When Anna returned, Charles rang the small crystal-and-silver bell that stood beside his water glass. Judd watched as Anna resumed her seat, her body vibrating with tension and her distress clear on her features. The call to his sister can’t have gone well.
Anna excused herself from the table immediately after dessert, leaving Charles and Judd to talk, but it wasn’t long before Charles showed signs of weariness and also left to go upstairs to bed.
Alone? Judd wondered, his mind uncomfortably casting back to when he’d surprised Anna coming from the older man’s suite of rooms. She’d clearly been in the process of putting her clothes back on in case someone saw her in the hallway. And someone had. Judd’s hand tightened on the stem of the Waterford crystal goblet in his hand, the glowing red wine within it barely touched.
Well, he could certainly find out if she had gone ahead to warm his father’s sheets. All it would take would be an inquiry at her door.
Judd barely realized he’d made the decision to check on Anna until he found himself outside of her bedroom. He raised his hand and rapped softly on the door, leaning one shoulder against the jamb as he waited for it to open. To his surprise, it did.
“What do you want? To gloat?” Anna asked him.
For a moment, he was taken aback but he soon recovered his usual equilibrium and took a moment to savor the scrubbed freshness of her face and her hair loose in a well-brushed tumble across satin-covered shoulders. The shadows cast by the soft lighting in her room showed she wore very little beneath her robe. If anything. Instantly he was rock hard, his body clamoring with an urgent need to possess her. He stamped down on the sensation. So she wasn’t with Charles now, but she had been earlier this evening. The image of her, fresh from his father’s room, still burned in his memory, and he fought the urge to create a new memory—one of his making.
He gathered his thoughts together and expelled a harsh breath before speaking. “Not at all. It should have been handled differently.”
She made a sound, a cross between derision and a cynical laugh. “You think? You know you could have asked him to consider Nicole’s feelings before making that stupid announcement.”
“Mea culpa,” he said, straightening from the door frame and holding his hands wide. “It didn’t occur to me that he wouldn’t have told her privately.”
“Well, it’s too late now. Hopefully we can sort things out at the office tomorrow, if she’s talking to me again by then. What did you come to see me for, anyway?”
“I wanted to make sure that you were okay. You looked upset at dinner.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Upset? In being loyal to Charles I betrayed my best friend since I was five years old. Of course I’m upset.”
“Why did you do it? Why does he have such an influence over you?” Judd persisted.
“You would never understand,” Anna said and started to close the door.
Judd put out a hand to halt its traverse across the plush carpet.
“Try me.”
“Look, it’s late. I don’t want to talk about this now. What’s done is done.” She stared pointedly at his hand and then back at his face. “Good night, Judd.”
He took the hint and removed his hand from the door.
“Sweet dreams, Anna.”
But he was talking to a plank of painted wood. So, he thought as he walked back to his room, she didn’t want to discuss her relationship with his father. How surprising, not. He was prepared to leave it—for now—but eventually he’d get the truth from her. In the meantime, he’d do his best to imprint his own influence. Whatever her feelings for Charles, the attraction between Anna and himself was mutual—her capitulation would be a sweet success.
The next morning, Anna waited patiently for Nicole to come into the office, but she didn’t show. Repeated calls to her cell phone resulted in no response. Charles hadn’t come into the office today, either, and according to the household staff, Judd had remained closeted with him back at the house. Anna didn’t like the way this was panning out.
She stifled a yawn and decided to take her morning break a little earlier than usual. Maybe a shot of caffeine would help her get through to lunchtime. In the staff lunch room she grabbed her favorite cup from the shelf and headed for the coffee machine. One of the office staff sat at the table, nursing her own cup of coffee and scanning her laptop screen. As Anna passed by she caught a glimpse of the page the girl was on and smiled. The anonymous celebrity-gossip column in the print and online newspaper usually made for a humorous read.
“Anything good in there today?” she asked, sitting down at the table with the other girl.
“The usual, mostly. Oh, wait. Look at this!”
She swiveled the computer around so they could both view the screen. Anna scanned the text, when her eyes were suddenly arrested by a name—Nicole Wilson. The comments about Nicole focused mostly on her being seen letting her hair down in one of the city’s bright spots the night before and, in particular, with a certain extremely eligible and wealthy Auckland businessman who was newly returned to town to take over control of a major company. While his name wasn’t mentioned, there was only one person that Anna knew fitted the carefully worded description. Nate Hunter. A photo accompanied the article. While her partner’s back was to the camera, there was no mistaking Nicole in fine form on the dance floor.
Somehow Anna managed to say the right things to the other girl and made her way back to her office, her rapidly cooling coffee clutched in her hand.
What on earth should she do? she wondered. She had to get a hold of Nicole and find out what she was up to—but how? She did a quick search online, and found the number for Jackson Importers. Maybe Nate Hunter might be able to shed some light on where Nicole was.
