An Impossible Attraction

by Elsa Winckler

  “You look happy,” Zoe said as she walked into the room, the towel wrapped around her body.

  Dale stopped breathing and stared at her. The temperature of his blood increased from zero to boiling in one second. With two long strides he reached her side and pulled her into his arms. She melted against him and he swallowed her sigh. With a soft laugh, she slipped her arms around him and he simply surrendered.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Groggily, Zoe yawned and opened her laptop. The last two days had been a whirlwind of sightseeing, eating, laughing, and loving. She turned to stare at Dale’s sleeping form on her bed.

  He was a wonderful escort, an attentive guide, a supportive friend, and a very innovative lover. She blushed just thinking about the nights they’d shared. He made her feel so special, so coveted, so beautiful that she’d let down her guard and was able to relax with him. And she liked the person she was around him.

  With a sigh, she turned back to her computer. But reality was slowly intruding. She had a project to finish, a firm she had to go back to, other people were dependent on her.

  And somewhere deep inside her, she had begun to wonder—how long would this fling last? Because it would end at some point. She had nothing to offer him in the long run and she was not the kind of girl men stayed with.

  Dale had been quiet during dinner last night and there had been a strange urgency in his lovemaking afterwards. Was he getting bored? Had he decided it was time to move on?

  Irritated with herself, she opened the plan of the hotel that Dale’s office had sent her. In between their outings over the past two days, she’d begun working on her proposal and had started on sketches of what she had in mind for the bedrooms. That she had the plan made it so much easier. She’d tell Dale someone from his office had sent her them as soon as he woke up.

  With everything that had happened recently, she hadn’t really thought about telling him she had the plans, but now she had to. Why he didn’t want her to have them in the first place, she still found so strange; surely he understood it was a vital part of getting a final proposal in place?

  She glanced over at him again only to find him propped up on his elbow, staring at her, the strangest look on his face.

  “Dale?” She slowly got up.

  “Come here,” he ordered her.

  She lifted an eyebrow but obeyed. When she reached his side, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down on him.

  “I want you,” he said, raining kisses all over her face. “I sleep and I dream of wanting you, I wake up and I have to have you…” he murmured against her mouth, his eyes hot, his touch impatient.

  His lips captured hers and he pulled at her gown until it fell open.

  His tongue slipped into her mouth, his hands gathered her close and she forgot to think, to rationalize, to worry. She could only feel.

  *

  Frowning, Dale walked around the bed, looking for his shoes. What exactly was going on here? He felt excited, he couldn’t wait for Zoe to finish in the bathroom so he could see her again, touch her again, be with her again. This after a whole night of being with her. Make that two nights and two days of being with her. Damn it, he wasn’t a bloody schoolboy!

  He’d been so distraught when he heard she’d been hurt, there wasn’t time to think. He had let his emotions dictate all his actions—never a good business policy. But now he found himself unable to think of anything else besides Zoe, unable to make any plans that didn’t include her, unable to think of a future without her in it. And, bloody hell, it was freaking him out. Yes, he wanted her in his life, but damn it, she didn’t have to take it over.

  He’d not been looking for this kind of complication in his life. There was a new hotel to furnish, another one to plan. He didn’t have time to walk around, smiling like an idiot all the time because he couldn’t stop thinking about a woman.

  He bent down, picked up his shoes, and walked to a chair that stood in front of a small table. While he fastened the laces, he saw Zoe’s laptop was open. She’d been working on it earlier; he absently clicked to activate the screen.

  His hand froze, his breath left his body when he saw what was lit up on the small screen. It was a plan of the new hotel. The one he’d told her she couldn’t have. He checked the email heading. It was sent from one of the intern’s computers it seemed.

  Rage raced through him. Damn it to hell! He should’ve known he couldn’t trust her. She’d asked for the plan behind his back. After he’d specifically told her she could work in his offices on it.

