Carole Mortimer Romance Collection. Carole Mortimer

to be a guest at the Thornton party, and, as such, completely out of her league. ‘There!’ she patted the newly tied bow-tie with satisfaction. ‘You—’

      ‘Wolf, what on earth are you doing?’ demanded an incredulous voice.

      Cyn reacted with dismay to the sound of that intrusive voice, sure she was going to be in trouble now over the incident with the man she had now learnt was called Wolf—Wolf...! What sort of a name was that, for goodness’ sake? He didn’t look in the least perturbed by the interruption, giving her a rueful grimace before turning to face the woman who had called out to him.

      ‘Enquiring where the party is, of course, Barbara,’ he drawled easily. ‘How’s it all going?’ He strolled across the reception area to join her.

      Cyn looked closely at the other woman. She was one of the guests Cyn must have missed arriving earlier, because she didn’t remember seeing her before. Beautiful—of course she would have to be!—her features smooth and even, dominated by enormous green eyes surrounded by thick sooty lashes, her mouth a pout of red, with a golden tan to her skin that she hadn’t acquired in this country, not in the last few months, anyway. And with a cascade of ebony hair that tumbled down on to her shoulders in a style that was arranged to look completely casual but actually wasn’t—Cyn did not doubt for a moment that it had taken an accomplished hairdresser several hours to achieve the effect. And she was tall, at least five feet eight even without the high-heeled shoes she wore with the figure-hugging black dress that showed a long expanse of her silken legs below its above-knee length.

      Everything that Cyn herself wasn’t, in fact, with her own almost waist-length hair secured in a single braid down her spine, and her pale elfin features that could never be called beautiful. And it had always been the bane of her life that she was only five feet tall in her stockinged feet; she had always longed to be tall and elegantly graceful. Like the woman Wolf was now kissing warmly on the cheek as he reached her side.

      ‘Alex is getting more and more polite as the evening goes on,’ the woman called Barbara tightly answered Wolf’s light query, their conversation more than audible to Cyn as she stood at the reception-desk a short distance away, although she looked down awkwardly at some papers on top of the desk as flashing green eyes shot her a furious glare. ‘A sure sign that he’s absolutely furious!’ the woman added with a frown.

      Wolf sighed. ‘When is he anything else these days?’ He shook his head. ‘He’s going to give himself a heart attack if he carries on like this, Barbara. You know he—’

      ‘He’s furious with you, Wolf,’ Barbara cut in impatiently. ‘You know you should have been here with the rest of the family to greet our guests as they arrived!’

      Alex? The rest of the family? Our guests? It suddenly dawned on Cyn, as she stood riveted to the spot, her stomach doing somersaults, that Wolf had to be a member of the Thornton family too, that Alex had to be Alex Thornton, the head of Thornton Industries; in effect, her own employer!

      Oh, my God, she thought, and she had told Wolf no one would even notice he was missing from the party in the crush! And she had faulted his appearance before attempting to rearrange his bow-tie for him! Just who was he?

      Dark blond brows rose mockingly over those amber eyes. ‘As I received a formal invitation I thought I was included in the guest list, not the family,’ he drawled derisively.

      Barbara gave him a reproving frown, spoiling the beauty of her face as the frown gave her an almost primly disapproving look. ‘You know you were sent the invitation so that it served as a reminder for you to come at all. Obviously we wasted our time even trying to do that!’ She shook her head disgustedly. ‘Oh, well, better late than never, I suppose.’ She put her arm through the crook of his as she turned him purposefully in the direction of the room where the party was being held. ‘Maybe when he sees you’re here after all, Alex will start to calm down.’

      ‘I wouldn’t count on it,’ Wolf murmured unconcernedly. ‘Seeing me has never been known to have that effect on my too-serious brother before!’

      Brother...! It was worse than she had even imagined, Cyn realised. Wolf wasn’t some obscure member of the Thornton family—which had been her fervent hope once she had realised he was related to them at all!—but was, in fact, the other son of the family, the one who had upset them all by becoming a musician or an artist, or something they considered equally unsuitable for a Thornton heir. Because that was certainly who he was—Wolf Thornton, joint heir with Alex Thornton to Thornton Industries, half-owner of this very hotel, in fact!

      ‘No,’ the woman called Barbara acknowledged with a rueful twist of those pouting red lips. ‘But it will give your mother pleasure to have you here, and that’s sure to help the situation.’

      Wolf didn’t look at all convinced by this method of thinking, and in fact Barbara didn’t seem over-confident about it either. Having seen Alex Thornton several times, Cyn couldn’t help but think they were right to be apprehensive; the two brothers not only looked nothing alike—Alex being much darker in colouring, with pale blue eyes that almost looked grey, and not possessing the impressive height of his brother—but the two men were nothing alike in temperament either, from the little she had seen of them. Alex Thornton was austere and unapproachable, while Wolf Thornton was possessed of a roguish charm that had instantly captivated Cyn.

      In fact, she looked after him a little longingly as the woman Barbara led him away towards the function-room, where he would no doubt be swallowed up completely by the family and friends he had there, forgetting completely the young receptionist who had been so forward with him. Actually, she had better hope that he did exactly that where she was concerned; she didn’t want to be sacked from this job just yet, and her manner towards him had hardly been professional!

      Watching him now, so tall and impressive as he walked down the carpeted corridor at Barbara’s side, she couldn’t help but berate herself for not realising earlier that he had a presence, a self-confidence, that was an essential part of his make-up, had been inborn, in fact. But how could she have guessed he was Wolf Thornton? No one had ever mentioned what the other Thornton brother’s first name was. And she certainly wouldn’t have forgotten a name like Wolf if she had heard it before!

      Suddenly he came to a halt, murmured something to the woman at his side, before turning and walking purposefully back towards the desk where Cyn still stood. She watched his progress towards her with increasingly widening eyes; oh, lord, what was he going to say to her now?

      ‘Will you have dinner with me tomorrow evening—Lucynda Smith?’ he added lightly after glancing at the name-badge on the lapel of the jacket the hotel had supplied as part of her uniform.

      She swallowed hard, glancing past him towards the woman still standing in the corridor as she watched the two of them with narrowed green eyes, then hastily looked away again as she saw the venom in that glittering gaze, looking up at Wolf Thornton as if he had to have gone slightly mad—or she had; he hadn’t really just invited her out to dinner tomorrow night—had he...?

      ‘Cyn,’ she answered automatically, dazedly.

      He grinned, showing even white teeth against his tanned skin—a tan he had acquired at the same time as the lovely Barbara had? Cyn couldn’t help wondering. Just who was the other woman? And what role did she have in Wolf’s life if he could walk away from her to invite Cyn out for the evening?

      ‘I didn’t have sin in mind on our first date.’ His eyes gleamed down at her with mocking humour. ‘Only dinner.’ He shrugged those broad shoulders. ‘But if you insist I’m sure I could—’

      ‘I meant my friends—people, call me Cyn. It’s short for Lucynda,’ she explained irritably as he still looked amused—at her expense! But who could really blame him? She was acting like a besotted teenager, not a responsible twenty-year-old.

      ‘Ah,’ his mouth twisted teasingly. ‘Well, Cyn,’ he drawled her name with deliberate intimacy, ‘will you have dinner with me tomorrow evening? Nothing so grand as this place, I’m afraid.’ He grimaced at their surroundings.