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‘The new Francine perfume?’ one of the others had questioned. ‘Hell, Leon, if there’s to be a new perfume why buy the damned outfit at all? Why not just get some chemist to come up with a new perfume for us and get some actress or model to front it for us? That’s what everyone else is doing.’

‘Which is exactly why it is not going to be what we shall do,’ Leon had responded briskly.

He was taking a very big gamble. He knew that. For every classic fragrance there were a hundred perfumes that had been forgotten, buried in obscurity. Leon wasn’t a fool. He knew that he had his detractors and his enemies in the shark-infested waters of the business world in which he lived; he knew too that there were also those who were simply plain jealous of his success. And all of them, whatever their motivation, would enjoy seeing him fail and fall.

Launching a new perfume was always a risk, even for a well-established perfume house with a stable of existing popular products. All Francine had was a name and a couple of old-fashioned formulae.

A couple, but not Myrrh, it now seemed.

Broodingly, Leon turned his back on the view. On the bedside table amongst his personal possessions was a small framed photograph. Going over to it, he picked it up and studied the delicately pretty feminine features of its subject, a sombre expression darkening his eyes.

The Sadies of this world didn’t really know what life was all about. Handed a silver spoon at birth, they could take what they wanted from life as a right.

Was she really oblivious to the fact that only a small handful of women could afford the luxury of the kind of scents she blended? Or did she simply not care?

Well, he cared. He cared one hell of a lot—as she was about to discover!

As she drove past the flower fields belonging to Pierre, Sadie exhaled a deep breath of pleasure and satisfaction. Pleasure because both the sight and the scent of growing flowers always lifted her spirits, and satisfaction because she had the power to prevent the Greek Destroyer from wrecking the precious heritage her grandmother had passed on to her.

Pierre and his brother grew both jasmine and roses. A swift, delicate-fingered person could pick half a kilo of the jasmine blossoms in an hour, and the picked blossoms sold at a hefty price—as Sadie had good cause to know. The delicacy of the jasmine flower meant that it required year-round care by humans rather than machines. And in the rose fields stood the precious, wonderful Rose de Mai, from which the rose absolute which Sadie used in her perfumes was made.

Pierre and his wife Jeannette came hurrying out to the car to welcome Sadie, embracing her affectionately.

‘So Francine is to be sold and soon you will be creating a fine new perfume for the new owners? That is excellent news. A talent such as yours should be recognised and allowed to truly shine. I am already looking forward to saying that I know the creator of the next classic scent,’ Pierre announced teasingly, once Sadie was seated at the scrubbed kitchen table, drinking the coffee Jeannette had made for her.

Sadie frowned as she listened to him. She had expected Pierre to share her own feelings towards the sale of the business, instead of which he was making it plain that he thought it was an excellent opportunity for her.

‘It is true that Leon… he… the would-be owner does wish me to create a new perfume—but, Pierre, he is only interested in mass-market perfumes made out of chemical ingredients,’ Sadie objected.

Pierre shrugged. ‘He is a businessman, as we all must be these days, and perhaps not totally au fait with the complexities of our business. He does not have your knowledge perhaps, petite. Therefore it is up to you, in the name and memory of your grandmère, to help him,’ Pierre pronounced sagely.

‘Help him!’ Sadie’s voice was a squeak of female outrage. ‘I would rather—’ she began, and then stopped as Pierre overrode her.

‘But you must do so,’ he said calmly. ‘For if people like yourself do not give their knowledge and their expertise to those who are coming new into the business then how are we to go on? This is a wonderful opportunity for you Sadie!’ Pierre repeated emphatically.

‘It is?’ Sadie stared at him whilst Pierre nodded his head in vigorous confirmation.

‘Indeed it is, and your grandmother would be the first to say so if she were here. Ah, I can remember hearing her tell her father that she longed for the House of Francine to produce a new perfume—a fragrance which would rival that of the most famous perfumery.’

‘You heard her say that?’ Sadie swallowed the emotional lump which was suddenly blocking her throat. She had loved her grandmother so much, and she knew how much Francine had meant to her.

‘You are indeed fortunate to have been given such an opportunity,’ Pierre was telling her.

