Five minutes later they were in the office portion of Wade’s flat, he with telephone in hand and a wry expression playing round that bold, expressive mouth. Holly’s stomach was busy playing hop-scotch, but Wade seemed calm as anything while he waited for his connection.
‘Jess? Everything okay at home?’ he said, then. ‘Good, because I have this rather lovely young world traveller here who says she’s related to you. I’ll let you speak to her in a moment, but first I want to ask if you’ll insist she go out and buy a new dress tomorrow because we’ve been invited to a posh party tomorrow night and she keeps insisting the dress she’s wearing at the moment isn’t suitable, or some such thing.’
He paused, listening to something Jessica was saying but winking mischievously at Holly’s furious frown.
‘It would be hard to imagine her in anything more flattering,’ he said then. And his eyes raked across Holly’s figure in a glance that floated between caress and naked lust. ‘If this is what jet-lag does to her, she ought to fly more often. But that’s beside the point; I know she’s dying to speak to you, so I’ll put her on now. Hang on.’
He handed over the phone to Holly, who found it necessary to turn away from him. Not for reasons of privacy, but because he insisted on continuing that visual caress, and she knew it would be impossible to keep the effect of his appraisal from her own voice. It was almost exactly as if he’d really been touching her.
‘Sounds like you’ve made quite an impression,’ Aunt Jessica chuckled as soon as they were through the formalities of greeting. ‘And what do you think of him?’
Oh, Lord, thought Holly. He was right and worse than right. Jessica is matchmaking with a bold hand indeed. Her thoughts didn’t make a reply any easier.
‘Uhm ... interesting,’ she finally managed to say, praying that it was a sufficiently nebulous answer to satisfy Jessica without saying too much to Wade Bannister. Damn Jessica anyway; what kind of answers could she expect, knowing full well the object of the discussion was sitting only inches from Holly. And eavesdropping, as usual.
‘That isn’t much of an answer,’ Jessica said. ‘The kind of thing one says while trying to avoid saying something less complimentary.’
‘Oh, it was a good trip. A bit tiring, but I was able to arrange layovers here and there, so I arrived in fairly good shape,’ Holly said, deliberately changing the subject. She would not talk about Wade Bannister while he was sitting right behind her. Indeed, she wouldn’t talk about him anyway, given any choice in the matter. Unfortunately, there was little if any chance of that.
‘Oh, all right. I get the message,’ her aunt said. ‘So when are you flying home here? I want to be sure and meet the plane, don’t forget.’
‘I’m ... I’m not sure,’ Holly found herself admitting. ‘Mr Bannister has apparently made all the arrangements, so I’ll just put him back on, if you like.’
‘The plane gets in at two in the afternoon; not tomorrow, mind, but the day after,’ he said, then paused while Holly repeated the instructions.
‘All right, Holly dear. I’ll be waiting. And please tell Wade that everything’s just fine, here. He’s inclined to worry about me sometimes, especially when he’s away for long periods.’
‘I’ll ... tell him,’ Holly said. ‘Goodbye for now and I’ll see you when our flight gets in.’
‘So,’ Wade said with a sober, almost harsh expression once she’d hung up the telephone, ‘I’m merely interesting, am I? Really, I’d have thought you might do better than that. After all, I fairly raved about you.’
‘I wasn’t speaking about you when I said that,’ Holly lied. ‘I was talking about my trip.’
‘Bulldust! Which, if you need it translated, means …’
‘I know what it means, or at least I can guess,’ Holly said. ‘And all right, so I was talking about you. What else could you expect me to say with you sitting there breathing down my neck?’
‘Oh ... handsome, charming, debonair; or rough, tough and nasty; big, bad, bold and expensive. Something a little more daring than just interesting. I can see, dear Holly, that I’ll have to set about making more of an impression on you than I have so far.’
Then he grinned wolfishly. ‘And just for the record, I wasn’t breathing down your neck; I was studying that most astonishingly lovely back and thinking that when you’re tense, you develop the most interesting dimples just about here ...’
