‘I like it,’ Max murmured softly.
Wrong-footed for the second time in as many minutes, Mia shot him a nonplussed look from under her lashes.
‘I can’t believe you’re lost for words.’
‘I… I…’
‘I’m surrounded by people who aim to please. It’s refreshing to be in the company of someone who aims to criticise.’
‘I don’t…aim to criticise…’
He liked it? He found it refreshing?
Mia stifled a sudden rush of pleasure. He found her refreshing? Since when? He certainly hadn’t found her refreshing when she’d refused to disclose his sister’s whereabouts.
And then…when he’d kissed her…
Had there been more to that kiss than a perfunctory desire to stop her from going into a full-blown meltdown?
Mia had been too long in the game of being careful to let her head be swayed by some good-looking guy with a few well-chosen, softly spoken words. Wasn’t she? She was a down-to-earth girl from a down-to-earth family who wanted a down-to-earth guy. When it came to relationships, she was serious. Even though her marriage had crashed and burned, she and Kai had both been on the same page when it had come to wanting the joy of lasting commitment. They just hadn’t been able to find that with one another.
All this sizzling excitement that filled her when she was within touching distance of this guy counted for nothing. It was a little reminder that she was flesh and blood with urges just like the next person which, given the fact that she had been in a physical deep freeze for way too long, was fantastic. But, in the end, that was all it was.
If she allowed her imagination to get too carried away, then she would be making a grave mistake, betraying all those principles she had been brought up to hold dear. Not going to happen.
Which brought her back to the importance of grounding the conversation before it developed a momentum of its own.
‘This all happened very fast.’ She was bolt upright in the leather seat and, although she wasn’t looking at him, she could feel his eyes lazily watching her. She fancied that he could detect every shift in her posture, in her voice, in her expression. ‘And I didn’t have much time to lay down any ground rules.’
Was it possible to feel someone’s eyebrows shoot up?
‘Ground rules?’
‘Yes.’ She angled herself so that she was looking at him but immediately regretted that because now all she could focus on was his beautiful mouth. Her eyes flicked up to meet his. ‘And, before you tell me that I work for you, I need to remind you that my hours are nine to five.’
‘No need to remind me.’
Mia licked her lips. ‘We can work out an agenda for during the day, and I’ll do that just as soon as I get to the hotel, but at five my working day ends and I… I think it’s only fair that I be permitted to do my own thing.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of handcuffing you to my side and forcing you to work strictly to rule.’
‘Good.’
‘I expect you know the islands well?’
‘I’ve been to a couple of them,’ Mia said, relaxing, because at last here was a conversation she could run with. ‘In fact, I spent a few days showing Izzy around when she mentioned that she wanted to see more than just Oahu and Honolulu. She was very much interested in getting off the beaten track. Not that you could ever say that bits of Maui were off the beaten track.’ She smiled. ‘I guess you’ll want to see more than just the touristy side of the islands,’ she said. ‘We could hire a tour guide.’
‘We could do that,’ Max murmured, non-committal. ‘We’ll discuss all of that when we get to the hotel and start going through the nuts and bolts of how this is going to play out. Tell me what I can expect.’
‘What you can expect?’
‘I’ve never been to this part of the world before.’
Mia leaned back against the seat and half closed her eyes and watched flashbacks from her past. Growing up with the ocean a stone’s throw away… Learning to swim and then, when she’d been barely able to walk, being introduced to a baby surf board… The rowdy pleasure of coming from a large family and the numerous picnics and camping weekends they had enjoyed… Her love of the lush greenery and her determination to try her hand at an outdoor life, to explore that side of her that loved nature in defiance of her sisters, who had all entered various professions… When she had started helping Izzy with the ‘boring paperwork’, as she had called it, it had come as a surprise to discover that she rather enjoyed it.
The jet was landing by the time she had finished talking.
‘You should have stopped me.’ She blushed and looked at him a little guiltily. ‘I’ve been babbling.’
‘Vital information,’ Max murmured. ‘Right. Hold tight. We’re landing. Grab my hand if nerves get the better of you.’
‘Taking off is a lot worse,’ Mia confided. ‘At least there’s ground beneath us when we land.’ But she didn’t shake off his hand when he covered hers with his. In fact, she liked it there, liked the way it made her feel safe.
Four days in the grand scheme of things was not even a blink of an eye.
Stick to work…quit at five…and everything would be fine.
She was barely aware, as the jet shuddered to a stop, of squeezing his hand, or of feeling the infinitesimal pressure as he returned the gesture.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE HOTEL WAS the last word in opulence. It was perfectly positioned to gaze majestically down at the ocean, interrupted only by meticulously beautiful landscaped gardens, in the middle of which was a huge kidney-shaped swimming pool.
A long, black BMW was waiting for them as they left the jet. From luxury to more luxury, Mia thought.
She was being offered a rare glimpse into how the seriously rich lived and she was guiltily aware that a person could get used to this. It certainly beat tramping through airports, hunting down bags on carousels and then wending your way on public transport in searing heat, dragging a case behind you and apologizing every five steps because you’d accidentally crashed into someone.
