by Miranda Lee
‘Father seemed a little worried about our going out together,’ she choked out, echoing her own inner misgivings.
‘He’ll get used to the idea.’
Paige blinked, then turned her head slowly to stare at Antonio. ‘What…what do you mean?’
‘Exactly that. Recognising that one’s daughter is finally a grown woman is hard for most fathers. Even yours, Paige.’
‘He’s always thought of me as a silly little girl,’ she said bitterly. ‘As did you, Antonio.’
‘Never!’ he denied.
Shock was mixed with confusion. ‘How can you say that?’
He shrugged. ‘Quite easily. Because it’s true.’
She shook her head vehemently. ‘That’s not what you said to me that day by the pool. And it’s not what’s been in your eyes every time we’ve met since then.’
‘Ah, but Paige, you should never try to read a man’s eyes. It’s his body language you must learn to take note of. Believe me when I say I’ve never thought of you as anything but the most irritatingly attractive female.’
‘Irritating?’
‘Well, of course! How would you expect a lowly employee to view the boss’s beautiful daughter, especially when she was only seventeen? No matter how I felt about you that day by the pool, I couldn’t in all conscience do anything about it, could I?’
Paige’s breath caught. ‘Are you saying you did feel something?’
He flashed her the sexiest of smiles. ‘Let’s just say I was eternally grateful there was a towel between us.’
Paige’s heart fell. Sex. That was what he was talking about. That was all he’d felt for her. That was all most men felt for her. She should have known better than to hope for anything more, even for a second.
‘I’m sure you didn’t suffer for too long,’ she bit out. ‘A man like you would never be wanting for that kind of company.’
‘Nor a girl like you,’ he retaliated, the counter-attack not sitting well with her.
As usual, when hurt, Paige laughed, then went on the offensive. ‘How right you are! But be fair, Antonio, I haven’t been seventeen for quite some time.’
His black eyes flicked her way, glittering and hard as they raked over her. ‘Your father mentioned you turn twenty-three next week. What day, exactly?’
‘Wednesday.’
‘We’ll have to do something special for you.’
Paige stiffened. If by we he meant he was going to talk her father into having Evelyn organise some ghastly party, then he could think again!
‘Unless you’ve already got plans, of course?’
‘No,’ she said coldly. ‘No plans.’ But there would be no party!
‘The boyfriend isn’t going to be forgiven?’
The insensitive question infuriated Paige. ‘Are you serious? You think I’d go back to some man who did this to me?’ And she pushed her hair back behind her ear to show him the full extent of the bruise.
To give him credit, his eyes did show something this time. Although their expression conveyed more anger than sympathy.
‘I should hope not,’ he grated out. ‘But women have been known to return to violent situations. God knows why!’
‘Perhaps they have nowhere else to go.’
‘Don’t give me that, Paige. That’s just an excuse. There’s always somewhere else to go. Women are their own worst enemies sometimes.’
‘What would you know about being a woman, or what it’s like to be female and afraid? It’s easy for you to make snap judgements from behind your six-foot frame and macho muscles.’
‘If you say so,’ he remarked drily. ‘I really don’t wish to discuss this subject other than to find out who did that to you. And don’t even consider defending him, Paige.’
‘I won’t. But, frankly, it’s none of your business, just as it was none of my father’s business.’
‘I beg to differ. Men like your bullying boyfriend make the rest of my sex look bad. They can’t be allowed to get away with thinking they can beat up their girlfriends, no matter what she does or says to provoke him.’
‘He didn’t beat me up. He only hit me once.’
‘Once is enough. If you’d stayed, the next time it would have been worse.’
‘Why do you think I left?’ she snapped.
‘So what set him off?’ Antonio persisted. ‘What did you do?’
‘It wasn’t what I did,’ she muttered. ‘But what I didn’t do.’
‘Meaning?’
Her stomach churned as she looked over at the man who was behind it all. How blissfully unaware he was, sitting there, probably thinking he was helping her. Yet, really, he was to blame. For everything.
