Читать книгу The Platinum Collection: An Australian Conquest: The Incorrigible Playboy / His Most Exquisite Conquest / His Bought Mistress - Emma Darcy, Emma Darcy - Страница 14

CHAPTER SEVEN

HARRY watched her come out of the apartment, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, determined to get on with the job and do it well. He admired her strength of character, her refusal to be utterly crushed by disillusionment. On the other hand, he had kept her mind very occupied these past few hours and would continue to do so until they parted for the night. That would be crunch time for her, when she was lying in bed, alone in the darkness. It would all be about Mickey and Lucy then.

He was strongly tempted to give her something else to think about—something she couldn’t dismiss as easily as she had in the past, writing him off as of no account. He didn’t like it. He never had liked it. Tonight might be too soon to pounce but...what the hell! She was never going to be ready for him. Her mind-set against getting personally involved with him was so fixed, perhaps physically shaking her out of it was the best way to go.

If he set the scene right...

An idea came to him. A private word to the chef before dinner, concentrate on business over the meal, wait until the guests had drifted off to their villas or the bar, then spring the surprise.

He grinned at her as he rose from the office chair. ‘Time to see if the stars are burning bright tonight.’

She shook her head at him. ‘It’s not dark enough yet.’ Her tone denied any interest in an activity which probably smacked of romance to her.

‘Well, we can watch for them to appear from our table in the restaurant. You are allowed to enjoy the ambience of this island, Elizabeth.’

He could see her consciously relaxing, working up a smile. ‘I will, Harry. I’m glad I have the opportunity to do so.’

‘Good! I want you to be happy here.’

Happy...

Why not? Elizabeth thought. She should let everything else float out of her mind and embrace this experience—tropical night, stars burning bright, glorious food, lots of interesting people to meet. All she had to do was ignore Harry’s insidious effect on her, and with the ready distraction of the guests around them, surely that could be kept at bay.

He led her out of the office, locked the doors and handed her the key, which made her feel secure about any unwanted attention coming from him later on in the evening. As soon as they entered the spacious, open-air restaurant, he was called over to a table where two couples were very happy with their day of diving near the reef, happy that Harry had arranged such a marvellous experience for them.

Elizabeth was introduced as the new manager. It was easy to smile at these people, easy to smile at all the other guests when other introductions were made throughout the evening. They were all having a great time and their mood was infectious, and however they’d filled in their day, the evening meal certainly topped it off.

Every course was superb. Elizabeth really enjoyed the food and complimented the chef on it, praising the attentiveness of the waiters, too. Daniel Marven definitely ran a high-class restaurant. Elizabeth couldn’t see any problem arising on this front during her management month, and she was sure Sarah and Jack Pickard handled their roles just as efficiently. This could very well be a happy position for her.

‘You have a great set-up here, Harry,’ she complimented him over coffee. ‘The guests are so clearly enjoying themselves.’

He leaned back in his chair, smiling at her. ‘You’ve handled everything extremely well, Elizabeth.’

His voice was like a soft purr that somehow seemed to curl around her, adding more heat to the warmth of his smile. All evening it had been strictly business, with Harry coaching her in her managerial role, and she’d relaxed enough to actually feel comfortable with him. She was caught off guard by the switch to personal appreciation that felt as though he was physically caressing her.

Her pulse quickened. Her toes scrunched up in her sandals. He wasn’t really doing anything, she fiercely told herself. It hadn’t even been a flirtatious remark. Reacting like this was off the wall.

‘Thank you,’ she said quickly, fighting off the unwelcome feelings.

‘No. Thank you,’ he replied just as quickly, the smile gone, respect shining in his eyes. ‘Coming in cold, taking over from Sean...you’re picking up on everything much faster than I expected. This morning I had a problem. Tonight...’ He spread his hands in an awed gesture. ‘You’re a wonder, Elizabeth.’

She floundered for a moment, his warmth and respect tearing at her heart—the heart she had given to Michael, who didn’t want it. She made an ironic grimace. ‘Your brother trained me to pick up on everything.’

He returned the grimace. ‘Of course. Mickey would. But I’m glad you’re here with me.’

And she was glad to have this getaway.

That was the bottom line.

She forced herself to relax again. Today was almost over. She’d made it through without falling apart.

As the last couple rose from their table to leave the restaurant they called out goodnights to Harry and Elizabeth, which, of course, they reciprocated. ‘Colin and Jayne Melville from Goulburn,’ Elizabeth murmured, shooting a triumphant grin at Harry. ‘I’ve got them all sorted now.’

