by Jennie Adams
She glanced quickly at Linc and caught the shocked expression on his face before his brows came down and he quickly masked his thoughts.
‘I’m certainly delighted to be holding the masked ball at the nursery this year.’ Cecilia wasn’t sure what else to say.
The group couldn’t have asked her here simply to comment on her maze-making skills. There must be more.
‘Regardless of any other possibilities, we’d like to offer Fleurmazing the chance to sign on now with us for future years.’ The president drew a document from a satchel on the floor beside her chair. ‘This outlines our offer in writing, but if I may elaborate now...?’
Her glance shifted to encompass both of them.
Linc was the one to respond. ‘Please do.’
The president straightened in her chair. ‘We’d like to bring our relationship with Fleurmazing onto a stronger footing for at least the next five years. We’re in the throes of negotiating a contract with our hosts for the same time period, and we feel the two agreements would complement each other.’
She went on.
‘Planning has already commenced for our second year of the flower show, of course. Imagine how great it would be to know at this stage that you’d be holding a masked ball for us again this time next year.’
‘I’m flattered,’ Cecilia said. ‘It’s wonderful that you’d like to continue the relationship into the future.’ Her words were positive. She turned to Linc. ‘I think you’d agree we should review the contract with a view to signing?’
‘Definitely.’
Linc’s response held just the right tone of business interest. Yet did he seem a little disconcerted, as well? Perhaps he hadn’t liked it that the committee had all but offered Cecilia an alternative job right under his nose.
Cecilia smiled at the president, and then allowed that smile to encompass all those seated at the table. ‘I would very much like to continue a working relationship with your committee, provided it can be done in a way that’s workable for all concerned. If you’ll allow us to examine the documentation, we will get back to you as quickly as we can.’
Later, as Linc drove her towards her home, she thought again about the committee’s offer of an ongoing contract with Fleurmazing.
‘That was an interesting way for the committee to handle their approach to us.’ Cecilia made the observation quietly. ‘I’m not complaining. It was a delightful night.’
As Cecilia spoke, she didn’t seem to notice that she had slipped into using us rather than the business or even referring to herself as its manager. But Linc noticed.
He noticed it and he liked it. In fact, he had liked almost everything about this evening from the moment Cecilia had opened the door of her home and he’d seen how beautiful she looked.
To be so aware of her as a woman and to believe that she was equally aware of him had made it difficult to maintain distance in what had needed to be treated as business. Even in a setting of elegant glamour.
This shift in his interest in Cecilia should scare him. It did scare him.
‘I guess the committee are looking to really cement their relationship with the Silver Bells owners.’
It also bothered Linc that the committee had all but offered Cecilia a job. He could see now that it had been naive of him, but he had never imagined Cecilia leaving his employ. The thought of it now made him uncomfortable.
Face it, Linc. The dividing line between a business and personal relationship when it comes to Cecilia is now irrevocably blurred. Just what do you plan to do about that?
‘I don’t blame the committee for wanting to consolidate. It’s what I’d do in their shoes.’ She nodded her agreement just as he drew the car to a halt outside her home.
Just so long as they don’t take you from me in this ‘consolidation’.
The thought came without Linc being able to control it. Suddenly, the tie he’d been wearing all night felt constricting. With a tug he removed it and tossed it onto the console between them. ‘At least that’s gone.’
‘Was it bothering you? You looked quite at home in all your finery.’ Cecilia blurted the words, and then fell abruptly silent.
And everything changed, just like that.
No, it didn’t change. Linc made himself acknowledge it fully. This need to pursue and build on what they had already shared, to take it further, to know Cecilia more wasn’t a change. It was a truth.
‘I—I should review that agreement tonight, before I go to— Before I turn in.’ Cecilia said it as they alighted from the car. ‘Did—did you want to come in, Linc, and look at it with me?’
‘I’m happy to trust your judgment on it.’
They were some of the most difficult words he’d ever said. But they had reached her front door, and if he hadn’t said those words, he’d have invited himself in and...
Silently, he held his hand out for her key. When she gave it to him, he opened her door and drew the contract from his breast pocket. He handed both to her together.
‘You can tell me what you want to do tomorrow.’
Cecilia took her house key and the contract from Linc. Her fingers curled around both, and she felt the contract still warm from the heat of his body. It took will power for her not to hug that warmth to her.
‘Thank you for attending the gala with me tonight.’ It had been a night she would remember for a very long time. ‘It was— I’m sure the committee must have been pleased that you were there. Good—goodnight.’
‘Goodnight, Cecilia.’ His words were deep.
She didn’t know who moved, but somehow they were close, and he bent his head, and she lifted hers and all her good intentions, wobbly as they had been, disappeared.
Their lips met.
Cecilia’s resolve, whatever it might have been in the first place, melted away. When his hands held her waist, her free arm wrapped around his neck and their kiss deepened naturally.
