‘Hm.’ Maybe. ‘I’m still not sure she’s everything she’s reported to be. I think we should get a background check on her before we make any formal agreements.’
‘I think you were born suspicious,’ Luca told him as both men stood to take their leave. ‘If your meeting with Sarah finishes quickly, come and join me for lunch at Peppi’s.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Nick said.
Luca’s ‘We’ll see’ was only just audible as he and Max left the room via different doors that led directly into their individual offices.
Great. His friends went off for lunch and he was stuck here waiting for Maleficent’s rival in rudeness.
Moments later, his secretary was at the doorway dwarfed by the supermodel’s height. ‘Mr Henderson, Miss Bryant to see you.’
‘Thank you, Mrs Jenkins.’ Nick stood as Sarah walked into the room and Mrs Jenkins left and closed the door behind her.
The model looked hesitant, hovering just inside the door. ‘Thank you for seeing me without an appointment.’
Formal.
Polite.
Uncertain.
Those words summed up his assessment of her and as much as he wanted her the hell out of here, manners dictated that he invite her in. ‘Please, have a seat.’
There was definitely a troubled look in her blue eyes and although she sat, she perched right on the edge of the chair, the lines of her body taut. Before he could ask the purpose of her visit she launched, ‘I’m here to apologise for the awful way I’ve behaved towards you.’
Really?
Nick sat on the chair at the end of the table, immediately to her left. He was unable to credit that Luca was right.
His friend was also right that Nick was suspicious. Now, he was suspicious about the motivation behind the apology.
Was she trying a different tactic to get him to sell Hertherington Estate?
She moved her hands in an agitated manner in front of her as she continued. ‘You were right that my decision to turn down the documentary filming was personal.’
He arched one eyebrow as he waited for her to explain.
‘I thought I had a good reason not to like you so it was impossible for me to be polite to you.’ Her bottom lip disappeared for a moment as she bit down on it. ‘I’ve only found out this morning that I was terribly wrong.’ She looked down and fixated on her hands which were clenched together tightly on her lap. ‘Ever since I learned the truth I’ve been feeling sick with shame—for having misjudged you and for behaving so badly.’
Bloody hell! There was no way she could be faking this level of remorse.
Her blue eyes met his again. Her voice rang with sincerity when she said, ‘I’m here to apologise and I’m hoping you’ll be able to forgive me.’
Sitting back he continued to pin her with his gaze, looking for any sign of deception. Finding none, his curiosity was definitely piqued. ‘I’d like to hear what reason you thought you had to dislike me so intensely.’ He thought back to the flash of fear he’d seen in her eyes.
While she swallowed and looked as though she was trying to frame her response, Nick absorbed everything about her. That she was nervous was obvious. Her voice lacked the confidence she’d addressed him with last night and the scooped out neckline of her top revealed that her chest had become blotchy since she’d walked through the door and faced him. Although it looked as though she’d developed an allergic reaction in the last few minutes, he realised the red blotches were caused by stress.
His lips twisted before he ventured, ‘I’m listening.’
‘I … We haven’t met but I saw you on board Maksim Kuznetsokov’s yacht with Crystal.’
Shit! ‘You were one of the girls on board?’
‘Yes. No. Well, I was on board, but I believed I’d been invited to meet agents who might launch my modelling career. I had no idea what was really planned for the evening.’
‘Sarah.’ He said the name aloud as he thought back to the night so long past. ‘You’re Sarah—the girl Crystal spoke about?’
‘I guess that’d be me. Crystal and I were talking for a while before I realised what was going on.’
‘You were the one who tried to talk her into hiding.’
‘Yes.’ A myriad of emotions seemed to cross her face. Although he couldn’t discern them all, he could see regret.
‘Were you arrested?’
