Читать книгу Blackmailed Into Her Boss’s Bed - Сандра Мартон, Sandra Marton - Страница 6
ОглавлениеTALIA held the grey flannel suit against her as she stared into the mirror. Not bad, she thought, tilting her head critically. The suit, along with the matching kidskin pumps and the cream silk blouse still in her suitcase, was the perfect dress-for-success ensemble. She’d look calm and professional, an example of middle management at its respectable best.
Nobody would suspect that in reality she was a quaking bundle of nerves, ready to come unglued at the first touch.
She sighed as she hung the suit in the wardrobe. Her boss knew that she was a wreck, of course, but he wasn’t here. John was back in the San Francisco office, which was where he’d called from minutes ago.
‘Break a leg, kid,’ he’d said cheerfully, and Talia had winced. Somehow, she’d have preferred a simple ‘good luck’ to the traditional actor’s phrase. But John Diamond had pursued a fruitless stage career before he’d started Diamond Food Services, and he never tired of reminding anyone who’d listen that his heart was still in the theatre. His expertise, however, was in catering—hotels, schools, and now lucrative corporate accounts.
Which was, Talia thought as she finished unpacking, the reason she was here, in a hotel on a wind-swept curve of northern California beach, about to take the first big step in her career. The thought turned her throat dry. She sank down on the edge of the bed and folded her hands in her lap.
You can do this, she thought, meeting her eyes in the mirror. John wouldn’t have entrusted Miller International’s Executive Weekend to you if you weren’t up to it.
Talia turned that over in her mind for a while. Of course she could do it. Two years working at a restaurant, four for a hotel chain, then three more at Diamond Food Services, working first in the kitchen, then in purchasing, finally in administration as John’s assistant, had given her the practical experience needed to temper the time she’d spent gaining a degree in hotel and restaurant management. She knew her stuff. There was nothing immodest about admitting it.
She only wished she felt calmer. Talia, always practical, had planned her career with cool precision. The step up—the one she was about to take—had been one she’d expected in two years’ time. That it had fallen into her lap so soon was as jarring as it was exciting. Sometimes she had a suspicion that that was part of the reason John had given it to her.
‘This is liable to be a tough one, sweetheart,’ he’d said when the letter from Miller International had first reached his desk. ‘Their president says he wants us to set up a weekend retreat for upper-echelon execs; our choice of facility so long as it’s somewhere very private—his words—along the coast.’
Talia had smiled. ‘Private, hmm? What does his company do?’
Her boss had leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms behind his head, and grinned wickedly. ‘It makes money. If they want a secluded spot, they can have one.’ His grin had broadened. ‘In the old days, that would have meant they were into primal scream therapy for the overpaid and underworked,’ he’d said with the roguish aplomb of one who had survived the weirdness of California in the 1960s.
Talia had nodded. ‘Right. Quiche and alfalfa sprouts. But surely that’s not what they want today?’
‘Not they, sweetheart. He. Mr Logan Miller. He’s Miller International—has been for the past forty years—and what he wants, he gets, even if it turns out to be strange.’ John had leaned forward and pushed the letter across the desk towards her. ‘Suppose you telephone him and find out what he has in mind.’
The suggestion had surprised her. ‘Me? But that’s Harry’s job.’
‘Didn’t I tell you? I’ve asked him to head up the new office in Seattle.’ Her boss had winked. ‘You get to do the dirty deed instead.’
Talia had tried to sound nonchalant, even though her heart was pounding. ‘Are you offering me Harry’s job?’ she’d asked.
‘Caught you by surprise, didn’t I?’ Laughter had glinted in John’s eyes. ‘You can’t plan everything in life, Talia.’ But you can try. The thought had come immediately, but she had suppressed it just as quickly. When she’d said nothing, John had looked at her. ‘Don’t you want it?’
‘Of course I want it,’ she’d said, forcing aside the images of brown rice casseroles and fertilised egg omelettes that had insisted on dancing through her mind.
