Читать книгу The Millionaire's Inexperienced Love-Slave - Miranda Lee - Страница 9

SHARNI didn’t know what to say. Because her refusal to have lunch with Adrian had nothing to do with his being a stranger.

‘Oh, I see,’ he said knowingly, his hand dropping back to the table. ‘It’s because I remind you too much of your husband.’

‘Yes,’ she choked out. And it wasn’t just his looks. She still could not forget the way he’d swept his hair back from his forehead. Not to mention the way he walked, with long, loose-limbed strides.

Just like Ray.

‘Is that such a bad thing?’ he asked gently.

‘Well, no, I guess not…’

‘Now that you’re over the shock of our physical similarities, I’m sure you can see lots of differences.’

His voice was certainly different. Ray had had a rather strong Australian accent. This man—this Adrian Palmer—spoke with a voice that betrayed a private-school education. Not plumy, but cultured and refined.

He also had a confident air about him that Ray had never possessed. Her husband had been a quiet, shy man whose emotional neediness had appealed to Sharni’s nurturing nature.

It was ironic, however, that his double was an architect, the profession Ray had always aspired to but which he’d never felt he had the ability to enter. Instead, he’d become a draughtsman.

‘Please don’t say no,’ his double said, and smiled a smile that was totally unlike Ray. It was a seductive smile, showing dazzlingly white teeth and an almost irresistible charm.

Sharni was surprised to find herself wavering. Maybe because, suddenly, he didn’t remind her of Ray at all.

‘It’s only lunch,’ he added, blue eyes twinkling up at her.

Ray’s eyes had rarely twinkled, she recalled. They’d been quiet pools whilst this man’s resembled a sparkling sea.

‘All right,’ she agreed before she could think better of it.

He was up out of his chair in a flash, getting her things before she could hardly draw breath.

‘Been clothes shopping, have we?’ he said breezily as he placed her carrier bags on the spare chair next to her.

‘What? Oh, yes. I…I still have some more to do this afternoon.’

‘Right.’

When he sat back down, he swept his hair back with his hand again, leaving Sharni speechless once more.

He smiled at her across the table. ‘You’d better introduce yourself.’

‘What?’ she said blankly.

‘Your name. Or do you want to remain a mystery woman?’

Sharni gave herself a mental shake. ‘There’s not much mystery about me,’ she said with a small laugh. ‘It’s Sharni. Sharni Johnson.’

‘Sharni,’ he repeated. ‘That’s a most unusual name. But it suits you. Ah, here’s the waiter for our order. Do you know what you want, Sharni, or would you like to take a risk and let me order for you? It’s not too much of a risk, as I’ve eaten here several times before, haven’t I, Roland?’

‘Indeed, you have, Mr Palmer,’ Roland answered.

‘Very well,’ she said, thinking to herself that Adrian Palmer’s confidence bordered on arrogance.

‘You like seafood?’ he asked as he studied the menu.

‘Yes.’

‘What about wine? Do you like white wine?’

‘Yes.’

‘In that case, Roland, we’ll have the steamed bream fillets with side salad, followed by the almond and plum tart. With cream. But first, bring us a bottle of that white I had the other day. You know the one. It’s a Sauvignon Blanc from Margaret River.’

‘Right away, Mr Palmer.’

Sharni had to admire his savoir-faire. It had been a long time since a man had ordered a meal for her with such panache. Ray had been a bit of a waffler when it came to deciding what to order in a restaurant. Making decisions had not been her husband’s forte. That had been her domain.

Or it had once. Sharni’s decision-making capabilities had disintegrated shortly after she’d won the compensation case. It was as though she’d stayed strong whilst she’d sought justice. But the moment the verdict had come down in her favour, she’d gone to mush.

Winning three million dollars compensation had proved to be a hollow victory, because all the money in the world would never make up for the loss of her husband and her beautiful little baby.

Still, life did go on, as Janice kept telling her.

Her sister would have been proud of her for not running away just now. Though she might be suspicious of Sharni’s motives for agreeing to having lunch with Ray’s double. Janice might think she was pretending Ray were still alive, and nothing had changed at all.

