by Nicola West
The garden was full of flowers and outside the fence she could see the tall eucalyptus trees that grew in front of the house. As she lay there she heard the melodic warbling of a black and white bird very similar to an English magpie but without the long tail; a brightly-coloured parrot brought a gasp of surprise from her throat When it perched on an overhead wire, and from somewhere nearby she heard again the unmistakable chortle of the kookaburra.
For a while, Flair dozed pleasantly in the sunshine. Then, thinking that she might as well be improving her suntan, she went indoors and changed into a brief bikini of dazzling white with a gold motif round the edges. And when she came out again, revelling in the feel of warm sunshine on her bare skin, it seemed a crime not to dive straight into the swimming-pool.
She had completed several lengths, both above and under water, when she heard a cheerful whistle from the house and turned on her back to see who was coming.
'Out here, Dad,' she called. 'I couldn't resist it— the sun was so lovely. Do you manage to swim all the year ro—oh!'
Her voice trailed away as she saw that the newcomer wasn't her father after all, but a complete stranger. A man of about thirty-five, tall, broad and blond, dressed casually but devastatingly in pale blue slacks and navy shirt unbuttoned almost to the waist. Casually, with the easy grace of a tiger, he lounged into view and a look of sudden interest replaced the curiosity on his face as he took' in her appearance as she floated, slender and almost naked, in the blue water.
Flair stared at him, feeling flustered and confused. Who was he, to come marching into her father's garden without so much as a by-your-leave? She shook the wet hair from her eyes and said angrily: 'My father's out. Perhaps you'd like to leave a message. I expect you know where the door is, since you came in by it.'
His eyes widened and Flair felt a distinct shock, as if she'd received a sudden blow to the chest. She didn't think she'd ever seen eyes of such a deep blue before; it was almost sapphire, and all the more startling next to the deeply-tanned golden brown skin of the man's face and the burnished corn-gold of his hair. He looked at her for a moment and then said easily: 'No, I don't think I'll leave a message. I'd rather stick around till he comes. Anyway, he won't be long.'
'How—how do you know that?' Flair gasped, standing upright and checking hastily to see that the bra of her bikini was in place; the man's eyes seemed to be everywhere, and were registering a good deal of interest in her almost naked curves.
'Because he sent me round here ahead of him. Said he was sure we'd like to meet as soon as possible, get to know each other a bit.' The amusement in the level tones flicked at her nerves and she retorted furiously: 'I don't believe you! Look, if you're some kind of salesman, you'd better go. I've told you, I'll give my father any message you like to leave. There's no need for you to waste your time.'
'Oh, I'm not wasting my time.' The long body coiled down on the edge of the pool close beside her and Flair's eyes were drawn reluctantly to the strength and power implicit in the well-muscled thighs revealed as his pale blue slacks tightened round them. She raised her eyes, noting unwillingly the broad shoulders that tapered to a slim waist, speaking of a superbly-fit body that seemed to exude an almost tangible male virility; then her eyes caught again that startling blue glance and she looked away, blushing furiously.
'No, I wouldn't say I was wasting my time,' he went on musingly, his eyes frankly assessing her own body in the now embarrassingly brief bikini. 'In fact, I can't really think of a nicer way to spend a sunny spring morning.... You're not getting cold in there, are you?'
'No!' she denied at once, trying not to shiver, but now that she had stopped swimming she was beginning to feel distinctly chilled. And what's more, she thought ruefully, he knew it, damn him! If only he'd go.
'Well, if I were you I'd warm up with a couple more lengths and then hop out,' he advised. 'It's still a mite early for swimming—although I suppose you're used to the cold, coming from England.'
'How do you know--' she began, then stopped herself. What was she doing, getting into any kind of conversation with this—this intruder? 'Look,' she said coldly, 'I've asked you several times now to go. If you like to leave your name and address and tell me whatever business you're in, I'll see that my father has your message as soon as he comes home. Now, if you don't mind, I want to get out and do a little sunbathing—alone. I had a long journey yesterday and I'm rather tired.'