Surrounded by birds of paradise as they approached the cool, marble dream of the hotel foyer, Mia tried to forget the dress-down utilitarian outfit she had chosen to wear. She sternly reminded herself that this was work. She wasn’t on holiday. She wasn’t going to be lounging by the side of a pool, summoning waiters over for cocktails. Indeed, she hadn’t even brought a swimsuit with her.
Max was making sure to stick by her side, conscious of the fact that she wasn’t quite back on her feet yet, and as soon as they got their respective keys he urged her to go upstairs and relax.
‘You can meet me in the bar at six,’ he said. ‘We can grab a drink, an early dinner and go over the schedule for the next few days.’
Mia hesitated. Wherever she looked, she saw glamour. Designer clothes, designer luggage and so many designer sunglasses that she wondered giddily whether she had stepped into a spy movie.
Max fitted in perfectly without even trying. His clothes were positively shabby in comparison, and yet he looked more sophisticated than everyone around them. It was the way he carried himself and that way he had of implying that he just didn’t care what anyone thought. He played by his own rules.
It was his ‘leader of the pack’ aura that turned heads and she saw very many swivelling surreptitiously in his direction.
She headed up, leaving him in the foyer, to discover that her room adjoined his and was connected by a door that was locked but presumably could be unlocked.
It was a magnificent space, with a sitting area, a small open-plan kitchenette and vast glass doors that led out onto a private balcony with spectacular views of the ocean. The bathroom was as big as a dance floor, with a bowl-shaped, free-standing tub and a walk-in shower with so many various knobs that she wondered whether she would be able to make sense of it w
ithout a manual.
The pain in her foot had eased sufficiently to allow her comfortably to undress and she took her time with a bath.
Her bag had been brought to her room prior to her entering, and unpacking it was a depressing reminder that, while she had been privately smug at the thought of Max not being properly equipped for anything other than luxury, she had failed to consider that she might be poorly equipped for anything other than outdoor casual.
In a short denim skirt and white tee shirt, which had seemed just the ticket for exploring on her own and eating in cheap local eateries, she now felt horrendously under-dressed. And half hobbling with a crutch under one arm didn’t help matters when it came to her self-confidence as she later found her way to the bar.
It was a big hotel, with a bewildering amount of rooms on the ground floor and several restaurants dotted in various locations. Mia thought that there should have been an option to download satnav when they’d arrived because you needed it in a place as big as this.
It was a relief when she made it to the bar only ten minutes late, and she spotted him immediately. He was working, frowning in front of his laptop, completely oblivious to his surroundings and with a drink of some kind on the table next to him.
How did he do that? she wondered. How did he manage to look so carelessly elegant without even trying? How was it that, in an expensive bar filled with expensive-looking people, he stood out?
She took a deep breath and threaded her way towards him.
She’d hoped that his attention might remain on whatever was on the screen, but no such luck. He turned to watch as she slowly moved towards him.
Mia had been embarrassed at her outfit before, but she was red-faced and flustered by the time she slowly levered herself into the chair next to his.
‘I’m—I’m sorry I’m a bit late,’ she stuttered, feeling the hot burn of self-consciousness in her neck and face. ‘And apologies,’ she continued stiffly, ‘but I’m afraid I didn’t bring the required wardrobe for a place like this…’
Why on earth had she just said that? Why had she drawn attention to what she was wearing? Of course, she knew why. She felt horribly out of place and the words had shot out of her mouth before she’d had time to think them through.
Max looked around him, as though only now noticing the shameless luxury of their surroundings.
Then his navy eyes rested on her thoughtfully.
Mia bristled defensively, bracing herself for something caustic. Would it be too much to remind him that she was a gardener by profession, accustomed to working outdoors? Maybe she could remind him that this was a work situation, so who cared what she wore? Her role wasn’t to look like an ornament.
‘Does that bother you?’ he asked mildly.
‘No, of course not,’ Mia lied unconvincingly.
‘Of course it does. Why wouldn’t it? Women look at other women. It would be strange if you didn’t find it discomforting to think that you might not be blending in.’
Mia heartily wished that she had kept her mouth shut. But she hadn’t, which didn’t mean she intended to indulge any long sermons about the stupidity of peer pressure.
She peered down at the drinks menu and made a deal of deciding what she wanted.
‘A glass of white wine,’ she said when someone materialised to take their order.
He ordered a bottle and rattled off a list of things for them to pick at.
‘An early night.’ He shrugged. ‘Unless you would rather go to the restaurant?’
And just like that Mia knew that he had ordered bar food to spare her having to go to the Michelin-starred restaurant in clothes she’d admitted she felt uncomfortable wearing, and he’d done it without making a fuss.
Something inside her swooped and, when she smiled, it was with genuine warmth and just the merest hint of gratitude.
Nothing was said but their eyes met for a few seconds, and for one moment they were perfectly attuned and on the same page.
