Читать книгу Conveniently Wed To The Greek - Kandy Shepherd - Страница 10

CHAPTER THREE

ALEX DIDN’T KNOW why it had suddenly become so important that Adele Hudson—Dell—accept his impromptu job offer. But he didn’t question it. Much of his success in business had come from following his instinct and he’d learned not to ignore its prompts.

Dell could be just the person he needed to help him launch his new project. The project he needed to get him back on track with life.

Mentally, he checked off the skills she brought to the table. Without a doubt she was good with words—a huge asset for launching into a new market. Another strength was she saw the hospitality industry through the eyes of the customer while at the same understanding how the business side operated. Her blog gave her an international view with access to readers all around the world. On top of that, she was smart and perceptive.

Her review of Athina had raised red flags he should have heeded. His traitorous so-called friend had been doing illicit deals with suppliers and siphoning off funds to a private bank account. He would have saved himself a good deal of money if he hadn’t let pride and anger blind him to the truth of what she had observed.

Since he’d been back living in the land of his ancestors he had thought a lot about the Ancient Greek concept of fate. Was it his selfishness or fate that had put Mia in his city restaurant when a sociopath had decided to make a deadly statement? Could it be that fate had brought Dell back into his life? Right at the time when he needed help to launch something different and she was in need of a job? At a time when he was growing weary of punishing himself for something that had been out of his control.

Dell looked up at him, her green eyes direct. ‘What exactly does the job entail?’ she asked.

Fact was, there wasn’t a job vacancy as such. He would create a role for her.

Alex looked around the café, filling up now as lunchtime approached. Lizzie had left them to return to the kitchen. ‘We need to go somewhere more private where we can talk.’

Dell nodded with immediate understanding. ‘What about the harbour front?’ she said.

He put cash on the table to cover both his coffee and a very generous tip. ‘Good idea.’

He followed her out of the café. She looked good in shorts with her slender legs and shapely behind. In fact she was downright sexy. How had he not noticed that sensuous sway before? Alex forced his gaze away. This was about business.

He walked with her past the adjoining bookstore towards a lookout with a view across the stone-walled harbour with its array of fishing and pleasure craft. The scene was in some ways reminiscent of the fishing village his Greek ancestors came from, in others completely different.

He’d been born and grown up in Australia and thought of himself as Australian. But his Greek heritage was calling to him. He was back here just for a quick visit to help celebrate his father’s sixtieth birthday and to take a look at Bay Breeze. Greece was where he wanted to be right now. He didn’t think he could ever live back in Sydney again. Not with the memories and regrets that assaulted him at every turn.

‘No one will overhear us here,’ Dell said when they reached the lookout. ‘Fire away.’

He looked around to be sure. His success hadn’t come about by sharing his strategies. ‘I would usually require you to sign a confidentiality agreement before discussing a new project.’

She shrugged. ‘I’m good with that. Just tell me where to sign.’

Through his dealings with her as an adversary he’d also come to a grudging admiration of her honesty. According to the judge, her review had been scrupulously within the boundary of fair comment. And his lawyers had been unable to dig up even a skerrick of dirt on her.

‘I wasn’t expecting this, so I don’t have an agreement with me,’ he said.

‘You can trust me,’ she said. ‘I’m good at keeping secrets.’

He had been accused of being a ruthless and cynical businessman—never taking anyone on trust. Yet instinct told him he could talk to this woman without his plans being broadcast where they shouldn’t.

Still...he hadn’t changed that much. ‘I’ll email a document to you when I’m back at the resort.’

‘Of course,’ she said with a tinge of impatience. ‘I’ll sign it straight away. But right now I’m dying of curiosity about the role you have in mind for me.’

Alex leaned back against the railing. ‘I’m not at Bay Breeze for the yoga and the parsnip tea,’ he said.

Dell’s green eyes danced with amusement. ‘I kind of got that,’ she said.

‘I’m a stakeholder and I wanted to see what my investment has got me. The more I’m involved, the more I like the well-being concept. It seems right for the times.’ And for his time.

‘You want to start a similar kind of resort?’

He nodded. ‘It’s already under way. On a private island. Upscale. Exclusive. To appeal to the top end of the market. But my experience is all in restaurants and nightclubs. A resort is something different and challenging. I need some help.’ Alex had to force out the final words. He never found it easy to admit he needed help in anything. Had always seen it as a weakness.

‘That’s where I come in?’

He nodded. ‘But I don’t have a job description for the role. I wasn’t expecting someone like you to come along at this stage.’

‘You mean you’re making the job up as you go along?’

She was direct. There was another thing he’d found interesting about Dell during their legal stoush. He added another, less tangible asset to the list of her attributes. He would enjoy working with her.

‘Yeah. I am. Which is good for you as I can shape the role to your talents. I have input from top designers and consultants for the building and fit-out. I’ve got my key hospitality staff on contract. But I want someone to work with me on fine-tuning the offer to guests and with the publicity. Establishing an exclusive well-being resort on a private island is something different for me.’

