by Anne Ashby
He drew Debra closer and kissed her forehead. “As for your malicious suggestion she’s drunk, Debbie doesn’t need artificial stimulants when she’s with me...”
She suspected half the restaurant followed his pointed gaze to the table Roger had arisen from. A bottle protruded from an ice bucket and numerous glasses showed he and his female guest had been partaking of spirits as well as wine. “...Unlike your unfortunate guest.”
Jase barged past Roger with as little effort as an All Black dispatching a schoolboy on the rugby field. The rigidity of his arm as he directed her into her chair relayed his anger, although his face appeared impassive.
“Friend of yours?”
Debra stretched for her purse lying under the table. “Take me home.” She hated the wobble in her whispered words.
“No way.” He kept his voice as low as hers. “Everyone is watching you. Waiting to see what you’re going to do. Walking out now will give that bastard what he wants. We’re not going anywhere, Deb.” He leant across the table. “Make a show of checking your phone or something then put your purse back where it was.”
She stared, unable to budge. “Show me something on your phone, Deb. Come on. Do it now.”
Her hands were trembling so much she wondered the small phone didn’t slip from her grip. She clicked into a non-existent text message and held it out.
His clasp on her hand encompassed the phone and somehow allowed a little strength back into her body. His burst of laughter as he appeared to read the message drew an answering twitch of her lips. It seemed he was the consummate actor, after all.
“Good work.” She recognised sympathy in his smile. “Now we’re going to chat and smile our way through our main course.”
She felt like vomiting.
“Then we’ll get up and dance some more.”
Debra swallowed the acrid taste bludgeoning at her throat.
“Who is he?”
Despite the lump lodged in her throat he deserved an answer. “Roger Tanner. I-I used to be engaged to him.”
“What?” His astonishment warmed her. “How did you ever get in tow with a dork like that?”
Debra shrugged, unable to formulate a response—particularly as she’d asked herself a similar question for years.
“You’re well rid of him.”
“Don’t worry, I know that. I learnt the hard way.”
For a moment it appeared Jase might ask further questions, but something changed his mind. Instead he launched into a story about one of his overseas rugby tours.
Somehow she managed to appear interested in the things he said. She definitely kept her gaze focused on him and their table.
Knowing Roger was just metres away from them, probably spinning spiteful tales to anyone who’d listen destroyed any chance Debra had of enjoying the rest of the evening. The succulent steak she’d ordered tasted like sawdust, but she was determined to force every last shard down. She struggled to regain her composure when she felt like a toasted marshmallow inside.
Later Jase excused himself and wandered over to where Roger sat alone. He’d apparently been waiting until Roger’s companion had gone to the ladies’ room. Debra’s eyes boggled as he leant close to Roger and spoke. The startled jerk of Roger’s body as he cowed away spoke volumes.
Jase’s casual-looking grip on the other man’s shoulder was steel-laced, Debra guessed. Its pat as Jase straightened was enough to drive Roger’s shoulder down almost to the level of the table.
Debra’s gaze followed Jase back to their table. His expression mirrored some jungle beast. She almost expected him to lick his chops as he settled back into his chair. “Tanner will be over to apologise shortly.”
Debra opened her mouth to refute this need, but Jase’s narrowed glare changed her mind. Putting the last of her steak in her mouth she chewed, deciding it tasted quite a bit better. The melted marshmallows inside regained some form. Her shoulders straightened. Jase’s championship gave her self-respect back.
A few minutes later when Roger stopped to stumble out a stilted apology, Debra was ready. Under Jase’s approving eye she glared at her ex-fiancé.
“You’re playing in the wrong playground, Roger.” She hoped her withering look conveyed her contempt. “You’ll never make it with the big kids. Go back to where lying and cheating might score you some kudos.” She dismissed him with an arrogant jerk of her head.
Jase nodded his approval as his gaze followed the scurrying couple out of the restaurant. “Way to go, lady.”
Debra’s back straightened even further. Roger’s presence, in the city and at numerous business functions she attended, had always been a great challenge as she weathered the lies and innuendo he delighted in sharing. Powerless to confront him head on, despite many attempts to find the strength, he’d taken advantage of knowing he was her Achilles’ heel.
Had she just plastered that heel? Debra leant back in her chair and allowed the buzz to take hold. Next to Jase, Roger had appeared weak, insignificant, cowed.
“What did you say?” she demanded, knowing it was Jase who’d supplied the plaster for her wound.
For a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer. When he did, his reply was bland and very unsatisfactory. “I just suggested he should apologise for his remarks.”
Debra was never going to hear how that suggestion had been conveyed but Roger displayed acute fear as he’d mumbled out his apology.
The novelty of seeing her nemesis quaking in public drew a quivering smile to her lips. “Thank you.”
Could Jase even begin to understand the reprieve her quiet words conveyed? The release from a hold Roger had had over her for years—a hold she had never found the strength to sever. Judging by his sympathetic nod, she suspected he did.
“I understand his business is not surviving the recession too well.” She even managed numerous pseudo-sympathetic clicks of her tongue as she shared this relishing news.
“Perhaps a takeover would complete your revenge?”
