She vividly remembered everything about him from the first moment they’d brushed against one another. She’d just been turned away because the restaurant was fully booked, and as she was starting to leave, without looking where she was going, they had connected. She didn’t so much see him, as get a series of impressions of him. The first, being his size. Not just his height exactly, but his bulk and presence. It was almost as if he wore his masculinity like a coat of armor, his strength and power as much a part of him as the cells that made up his body. The second impression was his scent. With the tangle of fragrances and aromas in the air the hint of his cologne had been a subtle contrast. Almost like the sea breeze that blew up the beach, yet with a cool freshness that tantalized and teased her senses.
Their arms had grazed one another with the lightest of touches, and her breath had caught in her chest. It had been so long since her body had reacted in that way—that buzz, that zing of total awareness—that she’d almost forgotten what attraction felt like, especially attraction on such a visceral level. She’d felt feminine in every sense of the word.
His voice had been deep and resonant as he’d excused himself and stepped away. Ali had remained silent, too stunned by her physical reaction to his touch to do any more than nod her acknowledgment of his apology. It wasn’t until he was well past her that she’d realized his accent was just like her own—from New Zealand. She’d looked back over her shoulder and seen the hostess smile at him and pick up a menu before showing him through to his table. Beachfront. For one. And then she’d been invited to join him.
She shook off the flash of memory before her ever-astute friend saw too much on her face. Ali forced a laugh.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“And did you meet any hot guys? Please tell me you met someone.”
She managed to summon a smile from somewhere. “I didn’t go there to meet someone. I went there for a vacation, and that’s exactly what I had. Now, tell me about what’s kept you so busy while I was away,” she finished, deflecting Deb’s attention as effectively as she could.
Deb spent a good twenty minutes giving Ali the abridged version of what had been going on in her absence. Best for Baby, if requested, provided a range of services to expectant families, from baby showers to nursery shopping to interviewing and providing a shortlist of nannies, when needed. She’d had a slow start when she’d opened their doors three years prior, but over the past twelve months, referrals had begun to bring business with increasing frequency.
It was bittersweet work for a woman who knew she’d never bear a child of her own, but it was rewarding in its own way to create the perfect world for a new family.
A perfect world she’d never believed she wouldn’t have.
As a child she’d been a little mother for all her toys. She loved children, and had always been eager to raise a house full of them—a dream that she had shared with her high school sweetheart, who had become her husband. They’d hoped to start building their family right away after their wedding...but it wasn’t meant to be. Discovering she lacked the essential female ability to have a baby of her own had been a massive blow—one she’d believed she’d overcome with Richard at her side. But she’d discovered she was too flawed for him. So flawed that he’d stopped loving her—and eventually left her for another woman.
Over the past few years she’d become adept at hiding the pain her inadequacies caused her. As the youngest of four sisters, all of whom had children and had remained happily together with their spouses, it hadn’t been easy, but she’d gotten there. Best for Baby had given her a sorely needed sense of purpose, and had gotten her through the worst of it.
“The Holden baby shower went really well. They loved the games, and the cupcakes,” Deb said, pulling Ali’s focus to the here and now.
“Did you send flowers to the bakery with our thank-you note? The way they pulled that together on such short notice really saved us,” Ali said, remembering how, on the day of her departure to Hawaii, their usual catering supplier had let them down at the last minute.
“I certainly did. The owner called to say she’d be happy to continue to work with us in the future. Oh, and yesterday we got a new contract.”
“Don’t you mean a lead?”
“Nope. A bright, shiny new contract. Signed and everything.”
“What? Just like that?” Ali asked in disbelief.
“Yup, just like that.” Deb looked smug.
Usually there was a process—meetings with clients, presentations of proposals, acceptance of ideas and terms, etc. You didn’t just get a new contract straightaway like that. Or at least she hadn’t, up until now. Her incredulity must have shown on her face.
“Yes, I know. I was surprised, too, but there’s some urgency involved as the baby has already been born,” Deb said. “Because of complications he’s still in hospital. The client wants the nursery completed before the baby is released to the family. And wait, there’s more.”
“How much more?” Ali asked, doubtful about this sudden good fortune.
“You have carte blanche on the nursery. Your design, your budget.”
“No! Seriously? Are you certain this is legit?”
“Sure am. I emailed the contract to the client and it arrived back, fully completed and in duplicate, by courier the same day. Even better, the deposit landed in our bank account overnight.”
Ali accepted the clipped papers that Deb handed to her and quickly perused them. Everything seemed to be in order. She looked at the bold signature at the bottom of the agreement. She couldn’t make out the name, but it appeared a company rather than an individual had contracted Best for Baby’s services. She hadn’t heard of REM Consulting before, but that didn’t mean anything.
“Well,” she said on a slow exhalation of breath. “It certainly looks genuine.”
