Australia's Maverick Millionaire

by Margaret Way

  She led him through one of the sets of doors into the cooling, star-studded night. The French doors opened out onto a wide covered verandah with a polished teak floor. Beyond that, the broad floodlit terrace with acres and acres of magnificent tropical gardens before them were also illuminated. The rhythmic splash of the waterfall into the lake carried clearly on the night air. A caressing breeze blew, bringing with it the intoxicating scent of gardenias. As Clio moved she signalled one of the young uniformed waiters who brought out champagne on a silver tray to them.

  “Have one, please, Josh,” she said, as far away from him as the stars in the sky. “I don’t suppose it’s your drink of choice?”

  He removed a frosted flute from the tray, passed it to her, felt the shock waves all over again as her fingers fleetingly touched his. “Drink of choice? There’s not much I don’t like in the way of alcohol, Clio, except maybe rum. Red wine I very much like. Champagne, especially when it’s French, like now,” he commented dryly, on the Bollinger. “It’s the only white wine I really like. I’m not one of the Chardonnay set.”

  “Good. Neither am I. So drink it.”

  “Yes, my lady.”

  “Don’t do that, Josh,” she begged. No one could call Josh an easy person. He had such an edge.

  “Well, you are far, far above me, aren’t you?” he said with a faint taunt, thinking he was living proof that a strong man could be held in thrall by a woman.

  She gave him a long look out of her lustrous dark eyes. “You’ve come a long way since you were a boy, Josh. False modesty must sound ridiculous even to yourself. My grandfather thinks the world of you. He gets prouder and prouder every day. You’re a big success story, Josh. You’re the sort of grandson Leo wanted but never got.”

  “He got someone far better. He got you.”

  She shrugged her bare shoulders. Her skin was a lovely even honey gold, showing her Italian heritage. “He loves me as I love him. But I’m a woman. Men like my grandfather needed sons, grandsons. Leo believes men are unquestionably the natural-born leaders. Sons take over and carry on the family businesses. They build on already amassed fortunes.”

  “There are plenty of brilliant businesswomen,” Josh freely acknowledged. “I’ve met a few over the last couple of years, as sharp as tacks.”

  “You’re a different breed, Josh,” she sighed. “And you’re young.” Josh was only twenty-eight, though he appeared older he had such presence.

  “So what are you saying here, Clio? You have issues?”

  “Of course I do,” she said.

  “But you’re an associate in Templeton & Company. One day you’ll make full partner.”

  “And be assured of a sizzling career? I don’t think so. Much as my grandfather and my father love me, they want to keep me away from all unpleasantness, as if I’m a little girl. I handle the genteel side of business. Wills, conveyancing, minor disputes, that sort of thing.”

  He knew it was true. “Still, I understand their motivation. In a way. You’re very precious to them. Jimmy is not up to the mark?”

  “Jimmy tries. He’s a very different person from his father,” she said, taking a sip of champagne as though she needed a pause.

  “So Vince Crowley is the pick of the bunch? How bright is that? Second rate?”

  “You’re not an avid fan of the Crowleys?”

  He looked intently into her beautiful face. “And you are? You’d need at least a category-five cyclone to put wind beneath Jimmy’s sails.”

  “I suppose.” She had to laugh.

  “And all the Crowleys think Leo’s beautiful granddaughter is within reach.” His loathing of the very idea momentarily got the better of him.

  “Wishful thinking, I’d say. You’re taking a quantum leap, aren’t you, Josh? Our rules of engagement have hitherto prohibited much in the way of personal remarks.”

  “Your decision, wasn’t it?” he answered sardonically.

  “Did it seem like that to you?” It hadn’t been her decision at all. Her father only a few years back had gone so far as to forbid her to get anywhere near Josh Hart.

  He’s a very damaged young man. And dangerous. I’ve read his case file. It was on Dad’s desk. Did you know he beat one of his minders to a pulp?

  He probably deserved it, she had said at the time.

  That hadn’t gone down well with her father, who seemed truly fearful of any connection between her and Josh. It was bad enough for her father that Leo had become Josh’s mentor. Clio suspected her father, whether he realized it or not, was jealous of Leo’s affection and high regard for that problematic young man.