She’d shaken hands on her promotion, then hurried back to her tiny office with the letter from Logan Miller clutched in her hand. Reading it had calmed her. Typed on heavy vellum, signed with a firm, masculine scrawl, it had detailed a Friday night through Sunday morning retreat planned for executives of the corporation’s West Coast offices. When she’d got to the schedule and list of workshops that had been included, she had breathed a sigh of relief. The workshops were all business—Finance Strategies for Buyout Leverage had been one of the few comprehensive titles. Even the recreational activities had sounded wearing. The least strenuous was a dawn run along the beach.
Logan Miller couldn’t be a day under sixty-five, but he’d planned a tough weekend. There’d be no brown rice or fertilised eggs for this lot, Talia had thought, and a phone call to Miller’s Los Angeles office had confirmed it. Not that she’d spoken to Mr Miller; he was, his secretary had said, in Brazil on business. Mr Miller’s food preferences? Lean meats. Fresh fish. Salads. Fresh vegetables.
Of course, Talia had thought, scribbling notes furiously, a man of Miller’s age would be interested in a low-fat diet.
And yes, the secretary had said, the facility needed to be removed from the pressures of civilisation. Mr Miller wanted to ensure that his people had no distractions to keep them from the activities of the weekend. Was there anything else Miss Roberts needed?
‘Yes,’ Talia had said. ‘When may I speak with Mr Miller?’
‘He’ll contact you if there’s any need, Miss Roberts. But I’m sure you’ll be able to handle things admirably.’
Talia had taken the polite hint. Logan Miller was not to be bothered with details. She’d set to work, making arrangements and sending copies of everything to his office. But the final decision about where to hold the weekend, had hardly seemed a detail. When she’d narrowed her choices to two, she’d sent Miller a letter asking for his recommendation. Both hotels were equally suitable, it was simply a matter of taste, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
She’d sat back to await his reply.
It had come by express mail. Logan Miller’s note had been terse. It had said that he had no time to bother with such details, which was why he’d turned the job over to a catering corporation in the first place. And, if both hotels were equally suitable, why had he been asked to choose one over the other? He’d added that he doubted if either choice was appropriate anyway, and if that was the best she could manage, he could always take his business elsewhere. The note had ended with a handwritten, scrawled postscript. What of the Redwood Inn? it had asked. If memory served, it was perfect for the kind of weekend his organisation had planned.
Miller’s response had at first upset Talia and then had infuriated her. Do the job yourself, he’d said, and then he’d proceeded to take it over. Coolly, Talia had sent off an answer, telling him he could, of course, choose the Redwood Inn. But the inn was closed for the season. Arrangements were possible, but would cost twice what her other suggestions would. There would be union fees, staffing fees…
His answering note had been a barely legible scrawl. ‘Do it,’ he’d written across the bottom of her letter.
And Talia had; she had planned everything, right down to the last detail, and it had cost a fortune, more than twice what she’d proposed. Her boss had turned pale when she’d shown him the final bill, but she’d shrugged and reminded him that Miller had approved the cost without comment.
In her heart, she’d thought that the increase was no more than Logan Miller deserved. But the vengeful thought was so unlike her that she’d kept it to herself. She prided herself on level-headed behaviour; that an old man she’d never met could anger her enough to bring out such an emotional side to her personality was embarrassing.
Now, hours before the cocktail party that would signal the start of the carefully planned weekend, she thought, grudgingly, that Miller had been right. The Redwood Inn, perched on a hill overlooking the Pacific, with the beach at its feet and a forest of giant redwoods at its back, was perfect.
She finished putting away the rest of her things, then glanced at her watch. Her staff would be well into their preparations by now. It was time to check and see how they were doing. They were all seasoned veterans, but it never hurt to check things yourself.
Talia stripped off the silk shirtwaist dress she’d travelled in. Kitchens were not only places of spills and stains, they were also invariably hot, especially in the dog-days of September. Shorts, a cotton-knit top and a pair of sandals would do. No one would see her except her staff, she thought, taking a quick glance into the mirror and smoothing back a strand of dark auburn hair.
