Nice Girls Finish Last

by Natalie Anderson

‘I’m not a mind-reader, Lena,’ he said. ‘You said you don’t play games, so level with me. What have I done wrong?’

  She bent down to look at him direct through the car window. ‘Don’t bring me flowers for forgiveness. And if you’re going to be late or not show, just let me know.’

  ‘I’m sorry I’m later than you expected,’ he said. ‘I had a meeting that went on and there was some stuff that impacted from there. I have a ton to catch up on after my absence from the office last week.’

  She heard the edge in his tone and felt a bitter victory at putting him in a bad mood, too.

  ‘Not a lot of point in my telling you the truth if you choose not to believe me,’ he said even more sharply.

  ‘You could have sent a message.’

  ‘So I could, if I hadn’t been in a dead spot.’

  They were in the second largest city in New Zealand. There weren’t cell-phone dead zones in this town.

  His eyes narrowed. ‘You still don’t believe me? You’re almost as untrusting as I am—now, why is that?’ He leaned across to see her face. ‘Did someone really hurt you?’

  She stood upright, breaking eye contact. ‘I hurt myself.’

  He waited for her to say more.

  She didn’t.

  Eventually he growled, ‘Can I give you a lift to wherever you’re going?’

  ‘No, thanks.’

  ‘Fine.’ He didn’t fight her. ‘Then I’ll see you later.’

  She walked, head high, refusing to watch him depart. But she was so pathetic she listened for the engine long after it was gone.

  She didn’t go to a bar or club or even a movie. She went to the twenty-four-hour supermarket and picked up an extremely nasty crime novel. She needed the certainty of seeing the bad guy get it.

  CHAPTER TEN

  SETH prowled round his apartment. Pissed off because he was tired and stressed and couldn’t sleep. So he’d been late—there were worse things to be. And how hideous of him to buy her flowers? Hell, he didn’t need the drama. It was a good thing he had to fly out first thing tomorrow. Some space would be good. He’d been seeing too much of her anyway, right? Was getting bored already, right?

  Hell, no.

  He paced along the windows, looking out at the quiet city. Monday—not exactly the night for raves. Where would she have gone? Who would she have met up with? He didn’t think she had that many friends. And that was weird because Lena was a team player if ever he’d met one. She thrived on the group atmosphere at the stadium. So why didn’t she have flatmates? Why did she spend her whole life working? Why was she so determined to stay single? He wanted to know who had burned her. And how. And why she refused to open up to him on that.

  His mood worsened. Damn it, he’d been looking forward to seeing her. He had been getting to know her more and the more he had, the more he wanted to. Truthfully he didn’t want to go away tomorrow. He’d avoided Auckland for a long time, concentrating on building his portfolio in Christchurch and Wellington instead. But this was too good an opportunity to pass up and he was a man, not a wimpy boy. But still, he wished Lena were here now to distract him—because memories were lingering, feeding his malcontent. Stupid to let things that had happened so long ago still bother him this much.

  He took another turn around his apartment. Big and empty and boring. He wished she were on the sofa and laughing about something stupid as she had last night. He wished he could take her in the plane with him tomorrow and go somewhere else altogether—away from the pressure.

  Damn. That wasn’t a bad idea.

  Someone banged on Lena’s door at a hideously early hour of the morning. She opened it and her vulnerable heart showered happy vibes around her body, dispelling her lingering grump from the night before.

  ‘Come with me today,’ he said straight off, wearing a sensational suit and an irresistible smile.

  Lena wrinkled her nose and made a last stand for independence. ‘I was planning to do some shopping.’ She didn’t know what for.

  ‘You can do that any time. Come for a ride. I want to spend the day with you. Please.’

  He got her just like that—with a line that struck at her weakest spot. Because she wanted to be wanted. She wanted him to want to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him.

  ‘Okay.’ Too easy, but she didn’t care. She’d missed him. ‘I need ten minutes.’

  ‘Sure.’ He glanced at the mess that was her hair. ‘Late night?’

  She nodded. She’d read the crime story cover to cover, hadn’t switched out the light ’til after 4:00 a.m.

