* *
Finn watched from the office window as Tamsyn alighted from her car. Even from here he could tell she was excited. There was a light and energy about her now that had been missing yesterday and this morning. It served to make her even more beautiful.
He tamped down on the shiver of desire that threatened to ripple through his body. If he was going to control this situation he’d have to start by controlling himself. Errant physical attractions would only complicate things. And as complications went, getting a call from the leasing agent handling Lorenzo and Ellen’s cottage to say a certain princess from Australia was interested in taking up the short-term leasing option was a big one.
As tempting as it had been to say an absolute and resounding no when the agent had queried him about the lease, especially as the leasee had no references, he’d been mindful of Lorenzo’s wish to keep Tamsyn close for Ellen’s sake. How much easier would it be to keep an eye on her if she was just down the hill from where he lived?
Of course, he reminded himself, there was the bonus of him not having to feed Ellen’s man-eating black cat, Lucy—short for Lucifer. A singularly appropriate moniker Finn had always privately thought. He hadn’t had a morning yet where the feisty feline hadn’t delivered him a scathing hiss or a barbed paw.
Plus, he knew for a fact that Lorenzo and Ellen’s personal effects and identifying items had all been packed away in Alexis’s old bedroom and a new lock put on the door to ensure that while renters made use of the house, their private things remained just that, private. He’d done it himself after Lorenzo had accompanied Ellen to Wellington. What harm could come from having Tamsyn literally under his eye?
“Looks like she’s been shopping,” he commented as he watched Tamsyn pull several shopping bags and a small wheeled suitcase from the trunk of her car.
“And not just in Blenheim. That pink bag, that’s from a local store,” Penny commented from behind him.
“Damn. I thought you directed her to Blenheim for what she needed.”
“I did, but honestly, Finn, you can’t expect to control her every movement.”
Oh, can’t I? “More’s the pity,” he growled, stepping away from the window before Tamsyn could see her spying on him.
Penny laughed. “She obviously found our nearby center all on her own, and from the look of things she’s boosted the local economy in the bargain. I’m pretty sure that’s one of Alexis’s designs she’s wearing right now and you and I both know they don’t come cheap.”
Finn stifled a groan. What were the odds that Tamsyn Masters would walk out the door here this morning and come back wearing a dress designed by her half sister? A sister she didn’t even know she had—and probably wouldn’t, ever, if he succeeded in keeping Tamsyn in the dark as he’d promised. He needed to hold it together, for Lorenzo’s sake. The man had stepped in and helped him when his whole world shattered apart when he was only twelve years old. Now Lorenzo’s world was imploding and it was up to Finn to return the favor.
At the sound of her heels clicking on the polished wooden hall floor he spun away from the window and went out to greet her.
“Oh, hello!” Tamsyn said, coming to an abrupt halt as he exited the office right in front of her.
A waft of her fragrance drifted around him. Something with flowers, fruit and a hint of spice. Something that sent reason fleeing from his mind and a crazy desire to lean forward and inhale more deeply driving through his body.
“Sorry I’m late,” she continued, oblivious to the tug-of-war going on in Finn’s mind, not to mention the tug of something else far lower down in his body. “I’ll only be a minute. Just let me put these things in my room and I’m all yours.”
All his? Somehow he doubted that. But it certainly promised to be interesting finding out, he thought with a smile as he watched her graceful departure.
Gone was the wounded creature who had been at his front door last night. Gone was the troubled but determined young woman who’d arrived in the dining room this morning. In her place was charming, confident sex on legs, and very beautiful legs they were, too, he admitted as he admired the slim turn of her ankle and the slender, yet shapely, calf muscles heading in the opposite direction on a pair of colored icepicks that defied logic and gravity in one, literally, easy step.
He shook himself out of his daze as she disappeared from view. Just as well, he thought, or he might even have been tempted to follow her.
True to her word, she was back in only a few minutes, delivering him a shy smile as she returned.
“All ready?” he asked, his mouth drying as he studied her anew.
The purple of the dress did something striking to her brown eyes, reminding him of pansies. Bold, yet fragile at the same time. God, he groaned inwardly. What the hell was wrong with him? Next he’d be acting like some crush-struck teenager.
“I certainly am,” she replied, falling in alongside him as he headed for the door. “Where are we going?”
He named a vineyard and winery that was only a fifteen-minute drive away. “Their restaurant is immensely popular for lunches and their wines are world renowned.”
Tamsyn rubbed her flat tummy and laughed. “I certainly hope you’re right. I’m famished after all that shopping this morning.”
“You won’t be disappointed,” he assured her.
He kept up a bland running commentary on the surrounding countryside and their destination, to fill in time as they drove to the vineyard.
“This place sounds a lot like home,” Tamsyn commented. “We run a similar operation with cellar door, restaurant and winery. It’ll be fun seeing how they do things. I could almost tell myself it was work if—” Her voice broke off.
“If?” he coaxed.
“If I hadn’t resigned and walked away from it all,” she said with a brittle smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Oh? Sick of the daily drudge?” he probed, curious to know her answer.
If she was the spoiled princess he’d always imagined her to be, then his guess would fit right in with that. He used that thought to quell his firing libido.
“Something like that,” she answered noncommittally and turned her head to stare out the window.
Something like that. Huh. What he wouldn’t give to find out what that “something” was. Then maybe he could resolve his conflicted feelings. On the surface, Tamsyn Masters had proven true to form. She’d turned up at his doorstep unannounced, which, if it had been Ellen’s home, could have had devastating consequences. She spent money like water, which made him wonder if she’d ever had to work hard for a single thing. And, by her own admission, she’d simply walked away from the family business and whatever responsibilities had been hers while she was there.
All in all, her actions made her appear to be an unappealing package—a package not unlike Briana had proven to be.
So why on earth did he find her anything but?
Five
Tamsyn