‘That is quite a challenge,’ she said.

‘Yes,’ he said. And a much-needed distraction. He’d go crazy if he didn’t throw himself into a big, all-consuming project.

He’d thought he could walk away from his business. The business he blamed for Mia’s death. She’d been a chef in one of his restaurants when he’d met her. There had been a strict company rule against fraternising between staff in his businesses. He’d instigated it and he’d broken it when he’d become beguiled by Mia. They’d been living together—her pushing for marriage, he putting it off—when the chef at his busiest city lunchtime venue had been injured in an accident on the way to work. Mia was having a rostered day off. Alex had pulled rank and insisted she go into work that day to replace the chef. He could not take that memory out again, to pick and prod at it, a wound that would never heal.

Since he’d been away, he’d discreetly sold off his Sydney venues one by one. All except Athina. He couldn’t bear to let his inheritance from his grandfather go. Financially he never needed to work again. But he had to work. He hadn’t realised how much his work had defined him until he hadn’t had it to occupy himself day after lonely day.

Dell’s auburn brows drew together in a frown. ‘Why me? There must be more experienced people around who would jump at the chance to work with you on such a project.’

He didn’t want to mention fate or kismet or whatever it was that had sent her here. The hunch that made him think she was what he needed right now. ‘But it’s you I want. And you need a job.’

‘The role does interest me,’ she said cautiously. ‘Although I’d want to keep my blog. It’s important to me.’

‘I see your blog as an asset, complementary to your work with me,’ he said. ‘You could utilise it for soft publicity, along with social media.’

She nodded. ‘I’ll consider that.’

‘I’m thinking the title of Publicity Director,’ he said. He named a handsome salary.

She blinked. ‘That definitely interests me,’ she said.

‘I pay well and expect utmost commitment in return.’

‘I have no issue with that,’ she said. ‘I’ve been described more than once as a workaholic.’

Her mouth set in a rigid line and he wondered if it was the ex-husband who had criticised her. He remembered wondering why he hadn’t been at court to support his wife during the case. ‘Truth is, if I get really involved, the line between work and interest blurs,’ she said.

As it always had with him. ‘I think you’ll find this interesting,’ he said. ‘The project is under way but the best is yet to come. You’d be coming on board at an exciting time. I want to open in June.’

Her eyes widened. ‘It’s already April. Isn’t that leaving it late?’

‘Agree. It’s cutting it fine. I won’t expect full occupancy until next year.’

‘When would you want me to start?’ she asked. He could sense her simmering excitement. ‘Because I’m firing with ideas already.’

‘A week. Two weeks max.’

She smiled. ‘I could do that.’ That big embracing smile was finally aimed at him. For a moment, he had to close his eyes against its dazzle. ‘I love the idea of an exclusive private island. Where is it? North of Sydney? Queensland? South Australia?’

He shook his head. ‘Greece.’

‘Greece? I... I wasn’t expecting that.’

Alex had expected her to react with excitement. Not a clouding of her eyes and a disappointed turn down of her mouth. He frowned.

‘My island of Kosmima is in northern Greece where my ancestors come from. Where I’ve been living with my Greek family since I left Australia. The most beautiful private island in the Ionian Sea. I’m sure you would love it.’

* * *

Of course she would love it.

Dell had always wanted to visit Greece. It had held a fascination for her since she’d studied ancient history at school. The mythology. The history. The ancient buildings. She wanted to climb the Acropolis in Athens to see the Parthenon. To visit the picturesque islands with their whitewashed buildings and blue roofs. There was nowhere in the world she wanted to visit more than Greece.

But travel had long been off the cards. She’d committed young to her high-school boyfriend and been caught up in mortgages and marriage to a man who hadn’t had an ounce of wanderlust in him. She’d travelled some with her parents and longed to travel more. Even to live abroad one day.

But there was something else she’d wanted more. Wanted so desperately she’d put all her other dreams on hold to pursue it.

‘I...assumed the job was in Australia,’ she said.

He shook his head. ‘No new venues in Australia for the foreseeable future. Europe is where I want to be. But I’d like a fellow Australian on board with me. Someone who knows about my businesses here, understands how things operate. In other words, you.’

So this was how it felt when big dreams collided.

Dell swallowed hard against the pain of her disappointment. ‘I’m very sorry, but I’m going to have to say no to your job offer. I can’t possibly go to Greece.’

His dark eyebrows rose in disbelief. She had knocked back what anyone might term a dream job. Her dream job. She suspected Alex wasn’t used to people saying no to him. But there was disappointment too in those black eyes. He had created a role just for her, tailored to her skills. She was grateful for the confidence he had put in her ability.

But she couldn’t tell him why she had to turn down the most enticing offer she was ever likely to get. Why she couldn’t be far away from home. That there was a chance she might be pregnant.