Perhaps he was right to say that women were their own worst enemies. They often loved stupidly, without sufficient reason and without hope.
Suddenly, the urge to fling the truth at him was acute. And she almost did. But at the last moment she let her love for him lie hidden within her words.
‘Jed had just had sex with me,’ she said baldly instead. ‘But I hadn’t enjoyed it. He took it badly, and personally. He accused me of not loving him, of wanting some other man instead. When I didn’t deny it, he lost his temper and hit me.’
Antonio was deathly silent for several excruciating seconds while the car stopped at a set of red lights, the engine idling like some snarling animal, poised and ready to pounce.
The man behind the wheel seemed just as tense. Paige gained the impression her confession had angered him. Yet, when he spoke, his voice was icy cool.
‘That was a dangerous thing to do, Paige. A man’s ego can be very fragile.’
‘Only some men’s, Antonio.’
His dark eyes narrowed on her. ‘Did you provoke him like that because he was disappointing in bed and you wanted to end your relationship?’
She shrugged. ‘What can I say? I realised I couldn’t bear to have him touch me again, so I let him believe what he wanted to believe.’
‘So there isn’t some secret love, waiting in the wings to become your next conquest?’
‘None but you, Antonio,’ came her dry but perversely true comment.
His laugh carried just the right amount of return cynicism, letting her know that he hadn’t twigged to the truth at all. The lights turned green and the car leapt forward, leaving Paige to live with the consequences of what she’d just done.
No doubt Antonio now thought she was a promiscuous little piece, going from man to man, moving on as soon as her lover began to bore her in bed. Little did he know that Jed was the first man she’d slept with since Brad, all those years ago. Or that last night had been their first time together.
Still, perhaps it was better that Antonio thought she was a woman of the world, whose heart was rarely involved in her various dalliances. That way, if tonight ended as she suspected it might, she could pretend to be unaffected afterwards, and whenever she ran into him in the future.
Her eyes suddenly cleared to find they were crossing the bridge and heading towards the north side of the harbour.
‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked abruptly.
‘Where would you like me to take you?’
‘I thought we were going to supper somewhere. I imagined some place in the city.’
‘I’ve decided to head for my apartment instead,’ he returned, without missing a beat. ‘It’s only a couple of minutes from the city, and has several advantages over a nightclub. Firstly, it has free parking. Secondly, a view par excellence, not to mention a complete range of in-house services. I thought it would be very pleasant to complete supper on our own private balcony overlooking the harbour.’
‘I’m sure it would.’ After which, it was just a short stroll inside and into the bedroom. No doubt Antonio thought that the best advantage of all!
Paige tried to find the strength to tell him, no, she preferred somewhere far more public. But the devil was in her ear, along with her own traitorous weakness for the man.
Turn him down
tonight and you might never have another chance. He’s home on holiday, and wants a woman for the night. Maybe even for the whole fortnight! Fate threw you into his path this evening, Paige, and finally he noticed you were a woman.
Cynicism added that there had to be dozens of women in Sydney he could date instead, who would do admirably—women who would drop everything to be with him. He wouldn’t suffer if she turned him down. And he wouldn’t be alone. Men like Antonio were never alone when they didn’t want to be.
Could she bear the knowledge that he was somewhere in Sydney, making love to some other woman when it could have been her? Could she lie in bed at night and sleep, craving him?
The simple answer was no. She could not.
‘Is it far to your apartment?’
Antonio could hear the sexual tension in her voice and felt his own flesh prickle alarmingly.
He almost felt sorrow for the fellow she’d walked out on last night. No doubt he was crazy about her, and thought his feelings had been returned. Antonio could see the scenario now: Paige coldly turning from her lover while her body was still hot from his lovemaking and cruelly telling him he wasn’t up to par.
Women like her could drive a man crazy. They wound a man up, promising so much with their eyes and their body language, not to mention their sheer physical beauty. It was criminal for Mother Nature to give one woman so many attributes.