  He drove. She didn’t pay attention to the direction, too happy to be in his company. But her curiosity leapt when he pulled into one of the side entrances of the airport.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘That’s our ride.’ He pointed as he pulled into a private car park.

  She looked at the gleaming machine waiting on the tarmac. ‘You don’t think I’m getting in that, do you?’

  ‘Why wouldn’t you?’ he asked. ‘You a nervous flier?’

  ‘Don’t you know it’s always the rich jerks who think they’re capable of anything who kill themselves in their private planes?’ She had no plan to become one of those statistics. ‘I’ll happily go commercial, but I’m not getting into that flying coffin.’

  He walked towards the plane, not bothering to hide his amusement. ‘Lena, this is a jet. This doesn’t fly as low as those little things that go into mountains.’

  ‘Big planes go into mountains, too. Much bigger. Do you fly it?’

  ‘You don’t trust me to?’

  ‘Of course not,’ she said hotly. ‘You’re a glorified salesman. I’m not going up there with a part-time pilot who’s got more confidence than sense.’

  ‘So you’re saying no? You think you’re so good at that,’ he jeered.

  She glared but he grinned—calm, at ease—while she grew both hotter and colder. Because, as tempted as she was, she wasn’t going to go up there, with him at the controls. But time pulled that trick again—it liked to bend when she looked at him. Only, he broke the moment and turned away. Belatedly she heard footsteps. She’d been too dazzled by his beautiful eyes to even blink.

  ‘Meet Mike.’ Seth put his hand on her waist and drew her forward.

  Beneath her dress her skin sizzled. So much for thinking a night apart from him would begin to break her addiction. Her need seemed worse now.

  ‘Hello.’ Habit helped her smile and hold out her hand to the man who’d strolled out of the hangar. ‘Mike’s a full-time pilot,’ Seth stressed. ‘And he’ll be flying us today.’

  ‘Oh.’ Surprised, Lena looked harder at Mike. ‘Really?’

  Mike smiled. ‘I’m just doing the final checks,’ he said to Seth. ‘Take-off in five okay for you?’

  ‘Great.’ Seth nodded. ‘You want to freshen up before we go?’ He turned back to her. ‘There are facilities in the hangar.’

  ‘No, thanks,’ she murmured, taking in the beautiful sleek lines of the machine with a smidge more enthusiasm. ‘I’m fine.’ Her gaze narrowed on the relaxed-looking pilot writing something on a clipboard.

  ‘Something wrong?’ Seth quietly asked, a whisper in her ear.

  ‘He’s not wearing a uniform.’ Lena managed to block her shiver. All pilots wore uniforms, didn’t they?

  Seth laughed. Lena’s toes curled in her mules; that sound got her every single time.

  ‘I don’t require any of my staff to wear uniforms,’ he eventually said when sober enough. ‘We’re not at school any more.’

  ‘He’s your personal pilot.’ The penny dropped.

  ‘To fly my personal plane, yes.’

  ‘If you’re trying to impress me it isn’t going to work,’ Lena bluffed. ‘I’m surrounded by stupidly rich sportsmen, remember.’

  ‘I know.’ He shrugged, but his eyes twinkled.

  And she knew, too, that not one of those stupidly rich sportsmen were wealthy enough to have their own set of
planes in their own hangar with their own pilot on the payroll. ‘So where are we flying to?’

  ‘Auckland.’

  ‘Seth—’ she turned to him in disbelief ‘—there are a zillion commercial flights to Auckland every day. Can’t you lower yourself to sit on a plane with ordinary members of the public? What about your carbon footprint?’

  ‘This was a last-minute thing. All those flights were booked.’

  He had the grace to look a teensy bit embarrassed. But she didn’t believe all those flights were booked.

  ‘I employ people, you know,’ he said. ‘Mike mightn’t have a job if it weren’t for me.’

  ‘You don’t have to justify it to me, just to yourself.’

  ‘I sleep okay at night.’ He grinned then.

  She took a quick step forward and turned on tiptoe to face him front on. ‘Really?’