  “How come you’re dressed?” he heard her voice from the doorway of the bathroom.

  He didn’t turn to look at her.

  “I see you got the plan,” he said as calmly as he could.

  “Yes, I was just about to tell you. I phoned your office to ask your secretary. She was out, but the person who answered the phone sent it to me. Dale, I can’t work without it, you know that.”

  Finally, he turned around to look at her. She was tying the knot on her short, sexy robe. She was without makeup and she looked so young, and all he wanted to do was to get her naked again as quickly as possible. He turned away from her.

  “I told you very clearly that if you needed the plans, you’d have to come to our offices.”

  “Dale, please listen? I’ve never had to work without a plan of an office building or a hotel before. I need the measurements, the… Damn it, I don’t have to tell you. You know.”

  “You went behind my back to an intern—”

  “Like you went behind my back to get Susan to sign the contract?”

  “It’s not the same thing!”

  “Oh, really?”

  “What I do know is that I can’t trust you—”

  She gasped. “How can you say that after the last two days?” Her eyes were wet with tears.

  “So because I showed you the islands, had sex with you, you thought you can do things behind my back? I really thought you were different. But you’ve just been using me. You never wanted to do this job in the first place but saw it as an opportunity to further your career. Hell, you even went so far as to sleep with me. But guess what? This is over. You’re fired. Forget the contract, you’re free to leave. I can’t work with someone who does things behind my back, and I definitely can’t be with someone who’s only interested in what I can do for her.” He snarled and opened the door.

  “You’ve found a reason,” she said softly.

  Furious, he glanced back at her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You’ve had enough of me, you were looking for a reason to end this and now you’ve found one.”

  “That is not what this is about!” he shouted.

  She shrugged. “It’s fine, Dale. You’ve never wanted me to work on this project to begin with. Why you insisted Susan sign a contract is something I’ll probably never understand. Whatever else there has been between us is obviously over. As you’ve told me before, I’m not even your type. I’ll leave as soon as I get a flight.”

  Dale stared at her for another heartbeat. Somewhere inside him a little voice shouted that he was making a mistake, but she’d gone behind his back, damn it. Before he could change his mind, he stormed out of her room. He needed distance to think.

  *

  Zoe stood silently and waited for the door to slam behind Dale’s back. The sound reverberated through her room. A sharp pain edged in just below her heart. She was right, she knew it. The plan on her computer was just an excuse. He’d been looking for a reason to leave; he got one. She should have known. Why would he stick around?

  She wiped the tears from her cheeks. Why was she crying, for goodness’ sake? He wasn’t worth it. No man was worth it. The first thing to do was to book a plane ticket home. Slowly she sat down on the bed.

  Her phone rang. It was Caitlin. Don must have finally told her what had happened.

  “I’m fine,” she said before Caitlin could utter a word.

  “I’m glad to hear t
hat. I’m so angry with all of you! Don has only told me a few minutes ago you’d been hurt. I can’t believe you all kept this from me, even Mom. Are you really okay?”

  Zoe smiled and wiped her tears away. She didn’t want to upset Caitlin.

  “You’re pregnant, Sis. You have enough to worry about. I’m really fine. I’m a little bruised up but have nearly healed completely.”

  “Is there an ongoing police investigation?” Caitlin asked.

  “We spoke to them, but they don’t have much to go on really. Hannah has left for Mauritius, and I didn’t really know what to tell them. I didn’t see anything. I think the hotel’s security people are also looking into it.” She wasn’t sure how much Don had told Caitlin and didn’t want to add Hannah’s notion that Hannah was the person who should’ve been hurt.

  “If you’re feeling fine, why are you crying?” Caitlin asked. “What else happened? Did Dale do something?”

