The Bridal Bargain (4 page)

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“I certainly wouldn’t enter into any flirtation with David.”

“Fine!”

“Sally filled me in on Chris’s situation so I understand about that, but is there anything else I should know about the crew so I don’t put a foot wrong?”

“Nothing that springs to mind.”

“You’re not going to warn me off Eric or Jai or Keith?”

“Tracy might well throw you to the sharks if you get your teeth into Jai.” A sharp glance. “Do you fancy him?”

How could she fancy any of them with
him
around? Didn’t he know he outshone them by about a million megawatts? “I thought they were all attractive people, but they didn’t ring any special bells for me,” she answered honestly.

“Who knows when the bell might toll?” he said with heavy irony.

It tolled the moment you walked into my life, Hannah thought, but she wasn’t sure Tony King was ready to hear that, particularly when he seemed to have some funny ideas about her...like she was some kind of honey-pot who drew men from other women. Which was really strange, because no one had ever cast her in the role of femme fatale before. She wondered why he saw her that way?

A happy thought struck. It had to mean he found her attractive. Maybe more than just attractive if he thought other men could be tempted out of their relationships because she was there.

No question that I want you.

What if he actually meant
he wanted her
in a man-woman sense, not a job sense? Excitement pumped her heart faster. It almost put a skip in her step as they exited from the mall and headed towards the row of storage lockers outside another booking office. Hannah quickly found hers, unlocked it, and lifted out her backpack.

“Is that all?” Tony asked as she closed the door on the emptied locker. He looked amazed at the economical amount of her possessions.

“It is easier to travel light,” Hannah explained matter-of-factly.

He stared down at the bag near her feet as though it represented a life he couldn’t quite bring himself to believe in. His gaze shifted to her well-worn sandals, then slowly travelled up her much-washed and somewhat faded jeans. He was probably realising she had few clothes with her and they were in frequent use, but this direct re-appraisal made Hannah super-conscious of her body again.

Her knees quivered. Muscles below her stomach spasmed. By the time his scrutiny reached her bare midriff, she could feel her nipples hardening in some wild anticipation of his liking the shape of her breasts, even wanting to touch them. His gaze certainly lingered on them long enough to take her breath away. She couldn’t think of anything except how much she wanted him to really
want
her, and her temples were pulsing with an exhilarating excitement when he finally looked into her eyes.

But there was no suggestion of desire in his.

No flirtatious twinkle.

What poured out at her was an almost savage intensity of feeling. It gripped her heart like a vice, squeezing it as though he wanted to extract her life essence, everything she was made of. Not because he wanted it. He just wanted to know. And he was angry at the need to know.

Hannah could feel herself shrivelling inside. She didn’t understand what he found wrong with her, why he was angry. In sheer self-defence, she broke the shattering flow from him by bending over to pick up her bag. He beat her intention by grabbing the straps ahead of her.

“I’ll carry it for you,” he said gruffly.

She didn’t argue. In fact, she snatched her hand back from making any contact with his. When he set off for the parking area where he’d left the jeep, she lagged a pace behind, struggling with a mountain of emotional confusion. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go with him or be connected to him for any length of time.

Rejection hurt.

She’d been there before.

All those months with Flynn...then to find him cheating with her best friend. It had made everything—absolutely everything—feel wrong;

She’d only just met Tony King but...anger started to burn, searing away the hurt. He had no right to treat her as though she was some kind of unwelcome intruder in his life. He could have vetoed his grandmother’s judgement and taken on one of the other applicants for the job of chef. She shouldn’t be fretting over what he might perceive as
wrong with her.
The fault obviously lay in him.

She was fine.

His grandmother thought she was fine.

The crew of
Duchess
thought she was fine.

So there had to be something wrong with Tony King if he didn’t think she was fine.

Tony
tried to get a grip on himself as he drove the jeep up to Macrosson Street. He’d never felt jealous over any woman in his entire life. Just a harmless comment about Hannah’s dimples and David Hampson could have been a dead man back there, which was a totally over the top reaction.

The effect Hannah O’Neill had on him was getting close to disastrous. Even when she had set him straight in an upfront reasonable manner that should have forced him to be rational about the crew situation, he couldn’t get over the hump of the feelings she stirred in him. He told himself it was stupid to transfer those feelings to every guy who met her. She wasn’t so...stunningly captivating. She was just... very attractive.

Yet when he’d checked her over again with that one modest backpack from the locker telling him she was certainly unique amongst all the woman he’d known—living with so little—bells had definitely been ringing for him, a whole host of physical bells that still had his body buzzing with demands he had to dampen, not to mention the alarm bell in his head that told him he was in danger of losing it, along with all the common sense he’d learnt from past experience.

Remember Robyn,
he savagely recited to himself as he spotted a place to park and pulled the jeep into it. He’d taken the tempting bait, fallen into the Robyn trap, then found she was claiming special privileges from the crew on the grounds of being
his woman,
lording it over them and even being rude to the day-trippers because
she
didn’t have to please anyone as long as she was pleasing Tony King in bed.

No more of that.

Employees could not be playmates.

Never!