That was not the case. This man might look like Ray, but he was nothing like him in personality. The only time she could ever pretend he was Ray was if he didn’t speak. Or if he was asleep.

‘You really designed this building?’ she asked once the waiter departed.

‘I certainly did. Do you like it?’

‘To be honest, I haven’t had a proper look at it. I was walking past on this side of the street, smelt food, realised it was lunch-time and came in for something to eat.’

‘After lunch, I’ll give you the royal tour. I live on one of the upper floors.’

Lord, she thought. What a fast worker!

‘I don’t think so, Mr Palmer.’

‘Adrian,’ he corrected with another of those seductive smiles of his.

Sharni had to confess that she found his attention flattering. She also found him very attractive. Which was only logical. Ray’s looks had been the first thing to attract her. Physically, he’d stood out in a crowd. It wasn’t till she’d talked to him that she’d realised how shy he was.

That had appealed to her at the time. Nowadays, however, she would probably go for a more confident, outgoing kind of man, the kind who would look after her, not the other way around.

But she wasn’t ready yet to leap back into the dating world, especially not with the dead spit of her dead husband. And certainly not with such an accomplished ladies’ man.

Sharni knew a womaniser when she met one.

‘I don’t think so, Adrian,’ she said quite coolly. ‘Lunch is all I agreed to. Take it or leave it.’

He sighed. But it didn’t sound like a defeated sigh. Sharni suspected he was already thinking of another tack to take.

The wine’s arrival brought that confident smile back to his handsome face, reminding her not to drink too much. She’d gone through a stage a year or so back when she’d drunk far too much. Nowadays, she limited her alcoholic intake, having been advised that alcohol was not good for depression, which she fell into every time her thoughts dwelled on all that she had lost.

It had been too much to bear. First her husband, and then their baby. Oh, God…

‘Penny for your thoughts.’

Sharni gritted her teeth as she glanced up, then reached for her glass of wine. To hell with being sensible, she thought, I need this drink today.

Adrian watched her sweep the glass up to her lips and take a deep swallow.

‘They’re worth a lot more than that,’ she replied. Somewhat bitterly, he thought.

‘I’m not sure what you mean there.’

She took another gulp of wine before answering. ‘I was thinking about the compensation I received from the Rail Authority.’

‘I hope they gave you a decent amount.’

Her laugh was very definitely bitter. ‘They weren’t going to. So I got myself a lawyer and sued them.’

‘Good for you.’

‘I was very lucky. My lawyer was brilliant. A woman. She was so incensed by my case that she gave me her services, pro bono.’

‘That doesn’t happen too often.’

‘Jordan was wonderfully kind to me.’

Adrian’s eyebrows arched in surprise. ‘Jordan as in Jordan Gray of Stedley & Parkinsons?’

Sharni’s wineglass stopped in mid-air. ‘Why, yes. Do you know Jordan?’

‘She’s married to Gino Bortelli, the Italian businessman who commissioned me to design this building. It’s called the Bortelli Tower.’

‘Good heavens! When did all this happen? Jordan wasn’t married when she represented me.’

‘About a year or so back. It seems Jordan and Gino knew each other years before and ran into each other again by accident when Gino was up here on business. Just in time, since Jordan was about to become engaged to another man. Anyway, to cut a long story short, true love won out. They’ve not long returned from an extended honeymoon in Italy. But they don’t live in Sydney. Their home is in Melbourne.’

‘What a shame. I would have loved to catch up with Jordan.’

‘I can give you their home phone number, if you like.’

‘Oh, no. No, I wouldn’t impose like that. I was just a client after all, not a close friend. But I’m glad to hear Jordan’s happily married. I presume she is happy?’

‘Very. She and Gino have a baby already. A boy. They called him Joe.’

‘How lovely,’ she said, her eyes going all misty for a moment. ‘I’m so glad for her.’

‘How much compensation did she get you?’ Adrian asked. ‘Or is that a rude question?’

‘Three million.’

He whistled. ‘That’s a nice tidy sum. I hope you’ve invested it wisely.’

‘It’s safe.’ Safe, sitting in a bank account that paid a reasonable rate of interest and had absolutely no risk at all.