“They want you to go around to the house, today if possible, and start putting things in motion. It doesn’t sound like they have the vaguest idea of what they want, which is a bit weird, but they need the job done quickly. I told them you’d be there at three this afternoon.”
Ali groaned inwardly. She’d hoped to spend all day in the office, catching up on email and correspondence, but it looked like some of that would have to wait until tonight. Oh well, it wasn’t as if she had any grand plans for her evening, anyway. Work had been her constant companion in the past three years, so why should it be any different now?
“Okay, then. I’d better at least attempt to get up-to-date before I head out, hadn’t I?”
“Lucky for you I left you a few things to do,” Deb said with a cheeky smile. “I’ll put the coffee on while you go through your email.”
“Thanks, Deb. You’re a lifesaver.”
The morning passed quickly. Ali ate her lunch at her desk while checking job sheets for clients before heading out to her appointment. She’d made steady progress today, with Deb fielding her calls for her. With taking work home, by tomorrow afternoon, she’d be fully back on deck and up-to-date. She looked up at Deb as she came into her office.
“I called the client to confirm the meeting and I’ve checked the traffic report. The southern motorway is slow, so you might want to head out soon if you’re going to make it to Whitford on time.”
Ali glanced at her watch. “Thanks. I’ll head out now.”
* * *
It took nearly an hour for Ali to reach her destination, and she sent a silent message of thanks to Deb for giving her the heads-up to start driving early. She prided herself on punctuality but was prone to getting wrapped up in a project, so she sometimes needed that extra nudge. Once she left the motorway and headed into the green and rolling hills of the rural area on the fringe of the city, she felt herself begin to get excited about the task ahead.
This was the first time she had carte blanche to create everything from t
he floorboards up. Usually clients had pretty strong ideas already about what they wanted by the time they came to her, so it was a little odd that the parents didn’t seem to have any preferences. But, she rationalized, if the baby was scheduled to remain in the hospital for another few days then he was likely premature. The parents might have thought they’d have more time to make a final decision. And now, maybe they were simply too busy with their new arrival to want to even think about such matters.
She wondered what business the baby’s parents were in that they could afford both to live out here and to commission a job that would command a very high figure from Best for Baby. Well, whatever they did, Ali was committed to providing an exemplary nursery. Her GPS alerted her to the turnoff coming ahead and Ali slowed her car to take a right into the driveway. At the entrance she announced herself to the console and drove through as the verdigris iron gates gracefully swung open.
The driveway itself was long, more like a private road, she thought as she drove along it. Cows grazed in fields on either side of the gentle rise and she caught a glimpse of a couple of ponds with a few ducks floating happily on the surface. This really was idyllic. The child who grew up here would be lucky, indeed. The driveway curved up the rise to reveal the home she was visiting. It was difficult not to feel a pang of envy for the owners of the beautiful property that spread out before her. Constructed with a steeply sloping gray slate roof, the cream-toned brick house was both imposing and graciously subtle at the same time. She’d barely noticed it from the roadside, and yet from up here, it magnificently commanded an uninterrupted sweeping view right out over the Waitemata Harbor and out to the Hauraki Gulf.
Get with the program, she reminded herself as she parked her car near the front door. You’re not here to admire the scenery. You’re here to do a job. She gathered her things and got out of her car. An uncharacteristically nervous tremor passed through her at the prospect of meeting her new clients. Ali chalked it up to the unusual circumstances of the job as she rang the doorbell and then stood waiting in the portico, looking out at the expansive rural scene that spread before her.
Normally she’d have met with her clients at least twice before coming to their home. She liked to gauge how well they’d work together through preliminary meetings at her office before any contracts were signed. In a couple of cases, she’d even refused contracts because she’d known she wouldn’t be able to get along with the people involved. This was such a personal business, everyone needed to be on the same page from the get-go. Would she get along with this couple? She hoped so. Her imagination fired to life as she waited, the natural setting and water beyond it already stimulating ideas for the nursery. It would be profoundly disappointing, and not just from a financial perspective, if she found she couldn’t work with these clients.
Hearing the front door open behind her, she turned with a smile on her face. A smile that instantly froze in place as her eyes and her brain identified the person framed in the imposing entrance in front of her. As she recognized the stubbly jaw, the spikey dark blond hair, the intense blue gaze.
Ronin Marshall. Her one-night lover.
The last man on earth she’d ever expected, or now wanted, to see again.
Two
Ronin did a swift double take before his brain and his mouth kicked into gear.
“Ali?”
He’d heard the voice on the intercom at the gate but he’d been distracted, not really listening. Ali stood before him looking as poleaxed as he himself felt, but she seemed to gather herself together a moment later. Dressed in a salmon-pink rolled-collar blouse and pale gray pencil skirt, she was the epitome of professional chic. The color of her blouse did amazing things to her gently sun-kissed skin and made the soft gray-blue of her eyes stand out. Strange, he hadn’t noticed what color her eyes were. Well, not so strange when he considered they’d met at night and most of what they’d done together after that had been by candlelight or no light at all.
