Runaway Cinderella Page 3
Daniel smiled. “She must be proud of you?”
Cate lifted her hands and let them fall. “She says she is, but she asks when will I write another book.”
“When will you?”
“I don’t know. I have a job with a Sydney paper and it takes all my energy.”
“Sometimes we have to re-prioritise.”
“Yeah.” She thought of how she’d dropped her job and everything when she heard Rob’s news of his engagement to Amie. A big enough shock could re-prioritise anything.
Daniel stretched out long legs. “So you live in Sydney, are gainfully employed and busy. Too busy for a relationship?”
“If you’re asking, am I involved with someone? the answer’s no.” Not that it was any of his business.
“I knew that.”
She ruffled up. Was he referring to her physical response to him last night? She’d been tired; not herself.
“No ring.”
“Oh.”
“Nor me. You were the closest I’ve ever come the altar.”
“And it scared you off for good?”
A slow grin lit his face, relaxing the tension that had gripped him since she told her story. “No. Like you, I’ve been too busy.” He sobered. “Have you seen your dad since you left home?”
“No.”
“He took your running away hard. You were his princess.”
“He never asked Rob how I was.”
“Ah.” Daniel slanted an assessing gaze her way. “And did you ask how he was?”
She kicked at the floor with the heel of her shoe. “Yes.”
He took her hand and smiled slightly, his thumb running over her knuckles. “A wedding is a good time to heal old wounds.”
She pulled her hand away and bounced up from the sofa. “There isn’t going to be a wedding.”
“Cate, I realise you’ve had a difficult time—and God knows I’m sorry for my part in it—but that’s no reason to ruin your brother’s happiness.”
“His happiness?” She glared her disbelief. “You don’t care about Rob’s happiness.”
Daniel’s mouth tightened. “I admit my primary concern is Amie, but she and Rob are happy together. This is what they both want.”
“Amie and Rob are nice people. They like to please the people they love. If you and Dad decided to unite your businesses, Amie and Rob wouldn’t argue about being the sacrificial goats.”
“That’s preposterous.”
“Is it?”
He stood and paced away from her, as if he couldn’t trust himself not to strangle her. For a few moments he stared out the window. “I’m not going to argue about this with you. Yes, your dad and I have a couple of business interests in common, but they’re not our main concern, and they’re definitely not the reason for Amie and Rob’s marriage.”
“Excuse me if I don’t take your word for it.”
“If you go charging to Rob with these suspicions, you’ll only hurt him.”
She hesitated. It was true that the subject needed tactful handling. “Rob has dreams. He’s a musician.”
He walked towards her. “Amie told me he plays the guitar.”
“And sings. Dad never cared about Rob’s dreams. He doesn’t listen to what Rob, or anyone, wants.”
“Rob is happy with Amie, and Amie is telling the whole world she’s in love. Hold off until tonight and you’ll see for yourself.” He clasped her shoulder lightly.
“The dinner tonight. Don’t tell me you’re invited to Salsa’s, too?”
He grinned crookedly. “One happy family.”
“No.” She twisted away from his gentle hold. “No one listened to me six years ago, but you’ll not do the same to Rob. I’ll go to dinner tonight, but if I find Rob’s not in love, I’ll blast the whole thing sky high. I’m sorry if Amie’s truly in love—if—but Rob’s my brother. You should understand. After all, you were willing to sacrifice my future for your sister’s.”
Chapter Two
Cate’s challenge hung on the air. Six years ago, her happiness hadn’t mattered compared to the comfort of Daniel’s mother and sister. To secure their future, he’d been willing to marry her.
“I won’t let Rob be sacrificed to your plans for Amie’s life.”
Daniel grimaced. “You’re being irrational. If you think I’m a ruthless protector of Amie’s happiness, why would I force her into marriage? Think about it. And think about this: if you choose to meddle in Rob and Amie’s life, tonight, you’ll regret it.”
He stalked off to the kitchen, the set of his shoulders radiating anger.
She frowned after him. Was his final promise a threat or warning? Did it matter? Regardless of Daniel Garren, she wasn’t leaving Perth until she saw Rob happy and living his own life—not a life dictated by her father or Daniel.
Rob wasn’t liked Daniel. He might be her older brother, but he’d taken after their mum. Rob hated conflict. He would quietly sink his dreams to keep those he loved happy.
No way would Cate allow her dad or Daniel to use that against Rob.
While she fumed, Daniel returned unexpectedly with a security card for accessing his apartment. The anger, though not his impatience, had disappeared from his face. “You’ll need this. I’m going out and mightn’t be here to let you back in. I doubt your backpack holds a dress suitable for Salsa’s, which is formal, so you’ll need to go out and buy something party-ish.”
Cate resented the way he’d closed their fight. How could he ignore the conflict between them while she still vibrated with tension. “If you’re ashamed to be seen with me, stay home. As for your security card, my bag’s packed. I’ll move to a hotel.”
“Why bother?” He dropped the security card onto the coffee table. His final shot came from the doorway. “After all, we’ll soon be family.” The door slammed.
She picked up the security card and threw it as hard as she could. It dropped unsatisfyingly short on the polished wood floor.
