by Tania Joyce
Nate!
The world stopped spinning on its axis as her eyes met his. She pushed her way through the throng of people, ignoring those who tried to grab her for a chat. She stopped three feet in front of him.
“What are you doing here?” The pain in her heart was too strong to be totally swept away by how dashing he looked dressed in a tuxedo. Her defense mechanisms were up.
“I was invited, if I remember.” He looked disappointed that she didn’t throw herself into his arms.
“I think, with the events over the past few days, that you were uninvited.” Oh boy, was she ready to vent some of her anger at him.
“Stop.” He put his hands up to defuse the situation. “I know you’re angry and hurt. You have every right. But something has come up. We need to talk. Can we go out on to the terrace? Please?”
“Just say it to me here, Nate.”
He glared at her, making her feel like a stubborn child. Nothing he could say was going to make a difference. He stood defiantly, as if he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She sighed, and reluctantly strutted out of the room and into the open air.
* * *
Nate stood with Jessica looking down over the pool area. Swirls of color danced on the water’s surface from the videos projected on the side wall of the hotel. But Nate’s attention was solely focused on the vision before him. The lights shone softly across Jessica’s features. Her hair look like spun gold as it danced in the evening breeze. Her skin was radiant, and he hoped he could put a smile back on her face.
“Nate, I can’t do this. My heart can’t take it anymore. Just you being here hurts too much.” The look in Jessica’s eyes cut him to the very core. He never wanted to see her like this again.
“I didn’t fly halfway around the world in the wrong direction just to see you, then leave. I think I’ve come up with a solution, if you’ll just hear me out.”
“What? What are you saying?” She shook her head and turned away from him. “We’ve investigated all avenues, there’s nothing we can do. So please, leave me alone. Just go.”
“This came to me while waiting for the plane. I don’t know why we didn’t think of it before. Maybe losing you and running into your old boyfriend, Troy, made me see everything in a new light.”
“You saw Troy?” she gasped and turned to face him again.
“Yes. Now please, will you just hear me out?” He would resort to begging if he had too.
Though pain was still evident on her face, Nate felt relieved when she nodded. He stepped closer, narrowing the distance between them. The ache to hold her grew unbearable.
“I love you.” He stepped towards her and caressed her cheek. “More than anything. I want to be with you … and raise our child together.”
“You … you want to have our baby?” Her eyes searched his face, unconvinced his words were honorable.
“Yes. I know it’s no excuse, but the lack of sleep and stress over the launch weekend were clouding my head when you told me that you were pregnant. I handled the whole situation terribly. I didn’t think things through. Now I have, I know I made the biggest mistake in my life letting you walk away. Please forgive me. I’ll do anything to make this right.”
Jessica’s eyes were wide with shock and her mouth hung slightly open. He saw she was about to protest and he raised his finger to silence her.
“Hear me out, okay? I think I have a proposition that may just work.” Her eyes flared with worry but he continued. “You want to expand. Right?”
Jessica furrowed her brow.
Why did she still have to look so goddamn sexy? It made it so hard to concentrate.
“Remember we talked about our European hotels? Well, it clicked. I need them rebranded and promoted. So, what do you say about opening an office in London? I’ll help you by giving you some office space in our building while you find your own feet. I’ll give you the Somers Europe hotels account and a few friends owe me a couple of favors, I’ll easily convince them to use your agency as well. So you’ll have an office, clients … and me … if you want.”
She gasped. “I can’t just up and leave my business to be with you in London. Are you crazy?”
“Absolutely. Just think for a moment. I know it’s a lot to take on board and there’ll be a lot to sort out,” Nate went on. “This is what you’ve always wanted. I’m not asking you to leave your business—I’d never do that. We’re both tied to our companies and we’re both pigheaded and unwilling to sacrifice everything. So is this a compromise that could work? We could spend half of our time in London where I can work on business development alongside the board, then the other half back in Sydney, or wherever in the world you want to call home. But the main point here is that I want you, our baby and a life together. What do you say?”
Was that fire burning in her eyes? Oh shit, he’d blown it. Jessica’s hand trembled even more and her eyes filled with tears. Damn it! He’d approached this all the wrong way.
Nate felt drained. How could he convince her that this would work? “I love you Jess, please say yes!” He stroked her tears away with his fingertips and caressed her cheek. “We can do this.”
Her eyes, swarming with tears, wrenched at his heart. Oh God! Was this it? She was going to turn him down? No! He wouldn’t let her. He’d do everything in his power to win her heart back.
“Baby, please tell me what you’re thinking. You’re killing me here.”
She closed her eyes and her lips trembled. “Tell me what you said again, so I know I’m not dreaming.”
Hope filled his heart as he raked his brain trying to quickly recall his jumbled words.
“First—I love you. Second—I want to be with you and have our baby. And then, do you think you could live between London and Sydney with me?”
She laughed through her veil of tears. “You want to have our baby?”
Nate nodded, sucking in a hard breath trying to keep his own charged emotions at bay. He entwined his fingers with hers.