'Is that so?' He made no attempt to move and the amusement in his eyes was quite unmistakable now. Flair bit her lip with annoyance and frustration, then drew back in the water as he suddenly held out a hand to her.
'Come on, Miss Pattison,' he encouraged her. 'Why don't you just hop out and do your sunbathing with me? I'm not such an ogre as all that, you know—I won't eat you. Not today, anyway,' he added half to himself as his eyes once more slid over her body in appreciation of its curved slenderness.
'I've told you--' she began furiously, then gasped as a powerful hand gripped her by the wrist and jerked her bodily from the pool, another hand coming round to support her body on its way out. For a moment, Flair was conscious of a hard body close to her own; a wave of heat, of maleness that seemed to emanate from every pore, so that she felt momentarily dizzy with the sheer vitality that assailed her senses. Strong limbs encircled her as she struggled; then she was dumped on the side of the pool and as she shook the dripping hair from her eyes she realised he was laughing at her.
'How dare you!' she expostulated, scrambling to her feet, all too aware of the unsophisticated picture she must present. 'How dare you come here, uninvited, take possession of my father's garden, order me about, drag me—Just who are you anyway?' she demanded, tilting her chin to look up at him, thinking even in the midst of her anger that he must be a good six feet tall. 'Because whoever you are, for whatever reason you came here today I shall take very good care to see that you don't come again! When my father hears about the way you've behaved, he'll—well, he'll make sure that whatever your business is with him he'll find someone else. And he's not without influence around here, you know—you may find yourself losing a lot of business through your behaviour this morning!'
The blue eyes met hers, still glinting with amusement. 'Just what kind of business do you imagine I'm in?' he enquired silkily.
Flair shrugged. 'I don't know, do I?' she pointed out. 'Since you've consistently refused to tell me. But from your persistence and your smoothness, I should say you were in some kind of insurance.'
At that, he burst out laughing, while Flair, almost at the edge of her patience, picked up her towel from the sunlounger and wrapped it around herself, feeling more confident now that she was covered. 'Well, are you?' she demanded at last.
The blond giant stopped laughing and looked down at her. His mouth was still twitching and Flair thought how she would love to hit it really hard, wipe that laughter from his eyes and lips, show that she was something rather more than the amusing child he seemed to think her. Then he reached out and laid a hand on each shoulder, and at his touch Flair's skin tingled and she seemed to feel each finger separately, even through the thick folds of the towel, so that she moved aside impatiently.
'No, Miss Pattison,' he said at length, his voice sober now though Flair could still detect the amusement in it. 'No, I'm not an insurance salesman. And I doubt very much if your father will run me out of town when he finds me here—especially as he really did tell me to come along, you know. You may have heard of me—indeed, I hope you have, since I guess we're going to be seeing quite a lot of each other in the future. I'm Luke Seager—the man you're father's doing a fair bit of work for just at present. The man you're going to work for as personal assistant.'
Flair drew the towel closer around her, aware of a sudden chill. Luke Seager! The man they called Lucifer. Whose kiss was said to be irresistible. Who was to be her employer, as at present he was her father's, and who was even now keeping that bright, direct gaze on her face, watching her, assessing he
r every reaction.
Oh God! Did things have to go wrong the moment she set foot in Australia?
'Maybe we should start again,' he offered, smiling, and his teeth flashed dazzlingly against the golden tan. 'May I introduce myself? Luke Seager, at your service.' He swept her an exaggerated bow. 'That's the way they do things in England, isn't it?'
Flair felt herself flush with annoyance. He was still laughing at her. And she couldn't take the hand he was holding out without letting the towel go, and it wasn't at all securely fastened around her. The fact that Luke Seager had already seen exactly what she looked like underneath didn't seem to make any difference. She didn't want that piercing glance roaming over her body again.
