The Girl he Never Noticed

by Lindsay Armstrong

  But it had been a week before Liz had even been able to pull herself together and start looking for an alternative life and a job.

  She’d got in touch with the agency she’d worked for and put herself back on their books. So far nothing had come up, but she had got her old weekend job as a restaurant receptionist back. Next thing on her list was a flat of her own.

  It was not long after Scout had made her displeasure with their new life known that the phone rang. It was the agency, with an offer of a diary secretary position for two weeks starting the next day.

  Liz accepted it after consulting her mother, although she was dreading getting back on the old treadmill. And the next morning she presented herself at a suite of offices in the city, the home of Wakefield Inc—a company that operated a cargo shipping line.

  She was, she’d been told, replacing the president’s diary secretary, who had fallen and broken a leg. That was all she knew.

  As always for work, she’d dressed carefully in a fresh suit with a pretty top. But her hair was tied back and she wore her glasses.

  She was greeted by a receptionist, whose name-plate labelled her as Gwendolyn, as she stepped out of the lift, and was ushered immediately towards the president’s office when she’d explained who she was.

  ‘In you go,’ Gwendolyn said cheerfully. ‘He’s asked to see you immediately.’

  Liz took a deep breath and hesitated. She could partly see into the office, and it looked quite different from the last office she’d worked in. No pictures of horses and trawlers that she could see, and a completely different colour scheme—beige carpet, beige walls and a brown leather buttoned settee. The desk was hidden from her, and she took another deep breath and walked through the door—only to find herself almost fainting from sheer shock.

  Because it was Cam Hillier who sat behind the desk belonging to the president of Wakefield Inc—a company she’d never heard of before yesterday.

  She stopped as if shot.

  He got up and came round the desk towards her. ‘Liz,’ he said quietly. ‘Come in.’

  ‘Y-you?’ she stammered. ‘I don’t understand.’

  He smiled briefly. ‘It’s the company I bought while you were up at Yewarra. Remember?’

  Her eyes were huge and her face was pale as her lips worked but no sound came. She stared at him. He was formally dressed, in a navy suit she recognised. He was as dynamic and attractive as he’d ever been—although she thought he looked pale too.

  ‘I—I don’t understand,’ she repeated. ‘I’m supposed to be temping for someone who’s broken a leg.’

  ‘I made that up. I also asked for you personally.’

  She blinked. ‘You…you got me here deliberately? Why?’ she asked hoarsely.

  ‘Because I can’t live without you. I need you desperately, Liz.’ He put a hand out as she rocked on her feet, and closed it around her arm to steady her. ‘Archie can’t live without you. None of us can. So we’d be grateful for anything you can give us, but you have to come back.’

  ‘Anything?’ she whispered.

  And whether it was the shock of seeing him again when she’d never expected to, or the shock of discovering he’d sought her out, it was as if some unseen hand had turned a key in her heart and everything she’d longed to say but been unable to came pouring out…

  ‘Don’t you understand? I would never have slept with you if I didn’t love you. That’s the way I’m made. I know—I know it looked as if it was all about Scout, but it wasn’t. It was you. It was you from way back.’

  Tears were pouring down her cheeks and she was shaking.

  ‘Liz.’ He put his arms around her, and despite her tears she could see that he was visibly shaken too, ‘Liz, my darling…’

  ‘I don’t know why I couldn’t say this before,’ she wept. ‘I wanted to, but—’ She couldn’t go on.

  ‘I understand. I always understood,’ he said softly. ‘I just couldn’t help myself from rushing my fences at times.’

  ‘I’m surprised you don’t hate me,’ she said, distraught.

  His lips twisted. ‘Maybe this will reassure you more than any words,’ he murmured, and took off her glasses. He started to kiss her—her tear-drenched cheeks, her brow and her mouth.

  When they finally drew apart Liz was breathless, but her tears had stopped and she looked up at him in wonderment. ‘It—it is real,’ she said tentatively.

  ‘I really love you,’ he said. ‘I’ve never felt this way before. As if I’m finally making the right music. As if the rest of the world can go to hell so long as I have you.’

  He traced the outline of her swollen mouth with his forefinger. ‘I never told you this—I’ve never told anyone this—but my parents were soul mates, and I’ve been looking for my soul mate for a long time. So long I didn’t think it was going to happen. Until I met you.’

  Liz moved in his arms. ‘I had no idea.’

  ‘Remember when you offered to take me apart?’ he asked, with a wryly lifted eyebrow.

  ‘I didn’t! Well—’ she shook her head ‘—if you say so.’

  He grinned. ‘That was when the danger bells started to ring for me. Although, to be honest—’ he looked rueful ‘—when you climbed over my wall I had an inkling there could be something special about you.’

  Liz gasped. ‘But…’

  He shrugged. ‘Don’t ask me why. I guess it’s the way these things happen. But by the time I got you to Yewarra it was more than danger bells. It was the growing conviction that you and you alone were going to be that special one for me—if only I could get you to see it—if only I could get you to trust me.’