‘I am?’ Sadie struggled to marshal all the objections she had had no difficulty in hurling at Leon’s head. ‘But I prefer to work on a one-to-one basis with my clients,’ she managed to point out.

‘Pff…’ Pierre gave a Gallic thrust of his shoulders. ‘Filmstars and the like—they come and go and are as changeable and fickle as a mistral wind! They would quite happily take your perfume and claim it as their own creation if it suited them, and just as easily turn to someone else.’

A little reluctantly Sadie was forced to acknowledge that what he was saying had a grain of truth to it. Right now her own perfumes were very popular, but that could all change overnight. And if it did…

She frowned. What was she trying to tell herself? Surely she wasn’t actually going to give in—to sell out—let Leon walk all over her?

But what if Pierre was right? What if she could create a wonderful new perfume—so wonderful and so popular that the whole world would want to wear it?

Sadie began to feel slightly dizzy, almost drugged with her own surging excitement, with the thought of fulfilling her grandmother’s unexpectedly revealed dream.

But Sadie was no fool. She knew perfectly well that it was impossible to mass-produce a perfume created only out of natural ingredients, which meant…

‘I can’t do it, Pierre,’ she told him, shaking her head. ‘You know how I feel about synthetic scents.’

Pierre nodded. ‘Indeed, we all feel the same, but these are modern times and it is impossible to mass-produce a scent from natural materials alone. There has to be a compromise… But think of what a triumph it would be were you to create one based on a perfect combination of old and new, natural and synthetic.’

‘No one has ever managed to do that,’ Sadie objected.

‘Until now,’ Pierre told her slyly.

Giddily Sadie tried to clear her head.

‘Do you really think that I can do it?’ she asked Pierre shakily.

‘Of a certainty! If not you, then who else? You have the history and the knowledge, the experience, the tenderness, the understanding… You have a gift and, like a truly exceptional perfume, it is only waiting to be released in order to charm everyone who experiences it!’

Sadie stared at him in bemusement. She felt as though she was riding a rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts. Could she do it? Could she create a perfume to rival that of the very greatest of houses?

She could almost see it in her mind’s eye. She would call her perfume Francine…. It would have a similar base to Myrrh, but be a little lighter, delicate enough to make everyone who smelled it move closer to its wearer in order to breathe it again. It would be sensual and yet joyously teasing, flirtatious but still serious—a woman’s perfume, passionate, charming, enticing… It would be a scent her grandmother would have been proud for her to create!

To her surprise, Sadie discovered that she was on her feet and halfway towards the kitchen door.

‘I must go, Pierre,’ she told him dizzily.

She would need to make sure that Leon knew she was not to be messed with, of course. And she’d make it clear that she must be given carte blanche where the creation of her scent was concerned. There was no way that Leon was going to overrule her or dictate to her, and she fully intended to make that plain to him. The scent would be her creation and would bear the Francine name. It would, Sadie decided, her heart singing, restore to the house of Francine its old status and glory. It would be her abiding gift of love to her grandmother!

CHAPTER THREE

SADIE picked up the telephone message Raoul had left, asking her to come back to Grasse so that they could talk, as she got into her car.

Still under the heady influence of listening to Pierre, she sent Raoul a text message informing him that she was on her way.

This time Raoul himself opened the door to her, hugging her warmly and apologising to her for their earlier quarrel before she could so much as say a single word.

‘You promised me that we would be able to talk about selling the business before we met with Leon,’ Sadie reminded him warily.

‘I know, I know…’ Raoul was all but wringing his hands as he ushered her solicitously into the salon.

It was such a shame that the house was so run-down and neglected, Sadie reflected for the second time that day. It had so much potential, and could in the right hands be turned into the most wonderful family home. Emotionally she looked out into the courtyard, trying to imagine her grandmother playing there as a little girl. But bemusingly, as the sunlight glittered on the droplets of water from the fountain, the child she suddenly visualised toddling across the ancient paved stones was not a miniature version of her grandmother but instead a sturdy, dark-haired green-eyed little boy, who looked shockingly like…

Her whole body heating in the sudden surge of recognition that burned through her, Sadie dragged her trapped gaze away from the courtyard. Why on earth had she imagined Leon’s baby boy there? And, even more disturbing, why had she felt that unmistakable sharp maternal tug on her own heartstrings as she did so?