Conrad’s daughter was sheer feminine perfection, with not a single flaw visible to the eye. Her face was classically lovely, with fine bone structure and symmetrical features. Her forehead was high and wide, as were her eyes: big blue eyes with long, curling lashes. Her nose was narrow and straight, its slightly uptilted end bringing attention to the full mouth beneath. Her even, white teeth might have been due to good dentistry, but, if so, the dentist had done an excellent job. Her smile was as dazzling as the rest of her.
Of course, it was the rest of her which had often unravelled Antonio, and which was unravelling him at this moment. He could not wait to wallow in the lush sensuality of her body. To spread her hair out over his pillow, to bury his mouth in her breasts, to feel her legs entwine themselves around him as he sank deeper and deeper inside her.
Not long now, he told himself as he turned off the expressway and headed towards his apartment. The twenty-storey building was situated at the end of a culdesac at Milson’s Point, with the back of the block facing the harbour.
Antonio was only two streets away when his car phone buzzed. Scowling impatience, he pulled the Jag over to the curb to answer, snatching the receiver up and snarling, ‘Scarlatti,’ down the line at the same time. Truly, there were times when he would like to consign mobile phones to the bottom of the harbour!
‘Conrad, here,’ his employer replied curtly, startling Antonio. ‘Don’t let Paige know it’s me on the line. Just wanted to call and let you know I was only putting on an act earlier tonight. Knowing Paige, it seemed a good ploy not to seem too keen about you two being together. Do you see what I mean?’
‘Yes,’ Antonio muttered. ‘I see.’ Talk about devious!
‘How are things going? Are you taking her back to your place?’
Antonio practically ground his teeth. If Conrad was expecting a blow by blow account of his daughter’s seduction then he was going to be very disappointed.
‘Yes. Thank you for that information,’ he said. ‘Must go,’ he added, and slammed the phone down.
‘Who was that?’ Paige asked. ‘Or shouldn’t I ask?’
Be damned if he was going to lie to her!
‘Your father.’
‘What did he want?’
‘Just passing on something he considered important. You know your father.’
‘Oh, yes,’ she sighed. ‘Business comes first. Always.’
Her head turned away to stare through the passenger window as he drove off, but the moment he turned into his street she suddenly sat forward in the seat, her head whipping back round. When the Jaguar shot down the short street and straight onto the ramp which led down to the underground car park beneath the apartment block, Antonio felt her eyes boring into him.
‘Is this some kind of sick joke, Antonio?’
A quick glance sidewards showed unexpected alarm in her eyes. Frowning, he moved his eyes frontwards to safely negotiate the tricky circular driveway which wound its way down to the car park. Once there, he swiftly angled the Jaguar into one of his two private spots and switched off the engine. He was about to ask Paige what on earth she was talking about when she swept on, her face flushed and undeniably furious.
‘I can’t believe you would do something like this. Oh, I dare say Father’s behind it. That was what that call was all about, wasn’t it? He had that creep of a detective of his find out Jed’s name and address. It’s no more than I’d expected of him, but not you, Antonio! I didn’t think you’d be involved in something this underhand. For pity’s sake, if Father was determined to confront Jed about what happened last night, then so be it! But to trick me into coming here with you by pretending to ask me out is beyond the pale! I’m not going up to Jed’s with you, so don’t think you can make me!’ she threw at him, her voice shaking with emotion.
It didn’t take long for the penny to drop, and when it did Antonio experienced a rush of emotion himself. ‘Are you saying the man who hit you lives here as well?’
Her eyes grew wide upon him. ‘Are you saying you really live in this building?’
‘I own one of the two penthouse apartments.’
She paled, then laughed. ‘You’ve got to be joking!’
‘Do I look like I’m joking?’
‘No…’ She began shaking her head, as though she could hardly believe it.
Antonio was also having a hard job believing it. Now he knew the identity of Paige’s lover, and where he lived.