Her pulse gave a nervous leap, and she made a face at herself. There was nothing more to worry about until the weekend really got under way. Still, she took a deep breath before she left her room.
The kitchen was a whirl of activity. Her people barely acknowledged her presence. Everyone was busy, going from the huge refrigerators to the stoves…
Talia frowned. No, not everyone. The back door was open, probably to catch any breeze that drifted by. A man lounged in the doorway, watching the flurry of proceedings with an impassive expression on his face. He was leaning on the frame, arms crossed against his chest, feet crossed at the ankles, looking like a casual spectator at a sporting match.
He turned towards her, their eyes met, and a lazy smile tilted at the corners of his mouth. For some reason it made her feel uncomfortable, and she looked away from him.
‘Do we have enough shrimps?’ she asked no one in particular. ‘And what about oysters and clams?’
There were plenty of oysters and shrimps. And the clams had just been delivered. Did she want to check them herself? Minutes later, Talia had forgotten all about the man in the doorway. She was, instead, intent on tasting a Welsh rarebit that was simmering on the stove.
She hesitated, the spoon halfway to her mouth, as she felt a prickling along her skin. Slowly, almost reluctantly, she looked up. The stranger was watching her. Even at a distance, there was no missing the intensity of his gaze.
Talia felt a slow flush rise along her skin. The shorts she was wearing were old and faded, the knit top loose and virtually shapeless. But she was suddenly aware of how skimpy an outfit it was.
His eyes moved over her, and she felt as if he were stripping the clothing from her body. The insolence of the man! And what was he doing in the kitchen of the Redwood Inn? There was no reason to see anyone but her staff in here right now. There’d be others in and out of the room tonight, when the extra servers that had been hired showed up. But that was hours away. And…
Of course. That was what he was—a temporary worker, hired to pass trays of hors-d’oeuvre and wait table this evening. There’d been no problem arranging for half a dozen such people: California beach communities tended to collect drifters who followed the sun and the surf, and drifters took work wherever they could.
The man in the doorway had that look, Talia thought, her glance moving dismissively over him. He was tall, leanly muscled, wearing ragged-edged cut-off denims and a T-shirt inscribed with what seemed to be a college seal, so faded it was illegible. She could almost picture him with a surfboard under his arm, although he seemed to be in his late thirties. Well, this was California. She’d seen stranger things than over-age beach bums since she’d moved West.
The stranger was smiling under her scrutiny, a very private, intimate smile, and a coldness clamped down on Talia’s heart. Did he really think that would work with her? Carefully, she put down the spoon and moved towards him. ‘May I help you?’
His teeth flashed in a quick grin. ‘I don’t know. What do you have in mind?’
He was good-looking, in an obvious kind of way, and he was probably used to doing rather well with women. Well, he was in for a surprise.
‘Keep it up,’ she said quietly, ‘and you won’t have to worry about tonight.’
His eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘My, my,’ he said teasingly, ‘that’s a pretty direct approach.’
‘What I meant,’ Talia said sharply, ‘was that if you go on like this, you won’t have a job to come to this evening.’ He looked blank, and she sighed. ‘You’re here to work the cocktail party and dinner, aren’t you?’
‘Ah.’ The smile came again. He stepped away from the wall and nodded. ‘The Miller thing. I suppose you might say that, yes.’
A lock of auburn hair fell over Talia’s forehead and she brushed it back impatiently. ‘You’re due here at seven. Until then, you’re just in the way.’ Her eyes moved over him again. ‘I take it you can put your hands on black trousers? We’ll provide the jacket and bow-tie.’
He laughed and put his hands on his hips. The movement made the muscles roll beneath his skin, and she thought, yes, definitely a surfer with that sun-bleached hair and taut body. Only someone who spent his time in constant activity could look so—so…
‘And a white shirt,’ she said, while a flush ran up under her skin.
He nodded. ‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said solemnly. ‘Black trousers, white shirt. Anything else, Miss…?’
‘And black shoes. Polished, of course.’
A grin tugged at his mouth. ‘Of course. Miss—Miss…’
‘Roberts.’ Her voice was crisp. ‘Talia Roberts. I’m in charge.’
