Boardroom Seductions: The Strictly Business Bundle

by Tania Joyce

  She eyed him suspiciously and notably kept her distance. He could understand her concerns at having to put faith in a total stranger. He wondered if there was anything he could do to put Kelleigh’s mind at ease and let her know she was in safe hands. “Why don’t you call Grace at Harrigan’s, she’s the manager, and tell her you’re on your way.”

  She nodded and turned away from him to make the call. He was unable to take his eyes off her. He shouldn’t stare. He shouldn’t ogle. He shouldn’t be admiring the view.

  Once she’d spoken to Grace, Troy snapped out of it, helped put Kelleigh’s luggage into the tray of his Landcruiser and headed toward Harrigan’s. He grinned as she fanned herself in front of the air-conditioning vents.

  “So what were you doing out here?” Troy asked as he turned on to Broke Road.

  “I had a meeting at Larry Peterson’s.”

  He glanced at her sideways but she remained focused on the road. With Larry’s ill health of late, Troy wondered if his old neighbor was getting all his affairs into order.

  “You’re obviously not from around here. Are you a lawyer or something, from Sydney?”

  “No, I’m not a lawyer.” Her tone was edged with a touch of defensiveness. “Larry’s a client and I’ll be here in the Hunter for a few weeks of work. I drove up yesterday from Melbourne. I wanted to have my own transport while I’m here so I could get around and see the sights, but that obviously hasn’t worked out in my favor.”

  “Dennis will look after you, but going by the damage done to your car, I would prepare yourself for the worst. I think it will be out of action for a while.” There may be some small possibility Dennis could perform a miracle, but he doubted it.

  Troy glanced in the mirror and winced. Damn it, he’d left his hat on. How rude of him. He quickly took it off and placed it on the seat beside him. He grinned, sensing her eyes upon him as he ruffled his hand through his short blond hair.

  “Has anyone ever told you, you have the most beautiful eyes?” Shock flickered across her face as the words came unbidden. “I mean that as a compliment, not a pick-up line.” She shrunk down in her seat and wiped her hands on top of her thighs. He caught a glimpse of her saying, “shit,” under her breath as she turned away.

  He resisted the temptation to laugh, but heat rose up the side of his neck and took up residence in his cheeks. “Thank you. I may have heard that once or twice before.”

  He focused on the road ahead as awkward silence filled the cabin, the sound of the rough engine offering some reprieve. Then her phone rang. She dived into her handbag, drew it out and looked at the caller ID. She gritted her teeth. “I don’t want to talk to you now.” She mumbled through her clenched jaw, jabbing her finger madly against the screen, trying to turn it off.

  Troy’s eyes widened as she stamped her feet on the floor and stuffed the phone back in her bag. She took a heaving breath, leaned back in the seat and wiped her hair back away from her face. “Sorry about that. I’m not in the mood to talk to lawyers about my ex-boyfriend at the moment.”

  “Nice chap, was he?” He grimaced at seeing the hurt glass over her eyes.

  “I hope he rots in hell.”

  Troy parked his car outside the accommodation entrance at Harrigan’s Irish Pub and Hotel and helped Kelleigh with her luggage into the reception area. As he placed the suitcase down on the ground in front of the counter, its heavy weight caused it to tip off balance and topple forward onto the tiles with a loud thud. He bent down to right the bag at the same time Kelleigh did. Their heads collided with a hard bump. He stood up quickly and reached out to steady Kelleigh from the blow. Goose bumps shot across his skin. When he looked up, her green eyes connected with his and he lost the ability to breathe.

  Like earlier, the distant recall of reacting this way when he met Nicola twenty years ago set alarm bells off in his head. He should be hightailing it out of there as quick as his feet could carry him. But he was unable to move as he absorbed her stunning features. Dimples highlighted her left cheek when she smiled, long lashes outlined her flawless skin and her pink lips looked inviting and kissable. But beautiful or not, he’d done his Good Samaritan job for the day; it was time to get going.

  “Are you okay?” he mumbled, clearing his throat.

  “Yeah,” she said as she rubbed her head. “Thank you so much for the ride. It’s really appreciated.”

