by Margaret Way
“So do I know anyone who’s coming outside of Curt and Adam?” Casey asked, wariness in her sapphire eyes.
“We invited Troy Connellan. You know him.” Courtney kept her tone casual. “His sister Leah is at home so we’ve invited her and her current boyfriend. You’ll like our other guests. They’re very easygoing people. All pastoral families. Twelve in all. Just the right cosy number. What was the point of restoring the homestead if we can’t have friends over?”
“So what is it I’m not going to like about Troy’s sister?” The ever sharp Casey asked.
“I must have phrased that wrongly,” Courtney said, keeping her voice even. “Thing is I don’t remember much of Leah so the both of us will get to know her.”
“How does everyone dress for these occasions?” Casey said, her fiery head thrown back against a high backed chair.
“Something with an evening look for dinner. Otherwise casual.” Darcy gave her a smile.
“I don’t wear dresses a lot,” Casey said, just a hint of rebellion in her voice.
“Neither did I,” Darcy laughed. “Fact is I’ve got used to them for certain occasions. Curt loves me in a dress.”
“You’re a lucky woman, Darcy.” Casey looked over at the beautiful creature who was now her sister. “You have a wonderful man who loves you. And I can see you adore him.”
“I can’t wait to be a married woman,” said Darcy and blushed. “Now we’re on the subject, Courtney is my maid of honour and two old friends, Fiona Kinsella and Lisa Sanders, are my other bridesmaids but I want you, Casey, to be my bridesmaid too. Will you?” She fixed Casey with a look that said don’t-try-to-get-out-of-it.
Casey waited a few moments before she could answer. “I’m too tall,” she said. “I’d throw the whole bridal party out of kilter. Just look at Courtney. I tower over her.”
“Everyone towers over me.” Courtney smiled and touched the top of her shining curls. “Curt and his best man—he’s coming at the weekend so you can meet him—are well over six feet. Darcy is tall so is Fee. Lisa is in between. I’m the one who should be the drop-out.”
“I’ve never been asked to be a bridesmaid in my entire life,” Casey said. “It’s an honour, Darcy, but I don’t know.”
“Look on it as a dress rehearsal for your own wedding,” Courtney teased.
Casey tilted her head back and closed her eyes. “I’m never getting married.”
“Not even engaged?” Courtney was still teasing.
“I’ve developed differently to you,” Casey said, straightening up. “No man is ever going to get the chance of dumping me.”
Adam Maynard stepped briskly out of the lift to catch a bite to eat before his afternoon meeting with the industrialist Sir Arthur Elliot, one of the firm’s top clients. His mind was totally preoccupied with a proposal he intended to put before Sir Arthur to save him yet more tax, when a young woman hailed him.
“Adam!”
Out of context at first he didn’t know her but he wrenched his mind back. It was that Barbra something who had caused so much angst between him and Courtney at the Polo Ball held on Curt’s splendid station, Sunset Downs. She was dressed very differently now and she looked a whole lot better. She wore a very smart outfit in black and white, black strappy sandals, expensive shoulder bag, dark glossy hair longer than he remembered and brushed back to reveal lustrous drop pearl earrings. The kind of young woman any guy would want to date.
“Barbra, isn’t it?” he asked with just a touch of derision.
“What a surprise to see you.” She gave him an admiring once-over before smiling brightly up into his face. “Especially when we both work at the big end of town. I’m with Cooper-McLaren now,” she said.
“Right.” He nodded his dark head. He knew the firm. “You’ll have to excuse me, Barbra. I’m in one heck of a hurry.” He didn’t trust this young woman. She was a born troublemaker who had never got over being by-passed for a top job by Courtney McIvor.
Barbra for her part could fairly feel the dislike coming off him. So handsome and well dressed he’d been incredibly easy to spot. Persistence paid off. She loved those dark bedroom eyes intriguingly combined with the cool clipped voice. The contrast was exhilarating. She’d hung around for weeks hoping to run into him. Only a fool would let a guy like Adam Maynard out of her sights. “You still sound cross with me,” she said, managing to look deeply hurt. “I wasn’t lying, you know, about Courtney. Obviously you all believed her. But she really did brag she was going to wrap her father around her little finger.”