The man stared at her for a minute, and then he took a step towards her. ‘How nice to meet you,’ he said, holding out his hand. ‘And I’m—’
‘I don’t care in the least who you are,’ she said coldly.
His smile dimmed a little. ‘That’s not very polite, Talia. When you deal with people, you might—’
Her chin rose. ‘My name is Miss Roberts. And if I need advice, I’ll certainly not ask for it from someone like you.’
The man’s eyes narrowed. ‘If I were you, Miss Roberts—’
‘But you’re not. And if you want to get paid tonight, you’d better learn to do as you’re told.’
His smile turned to ice. ‘Are you always this unpleasant to the people who work for you?’
No, she thought in surprise, she wasn’t. Courtesy to staff was one of the things she prided herself on. Then why, she wondered, was she being so rude to him? The answer came quickly. Because he was impertinent. Because he had no business here. Because—because he made her uncomfortable and edgy and—
‘Dammit to hell!’
The chef’s voice roared across the kitchen as the Welsh rarebit boiled over. Talia took one look and grabbed for a towel. When she turned around again, the man had vanished.
She forget all about him as the afternoon passed. There were a dozen last-minute crises, none—thank goodness—that couldn’t be handled. Finally, with only moments to spare, Talia hurried to her room to shower and change for the evening. When she was dressed, she looked into the mirror and smiled. She’d been right, the grey suit and silk blouse were perfect. She looked as cool and collected as…
Talia jumped. For a second, her reflection had seemed to waver; she’d imagined she’d seen the stranger looking back at her, smiling his insolent smile.
She turned away sharply and picked up her bag. If the man showed up, which she doubted, she’d tell her people to keep a careful eye on him. He was more likely to try and skive off than work. He might even try to come on to the few women executives scattered in the group, and she didn’t need that kind of headache. The cocktail party, and the dinner following, would bring enough problems of their own.
The hall was silent. The inn was three storeys high, and Logan Miller’s people had all been housed on the first two levels. Talia had taken a room on the third floor, where she could monitor things without intruding on them.
Her heels clicked loudly as she walked down the corridor. The floating staircase loomed ahead, an impressive structure of redwood, stainless steel and glass. She paused at the top, her hand on the polished wood railing, and looked down. In a little while, all her months of planning and hard work would come together. And everything would be fine—she’d left nothing to chance.
‘You’re such a stickler for detail, Talia,’ one of her assistants had said today, smiling. ‘I bet it runs in the family.’
Wryly, Talia had been tempted to tell her the truth. ‘Not in my family it doesn’t,’ she’d almost said. ‘The only detail my mother ever worried about was getting married before her pregnancy showed. And my father’s only thought was how long it would take before she wouldn’t give a damn if he left and never came back.’
But she’d simply laughed and spouted some nonsense about preparing for every possible contingency. Which was what she always did, she reminded herself as she started down the stairs. It was one of the reasons why she had nothing to worry about tonight.
What could possibly go wrong?
* * *
An hour later, she breathed a sigh of relief. The cocktail party was in full swing, and it was going as smoothly as silk. Talia made a cursory appearance, just long enough to check the trays of hors-d’oeuvre and the stock at the bar. The Miller executives seemed to be having a great time. They’d been subdued at first, standing in little clusters, talking quietly. Every now and then, an anxious face would turn to the doorway. But as time passed and they sipped their drinks, their inhibitions fell away and the level of noise and laughter grew.
On her second trip through the ballroom, Talia overheard a snatch of conversation that confirmed what she had already suspected. ‘Maybe we’ll luck out,’ one man said to another. ‘Maybe the old man’s been detained in New York.’
Talia breathed a sigh of relief as she pushed open the swinging door that led back to the kitchen. So, Logan Miller hadn’t shown yet. Maybe that explained why things were going so well. Everything was moving along as she’d planned—even though they were one server short. Her assistant hadn’t complained about it, but of course Talia knew they were.
She’d been watching for the man she’d had the run-in with earlier, and he hadn’t shown up. It was just as well. If he’d been there—
‘Oof! Sorry, Talia, I didn’t see you there.’