She did not want Leon’s child. Why, the very thought was—

‘Sadie? Come back! You aren’t listening to me.’

There was a note of distinct peevishness in Raoul’s voice. Guiltily Sadie turned round to look at him.

‘I’m sorry. What were you saying?’

‘I was just trying to tell you that after you left I had a long talk with Leon and explained to him that if he was serious about wanting to buy Francine and having you on board as well, then he was going to have to compromise on a few things.’

Sadie blinked as she listened to him.

‘You did?’ she exclaimed, unable to hide her astonishment. She had been expecting to hear Raoul verbally persuading her, if not actually bullying her into changing her mind.

‘I did,’ Raoul confirmed. ‘I know you and I haven’t always seen eye to eye over Francine, Sadie, but I have to say that, listening to you today, I began to realise that you were making some very valid points. And I have said as much to Leon.’

Her cousin’s unexpected support was leaving Sadie momentarily lost for words.

‘I… see…’ she managed to say. ‘And how did Leon react to that?’

‘Well, at first, of course, he was reluctant to agree with me—and I’ll be honest with you, Sadie, it took me a hell of a long time to bring him round to seeing my side of the argument. In the end I had to remind him that unless he wanted to alienate you completely he was just going to have to compromise…’

‘I’m sure he loved that,’ Sadie could not help murmuring dryly.

‘Well, he is a businessman, after all, and he is now prepared to concede that if you agree to the sale, and provided you work for Francine, then he is prepared to allow you to base any new perfume you create on natural products.’

‘Base?’ Sadie queried cautiously, whilst her heart felt as though it was bouncing around inside her chest in excitement and relief.

Unbelievably, Raoul had taken her side, her part, and had managed to convince Leon that she was right!

‘Well, you will have to negotiate with him to see how much of any new perfume can be natural products and how much chemically manufactured. And, of course, he will want access to the Myrrh formula.’

‘Access, maybe—but I am not prepared to hand over ownership,’ Sadie shot back immediately.

Raoul made no response, his expression suddenly becoming almost theatrically anxious.

‘Sadie, I have not wanted to mention this. I do have my pride after all.’ He looked away from her and rubbed his hand over his eyes. ‘But I’m afraid that I haven’t been entirely… honest with you about… about certain things.’

Sadie waited.

‘The fact is that… well, I have got myself in a bit of a financial mess. And if I can’t sell Francine to Leon then…’

‘Then?’ Sadie prompted him, dry-mouthed. They might only have met one another relatively recently, but he was still her cousin, Sadie reminded herself loyally. She might not approve of the things he did, or the way he lived his life, but she couldn’t help but be emotionally affected by the way he had come to her support against Leon.

‘Francine is virtually bankrupt—and so am I. Worse than that, I have commitments….’

‘Commitments?’ Sadie repeated uneasily.

‘All right, if you will have it, debts,’ Raoul admitted, flinging out one arm in a gesture of open despair. ‘I have debts, Sadie. There! I have been forced to tell you what I had hoped not to have to do. I am in your hands now, Sadie, and if you don’t help me by agreeing not just to this sale but to giving your expertise to Francine then I shall be facing financial ruin.’

Somewhere in the back of Sadie’s mind a tiny warning bell rang. It was a small, sharp and instinctive feeling that Raoul was not being either totally honest or totally genuine. But loyally she refused to listen to it. Even so, a little hesitantly, she began, ‘I… I…’ and then stopped.

Raoul swung round and exclaimed joyously, ‘You’ll do it? Oh, Sadie, thank you. Thank you.’ He was holding her in his arms. Hugging her, kissing her on both cheeks and then again as his pleasure and relief overwhelmed him. ‘I cannot tell you what this means to me.’

There were actually tears in his eyes, as well as in his voice, Sadie recognised.

‘You don’t know what a weight off my shoulders it will be to get this contract signed… and to get away from here,’ he added, giving the dusty room a dismissive, disparaging look.

‘Get away?’ Sadie queried.

