The Ordinary King. Nina Harrington

and the feeling was so intense that Kate was almost grateful when the new arrival of delegates burst through onto the terrace, filling the space with lively chatter and energy and bringing her down to earth with a smash.

      She glanced at her watch, then peeked inside the lounge, which was starting to fill up.

      ‘You’ll have to excuse me. I need to go through the project timelines before the conference presentation starts.’

      A shadow of a smile flashed across Simon’s mouth so fast that anyone else would have missed it. Strange how she remembered that little twitch at the side of his mouth so well. It was like an old friend saying hello.

      ‘Of course. I was hoping to report back to the tribal elders tonight about how the press events went, so it would be nice to make a start—Miss O’Neill.’

      It was the first time he had used her surname. And the way he threw it down to her like a gauntlet across the face shocked her more than she wanted to admit. Three years ago she had been forced to choose between keeping her own promises and helping Simon keep the promises his dead father had made. Now he was getting his own back. And she was going to have to take it because, like it or not, it looked as if Simon Reynolds was her project leader, and her promotion depended on her ability to work with him. One to one.