‘I wouldn’t say that,’ he said, obviously uncomfortable at such flattery—warranted though it was. She couldn’t resist teasing him.
‘I can imagine all the girls were after you.’
‘Think again. I was this tall when I was thirteen. Big, awkward and shy.’
‘I don’t believe that for a moment.’
‘Seriously. The other boys had way better chat-up lines than I did. By the time I’d thought about what I’d say, the girl had danced off with one of them.’
‘Who needs chat-up lines when you’re as handsome as you? Trust me, you would have been breaking girlish hearts all over the place. You could probably have had three at a time.’
‘I hope not,’ he said with genuine alarm. ‘I’m a one-woman kind of guy.’
Suddenly the conversation had got kind of serious. And important.
‘Really?’ she said. Her breath caught in her throat.
‘I met my first serious girlfriend in the final year of high school. She took a gap year in Europe and we broke up. Then there was a girl I dated at university and then Frances after that.’
‘You...you don’t have to give me your dating résumé,’ she assured him.
‘I want you to know you can trust me,’ he said. Those bitter-chocolate-dark eyes searched hers.
‘I think...I already know that,’ she said.
‘Good,’ he replied and expertly twirled her around the floor until she was exhilarated and laughing. She couldn’t remember when she’d enjoyed herself more.
* * *
Kate had been dancing for so long the soles of her feet were beginning to burn. All evening she’d regretted she hadn’t worn her new shoes in—but then she hadn’t anticipated she’d dance every dance. When the band took a break, she was hot and breathless and fanning herself with her hands.
‘Some fresh air?’ asked Sam.
‘Absolutely,’ she said, panting a little.
She followed Sam out onto the balcony away from the stuffiness and high chatter levels of the ball room. They virtually had the balcony to themselves, with only one other couple right down the other end.
The full moon reflected on the water of the bay. She took a deep breath of the cool night air. Sam leaned on the railing and looked out to sea. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his broad back.
‘Thank you for your help back there,’ she murmured. ‘I can’t tell you how it feels to be able to dance again. I wouldn’t have dared get up without you. Well, I might have, but maybe not for a long time and maybe—’
He turned around to face her. ‘You did it. Not me. But I’m happy I was able to help. Do you think, now you’ve danced once, you’ll be able to do it again?’
She looked up at him. ‘To be honest, I doubt I’ll ever again dress up in a white leotard and bark like a poodle.’
He laughed. ‘Sorry, but I wish I’d seen you. Do you have any photos?’
‘No. And, if I did, no one would ever see them. It was hardly the highlight of my career as a professional dancer. A career I won’t be reviving any time soon. But now it’s not because I can’t, but because I don’t want to.’
‘Sounds good to me.’
‘It gives me hope I’ll be able to get out of Dolphin Bay, too. I finally told Mum some of what happened in Sydney. She gave me the name of a psychologist at the hospital—someone I can speak to in confidence. I’ve made an appointment to see her next week.’
‘That’s a step in the right direction,’ he said. ‘I’m proud of you. I know how difficult it’s been for you to talk about it.’
‘It’s a small step. You’re the one who can take the credit for helping me to get me this far.’
‘I was just the shoulder you needed—’
‘You were so, so much more than that, Sam.’ She reached up and traced a line down his cheek with her fingers. Already his beard was growing and was rough under her fingertips. ‘I...I hope I might be able to come and see you in Sydney before too long.’
He caught her hand and briefly pressed his lips to it. ‘I wish you could come with me tomorrow.’
Joy bubbled through her that he should suggest it when deep down, in spite of her growing trust in him, she’d feared these few days might be all they’d ever have.
‘Me too,’ she said with a catch in her voice. ‘But I can’t. Not just because of...because of the dome but also because I’m looking after the hotel for the next ten days while Ben is on his honeymoon.’
‘And helping out at Bay Books in your—’ he made quotation marks with his fingers ‘—spare time.’
