by Jennie Adams
‘I can work with that time frame. What tours have you got left that you need to work out?’ He closed the report pages. When he lifted his gaze, it tracked over her hair, where the waves of brown fell against her shoulders, over the almost severe grey business jacket with the hint of white camisole beneath.
This time his expression was quite sober, as though perhaps he, too, didn’t quite know what to make of the sparks they were creating in each other.
Jayne half wished she’d worn something younger from her wardrobe.
Do not!
Do so!
Stop being childish, Jayne. You’re a mature woman.
‘There are two tours that run very regularly with Cutter’s but I’ve had trouble working out what I’d use for unique gifts for them.’ And her choice of clothing was perfectly fine, thanks very much. Jayne didn’t even want to think about maturity levels right now. ‘One goes from here into the Hunter Valley wine regions and then on to a private mountain resort area.’
When she named the place, he nodded.
‘I know of it. I’ve heard they’re bringing in abseiling of their largest sheer rock face soon.’ He drew a deep breath that tightened the white shirt across the width of his shoulders.
‘Do you enjoy adrenalin sports like rock climbing?’ As opposed to the extra-curricular ideas that Jayne really didn’t need to have jumping around inside her mind! She dragged her gaze away from his chest but instead it travelled downwards, over khaki trousers and, when he crossed one ankle across his knee, to a tan boot that looked more suited to those extreme sports than it did to a business meeting.
He grinned as though he’d read her thoughts exactly. ‘Yeah. Certain activities offer good stress relief.’
While Jayne worked to come to terms with how much she wanted to respond to his flirty words, and to stifle every response that flew to her lips, his smile faded a little.
He’d mentioned that he’d like a challenge to occupy his mind. Though she might not know much about him, Jayne understood that. She thrived on working hard and feeling at the end of the day that she’d achieved her goals. It was that last part that hadn’t been working out since Eric came along.
Alex got to his feet. ‘I brought some sample items. Would you like to see them?’
‘Yes, thank you.’ Step into my lair, said the cougar to the…fly.
She’d mixed her metaphors, but the overall idea came across clearly enough.
‘It’s this way.’ Jayne shot to her feet and gave the skirt of her business suit a sharp tug. She hurried out of the office and towards her apartment’s front door. As though he wouldn’t know the way from when he’d arrived! And as if hurrying would get her ahead of these very silly thoughts. Cougar, indeed.
Jayne made sure she had her keys in her hand and let the door close to lock behind them. She was halfway to the stairwell, every brain cell focused on not thinking about leopard print clothing or those awful Internet ads about how to catch a younger man, when she stopped abruptly. ‘Sorry. The lift is back that way.’ She pointed—not with red-painted nails, but wasn’t that a cliché anyway?
Well, her nails were painted a very refined coral-pink and Jayne had never worn leopard print anything in her life.
She did like six-inch heels that might work with that kind of outfit, but she wore very elegant black cocktail dresses with those, and she only had the one pair. ‘I am not that sort of person,’ she started, and realised she’d said the thought out loud. Plus there was nothing wrong with leopard print…
Jayne cleared her throat. ‘I take the stairs for exercise, but we can go in the lift if you’d prefer.’
‘It was a long drive into the city this morning. I won’t mind the exercise.’ Alex’s gaze dropped over her legs to her feet. ‘If you’re sure you want to do—what is it?—eighteen floors in those shoes?’
‘Fifteen, and I’m sure.’ Jayne could manage in the three-inch pumps. She did it every day, going to and from her apartment to work. She stepped down the first flight, and then the next and the next at a brisk pace that helped, a little, to release the tensions that came with thinking too much about her working life. It was the same theory as Alex’s active sports one, except tamer. Was it the hint of enjoying a good challenge that drew her to him? His adrenalin seeking? Or the tantalising thought of attracting the interest of a younger man? Jayne shouldn’t even want to go there! Just look how badly that kept turning out for her father with his younger wives.