He switched off the engine and steeled himself to look at Hannah O’Neill with no more than polite consideration.

“I have to pick up the apartment key from my brother. It will only take a few minutes.” He pointed to the building he was about to enter. “That’s the control centre for King Investments. Alex runs it. Are you okay waiting here?”

She nodded, her attention turning to the building so he only caught a glimpse of the bewitching green eyes. He got himself moving, determined on swift practical action. The sooner Hannah was delivered to an apartment, the sooner he could get her out from under his skin.

A pity he wasn’t involved with anyone at the moment. That was probably half the problem, missing the intimate company of a woman he liked. There was a hole in his life to be filled, but that was no reason to fill it with Hannah O’Neill. It was just a matter of looking around, putting himself in the social swim. He’d find a woman who attracted him and maybe she’d be right for him. Like Gina was for Alex.

Now there was a marriage he could envy. His brother had hit the jackpot with Gina Terlizzi. And made a lucky escape from the woman who’d thought she had Alex right where she wanted him—a user like Robyn. Self-centred sexy women could be very dangerous. A man definitely needed to keep his wits around them.

He just caught Alex as he was about to leave. Five o’clock. No working overtime now he had Gina to go home to. “Hold on a moment! I need a key to one of the guest apartments,” Tony told him, blocking the doorway out of the executive office.

His big brother backtracked to his desk, throwing him a questioning look. “I didn’t know we had anyone arriving.”

“We don’t.” He heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. “Nonna, in her wisdom, has offered an apartment to my new chef for
Duchess
until she gets herself settled in Port Douglas.”

“She? You’re replacing Chris with a woman?” Raised eyebrows. “I thought you preferred a male chef.”

“Chris has worked very well, but he did put me in a bind to get someone fast and there were only female applicants.” Sighing his vexation over the whole pressure situation, he went on to explain, “I asked Nonna to interview them and she seems to have taken a real shine to this Hannah O’Neill. Gave her the job before even consulting me about the others.”

“Accommodation, too,” Alex remarked, smiling at Tony’s obvious chagrin.

“I just hope she’s not a free-loader who’ll prove difficult to shift once she’s in,” Tony muttered darkly.

“Oh, I’d trust Nonna’s judgement on that. Very astute when it comes to character,” Alex drawled, fishing a key out of a drawer.

“Character has nothing to do with the overall picture,” Tony argued. “I don’t like
any
of my staff getting preferential treatment, let alone a newcomer.”

Alex shrugged. “If it’s only a stop-gap...”

“Nonna even invited Hannah to afternoon tea in the loggia. And asked her to come again.”

“So?” Alex’s sharp blue eyes were highly amused at this preferential treatment. “Aren’t you always telling me to relax and go with the flow?”

Tony heaved a sigh of exasperation. Alex had always been into controlling things. It seemed that being the oldest brother he’d been over-endowed with a sense of responsibility and he was big enough and tough enough and smart enough to carry through anything he thought should be done. Over the years Tony had tried to lighten him up. Turning those tables on him now was simply not appropriate.

“This is work, Alex, not play,” he tersely reminded him.

“If Nonna thinks it will work out fine, I’m sure it will,” he blithely returned, tossing over a key attached to the Coral King tag. “I take it this Hannah O’Neill is...uh...very appealing?”

“As far as I’m concerned she’s completely out of bounds. Thanks for the key.” He turned to leave, then hung back on a strong afterthought. “Don’t mention this to Matt.”

“Why shouldn’t I mention it to Matt?”

“Because...” He didn’t want his younger brother sniffing around Hannah. She wasn’t Matt’s employee. He’d feel free to pursue an interest in her and...

“Well?” Alex prompted, looking quite intrigued.

The conflict he was struggling with could not be voiced. “Just leave well enough alone. As Nonna should have.” Holding the key between finger and thumb, he shook it at Alex. “She’s gone too far with this.”

“I imagine she was just trying to give you a smooth changeover, Tony,” came the bland reply. “Do you have Hannah O’Neill parked downstairs?”

“Yes, she’s waiting in the jeep.”

“Then I’ll walk out with you and meet her. Give you my opinion.”

“That isn’t necessary,” Tony grated, wishing he hadn’t run off at the mouth.

“I’m curious. As you say, it’s not every day Nonna takes such a personal interest in someone she’s just met.”

At least Alex didn’t have eyes for anyone but his wife, Tony reasoned, giving up on arguing. This brother probably wouldn’t even notice Hannah’s dimples. He certainly wouldn’t look as far as the butterfly!

Hannah noted the display window of a real estate agency just along the street. As soon as she had some spare time, she’d inquire there about available accommodation for residents. She was tempted to do it right now, but it would probably be a black mark against her if Tony King returned and didn’t find her waiting in the jeep. Besides, her backpack couldn’t be left unattended in this open vehicle. It was not a good move to risk losing what she had, including her new job.

Tony King’s confusing attitude towards her was very unsettling. She wished she hadn’t accepted his grandmother’s offer of the Coral King apartment, even with the understanding it was only on a very temporary basis. While it was too late today to change her mind on that issue, she would certainly assert her independence as soon as possible.

