Free Last-Minute Bridesmaid by Nina Harrington Page B

frustration.
    The surprises still kept coming, no matter how hard he fought to control his world.
    His gaze fixed on a spot on the road ahead of them as the car took the motorway exit and stopped at a roundabout for a few minutes in the busy traffic before heading down a country road.
    For one full second he thought about telling the driver that he had changed his mind and to take him straight back to the airport. And there would be a bonus if he broke the speed limit to get there. Why not? He had his luggage and passport. He could do what he wanted and go wherever he pleased.
    But he wouldn’t. And he couldn’t. He had given a commitment to the printers who had made Sheridan Press one of the most respected names in the world. And Heath always, always kept his word.
    He could not go anywhere— until he found out whether there was any truth behind this rumour or not. By talking to his father. Man to man.
    * * *
    It took a not so gentle pat on the arm to bring him back to the reality of a car on a road and the fact that he was not travelling alone—which was very unusual.
    ‘Erm...Heath? I think your tie surrendered five minutes ago. It would be kinder to say goodbye and put it out of its misery rather than see it suffer any longer.’
    His tie? What?
    His gaze followed hers. Onto what had been a burgundy Italian silk tie from a top designer in Milan, which Olivia had given him as a Christmas present last year when they had first started dating and the chance of a real relationship seemed tantalisingly close.
    Now his fingers were wrapped tightly around a screwed-up piece of rag which been twisted and torn until the life had been squeezed out of it.
    His teeth clenched shut to suppress the expletive that was forming at the back of his throat. Unbelievable!
    Kate put both fingers into her ears and hummed a pop tune. ‘Can’t hear a thing. Just get it out of your system. You’ll feel much better.’
    Heath looked at Kate, who had turned away and was still humming to herself, looked at the tie and then slowly, slowly exhaled the breath that he had not even realised he had been holding in.
    Kate was looking out of the window with a beaming grin of childlike wonder on her face, transforming her from pretty into the kind of woman worthy of more than only a second look. Or even a third?
    In her warehouse studio he had not missed the fact that Kate was the kind of pretty girl who looked good without make-up, but in the morning sunlight her skin appeared pale and translucent, in contrast to the bright sparkling green of those amazing eyes. But it was her smile, her bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked smile that hit him hard in the bottom of his stomach.
    This version of Kate Lovat was a stunner.
    Something twisted inside Heath’s gut and he swallowed hard.
    When was the last time he had taken the time to meet a woman outside the publishing world? A real woman like Kate? A woman whose life was as different as it could be from his relentless working hours and the endless battering of information and words.
    He would give a lot to spend time getting to know this girl and find out what it was like to have one of those smiles aimed in his direction.
    Except he did not have the time. He only had a few days before he needed to get back to Boston to carry out some serious damage limitation.
    Olivia was right. His work had always been more important than their relationship. Strange. He had never been ready to acknowledge that fact before today and now it seemed to be staring him in the face.
    He had spent the last ten years fighting each and every day to take control over his life in every way possible. His work. The people he worked with and even the women he dated. The way he lived and dressed—all tightly controlled.
    Until he’d made the decision to move out of that life and try and reconnect with his father.
    He chose to make that change.
    His choice. His problem. And if his father was trying to use his sentimental need to be a son against