‘It...it won’t give me any time to mope around missing you,’ she murmured, turning her head away, not wanting him to see the truth of how deeply she felt about him in her eyes.
With his index finger, he gently turned her chin back so she faced him. ‘I’ll miss you too,’ he said. ‘If I didn’t have to go back to Sydney tomorrow morning, I wouldn’t. But you know it’s decision time at the meeting on Monday.’
‘I know,’ she said. ‘I have every faith in you to make the right choice.’
His dark brows slanted. ‘What happens if you don’t get out from under that dome? If I sold the company, I could live anywhere I wanted. Even here.’
‘In Dolphin Bay?’ She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
He cleared his throat. ‘What I’m trying to say is that I want to spend more time with you, Kate. If that means moving to Dolphin Bay...’
She could hardly believe what she was hearing. ‘I couldn’t—wouldn’t—ask that of you. You’d hate it here.’
‘How can you be so sure of that?’ he said. ‘It...it’s kind of growing on me. The community. The beach. The—’
‘The way you’d be bored out of your brain within weeks?’
‘I couldn’t imagine ever being bored with you,’ he said.
‘Oh,’ was all she managed to choke out in response.
He cradled her face in his two large, warm hands. His deep, brown eyes searched her face. ‘Kate, in such a short time you...you’ve become...important to me.’ Behind the imposing adult, the man who was gearing up to do battle in the boardroom over a multi-million-dollar deal, she saw the schoolboy, uncertain of the words he needed to find to win the girl.
‘Oh, Sam, you’ve become so important to me too. But I...I... Until I get myself together I...’
He silenced her protest with a kiss. After a moment’s surprised hesitation, she kissed him back and she gave herself up to the sheer pleasure of the pressure of his mouth on hers. Her lips parted on a sigh of bliss and his tongue slipped between them to tease and stroke and thrill. Her breath quickened. She met his tongue with hers and she pulled his head closer, her hands fisting in his hair. His hands slid down to her waist and drew her closer to his hard, muscular body. She could feel the frantic thudding of his heart, answered by the pounding of her own.
As the kiss flamed into something deeper and more passionate, desire ignited in delicious flames of want that surged through her, her breath coming hard and fast and broken. Sam groaned against her mouth and she answered the sensual sound by straining her body tighter to his.
She wanted him desperately—so desperately, she forgot she was on a balcony in close proximity to family and friends. Every sense was overwhelmed by her awakened need for him, the utter pleasure coursing through her body. Making her want more, making her want him at any cost.
She stilled. Her heart pounded harder, now from fear rather than passion as she realised the direction her thoughts had taken. This hunger for him would have her do anything he wanted. It could have her enslaved. It might transport her on a tide of need to an obsession where she lost all sense of herself. She felt like she was choking.
She wrenched away from Sam’s arms and stagge
red backwards. He put out a hand to steady her. ‘I...I can’t do this,’ she said.
He dropped his hand from her arm. His jaw clenched and his dark scowl was back, overlaid with both disbelief and pain.
‘Because people can see us?’ he growled. ‘Because Jesse might see us?’
She shook her head. ‘Because I want you so much and...it scares me.’
‘This is about the guy at university,’ he said flatly.
Mutely, she nodded.
His expression was grim as he seemed to gather his thoughts. Her heart sank to somewhere below her shoes. Had she scared him off with her endless fears?
‘Kate, do you realise that this might scare me too? I’ve only known you a week and you’re all I can think about. My feelings for you have become an issue in the most important decision I’ve ever had to make. This...this is new to me. I’ve laid it on the line for you. But are you ever going to be able to trust me?’ He turned so his shoulder was facing her and his face was shrouded by shadow. Terror grabbed at her with icy claws.
He could walk away.
And that would be worse than anything else that could happen.
‘Sam, I’m sorry. I...I’ve been so caught up in me and how I’m feeling, I...I didn’t think enough about how it was affecting you.’