Jed, she’d called him.
Jed was not a common name. The man who owned the other penthouse apartment was Jed Waltham, a successful Sydney stockbroker. Antonio had naturally met him a few times, since they shared the same lift, and the pool on the roof. In his early thirties, Waltham was darkly good-looking, and had an ego you couldn’t climb over.
‘How long have you been living with Jed Waltham?’ he asked, trying to come to terms with his feelings at actually knowing Paige’s errant lover. It was one thing to scornfully imagine her cohabiting with some ne’erdo-well in a fleabitten flat in some grotty suburb. Quite another to picture her in a luxury penthouse, in a luxury bed, beneath the likes of Jed Waltham.
‘You…you know Jed?’ she asked, disbelief still in her eyes.
‘Not to any great degree. But naturally we’ve met in the lift a few times, and around the pool once or twice.’
Her frown carried genuine puzzlement. ‘The pool?’
‘You didn’t ever use the pool on the roof?’
‘I…no… I…I only moved in with Jed yesterday.’
Stupidly, Antonio felt relief at this news. But he hadn’t liked the thought of her being there with Jed Waltham while he’d been right next door.
‘Had you been lovers long before that?’
‘We…we’d been going out for a while,’ she hedged, which could have meant anything.
‘Where did you meet?’
‘At work.’
Now it was Antonio’s turn to frown with genuine puzzlement. Paige gave him a dry look.
‘I see Father hasn’t been having that flunkey of his follow me around lately. I thought he’d stopped, but I wasn’t sure.’ Paige inhaled, then exhaled a weary sigh. ‘Frankly, I’m surprised Father bothered for so long. He doesn’t give a fig for me.’
Antonio supposed the man did care about Paige, in his own weird way, but it was hardly the kind of caring a daughter would appreciate. Once again, a certain sympathy for the girl undermined Antonio’s determination to keep his mind focused on what he had to do. But, damn it all, she was beginning to stir things in him. And not just the obvious.
His own sigh carrie
d a whole host of feelings, none of which he was comfortable with.
‘You don’t have to feel badly for me, Antonio,’ she said ruefully, and his eyes jerked round to stare at her. ‘I’ve long come to terms with my father’s non-existent feelings for me.’
Once again, Antonio began to feel sorry for her, which annoyed him. Seduction, not sympathy, was his aim here. ‘You didn’t answer my question,’ he snapped.
‘Which one was that?’
‘About how you met Waltham?’
‘Oh, that one. Well, as I said, we met at work. I was doing a few weeks as a temp at his firm. And before you ask I did a night course at tech during the first six months of this year. I finally decided I couldn’t spend the rest of my life as a waitress. I needed a job where I could make more money than to just make ends meet. So I learnt word processing, and other secretarial duties, then signed up at one of those agencies which find you work. They suggested that I start out as a temp. Because of my looks, they said I was a cert for a reception job. When the receptionist at Waltham & Coates went on maternity leave for three months, I applied for and got the job.’
Antonio was surprised, and quietly impressed. It seemed she had started growing up after all. ‘When did you start there?’
‘The tenth of July. I finished up last Friday.’
‘And moved in with the boss two days later,’ he mused aloud. In that she hadn’t changed. There always had to be some man in her life, didn’t there?
‘Which moves us into the territory of questions I’m not going to answer,’ she said, with a defiant toss of her head. ‘I repeat, my relationship with Jed is none of your business, Antonio. Let’s just say I thought he loved me. But a man doesn’t do this to the woman he loves, does he?’ And she held her hair back again, for him to see the evidence of Waltham’s violence.
Antonio’s stomach tightened as he stared at the bruise, which had become darker and uglier since he’d last looked. Any empathy he might have momentarily felt for Paige’s ex-lover disappeared as he glanced from her physically damaged face into her emotionally damaged eyes.
‘You’re quite right,’ he ground out. ‘Nothing justifies that. Come on, Paige. Get out of the car. We’re going upstairs.’