  “Well?” she repeated, “did it seem like that to you?”

  “Very much so.” Josh’s eyes seemed fixed on a distance far beyond the present.

  “That’s how screwed up our lives have been,” she sighed.

  He stared at her, the master of deadpan, yet he felt consternation underneath. “Am I supposed to make a comment on that?”

  “Why not? You’re allowed to. Your early life was hard, Josh, I could never know how hard, but these days as a highly successful businessman you’ve gained a reputation for honesty and integrity. You always were smarter than the rest of us,” she added drolly.

  “You learn a lot of skills in juvenile detention,” he told her very bluntly.

  “How to beat someone up?”

  His blue eyes were like missiles programmed to make a direct hit. “Now why aren’t I shocked? You’ve been reading my files, Clio.”

  “No, no!” Rapidly she shook her head. Not that she hadn’t wanted to. “That would be a massive infringement of privacy. Leo definitely wouldn’t have approved.”

  “So who was it, your dad? Your father would love me to disappear overnight. Why is that, do you suppose?” he asked, knowing the answer full well.

  “General over-protectiveness. Even when you know someone loves you, you don’t want them to watch your every move. Dad hated it when I moved out. But I couldn’t live with Keeley. I dislike her intensely and the feeling is mutual. As for Dad, he thinks there’s a worrying connection between the two of us. A bond that was forged years ago.”

  “Wasn’t it?” he asked, without missing a beat. “I was your hero for a day.”

  She waited for a moment, not even certain what to say. From that day on Josh had found a place in her heart and mind. “What I thought of you hasn’t changed, Josh. You cover up what you feel. I cover up what I feel. It’s safer that way.”

  “For whom, exactly?” he asked flatly. “Your family, the entire community. I’m still the bad boy in town. That won’t change.”

  “It won’t if you don’t let it.”

  “Get real, Clio!” he scoffed. “Anyway, I’m in no rush to reassure people I don’t have any respect for or interest in. Maybe you can tell me why Jimmy Crowley always looks like the cat that’s got the cream?”

  “Sheer bravado!” she said. “Poor Jimmy has grown up terrified of his grandfather and his father.”

  “At least he shows some smarts. Old Paddy is an out-and-out villain.” Josh voiced his contempt. “As for Vince, he’s Mr Nice Guy in public—just look at the way he’s acting back there in the house. All buffed up, big white smile, dense hair, rocking back on his evening shoes, the extravagant bonhomie! I’m certain he’s a very different character at home. Susan Crowley with all the forced smiles. Poor woman can’t open her mouth without his consent.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said, hesitating a moment. “I haven’t spoken to anyone about this, but Susan has approached me to represent her in a divorce action.”

  Josh snapped to full attention “What? How can you do that, Clio? Vince is a full partner in the law firm. You’re an associate. Major conflict of interest surely?”

  “I’m thinking of going out on my own.”

  His broad forehead knotted. “You’re serious?”

  “About time,” she said briefly. “I’m only an ornament where I am.”

  He couldn’t a
rgue with that. “And you’ve discussed this with Leo?” She couldn’t have. Everyone in the town knew Leo had his beautiful granddaughter on a pedestal. Untouchable. Far from harm’s way.

  “No.” She faced him directly. The exterior lights gilded her flawless skin and added lustre to the fabric of her lovely gown. ‘You’re the first to know. I’m discussing it with you because I trust you, because you’ve seen so much of life, so much cruelty both hidden and on show, you would know where I’m coming from. I suspect Susan Crowley has endured hell.”

  “I believe you.” Josh jammed his hands in his trouser pockets so he couldn’t reach for her. All his feelings for her, deep and romantic as they were, had to be kept under wraps. “What I don’t get is she has a son to defend her. What sort of a gutless wonder is he? No one would have hurt my mother with me there.”

  Clio shook her head. “I’m sure he doesn’t physically abuse her.”