When he’d hauled Crystal into the safety of the stateroom and then phoned the police, Crystal had implored him to look for Sarah. Nick had left her in the room to try to find the girl Mandy’s sister had described, but he hadn’t been successful. Concerned first and foremost with getting his sister-in-law to safety, he’d returned to Crystal and reassured her that the police would work out who was guilty and who was innocent.
‘No. I found a good hiding spot.’
‘That’s why I couldn’t find you when Crystal sent me to look for you.’
Her head drew back as her eyes widened slightly. ‘You went looking for me?’
‘When Crystal knew the police were on their way she was worried about you. She told me you’d been scared and hadn’t even been drinking.’
‘I didn’t dare come out even when the water police boarded. It was close to six o’clock the next morning before I finally had the courage to leave my hiding place. Everything was quiet but even when I was making my way through the marina towards a taxi rank I was terrified of being discovered and possibly arrested.’
‘I’m amazed the police search didn’t find you.’
‘I was jammed in a very tight space. I doubt they would’ve even thought it likely anyone would be hiding there.’
Although shocked to learn Sarah had been on board the yacht, the real reason for her hostility hit Nick with sudden clarity.
‘You thought I was one of Kuznetsokov’s cronies,’ he bit out with distaste.
‘I did.’ The words were full of regret. ‘I saw you manhandle Crystal down the passageway. She was screaming at you to leave her alone when you forced her into the stateroom.’
‘You thought I was intent on forcing myself on her,’ he supplied with a shudder.
She bit down on her lip and her gaze fixed on something on his desk. ‘I did.’
It explained a lot. ‘That’s why you stumbled on the catwalk when you saw me.’ He guessed she must’ve had a flashback to that night and been so upset she hadn’t been able to continue. ‘It’s why you refused the offer to do the documentary for NOCO.’
‘Yes. Everyone told me all these great things about you, but I still had images in my mind of what I thought you’d done to Crystal and I was so angry with you. It was only when I met Crystal again at Jocelyn’s this morning that she set me straight.’
Now he understood the obscure reference she’d made intimating that his involvement with NOCO was a ruse—some sort of PR trick to make him look respectable. He also recalled her seemingly random comment about his love of yachts.
Her blue gaze held his. ‘I can’t apologise enough for my behaviour. I’m truly, deeply ashamed and I hope you’ll forgive me for jumping to the wrong conclusions.’
He crossed his arms in front of him. Shit. No wonder she’d been so bloody cold to him. She’d thought he was a sexual predator.
While he was deeply disturbed to have been labelled in such a vile way, when he replayed the events she’d witnessed it was easy to see how she’d have received the wrong impression. ‘I accept your apology.’
‘Thank you.’ The breath she expelled and the accompanying rise and fall of her shoulders signalled her relief. Her lack of a smile told him she was still beating herself up about her error.
It seemed she wasn’t the only one who might’ve been guilty of misjudgement and that she wasn’t such a dragon after all. ‘Now we’ve cleared that up, where does it leave us, Sarah?’
Her spine straightened and her determination to move forward was in the small tilt of her chin. ‘I hope we can declare a truce.’
‘Tha
t sounds reasonable.’
‘And, if you’re willing to start again, I would really love to do the documentary on ocean conservation.’
He nodded even though part of him remained wary about this woman. ‘My partners are still very keen to have you do the filming.’
‘But you’re not?’
He considered the troubled light that’d reignited in her eyes. ‘Do I need to be?’
‘I’d like to have a good working relationship with you.’ She moved her hands expressively as she explained, ‘I only said I didn’t want to work with you because of what I thought I knew. Can we move past it?’
Nick wasn’t one to keep a grudge over a misunderstanding but he still wasn’t completely happy. There was still a little niggle that all was not quite as it seemed with her—a suspicion based on the suddenness of her embracing so many different career moves and increasing her public accessibility.
‘I promise I’ll work hard for NOCO.’
He thought about her passion for the ocean. ‘Yes, we can move forward.’
But I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.
She sent him a small smile. Not the ‘thousand-watt winner’ he’d seen in advertising campaigns, but it looked sincere.