Five frustrating minutes of being stonewalled later, Anna replaced the receiver on her phone. Mr. Hunter was unavailable until further notice. What that meant, exactly, Anna had no idea, but she had the sinking feeling that wherever Nicole was, it was very possibly with him. And given her mood last night and her tendency to be outrageously impulsive, it didn’t augur well.
Darn Judd Wilson, she thought, and darn Charles, too. This was all their fault. Anna clenched her hands into fists and fought back the urge to scream. One by one she uncurled her fingers and released her fury on a pent-up breath, then reached for her phone and dialed Judd’s number. They needed to swing into damage control before all this blew up in their faces. He’d know what to do.
Seven
“It’s preposterous. What on earth is she thinking?”
Anna winced as Charles raged through the office on Monday afternoon after what had been an exceptionally stressful and long weekend waiting for his prodigal daughter to return home. She knew all the anger and tension couldn’t be good for him, but there was nothing she could do to calm him down when the bad news about Nicole kept pouring in. The latest update—that she’d turned up for work at the offices of Jackson Importers late that morning—had gone down like a lead balloon.
He continued his rant. “She isn’t thinking, that’s what. And she wonders why I gave the controlling interest in Wilson Wines to Judd.”
“She’s hurting, Charles. Give her time, she’ll come back.” Anna tried to soothe his anger but it was useless.
“Come back? I wouldn’t have her back. Not now that she’s working for that insufferable miscreant! I’ve a good mind to cut her out of my will completely after this.” Anna wanted to believe he was just blowing off steam, but she had a sinking feeling that he meant every word. Nothing made Charles angrier than what he perceived as disloyalty. No matter what excuse she offered, Anna was pretty sure that Charles wouldn’t be forgiving Nicole in a hurry.
“And what are we supposed to do in the meantime, hmm?” Charles continued. “We needed her here to help transition J
udd into his duties. Now he’s dropped in at the deep end.”
“I’m sure I’ll cope.” Judd interrupted his father’s tirade. “I’m not completely unaware of how a business should be run nor am I unfamiliar with the wine industry.”
Anna looked at him and felt that familiar tug of attraction she’d fought all weekend to ignore. It was hard enough to resist him under normal circumstances, but over the past weekend, when Anna had felt that her whole world was collapsing around her, Judd had been a rock—stepping right in to make sure everything was taken care of. While Anna had been busy keeping Charles reined in and ensuring that his riled temper didn’t prevent him from keeping up with his medical treatments, Judd was the one who’d handled the reporters’ phone calls, coordinated with the company’s PR team and ensured that all Wilson Wines employees, particularly those who reported directly to Nicole, were reminded of the nondisclosure agreements they had signed.
He’d single-handedly kept the disaster from spiraling out of control. While Anna couldn’t help but be grateful to him, she was forced to admit to herself that it was entirely unfair how attractive he was when he was coolly, competently in charge.
Today he looked every inch the high-powered executive, wearing a navy suit and crisp white shirt with a patterned tie. He could have stepped off the pages of a men’s fashion magazine, and yet despite the polish, there was still that edge of visceral male that hovered about him.
“Anna?” Charles’s voice. “Are you paying attention?”
“S-sorry,” she stuttered. “I was woolgathering.”
Charles sighed heavily. “I need you to be on your game, young lady. Without Nicole here, I’m appointing you as Judd’s P.A. He’s going to need the support of someone who knows Wilson Wines from the ground up. You’re the only one I trust for that role.”
“His P.A.?” Her heart gave an uncomfortable lurch. “But what about you?”
“I’m sure you can draw on one of the girls from marketing to help me when I need it. That redhead who covers for you when you’re on holiday, she’ll do. It’s not as if I’m in here for full days, anyway…although I suppose that will have to change now Nicole’s gone.”
He suddenly slumped in his chair, his face gray. Anna rushed to his side.
“Are you all right? Do you need the doctor?”
Charles shook his head. “No, don’t fuss, Anna. I’m not sick. Not physically, anyway. It just isn’t right. I finally get Judd back and I lose Nicole.”
Anna fought the urge to tell him she’d tried to warn him that what he was doing would drive a wedge between himself and his daughter. She found consoling words instead to replace the ones that hung bitterly on the tip of her tongue.
“You haven’t lost her, she’ll be back before we know it, I’m sure.”
“In the meantime, you have us,” Judd commented. “And speaking of which, I think you should head home and rest and leave the running of the office to Anna and me. We can call you if anything arises that we can’t manage.”
Anna felt a burst of cold panic at the thought of her and Judd alone together in the office, but still, she found herself agreeing with him. Anything to see to Charles’s comfort. After the older man had been driven home by his new temporary P.A., Anna showed Judd into Nicole’s office. Charles had stipulated that he should work from there, and while a little voice inside of her had objected vociferously, she accepted the practicality of it. If Judd was to assume Nicole’s duties quickly, he needed information to be at his fingertips. Where better than in Nicole’s office?
It was lunchtime when he came out and over to Anna’s desk.
“I see Nicole had a trip planned to Nelson, leaving on Thursday. I thought Wilson Wines primarily imported from overseas markets.”
