She had moved the conversation on, half-smiling, when she remembered the last outfit she had seen Fifi wear to the office—cling-film-fitting hot-pink gym gear, only to be worn by the bold and adventurous, neither of which was Helen.

‘Ah.’ He had shrugged. ‘Butyouknow, and it’s going to be more convincing if he sees my eyes light up the minute my soul mate and partner walks into the room.’

Their eyes had tangled and for a few seconds Helen had felt the ground unsteady under her feet, but then the moment had passed and normality had been re-established.

They would be flying out together the following morning, arriving only slightly later than Arturio and Isabella, who had already left. They had no idea where exactly they would end up because the vineyards had already been visited and looked at from every angle by Gabriel and his highly experienced team of professionals.

They could have waited but, Gabriel has explained with a shrug, it would be less of an interruption to follow in their wake than if they were to return to London, wait a while and then make the trip over. Helen had seen exactly where he was coming from. If appearances had to be maintained, then there was no point prolonging the situation.

But did he honestly expect her to dress the part of one of his flamboyant girlfriends, when he knew that she was someone who seldom strayed far from sobriety when it came to choosing outfits? He’d really only seen her in work stuff, and here in sensible informal clothes.

So much straying from the norm had happened, though, in the past few days... How did he see her now?

It was an alluring thought—exciting.

He wanted her to “dress the part”—well, why not? That was what had gone through her head when she had sprinted from boutique to boutique, caught up between a sense of cavalier recklessness and the forbidden thrill of wondering whether she was doing the sensible thing. To heck with common sense, for once!

She was less convinced of that particular response now that she was facing the reality of she and Gabriel, and this crazy farce, even though it would only be for a very short while.

There was a knock on the door, and she sprang into action. Gabriel was swinging by for her and they would head to the airport together.

Before pulling open the door, she paused to eye her reflection and was pleased with what gazed back at her. She saw comfortable clothes, but classy with no expense spared, as befitting her new elevation to the role of ‘girlfriend of billionaire Gabriel de Luca’—a woman who worked hard but knew how to play as well, and was comfortable in the shiny world of the mega-rich.

A complete transformation. She’d felt guilty at the amount of money she had spent on a few outfits but, then again, playing the part with conviction wasn’t going to be a cheap exercise, and she knew him well enough to know that he would be quietly disapproving if she decided to skimp on cost.

He wanted flamboyance? Then he was going to get it. She’d shopped with his reaction in mind. But for the flight over she had gone for cool and elegant in loose linen culottes with a drawstring so that they slipped just a little down her narrow hips, and a sleeveless silk vest, both in shades of cream, and some tan loafers.

Gabriel had stood back and was glancing at his watch when the door was pulled open and, for a few seconds, surprise knocked him for six.

Because this was the first time he had seen his secretary in anything other than what he knew to be off-the-shelf, cheap, cheerful, comfortable clothes for blending into the background. He’d privately always suspected that she scoffed at the sort of expensive designer stuff his girlfriends paraded in. She oozed sophistication, from the willowy lines of her graceful body, to her proud carriage and the way she held herself.

This was a charade, but for a moment it flashed through his head that this was a woman he wanted the world to think was his.

‘All packed?’ His eyes wanted to linger, to take their time absorbing what they saw.

‘And ready to go,’ Helen said briskly. She nodded to the two cases on the ground. ‘I’m afraid I had to buy a case for the extra wardrobe.’

‘You could have bought an army of them if you wanted.’ He swung round and stood aside so that she could brush past him in a waft of highly feminine, floral scent.

Her hair was loose, and the sun and heat seemed to have lightened it. It fell in a shiny, streaky curtain to her shoulders.

‘I also have my laptop at the ready,’ she said, walking quickly past him and towards the reception area, where she knew their driver would be waiting. ‘I thought we might do some work on the trip over. Never mind this deal; I’ve had a few emails from that construction company poised to start work on the eco-village near Dundee...’

Before the rule book was completely tossed through the window, Helen did her best to remind them both that they worked together—first and foremost, whatever had happened.

Gabriel fell in step alongside her. Dundee... Eco-village...Right.That floral scent was penetrating his nostrils, blending with all the other floral scents outside. She was so unbearably fresh, andpretty, that it took his breath away.

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