âFor heavenâs sake, Finn!â
Harriet protested, struggling to escape from his iron grip. Unfortunately, the more she twisted and turned, the more she found herself becoming entangled with the rumpled sheet. âHas it ever occurred to you that there might be some women who donât fancy you?â
âWell, nowâletâs seeâ¦.â Finn murmured, his lips twitching with suppressed laughter as he pretended to be giving serious consideration to the subject. âThere was my first teacher at primary school, of course. Miss Wallace. She definitely didnât like meâalways claimed that I was easily the naughtiest boy in the school!â
âLetâs hear it for Miss Wallace!â Harriet muttered grimly. âCome on, Finnâplease be sensible. Whatâs the point of playing these sorts of silly games?â
âI donât think this comes under the heading of silly games,â he murmured softly, pulling her closer to his bare chest.
âSO, TELL me more about this party tonight?â
âWhatâs to tell?â Finn Maclean spun the wheel of his large Mercedes to avoid a taxi, doing an illegal U-turn in the middle of Notting Hill Gate. âItâs just going to be the usual media shindig. Lots of champagne; loud music; not enough foodâand everyone yelling at the top of their voices.â
âAny gorgeous-looking girls?â Tim asked hopefully.
âNo problemâthereâll be plenty of them!â Finn turned to grin at his old friend. âBut whether theyâll have anything inside their beautiful headsâapart from an interest in the size of your wallet, of courseâis highly unlikely.â
âThatâs OK by me. Iâm not fussy!â Tim laughed as Finn deftly slotted the vehicle into a parking space and switched off the engine.
âWell, good hunting! But you may have to find your own way homeâbecause Iâm not intending to stay very long,â Finn warned him. âIn fact, I wouldnât have bothered to turn up if I hadnât arranged to meet someone who knows of an apartment I can rent.â
âBut I thought youâd just bought that amazing penthouse in Holland Park?â
âYes, so I have. But unfortunately it needs a total refit,â Finn said as he opened his car door. âAnd with carpenters, plumbers, and goodness knows who else crawling all over the place, it makes sense to clear out and leave them to it.â
âHow long is it going to take?â
âAbout six months. And thatâs the problem,â Finn explained. âBecause I need to live in this areaâif only to keep an eye on the builders. Unfortunately, itâs proving extremely difficult to find anyone willing to rent me a flat for just a few months. Which is why,â he added, âIâm dragging you along to what is likely to be a dead boring partyâinstead of us having a quiet dinner and a good bottle of wine at the Halcyon.â
âThatâs OK by me,â Tim assured him. âBut how come someone whoâs had more girls than Iâve had hot dinners should be sounding so unenthusiastic about the prospect of wine, women and song? Which reminds me,â he added with a grin. âWhatâs happened to the lovely Linda?â
âI imagine that sheâs still as lovely as ever,â Finn drawled coolly. âHowever, I canât give you an up-to-date report, since Linda and I split up well over six months ago.â
âIâm sorry to hear that,â Tim murmured. âWhat happened?â
âNothing very dramatic.â Finn shrugged his broad shoulders. âShe wanted to get marriedâand I didnât. End of story.â
Climbing out of the car, Tim found himself wondering why his old friendâwho was not only amazingly good-looking, but also a very wealthy and highly successful manâhadnât yet found the right woman. Maybe it was something to do with the guy being almost too attractive?
Such an idea would never have occurred to him if his older married sister, Susie, after comforting one of Finnâs tearful ex-girlfriends, hadnât bluntly stated, âThat man is far too attractive and sexy for his own good. As far as I can see, he only has to turn those amazing blue eyes on a girlâand sheâs a goner!â
However, when Tim had said that he wouldnât mind having the same problem, his sister had merely given a caustic laugh before telling him to count his blessings.
âYou may be a boring old stick, Tim, but at least when a girl comes on to you itâs because she really likes you, and finds you interesting. Can you imagine the sheer boredom of having women throwing themselves at youâmorning, noon and night?â
âI reckon I could hack it,â heâd retorted with a grin, before changing the subject. But it had since occurred to him that there might well be something in what his sister had said, after all.
While there was no doubt that his old friend was a genuinely nice, upright sort of guyâgood with children, kind to old ladies and all that jazzâhe was definitely spoilt as far as the female sex were concerned. Why, even now, as they entered the bar and restaurant which had been taken over by the film company for the evening, Finnâs appearance was instantly greeted with cries of delight by practically every woman in the place.