‘Keep your hands to yourself!’ Holly snapped, swivelling out of his reach. ‘If you want to play those kind of games, I can think of somebody who’d be more than willing to join you I’m sure. But it isn’t me.’
‘My, my. Instant antipathy in my case, and instant jealousy elsewhere. You’re certainly one for the first impressions, aren’t you, dear Holly?’
‘Not as a general rule. And just for your record, I am not dear Holly,’ she replied.
‘Judging from the way your temperament is coming all unstuck, I’d say you’re close to being a very jet-lagged Holly,’ Wade replied, apparently nonplussed at her hostility.
So much so, that he grinned very engagingly at her before saying, ‘Which isn’t really that surprising, considering the strain of the past few days. So it’s off to bed with you, I think, and don’t be a bit surprised if you sleep ‘till noon because you may very well need it. Just so long as you’re up in time to go buy that new dress.’
‘I am not buying any new dress,’ Holly avowed. ‘In fact, the way I feel just now, I’ll still be sound asleep when you’re off enjoying that party much more without me.’
‘And have to explain to Jess why I left you all alone and went off to the party without you? Oh, no. You’ll be there — in this dress, which I think I’d prefer, or a new one. But you will be there, dear Holly, if I have to drag you kicking and screaming.’
And she was, complete with new dress. In fact. Holly’s only satisfaction stemmed from the dress, and that didn’t last long. She had indeed slept until noon. Until one-thirty, actually, when she woke startled, at first, then merely ravenous. She rose, threw on her wrap and slipped out of her bedroom to see if Wade was still present in the flat.
To her great pleasure, he wasn’t, but he’d left a note for her, prominently displayed on the refrigerator door.
Afternoon, sleepyhead. You’ll have to go out for brekkie because I ate all that was here and it’ll be lunch time by then anyway. I can recommend the Golden Eagle if you like Chinese, or Luis’ if you’re feeling more traditional. Should be back in time for the party at eight. Don’t forget the dress! And I’ve left you some cash in case you need it.
The message wasn’t signed, not that it could have come from anyone but Wade. Holly stood there, staring at it for a moment, then opened the envelope attached and stared even wider when she saw his idea of some cash.
‘What does he expect me to do — buy the entire dress shop?’ she muttered to herself. Not that it mattered what Wade might expect; Holly knew she’d not spend a penny of his money on a dress. Or even on lunch, for that matter. She had enough of her own and plenty of traveller’s cheques.
Besides, she wasn’t going to buy a dress, because she wasn’t going to get roped into attending the party. Not if she could help it.
By the time she’d showered and dressed, however, reason had more or less returned, and she knew that her feelings for Jessica would end up giving Wade the lever he needed to keep her in line … within reason. Unfortunately, buying a dress and going to a party, even one thrown by Ramona Mason, could hardly be described as unreasonable.
She spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the city streets of Perth and marvelling at the wisdom of the city’s early planners. The location on the Swan River couldn’t be faulted, and the tourist map she procured showed just how the beauty spots of the river had been emphasised in the overall plan.
She spent a pleasant hour in the museum and art gallery, wishing it could be more like a pleasant three days, just to see everything properly. Lunch ignored the restaurants W
ade had suggested in favour of bits and pieces picked up from small street stalls and milk bars.
And although she had to fight with herself about it. Holly kept an eye out as she passed various dress shops and boutiques, although it was late afternoon before she found the dress.
It was in a tiny side-street boutique and it caught her eye like a magnet the first time she passed. Passed, not stopping, but unable thereafter to forget the swirling pattern that wasn’t really a pattern at all, but some strange sort of tie-dyed effect.
The result was an explosive mingling of pale grey and bright, vivid emerald green, an effect that shouldn’t have worked, and certainly shouldn’t have worked in a dress like this one. It was, by comparison to what she’d worn the evening before, almost a total antithesis. Floor length, with a high collar, full back, long sleeves and a fully-enclosed front with dozens of tiny, pearl-grey buttons.
In any other fabric, it would have been too warm for Western Australia at this time of year, but this was a light, light fabric, as Holly found when she finally worked up the nerve to go into the boutique and check — after walking past the place three times first. Even more important, it fitted her perfectly, requiring not the slightest alteration.