It was an effort to remain neutral and professional for the remainder of the evening. The drinks came, the bar food arrived and they talked about the forthcoming agenda.
Maui and Kauai. One stunning and luxurious, the other equally stunning and perfect for nature-lovers. Lack of time dictated that exploring the rest of the islands would have to be put on the back burner.
‘I never knew my sister was a nature lover,’ he mused as the plates were taken away with a flourish.
After having drunk two glasses of wine, Mia returned honestly, ‘It’s not that hard to think you know someone only to find that you don’t know them nearly as well as you thought you did.’
‘By which, I take it, you’re referring to your ex-husband?’
Where that would normally have sent her rapidly into reverse, drawing up the bridges to avoid an awkward conversation, the wine had relaxed her, along with that fleeting moment when she had warmed to the streak of empathy and understanding she had glimpsed in him.
There was only the vaguest recognition, somewhere on the periphery of her brain, that he really had an excellent memory. Also…just how much had she been lulled into confiding? And how had he managed to wriggle underneath her barriers, considering they had nothing in common and most of the time she didn’t even like him?
She thought of that kiss when he had wanted to distract her…and her skin heated up at speed and she was lost for words for a few seconds.
How had they ended up talking about Kai? Where did her failed marriage fit into a conversation about the islands they intended to visit?
‘That’s the problem with marriage,’ Max murmured into the lengthening silence. ‘It ends up throwing up all sorts of problems that you never thought could possibly exist and, before you know it, what started off as the perfect fail-safe relationship degenerates into a train crash.’
‘Not always. My parents have been happily married for nearly thirty-five years.’
‘Which makes it all the more surprising.’
‘Surprising? What’s surprising?’ When she looked at her glass, it was to find that it was empty. Her brain felt foggy and she was so alert to his presence that the rush of blood in her veins was an unwelcome reminder of the dramatic effect he had on her, against all odds.
‘That you haven’t sought to move on.’
‘Who says I haven’t?’
‘Have you?’
‘I’ve had other things on my mind.’
‘So no one has come along to relieve you of those “other things”?’
‘I’ve been on a couple of dates, but I’m not interested in jumping back into the water.’
‘Maybe you just haven’t met anyone compelling enough to encourage you to test the temperature.’
Mia looked away. Her pulse was racing, and for the life of her she couldn’t work out how this guy could get her to say stuff she would normally never reveal.
To go deeper into this conversation would open up all sorts of confusing avenues. He didn’t belong in any of those avenues. He didn’t belong anywhere in her life except on a professional basis as her boss.
And yet, the atmosphere sizzled between them, fragmenting her thoughts and turning the ground beneath her feet into quicksand.
‘Tomorrow…’ she said, and he looked at her for a few seconds in silence before nodding.
‘Tomorrow, work begins!’
‘So I should head up now, if that’s all right with you?’ She began to stand so that he would get the message loud and clear and he waved his hand in easy dismissal.
Max watched her retreat. Her blushing admission about her outfit had not surprised him. Despite the feisty exterior and the almost complete inability to refrain from saying what was on her mind, with or without encouragement from him, she was oddly vulnerable at times, and in her vulnerability so intensely feminine.
And so unbelie
vably sexy.
He’d followed her progress as she’d made her way towards him and, if he’d wanted her two days ago, he wanted her more now. Released from his own self-imposed restrictions on having any kind of relationship with an employee, was his mind now taking advantage to wander freely?
He had been aware of her in the back of the car as they’d been driven to the hotel, and he’d had to drag his thoughts out of the realm of fantasy.
In this hotel, with its contingent of preening women in designer clothes, she had stood out, her natural beauty marking her out from the crowd, and the fact that she couldn’t see that was both bewildering and touching at the same time.
It roused a protective urge in him that was halfway between amusing and unsettling.
Two hours after she had retired, and after a series of calls and emails to CEOs involved in various levels of delicate deal-making in various countries, he retreated to his bedroom.
Her room was next to his, separated by a door. A locked one, admittedly, but the mere fact that a single door separated them played into the fantasies revolving in his head.
The room was icy, thanks to the air-conditioning, but despite that he fancied he could still feel the heat outside, slowing down his reactions and turning his thoughts in directions not taken before.
He had failed to arrange a time to meet the next day and he wasn’t shocked when she texted bright and early the following morning to tell him that she would take breakfast in her room.
‘Why?’ He bypassed the dreary, long-winded business of texting her back and ended up calling her.
‘Just washed my hair…couldn’t possibly get it dried in time…removing the bandage from my foot…just wanted to hobble without the crutch in private to see how it felt…’
Blah, blah, blah.
‘Meet me in the foyer.’ He glanced at his watch, cutting through whatever further excuses might have been waiting in the wings. ‘In an hour.’
There were a couple of things he needed to do, and both afforded him a great deal of satisfaction.
He was waiting for her when she made it to the foyer bang on time. The travelling outfit had been replaced by one almost identical, bar a slightly different range of colours. Did anyone really need a pair of trousers with enough pockets to hold everything bar the kitchen sink? Surely not?
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