Debra’s analytical brain was off and running. She’d never considered the possibility because of her inability to confront Roger. But now, now she’d seen him snivelling like a little boy, she’d—
Lips pressed against hers shocked her back to the present. Jase had leant over the table and was now staring at her. “We’re on a date,” he reminded.
He kissed her again, and again until he seemed satisfied her mind had dismissed everything but him. “Let’s dance some more.”
Debra maintained a distance between them as they joined other couples on the floor but Jase was having none of that. The music was soft and seductive, the lights were lower than earlier in the evening and the mood on the dance floor had changed.
Without a need to concentrate on intricate steps or follow his lead, consciousness of his body flooded through Debra. Her trampled self-confidence may have steadied a little but not enough to protect her from his magnetism.
****
Jase paced across the entranceway of the hotel waiting for Debra. They’d arranged she’d pick him up at ten. He consulted his watch for the hundredth time. It still indicated only nine-fifty-five. He held the watch to his ear. Could he hear it working? The minute hand hadn’t shifted since his last check.
His cheeks warmed under the benevolent eye of the doorman who had nothing better to do than watch the idiot stalking around his doorway. Jase sent him a self-indulgent smile and shrugged before pacing some more.
Had she changed her mind? Perhaps she’s not coming. Perhaps all this nervous energy is pointless. Perhaps I squandered a sleepless night planning the day. He checked his watch. His chest filled. The minute hand had shifted. It wasn’t even ten yet.
Stop worrying. Debra isn’t the type to renege. His hand flew to his pocket. Yes, his phone was switched on, it was fully charged and no, no cancellation sat on his queue.
He took another circuit around the pavement. What was wrong with him? He was as nervous as a new All Black taking the field f
or the first time—more nervous. Hell, this is so much more important than some rugby match. His hand stilled on its way to massage his shoulder.
Debra’s words on the subject echoed inside his head as they had often done over the last weeks. Rugby was a game. A game played at the highest level for a season or two, or if a guy was fortunate, for over a decade. Jase had eventually accepted the truth of her words. He had been exceptionally lucky.
As his fingers touched his shoulder Jase questioned whether there was actual pain radiating from his injury. Or had the weakness become a habit for concealing the pain inside where he battled against his disappointment?
With a straightened back he made the decision that had been tottering at the edge of his mind for weeks. It was time to put that part of his life behind him and concentrate on his future—a future that must include Debra.
Scrubbing his hand around the back of his neck he took another turn across the pavement. He just needed to figure out how to wangle that.
He had one day to break through all the layers making up Debra Laurie. One day to make her forget she was impenetrable, powerful and—he gulped—his boss.
Doubt, his companion most of the night, again tore at his insides. Panic churned his stomach worse than a concrete mixer. What if he couldn’t make an impact on her? What if she clung to her assertion she was content and happy? What if he had to spend the rest of his life without her by his side?
His hands fisted inside his pockets as the enormity of his likely despair grabbed him. His mouth felt like the inside of a vacuum cleaner, dusty and dry as flint.
The throaty roar of a car drew his attention. Before the sporty convertible drew up beside him, he knew it was Debra. The car was so much in variance with the facade she projected that he would have laughed had his thoughts not been so morose.
“What’s wrong?” Her concerned greeting shocked him out of his melancholy. This was Debbie inquiring, not the hard-nosed businesswoman Debra.
Thinking fast, to keep Debra at bay during their day together, he slid into the passenger seat with a smile. But she didn’t accelerate away. Instead she just kept looking at him.
He couldn’t confess he’d been lamenting over a life without her, so he grabbed at his other thoughts as an explanation. “I’ve decided you’re right.”
His smile broadened at her baffled look. “I’ve been assessing my life of late and you were right. I’m bloody lucky. In fact, I’ve led a charmed existence and I should be grateful instead of incensed that part of it had to end.”
“I hope your assessing doesn’t include another career change.” There was a sharp note in her voice. “My mother would not be happy to lose you.”
A pricked balloon couldn’t have deflated faster.
“You are happy at Riversleigh?” She fiddled with the gear shift for a moment before easing the car into traffic. “Mother says there’s already been a huge improvement—”
Damn. Riversleigh was not on his agenda today. “She has some interesting ideas,” he interrupted. “I think we work well together.”
“I’m glad.” She concentrated on manoeuvring through the city traffic and onto the motorway but her voice was soft. “Since Dad died, Mother’s been——well, it’s good for her to have an interest.” Her gaze swung around. “She cares about Riversleigh, cares deeply.”
“I know. She’s made that obvious. Her concern about the district as well as the resort shines through. I doubt we’ll have any local unrest while she’s in charge.”
“I doubt we’d have any unrest anyway.” The glance she threw him was direct and serious. “We now have an excellent manager.”
He couldn’t stop his chest swelling at the praise. Warmth invaded his cheeks as he searched for a reply. He ended up giving an inadequate response, “Thank you.” And then to take the focus off her tribute he added, “Karin talks about making the place your flagship and—”
Debra’s laughter interrupted him. “A suggestion made during one of our many arguments,” she explained. “She’s actually taken hold of the idea?”
