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She’d become an expert in patience, honing a cool tolerance in an effort to fight back her way.
Until the day she’d had no comeback.
The day he’d kissed her.
‘Why are you really here, Patrick?’
‘Honestly?’
She rolled her eyes. Did he even know the meaning of the word, with his glib lines and smooth charisma?
‘I heard the rumours and wanted to see for myself.’
Uh-oh, this was worse than she’d thought.
She could handle him seeing her without make-up and in workout clothes. She couldn’t handle him knowing about Seaborns’ reputed financial woes. It would undermine everything and scuttle her entire plan before she’d had a chance to present it.
‘You of all people should know better than to listen to a bunch of rumours.’
She attempted to brush past him but he snagged her arm. The zap of something was beyond annoying.
Ten years and he still had that effect on her? Grow up.
‘The reports of my life in the media are highly exaggerated. How about you?’
She could try and outbluff him but, considering she had to meet him at his office tomorrow for the pitch of her life, it wouldn’t be the smartest move.
‘What have you heard?’
‘That Seaborns has been doing it tough.’
‘No tougher than most during an economic decline.’
A blatant lie. Not that she’d let him know. If her sister hadn’t married mining magnate Jax Maroney the jewellery business that had been in their family for generations would have gone under.
And it would have been entirely Sapphie’s fault. She’d been too busy playing superwoman, trying to juggle everything on her own, to let anyone close enough to help. Her stubborn independence had almost cost her the company and her health.
The bone-deep fatigue and aching muscles had scared her, but not as much as the thought that she’d almost failed in making good on her promise to her mum.
No way would she take the business so close to the edge again. She’d do whatever it took—including play nice with this guy.
‘Really? Because the grapevine was abuzz with news of Ruby shacking up with Maroney to save Seaborns.’
Bunch of old busybodies—socialites who had nothing better to do than spend their lives sipping lattes, having mani/ pedi combos at the latest exclusive day spa and maligning people.
She’d spent a lifetime cultivating friendships in the moneyed circles she’d grown up in, had made an effort out of respect for her mum with Seaborns’ bottom line firmly in sight. Rich folk liked to be pandered to, and with the ‘old school’ mentality at work they stuck to their own. Which equated to them spending a small fortune on Seaborns jewellery.
But it was at times like this, when gossip spread faster than news of a designer sale, that she hated their group mentality.
‘You heard wrong.’
She hated having to justify anything to him, but she knew how hard Ruby had fought for Seaborns and she’d do anything for her amazing sister and their company.
The fact that Patrick was partially right—Ruby had initially married Jax for convenience to save Seaborns—rankled. If they hadn’t fallen head over heels Sapphie would have personally throttled her self-sacrificing sister for going to such lengths for their business.
‘Ruby and Jax are madly in love. They can’t keep their hands off each other.’
‘Lucky them.’
His gaze dipped to her lips and she could have sworn they tingled in remembrance of how commanding his kiss had been for an eighteen-year-old…how he’d made her weak-kneed and dizzy with one touch of his tongue…how he’d made her lose control.
Her lips compressed at the memory. Damn hormones. Just because it had been over a year since she’d been with a guy it didn’t mean she had to go all crazy remembering stuff from the past.
Or noticing the way his dark brown hair curled around his collar, too long for conventionality. Or the way stubble highlighted his strong jaw. Or how he never wore his top button done up, making the tanned V of skin a temptation to be touched.
Yep, damned hormones.
‘You’re flustered.’ He took a step closer and it took all her willpower not to step back. ‘Anything I can do to help?’
Oh, yeah. But she wasn’t going there, and especially not with him.
Once she sealed this deal she needed a date. A hot guy with nothing on his mind but drizzled chocolate and a sleepless night.
As if she’d ever find a guy to live up to her fantasies. The guys she dated were staid, executive types on tight timelines who demanded little. Guys like her.
‘Yeah, there is something you can do.’ She met his gaze, determinedly ignoring the quiver in her belly that signalled Patrick Fourde would be the kind of guy to make all a girl’s fantasies come true. ‘Be prepared to be wowed by the best designs Seaborns has ever produced.’
He inclined his head, the sunlight picking up spun gold streaks. ‘I’ll keep an open mind.’
‘That’s all I’m asking for.’
‘Pity.’
How one word could hold so much promise, so much sizzle, she’d never know. The guy had suave down to an art. He’d had that elusive something as a teen and it had evolved into a raw, potent sex appeal that disconcerted her.
Not that she couldn’t handle him…it…whatever.
‘Did that practised schmooze work for you in Europe?’
Those cobalt flecks flared and an answering lick of heat made her squirm. He didn’t speak, and his silence unnerved her as much as the banked heat in his steady stare.
‘Because personally it doesn’t do much for me.’
‘What does?’
‘Pardon?’
‘What does do it for you?’ He leaned in deliciously, temptingly close and she held her breath. ‘Because I’d really like to know.’
His breath fanned her ear, setting up a ripple effect as every nerve ending from her head to her toes zinged.
She could feel the heat radiating off him, could smell a delectable combination of crisp designer wool and French aftershave with a spicy undertone.
Heady. Tempting. Overwhelming.
Powerless to resist, she tilted her head a fraction, the tip of her nose within grazing distance of his neck.
