Not so much Mum as you, Dad. ‘Work, Dad. We’re going to be working the whole time,’ she lied. ‘It’s not a holiday. And I’m old enough to take care of myself,’ she added, as if it would make a difference. Sometimes she Just Wanted To Scream.
‘If you’d married Nick you wouldn’t have to go out to work.’
There it was—the unspoken message that she’d have produced a baby or two by now. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. ‘Nick left me, remember?’ Because she’d wanted to have a career as well as a marriage. Because he’d betrayed her with another woman who was prepared to give up her own life to keep house and have his babies.
‘I’ll ring when I get there,’ she said before she disconnected. The usual routine when she went overseas—ring home daily or expect management to chase all over the hotel for her with messages from home.
She breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately drew in one of anticipation laced with bat wings that lurched crazily in her stomach. This time tomorrow night she’d be in Bali. With Damon.
‘You’re not wearing a business suit all the way to Bali.’ Damon winced inwardly as he took in the very properly suited Kate standing at her front door, her glorious black hair clipped back in a severe knot. The only redeeming factor was the pencil-slim skirt that finished a good three inches above her knees.
‘I always travel in business attire on an educational.’ She cast a censorious glance at his jeans and T-shirt as she spoke.
‘Not this time.’
All along he’d told Kate that was what they were doing, but he realised now he’d conjured up an entirely different scenario. He’d not been certain she’d go along with him if she’d known that the whole educational concept he’d initiated was to get closer to her. ‘Go change, we have plenty of time. And if there are any more suits of armour in your luggage, take them out.’
She seemed to think about it for a long time, as if weighing up her answer, then said, ‘No.’
He bit back on his surprise. ‘Kate. You won’t be comfortable flying across the country in that.’
She shook her head. ‘I’m well acquainted with flying across countries in a business suit. You might be my boss, but you can’t tell me how to dress out of office hours. It’s you who should be changing. What does your dress code say about you? About the business you represent?’
He watched defiance flash in her dark eyes. Better, he thought with approval, than what he’d heard when she’d spoken to her father; she needed to cultivate more of it. ‘What if I told you it wasn’t strictly an educational?’
Apart from the merest flicker, her expression didn’t alter. As if she’d known all along. ‘Doesn’t make a speck of difference. The suit stays.’
Her gaze remained fused with his, the tacit mutual acknowledgement of what they were about to embark on shimmering like a heat haze between them.
His skin prickled with that same heat as it spread to other parts of his body. He stepped nearer. ‘At least let your hair down.’ Without waiting for the refusal he reached behind her head and removed the tortoiseshell clip. The thick ebony length cascaded around her face, and he tunnelled his fingers into its silken fragrance as he drew it over her shoulders.
‘Oh.’ She spun the words out with devastatingly obvious effect. ‘I fully intend to do just that.’
Her coral lips pouted up at him, tantalisingly plump, temptingly close. ‘Then let’s get started,’ he murmured, and, taking her at her word, he bent his head and slid his mouth over hers.
There was no hint of surrender in her kiss as she leaned into him. Just the smooth caramel taste of Kate. He dipped his tongue between her lips to savour the taste more deeply, lingered a moment before straightening and meeting her eyes with shared anticipation.
It was going to be an ‘educational’ after all, he mused, albeit not the sort he’d mapped out for the staff at last week’s meeting. He was looking forward to learning all there was to know about Kate Fielding.
* * *
They arrived at Denpasar International Airport mid-evening. The heavy humidity hit Kate like a physical wall as they exited into the tropical evening air, making her feel clammy and queasy as Damon ushered her into the air-conditioned hotel limousine hired to collect them. It had been all she could do to stand upright as they went through customs and immigration.
‘You okay?’ Damon studied her as they settled onto the plush leather seats.
‘A little tired. It’s nearly midnight Sydney time. I’m usually tucked up in bed before now.’