Читать книгу Australia: In Bed with the Boss: The Marriage Decider / Their Wedding Day / His Boardroom Mistress - Emma Darcy, Emma Darcy - Страница 13

THE restaurant Jake drove her to was on the beach side of The Esplanade, just along from the old Bathers’ Pavilion, which he pointed out in passing, informing her it was a historic landmark at Balmoral. Amy smiled over the name. It conjured up men in long shorts and singlets, and women in bathing costumes with skirts and bloomers.

The past, however, was wiped out of her mind as Jake led her into an ultra-modern dining room that shouted class with a capital C. “Table for Carter,” he murmured to the woman who greeted them, while Amy was still taking in the huge floral arrangement in the foyer—a splendid array of Australian flora in an urn. The waratahs alone would have cost a small fortune.

Her heels clacked on polished floorboards as Jake steered her into following the woman. Well-dressed patrons sat in comfortable chairs at tables dressed in starched white linen and gleaming tableware. They bypassed a bar that curved around from the foyer and headed towards a wall of glass which seemed to rise from the water beyond it.

This was an illusion, as Amy realised when she was seated right next to the window. There was a strip of beach below them, but they were so close to the waterline, the sense of being right on top of it stayed. Outside, a long wharf was lapped by waves and pelicans were using it as a resting place. Inside, she was handed a menu and asked what she’d like to drink.

“Two glasses of champagne,” Jake answered, and gave Amy a smile that fizzed into her blood.

“And a jug of iced water, please,” she quickly added, telling herself she needed to keep a cool head here.

She’d been in classy restaurants many times with Jake and a party of his clients, but never before alone with him. The setting engendered a sense of intimacy, as well as a sense of special occasion. A glance at the prices on the menu left Amy in no doubt she was being treated to top class, and the dishes described promised gourmet standard from the chef. She wasn’t sure it felt right to be sharing this much with her boss.

“Did you book a table before we left the office?” she asked.

He looked up from his menu, his golden eyes glowing warm contentment. “Yes, I did. Great forethought, wasn’t it?” he said with sublime confidence in her agreement.

“There might not have been anything to celebrate,” she pointed out.

“Then it would have been a fine consolation for disappointment. Besides, it’s lunchtime. On the principle we have to eat, why not eat well? Superb food here. Have you chosen yet?”

“No. It all looks marvellous.”

“Good! I figured you needed your appetite tempted. Can’t have you pining away on me.”

Relieved of any cause for battle, Amy returned her attention to the menu, satisfied she understood Jake’s motives. This lunch was part of his program to push her into forgetting her grief and promote the attitude that life was still worth living. Put her in a new environment, lift her spirits with champagne, stuff her up with delicious comfort food, and Amy Taylor would be as good as gold again.

She smiled to herself as she made her choice, deciding on her favourite seafoods. Making the most of Jake’s fix-it ideas was definitely the order of the day. He probably didn’t have a clue about broken hearts. He never stayed in a relationship long enough to find out. Nevertheless, Amy had to admit he was positively helping her over a big emotional hump.

After this sinfully decadent lunch, they’d be dropping in at Ted Durkin’s office to sign the lease on the apartment. She could take up occupation next Saturday. What had loomed as a long, miserable, empty week ahead of her would now be filled with the business of organising the move and coloured with the anticipation of all it would mean to her. To some extent, Jake was right with his practical solutions. Life didn’t stay black when good things happened.

Their champagne arrived and their orders were taken. Jake lifted his glass, his eyes twinkling at her over it. “To the future,” he toasted.

Amy happily echoed it. “The future. And thanks for everything, Jake. I really appreciate your kind consideration.”

“What would I do without your smile? It makes my day.”

She laughed at his teasing, then sat back in her chair, relaxing, allowing herself the luxury of viewing him with warmth. “I like working with you,” she admitted. “It’s never boring.”

“Amy, you’re the best assistant I’ve ever had. In fact, you’re the perfect complement to me.”

He was talking about work, nothing but work, she insisted to herself, yet there was something in his voice that furred the edges of sharp thinking and her heart denied any breakage by hop, skip, and jumping all over the place.

“Jake, darling!”