There simply was no hesitation—on Linc’s part or on hers. Cecilia gave herself to this closeness and this man.
He tasted of lemon sorbet. She probably did, too. But more than that he tasted of Linc. Appealing and sensual and wonderful.
She said his name against his lips. ‘Linc—’
‘Cecilia.’
He spoke at the same time. His tone was low, and it let her know that he had been equally moved by their kiss.
One tiny shred of self-preservation surfaced within her. ‘I have to go in—’
‘I have to go—’
Again, he spoke at the same time, and she was glad then that she’d not asked him to come inside with her again, because he would have rejected her, and she’d been there before and it wasn’t nice.
He stepped back and away from her, and she pushed her door open and stepped over the threshold.
‘Goodnight, Linc. I’ll see you at the nursery.’
She went inside and closed the door behind her, listened as Linc’s steps faded away and his car door opened and closed. She heard the soft start of his car’s engine.
He was gone.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘I’VE EARNED THIS TIME. Just fifteen minutes before I leave for the day.’ Cecilia said it aloud, though there was no one there to hear her.
She was in the repurposing shed. She opened a can of paint, stirred it and carried it to an unfinished project.
Linc hadn’t come in to the nursery today. He’d called to say he had to deal with the fallout from an overnight crash in the commodities market, and she’d been both relieved and disappointed by the news.
She’d prepared herself to see him, to acknowledge the kiss they’d shared last night and to say that it would be best if they focused on their professional relationship and didn’t go there again. That was the sensible choice, and she needed to pro
tect herself...to make sure she didn’t get hurt again.
Couldn’t you trust that this might be different from the disappointment you experienced with Hugh?
Actually, she was over Hugh. What she was really worried about was that she might allow herself to start to care deeply for Linc. It was her own developing feelings that scared her.
It would be for the best when Linc completed the review and they could both just get on with their normal lives again—as they had done before this started.
Good. Fantastic. That was exactly what she wanted, and she 100 per cent believed they could go back to exactly the way they’d been before.
‘Sure. Why wouldn’t we be able to do that?’
She slapped the paintbrush against the side of an old crate with a little too much vigour. Spots of paint spattered onto her shirt and shorts.
When her cell phone rang moments later, she answered without even looking at the caller ID.
It was her sister.
‘I know this is short notice, but is there any way at all that you can come in to see me tomorrow?’ Stacey asked the question in a rush of words. A hint of excitement crept through into her tone. ‘I’ve got approval for the visit, and I’ve made a booking for you in the morning group in the hope that you can make it. I understand if you can’t come. I can book it for the following week. I just thought I’d ask.’
‘Yes. I’ll be there.’ Cecilia didn’t hesitate for a second. Emotion tightened her throat. A chance to see Stacey after so long... She would make it work! ‘Oh, I can’t wait to see you.’
‘I’m so glad you’re coming.’ Stacey gave an audible sigh of relief.
They talked for a few minutes more before Stacey reluctantly ended the call.
Cecilia turned back to her painting, but her thoughts were filled with the upcoming visit to her sister.
She was deep in thought when she heard a footfall behind her. She swung around and there was Linc—and he looked so dear.
‘Linc.’ Here was her chance to talk about what had happened last night. ‘You...ah...you gave me quite a start.’
‘Is something wrong?’ He stepped forward. Concern laced his voice. ‘If it’s about—?’
‘No, no. Nothing’s wrong at all.’
Instead of bringing up the matter of them, as she should have, Cecilia shied away from even mentioning it. Well, she had a major family matter on her mind right now!
‘I just had a call from my sister, asking if I’d visit her tomorrow. I’ll have to check that Jemmie can cover for me. I—I can’t wait to go.’
The last sentence surprised her by being tougher to say than it should have been. Cecilia did want to see her sister. So much! It was just that it would challenge her emotions. The place itself and all that it represented... Her having to leave her sister there when she left... Having such distance from the reality of what Stacey was going through...
‘That’s great news.’ His expression softened with happiness for her but also with a more sober emotion. ‘Although I can’t help feeling concerned about you going into that environment,’ he said carefully. ‘Even though I know you have no other choice if you want to see your sister.’
He had spoken the very concern that she felt deeply herself. But she couldn’t speak of it, because it might make her sound selfish or unwilling.
Oh, Linc. You don’t make it easier for me to stop caring for you when you show this caring side yourself.
The thought crept in, unannounced, and then it was too late. She couldn’t deny it. She did care for Linc. Her feelings had developed without her even wanting to allow it to happen.
What if those feelings continued to develop? What if she couldn’t control them and...?
Why didn’t you take the chance to say something just now, when it was right there in front of you? You should have drawn that firm line and given yourself the chance to get those emotions under control.
‘It—the visit—will be fine.’
She would cope with how challenging it felt to pass through all those self-locking doors, the checkpoints, to feel hidden gazes upon her and not know who was looking or what they were thinking, because it meant a chance to see and be supportive to her sister.