‘Yes. This place is obviously part of the deal, and quite frankly I am relieved that it is. I cannot wait to buy myself a decent modern apartment. But first I have to make a short trip… a family matter… an elderly relative on my mother’s side. She lives outside Paris in… in straitened circumstances. She is my godmother, and I want to do a little something to help her. Your agreement to the sale of Francine means that I shall be able to do so!’

He cleared his throat and his voice thickened. ‘I shall let Leon know what you have said. I can’t tell you how much your agreement means to me, Sadie. With the money I receive from Leon I shall be able to see that Tante Amelie receives the care she needs. It is the least I can do. And you, Sadie—I expect you will be wanting to return to your own home. There will be much for you to do there, I know, before you begin working for Francine and Leon!’

Sadie frowned. She supposed she should not have been surprised to discover that her grandmother’s childhood home was to be included in the sale of the business, but she owned that she was surprised by Raoul’s revelations about his ailing godmother! And she would have to return to Pembroke, of course. But she had not planned to do so as yet.

‘Won’t Leon want to… to discuss his plans with me?’ she questioned Raoul.

‘Yes, indeed, but not right now. I suspect he will want to wait until after the formalities of the contract being signed for that.’

Disconcerted, Sadie digested her disappointment at the thought of not seeing Leon again for some time. She hadn’t actually wanted to see him, had she? That wasn’t why she was changing her mind, was it? Because…

No, of course it wasn’t! How could it be? She barely knew the man!

Guessing from the way he kept looking at his watch that Raoul had other things to do, Sadie took her leave of him.

She might as well see out her stay in France, she decided, as she got into her car. And then if Leon did want to discuss anything with her over the next couple of days she would be on hand.

Her decision was based entirely on common sense, she assured herself as she pulled out into the traffic. Common sense. That was all… nothing else, she assured herself firmly.

Raoul waited until he was sure that Sadie had gone before telephoning Leon, his fingers drumming impatiently on the wall as he waited for Leon to answer his call. When he did, Raoul began immediately.

‘I’ve spoken to Sadie, and it is just as I said it would be, Leon,’ Raoul announced boastfully. ‘I soon made her see reason. All you need to do now is get the contracts organised. Oh, by the way, speaking of the contracts—I was wondering… is there any way you could let me have an advance on the buyout figure? Only I’ve got a couple of obligations I’d like to get cleared up.’

Leon frowned as he listened to Raoul. He knew all about Raoul’s debts, having had him thoroughly investigated prior to their negotiations. Illogically, he acknowledged that whilst he was relieved to hear that Raoul had managed to talk Sadie round, he also felt surprised, and almost a little bit disappointed that she had given in to her cousin so easily. Somehow he had expected her to put up more of a fight!

Suspiciously, he challenged Raoul.

‘You haven’t forgotten what I said to you about my not being agreeable to changing my decision on the ingredients of any new scent she creates, have you, Raoul?’

‘Of course not,’ Raoul responded promptly.

‘Did she say why she had changed her mind?’ Leon probed.

On the other end of the line Raoul frowned in irritation. Leon was asking for too many questions. Why on earth couldn’t he simply accept what he was saying to him?

‘She’s a woman, Leon,’ Raoul told him. ‘Who knows why they do the things they do? About that advance… I need to leave Grasse for a few days, and…’

‘I shall arrange for five hundred thousand euros to be transferred into your account today, Raoul.’

‘Five hundred thousand—that is all?’

He could hear the disappointment in the other man’s voice.

‘Five hundred thousand,’ Leon confirmed grimly. ‘Take it or leave it!’

After Raoul had rung off, Leon stared frowningly through the open glass door of his suite. His attention was not focused on the stunning view that lay beyond his private balcony, but instead on something or rather someone that the male core of his memory found even more stunning.

Sadie!

It still surprised him that she had changed her mind and given in, agreeing not just to the sale of Francine to him but also agreed to work for him as well. Somehow it seemed a little out of character. Almost as if she’d submitted to him…

Hastily he dragged his thoughts back from the brink they were careering towards and reminded himself that he had work to do!

Since leaving Grasse earlier he had spent far more time than he wanted to admit thinking about her! And not just because of the problems she was causing him with the takeover. Not just? Be honest, he derided himself Not at all! No, the reason she had gained so much control inside his head was quite simply because she, or rather his reaction to her, his awareness of her, his desire for her, had assumed far too much control of his senses!