Besides, it was Alex’s complexity that drew her in. The cheeky smile, the more sober side, the flirtatiousness and the depths of him.
Great. Now Jayne had defined her interest to cover every aspect of the man’s personality. Maybe she should simply beg for his undying devotion right now.
‘So tell me, Alex, how far out is your business premises? Do you live close by as well?’ Not begging. Not even thinking about it. Not interested in anything other than getting to know him from a business perspective.
He named an outer Sydney suburb that Jayne had never visited. ‘I live in a converted warehouse building with my two brothers and new sister-in-law. My business address is close to home. It’s a bit of a distance from the city centre but I don’t need to make this trip all that often.’
‘If you’ve brought samples of your products with you, it seems you’ve planned to make the trip count anyway. Here we are.’ Jayne pushed the exit door open and turned to glance over her shoulder at him. She caught his gaze just as it lifted from her feet, over her legs and up. And she’d been doing so well with her momentary clarity and focus, too.
‘Er…my four-wheel drive is just here.’ Did the back of his neck flush slightly as he spoke?
Somehow, the thought of him feeling embarrassed to be caught checking her out made him seem quite adorable on top of all Jayne’s other reactions to him.
What? Like a half-grown puppy, Jayne?
‘That’s a lot of samples.’ Jayne shifted closer. She needed to, in order to see properly, she justified. It had nothing to do with puppies. Or big cats. Spotty ones, just as a random example.
Jayne!
‘This might help you to think about matches for some of your tours.’ Alex drew the first box forward. ‘It won’t take long to show you through everything.’
Jayne’s interest was piqued immediately when he lifted out the first item, a hand-painted glass bowl.
‘Oh, that’s lovely but I don’t know if glass—’ Jayne broke off with a small gasp as he placed the bowl into her hands. ‘It’s not glass, and yet it doesn’t feel like plastic or anything else I know.’
He grinned and took the bowl back, and promptly threw it into the box.
Jayne listened for sounds of breaking that didn’t come. ‘How unbreakable are these?’
‘Very.’ He explained the materials. ‘I’m guessing that flat plates and small fold-away clocks, in the style of travel clocks, might also be useful to you in these materials.’
‘A travel clock would be fabulous, if it could be done for the right price.’ Enthusiasm bubbled through her veins.
He showed her through the rest of the goods. Some of the boxes contained hand-painted Aboriginal clap sticks, boomerangs, small wooden food trays and other items.
‘The Aboriginal art I’ve seen over the years has been lovely,’ Jayne observed, ‘but different to this.’
‘Different tribes and regional influences affect the art.’ He handed her a set of clap sticks. ‘I’ve been looking into some of it recently.’
Did his family tree have some Aboriginal heritage in it, perhaps? Alex had beautiful tanned skin and a few nuances of facial features that might suggest it.
Alex had a lot about him that appealed.
Jayne forced her thoughts back to work and hoped her accompanying smile would be more relaxed than it felt. ‘I have a two-year-old niece who’d love the clap sticks. She’s into making noise.’
At the end of viewing all the items, Alex closed the doors of his car and locked i
t.
‘I would like to come to a business agreement with you.’ Jayne’s mind was made up. ‘There’s promise in these items, though it will take time for us to match inventory to themes.’
‘I’m more than willing to give you as much consultation as you need.’ Alex’s eyes searched her face. Awareness, interest, business consciousness, all of it rolled into one in his expression.
Jayne wasn’t sure she wanted to ask herself what he might see in hers in return.
How could his examination feel almost like the touch of fingers against her high cheekbones? Over her slim straight nose? And down over her lips before he blinked, and Jayne released the breath that had caught in her throat.
She forced herself to push aside the questions and to go on. ‘The toughest part for me now is those final two tours.’
‘You mentioned the Hunter Valley. Where does the other tour go?’