To her intense relief, he turned back so she could see his face, illuminated by the pale moonlight. ‘I wouldn’t break your spirit in the way that guy did. Your feistiness and independence are part of your appeal for me. I’m strong, Kate. I want to be there for you. You need time to sort through your issues and I know that. But it has to be two-way.’
She needed time. But it had been years since she’d fallen into that dark tunnel. Years when she’d hidden herself away, protecting herself against any real relationships by her fixation on Jesse, letting fear inhibit and stultify her emotional growth. She’d been a girl then, now she was a woman. She had to grow up. She had to come to Sam as an adult who considered his emotional needs as well as her own. Be aware that she could hurt him.
‘Sam.’ Urgently, she gripped his upper arms to keep him with her. She looked up into his eyes and her heart twisted painfully at the wariness that clouded them. No way could she lose him. ‘You’re right; I’ve been so focused on myself. I want a partnership. Me looking after you, as well as you looking after me. My shoulders aren’t nearly as broad as yours, but I want them to be there for you like yours are for me.’
He started to say something but she rose up on her toes and silenced him with a kiss. She murmured against his mouth, ‘And I want you. Tonight, when the party is over, I want to come with you to your room.’
He pulled back. She could see it was an effort for him but he managed a lopsided imitation of his usual wide grin. ‘I want you too, believe me. I can’t tell you how tempted I am to pick you up and carry you up to my room right now. But it wouldn’t be right. It’s too soon. And the whole of Dolphin Bay will know you’ve stayed with me. Neither of us wants that, especially as I’m going in the morning.’
Her body was still warm with want for him. But, in a way, she was relieved. It was too soon. The growing up she needed to do wasn’t going to happen overnight. ‘Yes. You’re right.’ But she twined her arms around his neck and drew him down for another kiss. ‘But making love with you isn’t an easy thing to say no to,’ she murmured as she kissed him again.
‘Woo-hoo!’ Lizzie’s voice interrupted them.
Kate pulled away from the kiss, flushed, her breathing erratic. Not only Lizzie, but also Jesse was standing in the doorway. Jesse caught her eye and winked. She knew Jesse so well, she realised that meant he approved of her and Sam getting together. What really surprised her was the knowing look Lizzie sent to Sam and the sheepish smile he sent her in return. What was that about?
‘C’mon, you two, Sandy’s about to toss her bouquet,’ said Lizzie, ushering her and Sam back into the room. ‘I’m staying right out of range but you, Kate, might want to be within catching distance.’
Did she?
After the encounter she’d just shared with Sam, was it weird to entertain the thought of marriage for even the briefest moments of wedding-fuelled madness? The groom in her ‘walking to the altar’ fantasy was tall, dark-haired and with a scowl that transformed into the sexiest of smiles...
For all they’d come to tonight, there was still much both she and Sam needed to consider before she got carried away by dreams. Even if she did break her way free from the dome, what happened next?
Still, she had to admit to a twinge of disappointment when Sandy’s bouquet went sailing over her, and the outstretched arms of all the other single ladies vying to catch it, to land fairly and squarely in Emily’s lap. Kate was surprised by Emily’s blushes and protests at the chants of, ‘You’re next,’ ‘Emily is next.’ Hmm. She might have to quiz her little sister on the reason for those blushes.
But she forgot all about that as Sam put his arm around her to lead her over to the table that was serving coffee and slices of chocolate wedding cake.
‘I hate fruit cake,’ he said, picking up the biggest piece on the platter. ‘When I get married, I’ll want a chocolate cake.’
He said it so casually, seemingly without even being aware of the significance of his words, it made her wonder if Sam had a few dreams of his own.
CHAPTER TWELVE
SAM WOKE UP and for a long moment wasn’t sure where he was. Then he realised he was sprawled across the sofa in Kate’s living room. Kate was asleep, snuggled into his side, her head resting on his chest, her sweetly scented hair spilling over his neck. She was breathing deeply and evenly.
