by Miranda Lee
Jess dragged her eyes away from him, switched off the engine, then climbed out of the car, her thoughts somewhat scattered. Who would have imagined he would be so good-looking? Or so young? He couldn’t be more than early thirties. Maybe even younger.
‘Mr De Silva, I presume?’ she asked as she stepped up onto the pavement less than a metre from him. Up close, he was even more attractive, if that were possible.
‘You can’t possibly be Miss Murphy,’ he returned, the hint of a wry smile teasing one corner of his nicely shaped mouth.
She bristled at his comment. ‘I don’t see why not.’
He shook his head as he looked her up and down. ‘You’re not what I was expecting.’
‘Oh?’ she returned stiffly. ‘And what were you expecting?’
‘Someone a little older and a little less…er…attractive.’
Jess thanked the Lord she wasn’t a blusher. For if she had been she might have gone bright red under the openly admiring gaze of those beautiful blue eyes.
‘That’s nice of you to say so, Mr De Silva. I think,’ she added, wondering if she’d sounded old and ugly on the phone.
‘I told you to call me Ben,’ he said, and smiled at her, a full hundred-watt smile which showed perfect American teeth and a charm which was just as dazzling.
Oh my, Jess thought, trying not to be too dazzled.
Not without much success, given she just stood there staring at him whilst her heartbeat did the tango and she forgot all about Fab Fashions.
‘Perhaps we should get going,’ he said at last.
Jess gave herself a mental shake. It wasn’t like her to go ga-ga over a man, even one as impressive as this.
‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ she said, still far too breathlessly for her liking. ‘Do you need help with your bags?’ she added, recalling what he’d said about having a banged-up right shoulder.
‘I can manage,’ he returned. ‘Just open up the back for me.’
He managed very well. Managed the passenger door without any help either.
By the time she climbed into the driving seat and belted up, Jess had taken control of her wildly dancing heartbeat, having told herself firmly to get a grip and stop acting like some awestruck schoolgirl. She was twenty-five years old, for pity’s sake!
Taking a deep breath, she reached for her sunglasses and put them on.
‘Would you mind if I called you Jessica instead of Miss Murphy?’ he said before she could even start the engine.
Jess winced. She hated being called Jessica. ‘I’d rather you call me Jess,’ she replied, and found herself throwing a small smile his way.
‘Only if you promise to call me Ben,’ he insisted as he snapped his seat belt into place.
Jess suspected that women—no, people in general—rarely said no to Ben De Silva. His combination of looks and charm were both seductive and quite corrupting. Already she wanted to please him. Yet she wasn’t, by nature, a people pleaser. Jess had always had a mind of her own and a mouth to match. Suddenly, however, all she wanted to do was smile, nod and agree with everything Ben said. Already he was Ben in her head.
‘Okay. Ready, Ben?’ she said as she reached for the ignition and glanced over at him again.
Dear heaven but he was gorgeous! He smelt gorgeous too. She did like men who wore nice aftershave.
‘As soon as I put these on,’ he replied, pulling his own sunglasses out of his pocket.
They were very expensive looking. God, now he looked like a movie star, a very sexy movie star, the kind a girl fantasised over in the privacy of her bedroom.
Jess’s susceptibility to this man was beginning to annoy her. Next thing she’d know, she’d start flirting with him. Which wasn’t like her at all! Gritting her teeth, she checked her rear and side mirrors, executed a perfect three-point turn, then accelerated up the street. Neither of them said anything for a full minute or two, Ben being the first to speak.
‘I must thank you again, Jess, for doing this for me.’
‘You don’t have to thank me. You’re paying for the privilege.’
‘Still, I can see you probably had to put yourself out to do this. I would imagine a girl as attractive as yourself would have better things to do over the weekend than work.’
‘No, not really.’
‘You didn’t have to break any dates?’
‘Not this weekend.’
‘That surprises me. I would have thought you’d have a boyfriend.’