‘It’s an outback tour. It covers Alice Springs, Uluru and other parts of the Northern Territory.’ Jayne broke off as a look of first surprise and then narrow-eyed consideration crossed his face.
‘Could you take the tours yourself?’ he asked. ‘Gain an insider’s perspective that way?’
It wasn’t a bad idea to resolve that problem for Jayne, but how could it work for Alex as well? ‘If I did that, how would I give you the time you need for consultation?’
‘Well, do you have a laptop and access to your company via wireless Internet connection?’
‘Yes, I have those.’
‘And I have some of my own…business research I’d like to conduct in Alice Springs.’
Before Jayne could wonder what he wanted to research there, Alex went on. ‘We can tour together, cover everything we’d both like to achieve, work on our theme and inventory matching as we go along. You mentioned you need to complete your overall proposal this week. I’ll respect your need for time for that as well. If you can do it on the road?’
‘You’re offering to take these two tours with me?’ Jayne would have the chance to resolve her research issues. Alex would consult with her. She could finish her proposal. He would do whatever it was that interested him in Alice Springs. Maybe he knew some colleagues there and wanted to catch up or something.
They could spend five days on the road together, getting to know each other, endless hours of time together.
Jayne was reasonably certain that the ding, ding, ding sound she heard in her head was a warning bell suggesting it might be dangerous to spend that amount of time with a young man who’d attracted more of her interest and attention than any man of any age that she could ever remember.
Alex gave that cheeky half-smile again. It didn’t disguise the determination in his eyes. It didn’t even attempt to do so; it just went along with it. ‘Yeah, I’m offering.’
‘Then…I accept your offer.’ There. The words were out. Now all Jayne had to do was remember they were out there for business purposes and nothing else, no matter how Alex MacKay’s blue eyes might sparkle and invite her to get to know him, be playful, be serious, whatever she liked and whatever he might like.
Alex rubbed his hands together. ‘Great. Let’s get ourselves organised so we can get on the road!’
CHAPTER TWO
‘I CAN’T believe we pulled this off in just hours,’ Jayne said as she settled beside Alex in a seat near the middle of the Cutter’s tour bus. She was being careful to be cheerfully businesslike, and to not quite meet Alex’s gaze. ‘You made the trip home, packed and got back into the city. I sorted the tours out, packed and got here.’
Jayne had also changed into jeans and tied her hair back into a ponytail off her face. The more casual clothing kind of negated her efforts to convince him she had nothing but business on her mind.
Alex let his eyes examine her. Jayne had the most beautiful creamy complexion and soft wavy hair. Her age gave her an air of elegance. He figured she had to be mid-thirties. With her soft sherry-brown eyes shining with excitement as they were now, despite her efforts to mask all her thoughts behind a workmanlike facade, she looked happy, appealing and…totally kissable.
Not a thought you should dwell on, or even have, Alex.
Alex hadn’t felt this kind of attraction to an older woman before. He’d enjoyed flirting with her, watching warmth creep into her cheeks.
It was not a smart idea when he was trying to establish a working relationship with her, but Alex was finding Jayne Cutter somewhat irresistible.
‘I had good motivation to get organised and back here.’ For him, there were two reasons. He wanted this work. Giving Jayne time this week would show his commitment to that. And if he tried to find his biological connections in Alice Springs in person, perhaps he would get somewhere.
His enquiries through government agencies in the area had proved fruitless. At least he’d know that he’d done something hands-on about it. Whatever the outcome.
It had been weird getting the solicitor’s notice enclosing a letter from his late mother five weeks ago. Why leave him a letter to be opened after her death, when it was too late to know her?
She’d written to try to absolve herself, he supposed. But all she’d said was that she hadn’t felt ready to be a mother. She’d had no family of her own and his father hadn’t wanted to acknowledge him. Alex had figured out many years ago that he hadn’t been wanted. He hadn’t needed a letter to spell that out.
