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‘Of course,’ Poppy responded, grittily withholding the angry comment she wanted to make This was a business trip to Italy, she rerimly, and she intended to preserve a businesslike distance between them, if only to prove to James that she was not the adolescent child he constantly taunted her as being

Outside, his Jaguar glea sunshine As he opened the passenger door for her, Poppy could smell the rich, expensive scent of the car’s leather seats Chris and her mother, who, like James, were directors and shareholders in the coe to remind James of this fact was irresistible as he slid into the driver’s seat next to her and started the car

‘Very nice,’ she coertips ‘A perk of the job, I presume?’

‘No, as aas he swung the car into the traffic ‘It’s tiht yourself up to date with current tax laws, Poppy,’ he told her acidly ‘Even if I wanted to make use of e, the current tax penalties involved in owning an expensive co so’

Poppy could feel her face start to burn as she interpreted the e in the first part of his statement Unlike her, he did not have to benefit fro

Resent to be judged on her owncondemned because of her mother’s position as a shareholder? Hoould James like it if she pointed out to him that the only reason he was the company’s chairman was because of his father?

Poppy ainst the restriction of her seat belt, all too aware of how easily Jah he had the reputation within the co employer, noone disputed the fact that the company’s present success was due to his hard work And no ht demand of those orked for him it was never any more than he demanded of himself

The traffic was starting to build up as they got closer to the airport and already Poppy’s sto to clench nervously as she anticipated what lay ahead It was the moment of take-off she dreaded most; once that was over it was easier for her to relax

The spot in Italy where the conference was being held was three hours’ drive from the airport, whichthe better part of the day travelling She had brought soht—and to ensure that she didn’t have to talk to Ja how different things would have been if her travelling companion had been Chris a Chris as not married to Sally or anyone else, a Chris who—

Stop it, she warned herself sternly He isabout hi him

As she quickly blinked away the weak tears she could feel threatening her, she heard James say sardonically, ‘Poor Poppy, still hopelessly--in love with a et the i?’ he asked her savagely, the harshness in his voice shocking her almost as much as the cruelty of his accusation

‘That’s not true,’ she denied chokily

‘That’s not the iotiated the maze of slip-roads that led to the car park ‘In fact I’d say the role of self-pitying lover is one you’ve embraced with farreal love’

Poppy’s face burned hotly as he parked the car and opened his door She wasn’t going to dignify his co herself, she told herself fiercely Nor was she going to let James see how much they had hurt her

‘It’s no wonder that Chris prefers to take a real woman to bed,’ James told her cruelly as he opened her door for her and waited like a gaoler for her to get out

I am a real woman, Poppy wanted to protest Just as real as Sally, just as capable of giving love, of inciting passion and desire But was she? Was there so inherently fe froredient that made a woman lovable and desirable?

All the doubts about herself and her sexuality which had sprung into life with the news of Chris’s engagenored and denied suddenly rose up inside her, a fully armed enemy force which James’s words had carelessly set free from the prison in which she had concealed them

Did he know about the fears, the insecurities about her sexuality that these last ht? Poppy wondered numbly as she waited for him to remove their cases from the boot of his car