“I was going to call you.” Her lips trembled as she spoke. “Or email you. Or somehow tell you that I couldn’t abort our baby. I couldn’t get rid of the little part I had left of you.”
“Believe me, I’m glad you didn’t.”
“And you want to live between two countries?” Her eyes shone with tears. “Alex will take so much convincing. I’ve always wanted to expand, but I was thinking about different locations—not London. The UK? I’ll hate the weather.”
“Jess, stop for a moment. Neither one of us thought about this as an option. I suppose we were too focused on the launch. I just want to be with you with no deadlines or end dates in sight. Just a due date in nine months’ time.”
He drew her hand up to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand, thankful she didn’t pull away. “You’ll love London. The shopping, the theatre, the lights. There’s so much to do. Our hotel and offices are in the heart of the financial district. We’re right next to the Gherkin—that egg-shaped building on St Mary Axe. And I do actually own a house in London, so there’d be no living in a hotel.”
His excitement was starting to light fire within his chest, but it immediately fizzled out when Jessica shook her head. “I’ve got so much work on over Christmas. We have to look at this realistically.”
“I know it’s a big decision and you’ll have to discuss it with Alex. I’ll come back to Sydney with you and attend the board meeting by video conference. I can delay the new renovations for a little while longer until January. Let’s spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve together, then if we can get everything in order you could come over with me and start working on campaigns for Europe.”
“I can’t move countries in a month.”
He pondered the idea for a moment. Would it be possible? Pack, sort out work commitments, staff rearrangements, visas, Alex. He knew she couldn’t just up and leave her business partner in the lurch. Then there was her son, Conner. Goddamnit! There was so much to consider. But, if there was anyone who
could do it, it would be Jessica.
“You, the woman who just pulled off a massive hotel opening in six months. You, whose business needs this. What else do I have to say or do to convince you that this is right? Do you want me to get down on my knees and beg?”
He started to bend down on one knee when she hooked her hand under his arm to stop him. He stood back up and wrapped his arms around her waist.
He could see doubts and questions rattle though her mind. But this was a way for them to be together. She’d still have her business and finally expand. He could keep the Somers empire growing. They’d travel the world, have their baby and be a family. A real family. They’d both be crazy to let a chance like this at happiness slip by.
As she wiped the wetness off her cheeks, she looked at him. “You know you’re crazy, right? Coming all this way, halfway across the world.”
He nodded holding his breath, waiting for her response.
“But I love you so much,” she whispered. “And I do like your proposition.”
Nate curled his fingers around her neck and drew her lips to his. His heart thundered within his chest as she finally melted into his body and kissed him.
No more heartache, no more pain, no more end in sight. She was his now and forever more and had given him a new lease on life. One they’d share together and raise their child in a home full of love. Nate took her face gently in his hands and looked down at her beautiful smile and sparkling eyes.
“Love you, too. You’re my life. My love. My everything.”
Epilogue
The sun shimmered on the surface of the clear turquoise waters in front of the bungalow, where Jessica lay on a deck chair reading a book. Nate had magically won the tickets to Tahiti at the silent auction back at the awards night in Los Angeles. After months of hard work, they finally had time to take a much-needed holiday, a few weeks’ rest before heading back to Australia.
In addition to a few contacts of Nate’s, Jessica had managed to score several stable accounts, hire a small team and set up Kick’s first international office in London. Alex had been over to visit twice to handle all the rigmarole of paperwork, accounts and company incorporations. She was more than glad to pass that process over to him.
Wearily she rubbed her hand over her protruding belly. Her feet ached, her breasts were swollen like melons and her nipples stung when she went in the salt water, so she was content to lounge around like a beached whale.
She looked out into the ocean and saw Nate snorkeling across the coral reef in front of their hut, duck diving under the surface and floating about. The muscles on his arms flexed as he swam toward her. His buffed body looked magnificent. She thought she was bad before, but being pregnant made her randy as hell. As he climbed up the ladder out of the water, he flicked his head back. Droplets of water fanned out behind him and danced above him in the shape of a halo.
Mmm, my angel all right.
He grabbed a towel off the railing and rubbed himself down. He walked over to her and sat down on the edge of the chair next to her legs. “Here, I found this.”
Nate placed an oyster shell on her big belly.
“Oysters? Do we really need an aphrodisiac, Nate?”
“Definitely not. But open it.” He smiled.
Jessica was about to tell him not to be stupid and say that she’d need a knife when she saw the shell was already cracked. She opened it up and gasped. Inside lay a ring sparkling with a massive princess-cut diamond, at least a few carats. It was the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen.
“Please don’t tell me you’ve been swimming around with this stuck down your pants somewhere?” she said, waving her finger toward his groin.
“No,” he chuckled. “I left it down on the steps, wrapped up in my shirt.” Nate dropped to his knees and took her hand in his. “Jess, you have turned my life around and now it would mean nothing without you in it. You complement me in every way and I can’t wait to share our life together and raise our child. I love you and want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?”
