Page 71 of Modern Romance December 2025 1-4

‘Tell me about your friend. How do you know her?’

‘Why? She’s not a security threat.’

Did he grit his teeth? It would be some recompense to know she tested his patience as much he did hers.

‘I’m just curious. You live in separate countries. You’re a princess and she lives in social housing. How did you meet?’

‘She was a friend of my mother’s,’ Rosamund said after a moment. It wasn’t a secret, after all. ‘She was a make-up artist and often worked with my mother. They did a lot of films together.’

‘And you still keep in contact.’

Rosamund stared at his profile, trying to read his expression, but couldn’t. She shrugged. ‘She’s a friend. I’ve known her all my life.’

She’s the closest thing I have now to a mother.

Not that Lucie was particularly maternal, and she always brushed off Rosamund’s offers of assistance, as she had Rosamund’s mother’s. But Lucie was genuine. She cared and was frank with her opinions and advice.

‘She worked with your mother yet didn’t attend the reception last night?’

‘She doesn’t have much patience for showbiz glitz and there were people there she didn’t want to see.’

Lucie’s outspokenness had won her many friends but powerful enemies too.

Seeing he was about to question her again, Rosamund asked one of her own. ‘Why did you slip that kid your card?’

For a second deep-set eyes met hers from under winged black brows. ‘You saw that?’

‘Was it meant to be secret?’

‘No.’ But he lingered over the word as if wishing she hadn’t noticed. Finally he said, ‘I thought he had promise.’

‘At basketball?’

To her astonishment the corner of his mouth quirked up, creating a tiny curling groove in his lean cheek. ‘Hardly. But we got talking about maths. One of his friends was ribbing him about being a nerd.’

‘Maths?’

That groove deepened and she stared, fascinated at what could almost be a hint of a shadow of a smile. Who’d have thought it of the iceman?

‘You know, numbers. Algebra.’

‘I do indeed.’ She’d been a competent maths pupil but competent hadn’t been enough for her father. He’d wanted excellence in all things. He’d engaged a university lecturer to give her extra tuition. How she’d hated those sessions. ‘Why give him your card?’

‘Because if I’m right about his promise, it would be a waste for him not to fulfil it. He’s in his last year of school. I told him if he made it through the year with good marks, to contact me.’

Rosamund sat back in her seat, astounded. ‘You offered him a job?’

‘Of course not. I don’t know enough about him. But, if he has the determination to finish, with decent grades, he could have potential.’

‘To work for you? You need mathematicians?’

After a pause he nodded. ‘It’s one of the skill sets we use. But there’s a big gap between raw talent and fulfilling it. I don’t believe in holding out false promise. But if I’m right, we could find a university scholarship for him. If he grabs the opportunity and proves himself hard-working, it would help him build a career, even if not with my company.’

Flabbergasted, Rosamund stared as he focused on the road, apparently unaware of how astonishing his actions were. She’d thought him many things but not philanthropic.

The fact it was a teenager he aimed to help impressed her too. That was the age, as she knew, when many fell through the cracks. ‘You seemed to get on well with those teens.’

‘You thought I wouldn’t?’