  “You’re welcome. Dennis will look after you. Do you need anything else? Otherwise I’ll be off.” Yes, there were fences to be fixed. Grape crushers to mend. Trampled vines to salvage. Time to refocus on all that had to be done at Gumtrees.

  “No. Thank you. I’ll be fine.”

  With that, he took his cue to exit and headed out the door. As he hopped in his Landcruiser, he glanced back into the reception area and saw Kelleigh booking into her room. He turned the key, started the engine and put the vehicle into gear. So much had happened since he’d started working back here in the Valley. Finding Jessica after all these years. Meeting his grown son, Conner. And now, a fleeting moment in time helping Kelleigh had stirred up long-forgotten feelings. Feelings he never thought he’d ever experience again. Feelings he needed to ignore; he had too much going on in his life. Harvest season, spending time with Conner and the expansion at Gumtrees needed all of his undivided attention.

  He rubbed at his chest. His knee ached. What had Kelleigh done to him? No … he needed to find Jett to fix the broken fence and then get back out in to the vineyard as soon as possible. A few hours of sweating it out while hard at work, before the sun set, would surely see an end to this craziness.

  Chapter 3

  Kelleigh looked up from signing the check-in paperwork and saw Troy drive out of the car park. He’d been so nice to offer her help while all she’d done was act like a raving lunatic. Yep, she’d made a downright fool of herself. But her pent-up anger, her helplessness and her fright at being stuck out in the middle of nowhere made her act all crazy. Stupid busted tire.

  She’d never had to change a car tire in her life before. She was a construction engineer and on-site project leader who in the past had changed boring rods on auger drills without blinking an eye, but changing a tire had rendered her useless. Being stranded out in the middle of the countryside had her nerves on edge. She was petrified of being mugged or raped and left to die out on the side of the road, never to be found.

  As Troy’s car disappeared off into the distance, she sighed. After everything that had happened to her over the past few weeks, her car being wrecked was the last thing she needed. It was not normal for her to lose her temper, but a woman could only take so much crap before having to let off some steam. Troy must think she was an absolute nutcase. Oh well. It was a good thing he was gone.

  But the vision of Troy’s muscles flexing in the hot sun, and sweat making his shirt cling to his muscular back as he tended to her car flashed through her mind. Heat flushed her cheeks. Despite her outburst, she hadn’t been oblivious to his fine physique and certainly didn’t mind been rescued by someone so handsome. A sheepish smile touched her lips; she’d have to call Fran and tell her all about being rescued by one hunky farmer … worker … whatever or whoever he was. And he had the most amazing blue eyes she’d ever seen. She wanted to slap herself in the forehead when she’d verbalized her thoughts in front of him.

  As she grabbed her luggage and walked past the glass doorway, she paused and looked out over the countryside, where farmland and lush vineyards stretched out over the rolling hills in all directions. The occasional house, cluster of sheds and dams dotted the landscape amongst the endless expanse of green. This area of Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley was breathtaking, and it was going to be a fabulous location for the new Japanese Lifestyle Golf Resort.

  The tasks before her as the engineering project leader assigned to head up and supervise several feasibility studies were going to be a challenge. JLR had been in confidential acquisition discussions with Larry Peterson for a few months now, and she’d bee
n at his place this morning discussing the schedule of work she and her team coming up from Melbourne would be carrying out over the next few weeks. Drilling for soil tests, gathering water samples and extensive surveying of every inch of the land would be time consuming and damn hot work in the middle of summer.

  She let out an audible groan. Her boss, Toru, the project director, was coming up from Melbourne to the Hunter Valley a couple of times over the next few weeks to coordinate some of the other required studies. Unfortunately it was necessary, considering the time constraints. They had to ensure all the data for the feasibility assessment was collected in time to present their case for rezoning the land at the Cessnock City Council in four weeks.

  Kelleigh had seen the preliminary designs for the resort from the golf course architects; the clubhouse and hotel were going to be five-star luxury. Toru and the lawyers must have done a fine job to convince the owner to sell. From colleagues at work she’d heard Toru was ruthless in negotiations. Everyone ended up saying yes to him. She’d only been working for JLR for three months and was yet to witness him in action.

