Forbidden Seductions: His Forbidden Passion / Craving the Forbidden / Girls' Guide to Flirting with Danger

She’d been curious, too, and he’d thought he could imagine the subsequent conversation between her and his mother. But he’d been so relieved that Cleo was home safely, nothing else had mattered.

‘Dominic; darling.’ Sarah’s voice was amazingly amicable in the circumstances. He’d have expected accusations and tantrums, but instead she sounded much the same as she always did. ‘What have you been doing? I’ve been trying to reach you for days.’

Dominic blew out a weary breath. ‘I’m sorry about that,’ he said evenly. ‘Was there something urgent you wanted to speak to me about?’

‘Nothing really, darling.’ Sarah was a little less conciliatory now. ‘Where have you been? I even asked your grandfather where you were, but he said he hadn’t seen you either.’

Did he, now?

Dominic’s jaw compressed. He wouldn’t have put it past the old man to make some provocative comment and enjoy the fallout.

But it seemed Jacob was prepared to let his grandson lead his own life, so long as it didn’t involve Cleo. And so long as he wasn’t expected to pick up the pieces if anything went wrong.

‘I’ve been pretty busy,’ he said at last, despising himself for prevaricating. He was going to have to be honest with her, so why not now?

But how the hell did you tell someone that you were in lust with another woman? That since meeting Cleo, he hadn’t been able to think of anyone else?

Besides, as he kept telling himself, this crazy infatuation would pass. It had to. Once Cleo returned to England, he’d get over this madness that was controlling his life.

If she returned to England.

He scowled. If his grandfather had his way, she’d only return there long enough to settle her affairs before returning to San Clemente and making her home here.

‘So what does that mean?’ Sarah’s voice was considerably cooler now. ‘I was under the impression that you had executive assistants and managers to handle the day-to-day operation of the company for you.’ She paused. ‘Or is what you’re really saying that you’re so busy with your grandfather’s houseguest that you haven’t got time for me?’

Dominic stifled a groan, raking a frustrated hand through the thickness of his hair. How was he supposed to answer that?

The truth was, she was right, but he couldn’t tell her that on the telephone. That was the cowardly way out, and, although he might be a bastard, he had no intention of deliberately hurting her.

‘OK,’ he said at last. ‘I suppose I have been neglecting you lately. But…’ He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to decide how best to proceed. ‘I knew you didn’t like Cleo—’

‘I didn’t say that.’

Sarah didn’t let him finish, and Dominic heaved a sigh. ‘You didn’t have to,’ he said. ‘That night at Magnolia Hill, you practically ignored her.’

‘All right.’ Sarah seemed to realise she couldn’t go on denying it. ‘I don’t like her. I admit it. You mother doesn’t like her either. All that fuss over one dinner party!’

‘A dinner party that was supposed to have been arranged to welcome Cleo to the island,’ retorted Dominic, feeling his control slipping again. ‘Not as a reason for you and my mother to sharpen your claws.’

‘Dominic!’

Sarah caught her breath now, and Dominic realised he’d gone too far.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said wearily. ‘That was a little harsh.’

‘A little?’

‘All right, a lot.’ He blew out a breath. ‘I’m sorry. I guess I’m not in the best of moods at the moment.’

Sarah hesitated. ‘Is it her; Cleo?’ she ventured after a moment. ‘I mean, I suppose it is pretty difficult for you, her staying at Magnolia Hill and all. You and your grandfather have always been so close, and if he’s thinking of making her his heir—’

‘Where the hell did that come from?’ Dominic demanded angrily.

But he knew. His mother. They were her words, not Sarah’s.

‘I just meant—’

‘Yeah, I know what you meant.’

Dominic’s tone was harsh, but somehow he managed to get a handle on his emotions. It wasn’t her fault and he had to stop behaving as if it was.

‘Look,’ he said, immediately regretting it, ‘are you free this evening?’

Sarah gasped. ‘I—I think so.’

‘Good.’ Dominic tamped down his disappointment. ‘Then how about we have dinner together? I’ve heard there’s a new restaurant opened on Bay Street—’

‘I’d prefer it if we could have dinner at Turtle Cove,’ Sarah interrupted him appealingly. ‘It seems ages since we’ve had dinner together. Just the two of us, you know. Alone.’

Dominic bit back an instinctive denial. ‘Why not?’ he conceded after a moment, realising it would be easier to talk without an audience. ‘Shall we say—eight o’clock? Eight-thirty?’

‘So late?’ Sarah was plaintive. But then, with a little sigh of resignation, she agreed. ‘Eight o’clock. I’ll look forward to it.’

‘Yeah.’ Dominic almost put down the receiver without responding. ‘Um—so will I.’

Cleo left the house by the back entrance.

She’d discovered there was a second staircase that descended to a rear lobby, and she’d become accustomed to using it whenever she didn’t want to encounter anyone else.

Which usually only happened after her grandfather had retired for the night.

During the day she’d adapted to life at Magnolia Hill very well, she thought. Perhaps the fact that there was a limit to the length of time she would stay here was a contributing factor.

As things stood, she’d made it plain to Jacob that she didn’t feel she belonged here. This was Serena’s home, not hers. And so far he seemed to have accepted that.

Consequently, her relations with the other women in the household had improved considerably. Since their confrontation over the lunch table, even Lily seemed to have revised her opinion of her. So much so that on a couple of occasions recently she’d actually thawed enough to ask Cleo about her life in England.

If Cleo suspected that Lily’s intention was to remind her of her roots, she didn’t say anything. And at least both women had stopped regarding her as a threat to their own positions in Jacob’s life. She didn’t think they thought she was a gold-digger any longer. And Jacob was so delighted to have her here that no one wanted to deny him his last chance of happiness.