To put it bluntly, he ached for her in a way that had not just caught him off guard, but was also actively making him…

Making him what? Making him want to rewind life right back to that second when he had first seen her in Cannes, so that he could do what every male instinct his body was packed with had urged him to do then? Pick her up in his arms, get her the hell out of there and take her somewhere where….

It was at times like this that his Greek blood was most at odds with his Australian upbringing, Leon acknowledged wryly. Right now, hormonally he was quite definitely all Greek male, but cerebrally—thank heaven—a part of him remained an Aussie businessman! And that was the part of him he needed most to focus on!

He had certainly enjoyed focusing on Sadie, he mused. He had never liked over-thin women, and Sadie was just right—her waist so tiny he could span it with his hands, her hips sexily curved, her legs long… long enough to wrap right around him when he… and her breasts. Ah, her breasts… Just the thought of touching them, holding them, brushing his lips against their tender quivering crests and then…

Leon gave a low groan and closed his eyes. Bad mistake, since immediately a vision of Sadie formed behind his shuttered eyelids. He must be going crazy—either that or he was well on his way to falling head over heels in love with her.

In love? In lust, more like! Anyway, falling in love right now was a complication he definitely did not need in his life. Unlike Sadie. He needed her all right. In his life. In his arms. In his bed…

Raoul had told him that she was going back to England and Leon told himself that he ought to be glad!

His grandmother would certainly have enjoyed seeing him in the state of turmoil he was in right now!

Thinking of his grandmother made Leon frown again. He had been just fourteen when she died. A sensitive age, which was no doubt why—

His mobile phone rang, breaking his train of thought.

Was she doing the right thing? Sadie asked herself soberly as she parked her car in the hotel car park and made her way to her room.

She wished passionately that her grandmother were here for her to talk to. Would she approve of what she was doing? The wave of euphoria which had carried her back to Grasse had receded now, leaving her feeling shaky and insecure. What if she couldn’t create a saleable perfume? And, even if she did, what made her think that her scent could succeed where so many others had failed? They lived in a different world now from the one in which the classic scents had been created. Consumers were more demanding, more fickle—but if she could succeed… if she could create a new scent that would take the world by storm and…

She was beginning to feel light-headed with excitement again. What if, between them, she and Leon…?

Between them? She and Leon? A fresh surge of excitement gripped her, but this one had nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of a new scent!

Why didn’t she give in and admit it to herself? She had been attracted to Leon the first moment she had seen him.

Attracted to him! To describe her feelings as mere attraction was like trying to compare cologne with full-strength perfume.

Her heart started to thud, her palms suddenly becoming damp. Why was it that the look in one particular man’s eyes could make a woman feel so…? Hot-cheeked, Sadie acknowledged that she did not want to explore just what it was that Leon made her feel right now! At least not in public.

‘I just hope that I’m doing the right thing.’

Sadie’s voice wobbled a little, and she held her mobile just that little bit tighter as she voiced her uncertainty to her friend.

On the other end of the line Mary responded bracingly.

‘Well, it certainly sounds to me as though you are. Sometimes you just have to follow your instincts and your heart, Sadie, no matter how risky it might seem.’

Her heart! That organ started to thump erratically at the thought that she had betrayed herself so easily to her friend. How could Mary have guessed from what she had told her about her emergent feelings for Leon? She had barely mentioned him!

‘Your kind of work isn’t merely a career choice, Sadie, it’s a vocation, and when a person has your kind of talent—well, then they need to be able to fulfil the need it gives them and follow the direction of their heart, rather than make cerebral decisions!’

Her work! Mary was talking about her work, not about Leon!

‘It is a once in a lifetime opportunity,’ Sadie agreed excitedly. ‘But—’

‘No more buts,’ Mary told her firmly. ‘You go for it, girl!’

She had spent longer talking to her friend on the telephone than she had realised, Sadie recognised ten minutes after she had ended the call, when the grumbling protest of her stomach made her look at her watch. It was almost eight o’clock and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast!