'You don't want to shake hands?' he pursued, moving a little closer so that she was aware once more of that aura of masculinity that surrounded him. 'Of course, in France they kiss, don't they? Even the men. Like this——' Before she could stop him, he had a hand on each arm and had kissed her quickly on each cheek, leaving two bright spots of fire where his lips had been. 'Or like this . . .' And his arms slid round her, drawing her close as his mouth fastened on hers, opening it with an expertise that was both gentle and inexorable. The sheer unexpectedness of it left Flair helpless for a moment. Fire and weakness together ran down her body, setting her heart to a wild beating that had the blood racing through her veins. Her legs seemed to lose all strength and she felt that she would have collapsed had it not been for Luke's arms holding her strongly against him. She felt his body move against hers and a stifled gasp escaped her as she became aware of the hardness of his limbs, telling her all too clearly of his desire. With a sudden panic-stricken conviction that another second would be too late, she tried to wrench herself free. But the arms that held her were ready for her struggles. They tightened their grip, holding her ever closer, the hands moving, sliding the towel up her body until it could be pulled away entirely. She felt Luke Seager move a fraction away from her as the towel was pulled away from between them and thrown to the ground; then she was jerked back against him, gasping as she felt his hands move possessively over the bare skin of her back, sliding down until the fingers were touching the top of her bikini briefs, inserting themselves under the band....
The world seemed to spin round her as Flair moaned under his touch. Feeling that she must fall, she let her own hands, trapped between their bodies, spread out against his chest, feeling the hair and skin under his thin shirt. Dazed, almost unaware of what she did, she let her fingers slip into the warmth within. Luke Seager . . . Lucifer . . .Jean Chapman's words came back into her mind, as vividly as if she had just heard them spoken, and the full realisation of what was happening flooded over her. Horrified, she twisted suddenly in his arms and broke away, stumbling over the towel as she backed out of his reach and stared at him with wide, appalled eyes.
'Well,' he drawled at last, and she realised that they were both breathing quickly. 'You're quite a bombshell, Miss Pattison, you know that? Or—now that we've introduced ourselves—maybe I can call you Flair? Who gave you that name, by the way? Was it because of your red hair?'
'It's auburn,' she snapped, snatching up the towel again. 'And it's not spelt the way you seem to think—it's a-i-r, not a-r-e. Look, if you don't mind, Mr Seager, I think I'll go in and get dressed. My father shouldn't be long now and--'
'But surely,' he interrupted, 'you came out here to sunbake. Don't let me stop you. And drop the Mr Seager, won't you? I'm Luke. We don't go a lot for formality around here.'
Flair hesitated. She was reluctant to go in and dress, feeling that if she did that Luke Seager would in some indefinable way have scored a point. Yet she was equally unwilling to abandon the towel again and stretch on the lounger under his bright, appraising gaze—especially after what had just happened. She felt her face burn again at the memory of that kiss and—worse still—-her own reaction to it. She would never have believed that she could respond in such a way to a man she had met only minutes before—to any man, come to that. Nobody had ever kissed Flair that way before—with her mother's example in front of her, together with her sheltered upbringing at the boarding school and her own firm ambitions, she'd made sure that no man had ever got within kissing distance, though there had been the succession of casual dates for parties, dances and so on, none of which had meant anything more than a pleasant evening out. So the sensations that had surged through her body when Luke Seager held her in his arms and probed her mouth with his, the fire that had raced through her veins and the delicious swimming of her brain, were all unfamiliar to her. Unfamiliar, disturbing—and frightening. And she determined that she would never let herself be exposed to them again.
'Come on,' he murmured, his voice like silk. 'Why don't you relax, Flair? Stretch out on that lounger and tell me all about yourself. I've known Jeff Pattison a good many years now. I've been looking forward to meeting his daughter.'
'You won't be so pleased with yourself when I tell him how you've been behaving this morning,' she retorted. 'And if you think he'll be pleased--' She stopped as Luke took a step forward and gripped her arms, holding her so tightly that tears of pain sprang to her eyes.
'But you won't be telling him, will you?' he ground out. 'You won't be telling him, Flair honey—and shall I tell you why? Mainly because you asked for everything you got and more, however much you may pretend to be the demure little English rosebud. And also because your father doesn't employ me—I employ him. And my contract's worth a good deal to him. He won't thank you for breaking that up. You'd better believe it!'