  Zoe sniffled. She never could keep anything from her older sister. She promptly burst into tears. “He… really hurt me, Caitlin, but I’m okay.” She hiccupped. “I’m coming back and have to book a plane ticket, but I can’t concentrate and I—”

  “I’m in front of my computer, I’ll book the flight for you. You pack, someone will take you to the airport, I’ll be waiting on this side.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dale paced in front of the windows of the big office he and his brothers shared in the hotel on Mahé. He’d spent the day at their hotel on Praslin; he couldn’t stay in the same one where Zoe was. Now it was early evening and he felt restless.

  He had made the right decision, damn it. Zoe knew he didn’t want her to have a copy of the plans, but she went ahead and got it anyway. He couldn’t work with someone like that, and he certainly couldn’t be in a relationship with someone he didn’t trust.

  So why wasn’t he elated about the whole thing, glad it was over, looking up any of the willing women in the hotel?

  The door to his office flew open and Darryn strolled in. “Don is looking for you, why don’t you answer your damn phone?”

  Dale took out his phone and saw there were about five missed calls from Don. Damn it, he’d put his phone on silent. He didn’t want to talk to anybody today, least of all to Don.

  “I heard Zoe has left? What happened?” Darryn asked. “Last time I saw the two of you, you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself. I’m telling you, those Sutherland women are trouble.”

  Darryn’s phone rang. He handed it to Dale. “It’s Don again. He’s looking for you.”

  Dale swore but took the phone.

  Don was livid. “I told you, if you mess with Zoe, you mess with me,” Don’s voice boomed over the line.

  Dale straightened, heartily fed up with the whole thing. “I didn’t mess with her. I told her if she needed the plans, she’d have to come to the office. She went behind my back and got them anyway. She just used me! I can’t work with someone like that, damn it!”

  *

  “Just so I’m clear, we’re talking about the plans for the hotel near the Kruger?”

  “Yes, of course we are.”

  “And you don’t want to give the plans to the person who has to know every little detail of the place in order to come up with a proposal for the interior? And when she asked someone else for it, who by the way, seems to have a much better understanding of how this works, you fire her? Are you insane? Who does that?”

  Behind him Darryn started laughing.

  Swearing, Dale gave him the finger.

  “She got to you, you poor bastard, and you don’t even know it.” Darryn got up, pushed his chair back, and grabbed the phone from Dale’s hand to talk to Don.

  “Dale has that same stunned expression on his face you had before you realized you’d been snared. You’re a sorry lot, all of you.” He laughed as he handed the phone back to Dale.

  “Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on over there, all I care about is that my wife is upset. And I don’t want that. You better fix this, Dale, and quickly.” Don growled in his ear and ended the call.

  “I don’t know why everyone finds this so strange,” Dale said, highly irritated with his brothers. “After that incident with Tammy, I never let my plans out of my sight, you all know that.”

  Darryn was still smiling and shaking his head. “Let me get this straight. You fired Zoe, a well-known interior decorator with a pristine reputation—your words—and the person you have chosen to work with, because she wanted the plans to the hotel she has to decorate because she wants to… what? Sell them? Give them to someone else?”

  “Damn it, it’s not that. It’s just she… I…” He tried, but now that he had to put his fears into words, it sounded so farfetched and so, well, ridiculous.

  Darryn slapped him on the shoulder. “Exactly. You’re behaving like a damn fool because you fell for this woman. And because it scared the hell out of you, you used the first excuse to get her out of your life. Right?”

  Dale stared at him. “I didn’t fall for anybody. She used me to further her own career, damn it. I can’t work with someone I can’t trust, let alone have a relationship with her.”

  “Oh, so now we’re talking about a relationship?” Darryn grinned. “And sorry to burst your inflated ego, but from what I hear, Zoe doesn’t need your job to further her career. Her firm has been doing very well without you. I’m taking the plane and flying back tonight. Are you coming with me?”

  Dazed, Dale shook his head. He had to see Zoe again. Hopefully, she was still on the island even if she’d left the hotel. Darryn left, muttering under his breath.