He laughed, the blue eyes twinkling pleasure in her. ‘I knew you’d meet the challenge.’

Her heart did a flip-flop. The man was sinfully attractive, actually more so when he wasn’t doing his playboy flirting stuff. Tonight he hadn’t strayed into any irritating dalliance with her, focusing entirely on easing her into this new job. He’d been exceptionally good at it, too, charming the guests into talking about themselves, giving information for Elizabeth to memorise. They enjoyed chatting with him. Of course, in their eyes Harry Finn was an equal. He had the money, the looks and the self-assurance that came with both those assets.

‘One more thing to do before we part for the night,’ he said, standing up and moving to draw back her chair.

‘What’s that?’ she asked, pushing herself up from the table, feeling it had been a very long day already.

‘A little ceremony from the staff to welcome you,’ he answered. ‘It’s been set up down on the deck.’ He nodded towards the bar where many of the guests had gathered for a nightcap. It was directly across from the restaurant, the walkway down to the pool deck dividing the two entertainment areas. ‘More private than here.’

Elizabeth had no qualms about accompanying Harry to wherever the welcome ceremony was going to be held. It was a nice gesture from the staff and gave her the opportunity to meet more of them.

There were actually two decks. The first one surrounded the swimming pool. It was strewn with sun-lounges, tables with folded-up umbrellas, and a couple of day beds flanking it. Steps led down to a lower deck, which had a large spa to one side.

A table for two was set up just in front of more steps that led straight onto the beach; white tablecloth, an ice bucket containing a bottle of champagne, two flute glasses, two bread plates with cake forks beside them. A table for two, in what was so obviously a romantic setting, close to the sound of waves lapping on the beach and under a sky full of stars.

Elizabeth jolted to a halt. Her pulse jumped into an erratic beat. This looked too much like a playboy setting. Was Harry about to turn into a wolf now that business was over for the day? She shot him a hard, suspicious look.

‘I don’t see any staff.’

‘Waiting for me to get you settled,’ he said, moving ahead to hold out one of the chairs for her.

Was it true? Surely he wouldn’t lie when the lie could be so quickly disproved. It was okay, she told herself, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly as she forced her feet forward and sat where Harry had directed. He lifted the bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket, popped the cork and filled the flute glasses before sitting down himself.

‘A celebratory drink,’ he said, smiling at her as he raised his glass, expecting her to do the same.

She did, though his smile did nothing to calm her down. Quite the opposite.

‘To a new start,’ he added, clicking her glass with his.

‘A new start,’ she echoed, hoping the staff would hurry up and appear. Her nerves were twitching. Her heart was thumping. There was too much intimacy about being alone with Harry out here, and the control she was trying to hold on to was frayed by having had to deal with too many difficult situations.

Harry’s eyes caressed her with admiration as he complimented her again. ‘You’ve been brilliant today, Elizabeth.’

For some stupid reason, tears pricked her eyes. She managed a half smile of acknowledgment and quickly sipped the champagne, needing it to loosen up the sudden lump in her throat. The day had been overloaded with tensions but it was almost over. All she had to do was hold herself together a little bit longer.

‘Ah! Here it comes!’ Harry said happily, looking up towards the restaurant.

Elizabeth blinked hard, set her glass down, mentally gathered herself to deal with the welcome ceremony, then turned her head to see...

Not a group of staff members.

Only one person walking down the steps.

It was Daniel Marven, carrying a cake on a platter.

She looked for others to come streaming down behind him but no one did. He proceeded to the table alone, placing the platter in front of her.

‘Enjoy,’ he said, smiling at her.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth was written across the chocolate icing on top of the cake. She stared at it, barely finding voice enough to say, ‘Thank you.’

‘Good work, Daniel,’ Harry said, and the chef took off, leaving the two of them together.

A dam of tightly held emotion burst inside Elizabeth. Her birthday. Her thirtieth birthday. She’d so much wanted it to be...not how it had turned out. Tears spurted into her eyes, welling over and streaming down her cheeks. Impossible to stop them. Her heart was not strong enough to absorb any more stress. It felt as though it was breaking.

Strong hands lifted her out of her chair. Strong arms engulfed her, clamping her to a strong chest. Her head was gently pressed onto a strong shoulder. There was no resistance in her. None at all. She was as weak as a baby—a baby who had been born thirty years ago and didn’t know what life had in store for her. Still didn’t. And she was too much at sea to think about it...think about anything.