It had been the solicitor who’d told him that Alex’s father came from Aboriginal roots somewhere in the vicinity of Alice Springs. The elderly solicitor remembered Alex’s mother saying so all those years ago when she’d lodged the letter with him before she’d moved overseas.
On the one hand, Alex wanted answers to questions that had been in the back of his mind all his life. Who was he? Where had he come from? But would he want to know those answers in the end?
There had been a third reason for working hard to get back here on time. That was Jayne herself. She was a beautiful, intriguing, mature woman. Alex was feeling a little…fascinated by that.
‘You did well, Jayne. We’ll have an adventure.’
Jayne’s lovely sherry-brown gaze flew to his eyes, searched and…responded with a softening before she shut the response down. ‘Thank you. I did my best.’
Jayne chewed her lip for a moment before tipping her head close to his to say in an undertone, ‘I should tell you, for the purpose of the trip I’m Jayne Aldis.’
‘So people don’t recognise you as part of the company? Where’d you get the last name?’ Alex approved of her strategy. He approved even more of the way Jayne’s head rested just centimetres from his shoulder.
Alex had indulged in his share of short-term involvements with women. But they’d been casual. He’d grown up in a male environment and he didn’t really know how to trust a woman in terms of letting himself get close emotionally. Being dumped as a baby by his mother hadn’t helped with that.
Receiving her letter had brought pressure he could have done without and, instead of solving those long-time questions, had simply added to the ‘need to know’ that had burned inside him whether he’d wanted to admit that through the years or not.
A casual fling with a potential business partner would not only be a really bad idea for him right now, while he had these issues on his mind, but it would be insulting to Jayne. If she was even truly interested enough in him, she would deserve a lot better than an unemotional involvement.
Alex had to push each of the thoughts out of his mind. Usually he could nut things out very easily but, with Jayne, it was different somehow. Perhaps he didn’t want to shut his interest down.
Alex turned the conversation back to the woman seated beside him. ‘Was Aldis your mother’s maiden name?’
‘No.’ She took a breath. ‘My mother left the family when I was fifteen. I haven’t seen her or heard from her for twenty years. I no longer feel any sense of affinity for her.’
The words were calm but Alex sensed strong feelings beneath the su
rface.
‘I’m sorry to hear that, Jayne. It can’t have been easy. I grew up in an orphanage, myself. I’m sorry you went through—’
‘I wish that hadn’t happened to you—’
They both stopped, and Alex smiled. He didn’t want Jayne to be unhappy or to feel sorry for him and yet he felt a sense of connection with her in knowing they’d both lost a mother, even if in different ways.
‘Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jayne Aldis. I’m looking forward to this week of working with you and getting to know you better.’
‘I’m looking forward to this week, too.’ Anticipation warred with caution in Jayne’s tone. Her glance moved around the interior of the bus and a smile broke out on her face as the anticipation won.
All about them people were settling in, tucking small items of hand luggage away beneath the seats in front of them or in the overhead spaces. Most of the tour group were Japanese, with half a dozen university students who, Alex had heard saying, had chosen the tour so they could practice their language skills. One of them had seemed to know quite a bit about Cutter’s Tours, in a rather pompous way. Alex hoped he wouldn’t have much to do with that guy.
‘Good morning, folks, and welcome to this Cutter Australia bus tour.’ The guide commenced his welcoming blurb and repeated it in Japanese.
Jayne spoke quietly over the guide’s voice. ‘I think this is going to be really good, Alex. I’ll appreciate a chance to gather the final pieces of information I need for my proposal.’ Her eyes sparkled. The end of her ponytail brushed against the back of her neck when she moved her head.
Alex wanted to tangle his fingers in the soft mass, tug her closer and lower his lips—
There he went again.
Now was not good timing for this kind of reaction to Jayne. He was in the middle of trying to find his biological roots and process how he felt about the death of a woman who had never acknowledged him as her son. He’d learned that what he’d assumed was some kind of European influence in his genetics—Italian or Greek, perhaps—was actually some Aboriginal history.