The jarring intrusion snapped Amy’s attention to the woman who had suddenly materialised beside Jake. A blonde! A very voluptuous blonde! Who proceeded to stroke her absurdly long and highly varnished fingernails down Jake’s sleeve in a very provocative, possessive manner.

It was like a knife twisting in a fresh wound. Amy could see Steve’s blonde getting her claws into him, never mind that he belonged to another woman. A marauding blonde, uncaring of anything but her own desires. This one was insinuating herself between Amy and Jake, splitting up their private celebration party, stealing the lovely comfortable mood, demanding to be the focus of attention.

“What a surprise, seeing you here today!” she cooed to Jake, not asking any pardon for intruding.

Amy hated her. She wanted to tear that hand off Jake’s sleeve and shove it into the woman’s mouth, shutting off the slavering drool of words.

“An unexpected pleasure, Isabella,” Jake returned smoothly, starting to rise from his chair, dislodging her hand.

Isabella! Of course, she’d have a name like that, Amy seethed. Something sexy and exotic.

“No, please stay seated.” It was another excuse to touch him, to curl her talons around his shoulder. The blonde bared perfect teeth at Amy. Piranha teeth. “I don’t think I’ve met your companion.”

“Amy Taylor…Isabella Maddison,” Jake obliged.

“Hi!” the blonde said, the briefest possible acknowledgement.

Amy met her feline green eyes with a chilly blue blast and nodded her acknowledgement, not prepared to play the all jolly friends game. She didn’t want to know Isabella Maddison, didn’t care to greet an uninvited intruder, and would not pretend to welcome a predatory blonde into her company.

Her and her “Jake, darling!” How rude could you get? It was perfectly obvious the blonde was putting in her claim in front of a possible rival and didn’t care what it took to win. Never mind dimming Amy’s pleasure, taking the shine off the day, pushing herself forward to block Amy out.

“Great party on Saturday night, Jake,” Isabella enthused, giving it a sexy innuendo.

“Yes. A lot of fun,” he replied.

Fun! The urge to have a bit of fun herself blew through Amy’s mind. “What a pity I couldn’t be there!” she said ruefully. “Jake and I have the best fun together, don’t we, darling?”

His head jerked to her, eyes startled. He recovered fast, his mouth curving into his whimsical smile. “Ain’t that the truth?” he drawled.

‘Jake always says we complement each other perfectly,” Amy crowed, buoyed so much by his support, she batted her eyelashes at the blonde bombshell.

“Then you should have been there, shouldn’t you?” came the snaky return comment, accompanied by a suggestively raised eyebrow.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Amy shrugged and swirled the champagne around in her glass as she gave Jake a smouldering look. “Some men like a bit of rope. I don’t mind as long as I can reel him in whenever I want to.”

“Amy is very understanding,” Jake said, nodding his appreciation.

“Well, perhaps another time, Jake,” Isabella purred, undeterred from a future romp.

“Oh, I doubt it.” Amy poured syrup into her voice. “He rarely dips into the same well twice.” She bared her teeth. “Take a friendly word of advice. Best to move on to greener pastures. He is sort of stuck with me for the long haul.”

Isabella started to retreat. “If you’ll excuse me…”

“With pleasure,” Amy said to speed her on her way, then downed half the champagne to celebrate her going.

Jake’s eyes were dancing with unholy amusement. “My wildest fantasy come true…you fighting another woman for me.”

“Huh!” Amy scoffed. “That’ll be the day.”

“Am I not to believe my ears?”

“She had the wrong coloured hair.”

“Ah!” His wicked delight took on a wry twist. “The other woman.”

“Sorry if I’ve queered your pitch with her.” She wasn’t sorry at all, but it seemed an appropriate thing to say. After all, when all was said and done, he was still her boss. Though he could have stopped her roll if anything important was at stake. She would have taken her cue from him.

“No problem,” he said carelessly.

“No, I don’t suppose it is.” Cynicism streaked through her. “If you snapped your fingers she’d come again.”

“Isabella has no claim on me.” It was a surprisingly serious statement, and his eyes held hers intently, as though he was assuring her he spoke the truth.

It was meaningless to Amy. No woman ever seemed to have a claim on him. “Is she your latest interest?” For some reason, she really wanted to know.

“No,” he answered without hesitation.

“Just one of the hopeful crowd that trails after you,” Amy said dryly.

