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The amusement in his gaze taunted her. ‘Do you have any objections?’
‘Of course not.’ But she did and she had a feeling he knew it. Before she could ask any more questions he took her arm in a grip which looked courteous but felt like steel, as he steered her towards the departure lounge.
In the quiet, luxurious surroundings of the first-class lounge, he led her to a secluded group of armchairs which looked like a corner of an expensively furnished private home. ‘Wait here. I’ll get you a drink.’
She gathered her wits enough to say, ‘Something soft, please.’ Slade Benedict’s sudden appearance was heady enough without compounding the effects with alcohol. She was furious about his take-charge behaviour but also consumed with curiosity. What on earth could he want to talk about?
It couldn’t be about her childish outburst over the promotion. He had accepted her apology and, despite his arrogance, he wasn’t the type of man to carry a grudge.
Even so, she wished she could take the outburst back. It would have been better to approach him with her concerns in a calm, rational manner. No wonder he thought she lacked maturity.
There was another possibility and she bit her lip, thinking of it. When she’d joined his company, there had been a misunderstanding about her age which she hadn’t corrected. As a result, she had started at a higher level and salary than her qualifications deserved.
Determined not to cheat anyone, she had crammed every bit of experience she could into her workday, taking courses and skipping breaks until she was sure the company was getting more than its money’s worth from her. Could Slade have found out somehow? Would he think her hard work was enough to balance out that one lapse when she was hired?
His stony expression as he approached with their drinks did nothing for her peace of mind. Then common sense came to her aid. If he had found out, he would have fired her, not allowed her to go on leave.
She forced herself to relax but it was a challenge as he dropped into a chair at right angles to her own. Stretching his long legs out, he hooked one foot over the other. Her own legs started to ache from keeping them tucked primly beneath her but the discomfort was preferable to the risk of tangling her legs with his.
Her tension grew and she looked at her watch. ‘My flight will be boarding soon. Hadn’t you better tell me what this is all about?’
‘Our flight,’ he corrected. ‘Don’t worry, they’ll page us in here after the others are aboard.’
‘You arranged for me to be in first class, didn’t you?’ she said on a sudden suspicion.
‘I wondered when the penny would drop.’
‘It’s more than a penny, it’s several hundred dollars,’ she gasped, finding her feet at last. ‘I thought the airline was responsible. Now I know it was your doing, I can’t possibly agree. I could never afford to pay you back.’
‘I don’t expect you to,’ he said mildly.
‘But you do expect something?’
It was hardly a question. Men like Slade Benedict always balanced the scales somehow.
She was totally unprepared for his answer. ‘I do want something in return. I want you to be my wife.’
She sat down again before her legs collapsed under her, and took a swallow of the drink he’d provided. ‘You want what?’
‘Relax. This isn’t a new form of seduction. I want you to act the part for the next few days.’
This was crazy! He might be her boss but he had no right to make such an outrageous demand. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m no actress,’ she denied.
His eyes narrowed, his gaze chilling. ‘Oh, no? My perusal of your personnel file suggests quite the opposite.’
So he did know that she was masquerading as older than her real age. ‘I needed the job,’ she said by way of vindication. ‘I didn’t mean any harm. And you must agree that I’ve done a good job.’
‘Which is the only reason you are still employed in my organisation,’ he assented. ‘Your work is outstanding, not that I would have accepted less.’
‘But it was the reason why I didn’t get the promotion,’ she conceded.
‘Yes, it was. I feel you need a few more years’ experience in your present position, until you catch up with the age you purport to be.’
He steepled his fingers and looked thoughtful. ‘How old are you, incidentally?’
‘Twenty-five,’ she said in a barely audible tone. At work she was supposed to be nearing her thirtieth birthday. Surely, knowing the truth, he would drop his alarming request for her to act as his wife? The newspapers had reported his own thirtieth birthday over a year ago, so he must see how incompatible they were, on age alone.
‘Twenty-five,’ he mused. ‘It’s a little young but you’ve been passing as older successfully so it will have to do.’
Distantly, she heard the first call for their flight, but was too preoccupied to pay it much attention. How dared he assume she would fall in with his plans simply because he willed it?
‘All the same, I can’t act as your wife,’ she declared. What right did he have to ask such a thing? ‘I don’t even know you, at least, not in that way.’
His grim look lightened slightly. ‘You don’t have to know me—in that way,’ he said, deliberately misinterpreting her words. ‘There are no sexual favours involved so don’t look so affronted. I’m not looking for a wife in the literal sense.’
Did she imagine it or did he shudder slightly at the prospect of being tied down with a wife? No wonder he had to proposition her at an airport to fill the role, if he found the idea of marriage so repulsive.