  “You can’t know that. But I suppose he’s not that stupid,” Josh gritted out. “There are all kinds of abuse. Susan Crowley’s kind would probably be mental and emotional abuse. Crowley is one of those men who have to have total sway over the women in their lives.”

  “Exactly.”

  Josh lowered his resonant voice. “Leo will never agree,” he warned her.

  “Would that I were a grandson!” Clio raised her slender hands, palms up. A gesture of frustration.

  “I’m just so happy you’re not!” The words sprang from his mouth.

  She turned to stare at him out of her lustrous dark eyes. “Do you mean that, Josh, or was that the sort of answer men come up with?”

  He shrugged. “Make what you will of it.”

  “Now, don’t get angry with me, Josh.” She surrendered to her own sublimated longings. She touched his arm as if in conciliation.

  “Please don’t equate me with other guys you know, Clio,” he said, staring down at her elegant, long-fingered hand. “You’re a beautiful, clever woman, a smart, skilful lawyer. You’re the one with the empty words. You wouldn’t want to be a man.”

  “Of course I don’t,” she admitted, removing her hand. “I’m only pointing out that in my family it would make things so much easier if I were. Both Leo and Dad were against me studying law. An arts degree would have done nicely. It’s okay for you, Leo’s brilliant protégée. Not all that suitable for Leo’s clever granddaughter. It’s no secret I don’t need to work. I could devote myself to charitable work and good deeds. The only trouble is I want and need to use my brain. I need to make my own money, live my own life. Find personal fulfilment.”

  “You won’t find it with Jimmy Crowley.”

  The heat and energy level between them was rising. To an onlooker, and there were plenty, they were a study in contrasts: Clio, a beautiful young woman with her warm Mediterranean colouring; Josh, the very picture of the classic blue-eyed blond alpha man. “Don’t push it, Josh,” Clio said. It was her turn to warn him.

  “I apologise. You could leave town,” he suggested, his blue eyes trained on her.

  She threw up her dark head so impetuously her pendant earrings danced, flashing lights across her cheeks. “Do you honestly think I haven’t thought about it? I used to all the time. But I can’t leave Leo right now. He’s been diagnosed with a heart condition. You know about that?”

  “I do,” Josh confirmed. “Leo has told me about his heart condition. Not serious, he said. As a matter of fact, being Leo, he laughed if off as if he was going to live for ever.”

  “My mother’s life came to an end when she was only forty-one,” Clio offered in a soft, melancholy voice. “I’ll never come to terms with it. I adored my mother. No one could ever take her place. In that way I’m exactly like Dad.”

  “At least you had her that long.” Josh was battling his own fume of emotions, not the least of it his dangerous desire for a fascinating but unobtainable woman.

  She could feel the hot flush that mounted to her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Josh. That was really insensitive. I wasn’t thinking for a moment. I know what a rotten time you’ve had.”

  “The fact is you don’t, Clio,” he corrected her tersely, “and I’m not about to tell you.” They were surrounded by people laughing, talking, light classical music being piped through the house, but they might have been quite alone on a desert island. Josh looked out over the magnificent illuminated tropical gardens. “Your world has been safe. My world was damned scary—sinister might be a better word.”

  She studied the handsome profile presented to her. He was almost painfully handsome. “You would never dream of sharing your experiences with someone who wanted only to help you?” she asked gently, though she knew it might be folly.

  “Are we talking professional help here, Clio?” He swung his gleaming gold head back to her, gazing down his perfectly straight nose. “I had all that. One shrink called me a master manipulator. I think I was about ten at the time. Anyway, let’s get off me,” he said edgily. “You don’t want me to get to know you, Josh?” she dared ask. Was he any different from the boy who had ordered her so harshly to go away?

  “Clio, there are things about me I don’t wish you to hear. All right?”

  Of a sudden she realized that for Josh that might qualify as an appeal. She held up her hands in surrender. “I get the message. Let’s get back to me and my world. Dad is desperately unhappy. He should never have married Keeley. They have nothing in common. Not that any woman wouldn’t have had a battle as the second Mrs Templeton. So you tell me, Josh. Should I turn my back on my family when they need me and go forge another life for myself maybe thousands of miles away, like Sydney or Melbourne? I have my great-aunts and many contacts there.”