‘It’s as if it was made for you,’ the sales-clerk sighed, and in her voice was truth, not any salesmanship at all.
‘It was,’ Holly declared. Because, to be truthful with herself, she loved the dress at first sight. The fact that it would totally forestall Wade Bannister’s caressing, all- seeing eyes was also important, but secondary.
The price was right; she already had the accessories from her grey dress, and Holly found herself leaving the shop with a new lilt to her step. Now she looked forward to attending the party, knowing that if Wade needed deep cleavages and dimpled backs to stare at, he’d have to seek elsewhere.
It didn’t, unfortunately, work out quite as she expected. Wade was late, sufficiently so that Holly was dressed, ready and waiting when he rushed into the flat a few minutes before eight. He came through the door, dark hair windblown and his tie slightly askew, as if it had been open most of the day, and when he saw Holly standing nervously by the lounge room bar, glass in hand, he stopped as if he’d run into an invisible wall.
The grin that played for an instant across his mobile mouth was impossible to comprehend, difficult even to evaluate. It flickered there only an instant, joining one dark, high-raised eyebrow in a brief, unreadable message, before going again.
‘Promptness is a virtue,’ he muttered. ‘It used to be the only one I had and now I’m entirely bereft. Forgive me. Holly. I’ll only be a few minutes.’
‘But ... there’s no great panic,’ she cried, to his departing back. Clearly Wade wasn’t going to keep his lovely blonde hostess waiting, she thought as she waited patiently while he showered and changed.
When they entered the restaurant’s private rooms. Holly almost wished she had pleaded jet-lag. Instead of the relatively small party she’d somehow anticipated, this was a full-scale, well-attended reception, and as they entered she realised that Wade knew exactly why the party was being held, and for whom.
‘Happy Birthday,’ he said, greeting his hostess with a bow and touching her fingers to his lips with a warm smile. ‘May you have many, many more.’
‘But without acknowledging them, I hope,’ said Ramona Mason. ‘This is truly the last one I’ll admit to for a long time to come.’
Only then did she condescend to recognise Holly, and that only briefly, with a brittle smile and icy eyes. Then she turned again to Wade.
‘And thank you much for the lovely present,’ Ramona said in a voice like raw silk. She lifted a bejewelled hand to the fine jade necklet, leaving Holly to wonder if Wade had bought her the enormous emerald on her engagement finger or the necklet itself.
Certainly Wade himself didn’t bother to enlighten Holly; he merely steered her towards the main throng of people and began a round of introductions that quickly had her head spinning with names and faces she knew she wouldn’t be able to match.
Everyone, it seemed, knew Wade, but it was left to Ramona to put the cap on the introductions by announcing at one point a welcome to Australia for Holly. It was a surprising gesture of hospitality until she climaxed it by adding, ‘she’s Wade’s housekeeper’s niece from England, touring the colonies don’t you know?’ in tones that clearly spelled out Holly’s position.
Surprisingly, nobody seemed to notice the sarcasm or the sniping, and it did not take Holly terribly long to realise that while it might have been Ramona’s party, she was far from the most popular person in attendance.
Everyone was impressively pleasant to Holly, almost as if Ramona’s comments had increased her popularity instead of being the put-down that was intended.
They dined on a smorgasbord that was undeniably the most magnificent piece of culinary architecture Holly had ever seen. Mountains of enormous king prawns, seas of oysters on the half-shell, islands of roast pork, beef and chicken. There were fresh fruits, literally dozens of different, delightful salads, steaming baked potatoes and cleverly decorated hillocks of potato salad.
‘It looks too pretty to mess up, just to fill a few stomachs,’ Holly muttered to Wade when she’d recovered from her first appraisal of the delicacies.
‘The way I feel, it’ll look ten times prettier once I’ve got a fair swack of it inside me,’ he growled back. ‘I’ve been on the go since six o’clock this morning, with only coffee for sustenance, and if you hadn’t covered those succulent shoulders of yours with that dress, they’d be sporting tooth marks by now.’ And his fingers traced a brief but scorching pattern across Holly’s collarbone in a gesture that was so quick she couldn’t be sure if it was intended to be sensuous or just to make a point of his comment.