Her nerves tightened as she saw him emerge from the building in step with another man who was undoubtedly his brother, coming to check out the unheralded
guest
his grandmother had insisted on accommodating. Alessandro... Alex...

He was bigger and taller than Tony, though there was no mistaking the family likeness in their strong facial features. Same thick black hair, too. The way they carried themselves held an innate confidence that somehow exuded success in whatever they did. Both very striking men, Hannah thought, yet it was Tony’s presence that made her heart slip beats.

Sure she was about to be introduced, Hannah opened the passenger door of the jeep and hopped out, feeling the need to stand her ground in the face of being judged again. The action instantly drew attention from Tony’s brother who took one sweeping glance at her and then smiled, apparently seeing no wrong in her at all.

“Hannah, this is my brother, Alex. Hannah O’Neill.”

Alex’s eyes were a vivid blue and Hannah felt warmth and kindness flowing from them as he offered his hand. “Welcome to Port Douglas, Hannah,” he said in a deep pleasant voice that contrasted sharply with Tony’s curt tone.

She smiled back, relieved at
his
ready acceptance of her. “It’s good to be here.” The touch of his hand was nice and warm, too, comforting. “I hope I haven’t caused a problem,” she added earnestly. “I can find some other place to stay.”

“As I understand it, Tony’s rushing you straight into work, so I’m perfectly happy to go along with my grandmother’s arrangements.”

“Thank you.” Needing to establish she had no intention of becoming a problem, Hannah quickly added, “I promise I won’t impose on your generosity for long.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Alex withdrew his hand and clapped his brother on the shoulder, grinning widely as Tony shot him a sharp look. “You’ve got the key. I’ll leave you to handle everything. Happy days!” he added, saluting both of them as he moved off about his own business.

“What a nice man!” Hannah remarked on a sigh of pleasure in the meeting.

“Alex is married.”

The emphatic warning tightened up her nerves again. What did Tony think she was? Some kind of man-eater? “I know that,” she stated, glaring considerable impatience at him. In fact, enough was enough on this point. “Mrs King told me so. She also told me he has a son and his wife is pregnant. Should that stop me thinking he’s a nice man and she’s a lucky woman?’’

He grimaced at her irritation, looking quite irritated himself. “I was merely giving you information which I didn’t think you had.”

“Thank you,” she bit out, reminding herself he was her new boss and while he might be the most exasperating man alive, she didn’t really want to get on the bad side of him, so she climbed back into the jeep, vowing to keep her mouth firmly shut in his presence except for saying “Thank you,” when it was appropriate.

He settled himself beside her and said, “I’ll drive you down to the apartment now.”

Hannah wondered where it was but limited herself to replying, “Thank you.”

It was only a three-minute drive. The jeep pulled up outside an apartment block situated on the lower side of Wharf Street. She’d walked past it earlier this afternoon on the way up to the castle. The apartments were terraced down the hill to the waterfront and all of them would clearly have a fantastic view of incoming and outgoing boats, not to mention the sunset which would start happening soon. Great location!

Despite her earlier misgivings about accepting this very hospitable offer, Hannah couldn’t stop her spirits rising at the thought of spending her first few days in Port Douglas at a place that had such marvellous advantages. It was close to the township, close to the marina, and being a “guest’ apartment, it would undoubtedly provide pure luxury after her weeks of bunks in back-packer hostels.

She followed Tony down a path which led straight to one of the top floor apartments. He was carrying her bag with no visible effort which showed just how strong his muscular arm was...and his muscular back and muscular buttocks and muscular legs.

She sighed, wishing he wasn’t such an enigma. Was he
off
women for some reason? He’d been curt with Sally, too, so maybe it wasn’t just her.

If he’d had a bad experience—and Hannah certainly knew how
bad
experiences felt—well, being sour on women in general could be quite understandable. It did wear off after a while. Though learning to trust again was difficult if one had been brutally let down by someone near and dear. The shields went up and no one was allowed close.

A wounded man, Hannah thought, feeling a rush of sympathy for Tony King as he unlocked the door and waved her to enter ahead of him. “Thank you,” she said warmly and smiled to show she harboured no ill feelings about his manner towards her. After all, he didn’t know her very well...yet.

He stiffened into a very upright stance as she sailed past him. Hannah kept going, giving him some space to feel more comfortable with her. A galley kitchen led to a big open living area, furnished with a dining and a lounge setting—all cane with brightly coloured cushions in a cheerful tropical pattern.

“This is lovely!” she cried, forgetting to limit her speech to “Thank you’ as she beamed her pleasure back at him.

He lowered her bag onto the floor. Refraining from any comment on her comment, he pushed the Coral King tag attached to the door key into a slot on the wall. “This turns on your electricity and the air-conditioner.”

“Thank you,” she said, clasping her hands gratefully and hoping he didn’t think she’d been too effusive about a place which was strictly temporary.

He stared at her for several seconds and Hannah caught the sense he was in some fierce conflict with himself. “Right!” he finally snapped. “I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t forget it’s an eight o’clock start tomorrow.”