“There must be some mistake,” she said hesitantly. “You contracted our services?”
“Yes. Well, technically, my P.A. organized it.”
“But you want a nursery,” she stated.
“Yes, yes. Please, come in.” He stepped back and gestured for her to enter the foyer. “I had no idea it would be you,” he said involuntarily.
“Does that make a difference?” Ali asked pointedly, almost with a hint of challenge.
There was a light in her eyes that implied she was angry about something. It confused him. What on earth did she have to be so mad about?
“Of course not. I’m sure you’re very good at your job. I just never expected to see you again. I tried to leave a message for you at the hotel, but you’d already checked out.”
She raised one perfectly plucked brow in response. It was clear she didn’t believe him. He sighed. Believe him or not, they’d have to put their feelings aside. They had a job to do, and he badly needed her help.
The funeral that morning had been harrowing and his emotions were still raw, his thoughts uncommonly scattered. Seeing Ali here, in his home, compounded that confusion. It’d been a hell of a day so far and, judging by the expression on Ali’s face, it wasn’t going to get better any time soon.
“Look,” he said. “I owe you an apology. Can we please start again?”
He put out his hand. She hesitated a moment before grasping it. The second she did, he was instantly struck by that jolt of awareness he’d felt the first time he’d met her. Despite everything that had transpired since he’d left her bed, the connection between them remained. He wanted to cling to it, to her. The notion was both atypical of him and utterly compelling at the same time.
“Please don’t worry,” she said. She pulled free of his clasp with a jerk. “Now, shall we get down to business?”
“Business.” He nodded. So that was how she wanted to play it. To act like they’d never met before. To pretend that they’d never touched or kissed. That he had never been buried so deep inside her body that he’d begun to lose all sense of himself, instead reveling in her glory. Was it really possible for her to forget all that? He knew full well it wouldn’t be possible for him.
If he hadn’t seen the telltale flush of color that bloomed at the opening of her blouse when they’d shaken hands, he might have thought she’d been unmoved by their physical contact. But that hint of color, that evidence of the heat that had burned between them, told him far more than her demeanor. He was the king of compartmentalizing things. Of course he could play it her way. That didn’t mean he’d like it.
“Come this way.” He led her over the foyer’s parquet flooring and turned right down a short hall. He gestured for her to go ahead of him into the slightly less formal living room, where he spent much of his leisure time while at home. “Please, take a seat. Can I get you something? Tea, coffee? A cool drink?”
“Just water, thank you,” she said as she settled herself into one of the comfortable fabric-covered chairs arranged conversationally around the large wooden coffee table.
It only took a moment to grab a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and a couple of tumblers. He returned to the living room and poured water for each of them.
“I appreciate you being able to come out at such short notice.”
“We pride ourselves on our service, Mr. Marshall,” she said primly as she unfolded the cover from a tablet. A light touch of her fingertip and he saw the device come to life, much like he had not so very long ago beneath that very same touch.
“Ronin,” he corrected.
They’d been intimate together—so deeply intimate. They might be discussing business, but he refused to sit there and listen to her call him Mr. Marshall.
She inclined her head but still avoided using his name. “Now, what is it exactly that you need from us?”
“Everything,” he sai
d.
For a moment grief and helplessness surged to the forefront of his mind, but he resolutely pushed the feelings back. He had to keep control of himself...but his usual cool rationality had never been so hard to reach. CeeCee and R.J.’s funeral had been hell in every sense of the word. It had made everything so real, so final. His parents had gone directly from the wake to the hospital. He’d wanted to go, too, but this meeting took precedence. He couldn’t bring the baby home until he had something to bring him home to.
A ripple of fear rolled through the back of his mind. What if he’d bitten off more than he could chew with the decision to raise his nephew himself? For the briefest second he considered what his cousin Julia had said to him after the funeral. Already a mother of two, she and her husband had offered to bring CeeCee’s son up in their family. It made sense, she’d said. She was already geared up for small children, and with her, her husband and her two daughters—both in primary school—the baby would have a wonderfully stable home. As she’d pointed out, being the infant’s guardian didn’t mean he had to actually raise him. He could still make sure the little boy had the best of everything without having him directly under his roof. With his long working hours, frequent travel and lack of a wife or committed girlfriend to share the load, Julia had claimed that Ronin’s life simply didn’t have room for a baby in it.
But it had been clearly outlined in CeeCee’s and R.J.’s wills that they had wanted him to care for any children of theirs should anything ever happen to them. Ronin raised a hand to his eyes and swiped at the burning sensation that stung them. He owed it to his sister to fulfill her wishes. Besides, he’d assessed this from every angle already, and he was committed to seeing it through. And, as with any issue he troubleshot, that meant getting the right people in to help with the job. People, who in this case, had turned out to be Ali Carter.
The Child They Didn't Expect Page 2