‘About last night …’ She shifted uncomfortably on the chair. ‘You paid a lot of money to have dinner and I drove you away with my terrible attitude.’ Uncertainty clouded her eyes. ‘If you’re free tonight, I’d like to take you out to dinner by way of apology and …’ He watched as she swallowed again. ‘It would be nice to be able to start over and to discuss your plans for the documentary some more.’
Taking pity on her obvious unease, he smiled. ‘You promise we’ll make it to the first course?’
There they were—those gorgeous dimples.
They were accompanied by the creasing of her forehead and a slight grimace, but he was captivated by them.
‘I promise.’
He didn’t bother reminding her she’d told him at the fashion parade that she was busy every night this week. She’d been big enough to come and offer the apology and explanation and he wasn’t one to turn down an olive branch. ‘Where and when?’
‘Raphael’s at seven?’
He nodded. ‘Shall I pick you up?’
‘No. Thanks anyway, but it’s easier for me to meet you there.’ She stood up and offered him her hand. ‘Thank you for making that so easy for me. Crystal said you would.’
Nick took her hand in his and warmth rushed through him. Her hand was soft and slender—a good fit in his. ‘See you tonight.’
‘See you then.’ Sarah broke eye contact with him and he unclasped her hand.
He thought he saw the start of a blush stealing across her cheeks before she turned quickly and left the room.
Well. Well. Echoing Luca’s earlier words in his mind, Nick raised his eyebrows as he stood in the empty boardroom. This was an unexpected turnaround.
It promised to be an interesting evening.
Chapter 9
At this rate Sarah would be late.
Ridiculously, she’d found herself pulling out and discarding one garment after another from her wardrobe. She wanted Nick Henderson to take her seriously. After her horrendous gaffe she wanted him to be able to take her on board the NOCO project with confidence.
She finally settled on a conservative black, linen trouser suit and teamed it with a gold top with shoe string straps. The material clung to her breasts, but she intended to hide her physical assets beneath her jacket.
Plain gold earrings were her only concession to jewellery, and she merely applied a light smear of lip gloss to her mouth and left her hair out.
Ryan eyed her admiringly and nodded his approval as she went to say goodnight to him. ‘You look sensational. I hope you have a great night.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled as she bent down to kiss his cheek. ‘I went to say goodnight to Helen but she was in the shower. I hope you guys enjoy the disability conference. You’ll have to say goodnight and wish her well for me. I don’t think I’ll be up to wave you off at 4am.’
‘Can you spare five minutes before you leave?’
No. She was cutting it fine and she didn’t want Nick to think she was now standing him up, but Ryan always came first.
‘Sure.’ She pulled out one of the chairs and sat down in front of him.
‘Are you okay about having dinner with Henderson?’
‘Yes, even though I feel pretty bad about last night.’ She hadn’t gone into any details. All she’d told Ryan and Helen was that the dinner hadn’t eventuated because of a personality clash. Then, when she’d come home today, she’d admitted they’d called a truce and were trying again.
‘Thank him for me.’
‘I will.’
Ryan had contacted Nick’s office first thing that morning and been put in touch with someone who spoke to him about his requirements for a country estate. True to his word, Nick was supporting Ryan’s search and had committed to it even before she’d apologised to him.
‘You never know, Sarah, this could be the start of a great romance.’
What?
Hardly!
‘My lifestyle makes any meaningful romance difficult,’ she reasoned. But there were a couple of more compelling reasons she hadn’t had a romance.
‘Difficult but not impossible.’ He rotated his shoulders as he spoke. ‘It’s ironic that your fame and beauty is probably more of a handicap to you forming a close relationship than my disability is to me.’
‘We have each other.’ She smiled at him, grateful they were so close.
‘You know I’d be happy for you if you fell in love with the right guy, don’t you?’