Adam met her eyes squarely. “Don’t waste my time with lies, Barbra. What is it with you? Can’t you contain your jealousy of Courtney? She took your job? Is that it?”
Barbra knew just how to swallow and appear on the verge of tears. “She did take my job, Adam,” she said very quietly, looking down momentarily so her dark eyelashes lay on her smooth cheeks. “And threw it away.” She looked up earnestly. “Courtney has enormous charm which she uses to maximum effect. I could easily produce a colleague who knew us both well. She’d back my story to the hilt.”
Adam tried to get a grip but his patience was fraying. “Barbra, I really am in a big hurry.”
“Maybe we could meet up later,” she suggested, trying to hold the eagerness down. If she could land a man like this! A handsome guy going places. “I could bring my friend if you need proof. I hate to think someone thinks so badly of me. I may have made a mistake telling tales out of school, Adam, a few drinks loosened my tongue, you know how it is, but believe me I’m not the liar. I’m not the one who should be in the line of fire. That’s Courtney. She knows exactly how to get people on side. I’ve studied her, but I can’t bring myself to copy her.”
“So you’ve been kind enough to tell us,” he answered in a cool voice. “It’s just that I believe Courtney’s version.”
“Well why wouldn’t you?” Barbra asked sadly. “You’re a guy. Courtney attracted guys like bees to the honey pot. She convinced us all blondes have more fun. They beat brunettes hands down.”
“That must make you want to see your hair stylist,” Adam said. “Look, we can’t change what happened. You upset a whole lot of people. My advice to you is the same I used to get from my grandmother. If you can’t say something good about someone, say nothing.”
“Then people like Courtney McIvor gets away with murder?” Barbra retaliated, jealousy snaking through her body. “The way I heard it she lost no time persuading her dying father to leave her a fortune equal to her big sister’s. Nice going!” Barbra looked as though she was about to dissolve into frustrated tears. “If I were you, seeing you’re handing out advice, I’d be mighty suspicious of Courtney McIvor’s pretty little ways and the baby blues. Underneath it all, she’s a cool, calculating bitch.”
“How you loved to get your tongue around that,” Adam retorted, disdain on his dark handsome face. “I really must go, Barbra. I have a big afternoon coming up.”
He sketched a brief salute and continued on his way across the marble lobby and out the door, losing himself swiftly in the lunchtime crowd.
Drat bloody Barbra, he thought, his nerves jangling. The last thing he needed was for all his old doubts about Courtney to resurface. He didn’t like lies. He’d given himself over to anticipating this coming weekend at Murraree. He’d missed her. Right then he didn’t want to think just how much. Either Barbra was a highly accomplished actress—she really did look like she was about to burst into tears—or Courtney really had leaned heavily on her undeniable charms to get what she wanted. Courtney McIvor might look like an angel but he knew for a fact she had a hard head for business.
Trust came hard to Adam. He had seen too much of deception, sometimes from the most unlikely people. No matter how deeply she moved him Adam made a quick resolution to hold back until he was more sure of her.
In the end because there was no time to trek off shopping, Darcy came up with an idea for Casey’s dinner outfit. A top she’d recently acq
uired but hadn’t yet worn. It was a sleeveless satin wrap top, silvery-blue in colour printed with deep blue peonies in the oriental style. A very wide silver belt held it, pointing up a narrow waist. Casey had her own designer label stretch blue jeans to wear. Her own high heels. Courtney contributed the shell earrings that fell in two lustrous oval discs.
“I loved them when I saw them, but they overwhelm me,” she said. “They’ll look great on you.”
Casey put them on and turned for an inspection. “Well?”
“Just like I said. Terrific.”
“So what’s on your mind?” Casey took the earrings off and laid them carefully on the table. “You seem a little flustered. You’re thinking about the lawyer guy aren’t you?”
“No.” Courtney’s flower face pinked.
“You are!” Casey contradicted. “What time does he arrive?”
“Two o’clock if the charter flight is right on time. He landed some big deal so he was able to take today off.”
