скачать книгу бесплатно
‘Look, Mr Hawkley.’ She looked up at him, obviously seriously uncomfortable with his questioning. ‘I really think you should talk to my—Donald about this.’
Again Hawk heard that hesitation after ‘my’…
‘My’ what? Friend? Lover? What?
Hawk found himself with an overwhelming curiosity to know the answer to that question.
So he waited, knowing from experience that an expectant silence on his part would eventually bring a response. He didn’t have to wait long.
‘If my being here is an inconvenience, then you only have to say so and I’ll leave,’ she began flusteredly.
But the mere suggestion of her doing any such thing seemed to make her cheeks pale and those deep green eyes look haunted…
Why? Hawk wondered. What was this woman hiding, or running away from? More to the point, why had she chosen Donald to run to?
He regarded her with hooded eyes. ‘I’m not saying so,’ he drawled. ‘I’m merely wondering. Have you and Donald known each other long?’
Had she and Donald known each other long? Rosie pondered. Surely that depended on what was meant by knowing each other?
‘A while, yes,’ she finally answered huskily.
Hawk nodded. ‘And you’re here to spend the holidays with him?’
‘Possibly.’ Again her answer was noncommittal.
Only having arrived in Canada herself yesterday, Hawk’s imminent arrival and Donald’s early flu symptoms had proved a distraction to any deep conversation she might have had with Donald, so Rosie had no idea what her short or even long-term plans were. No idea whether Donald would even want her to stay and spend the holidays with him.
The only thing that had consumed her yesterday, as she’d thrown things into a suitcase in readiness for her flight, was the thought of the white satin and lace wedding dress that hung on her wardrobe door—a constant reminder of just why she had to get away. She’d needed to go somewhere where no one would think of looking for her, hopefully where no one would recognise her either. Joshua Hawkley obviously hadn’t…
Rosie had been puzzled, a few days before, when, taking her passport from the box where her mother kept all the family’s papers, she’d seen a piece of paper there too, on which Donald’s telephone number was scrawled. Her puzzlement had turned to shock when curiosity had made her call the number and Donald had answered. She had discovered it was his current mobile number!
She didn’t know which of them had been the more surprised to hear the other’s voice, although Donald had readily agreed when she’d asked him if she might fly out to Canada to see him.
Hawk was still watching her from between narrowed lids. ‘You aren’t being very—forthcoming about your relationship with Donald,’ he finally murmured impatiently.
Her relationship with Donald? Did she have one? She wasn’t sure any more. But perhaps that was part of why she had come here—to find out…?
She straightened. ‘I really think you should talk to him about this.’
Hawk shrugged broad shoulders. ‘He isn’t up to talking about anything at the moment.’
And Donald hadn’t been yesterday, actually, Rosie accepted. Donald’s flu symptoms were obviously worse today, which was making this situation more difficult for her than it needed to be.
It had all seemed so simple when she’d arrived yesterday and discovered that Donald had his own suite of rooms over the garage adjoining the farmhouse. It was an arrangement that meant Joshua Hawkley didn’t even have to be made aware of her presence if Donald decided otherwise.
But waking up this morning to find Donald incapacitated in his bed had changed all that—even more so when he had asked her to take Joshua Hawkley’s morning tray of coffee up to his employer. A request Rosie had very reluctantly agreed to when it seemed it was the only way to stop Donald’s growing agitation.
She roused herself to reply to Hawk’s comment. ‘Then I suggest you wait until he’s feeling better.’
Hawk found himself bristling at her dismissive tone. He was being reasonable about this, wasn’t he? Considering he had found a strange woman wandering around his bedroom only a short time ago, he really thought so!
What—?
‘Hawk!’ A distraught, tousle-haired and robe-covered Donald staggered into the kitchen, the ravages of the flu evident in the paleness of his lined face. ‘I meant to tell you—’ He looked at the two of them seated at the breakfast-bar. ‘I just felt so ill last night that all I wanted to do was fall into bed—’ He gave a frustrated shake of his head as he swayed slightly. ‘I hope Rosie has explained?’ he added weakly as she stood up.
Hawk’s mouth twisted ruefully as he also stood up. ‘Not so far, no,’ he drawled ruefully. ‘But I’m living in hope,’ he added, with a mocking glance at her flushed face.
Donald looked across at her dazedly. ‘You haven’t told him…?’
Told him exactly what? And how much? Rosie frowned.
The situation had felt so difficult last night—the gulf between Donald and herself so wide that the two of them hadn’t had a proper chance to talk yet, let alone involve a third party. And that third party was Joshua Hawkley! A man who lived in the limelight himself, who once he knew her full name might add two and two together and come up with the correct answer of four!
The fewer people who knew who she was, the less likelihood there was of—
‘Rosie is my daughter, Hawk,’ Donald turned to tell the other man before she had a chance to stop him.