The saucier had stepped down hard on her foot. Talia smiled determinedly. ‘My fault,’ she said, taking a step back. ‘I’ll just—’ She whirled around as a pot clattered to the tile floor. ‘Sorry,’ she said quickly. ‘I didn’t mean…’
The head chef looked at her. ‘Sounds like there’s a pretty good party going on out there. Why don’t you go have a drink or something?’
Talia laughed and shook her head. ‘Not me. I’m just the hired help—they don’t want me crashing their party.’
He sighed. ‘Listen, boss, I’m trying to do this diplomatically but the truth is, you’re in the way. We’d all be grateful if you’d skedaddle. We’ll yell if we run into trouble.’
She nodded. It was a nice thing to say, but trouble was highly unlikely. The staff were efficient and well trained, and they didn’t need her underfoot. Her job was planning and co-ordinating; the chef was right, she really was in the way right now.
Talia smiled, snatched a cracker from a tray as it went by, and walked to the door. ‘Call if you need me,’ she said, and she stepped out into the dusk.
She felt as if she’d walked into another world. The noise of the kitchen vanished, replaced instantly by the silence of the soft September evening. A breeze carried up from the sand, fragrant with the rich scents of the Pacific, mingling with the clean tang of pine drifting down from the rounded hills that rose behind the inn. Talia stood still for a moment, face lifted to the sky, and then she began walking slowly along the gravel path that wound uphill, through the pines to the grove of redwoods towering beyond them.
It was hard going, thanks to the pitch of the land and the height of her grey suede heels, but she decided to make the best of it. For starters, the air smelled too sweet and fresh to go back inside. For another—for another, she was just as glad to put off the time she’d have to check things again. For all she knew, the man she’d met this afternoon might have changed his mind and shown up to work, and she didn’t really want to face him again. It was silly, but that was the way she felt.
And then there was Logan Miller. She knew what to expect there—his letters, and now the attitude of his employees, had prepared her for the worst. Still, she’d done the job he’d asked of her, and so far she seemed to have done it well. Miller would have to be satisfied, which meant that her boss would be, too. Her promotion would be rock-solid.
In a couple of years, if all went as planned, she’d have enough money saved and enough experience under her belt to start a small catering firm of her own. It was something she’d thought about and planned for a very long time. And then she’d have everything she wanted: she wouldn’t need anyone or anything any more.
If she owed her mother’s memory anything, she sometimes thought, it was that her very irresponsibility had been a kind of legacy.
‘You are the most determined young woman, Talia,’ John Diamond had once said, and he’d laughed. ‘Did you learn that at Cornell?’
No, she’d thought, I learned it when Grams told me the circumstances of my birth. But she hadn’t said that, of course, she’d simply smiled and said she’d learned all kinds of things at university.
The path had grown steep. Talia stopped, drew in a deep breath, and looked over her shoulder. The inn was barely visible, half-hidden by the pine trees. She should really go back, she thought. The cocktail hour would be over soon, and dinner would be starting. You could never tell what might happen then. Once, she’d seen someone take a bite of something, gasp, and fall to the floor in an allergic attack. Only quick thinking on the part of one of the servers had saved the woman’s life.
She thought again of the man in the kitchen. Where was he tonight? Not that she cared, one way or the other. It was just that he’d looked as if he could have used the few dollars he’d have earned this evening. Well, that wasn’t really accurate. There’d been something about him, an aura she just couldn’t nail down that had seemed to overwhelm everything else. He’d looked like a beach bum, yes, but there’d been more to him than that.
She clucked her tongue in annoyance. What was the matter with her? She was tired, that was it, and why wouldn’t she be? She’d flown in early this morning and she hadn’t stopped since. This walk had revived her a bit, she had to admit that. All right, she’d go in a little further, just into the redwood grove ahead, although it did look awfully dark and gloomy and…
She heard the footfalls behind her just as she reached the first stand of giant trees. Footfalls? No, not that. Something was pounding hard along the gravel path behind her. And it was breathing hard. In the silence of the evening, the sound of air being drawn in an out of its lungs was raspingly loud.