‘I know.’ As much as Sarah would like to think she could have a fabulous romance, she told herself she didn’t need it.
Her grandmother had cautioned her years ago that Ryan would always need her. Gran had pointed out that any potential partner of Sarah’s may be unprepared to have her brother live with them and that even if he seemed willing at first, he’d probably grow to resent Ryan’s presence in their married life.
Sarah had introduced the three guys she’d dated to Ryan a few weeks into her relationship with each of them. It’d been at that point she’d ended each relationship.
They hadn’t known he was her brother—only that he was a gold medallist Paralympian and that she worked with Ryan through her involvement with the Extend Foundation. Every one of them had been uncomfortable with Ryan’s disability and one had treated his gold medal win with absolute condescension.
Insensitive, ignorant idiots, all of them!
‘Don’t ever feel you have to stay around to look after me instead of pursuing your own happiness. I don’t want to be a burden.’
‘Ryan! Don’t ever talk like that. As if you’re a burden! Besides being my brother, you’re my best friend. Sometimes I think I rely more on you than you do on me.’
She caught a glimmer of moistness in his eyes and her heart clenched.
‘I love you, Sarah. We’ve been together forever and relied on each other a lot, but it’s inevitable one day we’ll live separately.’
‘No way!’ she denied. ‘Even if I did ever marry I’d want you to live with me.’
He frowned before he ventured gently, ‘What will you do if I marry?’
Sarah tilted her head in surprise and saw he was looking at her searchingly.
To her total discredit, she’d never seriously entertained the possibility of Ryan marrying. But, why wouldn’t he? His spinal cord damage may confine him to a wheelchair but he was a warm, witty, very clever and lovable young man who had incredible strength of character and was determined to live life to the full. Last year after the Para Olympics he’d also been the toast of the nation.
‘Have you met someone?’ she asked.
‘I love Helen. I think she feels the same way about me.’ He put his head to one side. ‘I was going to wait until the doctors tell me more about what I can hop
e for with this new stem cell therapy, but—’ he shrugged his shoulders, ‘—life’s short. Now I’m working full-time at Extend and don’t have a rigorous training schedule, I’ve decided the time is right. I’m going to propose to her when we’re away together over the next couple of days.’
It was impossible for Sarah to keep her eyes from widening. Yet, even though it was a shock, the truth of his words slammed into her.
‘Of course she loves you.’ Joy burst through her and she grinned at him. His words were such a thrill she had to keep her voice down so Helen wouldn’t hear her excitement. ‘My God, I’ve been so blind. All I have to do is think about the way you both interact and it’s obvious you’re perfect for each other.’
Tears of happiness pricked at her eyes.
What had started out as a paid helper’s role had morphed into Helen working along Ryan at the Extend Foundation as well. They were both driven by a need to help those with disability and to support carers.
Even on her rostered days off, Helen never ventured very far from Ryan’s side.
‘I’m sure she’ll accept your proposal.’ She got up from her chair so she could hug him. ‘I’ll be really happy for you both.’
Ryan hugged her back enthusiastically. As Sarah drew back he said, ‘If she marries me, I’ll want to move into a place of our own.’
A bittersweet pain lodged itself in Sarah’s chest. The kid brother she’d always looked out for was no less a man for his disability. He’d not only been the hero of the nation with his record-breaking gold medal haul at the last Para Olympics, but he’d always been Sarah’s hero as she’d watched him overcome one physical obstacle after another. Everything in her wanted Ryan to be happy. He deserved to live his life independent of her.
It was amazing that she and Gran had never foreseen this, but then again, Gran hadn’t known that Sarah would be a famous model and her income would be able to provide Ryan with all sorts of opportunities. If she’d been a live-in carer and they’d had to survive on a disability and a carer’s pension those opportunities wouldn’t have been as readily available. Neither she nor Gran had foreseen all the possibilities that the world of stem cell medicine was opening up for paraplegics.
Seduced by the Billionaire Page 9