Hawk’s cobalt-blue eyes widened on her incredulously, telling Rosie that this was the last explanation he’d been expecting!
CHAPTER THREE (#u56390fb9-47d8-585d-b781-c2411c00b046)
DONALD’S daughter…
Whoever Hawk had thought this young woman might be, it certainly wasn’t the other man’s daughter!
He hadn’t even known Donald had been married, let alone that he had a daughter of—what?—twenty-two, twenty-three?
But maybe Donald hadn’t been married. Maybe this girl was the result of a brief relationship all those years ago. Whatever—it didn’t make her any less than Donald’s daughter.
Hawk had never once heard Donald mention her in the ten years he’d worked for him, let alone seen her!
But had Donald seen her during that time? Hawk supposed that he must have done. After all, his employee had holidays, free time, and he certainly didn’t owe Hawk any explanations about his personal life.
Where had Rosie suddenly appeared from? Because he was pretty sure that Donald hadn’t known she was going to join them here when he’d come ahead from Los Angeles a couple of days ago.
More to the point, why had she come…?
Hawk felt a little dazed. ‘Perhaps we should get you back to bed,’ he murmured, as Donald coughed painfully. ‘Rosie can tell me anything else I need to know,’ he concluded, with a narrow-eyed glance in her direction.
But Rosie had no intention of telling him anything more than she absolutely had to!
Hawk’s surprise at discovering she was actually Donald’s daughter, rather than the lover he had clearly assumed her to be, had been pretty obvious. But, if anything, he looked more disapproving of the true explanation of their relationship than he had of his previous assumption!
She shrugged off the movie star’s disapproval impatiently. Her father might work for Hawk, and as such owe him some sort of explanation as to why she was here, but that didn’t mean Rosie was answerable to him too.
Not even if she was to be a temporary guest in his home?
No, not even then, she decided stubbornly.
‘Let’s go and finish our coffee,’ Hawk suggested, softly but firmly, as they settled Donald back in his bed. The effort of coming downstairs seemed to have tired out the factotum, and he lay back exhausted against the pillows.
‘Would you like me to stay and make you some tea?’ Rosie offered gently, at the same time pointedly ignoring Hawk. ‘Or bring you a glass of cool juice?’
Donald gave a weak smile. ‘No, I—I’ll be fine. You go and talk to Hawk,’ he encouraged huskily.
Not what she wanted to do at all, Rosie reflected, as she turned and preceded Hawk from the flat and back down the stairs to the kitchen in the main house, all the time thinking of what she actually needed, had to tell, this disturbingly attractive man.
Not that much, really, she decided. The bare bones of the truth should do it. She hadn’t had a chance to tell her father everything yesterday, about her reasons for being here, and there was no need to tell Hawk either.
‘Have you finished deciding how much I need to know?’ Hawk probed wryly once they were seated back at the breakfast bar, knowing by the way her cheeks became flushed that he had scored a direct hit with his question.
She raised her pointed chin defensively. ‘My father has already told you all there is to know, Mr Hawkley—’
‘Hawk,’ he put in firmly, elbows resting on the breakfast bar as he studied her across its width. ‘Somehow I don’t think that’s true, Rosie,’ he persisted. ‘For instance, the glaringly obvious thing Donald hasn’t told me is why I didn’t know of your existence until today!’
Auburn brows rose over her cool green eyes. ‘Perhaps he didn’t consider it any of your business,’ she dismissed.
Hawk was starting to feel seriously irritated by this woman’s deliberate rudeness. She certainly hadn’t looked so cool earlier, when he had strolled out of the bathroom stark naked!
If he were honest, he hadn’t felt that cool himself when he’d first became aware of her in his bedroom—the tell-tale stirring of his body had been proof of that! He studied her closely now, noting the golden ring circling the green of her eyes, making them appear almost luminous, and the freckles that covered her nose, making him wonder if she had freckles anywhere else. And what it would feel like to kiss every one of them…
He straightened, impatient with his own wandering thoughts. He wasn’t involved in a relationship with anyone at the moment, but he had only left Los Angeles yesterday—the land of plenty when it came to beautiful available women. Finding himself attracted to Rosie Harrison, who took the phrase ‘woman of mystery’ to a whole new level, was a complication he certainly didn’t need. Now or at any other time.
‘Are you here to spend Christmas with Donald?’ he enquired tersely, the thought of Rosie sharing the flat over the garage with Donald during the holidays robbing him of some of his contentment at the contemplation of a quiet family Christmas.
‘That hasn’t been decided yet,’ she answered noncommittally.
She brought a whole new dimension to that saying about getting blood out of a stone too, Hawk acknowledged impatiently, deciding he had had enough of this verbal fencing for one morning.
‘Although the fact that he’s obviously ill does rather change things, doesn’t it?’ Rosie suddenly opined.
Hawk eyed her warily. ‘It does?’