“Taken hold would be a mild way of phrasing her determination. Like I say, she has some intriguing ideas, and some rather outlandish ones, too,” he warned. “I’m not sure Head Office is ever going to approve some of them.”
Another arched sideward glance didn’t prepare him for her words. “I’d consider anything if it keeps her busy and out of my hair.”
Jase frowned. “Your mother is a very astute woman, Deb. You need to know she’s not playing. I suspect she’s capable of doing exactly what she’s set out to achieve.” He turned his body and slipped his arm along the back of her seat so he could watch her. “You’re very alike.”
Debra’s eyes boggled and her mouth fell open. “What? You’re kidding,” she managed to mutter when she got control of her mouth. “I’m not like her. We’ve always been cat and dog, never got along well. I take after my dad.”
“You might not look alike. But you have her drive and tenacity, her ability to focus on a task at hand, her coolness in any situation.” His smile broadened under her growing astonishment. “Ever think you might clash a bit because you are so alike?”
“No.” Debra’s reply was crystal-clear. “She’s a social butterfly, flitting around the place. Oh, she performs on various charitable trusts and I’m sure she often does good deeds, but beyond that...”
The look she shot him was full of distaste. “My early memories are filled with her dressing me up in frilly dresses and taking me places to show me off.” Her knuckles turned white around the steering wheel. “I hated it so much. When I got older and the ugly duckling didn’t turn into a swan, she found it easier to just ignore me.”
She grimaced. “I was occasionally invited to spend hours in beauty clinics or to go shopping with her. Oh, how fascinating.”
Shock kept Jase quiet. The image Debra portrayed of her mother didn’t jell with the woman he now worked with. But the closed look on Debra’s face forestalled him making any further comment about their relationship. It had nothing to do with him.
They drove in silence for some time. While the silence wasn’t strictly companionable, Jase was relieved to discover it wasn’t confrontational, either.
“I’m not sure about us needing to spend today together.” Debra murmured as they left the motorway behind and drove into the countryside.
Damn, where has Debbie disappeared to? It was all that bloody talk about Riversleigh.
“After all there won’t be anyone there to see us.”
Jase’s jaw tightened. “Can’t you just think of it as being a pleasant break from your normal routine? A time to have some fun?”
Debra’s glance and raised eyebrows suggested the unlikelihood of this.
He glared out the window, his voice hardening. “It will help Chloe accept our relationship. Tonight you can tell her all about the market and what we saw there, etcetera,” he mocked. “I’m sure it’ll make your pretence more believable.”
The frost radiating from his companion made Jase regret his words. His fists clenched on his thighs. Every time he found a chink in her armour he somehow blew it.
One thing he was certain of though, she wasn’t happy. Despite her show of being a dedicated businesswoman, in his bones he knew she dreamed of more—more than the luxurious apartment, the fancy car, the beautiful clothes. None of that concealed the desolation and loneliness he’d witnessed every so often in her eyes.
Today he needed to make her forget about her silly little scheme. He needed her to enjoy just spending the day with him. Most importantly, today he needed her to begin to fall in love.
****
Debra’s shoulders slumped. She didn’t mean to be negative about everything Jase said or did. Her lip caught between her teeth.
Searching to understand her pessimism, stale air sneaked from her lungs. It’s because I don’t know how to have fun.
With her gaze focused on the white line dribbling along the centre of the gre
y road, her stomach clenched tight. When was the last time she’d done something for fun? Just for sheer delight?
Her mind flipped back through year after year, until it was all the way to her childhood. She gasped.
What had she been doing for the last umpteen years? Working hard and building up the business, she justified. A sly little voice inside wouldn’t hush though. Avoiding anything fun, it screamed its accusation.
Regrets churned inside Debra, mixing her hasty breakfast into an unpalatable lump. She’d lost her adolescence to long hours of study and a determination never to be a social butterfly.
And her early years of womanhood? First, she’d given them to Roger, then had hidden behind work from the hurt he’d inflicted upon her. She swallowed a groan of self-disgust. She’d buried herself for two-thirds of her life.
Her gaze slid sideward but Jase’s attention was on the surrounding countryside. She gnawed at her bottom lip. Did she have the nerve to relax? Her knuckles whitened against the steering wheel and her heart rate trebled. Panic raced through her as she accepted the truth. She didn’t know how.
Could Jase teach her? And did she want him to? Those were the questions turning her brain to mush and her legs to jelly.
Maybe today would bring more to light than Jase could ever imagine when he’d suggested the outing.
Fear was still paramount in Debra as she slid from the car in the improvised parking area. Panic had almost kept her rooted to her seat but somehow she’d alighted.
Alarmed eyes flashed everywhere but at her companion. This was a mistake—a dreadful mistake. She should be at the office, or doing her housework—somewhere safe—anywhere but being here with Jase.
Feeling her heels sink into the soft paddock her mouth tightened. Another mistake, she should have worn more sensible shoes. She should never have agreed to this. It was crazy.
Jase had already proved his ability to act his part in the charade and she wouldn’t have any trouble convincing Chloe. So Paul wouldn’t be fooled. So what? He would understand and appreciate her efforts. He’d say nothing to Chloe.