Jessica looked at the ring, then at Nate, then back at the ring. Her belly lurched with a massive kick from the baby inside. Was it protesting or screaming in delight? Her hand cradled the place where she’d just been kicked. Nate leaned down and kissed the very spot.
“We’re two of a kind, you and I,” he said. “Meant to be together. You’re my world, my universe, my life. Marry me and make me the happiest man alive.”
Images flashed before her eyes—their first meeting, their first time together, the night they made slow love after the industry event, Byron, their dance at the launch. Jessica had never been in love like this in her life. Her heart and soul were complete with Nate.
She looked up into eyes that reflected the color of the ocean. Her heart pounded like waves crashing against the shoreline. “Yes. Yes, Nate … I will marry you. I love you so much.” She leaned over and kissed his lips. “I should sleep with my clients more often!”
THE END
Dangerous Acquisitions - Strictly Business Book 2
Prologue
Two years on from Propositions
June
“Damn it.”
Troy cursed as steam shot out of the coffee machine nozzle and milk exploded all over the counter. His hands shook uncontrollably as he placed the pitcher of scalded milk on the counter and looked around for a cloth to clean up the mess. He was no professional barista, but he could make a cup of coffee when needed without this chaos. As he wiped the bench, his mind was elsewhere. Why did his boss, Nick Hill, want to meet with him? Had something happened in the vineyard that he had overlooked?
As he cleaned up and made a fresh brew, the knot in his stomach grew worse. Nick had sounded so formal on the phone when he called earlier for Troy to come up to the office for a meeting. Troy had worked for nearly three years at Gumtrees Winery and didn’t think anything was wrong. But his damned right knee was aching profusely, making him draw unfavorable conclusions. Like a sixth sense, his knee only played up in times of change. And at thirty-nine years of age, he’d had enough of those to last him a lifetime. What was in store for him now? He bent and wriggled his knee around to try to ward off the uneasy feeling. Unable to delay any longer, he grabbed his coffee and walked out through the glass door onto the restaurant terrace. Nick stood up from behind one of the tables and greeted him with a smile. But when Troy shook Nick’s clammy hand, his concern jumped up another notch. Something wasn’t right.
“Sorry to pull you up here when we’re so busy out in the field, but there’s something I need to talk to you about. Please, grab a seat.” Nick pointed to the chair across from him as he sat down.
“Is everything okay?” Troy asked, eyeing the pile of manila folders bulging with documents resting on the table. He’d become good friends with Nick over the past few years, and seeing the tension creasing Nick’s brow, he could tell something was on his mind.
Before Nick could reply, Maria, his wife, joined them and took a seat by his side. Troy shuffled around on his chair trying to get comfortable but was unable to stop his legs from jittering underneath the table. The two owners had never summonsed him to a meeting like this before. “Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
Nick rubbed the side of his unshaven cheek. “No. No. Nothing’s wrong. Quite the opposite, actually. I’ve been up half the night trying to come up with a good spiel to give to you, but you know me, I’m no good at bullshitting. We want to run something past you.” He glanced sideways at Maria, who gave him a quick smile and a nod. “We’ve finalized our business plan to expand Gumtrees to include a new functions room, a few new cabins, and have documented some ideas on increasing our vineyard production, sales and capacity. Maria’s restaurant is becoming more popular and we want to take advantage of the growing demand for weddings and larger functions. Sales are good and the vineyard production is up.” He grinned, crow’s-feet etched at the corner of his eyes.
Troy nodded, listened intentl
y, but wondered where this was leading.
“You’ve been a big part of that. Your knowledge and viticulture skills surpass most people I’ve known in this industry for years. We’d hate to lose you to some other grower in the area—”
“I’ve got no intentions of going anywhere, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” Troy butted in, wanting to assure them of his loyalty.
Nick placed his hands, palms faced down, on the table. “That’s good to know, because we have a proposal for you.” He pulled his shoulders back, straightening in his chair. “We were wondering … if you’d be interested in becoming a business partner with us. Buy in and invest into the future of Gumtrees.”
Troy’s mouth fell open as he held his cup suspended in midair, halfway between his lips and the table. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.” Maria added. “You’ve done more for this place in the past few years than we’ve done in twenty. We don’t know whether it’s because you spend all that time talking to the vines, but the vineyard is performing beyond our expectations. You’re great with the guests and you help out with running the place. You don’t mind changing dirty linen for me when I need help. You’ve become part of the landscape around here and we’d like to keep it that way.”
“Wow!” Troy leaned back in his chair as all the breath in his lungs escaped with a gush. His mind wheeled around in circles as he tried to make sense of what was being said.
“I don’t know if you have the financial means to do so,” Nick said, “but Maria and I have met with our accountant and thought it would be a great opportunity for all of us. I’ve had them draw up this proposal and put it with our business plan for you to review.” Nick handed him the manila folder and all of its contents across the table. Troy opened it and flicked through the pages, not taking any real notice of the words or figures flashing before him. “Have a look through it and let us know if there is anything you want to discuss. You know our turnover. You know our expenses. And you know we’re growing. Maria and I think you’re a critical part of our success and want you to be a part of our future.”