‘I’m not ashamed,’ she returned, back under control now. ‘But, as you can see, the salon is rather busy this morning—’
‘Have lunch with me?’ Nick cut in determinedly.
Joey almost laughed at the incongruity of the suggestion; lunch with a building labourer, and dinner with a powerful American banker. Could the two men be any more different? Although she knew which one she preferred!
‘Haven’t you missed enough work already for one day?’ she reasoned. ‘Even though you don’t work for Dominic Mason, I’m sure your boss can’t be this understanding!’
Nick shrugged unconcernedly. ‘I do more than my fair share of work,’ he dismissed. ‘Lunch, Joey,’ he said again. ‘You look as if you need a break from here. And something to eat might do you some good too,’ he added grimly.
It probably would; she had been too upset to do more than drink a cup of coffee before leaving the house this morning. But did she want to have lunch with this man? A man whose touch she could still feel, minutes later, tingling up the length of her arm…?
One look at his determinedly set face told her that she really didn’t have a lot of choice about it, that Nick wouldn’t leave here until he had her agreement to meet him for lunch.
She sighed heavily. ‘There’s a sandwich bar just down the road. I’ll meet you in there at one o’clock.’
‘A sandwich bar,’ he repeated drily. ‘Can’t we do better than that?’
They probably could. But, like her, he probably had a pretty tight budget—especially after his ‘heavy date’ the evening before! Besides, the way she felt at the moment, she wouldn’t do justice to more than a sandwich.
‘I only have an hour for lunch; a sandwich will be fine,’ she insisted.
‘Non-negotiable, hmm,’ he realised knowingly.
‘Non-negotiable.’ Joey agreed with a brief smile.
‘Then it will have to do.’ Nick nodded. ‘One o’clock. Don’t be late, or I’ll come looking for you,’ he warned in parting.
Joey stared after him, wondering how on earth she had got herself into this situation. One minute the man had been a written-off bad debt, and the next she found herself with a date to meet him for lunch!
She had thought yesterday was a bad day, but this one didn’t look as if it was going to be any better!
CHAPTER THREE
‘COME on, Joey, choose a sandwich,’ Nick encouraged smilingly as she continued to study the menu, despite the hovering waitress. ‘The government doesn’t take this long to make a decision!’
The problem was, she didn’t feel like eating anything. As the morning had progressed the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach had deepened—and it had nothing to do with hunger. Being forced into meeting this man for lunch was guaranteed not to improve that hollowness.
After Nick had gone this morning she had spent at least ten minutes remonstrating with herself for being badgered into having lunch with him at all—although she didn’t doubt for a moment that he would carry out his threat to ‘come looking for her’ if she didn’t turn up. His presence at the salon this morning had already created enough speculation, without adding to it.
She closed the menu. ‘Just cheese on brown bread. Oh, and a cappuccino,’ she told the waitress with a smile.
‘It took you ten minutes to decide that?’ Nick teased once they were alone again.
Joey didn’t know how he had spent the intervening three hours, but he looked just as clean and tidy now as he had at ten o’clock this morning. Not that it mattered to her what he had been doing, she hastily told herself. Except she was starting to become intrigued in spite of herself, was totally aware of everything about Nick…
Which, in the circumstances, was ridiculous. She already had enough to contend with without having to deal with Nick as well. It was amazing, really; there hadn’t been a man even on the most distant horizon for over two years, and just when she least needed the complication Nick decided to force his way into her life. Next time a man asked to have his hair cut after hours she would just say the salon was closed and have done with it!
‘Is it because you’re having to close the salon?’ Nick prompted gently.
Joey stopped pleating the tablecloth between agitated fingers, looking up at him. ‘Sorry?’
‘You’re frowning again,’ he explained lightly. ‘I wondered if your obvious lack of sleep last night was due to worry over relocating your salon?’
She grimaced. ‘Amongst other things.’
Although, in all honesty, she hadn’t given the problem of the salon another thought after David Banning’s visit the evening before. Closing down and relocating the salon paled into insignificance when compared with trying to guess the reason David Banning had come all the way from America to see her. Or, rather, not her; he had obviously come to see Lily. Which was even more worrying.
‘Other things?’ Nick prompted softly.
Joey gave the slightest beginnings of a smile. ‘You’re very astute.’
‘For a rough and ready building worker,’ he added drily.
She gasped. ‘I didn’t say that—’
‘You didn’t have to.’ He grinned. ‘It was there in the surprised tone of your voice.’
‘Sorry.’ She gave an awkward shrug, totally disarmed by the effect his grin was having on her. In any other circumstances—But, no, she must concentrate on the problem at hand, not create more for herself.
‘So tell me what “other things”,’ Nick encouraged huskily. ‘I can keep a secret. Honest,’ he added persuasively.
‘Most men can,’ Joey acknowledged drily. ‘It’s the one thing they’re really good at!’
‘Ouch!’ Nick winced at her scathing tone. ‘I gather from that remark that you’ve met more than your fair share of male chauvinist pigs? Or is that term out of fashion now?’ he added derisively.
She smiled. ‘I believe we just refer to them all as selfish bastards nowadays.’
He raised dark brows. ‘Not very flattering to their mothers.’
Joey instantly sobered. ‘No,’ she acknowledged hardly, inwardly wondering whether, when the baby was born, if it had been a boy instead of a girl Daniel would have taken more interest than he had. After all, a boy would have been the Banning heir…
But it was no good wallowing in such conjecture; the baby had been her beautiful, totally adorable Lily, and now Daniel himself was dead, anyway. Without ever having seen his daughter…
She drew in a ragged breath, deliberately meeting the warmth of the enquiring brown gaze across the table from her own. ‘I’m a single mother,’ she stated flatly.
‘Ah,’ Nick murmured with a slow nod of his head.
As if he finally had the answer to all his questions, Joey thought bad-temperedly. Which was ridiculous. Dozens of women brought children up on their own these days. For many reasons.
‘Ah, nothing,’ Joey snapped, leaning back slightly so that the waitress could place their sandwiches and drinks down in front of them. ‘Being a single mother has its problems,’ she conceded. ‘But it also has its benefits,’ she added determinedly.
‘Such as?’ Nick prompted interestedly, before taking a hungry bite of the club sandwich he had ordered for himself.
‘Such