“He must be very smart,” Casey said. “He looks it. A full partner in a top firm and he’s what, thirty, thirty-one?”
“I think so. I haven’t asked him his birthday,” Courtney said.
“But you like him?” Casey grinned wickedly. “You don’t have to answer.”
“I will. It’s a lot warmer than liking, but he’s not an easy man to know. We got off on the wrong foot. He suspected me of trying to influence the outcome of Dad’s will. I tried to explain that was the last thought in my head but I guess it’s his job to be suspicious.”
“If he can’t trust you, don’t trust him,” Casey advised, picking up her Akubra and cramming it on her head. “I’m joining Darcy at the Four Mile.” She glanced at her watch. “Better get going. Reckon I could trust myself on a horse without breaking an arm or a leg?’
“You’re already a better rider than I am,” Courtney said. Casey had proved a natural like Darcy who had shown her the ropes.
“Threwd her in the dam and she swam, threwd her on a horse and she rode,” Casey joked. “See you this afternoon. You’re picking up Adam?” Casey’s beautiful smile widened.
“Yes and you can take that grin off your face. You’re every bit as keen to see Troy Connellan.”
“Maybe, but I’m not going to tell him that,” Casey said.
The charter flight came in right on time. No waiting around.
“Hi Adam!” Don’t fall to pieces, you idiot! “How was the trip?”
“Hit a couple of thermals on the last leg,” he said, his mouth briefly touching her cheek when he really wanted to sweep her into his arms. “How are you?” Only his eyes drank her in. She was so well proportioned she looked like a perfect figurine. Cool as a vanilla and peach ice cream in the dry desert heat. The little V-neck T-shirt she wore with her white cotton jeans clung to her, barely hiding the contours of her small exquisite breasts. His stomach hardened into a tight knot. She had made astonishing inroads into his life.
Courtney for her part thought those fathomless dark eyes were probably seeking out her sins. She in turn studied him, hoping she wasn’t taking overlong. He looked like he’d just stepped out of an advert promoting classy outdoor gear. Sand coloured cotton jacket over a sky-blue and chocolate check shirt, navy cotton jeans, stitched leather tan loafers. He had just the right elegant athletic body to carry it all off.
“I’m fine,” she responded automatically, pulling her eyes away and setting off for the Jeep. “Looking forward to the weekend. It’s a way of confirming Casey’s position in our life and introducing her to our friends. Later, if she’s agreeable, we’ll do more.”
“How’s she settling in?” Adam asked, depositing his single suitcase in the back of the vehicle.
“We’ve bonded remarkably well. She already rides better than I do. I’m not bad, but I’ll never be in Darcy’s league which Casey might very well be in time. I’m hoping we can persuade her to sing and play for us over the weekend. She’s amazing. I can’t understand why she hasn’t cut a CD.”
“I expect she’ll get around to it,” Adam said. “She’s had other things on her mind. Have you and Darcy come to any decision regarding a settlement?”
“A settlement.” Courtney swung her shining blond head. “Darcy and I were thinking more of a three-way split.”
“We’ll have to talk about that,” Adam answered noncommittally. “You and Darcy are the only off spring of Jock McIvor’s marriage. He named you in his will. At this stage, you and Darcy are the ones in possession. Casey is his natural daughter. Of course she is entitled, both morally and legally, but you don’t want to create problems with the title to the station.”
“Protecting our interests, Adam?” Courtney asked sweetly, putting the Jeep into gear.
“That’s what I’m paid for,” he said mildly. “Obviously we have to discuss it. Curt is the executor of your father’s estate. I’m only one of the trustees.”
“But you’re the legal man.”
“Yes. Why is it I get the strong impression you don’t have a lot of time for legal men?”
She didn’t look at him. He made her heart turn over. “Maybe it’s because they ask such a lot of money for very little work.”
“I hope you’re not referring to me, Ms McIvor?” He gave her a hooded look. “I’m waiting.”
“No, sir!” There was a ghost of a smile on her lips.
Minutes later they entered the empty house, cool and inviting after the dancing white-heat of the day.
