She looked about the magnificent lobby as Luke signed them in with his usual brusque efficiency. If this was Philippe Robard's standard then Luke had been right to insist on a change of image for her!
Luke gave no sign of appreciating the luxurious surroundings. He allowed Kate a bare five minutes to comb her hair before whisking her off to their meeting with Philippe Robard.
`Now, remember,' he said as they waited for the doorman to find them a taxi, `you're to be pleasant and charming. I don't want to hear you lecturing Robard about his manners!'
`I wouldn't dream of it,' Kate said loftily.
`Oh, wouldn't you?' Luke snorted. `Just smile and be nice, that's all I ask. Let's have a look at you…' He turned her to face him and subjected her to a critical inspection, from the gleaming hair to the smart new tan shoes. The soft lines of the skirt and jacket gave her an easy elegance, and the warm colours flattered her fine skin and reflected the tawny brown of her eyes.
Kate waited for him to find something to criticise, but he turned abruptly away as the taxi drew up. `You look all right,' was all he said.
Philippe Robard was a slight man of about sixty with an aloof, patrician face. He greeted them courteously and introduced his son, Xavier, who gazed at Kate with frank admiration as he shook her hand. He was darkly handsome with olive skin and caressing eyes, and Kate could feel Luke stiffen with disapproval. Next to the two stylish Frenchmen, he looked massive and granite-hard.
After the initial exchange of courtesies they soon got down to business. It was a tough meeting, and it was clear that Philippe Robard was quite as shrewd a negotiator as Luke. They spoke in French, which meant that Luke could understand and put across the simple facts, but he left Kate to translate the more complex ideas.
Winning a contract like this was not going to be easy, Kate realised as she explained how LPM worked to Philippe and Xavier. Mindful of what Luke had said, she made a special effort to smile and be charming, until even Philippe's stern features relaxed. Xavier was clearly even more impressed. He kept his warm brown eyes on her face, and smiled charmingly back at her.
Kate was very conscious of Luke sitting beside her. There was a coiled tension about him as he leant forward to show Philippe and Xavier photographs of the better-known projects LPM had completed, and she wondered just how much winning this contract meant to him. He was arguing persuasively, but she knew him well enough by now to be able to tell that he was keeping a simmering anger in check. Kate was mystified. She couldn't imagine what he had to be angry about. The meeting was going well, better even than they had hoped.
Xavier caught her eye and smiled as Luke sat back in his chair, and she smiled politely back. Privately she thought he should be studying Luke's figures instead of hers, but Luke had insisted that she be nice, so she had better not spoil things now. Still wondering about Luke, she glanced at him, only to encounter such a blazing look that her eyes widened in surprise.
Philippe chose that moment to rise. `I regret that I have another appointment now,' he said in heavily accented English, `but perhaps we may continue this very interesting discussion this evening?'
`Of course.' Luke got to his feet too. `I hope that you will both be my guests for dinner?' His glance included Xavier, but without much enthusiasm.
`Miss Finch will be there too?' Xavier asked, with another flashing smile at Kate. `Naturally,' Luke said curtly.
`In that case, it will be a real pleasure!'
Outside, the street was crowded with shoppers. Luke set off down the pavement, barely waiting to see if Kate was following. His face was set in forbidding lines, his jaw thrust forward angrily.
`The meeting seemed to go quite well,' Kate ventured, hurrying to keep up.
`We haven't got the contract yet,' he pointed out grumpily.
`Well, no, but I think they were impressed.'
`Oh, they were impressed all right, but I suspect it was more by those big smiles of yours than by anything I might have had to say! I'm not denying that I want this contract badly, but there's no need to offer yourself on a plate for it!'
Kate's jaw dropped, and she stopped dead in the middle of the pavement. `What on earth do you mean?'
'Oh, come on, Kate! All those coquettish looks at Xavier, those little sidelong smiles. I must say, I never suspected you had quite such a talent for flirting!'
`Flirting?' It was so unfair that it took Kate a few moments to get her words out. `I was only being pleasant, as you asked-though ordered might be a more accurate word!'
`There's a difference between being pleasant and laying it on with a trowel!'
Kate's eyes were ablaze with gold as she stalked down the pavement. `Aren't you ever satisfied? You went on and on and on about how I had to be charming, so I was. I smiled and was nice, just as you ordered, and now you turn round and accuse me of flirting! I suppose if I hadn't smiled I'd have been deliberately jeopardising your chances?'
`You didn't do all that much for them, sitting there making eyes at that creep Xavier, either!' Luke snapped, striding along beside her. `God only knows what Robard thought!'
`What should he think? That you had a pleasant and efficient secretary to act as your interpreter, that's all!'
`Yes, one who did her best to distract his son from the details of the proposals! I wouldn't be surprised if Robard thought I'd asked you to do it deliberately because I didn't think the proposal would stand up to much scrutiny. You and Xavier spent so much time smiling at each other that he didn't have a chance to look at the details!'
`He smiled at me, I smiled back! What was I supposed to do, put a bag over my head?'
The tension that had simmered between them all day had flared into anger out of all proportion to what had happened. Kate was beside herself with fury. She had done exactly as Luke had asked, and what thanks did she get? He was totally unreasonable; anyone would think he was jealous, the way he was carrying on! If she had any guts she would tell him just what he could do with his job and get the first train back to Dijon. Let him win his precious contract without her!
Storming onwards, Kate stepped off the pavement without thinking, only to find herself hauled back by an iron hand as a battered Renault shot past with a squeal of tyres, a blast of horn and a rude gesture out of the window.
`For God's sake, look where you're going!' Luke shouted at her. `You could have been killed!'
Kate struggled to free her arm, but Luke kept a firm hold of it as he looked pointedly each way to check that nothing was coming and then marched her across the road.
`Let go of me!'
`You might at least thank me for saving your life!'
'Quite frankly, I don't feel like thanking you for anything at the moment.' Kate managed to shake her arm free at last. `In fact, I don't feel like talking to you at all until you're more reasonable.' She turned towards a side-street. `I'll see you back at the hotel.'
`You're here on business, not pleasure, Kate,' Luke said dangerously. `That means you don't just flounce off on your own without asking!'
`I'm your secretary, not your slave. I'm entitled to some free time.'
A muscle worked in Luke's jaw. `Oh, very well, if you must! There's no point in trying to do any work when you're in this kind of mood. Just make sure you're not late, and come back in a better temper!'
He was a fine one to talk about temper, Kate thought savagely as she stalked off. Muttering to herself about Luke, she hardly noticed where she was going until she found herself unexpectedly on boulevard Haussmann. Determined not to go back to the hotel until the last minute, she went into one of the large department stores that lined the street.
She emerged some time later, clutching a large carrier-bag, a defiant glint in her eyes. If Luke thought that she was set on flirting she would show him just what she could do when she tried!