  ‘Okay, last night I didn’t.’

  Because he’d missed her? Just the thought seduced her heart into skipping a beat.

  ‘I’m not looking forward to this meeting today.’ His eyes teased.

  ‘Oh, that’s what kept you tossing and turning?’ She didn’t have that excuse.

  The jet was small but luxurious. Only four seats in the back—two on each side, facing each other, with a table in between.

  ‘I can usually get a lot of work done when we’re in the air.’ But he stowed the bag that clearly contained his laptop. And after take-off he swung round the table to squeeze next to her. Given the width of the seats it wasn’t a problem.

  ‘What about your work?’

  ‘I need to do this more.’

  Lena felt as if she were flying through heaven when he kissed her. Sweetness poured into her, soothing the last sores from his standing her up the night before. Only then he sighed and moved back to the seat opposite. ‘I have got to get my head together.’

  ‘Important meeting?’

  ‘Yeah.’ He sighed the answer, already distracted as he scrolled through his PDA. ‘And I’m really behind.’

  Once they landed his distraction increased. He spent the entire taxi ride to the centre of town on his phone.

  ‘I have to go straight into a meeting,’ he said as they pulled up outside a hotel. ‘An hour or so initially. But you wanted to shop, right? So meet me back here and we’ll eat, okay?’

  ‘Okay,’ she supposed. She didn’t know why it bothered her. He was here to work, after all, but she was being sent off already?

  When she returned she found him waiting for her in the foyer with several men. He made quick introductions but it was clear the men were there to lunch, too.

  ‘I can meet you later…’ she said, to make it easy for him, despite her inner disappointment.

  But Seth shook his head. ‘No, stay and eat with us.’

  She put on her professional smile and chattered her way through it. She knew how to interact with boardroom types like these. It was part of her job. Sure enough, the minute they learned where she worked, it was all on—nothing made highly successful businessmen more animated than behind-the-scenes rugby stories.

  After a good half-hour of humorous anecdotes, conversation turned back to the deal on the table. Lena listened while Seth discussed his vision for the building he wanted to buy. She guessed it was a reiteration of his plans but she sensed how easily he’d won them over. With his charm, his infectious enthusiasm, mesmeric confidence he’d win over anyone. People couldn’t help but agree with him. She wasn’t sure it was all healthy.

  He disappeared for another half-hour after lunch and she was shown to a suite on the top floor. Inexplicably her heart sank when she walked into the opulent room with the ridiculously big bed.

  I want to spend the day with you.

  His smooth invitation echoed, mocking her. Because, no, he didn’t. Really he’d only wanted her to tag along so she was there when he had a spare five minutes to fool around.

  It kicked right where she was most vulnerable. Reminding her of the time her ex had taken her away for a fun weekend. Only, once there it had turned out he had a conference to go to. It hadn’t been ’til later that she realised the conference was the cover he’d used for his wife. And that the reason he was so keen to spend ‘quality alone time’ with her was because he didn’t want too many others seeing her with him. She’d been so naïve she’d thought it sweet that he ordered the most amazing room-service meals. That he’d booked her into private massage and beauty therapy treatments for the mornings when he was on session. Really, he was just keeping her presence quiet.

  Today, as she’d been then, she was the bit of fluff in attendance. Seth didn’t want her here other than for his frisky fix, right? It wasn’t as if he’d told her anything about his work; she’d only learned brief details from others at the lunch. He hadn’t asked her opinion on anything. Did he think he could keep her happy with occasional scraps of sexual attention?

  She flicked aimlessly through one of the glossy magazines on the table. High fashion and how-to guides didn’t soothe or offer any perspective. She couldn’t enjoy this as breezily any more. She wanted this to be more. But it wasn’t and it wouldn’t ever be.

  Seth strode into the room, stripping off his tie and stuffing it in his pocket. ‘I’m sorry if it was boring at lunch.’

  That didn’t help her mood. Did he think she’d been bored because she was some brainless babe who didn’t understand the meaning of the word acquisition?