“You have your usual room,” Courtney said, leading the way up the staircase to the first floor gallery. She hoped she appeared a whole lot cooler than she felt. Having Adam around made all her nerves feel wired. At his bedroom she turned with a charming little gesture of her hand. “I hope you’ll—”
It happened involuntarily. He wasn’t even thinking. He was feeling. All his careful planning went up like a puff of smoke. He pulled her to him, his mouth shutting off her breath. His arm held her close to his chest. He kissed her hard and fast and deep, surrendering to that overpowering urge.
How long did it last? Courtney felt like she was swooning away. “I’ll never understand you,” she gasped when she was able, too weak to even push him away.
“How could you? I don’t understand myself.” He started kissing her again, burying his face in the sweet scented curve of her neck. He’d told himself he wouldn’t do this but that was easy to say when he was hundreds of miles away. Bring it down to mere inches and he couldn’t help himself. She was too bewitching. He was desperate to trust her all the way but he knew she had real powers of persuasion. At best he’d get burned. At worst, she’d have him eating out of her pretty little hand.
Just like McIvor.
“What are you thinking?” The words came out in a frustrated rush. Her heart was beating double-time. She didn’t even feel like she belonged to herself.
He went perfectly still for a moment. “I’m thinking how alluring you are.”
She gave a little wince. “Alluring is a problematic word.”
“You’d prefer something else?” He lifted his dark head, his lean features taut.
“Something that smacks less of deliberate enticement.” Her voice was suddenly angry.
“You haven’t tried to entice me?” He stared into her sky-coloured eyes.
“Perish the thought!”
“That’s okay then.” He smiled crookedly. “I don’t mind telling you you’re succeeding whether you mean to or not.” To prove it, he pulled her in tight again, his body separate from his mind.
“You’re not going to kiss me again?” She felt nothing but self-disgust at sounding so breathless.
“You know damned well what I need.”
“Just remember I didn’t ask for it.”
“Courtney,” he murmured, and touched the skin of her cheek slowly, savouring its texture. Then his mouth came down on hers again, headlong, hungry, questing. Courtney gave up trying for self-control. She thought she would have crumpled
only he was holding her up. She wasn’t just yielding to his need, either. She was yielding to her own.
After a while it was getting so torrid she thought she’d better do something.
She put her hand to his chest. “Wait.”
“I’ve already waited too long.” H swept her off her feet, carrying her back to a deep armchair, draping her across his knees.
What were those ragged little sounds? Was she making them? She couldn’t seem to get close enough to him though he was hugging her body tight. Her head supported by his arm was bent over the arm of the chair, the fingers of his other hand playing with her curls. They were acting like a pair of star-crossed lovers parted for a thousand years.
“God,” he said, finally lifting his mouth off hers. “How did this happen?” He shook his head sharply as if to clear it.
Courtney let out an explosive little breath. “I’ll tell you how it happened. You grabbed me. And you’d better let me up.” She wriggled a little on his lap. Stopped abruptly when she realized what she was doing to him.
“I want to crush you,” he said. “I could. You’re so small and delicate.” He gazed down at her, the limpid eyes, the glowing skin, the sensuous pinkness of her lovely mouth.
“I’m almost tempted to get fat!” Breathing hard she levered herself away from him by pushing hard on his chest. She stood, swaying a little from the force of her emotions. “Your arrogance is staggering! No, don’t interrupt. You get worse every time I see you. You can’t trust me with anything, either.” Her blue eyes flashed. “That’s why relationships fail. Do you know that? Lack of trust. No, don’t get up,” she warned him. “I don’t want you looming over me. You already have too much of an advantage.”
“You could have fooled me,” he said, scraping back a lock of raven hair that had fallen onto his forehead. “Can I help it if I want you?”
“Well we all know with what part,” she said snappily and took a few small steps away. “I started out showing you your room. Next thing you’re into wildly kissing me.”
“I could have sworn you enjoyed it,” he returned silkily, “to the point of hyperventilating. I’m sorry, Courtney. You look much too sweet to sound as furious as you do. The sight and scent of you comes at me with such speed I’m bowled over. It’s my only excuse.”