Her heart constricted. Talia had grown up in a small city back East, and had spent the last few years in San Francisco. The closest she’d come to country living was the four years she’d spent at Cornell University in New York State, and although the campus was in a beautiful outdoors setting it hardly qualified as wilderness.
Images of bears, cougars, or something even worse jostled each other for attention in her mind. She stood rooted to the gravel path, trying to decide whether it was wiser to turn and face what was coming or to head further into the artificial night of the redwood forest. Face it, she thought. But, just as she turned, the creature that was pursuing her ran her down.
It came at her quickly, a dark blur that rounded the bend and entered the trees with a speed that sent it crashing into her. Talia felt the jarring slap of muscle against flesh, caught the sharp tang of salt and something muskier, and then she went down in a tumble of limbs and grey flannel.
‘For God’s sake, woman, what the hell were you doing?’
The thing that had run her over had a voice. Relief flooded through her as she realised that it was a man—a very sweaty, irritable one, from the feel and sound of him—and then she felt her own anger rising.
Talia pushed at his chest as he lay above her. ‘Will you get off me?’ she demanded. ‘Dammit, where do you think you are?’
The man caught her wrists as she flailed at him. ‘That’s it,’ he said, ‘add insult to injury. It isn’t enough you were playing statues in the middle of the path—’
‘This is a walking path, not a running path. Why weren’t you watching where you were going?’
The torrent of words halted as she stared into the face poised above hers. It was dark in the redwood grove; the man’s face was striped with shadow. But there was no mistaking the thatch of sun-streaked hair that fell across his forehead or the darkly blazing eyes set above those high cheekbones.
Talia’s heartbeat stumbled. The man straddling her was the surfer-cum-waiter she’d met in the kitchen earlier.
He seemed to recognise her at the same moment. A smile curved across his mouth, then vanished. He sat back a little so that she felt the weight of him against her thighs. ‘We meet again,’ he said, and she flushed.
‘Let me up.’
The smile came again. ‘Ask nicely.’
Talia gritted her teeth. ‘I said—’
‘Perhaps you didn’t hear me. I told you to ask nicely.’
‘Dammit! Get up. Are you deaf?’
He laughed coolly. ‘I’m just not good at taking orders. I’ve been told it’s my major failing.’ The grasp on her wrists tightened. ‘Now ask politely if you want me to get off you.’
‘Damn you…’
He smiled. ‘Actually,’ he said softly, shifting his body against hers, ‘I’m rather comfortable where I am.’
Talia closed her eyes, then opened them again. He was watching her narrowly, the smile twisted across his mouth. She was a long way from the inn, she thought suddenly, and a chill raced along her spine.
She swallowed. ‘All right.’ Her voice was wooden. ‘Get up. Please.’
He hesitated. Then, in one fluid motion, he let go her wrists, rose to his feet, and held out his hand. Talia looked at it, then at him, and turned her face away. She got to her feet stiffly, wincing as she did.
The man moved quickly. His arm slid around her waist. ‘Are you hurt?’
‘No. I’m fine, no thanks to you.’
She tried stepping away from him, but his arm tightened around her. The smell of salt and musk came again, and she realised suddenly that it was him she was smelling, a sensual combination of sweat and some male essence that emanated from him.
‘Don’t be so bloody stubborn,’ he said. ‘Tell me what’s wrong. Is it your ankle?’
She shook her head. ‘I—I don’t think so, no. I just broke my heel, that’s all.’ Her eyes met his and she saw once again that dark intensity that she’d seen that afternoon. Her breath caught. ‘Let go of me.’ She waited a moment, then swallowed. ‘Please.’
‘I’ll help you back to the inn,’ he said. ‘Lean on me.’
His arm curved around her, moulding her to the muscular strength of his body. He was wearing the same T-shirt and shorts she’d seen him in earlier; both were soaked and clung to him like a second skin. She stumbled as he drew her to him; when she reached out to steady herself, her hand fell on his arm. His skin was warm and damp, taut under her fingers, the muscles beneath hard and powerful. Talia’s pulse leaped crazily, and she pulled back as if she’d touched her hand to a hot stove.