There were sooty smudges around her eyes where her make-up had smeared. Her lips were free of lipstick—it had been thoroughly kissed away. Her bridesmaid dress was rumpled up over her slender thighs. She’d kicked off her sandals and he noticed her toenails were painted the same pretty colour as her dress. He was fascinated by how pale her skin was, how he could see the delicate traceries of veins. Such a contrast to his own olive skin.
With her colouring, she certainly hadn’t been made to live by the sea where so much activity was played out on the water or the sand under the blazing Australian sun. She loved her home town, but he suspected she was a city girl at heart. He thought she’d be happy in Sydney.
His Sydney was very different from the student haunts where she’d played out the relationship that had so traumatised her. The waterfront penthouse apartment he owned was part of a redeveloped wharf complex and was right next to some of the best restaurants in town. It was only a walk into the centre of the city. He reckoned she’d love it.
His arm was around her shoulder and he cautiously adjusted it to make himself more comfortable. She made a little murmur of protest deep in her throat and nestled in tighter, one hand clutching on to his chest. He dropped a light kiss on the top of her head.
He knew he should go, but he could not resist a few more moments of having her so close to him.
After the bride and groom had left the reception last night, he and Kate, along with Jesse, Lizzie and a group of their other friends, had adjourned to the bar at the Harbourside. Eventually it had ended up with just Kate and him left. There’d been nothing he wanted more than to take her up to his room and make love to her. But he had known, much as he’d wanted her, that wasn’t going to happen. That mustn’t happen. Instead he’d taken her home, she’d invited him in for coffee and they’d made out like teenagers on the sofa until they must have fallen asleep.
Sam smiled as he remembered how they’d kept talking until the time between each other’s responses had got longer and longer until finally there had been silence. He hadn’t wanted to let her go, hadn’t wanted to say goodnight. And he didn’t want to now.
The pale light of dawn was starting to filter through the blinds. He couldn’t stay any longer. No
t only would it be awkward for Dawn and Emily to come in and find him there, but he had to get on the road.
He edged his way into a sitting position and pulled Kate upright. He stroked her hair. ‘Kate,’ he whispered. ‘I have to go.’
Her eyes opened, then shut again, then finally opened wide. She blinked as her eyes came into focus. ‘Sam! Wh-where...? Oh. I remember now.’ She stretched her arms languorously above her head, which made the top of her breasts swell over the edge of her strapless dress. She put her hand over her mouth as she yawned.
He averted his eyes to look over her head. Waking up with her pressed so intimately close was bad enough; seeing her skirt all rucked up around her thighs and the top starting to slide right off was more than a man could be expected to endure.
‘C’mon, Kate.’
She planted her arms around his neck and pouted. ‘No. Don’t want you to go.’ Her hair was all tousled and the smudged make-up around her eyes gave her a sultry air. The effect was adorable. She kissed him, her mouth soft and yielding, her tongue teasing the seam of his lips.
He groaned softly and kissed her back. Then he summoned every ounce of self-discipline he had to push himself up from the sofa, which in turn tipped her back against the cushions. She still looked groggy, a little bewildered and quite possibly half-asleep. Leaving her there was one of the most difficult things he had ever done.
He slipped into his shoes and picked up his car keys from the coffee table. Then he crouched down to the level of the sofa. ‘Kate, listen. I’m leaving for Sydney as soon as I pick up my bag from the hotel. Do you understand?’
Her eyes widened and she nodded. ‘Yes.’ She pulled a sad, funny Kate face. ‘I don’t know when I’ll next see you, but I hope it will be soon.’
‘Me too,’ he said. He kissed her gently on the mouth. ‘Bye, Kate. You try to get some more sleep.’
‘’Kay,’ she murmured.
He pulled a throw over her and tucked it around her bare legs. Then he let himself out of the door. He suspected she was asleep again before the door had closed behind him.
The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner Page 14