  Dale sat down on the nearest chair. Zoe was right—he had been looking for a way out, and, yes, what he felt when he was around her scared the hell out of him, just as Darryn had said.

  He didn’t do relationships. He liked Zoe, found her attractive, he’d spent time with her, enjoyed her in bed, but it had to have ended at some point, right? He was not in the market for marriage, babies and white picket fences.

  Suddenly the picture in his head was real and he was chasing a giggling, chubby-legged little girl on a lawn, a cocker spaniel yapping at their heels. Stunned, he dropped his forehead in his hands. The little girl had Zoe’s laugh, her hair, her eyes.

  Something inside him moved. Of course. He liked her, yes, but much more than that, he loved her. He loved everything about her. A smile threatened to split his face in two. Why had it taken him so long to make sense of his feelings?

  He jumped up, not sure what to do next. Of course he loved her. It was that simple and that complicated. Simple, because she’d touched his soul the minute he’d laid eyes on her all those months ago, and he’d fallen in love with her at that precise moment. Complicated, because he’d messed up the whole thing and had some serious groveling to do. He winced. He’d even accused her of using him!

  *

  Twenty minutes later, Dale was cursing a blue streak while he was trying to get Darryn on the line. Finally, his brother picked up.

  “She’s left!” Dale called out, giving voice to his frustration. “I went looking for her but she’s already left on a flight, damn it. What time are you leaving?”

  “I assume we’re talking about Zoe?” Darryn asked, clearly amused.

  “Yes, I’m talking about Zoe. She’s gone. I can’t believe she just left without telling me!”

  Darryn barked out a laugh. “You fired her, isn’t that right?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t know then what I know now!”

  “You have it bad, don’t you, you poor sod? Hurry up, we’re just about to take off.”

  Dale grabbed his wallet and sprinted for the door. He had to get to Zoe as soon as possible. The same urgency that had brought him to Mahé in the first place was back. The only difference was—this time he was the one responsible for hurting her.

  *

  Zoe lifted her bag from the carousel and fell behind the other passengers walking down the long corridor. The only
thing preventing her from bursting into tears was the knowledge Caitlin would be waiting on the other side of the sliding doors.

  The past twelve hours were a blur. Someone had come to her room to pack her things; dazed, she’d followed the friendly woman down to reception where someone else was waiting to take her to the airport. Just before she left the hotel, she remembered she hadn’t paid, but when she’d offered her card card, she was told it had been taken care of. There was a lot she had to thank Caitlin for.

  She’d walked down corridors, waited in long queues, handed over her ticket, found a seat. For seven hours she stared out of the window. She couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t eat, couldn’t drink. The pain, lodged just below her heart, was worse than her aching ribs and filled her whole being, making it impossible to think of anything else.

  The sliding doors opened and she looked around frantically for Caitlin. She couldn’t see her sister. Maybe she should try and phone her…

  “Zoe,” she heard a voice behind her and turned quickly. For a minute, she’d thought it was Dale, but it was his brother Don, Caitlin’s husband.

  “This way,” he said and took her arm.

  She felt like crying. The last person she wanted to see was Don. He and Dale looked so much alike and she didn’t want to be reminded of the person who’d ripped her heart out.

  “Caitlin…” she got out before she had to swallow the lump in her throat.

  “Waiting in the car for you. The airport was so busy when we arrived, and I didn’t want her to stand around for too long.” He smiled sheepishly. “I’m a bit overprotective, she tells me.”

  Zoe tried to smile, but her throat clogged up again. She concentrated on following Don. He was besotted with his wife and didn’t even try to hide it. It would seem as if Caitlin’s fairy tale might just be one long happy-ever-after. At least one of them would get to live out their mother’s stories.

  “Look, I don’t want to make excuses for my brother, there is no real justification for his behavior. But I would like to tell you about the intern we had a few years ago who screwed him over. It’s no excuse but explains his paranoia when it comes to his plans.”