‘I did,’ she bit out. ‘Till recently.’
‘What happened?’
She shrugged. ‘We were going to go on a road trip together around Australia. That’s why I bought this four-wheel drive. Anyway, at the last moment he decided he didn’t want to do that. Instead, he took off backpacking around the world with a mate.’
Jess felt, rather than saw, Ben’s startled look. When driving a client, she rarely took her eyes off the road.
‘He didn’t ask you to go with him?’ he quizzed, his shocked tone soothing Jess’s still lingering hurt over Colin’s defection.
‘No. He did ask me to wait for him, though.’
‘I hope you said no.’
She laughed as she recalled her quite volatile reaction. ‘I said a little more than just no.’
‘Good for you.’
‘Perhaps. Colin said I have a sharp tongue.’
‘Really? I find that hard to believe.’
Was he mocking her?
A quick glance showed a perfectly straight face. A perfectly straight, very handsome face. Jess decided he was just making conversation, which was better than sitting there saying nothing all the way to Mudgee.
‘He also said I was bossy and controlling.’
‘No!’
He was mocking her. But not unkindly.
She sighed. ‘I suppose I am a bit controlling. But I just like things to be organised. And to be done properly.’
‘I’m somewhat of a perfectionist myself,’ Ben said. ‘Ah, there’s Westfield’s. Not far to the motorway now.’
Jess frowned. ‘How come you know Westfield’s? I thought this was your first visit to Australia.’
‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘I’ve spent a lot of time here. Well, in New South Wales, at least. My parents are divorced, you see. You already know my father’s American, but my mother’s Australian. She owns the apartment in Blue Bay. I actually went to boarding school in Sydney. That’s where I met Andy—he’s the one who’s getting married.’
‘Goodness!’ she exclaimed. ‘I had no idea.’
‘Well, why would you?’ he said, sounding puzzled.
Jess suppressed a groan. As the saying went, oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.
It actually went against Jess’s grain to be less than honest with people. But her intentions had been good. Hopefully, Ben wouldn’t be too annoyed with her if she told him the truth. She really didn’t want to drive all the way to Mudgee watching what she said and didn’t say. And, yes, she supposed she did still hope to discuss the future of Fab Fashions with him. He seemed very approachable and a lot smarter than she’d given him credit for. But that didn’t make the act of confessing any easier.
‘Oh gosh, this is just so awkward. I suppose I simply have to tell you now. I…I just hope you won’t be too annoyed.’
CHAPTER FOUR
BEN HAD NO IDEA what she was talking about. ‘Tell me what?’ he asked.
‘The thing is, Ben…’ she started, obviously with great reluctance.
‘Yes?’ he prompted when she didn’t go on.
She pulled a face. ‘I just hope you understand.’
‘Understand what?’ he demanded to know.
‘Just wait, will you, till we’re safely on the motorway?’
Jess turned right onto the ramp which took them down to the highway, heading north.
‘I have a confession to make,’ she said at last, then hesitated again.
‘Go on,’ Ben said with more patien
ce than he was feeling.
‘The thing is… I knew who you were yesterday on the phone once you said you were Benjamin De Silva.’
Ben tried to assimilate what Jess was actually saying, but failed.
‘What exactly do you mean by who I was?’
‘I mean, I knew you worked for De Silva & Associates and that you were Morgan De Silva’s son.’
Ben could not have been more taken aback.
‘And how come you knew that?’ he said, sounding more confused than angry. ‘I wouldn’t have thought my father was all that well known in Australia. He keeps a low public profile. Same with myself.’
Her sigh was heavy. ‘You might understand better if I tell you I used to have a part-time job at a Fab Fashions boutique in Westfield’s till last weekend, when the manager had to let me go.’
‘Ah,’ Ben said, light dawning. Though what she was doing working part-time in a fashion boutique at all was a mystery. She’d said she was a mechanic, hadn’t she? And an advanced driving instructor.