  Despite her brewing temper, Lena couldn’t tear her eyes from him—the baring of his body was always worthy of her attention. But to her surprise the rest of his clothes stayed on and he stayed near the door that he’d left open.

  ‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ he said. ‘I’m dying for some fresh air.’

  He didn’t want to stay in here with that giant bed?

  She had to walk quickly to keep pace with him as he crossed the foyer of the hotel and went out straight into a waiting taxi.

  ‘Where are we going?’ she finally got enough breath to ask.

  ‘Somewhere more fun.’

  Straight back to the airport? But it wasn’t to the jet that he led her this time, but a helicopter.

  ‘Don’t worry.’ He snaked a strong arm round her waist and guided her on board. ‘I promise it’s a professional, full-time pilot at the controls.’

  ‘Where are we going?’ she asked as the rotor blades whirred.

  ‘The beach.’

  It was only a twenty-five-minute flight to isolated paradise on the coast north of Auckland. Only two minutes more before they were both barefoot and splashing in the shallows.

  ‘Thanks for coming today. I’m sorry it’s been dull ’til now.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I didn’t want to come. Thought I could get away with conference calls from Christchurch. But I got pressured last night, which was why I was late to yours. When you said you had today off I thought I’d bring you with me. I couldn’t wait for the meeting to be over.’ He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it.

  ‘So you could do this again?’ She watched his face, couldn’t help her insecurity. Had he just wanted a plaything at break time?

  ‘There’s a part of me that always wants to do this.’ His lips tickled as he chuckled. ‘But I wanted to bring you to this beach. And I have to confess it occurred to me mid-morning that you could help lighten up that lunch. And you did. I can’t believe you got all their names after one quick intro and then totally entertained them like that. Can’t tell you how much I appreciated it.’

  His words released the ends of the bitter knot that had been forming. Why had she thought for even a second that Seth was anything like her jerk ex? He’d never tried to hide her away—he took her out all the time, he’d even introduced her to his business associates and now even sounded as if he was proud of her. She mentally shook herself. She thought she’d tamed her insecurities, but sometimes they snuck up when she least expected and screamed so loud she couldn’t see straight.

  But she knew why the doubts had
found their way in today and why they’d made her so annoyed last night. She was falling all the more for Seth and it scared her. This wasn’t staying as the light affair she’d thought she could handle. But maybe, just maybe, it would all work out okay. A seed of hope had just been sown. He hadn’t wanted her for a mere thrill today, he’d wanted her company.

  Only, along with the burst of happiness that that knowledge brought, concern came, too. ‘Why were you so worried about the meeting?’ She’d never have picked him to be anxious, yet he’d clearly been unwilling and she couldn’t understand why. ‘You had all of them eating out of your hand.’

  He laughed and squeezed her hand lightly. ‘They only want to stay onside so I invest in some other things they’ve got on.’

  ‘No, they were really impressed with your ideas. Not just your money.’

  He glanced at her, a small smile tilting his lips before he kissed her hand again. ‘I’m glad you think so.’

  ‘So what was the problem, then?’ Because clearly something had bothered him about the trip today.

  ‘It wasn’t the meeting.’ He looked out to the empty horizon. ‘It was the location. I grew up in Auckland.’

  ‘Really?’ She’d assumed he was a Christchurch kid, he seemed so entwined in the city.

  ‘Yeah, and I know it’s pathetic but I don’t like coming back. Lots of unhappy memories. I’ve avoided it for years. Avoided my dad.’

  ‘But I thought he was…’

  ‘Dead, yeah. A year ago. Complications from the flu.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  He barely shrugged.

  It was beyond obvious that they hadn’t been close. It augmented her sympathy; he’d lost his chance to fix whatever had happened to cause this bitterness between them.

  ‘He was a bastard.’

  She flinched. That one descriptor and the superficial dismissiveness with which he said it revealed far more than a five-minute speech could. The underlying harsh hurt throbbed. She knew that, no matter how grown up you got, some things could still rub raw. Even when you thought you had an impenetrable scab covering an old wound, sometimes the smallest thing could just rip it right off.