‘Nevertheless, I take your point that we need to appear more familiar with one another than we do now,’ he went on. ‘An evening together should be sufficient. It can be easily arranged, as we’re staying in the same hotel.’
‘Which you no doubt arranged at the same time as you had my airline ticket upgraded,’ she assumed furiously. Boss or not, he was the most highhanded man she had ever met. If ever she went shopping for a husband, she would wish for someone a little more human than Slade seemed to be.
‘I’m sorry but I can’t help you,’ she said flatly, her voice vibrant with anger. ‘I don’t know why you’re asking me but no reason could possibly justify it.’
‘Not even the lives of hundreds of Aboriginal babies?’ he said blandly.
About to thank him for the drink and walk away, she froze. ‘What did you say?’
‘I said that your agreement to what is really a simple task could save hundreds of young lives.’
‘I don’t understand.’
He leaned closer, enfolding her in the potent male aura of his aftershave lotion so that she felt slightly light-headed. ‘The resort you’re booked into is also the venue for a business convention which I’m attending, along with some friends from my university days.’
‘If this is some kind of practical joke...’
‘It’s no joke,’ he said grimly. ‘At university, a group of us invested some money with the agreement that the last one to remain single would claim what has become a sizeable amount of money.’
She took a steadying sip of her drink. ‘And you don’t want the money?’
She knew without being told that Slade’s business had made him one of Tasmania’s richest men. ‘As you’re aware, I hardly need it,’ he confirmed. ‘But the other candidate does. Bob Hamilton, the only other bachelor, is a doctor who has devoted his life to setting up clinics for Aboriginal children in the outback. The money would greatly assist him in his work.’
More confused than ever, she shook her head. ‘Then why don’t you just give it to him?’
‘Bob’s damned pride would prevent him accepting unless he thinks he’s won it fairly.’
‘So when you found out I’d be there at the same time you decided to turn up with a wife to convince him that he’s entitled to the money,’ she summarised her understanding of the situation.
‘Exactly.’ He stood up. ‘That’s the final call for our flight. Can I take it that you’ll do as I ask?’
Miserably, she shook her head. ‘I wish I could, since it’s in a good cause, but I’d be no good at it, honestly. I couldn’t convince anyone that we’re husband and wife.’
His expression became glacial. ‘I hoped you’d be more helpful, Eden. That’s why I kept your file on my desk instead of returning it to Personnel.’
Was he making it a choice between doing as he asked and losing her job? ‘I can’t believe you’d be so cruel,’ she ground out. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
‘Beyond accepting a job under false pretences,’ he reminded her. ‘After that, pretending to be my wife should be a piece of cake for you.’
A piece she might choke on, she thought. But what choice did he leave her? If she resigned, who else would employ her when he refused her a reference? ‘Everything I’ve heard about you is true,’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘You’re arrogant, unprincipled and manipulative.’
‘But you’ll do as I ask?’
‘For no longer than is absolutely necessary to convince your Bob Hamilton that the money is his,’ she insisted.
‘Naturally,’ he agreed, his mocking tone making her want to hit him. When he took her arm to escort her to the plane, it was all she could do not to tear herself free. She had better get used to it in her new role as his wife.
Slade Benedict’s wife. The very thought sent surges of electric sensation pulsating through her. She told herself it was anger at the way he had virtually blackmailed her into playing the part. After all, what else could it be?
CHAPTER TWO
THE Sunshine Coast airport with its plush lounges and tropical gardens was a far cry from the sandy patch of Maroochy Beach where the first aircraft landing in the region took place in 1922.
In those days, guests stayed in boarding houses designed in traditional Queensland style with wide, airy verandas but little in the way of luxuries. Today, their plane was met by a uniformed resort driver who whisked them in air-conditioned comfort to a new, low-rise resort hotel which fronted Coolum Beach.
With the exception of a central core, the resort had no building higher than three floors. They nestled into the curve of the landscape, the colours chosen to echo the natural surroundings.
Although sharply conscious of the man at her side who was supposed to be her husband, Eden was distracted by the patterns of light and texture the design created with its clever use of roof angles, overhangs and lattices.
As their driver pointed out the resort’s own large tract of coastal rainforest alongside the golf fairways, she gave a sigh of longing. If only Slade hadn’t come along with his impossible demands, she would have looked forward to exploring the resort.
She jumped when he enquired solicitously, ‘Ready, darling? We’re here.’
They had arrived at Reception and their luggage was already being unloaded. A uniformed doorman held the limousine door for her to alight. Slade’s casual use of the endearment brought the colour rising to her cheeks and she ducked her head. It was one thing to agree to act as his wife but quite another to actually carry it out.
