SOPHIE had woken up with an awful presentiment that the day wouldnât go well. From the moment sheâd squirted toothpaste all down the front of her pyjama top, to the near disaster when sheâd just narrowly escaped spilling a whole mug of coffee down the front of the âposhâ frock she was reluctantly wearing to her friend Dianaâs wedding, her nerves had been jangled. Okay, so she didnât like weddingsâhated them, in fact, but Diana was her closest female friend, and after a tumultuous year when her volatile relationship with Freddie was on one minute, then off the next, the least Sophie could do was show up and bear witness to the occasion.
But her luck, if she was going to be blessed with any at all todayâand Sophie was beginning to think that she wasnâtâjust seemed to get worse and worse. Sheâd made three-quarters of the journey to the register office in her car when thereâd been an awful spluttering hiss from the engine, then a pop, thenâ¦nothing, as it had finally given up the ghost and come to an undignified end by the side of the road. Sophie had had no alternative but to grab her coat and start walking to the register office. There was nobody she could ring for help because she wasnât covered for breakdown and, besides, wouldnât you know it? sheâd left her mobile phone on the hall table along with her purse as sheâd rushed out through the door. So she hadnât even been able to get a taxi.
Now, as she hurried across the grey London pavements grimly clutching her umbrella because it had been raining all morning, and was still raining, and just when she believed her luck couldnât get any worse, a gleaming black Rolls Royce swept past her into a puddle, which resembled a small reservoir, and all but drowned her in the backwash. Coming to a furious standstill as cold, muddy water dripped like sludge down the side of her fawn-coloured coat and turned her expensive matching shoes to a darker, grimier version of the concrete pavement, Sophie swore out loud. Not just onceâbut three times, in quick violent succession, each passionate utterance giving undisputed vent to her fury and indignation.
Narrowing her gaze, she saw to her surprise and satisfaction that the stately vehicle had slowed, then stopped at the side of the kerb. Not hesitating, she hurried towards it, her heart pumping with rage and her breath tight, her only concern that whoever was in there got a piece of her mind that they wouldnât soon forget. If Sophie had to arrive at her best friendâs marriage ceremony looking as if sheâd slept in a puddle beneath Waterloo bridge, then the occupant of that damned Rolls Royce was going to know that she prayed the same bad luck which had been visited on her today would dog the rest of his day.
She didnât for one moment doubt that the carâs owner would be male. Only a thoughtless, insensitive oaf would deliberately drive through a puddle when he could clearly see her walking on the pavement beside it. But when she reached the car, a silver-haired chauffeur stepped out and looked immediately contrite.
âIâm so sorry, miss. We were in a hurry and I didnât see that confounded puddle until it was too late.â
âWell, Iâm in a hurry, too, but you donât see me ruining someone elseâs day with my thoughtlessness, do you? You should have been more careful! Now what am I supposed to do?â Her freezing fingers curling stiffly around her umbrella handle, and the puddle that had soaked her shoes turning her feet to twin blocks of ice, Sophie had trouble keeping her teeth from chattering.
âGet back in the car, Louis. I donât have time for this. Weâre going to be late as it is.â
It was only at the sound of that coolly imperious voice that Sophie glanced into the passenger-seat window at the back of the car. Catching a glimpse of precision-cut wheat-blond hair and eyes as hard as flint, she felt a shiver run down her spine that had nothing to do with the cold or damp conditions she currently found herself in. The manâs rapier-like instruction to his chauffeur, delivered as if he didnât give a damn what had happened to Sophie as long as he got to where he was going, made her blood boil.
âHow dare you?â she shouted. âIâm standing here soaked to the skin, my outfit ruined, because your stupid car happened to drive straight through a puddle the size of the River Thames, and all you can do is think about yourself and your own comfort! Well, I hope you have the worst day ever, I really do! You donât even have the guts to step out and face me, do you? Never mind apologise!â
âMissâ¦let me help you. Iâm sure we could give you a lift to wherever youâre going. We couldââ
As the mortified chauffeur did his best to make amends for the ignorance of his boss, the passenger door suddenly opened and the man seated in the back of the car stepped out to gaze at Sophie with unconcealed disdain, as if she was an annoying drone buzzing around his dinner. He was very tall, and his height and breadth of shoulders alone, beneath his formal black coat, should have intimidated her. Green eyes, as crystal-clear and sharp as unflawed emeralds, studied her indignant features without so much as a flicker of emotion. None.