“I’m moving out,” she told the empty room.
Except, if she did, how would she know what Daniel was scheming?
Reluctantly, she retrieved the security card. Until she’d seen Rob and Amie for herself, she’d be wise not to cut off her nose to spite her face. At the moment, she had access to Daniel and a better chance of identifying and unravelling his plans. She’d have to watch him closely.
Unsettlingly, the idea appealed.
She rushed to deny it. “I won’t stay here a moment longer than I have to. I don’t even like him.”
The last words revealed too much, and their mental echo mocked her. She mightn’t like him, or trust him, but she couldn’t deny Daniel’s attraction.
So she ran.
She collected her purse from her room, tucked the security card into it and dashed out of the apartment.
Of one thing she was determined: not for all the pearls in Broome would she buy a new dress that afternoon.
No way, no way, no way. Never would she listen to Daniel. The brisk rhythm of her defiance carried her out onto the street.
She spent half an hour in the nearby book shop and her jangled nerves calmed. She peered covetously in at the jewellery store’s windows, admiring rings and earrings she couldn’t afford. A pretty bangle in white gold appealed, as did the rubies and yellow topaz necklace. A deep blue sapphire set in a gold ring reminded her of Daniel’s eyes.
The jewellery store window lost its appeal. She bought a chicken and salad sandwich, and sat in a park to eat it. She enjoyed people watching.
A little girl dressed all in pink chased pigeons, giggling at their cooing and bobbing and hurried flights from her pursuit. Her mum sat with her feet up on a bench to rest.
Cate smiled at the toddler’s innocent enjoyment and her own heart lifted. A world with happy children in, was a world worth fighting for, a world filled with the wonder of love and hope. She no longer believed in that happy ending for herself, but she’d fight like a tigress to defend Rob’s chance at it.
The restaurant looked both formal and elegant, and she studied it uneasily. She chewed her bottom lip as pride and common sense debated her next action.
Little though she relished taking Daniel’s advice, appearing at Salsa’s in her plain work clothes would only embarrass her.
She walked slowly on, considering the problem and paying new attention to the boutiques she passed. She stopped in front of a window displaying a silver floating gown. Its sweetheart neckline and princess cut wasn’t a style she would wear, but at least it wasn’t bizarre, and it made concessions to the fact that real women had real figures. Cate couldn’t fit in clothes designed for skeletons.
Lured inside the boutique, she fell into the clutches of an enthusiastic sales woman. In fact, the woman was also the small boutique’s designer, and she insisted that she had the perfect dress for Cate.
What’s more, she was right.
When Cate saw herself in the mirror, she smiled. The heavy cream silk gown with its pattern of scarlet roses was a dream to wear. It slid sensuously over her skin and its scooped neckline and full swirling skirt draped and clung to her figure. Her image reminded Cate of the gypsy girl she’d seen in the penthouse mirror that morning.
But this gypsy girl had married the king.
“Perfect. You wear it exactly as I imagined it.” The designer beamed. Then she held up her finger in an aha moment of memory, and plunged into the back of the shop. She re-emerged with a matching silk purse.
Cate couldn’t resist. She thought of the hotel bill she saved by staying with Daniel, and whipped out her credit card. Then she followed the designer’s advice and found matching high heels in a shoe shop four doors away.
The three inches of extra height would make her taller than Rob and distinctly taller than petite bubbly Amie, but Daniel wouldn’t be dwarfed. And it was Daniel she’d be partnered with. Following the formal announcement of their engagement, Rob and Amie would have to pair off.
It was strange to think of Daniel as her partner.
If her dad had had his way, she and Daniel would have been six years married. Maybe they’d have had kids. Probably, we’d be divorced, she decided cynically. Still, something in her stirred at the thought of tangle-haired blue-eyed imps giggling and trusting in her love, and in Daniel’s.
She shook her head to clear it of silly dreams and focussed on her surroundings. Since her feet were tired and she’d wandered further than she’d intended, she caught the free city bus. Its wide loop through Perth showed her both old favourite places and the changes of six years.
By the time she stepped off the bus near Daniel’s apartment building, she regretted the years away. For all of its changes, Perth was home as Sydney could never be, and part of her longed to come home.
She walked into the penthouse, and tensed.
From the kitchen came the sound of running water and the click of a lid. Daniel was home.
“Good timing.” He emerged from the kitchen. “I’ve just put the kettle on to boil. Would you like a cup of tea?” He noticed, but didn’t comment on the shopping bags she carried.
“Thanks, I’d love a cuppa. White with one sugar.” She could be casual, too. She wouldn’t explain her change of mind about staying in the penthouse. Probably he’d peeked into her room and knew by her backpack that she’d return; hence, his lack of surprise. Or did he just expect that people would naturally follow his orders? “I’ll put these away.” She swung her shopping bags and walked away with would-be jauntiness.
Afternoon tea with Daniel?
She took her time unfolding and hanging up her silk dress, trying to slow her quickened pulse. Her nerves tingled with anticipation and she resented every tingle. She didn’t want to be brought alive by the challenge he presented.