‘I something the matter, darling?’ he asked, materialising at her side.
‘Must you keep calling me that?’
‘It’s good practice,’ he said, unperturbed.
‘But everyone doesn’t have to think we’re married, only your doctor friend.’
‘Who is a highly intelligent man,’ Slade warned her. ‘The more comfortable we become with our roles, the more convincing we’ll be.’
‘I suppose so,’ she said on a sigh. ‘I hadn’t bargained on starting so soon.’
‘You didn’t find it difficult to keep up your act at work,’ he reminded her. ‘Why should it be a problem now?’
Fresh colour flamed in her cheeks, sparked by anger this time. ‘All right, so I was in the wrong, but I’m doing my penance. Must you keep reminding me of it?’
‘Only when you need encouraging to play the part you agreed to.’
She tossed her long hair expressively. ‘Was blackmailed into, you mean. The only redeeming feature is knowing that some underprivileged children will benefit from having my holiday ruined.’
The hand she fluttered to express her frustration was captured in a firm grip. ‘It needn’t be ruined,’ he said in a soft undertone. ‘My wife is entitled to enjoy herself while she’s here.’
She felt an instant lifting of her spirits which she refused to connect with the warmth of his fingers entwined with hers. ‘She is? I mean...I am? You mean it’s all right if I explore the rainforest and the wildlife sanctuary?’
Her naive enthusiasm elicited a smile which softened the angles of his face, making him look almost attractive. ‘Of course. You’re free to explore while I attend the conference events. Provided you’re at my side at the opening and social occasions, the rest of the time is your own. Of course, that freedom doesn’t extend to holiday flirtations, you understand?’
Steel fingers crept up and down her spine, chilling her with the reminder of her unwanted obligation. ‘Of course not,’ she mocked. ‘How would it. look if Slade Benedict’s wife was seen flirting with another man?’
His hand clamped around her wrist, drawing her irresistibly closer until his lips brushed the curve of her ear. ‘I warn you not to try my patience, Eden. I want your word that you’ll go through with this to the best of your ability.’
The alternative was disgrace and, quite probably, long-term unemployment. Besides, it was in a good cause, as he had just reminded her. ‘You have my word,’ she agreed. ‘Now will you release my hand? You’re hurting me.’
‘Not as much as I will if you go back on your promise,’ he vowed. But his fingers loosened and she retrieved her wrist, rubbing it significantly so that he would know how bruising his grip had been.
But there was worse to come, she found when they were shown to their accommodation.
‘You can’t expect me to share a room with you,’ she seethed in an undertone, her glance moving to the porter who was delivering their luggage.
Slade’s eyebrows lifted in mocking amusement. ‘Not a room, a suite. Married couples usually share sleeping quarters.’
Despair throbbed through her. Despite his assurance, she was beginning to wonder how far he intended to take this charade. ‘Married couples, maybe. But we’re not...’
‘Not in need of another thing,’ he said, lifting his voice as the porter approached them. He accepted Slade’s generous tip with a salute and left, closing the door behind him.
She was alone with Slade for the first time and a confusing medley of sensations assailed her. The sense of alarm, she understood. The prospect of sharing close quarters with him was enough to alarm any woman. But there was something else, too, an undercurrent of excitement which was even more shocking.
‘This wasn’t part of our agreement,’ she denied, annoyed by the betraying tremor which vibrated in her voice. She had the uncomfortable certainty that he saw through her facade of coolness to the cauldron of emotions seething inside her.
‘Scared, Eden?’ he asked in a voice as soft as a caress.
‘N-no.’ It was true, wasn’t it?
His aura enveloped her as he came up behind her, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders, the warmth of them pervading her body. ‘Good. You shouldn’t be scared of me, ever.’
Weakness invaded her limbs. ‘Then you understand why I can’t possibly agree to share your suite?’
‘I understand why you don’t wish to, but it’s necessary.’ His finger slid down her throat and came to rest on the pulse which fluttered like a caged bird. ‘Most women would find the prospect stimulating.’
Her throbbing pulse betrayed how stimulating she found it, which was precisely why she dared not agree. For a heartbeat, she wondered what it would be like if she was really his wife, sharing this suite and... so much more.
Shocked by the power of her thoughts, she wrenched free and went to the glass door which opened on to a wide terrace, fixing her gaze on the ocean view while she fought for composure.
‘All the same, I can’t stay,’ she said when her throat allowed words to pass again.
He spoke so close behind her that she jumped. ‘You have no choice, I’m afraid. The hotel is booked out for the conference.’