He shrugged. “It hardly matters if I’m not interested, does it? To be blunt, Isabella doesn’t appeal to me. She never will appeal to me. Any hope she might be nursing is therefore futile.”

Goodbye, Isabella.

Amy was pleased that Jake had more taste than Steve. For both the men in her life to fall into the clutches of predatory blondes would have been altogether too wretched to bear. Not that Jake was an intimate part of her life, but he was a big chunk and she wanted to respect his judgement of character.

His quirky little smile came back. “You are quite a formidable fighter, Amy.”

She shrugged. “You did encourage me, taking my side. If you’d clamped down on me…”

“And miss that performance?” His eyes sparkled admiration.

“The fact remains…” It felt really good that he’d supported her. “…You let me win, Jake.”

He lifted his glass of champagne in another toast. “We’re a team, Amy. A great team.”

“A team,” she echoed happily, and drank to the splendid sense of well-being flowing from being a solid team with Jake.

Their first course arrived.

Amy ate with gusto. Not only was the food fantastic, her tastebuds were fully revived from the weekend when everything she’d tried to eat seemed to have the texture of cardboard, indigestible. Maybe having a healthy appetite was a side effect from feeling victorious. Defeat was certainly the pits.

“More champagne?” Jake asked, seeing her down the last drops in her glass.

“No, thanks. I’d better move on to iced water. I think I’ve been hot-headed enough today.”

He grinned. “Some things need letting out of your system. Especially the deep down and poisonous stuff.”

“Well, I’m almost squeaky clean again.”

“What a shame! So much volatile passion flying around. It’s been quite an exciting experience watching it in action. Intriguing, too. Shows me a side of you you’ve kept under wraps. Not that I didn’t suspect it was there.”

Amy sat very still because her heart was fluttering extremely fast. Jake was regarding her with simmering speculation. The cat was out of the bag, well and truly, and she’d let it out with her wild flights off the rails. If she wasn’t careful, the cat would feel free to pounce!

Twice she’d zoomed out of control, losing any semblance of the cool she’d kept with Jake. She could make excuses for herself. Jake was obligingly accepting them. But that didn’t put things back the way they were between them.

“Anything else you’d like to spit out? Get off your chest?” he invited, clearly relishing exploring this newly revealed side of her.

Amy needed a safe topic fast, preferably focused on him instead of her.

“Yes. Since I’ve now been introduced to your sister, would you mind telling me about your family?” Her curiosity had been piqued by Ruth’s revelations this morning.

“Not at all. What do you want to know?”

“Is there only you and Ruth?”

“Ruth is the youngest. I’m the next youngest. Above us are two older brothers, both very respectably settled down with families. Mum does her best to rule over us all and Dad lets us be.”

“Do they all live in Sydney?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re the wild one.”

He laughed. “They called me the adventurer when I was a kid.”

He still was, Amy thought. “Tell me why,” she prompted, eager to know more about him, to understand where he came from.

Again he obliged her, putting her at ease by regaling her with amusing stories from his childhood. Freed from the disturbing sexual pull he could exert on her, Amy enjoyed listening.

It was easy to imagine a little Jake trotting off on his own to explore the exciting things the world had to offer, worrying his mother, trying the patience of his older brothers who were sent to find him after they’d neglected to mind him properly. Ruth had become his partner in voyages of wonder when she was old enough, happy to be led anywhere by Jake.

The first course was cleared from their table. The main course was served and consumed. They were both persuaded to order the divine-sounding apple and brandy souffle´ served with a lemon and kiwi fruit compote to finish off the meal.

The stories went on, eagerly encouraged by Amy. Hearing about a happy childhood, and a family that wasn’t in any way dysfunctional, was something new to her, almost magical. She tended not to think about her own—no happy memories there—and Steve had been an only child whose parents had divorced when he was eight. He’d virtually lived in a world of computer games through his teens and they were still an escape for him whenever an argument loomed.

She wondered if his blonde knew that about the man she’d snaffled. Avoidance was Steve’s answer to confrontation. Which was probably why Amy had been presented with his fatherhood and the date of his marriage, showing in one inarguable stroke there was no point in fighting.

Anything for a peaceful life. Steve’s philosophy. She’d thought it was good but it wasn’t really. Problems never got properly aired.