“You’re here for Rob’s sake. Nothing more.” Any entanglement with Daniel would be self-destructive. Never again would a man control her life. She had to remember that Daniel’s power was a threat.
She walked back to the living area feeling wary and tense.
He lounged on the yellow sofa with their tea in mugs on the coffee table in front of him. His eyes were hooded as he watched her skirt the coffee table and sofa, and sit opposite him in the single safety of a leather recliner.
“Four hours until dinner,” he said. “Three hours before you need to start getting ready.”
“I bought a book to read,” she said, forestalling any offer to entertain her or arrange her time. The book was a current affairs commentary and she placed it on the table so he could read the title.
“I also bought a book. Yours. But I wasn’t planning on reading it now.”
Her eyes widened. It was shivery to think of him reading the private glimpses of her soul which she’d given in her book. She’d been silly to mention it to him. She avoided discussing it further. “What were you planning?” She sipped her tea, glad for something to do with her hands. They curled protectively around the white and blue china mug.
“I think we could both do with working out some tension. There’s a swimming pool downstairs.”
Swimming. Exercise. The idea appealed. “I don’t have bathers with me.” But she’d seen a boutique around the corner that sold them, and with summer a fast-fading memory, swimwear was on half-price sale. “A swim does sound good.”
He waited as she argued it out with herself.
The thought of exercise proved too tempting to resist, especially when her tense neck muscles twinged. She set down her mug. “Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be with you.”
“Great.” He stretched, then slumped bonelessly. Apparently, he was prepared to wait all day for her company.
Why? A few hours ago they were bristling at each other.
Maybe by being nice to me, he thinks I’ll simmer down before dinner with Rob and Amie, Cate thought cynically. We don’t want Amie to be upset.
Or maybe, said a tiny voice of hopeful goodwill. He honestly regrets what happened six years ago now that he knows the truth of it. Maybe he’s trying to be friends.
Friends with Daniel? No. He didn’t need her—and she didn’t need him. There was nothing between them except bad history.
She tapped impatiently at the lift button, wanting to escape her thoughts. She’d buy the bathers and a session in a cold swimming pool would clear her head. She rushed to the boutique and chose a red one-piece, thinking of how good the water would feel as exercise burned away her confused emotions.
Only returning did she have second thoughts. Her steps slowed and the bag containing her new bathers bumped her knee. Idiot. She’d agreed, voluntarily, to spend time with Daniel. That’s not exactly avoiding him.
But swimming didn’t count. They’d share the pool, but nothing else. Moreover, with the bathers in hand, she’d look foolish if she changed her mind.
I’ll concentrate on swimming and ignore him.
He must have heard the lift because he opened the door to the penthouse.
All the air in her lungs vanished.
He had changed into swimming gear. Wearing black trunks and a towel over one shoulder, he was gorgeously male.
Her pulse thudded in shock and lust.
“I’ve put a towel and a robe in your room.” He stepped aside so she could enter.
“Ugh. Thanks.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, and was despairingly aware of his recognition of her response to him. She clutched her shopping bag tighter, and hurried to her room.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid.” The lecture was uninspired but sincere as she changed from her work clothes to bathers. Her fingers were clumsy. “You’ve seen men before.” She’d interviewed whole football teams. But when she looked at her face in the mirror, it remained flushed with embarrassment and arousal.
&
nbsp; She knotted the borrowed robe viciously tight at her waist, picked up the towel, and braced herself to face Daniel again.
He had shrugged on a robe himself, and his eyes gleamed as he saw her relax at the sight. He flicked her cheek gently. “Men like to be appreciated as much as women. When your eyes widened at the sight of me—” He broke off as she gurgled with embarrassment. He grinned. “I appreciate you, too. In fact, I think it’s a good thing the pool’s cool rather than heated.”
She couldn’t find an answer.
He laughed, locked the penthouse behind them and lead the way to the pool.
She dived in with relief, and set out on a fast lap. Daniel kept pace, then after a couple of laps, surged ahead. When they both swam to the side of the pool, she’d forgotten her embarrassment.
“You’re a fantastic swimmer.” It explained his well-developed chest and shoulder muscles. She watched as he lifted himself out of the pool.
He turned and caught her watching. “I swim a lot.” He extended a hand and helped her out of the water. “We’ve time for a soak in the hot spa. You look cold,” and just for a second his eyes flicked down.
She looked too, and saw her nipples had puckered at the double coolness of pool water and cool air. Her colour rose, but she smiled wryly. “As kids, we used to call it, ‘headlights on’.”
He laughed, and slung a companionable arm around her shoulders. “That’s nothing to the embarrassment a teenage boy can encounter at a swimming pool full of gorgeous girls.” He steered her to the spa, and she slid into the water, hiding her tell-tale body.
Daniel slid in opposite.
He was big and healthy and male, and just for the moment Cate decided she could acknowledge that he attracted her enormously.
His eyes closed as he surrendered himself to the luxury of the hot, pulsing water.
Cate felt her own muscles melt. She followed his example and shut her eyes. The water was warm and supportive, the spa pulse stimulating. She was aware of her body, and almost terrifyingly aware of its potential for pleasure. Her eyes snapped open, and she found Daniel watching her.