He released her as suddenly as he had grasped her, and Flair stared up at him, her eyes wide with shock as she slowly rubbed her bruised arms. She wanted to repudiate what he had just said; wanted to shout at him that it didn't matter, he could take his contracts elsewhere, they would manage without him—but she knew she couldn't do that. Jeff was relying heavily on this work with Seager Hotels, he'd hinted as much last night. He couldn't afford to lose it. And it wouldn't be a good start to her visit to Australia to destroy his livelihood on the first morning she arrived.
'Seeing sense?' Luke Seager asked softly.
Suddenly blinded by tears, Flair turned abruptly away. 'All right, you win,' she said shakily. 'I won't say anything. But don't ever touch me again, that's all. I don't like it, do you hear? I don't like it!'
Luke Seager laughed softly. 'You really sound as if you mean that--'
'I do!' she interrupted hotly.
'—but you can't fool me,' he went on as if she hadn't spoken. 'Don't like it, eh! Flair Pattison, you're one of the hottest little properties I've ever had the good fortune to lay my hands on. Why, do you know I can't believe my luck that you're going to be my personal assistant! We're going to have a great time together, you and I.' He held out his hand and let a finger trail slowly down the soft skin of her inner arm. 'Come on, Flair honey,' he went on coaxingly, 'forget this pretence of not liking it and let's start getting to know each other.'
Flair felt every inch of her body freeze. She was burningly aware of the trail his finger had just drawn down her arm. His dark eyes bored into hers and she felt her heart thundering in her breast.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly wrapped the towel around her trembling body. Her mother's success as a headmistress after her dismissal of love and marriage came back to her, strengthening her own resolve. She remembered her determination to get to the top in her own chosen career; remembered the hard work of her training, the struggle to be recognised in a world still largely dominated by men. A moment's madness—-a moment's unexpected sensuality—these couldn't be allowed to ruin all she'd worked for. And now that she was aware of this unsuspected streak in her own nature, she would be better able to guard against it. Luke Seager was going to discover that there was one girl in the world who didn't find him irresistible. Maybe the discovery would even do him good!
'I'm sorry, Mr Seager,' she said coldly. 'You seem to have got the wrong idea about me. I'm reallynot interes
ted in an affair, with you or anyone else. I came out here to see my father and to work. The job you offered seemed ideal, but if there are strings attached it would be better for us both if we get it clear now that I'm not looking for that kind of work. If that's all you have to offer, I'll look somewhere else.' She drew the towel closer around her, unaware of the seductiveness it lent her figure. 'I hope I haven't wasted your time, Mr Seager. I'm sure you'll soon find some other girl who'll be . . . willing. And now, I'm going to get dressed. Dad should be here any time now.'
She turned to go, but felt herself grasped for the third time by Luke Seager's iron hand. This time, she kept control of herself, though intensely aware of his fingers encircling her arm. She stood quite still, not looking at him.
'So you've had your say,' he grated, and she heard with a tremor of fear the anger in his voice. 'Well, I'm entitled to mine too. Like I said, you asked for what you got just now. O.K., you're a dishy little number and I could find myself going overboard for you in quite a way—but you're not the only girl around, get that into your head! I never had to force a girl yet—I don't get my fun that way—nor have I ever had to beg, and I don't mean to start with you. You'll make a good P.A., I can see that—and that's what you'll be to me. You don't have to worry! I'm not going to spend lonely nights weeping for you, if that's what you think.'
'That's not--' Flair began in exasperation; but her words were interrupted by a slam of a door somewhere in the house and a cheerful voice calling her name. She gave Luke an agonised glance and he let go of her arm; and at the same moment Jeff Pattison came striding through the patio door, smiling at them both.
'Ah, you're getting to know each other,' he exclaimed. 'That's good. Flair, you look cold, have you been swimming? Luke, have you had a drink?'
'Not yet, Dad,' Flair answered quickly. 'He— we—there hasn't been time. Yes, I am a bit cold, I'll just go and get dressed—won't be long.' And, acutely conscious of Luke Seager's bright, amused eyes, she escaped and made her way hurriedly to her room to shower again and slip back into slacks and shirt.