‘Do you still live in the Blue Mountains?’ he asked her.

‘Yes. On the outskirts of Katoomba.’

‘So you’re just down here in Sydney today to shop?’

‘Not exactly. My sister thought I needed a little holiday. She gave me a weekend package at one of Sydney’s boutique hotels as a birthday present.’

‘You mean it’s your birthday today?’ What a perfect excuse to take her out this evening. If he could persuade her to go, of course!

‘No. My birthday was quite a few weeks ago.’

‘And you were?’

She slanted him a sharp glance. ‘Now that is a rude question. You should never ask a woman her age.’

He smiled. ‘I thought that only applied when they reached forty.’

‘Not in my book.’

‘Fair enough. So what do you do? Or don’t you work any more?’

‘I’m a veterinary assistant. But I’m only working part-time these days.’

Why was that? he wondered. Because she didn’t need the money, or because she was still traumatised by the tragedy of her husband’s death, or perhaps the subsequent trial?

There was something in her eyes when she mentioned the compensation that told him the trial had been just that. A trial. Adrian was well aware of how stressful it was to go to court over anything. He himself had had to sue a client once, and it hadn’t been pleasant. How much worse when it involved the tragic death of a loved one.

Her air of sadness touched him. But so did her Madonna-like beauty. It was damned intriguing, the effect Sharni was having on him. He could not recall ever feeling quite like this. She brought out the gallant in him. More than anything he wanted to make her smile. Wanted to give her pleasure.

More like give yourself pleasure, a sarcastic inner voice piped up. You want to get her into bed. That’s the bottom line. That’s always the bottom line with you, Adrian.

Adrian frowned. Normally, he would agree. But not this time. This time, something was different. He didn’t want to seduce Sharni so much as have the opportunity to spend more time with her. He wanted to get to know her. Really know her, not just in bed.

‘I wanted to become a vet,’ she went on, ‘but my marks at school weren’t good enough. I never was one to study. I’m a practical, hands-on kind of person.’

‘I don’t think it matters what you do in life, as long as you enjoy what you’re doing.’

‘You obviously enjoy being an architect,’ she said, and he smiled.

‘Does it show?’

‘You seem a happy man.’

‘I love my work,’ he said. ‘Too much, some people would say.’

Even his own mother thought he was way too obsessive.

But that was his nature. Adrian could never do things by half. When something interested him, he became consumed, body and soul.

This woman interested him, in ways no woman ever had before.

This in itself was intriguing. What was it about her that made her so interesting to him? Yes, she was very pretty, but he met lots of pretty girls. She wasn’t super-clever, or super sophisticated, or super sexy, as Felicity had been.

Aside from being a brunette, Sharni was different from every woman he’d ever dated. They’d all been highly educated career girls whom he’d met through his work. Felicity had been a top interior designer. Before that, there’d been a female architect or two, a corporate lawyer, a computer expert and one super-smart marketing manager.

There’d not been one veterinary assistant who lived in the bush and blushed when caught in the act of looking at a man.

‘You’re staring at me,’ she said in a low voice.

Adrian smiled. ‘Well, that makes us even. You’ve stared at me a good deal today.’

His counter-attack clearly flustered her. ‘Yes, but you know why.’

‘Are you saying you only find me attractive because I remind you of your husband?’

She blinked her surprise at his directness. ‘Who said I find you attractive?’

‘Your eyes told me. The same way my eyes are telling you I find you attractive.’

Her cheeks went pink. ‘Please don’t flirt with me, Adrian.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I…I can’t handle it.’

‘Are you saying I’m the first man to pay you this kind of attention since your husband died?’

‘I haven’t been with another man since Ray, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t go out. And I don’t date.’

Her admission stunned Adrian. Five years of living by herself. Five years without male company, or sex of any kind. It wasn’t natural. Or healthy.

‘I find that terribly sad, Sharni.’

‘Life is sad,’ she said, and took another sip of wine.

‘You are coming out with me tonight,’ he stated firmly.

Her eyes widened before meeting his over the rim of her glass.

‘Am I?’

There was enough wavering in those two words, and in her eyes, to satisfy Adrian.

‘Absolutely,’ he said, just as their meals arrived.