  But something about the man made her skin crawl. She wasn’t able to put her finger on it. Maybe it was because of everything that had happened to her recently made her skeptical of everyone.

  While she’d done work on many development projects over the years, this was her first time as a project leader. This was a huge construction project compared to what she’d done previously. Shop renovations, school buildings and small offices had been the extent of her prior experience.

  She would’ve never have contemplated applying for a job like this, but Rodrigo had insisted. It was all about the money for him, rather than what she really wanted to do. Then again, she didn’t know what that was either. For too long she’d let Rodrigo influence her decisions, and even let him submit her job application to JLR. She’d been surprised at landing an interview, shocked at being offered the role. So here she was in the middle of nowhere, out of her comfort zone but determined to give it her best shot.

  She glanced at her watch. She had two hours until Dennis was due to pick her up to retrieve her coupe from the ditch, so she decided to settle into her room and have lunch. Dragging her suitcase behind her, she headed down the hallway and found her room. The one-bedroom suite was more than adequate for her stay. Kitchenette, lounge room with a decent-sized working desk. The fireplace looked like it got a workout during the cold winter months, but she’d be long gone by then. She dumped her bag in the main bedroom, flicked open the curtains and couldn’t wait to laze about in the glorious king-sized bed and look out over the countryside through full-length glass windows and sliding doors.

  She fell back onto the mattress feeling exhausted. With her arm bent, covering her eyes, she prayed this horrid day would come to an end. Tension mounted in her temples; she could feel the early stages of a headache starting to form. But her belly protested. It grumbled loudly and demanded food. Who was she kidding? There was no time to relax, so she hauled herself off the bed, changed into jeans and t-shirt, grabbed her handbag and headed back out the door and into the pub to grab lunch.

  The cool air-conditioning brushed across her skin and felt like heaven as she entered the main area. She took a deep breath, drawing in the stale smell of beer that filled the air. The large glass doors closed with a gush of air behind her as she walked toward the bar. She eyed the green walls, the wood paneling of the bar, the rustic timber stools. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. An Irish pub in the middle of one of Australia’s prime wine regions amused her. But she was from Melbourne, where just about every culture existed in some form or another within its vibrant streets. It was a welcome change to be away from all the quirky, excessively LED-lit, trendy venues she had visited on a regular basis. Yet another of Rodrigo’s lifestyle choices. Here, there were no neon lights, designer lounges or flashy furniture. Just the old bar with a line of ales on tap and timber shelves covered with a diverse range of whiskies, scotches and liqueurs.

  There were a few patrons sitting at the scattered wooden tables. Kelleigh perched herself up on one of the stools at the bar and started to peruse the menu as a short, plump, gray-haired woman with a welcoming smile made her way over toward her.

  “Welcome to Harrigan’s. Lovey, you look like you could do with a drink. Had a rough day, have you? What can I get you?”

  Kelleigh glanced behind her at the bar fridge filled with bottled beer and other refreshments. It dawned on her that she hadn’t ordered her own drinks for years. Rodrigo had always done it for her. She couldn’t believe how many of the little things she had to take responsibility for herself once again. Did she have the strength to get through all this mess? “What do you recommend?” See, she still couldn’t make a decision for herself.

  “Oh lovey, you look like you could do with something with a bit of substance.” The woman glanced up and down her slender frame. “You’ve come to an Irish pub, why don’t you be a little adventurous? Why not try one of our beers on tap, a local wine or a good ol’ Irish whisky? How about something to really satisfy your taste buds? How about a Kilkenny?”

  Kelleigh hesitated a moment, ran her eye over the beer taps in front of her, her taste buds jumping with anticipation. “That sounds great. And are there any specials on the menu today?” she said, rescanning the bar menu before her.

  “We have a delicious beef and Guinness pie; can I get you one of those?”

  A pie? She hadn’t had a meat pie of any kind in years; the thought of one now made her mouth water. Rodrigo had made her feel guilty if she indulged in food; overly worried she’d get fat. What a jerk he was. Why did she not realize what a control freak he’d been sooner, before she lost everything? The delicious smells from the kitchen drew her back to the menu. The pie sounded so good. “Yes please.”