  “So you’re stuck for the time being,” he conceded. Leo and her father weren’t the only ones who couldn’t bear to lose sight and sound of her. “Why doesn’t your father divorce Keeley? He must know she only married him for his money.”

  “Dad doesn’t believe in divorce.” She felt racked by pity.

  “He thinks it’s better to live with a woman who doesn’t love him?” Josh asked, never in any danger of being attracted to the over-sexed Keeley with the practised throaty laugh. “That’s a character flaw he can live with?”

  “Apparently,” Clio admitted with an effort. “I know I’m risking making you angry again, Josh, but…”

  Such a glitter came into his eyes. “Then don’t risk it, Clio,” he said.

  “So you’re going to saddle me with the worry. You don’t want me to say it.”

  “Are you actually making judgements about my moral responses?”

  “No, no I’m just thinking about consequences.”

  “So you’ve appointed yourself watchdog?”

  He looked incredibly superior. Unyielding. No vulnerability there. “I suppose I should apologize.”

  “You should,” he said tautly. “Come down off your pedestal, Clio. I wouldn’t take up with your stepmother if she were the last woman on earth.”

  She felt a wash of remorse. “Only Keeley has taken it into her head there’s some attraction there.”

  “Really?” His handsome mouth twisted. His blue eyes blazed.

  She knew she was flirting with danger. He was giving fair warning. Anger was coming off his lean powerful body in waves. “I’m sorry, Josh. I don’t want to have words with you. I must go.” She made to turn away to go back into the house, only to her stupendous shock he spun her around, pulling her to him in one supremely smooth, controlling gesture.

  “Josh!” Totally thrown off her guard, Clio felt a great coursing of blood through her body. Every sense reeled.

  His mouth so swiftly and completely took hers it burned up every ounce of resistance. She was flooded with excitement, robbed of all breath, all strength, willpower. Her mouth had a life of its own. It was responding to such a voluptuous invasion as if she had no other choice. Her surrender was total. Truth was, he had captured her to the core of her being.

  She was gasping when he r
eleased her, losing an astonishing sense of the security and rightness she had felt with her body pressed against his. Was it possible she had chosen Joshua Hart above all others all those years ago?

  “Maybe that will take care of Keeley for you and the rest of your guests,” he bit out, furious with himself for losing it. Only Clio Templeton could have robbed him of his armour. Only Clio had the woman magic to lead him on. That humbling piece of knowledge stuck in his throat. He didn’t want a woman to possess him, to turn him into some sort of a slave. He hated losing the cool order he had imposed on himself and his life.

  As physically strong as he was, his heart was fluttering in his chest and there was a roaring in his ears. He stood there, aware they had created a rivetting spectacle. It would have taken everyone by surprise, indeed shock. Some of the guests were standing stunned yet Clio, with her beautiful head held high, walked back very calmly into the grand living room and didn’t look back.

  CHAPTER TWO

  IT WAS close on a fortnight later before Josh called in on his mentor. Gossip in the town had been rife after the incident with Clio at the gala function. People talked endlessly and breathlessly at dinner parties, in the streets, over back fences. One kiss, it seemed, had created a sensation. All allowances had been made for Clio. He was the one who had overstepped the mark. Big time. Certainly he had acted under compulsion and paid for it. He couldn’t get that kiss out of his mind. The best strategy seemed to him to stay away from the house.

  Meg Palmer, the housekeeper, greeted him at the door. “Josh!” She embraced him briefly, then let him go. Never pushed it. It saddened her greatly to know Josh Hart as a boy had had little contact with warmth and affection and the gentling effect of a woman’s touch. Meg was a short, sturdy woman of robust good health, with twinkling hazel eyes and a shock of soft iron-grey curls.

  “How’s business?” She looked him up and down with pleasure. She well remembered how desperately unhappy and out of control Josh had been as a boy. But hadn’t he grown! These days he was a man of achievements. Meg felt as proud of Josh as his mentor, Leo, did.