‘No.’ Her voice sounded ragged, and she swallowed. ‘No,’ she repeated, more evenly this time. ‘I’m fine. If you’d just—’
‘What are you going to do, walk back barefoot? Dammit, let me help you.’
Suddenly, his very nearness seemed to overwhelm her. There was a strange constriction in her chest; her head was reeling. In all her carefully ordered life, she had never felt the confusion this man seemed to inspire. ‘Just get your hands off me,’ she said. ‘Do you hear me? I swear, if you don’t…’
He grew very still. ‘If I don’t?’
Talia swallowed. ‘I’ll—I’ll report you. I’ll—I’ll…’
The man clasped her by the shoulders and forced her to face him. ‘I saw the way you looked at me today,’ he said softly. ‘You liked what you saw, Miss Roberts. But you were damned determined not to admit it.’
Colour flooded her cheeks. ‘You flatter yourself.’
He laughed. ‘Do I?’
In the second before he kissed her, Talia knew what he was going to do. But there was no time to stop him—he pulled her into his arms with a speed that took her breath away. One hand tangled in her hair, tilting her head back, while the other cupped her chin.
‘No.’ Panic turned her voice thready. ‘Don’t—’
His mouth silenced her. Talia raised her hands and slammed them against his chest, but he only shifted her more closely against him, imprisoning her with his strength. His mouth moved on hers, hard and deliberate, and gradually he forced her lips to open to the demand of his. His kiss became an invasion of her senses: she tasted his heat, felt the mockery of passion his tongue made as it sought hers.
The assault of his embrace flamed through her, scorching a path the length of her body. Talia grew still in the stranger’s arms; her lashes fell to her cheeks as a strange lethargy spread through her. She swayed in his arms and he murmured something incomprehensible against her mouth, his kiss gentling, deepening.
His hand slid to her waist, and she felt the light press of his fingers just beneath her breast. For a tick of eternity, she felt abandoned by time and reality. A nameless fear welled within her, more of herself than of him.
With a sob of desperation, Talia pushed hard against his chest and twisted free of his embrace.
‘Are you always this brave,’ she said, after her heart had stopped racing, ‘or is it because I’m a woman that you think you can take what you want?’
He laughed. ‘If you mean do I always get what I want, the answer is yes.’
His voice was harsh, his tone contemptuous, and Talia thought she’d never hated anyone as she hated him. Anger fuelled her courage. ‘Then this will be the first time you don’t.’
‘There’s always a way, Talia.’ His eyes were cool as they moved over her. ‘Haven’t I just proved that?’
Her hand was a blur as it rose between them, but he was faster. He caught her wrist before she could strike him, his fingers curving tightly around the slender bones, and she drew a sharp breath.
‘Let go of me. Do you hear me? I—’
Laughter drifted towards them. There was the sound of feet scuffling on the gravel path, and suddenly a young couple stepped into the redwood grove. Talia recognised the boy—he was one of the servers she’d hired, and from the way she was dressed the girl was, too.
The couple’s laughter faded and they stood staring at Talia and the man. The little tableau remained still and silent and then, suddenly, he let go of Talia’s hand and stepped back.
‘Until we meet again, Talia,’ he said softly, and then he turned to the boy. ‘Help Miss Roberts to the inn. She’s had an accident.’
The couple sprang apart, the boy moving quickly to Talia’s side. ‘Yes, sir.’
Talia shook her head. ‘I’m fine. It’s only my shoe. I…’
Her words trailed away as the man turned and began running easily down the path. ‘Sir’, the boy had said, the word taut with deference. A little while before, it would have seemed ludicrous that anyone would address a man wearing T-shirt, frayed shorts and scuffed running shoes with such respect. But the stranger’s tone and bearing had suddenly commanded it. ‘Until we meet again,’ he’d said.
The breath caught in Talia’s throat. Suddenly, she knew beyond doubt that they would.