“I’ve lost you.”

Jake’s dry comment drew her attention back to him. She smiled. “No. I was just thinking how lucky you are not to have any fears. Or inhibitions. You were very blessed being born into your family, Jake.”

He cocked his head slightly. The speculation in his eyes gradually took on the wolfish gleam that usually played havoc with her nerves. Maybe she’d been lulled by her good fortune, the champagne and fine food. Instead of alarm, she felt a tingling thrill of challenge.

“Everyone has fears, Amy,” he drawled. “And inhibitions are placed upon them, whether they want them or not.”

“Like what?” she said recklessly.

“Well, take you and me. I’d like nothing better than to race you off to bed and make mad passionate love for the rest of the afternoon.”

For one quaking moment, Amy was tempted.

Then Jake gave his quirky smile and added, “But if I had my wicked way, I’m afraid you might bolt out of my life, and I wouldn’t like losing you. So here I am…hopelessly inhibited.”

The souffle´s arrived.

“Consolation,” Amy said, doing her utmost to hide both the shock and the relief she felt.

Jake laughed and picked up his spoon. “Bon appe´tit!”

Off the hook, Amy thought gratefully. The temptation had come so swiftly and sharply, she was still quivering inside. She sternly bent her mind to reasoning it away.

It was because the physical attraction had always been there, and with Steve’s defection, pursuing it was no longer forbidden. And it felt great having Jake at her side, fighting on her behalf against Steve, against the blonde, treating her as though she was precious to him.

But it would be crazy—absolutely crazy—to get sexually involved with Jake. She’d only be one of an endless queue—another little adventure—and how on earth would she be able to work with him afterwards? She’d hate it when he dumped her and took up with someone else. As he surely would.

Besides, she didn’t really want to make love with him. It was just that he’d made her feel desirable, like a winner instead of a loser and a reject. It was simply a seductive situation. And he’d thought better of it, too, applying solid common sense.

Here she was on a winning streak and it would be really silly to spoil it. Today had brought her a wonderfully ego-boosting salary, and an apartment that was close to paradise. However tempting it might be to add a new lover to the list, it was best to get any thought of tangling with her boss in bed right out of her mind.

She put down her spoon and then realised she’d shovelled the souffle´ down her throat without really tasting it. Wasted, she thought. Which was a pity. A delight missed.

A glance across the table showed Jake had finished his, too. She didn’t know for how long but she suddenly felt him keenly observing her and had the awful sense he’d been reading her thoughts. She glanced at her watch, anxious to divert any further disturbing exchanges between them.

“Good heavens! The afternoon’s almost gone!’ Her gaze flew to his in sharp appeal. “We’d better leave, Jake.”

He checked his watch, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “You’re right. Got to get that lease signed on our way back to the office.” He signalled for the bill and smiled at Amy. “A good day’s work.”

She laughed, trying to loosen up. “We’ve played hookey for hours.”

“There’s a time and place for everything,” he answered blithely.

And this wasn’t quite the time and place…yet…for what he had in mind.

Amy tried to scotch the thought but it clung. “I’ll just make a quick visit to the powder room,” she said, rising from the table, hoping she wasn’t appearing too skittish.

“Fine. I’ll meet you in the foyer.”

She had her armour in place when she emerged from the powder room. Jake was waiting, looking well satisfied with his world. He wasn’t about to race her off, not without appropriate encouragement from her, anyway. She was safe with him as long as she kept herself under control.

“What’s the name of this restaurant?” she whispered as they headed outside.

“The Watermark.”

“Ah! Very appropriate. It was a wonderful lunch, Jake. Thank you.”

“I enjoyed it, too.”

No doubt about that, Amy thought. The teasing twinkle in his eyes was not the least bit dimmed. Jake Carter always lived to fight another day. He settled her in his car with an air of the man in possession.

But he wasn’t.

Thanks to Steve, Amy was a free spirit.

The name of the restaurant lingered in her mind as they drove towards completing the business of the day. The Watermark... It made her think of tides. When one rolled out, another rolled in. High points, low points. She wondered if making love with Jake Carter would be like eating a souffle´—a delight and then nothing.

Sex without love.

Forget it, she told herself.

Missing it didn’t hurt her one bit.