  The bar attendant nodded, took a fresh glass and proceeded to pull the drink from the tap. “Thatta girl. So what brings you to this part of the world?”

  “Work. I’m staying here in one of the hotel rooms for about a month.”

  “Ah-ha. Kelleigh, right? You called just before letting us know you were on your way. Glad to see you made it safely. I’m Grace. It’s nice to meet you.” Grace thrust her hand over the bar to shake.

  “Likewise.” Kelleigh shook hands before digging in her bag for her company credit card to pay for her order. At least this one would work.

  “If you don’t mind me saying, you look a little flustered. You okay?” Grace asked.

  Kelleigh’s shoulder slouched. “It’s been one of those days. My car burst a tire, and as a result I’ve also managed to successfully damage just about every piece of mechanism underneath it as I careered off the road over near Larry Peterson’s farm. A nice gentleman, Troy, gave me a lift here to get me out of the hot sun while I wait for the tow truck.”

  The women’s eyes suddenly sparkled. “Oh. That would be Troy Smith who helped you. Right? He’s not too shabby to look at, is he? Hasn’t he got the most wickedly gorgeous eyes?” Kelleigh giggled while Grace cleaned the counter. “I shouldn’t say things like that. I went to school with his mother and used to babysit him when he was a boy. He’s grown into such a handsome man. After all the bad luck he’s had with women, it’s a shame he hasn’t managed to find someone new to stick around.”

  Kelleigh huffed. Yeah, finding someone who committed to a relationship would be nice.

  She wrapped her fingers around her glass and took a mouthful of the creamy amber liquid. She reached for a napkin and wiped away the froth that tickled her top lip. “I’m grateful he came along when he did, otherwise I would be out there for hours waiting for Dennis, the tow truck guy.”

  “No worries, love. You enjoy that drink. Your pie won’t be long. I better go and attend to the other patrons who are all starting to glare at me. This mob knows I love ’em dearly, but they’ll get their damn drinks when I’m good and ready.” She pointed and winked at one of the men sitting at the opposite end of t
he bar, waiting patiently for his refill.

  “Thank you,” Kelleigh said. She wiped the condensation of her glass with the edge of her finger and watched Grace toddle off to serve the other waiting guests.

  Kelleigh took another gulp of her drink and savored the bitter taste that lingered in her throat. She really liked the beer. It was the tiniest of steps toward finding herself again. Yes, she had a truckload of problems to deal with. A debt of $250,000 wasn’t going to disappear overnight. But Rodrigo had. There’d be no more failed business ventures. No more gambling. No more stealing her money. No more fraudulent signatures to run up yet another credit card. Gone was the high-rolling lifestyle, along with the fancy fashion and expensive tastes. She’d never been one to be excited by all the glitz and glamor like Rodrigo had. The day her credit cards stopped working had been a blessing in disguise. As she stared at the amber liquid in the glass before her, she noted for the first time in weeks that the heaviness in her chest had eased.

  This work trip, taking her miles away from her troubles, was the break she needed. Away from lawyers. Away from police investigations. Away from her life packed up in her sister’s garage. Some distance away from everything was necessary so she could find herself again. Find her strength, her inner fight and renew her confidence. She needed to get her life back on track. She closed her eyes and wondered. Was that possible to do in just a few short weeks?

  Chapter 4

  Harrigan’s pub was quiet for a Tuesday night; the bistro area was usually filled with families having early dinners. But tonight the patrons were scarce. A good chance to finish off some work without any interruptions.

  After a hearty meal and catchup with Grace, Troy sat at a table in the corner going over the expansion plans for Gumtrees Winery. Design diagrams and notes covered the table before him. Coming into harvest season, every daylight hour was spent in the paddocks; nighttime was left for business administration. It still boggled his mind that he was now a joint owner with Nick and Maria. Six months on and plans were about to be executed to expand. He rubbed his eyes, tired from sitting and staring at his laptop screen for too long. He’d gone over the figures many times but he wanted one last check before he met with Nick to start the implementation steps. Their bottom line was healthy, but he wouldn’t shy away from a few new supply contracts into another restaurant chain or two. The up and coming Hunter Valley Wine Trade Festival would hopefully present new opportunities.