There was no doubt that Jess was a surprising girl in more ways than one. You could have knocked him over with a feather when she’d turned up, looking nothing like the middle-aged battle-axe he’d been envisaging. Not only was she young—surely no more than mid-to late-twenties—she was also hot looking. Normally he went for blondes, not brunettes. But he found Jess quite delicious with her full lips, flashing dark eyes and seriously great legs. She also had an engaging and rather amusing personality. That boyfriend had been a fool, letting her go.
‘Yes, ah…’ Jess said somewhat sheepishly. ‘I asked Helen…she’s the manager…what the problem was and she told me about this American company taking over Fab Fashions and threatening them with closure if they didn’t make a profit before the end of the year. I was so mad I found out what your name was and looked you up on the Internet. Not that I found out much about you,’ she added hastily. ‘Mostly it was about your father and the company he founded. Anyway, when an American chap rang yesterday and told me his name was Benjamin De Silva, I nearly fell off my chair.’
Ben didn’t doubt it.
‘So why on earth did you agree to drive me anywhere?’ he asked her. ‘I would have thought you would have told me to drop dead.’
‘Good heavens, no. What would have been the point of that? Look, the truth is that I had this crazy idea that during our long drive out to Mudgee I could somehow bring Fab Fashions into the conversation. I imagined you’d be surprised at the coincidence that I’d once worked for them but that you wouldn’t be suspicious. I’d then tell you what I thought could be done to make Fab Fashions more profitable. I know that sounds terribly arrogant of me but I do know fashion. It’s a lifelong passion with me. My grandmother was a professional seamstress and she taught me everything she knew. I’ve also done a design course online and I make a lot of my own clothes.’
‘I see,’ Ben said slowly. She was serious, he realised, but truly there was probably no saving Fab Fashions. Retail was in a terrible shape worldwide. He’d only given them till the end of the year because he hadn’t wanted to play Scrooge. His father had wanted him to shut them down straight away, having bought them only because it came as a package deal along with other companies which had much better prospects and assets.
But Ben wasn’t about to tell Jess that. Not yet, anyway.
‘So why did you look so surprised when we first met today?’ he asked, trying to get the full picture.
Jess frowned.
‘You did stare at me, Jess,’ he went on when she didn’t say anything.
‘Yes… Yes, I did, didn’t I?’ she said, seeming a little flustered. ‘The thing is…there was a photo of your father on the Internet and…well…you don’t look much like him, do you?’
Ben had to smile. She really didn’t have a tactful bone in her body. Or maybe he meant artful. Yes, that was it. Jess was not, by nature, a deceiver. She was open and honest. He suddenly wished that something could be done with Fab Fashions, just to please her.
‘No,’ he agreed. ‘I take after my mother.’
‘She must be very beautiful.’
Ben suppressed another smile with difficulty. Lord, but she was quite enchanting. And totally ingenuous in her honesty. She wasn’t trying to flatter him, or flirt with him. Which was a change. It was years since Ben had encountered a girl who did neither in his company.
‘Mum was very beautiful when my father married her,’ he said. ‘She still is, despite being over sixty. She was quite a famous model in her time. But that came to an end when she married Dad. After their divorce, she came back to Sydney and started up a modelling agency. Did very well too. Sold it for heaps a couple of years back. But perhaps you already knew all that, did you? From the Internet?’
‘Heavens, no. The only personal information was that your father was divorced with one son, Benjamin. The article was all about business. It didn’t say a word about your mother.’
Ben imagined that was his father’s doing. He was a powerful man and still very bitter about the divorce. He rarely spoke of his ex-wife, which made his parting words on the phone last night extremely surprising.
Give my regards to your mother…
Odd, that.
‘Ben, I’m really very sorry for prying into your life like that,’ Jess suddenly blurted out, perhaps interpreting his thoughtful silence for annoyance. ‘I realised as soon as I met you that I shouldn’t have done it. But I didn’t mean any harm. Truly.’