Showering quickly, Sadie redressed in an elegant taupe silk dress she had spotted in an expensive boutique’s sale in Paris, slipping her bare feet into a pair of kitten-heeled sandals and gathering up a cream cashmere wrap just in case the evening air proved chilly.

It was only a five-minute walk from the rooms to the main hotel, and as Sadie picked her way along the prettily illuminated path and down the several flights of stone steps she paused to look out across the valley, to where the lights of the town twinkled in the distance.

As she crossed the car park en route for the hotel foyer she noticed that it was busy with cars, but thought no more about it, smiling briefly at the receptionist as she made her way across the tiled floor and then walked down the stairs and through the lower level foyer into the cocktail bar.

It had bemused her a little the first time she had walked into this bar, to recognise that it was styled very much in the manner of a gracious English country house—even to the extent of having a log-burning fire—but this hotel was not occupied merely in the summer, she acknowledged, but all the year round by those who wished to use its spa facilities. The cocktail bar was certainly very comfortable and welcoming.

The lower foyer, through which she had just walked, had elegant French windows which opened out onto a large paved patio area where guests could sit at wrought-iron tables and look out across the valley. Tonight the patio was crowded with several large groups of diners, Sadie noticed as she headed for the entrance to the dining room and the maître d’.

‘A table for dinner? Madame, I am sorry but that is not possible. We are fully booked,’ he told her when she asked for a table.

Sadie stared at him.

‘But I am a hotel resident,’ she protested. Delicious food smells from the meal being served to a table of diners just inside the doorway were informing her just how very hungry she really was. Her stomach was actually growling.

The maître d’ looked sorrowful and spread his hands.

‘I am so sorry, but I think you will have seen in your room that hotel guests are requested to make prior reservations for dinner. We are a Michelin-starred restaurant, and many people drive out from Cannes to eat here.’

Sadie’s heart was sinking deeper with every word he said. It was true that there was a notice in her room warning guests about the limited availability of tables for dinner.

‘There are several very good restaurants in the old town of Mougins,’ the maître d’ informed her helpfully.

‘It is only a short walk from here, and a very pretty place. It gets many tourists.’

Sadie sighed. Whilst she didn’t mind eating alone in a hotel restaurant, she was loath to do so further afield. She had planned to visit the old town of Mougins, but during the daytime.

Ruefully she acknowledged that she ought to have pre-booked her dinner reservation, and realized that she was now going to have to return to her room and order a meal there, from Room Service. She had just thanked the maître d’ and was making her way through the now extremely busy bar, when she suddenly saw Leon on the other side of the room.

He was walking towards her and had obviously seen her. Immediately her face lit up, a giddy sensation, a heady mixture of thrilling excitement, shock, and pleasure, flooding her body with breathless delight.

‘Leon!’ she exclaimed as he came towards her. ‘What are you doing here?’

His calm, ‘Actually, I’m staying here,’ took her thrilled delight down a few notches, and she had to control her expression to stop herself from betraying her disappointment. He had not come looking for her, as she had originally deliriously believed.

‘And you?’ he queried. ‘Are you dining here?’

He looked and sounded so coolly remote that her heart banged uncomfortably against her chest wall whilst she battled against the feeling of disappointment that was filling her.

The reality of him was so different from the fantasies she had been building inside her head all afternoon. He looked so austere, so disapproving and remote, so very much the man she remembered from their first encounter—right down to the immaculate shirt and suit.

The happiness and expectation that had fuelled her day was leaking out of her, and she was miserably conscious of the way in which Leon was looking over her shoulder and beyond her, as though in search of someone! Another woman perhaps? Did he have a dinner date?

Lifting her chin she told him bravely, ‘Actually, no, I’m not dining here this evening, Coincidentally, I am also staying here.’ There was no way she wanted him thinking she had booked in because she knew he was staying at this hotel. After all, she hadn’t realized that he was. ‘But unfortunately—obviously unlike you—I neglected to make a reservation for dinner. The maître d’ has suggested that I walk into the old town and—’

‘What? On your own? You are doing no such thing.’ Leon stopped her authoritatively ‘I’m surprised that he suggested such a thing to a woman on her own. You are on your own, I take it?’

He wasn’t looking over her shoulder any more. In fact he was looking right at her, and his eyes, like his voice, had warmed—as though… as though…