‘Well, of course it does,’ she came back waspishly. ‘Apart from the fact that he’s ill and will need looking after, he’s obviously also unable to work. As I understand it, you’re expecting the rest of your family to descend on you in the next few days…?’
‘Yes…’ Hawk confirmed, wariness in his own tone now.
‘And Don—my father,’ she corrected awkwardly, ‘was supposed to shop for food, put up the decorations and things?’
‘Yes.’ Hawk nodded, very aware of the fact that she seemed to be having difficulty actually calling Donald her father.
Damn it, why did Donald have to get the flu now? Because Hawk was pretty sure he was going to have to wait until his assistant was better before he got any helpful answers to his questions!
No matter how much she was determined not to answer Hawk’s questions, Rosie was also aware that if he chose to tell Donald she couldn’t stay on here her father would have no choice but to ask her to leave. And the truth was, at this moment in time, she didn’t have anywhere else to go to…
In the circumstances, it wasn’t in her best interests to be completely uncooperative…
‘Well, I could do those things for you instead—if you would like me to,’ she offered lightly. ‘If you’ll just point me in the direction of the nearest supermarket and tell me where you keep the Christmas decorations…?’ she prompted, at Hawk’s lack of a response to her offer.
He raised dark brows over mocking blue eyes, a slightly derisive smile curving the sculptured mouth that was set so arrogantly in his ruggedly handsome face. Rosie’s pulse fluttered slightly as she was once again forcibly reminded of exactly who this man was.
Only a woman who was deaf, blind or totally insensitive to blatant sexiness could fail not to tremble slightly with awareness in his presence.
But she was a woman running away from her wedding day, from a man she neither loved nor wanted to marry, which should have made her totally immune to the attractions of any other member of the opposite sex.
But it didn’t…
She tried to break her gaze away from the compelling blue of Hawk’s eyes. And failed. Instead she felt as if she were drowning in their dark depths, as if she were trying to swim against the tide, and the effort to resist rendered her slightly breathless and trembling.
This wouldn’t do, she told herself firmly. Joshua Hawkley might be one of the most dangerously attractive men she had ever met, but he was also her father’s employer—her father’s over-curious employer! She would be wise to keep that in mind.
It took some effort, but she finally managed to drag her gaze away from his, staring at a point somewhere over Hawk’s left shoulder. ‘Unless you would prefer to do those things yourself—?’
‘Hell, no! You feel free to carry on, if that’s what you want to do,’ he bit out as he stood up.
Rosie sighed. ‘I merely offered because I’m sure my father would expect it,’ she explained.
‘I’ve already said it’s fine, Rosie,’ Hawk drawled. ‘I still have to shop for gifts, anyway. One more to add to the list now,’ he added pointedly.
Rosie gave him a startled glance. Surely he didn’t mean her…?
‘Please don’t bother on my account,’ she told him hastily.
She’d brought some cash with her, which she had changed into Canadian dollars at the airport, but those funds were limited, and certainly wouldn’t last very long if she had to go out and buy Christmas presents for Joshua Hawkley and his family. She’d had no choice but to use her credit card when she booked her air ticket, but was loath to use it now. Canada was a big country, but paying with her credit card would certainly give away her location to anyone unprincipled enough—determined enough—to use that method to track her down.
Her caution would probably seem a little dramatic to anyone else, but she had come to know only too well the ruthlessness of her pursuer…
In the last few minutes Hawk had watched all the different emotions as they’d flickered across the beauty of Rosie’s face. Emotions too fleeting for him to be able to fully comprehend. But he had registered her slight panic at his mention of buying Christmas presents. What was this woman hiding? Hawk wondered frowningly, as he continued to watch her anxious features.
Because he was pretty sure from the way she avoided answering his direct questions that she was hiding something…
CHAPTER FOUR (#u56390fb9-47d8-585d-b781-c2411c00b046)
‘I’LL drive you to the mall, if you like,’ Hawk told her briskly. ‘You can shop for food while I go off in search of gifts for my family.’ Even as he made the suggestion he could see that it didn’t sit too well with Rosie Harrison. Her slender hands trembled slightly as she collected up their empty coffee mugs and put them in the dishwasher.
At least he thought it was his suggestion that was making her tremble…
It was difficult to tell what she was thinking or feeling when she continued to avoid his gaze!
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think my father would approve of my putting you to any trouble on my behalf—’
‘It isn’t on your behalf if you’re going to be shopping for food for my family,’ Hawk reasoned. ‘Besides, I’m going into Calgary anyway,’ he added firmly, feeling a sudden determination, now that he could see her reluctance, to take her with him.
How contrary was that?
Very, Hawk acknowledged ruefully. But after years of being a public figure, of being pursued by some of the most beautiful women in the world, it was something of a novelty to find a woman who was so obviously reluctant to spend any more time in his company than she had to.
That wasn’t conceit on his part either, only fact; his place on the Hollywood A-list made him an easy—and possibly useful—target for any woman who was trying to make it in the movie business.
