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He sat down at the table, aware of the frustrated look she directed at him. No, he wasn’t going to leave her alone. He bit into a croissant to hide his smile.
‘I think I’ll just have a coffee.’
He reached for the pot before she did, pouring a cup and handing it to her with deliberate care.
‘Thanks,’ she mumbled.
Ruben sent her a hot look. He didn’t like her reserve; he preferred the tease he’d seen up in his room. And he knew there was a bomb going off behind that frozen exterior.
‘Ruben Theroux!’ a guy called loudly, striding out from inside, a huge smile on his face. ‘Wonderful to see you.’
Ruben knew the difference between sycophantic and genuine warmth. This was a no-brainer. He glanced at Ellie—a total ‘what were you thinking?’ look. Then he turned back to Nathan.
‘I’m sorry, I’m not sure who you are,’ Ruben answered coolly, not bothering to stand, just looking up from the table.
But clearly Nathan had done his homework—unlike his sidekick.
‘I’m Nathan, I’m here with CineSpace. You know we’re interested in your fabulous property. It would be just perfect for—’
‘I’d like to finish my breakfast first,’ Ruben interrupted, blatantly dismissive. ‘Perhaps we can talk later?’
‘Oh.’ Nathan rallied in less than a second, his reply too collegial. ‘Of course.’
‘Why don’t you go down to the stables? I’ll be sure to find you there.’
Having sent the pain in the neck away, Ruben looked at the stop-sign-red face of his curvy midnight caller and felt that foreign tug in his chest again. To cover the awkward moment he went for the usual—tease. ‘So, what are you going to do next to impress me?’
Ellie forced back the faint feeling. The guy she’d slept with was the owner Nathan reckoned she had to ‘do anything to impress’—and he’d listened in to that conversation?
‘How else?’ Her temper flared. Did he think last night had been her attempt at the casting couch? ‘Look, I didn’t know who you were. It was a genuine—’
His laughter cut her off. ‘I know that, sweetheart. I got in really late, no one knew until this morning that I was here. I know you weren’t trying to convince me to say yes in time-honoured fashion.’
She still didn’t believe he was the owner. ‘You’re supposed to be French.’
‘I’m half French but I’ve lived in New Zealand since I was six.’
‘You’re not old enough to own this place.’ He looked late twenties. Dressed in jeans and a tee he looked more like the gardener than the owner. But that fitting-too-good tee shirt had ‘Lucky’ emblazoned across his chest and Ellie already knew the guy got lucky—every, single, time.
‘My father was an old man when I was born.’
And he’d had a folly of a marriage? To a much younger woman? Ellie decided to skip that can of worms—she had a huge enough one open already. ‘You told me you were a guest.’
‘You assumed that. I did try to explain who I was but you were too busy apologising to listen.’
‘I’m not going to apologise any more,’ she said defiantly. ‘You should have told me. You should have stopped me making a fool of myself twice over.’
He stood and walked around to her side of the table. ‘You never made a fool of yourself with me.’
She stood, speaking through a clamped jaw. ‘Mr Theroux.’
He stepped closer. ‘You can’t be serious.’ His voice dropped to an intimate whisper.
‘Actually I am,’ she declared firmly, shoring up her quivering response. ‘You know it’s inappropriate for us to talk further. You need to talk to—’
‘Nathan.’
‘That’s right.’ She inhaled—bad idea because she caught that deliciously spicy soapy scent.
‘I don’t want to deal with Nathan. I want to deal with you.’
Now she knew what menopause was going to feel like: the hot flash stunned her. ‘You can’t.’ She snuck a breath. ‘It would be unprofessional. Nathan will work on it alone.’
‘There’s nothing to work on.’ He shrugged.
‘Are you saying that because I’m leaving, you’re not interested in negotiating?’ she asked even more breathlessly. ‘Are you trying to blackmail me?’
He hesitated. ‘I’m open to negotiations. But I would prefer to talk with you.’
‘But if I’m not available will you still be open?’
He grinned. ‘I’m a businessman, not an idiot. I know there are benefits to be had from this place being used as a location. Not for just any movie, of course.’
She gazed at him through narrowed eyes. Not sure she could believe him.
‘I enjoyed every second with you in my bed, but I’m not slimeball enough to use our fling in my business decisions,’ he said quietly but firmly. ‘Just as you’re not slutty enough to think sleeping with me could make me change my mind, right?’
‘Right,’ she said. ‘But the fact is we don’t know each other very well.’
‘And as far as you’re concerned we’re not going to get to know each other any better.’
‘I think that’s best, don’t you?’
‘Not at all,’ he answered bluntly. ‘But unlike your colleague I’m gentleman enough to respect your wishes. I’m not into harassing people.’
Just how much of that conversation with Nathan had he overheard?
‘I’m capable of keeping my business and my personal life separate,’ he continued easily. ‘It won’t make any difference.’
Well, he was more capable of that than she was—she couldn’t think straight with the guy around.
‘Truth is I’m in the midst of a new deal to take on two new boutique hotels so a cash injection plus publicity could be useful. That’s why I’m more open to film negotiations now than I was a couple of months ago.’
‘Well, you’ll need to talk to Nathan. I no longer work for the location company.’
Utterly silent, he stared—his brown eyes shifting to black and hard in a whisker of a second. ‘You got the sack?’