Cecilia had visited Stacey just one time, and that had been such a disaster of a visit that she hadn’t let herself think too much of how confrontational it had been in and of itself.
Well, Cecilia had to be fine.
‘There are plenty of staff on duty in the visiting room. I’m sure if anything...worrying happened, they would know what to do.’
‘Right. That’s good.’ He paused, and then couldn’t seem to hold back his questions. ‘What time is the...uh...the appointment? Fordham, isn’t it? What amount of contact do you...ah...do you have with the other prisoners there when you visit?’
His questions about all the practical aspects of the visit were...well, they were adorable, actually.
Oh, Cecilia, you are in so much trouble with your feelings.
Perhaps, but it wasn’t as though she loved him or anything. That would be beyond foolish.
She explained the details he had asked about. ‘There will be other prisoners in the visiting room, where I’ll see Stacey, but people keep very much to themselves. Fraternising with other groups is not allowed.’
Linc listened as Cecilia explained about her upcoming visit to her sister. With every fibre of his being he wanted to insist that Cecilia did not step foot into that place.
Surely there was some risk involved in being exposed to other prisoners and their visitors? What if someone decided to start a riot?
What if you let your mind run away with you a bit more, MacKay?
Yet at the same time he wanted Cecilia to go. This was her family, so of course she had to go. In the same circumstances—
In the same circumstances he had failed, in a way that had left his brother Alex paying the price. Linc had sworn an oath to himself that he would never let anything like that happen again.
He watched now as Cecilia turned and quickly closed up the paint can, tidied the area.
They’d kissed last night, and Linc had not been able to get those moments out of his mind. When he thought about her, his chest squeezed and he had an overwhelming need to...to be wherever she was—just so he could look up and she’d be there. What did that mean?
‘I’d better call Jemmie and ask if she’s happy to step in tomorrow and continue with the preparations for the masked ball.’
Cecilia’s words broke through Linc’s reverie.
She went on. ‘I have an action list she can follow, but it’s a really busy time.’
Linc welcomed this distraction from his thoughts, even though it brought him back to Cecilia’s trip to visit her sister tomorrow. ‘Everything is well in order, because you’re such a good operator, so it will be fine. I’ll come back to the office with you now.’ He fell into step at her side. ‘It’s late to be starting, but I want to put some work in on the review.’
I stayed away from here all day but gave in and came looking for you, anyway.
He just hadn’t anticipated that seeing her would fill him with warmth and something that felt rather like happiness.
‘I hope that commodities crash didn’t impact too badly on your businesses?’ Cecilia made the statement to Linc and knew she should have done it earlier.
Did Linc want to work late like this because he couldn’t wait for the review to be finished? Cecilia tried not to feel hurt at the thought.
He thanked her for her concern. ‘It wasn’t great, but these ups and downs happen.’
As they stepped inside the office, Cecilia brought up the flower-show committee’s proposal. ‘They’re offering next year as a fairly solid proposition for Fleurmazing to host the masked ball again, with the proviso
that the Silver Bells charity would still need to sign off on the overall plans for it all to go ahead.’
‘That sounds reasonable.’
Linc took his seat at the second computer. He looked at home there now...as though he belonged.
The thought crept up on Cecilia and she frowned. Linc didn’t belong here. He belonged in his high-flying corporate world, running all his business interests and never giving her a thought.
She’d pushed for a review, and he’d rewarded her dedication by conducting it himself. Once it was done, that would be it.
But would it? Or had things changed for him, as well? Maybe he’d want to keep seeing her?
‘The flower show committee want exclusive rights to the Fleurmazing masked ball for the next five years. I’m willing to give them that, but I’ll want the contract updated first to spell out that Fleurmazing can conduct other celebrations and activities utilising the maze.’
‘Well done.’ His gaze met hers over the tops of their computer screens. ‘It’s clear you’ve considered this from all angles.’
She felt so proud in the face of his praise that it was difficult to keep a pleased smile from her face.
Tell him now that you want to be careful there’s no repeat of what happened last night. Tell him. Because you can see for yourself that you’re all but hanging off every word he speaks. You need to do something about your out-of-control and ever-developing feelings towards him before they truly get you into trouble.
‘Thanks. I’d...um... I’d better make that call to Jemmie and then do my tidying up here for the night so I can get going.’
‘Good idea. You’ll need to get some rest tonight, too.’
Linc wanted to say more, to say that he enjoyed her company and didn’t want it to end, but he stopped himself. An attraction that should have been easy for him to control seemed to be getting the better of him. Linc wasn’t accustomed to that, and he didn’t know how to address it.
Get his work here finished and remove himself from her life as much as possible, he supposed.
He ignored the knowledge that it wasn’t only a physical awareness of her beauty and appeal that had him in its thrall and tried to focus on his review work.
