First Love, Last Love by Carole Mortimer Read Free Book Online Page B

Rolls-Royce. A Rolls is so—so—’
    ‘Respectable,’ he supplied mockingly. ‘It’s meant to be. This car is for my own pleasure, it certainly wouldn’t impress people with my reliability and good sense.’
    ‘Maybe not,’ Lauri agreed. ‘But it’s much nicer.’ And made him appear more human!
    He bowed mockingly. ‘I’m glad you approve,’ he drawled.
    The car seemed to be eating up the miles and already they were well out of London. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked curiously.
    His mouth turned back. ‘Somewhere where my business suit and your denims won’t look too out of place.’
    Lauri flushed, her good humour forgotten. ‘How was I to know I would be lunching with the exalted Alexander Blair?’ she snapped. ‘If I’d known I would have—’
    ‘Dressed exactly the same,’ he interrupted smoothly. ‘At my request.’
    Her eyes widened. ‘You—your request?’
    ‘Mm. You look lovely in denims, Lauren, much better than any other female I know.’
    ‘Oh.’ She blushed profusely.
    He gave a sudden burst of laughter. ‘Don’t tell me I’ve actually rendered you speechless. I don’t believe it!’
    But he had. His sudden compliment had come as acomplete surprise to her. There was no doubt that it had been a compliment, the warmth in those startling blue eyes as he looked at her made it impossible for it to be anything else. Alexander Blair had paid
her
a compliment!
    ‘I can see I have,’ he mused. ‘Amazing! I can see I’ll have to take advantage of this temporary loss of voice on your part—and I feel sure it can only be temporary—by telling you that it was my suit I felt would be out of place. A necessary evil during business hours, I’m afraid.’
    But it was such a nice suit, its fit and cut superb, the cream colour emphasising the dark tan he had acquired on his recent trip to America. Lauri found herself staring at him, unashamedly admiring his good looks. It seemed she saw him for the first time, always too angry before to realise just how devastatingly attractive his features were, or to realise how potent was the sexual aura he seemed to emit from every pore of his body. But now she was aware of it, too much so in fact. She looked away, confused by her own sudden weakness towards a man she had thought she disliked.
    ‘Lauren?’ his husky query made her tremble with her new awareness of him. ‘Lauren?’ he prompted again at her continued silence.
    She frowned. ‘Why do you call me that? I told you that everyone calls me Lauri.’
    ‘I’m not everyone,’ he told her softly. ‘I don’t want to be grouped with the herd.’
    She almost laughed at the ridiculousness of that statement. He could never be anything but the forceful individual that he was. ‘But no one else bothers to call me Lauren,’ she persisted.
    ‘Exactly.’ He was out of the car and helping her out of her side before she had hardly had time to realise they had even stopped. ‘Come on, let’s eat.’
    Lauri saw they had stopped outside an attractive little pub, several tables and chairs standing in the picturesque garden at the back. It was to one of these tables that Alexander Blair led her.
    ‘What would you like to drink?’ he asked once she was seated. ‘I’ll bring the menu back with me.’
    ‘How do you know they serve food?’ She hadn’t seen any sign up to say they did.
    He smiled. ‘I’ve been here before.’
    ‘Oh.’
    ‘With my sister,’ he supplied tauntingly.
    ‘Your
sister?
’
    ‘Yes.’ He was openly laughing at her now. ‘She lives a couple of miles from here. Your drink?’ he prompted.
    ‘Lemonade, please,’ she requested reluctantly.
    ‘
Lemonade?
’ His disgust was obvious.
    ‘I—I can’t drink at lunchtime, it gives me a headache, and I can’t work properly in the afternoon when that happens.’
    ‘In that case I’ll get the lemonade,’ he teased. ‘I can’t have one of my employees slacking.’
    ‘I—I’ll just have a sandwich to eat, thank