Ellie shivered in the face of iced fury. The ultimate in easy-going humour had a frozen fiery depth she hadn’t anticipated. Ruben Theroux wasn’t someone to make angry. And now she knew he hadn’t listened in to the whole conversation she’d had with Nathan.
‘Nathan didn’t have the authority to sack me. I resigned,’ she said, lifting her chin. ‘With immediate effect.’
His jaw dropped. ‘Why?’ Now he looked even more angry. ‘You’re just going to quit and run from some silly little mess?’
It wasn’t a silly little mess. It wasn’t anything to do with Ruben. She’d seen the light. She’d been taken on by that company to keep the paperwork tidy and to flooze where necessary. She might be a complete pleaser but that was taking it too far.
He glanced down at her clothes—and, no, her jeans weren’t designer like his. Hers had frayed at the edges from use, not been bought that way.
‘What are you going to do?’
Pride surged. ‘I’m not so stupid to throw in a job without having something else lined up. It’s all sorted already. I start next week.’
‘Doing what?’
She didn’t want to tell him the finer details—not that she was embarrassed, more that she sensed it would be safer to keep him distanced. He was in her ‘past’ already. ‘Same industry, different job.’
‘You’ve got a part in a film, then?’ He suddenly grinned. ‘Lead role?’
‘No.’ She bit back an answering smile. ‘I’m not a wannabe actress.’
‘But you have leading-lady looks.’
She vehemently shook her head. ‘Please not the flirting again.’
‘It’s impossible not to,’ he murmured. ‘Come on, tell me.’
She shook her head. ‘Not acting.’
‘That’s really not a fantasy?’ he scoffed. ‘Any woman who works in the industry has that fantasy.’
‘Well, I don’t. I can’t think of anything worse than being judged harshly on a giant screen.’
He gave her a sideways look. ‘Well, you got your new job organised pretty quick.’
‘She’s been after me for some time.’ It was true. She’d only had to send a text asking Bridie if she was still keen and the emphatic ‘yes, start Monday’ had been received less than a minute later. ‘I’ve been mulling it a while.’
Fact was she was tired of trying to please everyone—and of not progressing.
Ruben Theroux still looked troubled. Ellie’s pride bit deeper. ‘Don’t think that my decision has anything to do with what happened with you.’
‘It doesn’t?’
‘I’ve been thinking of a change for months.’
‘You’re not letting that Nathan drive you out, are you?’ he asked carefully. ‘Because he’s not worth it. Trust me, no relationship is worth killing your career for.’
‘You know this from personal experience?’ she asked, happy to get the focus on him for a change.
‘Possibly.’ He shrugged. ‘Just don’t let anyone get in the way of what you want to achieve.’
‘Okay.’ She laughed, not needing the ‘best friend’ advice from her random-stranger lover. ‘Actually I feel liberated.’
She wanted the fun back—to be involved in the industry where she was among her own kind: the fans. And that was what Bridie was offering her. They’d met one day at a location—Bridie took fans on set tours, and she knew just how much of a movie buff Ellie was.
‘How liberated are you feeling?’ Ruben Theroux’s expression had sharpened.
Already she knew what that gleam meant. ‘Not that liberated.’
‘There’s absolutely no conflict of interest now.’
‘That’s definitely not why I resigned.’
‘But you know that, despite everything, we never did kiss.’
‘We did a whole lot more than kiss.’
He shook his head. ‘But we never kissed mouth to mouth. I remember that clearly. I’ve spent the last hour remembering every second we had, very clearly.’
She mirrored his head-shake. ‘We’re not going to kiss now.’
‘You can’t tell me you’re afraid.’
His whisper stirred right where she refused to be stirred. ‘You can’t try to tease me into it.’
It wasn’t right that she have the best sexual experience of her life with a complete stranger. One who’d no doubt share himself with the rest of the female population given half the chance. She convinced herself it had been so amazing because she’d been without so long. She’d been celibate for so many months, it had been like a cork releasing from an all-shook-up bottle of champagne. But these things didn’t last. Another sip and she’d discover how flat it had gone. It had to be that one-off pop of pleasure.
‘I think we should try just the once, just to see.’ A winning, teasing, tempting smile.
She laughed. It was very apparent that Ruben Theroux wasn’t used to having his plans thwarted. He got what he wanted. And while part of her wanted what he was offering, she knew she’d want more than what he was prepared—or even able—to give in the long run.
‘No.’ She could say that to him and mean it. Sure she could.
‘There’s nothing so simple as a kiss.’
‘And nothing so complicated.’ And unfortunately, nothing else she could think about. His lips caused the problem. That natural curve upwards made them so inviting. Then there was that screamingly masculine line to his jaw. And those wretchedly captivating, laughing eyes.
‘Well, if you’re sure...’ He extended the invitation another few seconds.
‘Thanks anyway.’ She stepped back from it, turned and fled.
* * *
Up in her room it took all of thirty seconds to fling her things into her overnight bag. She giggled at the thought of his temptation. Terribly gorgeous guy, bound to be terribly unreliable.
He was waiting round the front of the chateau. Her car had been brought up by one of those invisible service people who were brilliant.
‘I’ll make sure Nathan gets home somehow,’ Ruben said with a faint grimace.
‘Shouldn’t you be off talking with him already?’ She stowed her bag in the backseat.