And she breathed. Infusing her senses with him. Closed her eyes. Imagined for one infinitesimal moment what it would be like to close the gap between them and nuzzle his neck.
She had no idea how long they hovered a hair’s breadth apart, the inch between their bodies vibrating with an undeniable energy.
‘Hey, Saph, you out the back?’
She jumped, snagged her sneaker on a rock and stumbled. His hands shot out to grab her, anchoring her.
She should have been grateful. Instead, with his burning gaze fixed on her, a host of unasked questions she had no hope of answering flickering in the grey depths, she felt embarrassment burn her cheeks.
Patrick Fourde was the master of seduction. Always had been. It came as naturally to him as waking up in the morning. So why the heck was she responding to him on a level that defied explanation?
She couldn’t be attracted to him.
Her business depended on it.
Besides, she didn’t like him. She’d never liked him. He’d been a major pain in the ass during high school and by the way he’d breezed in here, determined to rile her, it looked as if nothing had changed.
For there was nothing surer—his turning up here today, twenty-four hours before their scheduled meeting, was nothing better than a ploy to unnerve her.
She might need his business, but working alongside him wouldn’t be easy.
‘Thanks,’ she muttered, brushing off his hold in time to see Ruby propped in the doorway, a delighted grin matching the astute glint in her eyes.
‘I didn’t know you had company.’ Ruby winked at Patrick. ‘And such fine company at that.’
Debatable.
‘Looking good, Rubes.’ Patrick saluted her sister. ‘Marriage suits you.’
‘Thanks.’ Ruby’s assessing gaze swept over Patrick, and by her growing grin she approved of what she saw. ‘Could say the same about you and Europe.’
‘Paris is okay, but Melbourne can hold its own.’ For some inexplicable reason he glanced her way. ‘This city is filled with beauty.’
To her annoyance, Sapphie’s blush intensified as Ruby stifled a guffaw.
‘You’re full of it,’ Sapphie muttered under her breath. In response, he snatched her hand and lifted it to his lips before she could react.
‘Maybe so, but you missed me anyway.’
He kissed the back of her hand—a soft, butterfly brush of his lips that almost made her sigh. Almost.
‘In your dreams.’
‘Count on it,’ he whispered, squeezing her hand before releasing it. ‘See you tomorrow.’
Damn the man for doing it to her again. Deliberately taunting, trying to make her flustered—and succeeding. Her stupid hand still tingled where he’d kissed it. That whole in-her-face practised French charm…? Yet another of his tricks to tease her. What she couldn’t understand was why. Was he trying to get her off-guard before their meeting tomorrow? Trying to disarm her and make her stuff up?
Whatever the answer, she mulled over it while watching one very fine ass as he farewelled Ruby and disappeared into Seaborns on his way out.
Ideally, she would have returned to her relaxation stretches to banish the disturbing sensations Patrick had elicited.
How many times had she done her best to ignore him in Biology, when her recalcitrant lab partner doodled rather than rote-learn the nerves in the human body, would deliberately distract her with stupid jokes, poke fun at everything from her ruled margins to her neat handwriting.
It made what had happened on graduation night all the more annoying, because it had been him she’d let her guard down around, him who’d been there to offer comfort, him who’d made her tingle all over just like the stupid buzz still zapping the skin on the back of her hand.
To add to her discomfort she now had to face a rampantly curious Ruby, who waited until he’d left before bounding towards her.
‘Jeez. How seriously hot is Patrick now?’
Sapphie refrained from answering on the grounds that she might incriminate herself.
‘I mean he was always hot, with that whole bad boy thing he had going on at school, but now?’ Ruby fanned her face. ‘He’s a babe and he’s totally into you.’
Sapphie shook her head and stuffed her hand into her pocket. ‘You know better than that. The guy flirts all the time. It’s his thing.’
Ruby shifted her weight from side to side, bouncing on the balls of her feet. ‘Well, his thing is making you glow.’
‘Bull.’
Ruby grabbed her arm and dragged her to a window. ‘Go ahead. Look.’
Blowing out an exasperated breath, Sapphie glanced at the glass. Even through a film of dust and rain spots she could see pink cheeks and wide eyes. But it was the expression in those eyes, the glazed confusion of a thoroughly bamboozled woman, that sent her hopes of forgetting the past spiralling on a downward trajectory.
She might despise Patrick and all he stood for, but he appealed to her on some visceral level she had no hope of explaining.
It hadn’t made sense back then and it sure as hell didn’t make sense a decade later that the guy she could quite happily have strangled had something that made her want to explore beneath his flaky surface.
‘Been a while since I’ve seen you look like this. A long while.’ Ruby slung an arm across her shoulders and led her inside. ‘Suits you.’
‘I was doing a few yoga poses outside. That glow…? Must’ve caught too much sun.’
Ruby laughed and hugged her. ‘You’re cute when you’re in denial.’
‘Nothing to deny. Patrick and I will soon be colleagues, hopefully.’
If she hadn’t botched it. First impressions counted in her business and considering he was CEO of Fourde Fashion’s new Aussie branch, she’d hazard a guess they counted with him too.
Having him discover her in the tree pose, followed by the verbal sparring they’d always been unable to resist, didn’t bode well.
At least she hadn’t called him any nasty names—something she vaguely recalled doing just before their final exams, when he’d particularly annoyed her with his goofing off.