‘It’s all right, Jess,’ he said reassuringly. ‘I haven’t taken offence. I was just thinking about Fab Fashions,’ he invented. ‘And wondering what we could do about it. Together.’
‘Oh,’ she said, and fairly beamed over at him, her smile lighting up her face in a way which went beyond beauty.
It was a force of nature, that smile. He felt it deep down in his gut. Very deep down.
His flesh leapt and he thought, Uh-oh. This is not what I need right now.
And then he thought…why not? He’d finished with Amber. What was to stop him from exploring this attraction further?
Ben almost laughed. Because this wasn’t just attraction he was suddenly feeling down south of the border. This was lust, an emotion he was not unfamiliar with. But this time it felt stronger. Much stronger.
Impossible to ignore.
Impossible not to pursue.
Though not too seriously. He’d be going back to America soon. All he could fit in was a short fling.
His conscience pricked him. Jess didn’t come across as the kind of girl who indulged in short flings. Though, maybe he was wrong. Maybe she’d be only too willing to go along with whatever he wanted. After all, he was the son of a billionaire, wasn’t he? That made him super-attractive to women. On top of that, she already thought him very beautiful.
‘You’d honestly listen to what I have to say about Fab Fashions?’ she asked him eagerly.
‘I’d be mad not to,’ he replied, since this would give him a viable excuse to spend more time with her whilst he was in Australia. ‘You’re obviously a clever girl, Jess, with lots of smarts.’
‘I’m not all that smart,’ she said with delightful self-deprecation.
‘I don’t believe that.’
‘Look, there’s smart and there’s smart. School smart, I wasn’t. But I’ve always been good with my hands.’
Ben wished she hadn’t said that, his eyes drifting over to where her hands were wrapped around the steering wheel. Hell, but he wanted those hands wrapped around him. Caressing him, stroking him, teasing him, whilst she did delicious things with her mouth. Such thoughts sent hot blood roaring through his veins, giving him an instant and quite painful erection.
Ben gritted his teeth as he tried to will his aroused body back into line. He was not a man who liked tipping out of control, even sexually. Especially sexually. Ben liked to be the boss in the bedroom, or wherever it was he chose to have sex. He enjoyed having total control of the action, along with his partner,
which meant he had to have total control over himself, something which he’d practised and perfected over the years.
‘Is that why you became a mechanic?’ he asked, pleased with how normal he sounded despite his wayward flesh continuing to defy him.
Her shrug showed surprising indifference to her choice of career. ‘Before Dad started up his hire car business, he owned a garage. Not up here. Down in Sydney. Anyway, all my brothers became mechanics and I just followed suit.’
‘So when did you move up to the Central Coast?’
‘A good few years back now,’ she replied. ‘I’d just finished my apprenticeship. I know I had my twenty-first birthday party up here so I must have been nineteen or twenty. I’m not sure of the exact year. Why?’
‘Just making conversation, Jess,’ he said, searching his mind for more safe topics. He could not believe that he still had an erection. ‘You’re not using your GPS, I see. So I guess you know the way to Mudgee.’
‘It’s pretty straightforward. We stay on the motorway till we reach the New England Highway, heading for Brisbane. But we turn off onto the Golden Highway just before Singleton. Then we don’t get off that road till the turn-off to Mudgee. Easy peasy.’
‘You sound like you’ve been this way a dozen times before.’
‘I’ve driven to Brisbane via the New England Highway once or twice but I’ve never been along the Golden Highway before. Or to Mudgee, for that matter. I checked it up last night on the Internet.’
‘I’ve never been this way before either,’ he admitted.
Her glance carried curiosity. ‘You’ve never been to your best friend’s place before?’
‘Yes, of course I have. Several times. But you take a different route when you’re driving from Sydney.’
‘Oh yes, of course. I didn’t think of that. You said you went to boarding school in Sydney, is that right?’
‘Yes. Kings College. It’s near Parramatta. Do you know it?’