“We do, but Nicole campaigned to introduce several wines from New Zealand to our catalogue as well, with a view to distributing only to select wine sellers and collectors. She felt it was a strong counter to Jackson Importers’ ability to cut prices by dealing through the internet. This way we’d have top-quality wines but without the additional costs involved with importation.”
Judd nodded. “Makes good sense. So this project is still in its infancy?”
“Yes, she’s already visited a few North Island wineries. This week was to source specific wines from the top of the South Island.”
“You’ll need to change her tickets to my name and book a set for yourself, as well.”
“Me?”
A small frown creased between his eyebrows. “Why not?”
“I don’t usually do these trips. My role is more one of support here, at home.”
“I need you with me.”
“Surely you can—”
“Anna, you’re coming with me. We’re not departing until early evening on Thursday and will be returning to Auckland on Tuesday morning. The office can survive a few days without you.”
“But Charles—”
“Has a new P.A. now. Or had you forgotten that?”
Judd eyed Anna carefully. He hadn’t expected an opportunity to get her alone and to himself quite so quickly but he certainly wasn’t going to waste it. Getting her out from under his father’s roof and into his own bed had become a task he’d begun to relish. His sister’s display of pique had fallen right into his hands. He’d thank her for it one of these days. Probably right about the time he offered his controlling interest in Wilson Wines over to Nate Hunter.
After the weekend’s development, he’d shelved his original plans to hand over the company right away. Oh, he still intended to take Wilson Wines apart…but not quite yet. Charles was still reeling from Nicole’s actions, and Judd wanted him feeling secure and invulnerable again when Judd struck. Besides, seducing Charles’s mistress away from him would be a lot easier when she was forced to work right at his side.
For now, business was the least of his concerns. His sights were very firmly set on the woman in front of him. The woman whose scent, even now, tantalized him. Living under the same roof and not touching her—imagining her with his father—had been torture these past few days. He hadn’t seen any overt displays of affection between them, but she’d certainly been hovering over Charles nonstop. Judd also hadn’t forgotten her state of dishabille last Thursday evening when he’d caught her coming from the old man’s rooms.
Each time he’d had an opportunity, he’d cut her from Charles’s attention over the weekend, even going so far as to brush against her from time to time. He knew his touch unsettled her—the faint flush of color on her cheeks had been a dead giveaway—but she’d managed to gracefully extricate herself from each situation and create a distance between them that had left him frustrated both physically and mentally.
This trip to the South Island was a godsend. She would be his willing lover before they returned, and stage one of his decimation of the things his father loved would have begun.
By the time Thursday morning rolled around Judd felt as if every cell in his body was taut with anticipation over what this trip would bring. He’d done some more research and had personally contacted each of the wineries they were to visit to explain that he was coming in his sister’s stead. So far the reception had been promising, as had been the sample wines that Nicole had in her office that she’d received in advance of the trip. He could see why she’d chosen them. They had distinct appeal on many levels. His sister definitely had a strong talent for innovation and combined it with exemplary taste.
The business side of the trip aside, he was looking forward to the concentrated time alone with Anna Garrick. That she very clearly wasn’t only made the prospect more appealing and the challenge even more enticing. He still well remembered her response to his kiss that first night at The Masters’. Remembered the feel of her body, her full breasts, the soft curves of her body against his, the taste of her.
Damn if he wasn’t getting hard just thinking about it.
He walked into the dining room at the house that already felt like home and saw Anna at the sideboard helping herself to cereal and milk.
“Good morning, all ready for the trip?” he asked.
She took her bowl over to the table and sat down before acknowledging his presence.
“Good morning,” she said, her voice a little husky as if she’d not long been awake.
The fresh scent of her and her immaculately applied makeup gave lie to the thought that she’d tumbled straight from bed. Add to that the fact that she was dressed smartly in a cream blouse neatly tucked into a pair of taupe-colored trousers that she’d cinched at the waist with a wide black belt, suggested she’d been up for some time. The blouse was made of some sheer floaty fabric that clung to her in all the right places. Beneath it he caught a hint of a lacy camisole. He was going to have to exhibit some control, he decided, if he wasn’t to walk around all morning in a state of constant arousal. But there was something so carnally alluring about her, he knew it would be easier said than done.
Anna pushed her cereal around in her bowl, clearly not finding the prospect of breakfast at all tempting. In the meantime, Judd helped himself to some fluffy scrambled eggs and a couple of strips of grilled bacon.
“Are you sure you really need me to come with you on this trip?” she blurted as he sat down and reached for the coffeepot on the table.
“I wouldn’t have said so if it wasn’t necessary.”
She sighed, the action making her breasts rise and fall beneath the gossamer-fine fabric and making his fingers itch to touch it and what lay beneath.
“I really don’t think I should be leaving Charles, what with Nicole gone, as well.”
Judd felt his resolve harden. “He’s an adult and quite capable of taking care of himself.”
“But he’ll be alone.”
The Wayward Son Page 8