  Liz closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’

  He kissed her lightly, then took her hand and drew her over to the buttoned settee, where they sat down with their arms around each other.

  ‘Don’t be sorry,’ he said. ‘Marry me instead.’

  Liz laid her cheek on his shoulder. ‘I can’t think of anything I would rather do, but—’ she sat up suddenly, and looked into his eyes with a tinge of concern in her own ‘—I do know I can be difficult—’

  ‘So do I,’ he interrupted. ‘I’ve seen it. Outspoken, for example. Fighting mad at times. However, since I’m such a model of patience, so easy-going, so tolerant, so predictable, et cetera, we should complement each other.’

  ‘Patient? Tolerant? Predictable?’ Liz stared at him in disbelief, then she started to laugh. ‘For a moment I thought you actually believed that,’ she gurgled. ‘Oh, Cam, you can be totally unpredictable, intolerant and impatient, but you can also be—in lots of ways—my hero, and I love you so very much!’

  He held her as if he’d never let her go. And the magic started to course through her—the assault on her senses, the thrilling, magnetic effect he’d had on her almost from the beginning claimed her.

  They could have been on the moon, she thought, as they revelled in each other. It was as if the world had melted away and all that mattered was that they’d found each other.

  It was when they finally drew apart that Cam said, ‘We need to get out of here.’

  ‘Yes.’ Liz pushed her hair back—he’d taken it down, and there were clips scattered she knew not where. ‘Yes. But it might look—funny.’

  ‘No, it won’t.’ He helped her to her feet and patted her collar down. ‘Well, you did come in looking all Ice Queen, but now you look gorgeous so I don’t suppose anyone will mind.’

  ‘Cam,’ she breathed, as colour came into her cheeks, but said no more as he kissed her, then took her hand and led her to the door—and once more demonstrated how unpredictable Cameron Hillier could be.

  There were several people in the reception area, grouped around the reception desk. They all greeted Cam with the deference that told Liz they were employees.

  He returned the greetings and rang for the lift then said to Gwendolyn, ‘Gwen, may I introduce you to my future wife? This is Liz. Oh, and by the way, I won’t be in
for a couple of weeks, maybe even months. If anything seems desperate get hold of Roger Woodward at Hilliers, he’ll sort it out.’

  There was dead silence and several mouths hanging open for a couple of seconds then Gwen shot up and scooted round her desk to shake Liz’s hand as well as Cam’s. ‘I’m so happy for you both!’ she enthused. ‘Not that I realized—or knew anything about it—still, all the very best wishes!’ And she pumped Cam’s hand again.

  Another devoted employee in the making, Liz thought wryly but she was warmed as everyone else shook hands and they finally stepped into the lift.

  ‘Poor Roger,’ she said as they descended to the car park.

  Cam looked surprised.

  ‘He’ll probably be tearing his hair out soon. I know the feeling,’ she explained.

  He took her hands. ‘I apologize for all my former sins,’ he said gravely. ‘But there was one thing I nearly did that I narrowly, very narrowly, restrained myself from doing.’

  She looked up at him expectantly.

  ‘This.’ He took her in his arms then buried a hand in her hair and started to kiss her.

  They didn’t notice the lift stop or the doors open, they noticed nothing until someone clearing their throat got through to them.

  They broke apart to discover they had an audience of four highly interested spectators, one of them with his finger on the open button.

  ‘Different lift but that’s exactly what I wanted to do,’ Cam said to her then taking her hand again led her out into the car park, adding to the small crowd, ‘Forgive us but we’ve just agreed to get married.’

  And their little crowd of spectators burst into spontaneous applause.

  Liz was pink-cheeked but laughing as they made their way to the Aston Martin. Laughing and full of loving.

  They flew up to Yewarra the next morning. Mrs Preston and Daisy were there to greet them, both with tears in their eyes. Bob and his wife were at the helipad—even Hamish the head gardener was there. But it was Archie who really wrung Liz’s heartstrings.

  He hugged Cam first, then he hugged Scout but he stood in front of Liz looking up at her with all the considerable concern he was capable of and said, ‘You won’t go away again, will you, Liz? You won’t take Scout away again, will you? ‘Cause nothing feels the same when you’re not here.’

  Liz sank down on her knees and put her arms around Archie and Scout. ‘No. We won’t go away again, I promise.’

  Archie stared into her eyes for a long moment and then, as if he’d really received the reassurance he wanted, he turned to Scout. ‘Guess what, Golly and Ginny have had more kids! Want to see them?’

  Scout nodded and they raced off together towards the menagerie.

  Liz rose to her feet and Cam took her hand. ‘Thanks,’ he said huskily. ‘Thanks.’

  They were married on Whitehaven Beach several weeks later.