What she did know was that it revealed the silliness of buying the dress as some sort of barrier; even through the light fabric his fingers had a magical ability to scar through to the very core of her being.
She shivered, glad that he’d turned away an instant later to reply to a question from someone beside them, and thus was unable to gauge her spontaneous reaction to his touch.
It wasn’t missed, however, by their hostess. Glancing around and wondering vaguely when they’d be allowed to descend upon the smorgasbord. Holly caught Ramona’s eyes on her, and the fire in them was green with unguarded emotion.
It was later in the evening, when Holly was resting between dances, that Ramona took the opportunity to speak to her in the relative privacy of the crowded room, and she made it clear immediately how she felt about Holly’s presence.
‘You really don’t seem able to take a hint, do you?’ she demanded bluntly, face smiling for the benefit of any who might see, but eyes chillingly cold.
‘You probably won’t believe me, but I didn’t have a great deal of choice in the matter,’ Holly replied calmly, trying desperately to hide the quaking within. Of all the types of confrontations she hated, this was the worst. No matter what she said, it would be wrong, yet she must somehow avoid a scene if that was what Ramona had in mind.
‘I didn’t notice him dragging you in kicking and screaming,’ Ramona replied, and Holly couldn’t hold back the giggle at this use of Wade’s exact threat.
Ramona’s face darkened, and Holly spoke quickly to try and placate her. ‘Listen, please ... I didn’t especially want to come here tonight, but Mr Bannister did insist; he really did,’ Holly said. ‘And while I’m sorry if it upsets you, although I can’t for the life of me imagine why it should. I’m afraid there’s just nothing I can do about that. Now, if you’ll excuse me ...’
‘Of course,’ said the blonde, not one whit placated by Holly’s attitude. ‘But before you go, little missy, just a word of warning. Wade Bannister is spoken for; indeed, he’s promised, if you know what I mean. I wouldn’t like you to forget that.’
‘I shouldn’t think it’s important enough, to me, to either remember or forget,’ Holly replied. ‘I�
�m here only to visit my aunt. I shan’t be staying, I’m not looking for any holiday romances, or indeed any romances at all. So you can stop worrying.’
‘Worrying? Why should I worry? The warning was just to save your dignity in case Wade decided to amuse himself during your visit, that’s all.’ And with that parting shot, Ramona stalked off haughtily.
It was a credible performance. Holly thought, but hardly a great one. Certainly Ramona Mason wasn’t nearly as certain of Wade as she attempted to make out. That didn’t really surprise Holly; who could ever be sure of a man like that, a man whose blatant, rampant sexuality lay just beneath the thin veneer of urbane calm?
Well, Ramona was certainly going to try, she thought, looking across the room to see the blonde snuggled into Wade’s arms as they swirled slowly through the crowded dance floor.
‘A handsome couple, aren’t they?’ said a voice beside her, and Holly turned to meet the eyes of Ramona’s father, a tall, distinguished looking, greying man in his mid-fifties.
‘Yes, they certainly are,’ Holly agreed, hoping Mr Mason wasn’t astute enough to read the hint of pain in her eyes at the certainty of just how handsome a couple they were.
‘Still, I think we might cut an equally dashing display, don’t you?’ he said, leading her out on to the floor and then immediately closing her in an embrace that Holly instinctively felt inclined to repel.
Even if it had been Wade, the embrace was far too close for comfort, and as she felt the elder Mason’s lips nibbling near her ear. Holly realised that he was distinctly in his cups and — worse — that he was definitely making a serious pass at her!
Oh, my God, she cried silently. In the crowded confines of the dance floor, nobody could possibly see the crude groping she was being subjected to, nor overhear the equally crude proposals to which she was expected to agree.
And there wasn’t room for her to fling herself free, not that she dared make a scene, and yet she must do something!
That, providence supplied. The elder Mason stumbled, putting Holly’s left knee into a position where all she need do was raise it sharply and take the questionable satisfaction of seeing his eyes blank with pain.
Cyclone Season Page 4