  Liz and Cam, with Archie and Scout and the marriage celebrant, arrived by helicopter. The guests had set out on Leilani and another boat from Hamilton Island earlier and were ferried to the beach by tender.

  The bride wore a dress her mother had made, a glorious strapless gown of ivory lace and tulle and she had flowers woven into her hair. The bridegroom wore a cream suit. Scout and Archie both wore sailor suits. Everyone was shoeless.

  Mary Montrose couldn’t have looked happier. Narelle Hastings with bronze streaks in her hair to match her outfit looked faintly smug and she mntioned several times to anyone who’d listen that she’d known this was on the cards right from the beginning. Daisy and Mrs Preston were tearful again but joyfully so. So was Molly Swanson. Even Roger Woodward upon whose shoulders the organization of this unusual wedding had fallen looked happy and uplifted.

  Although, he still had to get everyone safely back to Hamilton apart from the wedding party, he reminded himself, and who would have thought Cameron Hillier and Lizbeth Montrose would be so unconventional?

  He clicked his tongue then had to smile as he recalled their faces when they’d told him what they wanted. They’d both been alight with love and laughter.

  And now, as the sun sank, they were pronounced man and wife and as a hush fell over the guests, they stared into each other’s eyes and it was plain to see that at that moment they only existed for each other as the sky turned to liquid gold and so did the water.

  Then the spell was broken and the business of ferrying everyone back to Leilani, where a feast awaited them, began.

  Several hours later, Cam and Liz farewelled their guests, who were returning to Hamilton Island on the second boat, all but two that was. Archie and Scout, both asleep now, would stay with them as they cruised the Whitsundays for the next couple of weeks.

  They stood side by side as the second boat identifiable by its running lights negotiated the Solway Passage and disappeared from sight. All the guests were to spend two nights at the resort on Hamilton.

  ‘So,’ Cam put an arm around her, ‘it went well. Even Roger managed to enjoy himself.’

  Liz gurgled with laughter. ‘Poor Roger! Yes, it went well.’ She leant against him. ‘Do you feel married?’

  He looked down at her somewhat alarmed. ‘Don’t you?’

  ‘I do.’ She turned her face up to him. ‘I really do.’

  He cupped her cheeks, kissed her lightly, then swept her into his arms.

  Twelve months later Yewarra was looking its best after good rain that had given all the gardens a boost for their final late summer flowerings.

  Liz was wandering through the beds of massed roses, inhaling their delicate perfume when Cam came looking for her and he found her leaning against a tree trunk, day-dreaming.

  He’d been away for a few days, and he’d just driven in. He’d discarded his suit jacket and loosened his tie and the sight of him, so tall and beautifully made, still, twelve months on, had the power to send her pulses racing.

  ‘You’re back,’ she said and lifted her face for his kiss. She wore a floral summer dress that skimmed her figure, and sandals.

  ‘You look good enough to eat,’ he murmured. ‘I’m not only back, I’m back where I belong.’ He kissed her thoroughly then he linked his arm through hers and they started to stroll through the gardens. ‘Missed me?’

  She nodded but her lips curved into a smile as she thought about the changes in him. How he’d cut his work load down and what he couldn’t he did mostly from home so that he was rarely gone from her, and then only for short stretches.

  How he was so much more relaxed and able to enjoy their lifestyle. Not, she knew, that he wouldn’t need different challenges from time to time but the frenetic pace of his previous life was a thing of the past.

  As for herself, she couldn’t be happier…

  ‘How come you’re so alone?’ he queried as they strolled along. ‘Not a kid in sight.’

  ‘They were invited to a birthday party down the road. Daisy took them and stayed on to give a hand.’

  He stopped and swung her round to face him, and frowned. ‘Why do you look—I don’t know—secretive?’

  ‘Ah,’ Liz said, ‘so you noticed?’

  His lips twisted. ‘I notice everything about you, Liz Hillier. I always did. Hang on, let me guess.’ He scanned her from head to toe but his gaze came back to rest on her face, her eyes particularly. ‘It’s a baby, isn’t it?’

  ‘It’s a baby,’ she agreed gravely.

  He paused. ‘How do you feel about that?’ he asked slowly then.

  ‘I’m over the moon.’ She slipped her arms around his neck. ‘Can I tell you why?’

  ‘Of course…’

  ‘I used to worry,’ she said barely audibly, ‘that I could never prove to you how much I loved you, I could only say it. But this is my proof. I want your baby with all my being.’

  ‘Oh, Liz,’ was all he said but she could see his heart in his eyes, and she knew that he really believed her.

  He caught his breath as he saw the joy in her. ‘Come,’ he said, and she knew exactly what he had
in mind.

  They turned and walked away through the gardens to towards the house, hand in hand again.

  All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

  All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  ®and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

  First published in Great Britain 2011

  by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited,

  Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR

  © Lindsay Armstrong 2011

  ISBN: 978-1-408-92578-2