could afford it would obviously be demanding, expecting the best for what they were paying. Elizabeth hoped there would be no hiccups to the island’s excellent reputation for providing it while she was in charge. She knew supply boats called regularly. However, how the staff operated was a mystery to her and the need for that information was foremost in her mind as she climbed the ladder to the bridge.
She sat down in the chair beside Harry’s before handing him his coffee. ‘Black, as requested,’ she said, forcing a smile to disprove his sourpuss description and holding on to a fierce determination not to be prickly in his presence.
‘Thanks.’ He smiled back. ‘We’ll be there in about forty minutes.’
‘I know the general layout of the resort, but I know nothing about the staff, Harry. Or how everything runs.’
‘You’ll learn fast enough,’ he assured her. ‘Basically you have three undermanagers. Sarah Pickard is the head housekeeper. She handles the cleaning staff. Her husband, Jack, is the head maintenance man, who has his own team of helpers. The head chef, Daniel Marven, runs everything to do with the restaurant. He also keeps a check on the bar and will tell you what needs to be ordered in.’ He made a wry grimace. ‘The guy you are going to replace was overordering and reselling elsewhere, not to mention a few other perks he was working.’
‘His name?’
‘Sean Cassidy. Not important for you to remember. He’ll be gone within an hour of our arrival. I’ll call up a helicopter to take him off.’
‘Are you going to prosecute?’
He shook his head. ‘Bad publicity. Besides, it wasn’t major criminal stuff.’
‘How did you find out he was crooked?’
‘Our sommelier in Cairns remarked to me that our island guests drank an inordinate amount of wine and spirits. Surprisingly inordinate, despite the fact that we run an open bar. It rang warning bells. When Sean had his mainland leave this past weekend, I did a thorough check of all supplies and usage, and bingo! No doubt he was robbing us and has been doing it for some considerable time.’
‘Will he know you were checking on him?’
‘He knows I was there but I didn’t tip my hand to anyone. Mickey and I still had to decide what to do about it. Any disruption is not good for business.’ He flashed a grin at her. ‘Which is where you come in. No disruption.’
She nodded. ‘I’ll do my best to make it appear a smooth transition, but I’ll need some help to begin with.’
‘No problem. I’ll be your guide for the first few days, until you’ve familiarised yourself with how everything runs.’
A few days in close contact with Harry had to be tolerated. The groundwork for this management job had to be laid if she was to carry it through successfully. It was the measure of closeness she had to watch. If he started taking liberties with her person...somehow she had to deal with that if and when it happened.
‘I’ll get on top of it all as soon as I can,’ she said with strong resolution.
Harry chuckled, his vivid blue eyes dancing with teasing knowledge as he slowly drawled, ‘I’m sure you will, Elizabeth. Can’t get rid of me fast enough, can you?’
She felt heat rushing up her neck and turned her face away, looking out to sea, hating how he could read her mind and provoke this reaction in her. ‘I’m sure you have to keep a check on other things besides the resort,’ she said flatly.
‘True. Though I am aware that I’m throwing you into a position you haven’t held before. I’ll spend a few days with you, then drop in from time to time in case you have any problems that I can resolve.’
She wished she could say, Don’t. I’ll call you if I need your help. But he was her boss now and what he was laying out was reasonable. Problems could arise that she didn’t even recognise because of her inexperience. ‘Do you have accommodation kept especially for you on the island?’ she asked, worrying about how close he was going to be to her.
‘No. I’m happy sleeping aboard this yacht. The Pickards have their own private villa as they are the only ones on the staff, apart from the manager, who actually live on the island full-time. The rest work on a rotation basis—ten days here, four days on the mainland—and they’re accommodated in a series of motel-like structures.’
‘Is that where I’ll be staying?’
He shook his head. ‘You’ll have your own private quarters in the administration building.’
Where Harry could make private visits.
Elizabeth grimaced at that thought. She was getting paranoid about the man. He could not get her into bed with him unless she allowed it. All she had to do was keep him at a sensible distance. It was only for a month and he wouldn’t be there all the time.
‘Don’t be worrying about clothes for tomorrow,’ he suddenly tossed at her. ‘I’ll get Sarah to issue you with the island uniform.’
‘What’s the island uniform?’ she queried, not having seen that on the video.
‘This...’ He indicated his T-shirt and shorts and pointed to the emblem just below his left shoulder—a stitched line of waves in blue over which Finn Island was written in a small flowing multicoloured script to match the multicoloured fish across his chest.
She hadn’t noticed the emblem before, distracted by the way the T-shirt clung to Harry’s very male physique. ‘I hadn’t realised. Of course, you came from there this morning.’
So much had happened today, her state of hopeful eagerness this morning felt as though it had been wiped out a million years ago. Another life ago.
‘Makes it easier for the guests to know who’s staff and who’s not,’ Harry explained, adding with one of his devilish grins, ‘That won’t take care of your undies, though.’
He was probably having a fantasy of her naked beneath her outer clothes.
‘I’ll manage,’ she said through gritted teeth.
He laughed. ‘You can probably pick up a bikini from the boutique. Sarah can provide you with a hair-dryer and a toothbrush. Don’t know about make-up.’
‘I have some in my handbag.’
‘No worries then.’
Only you, she thought.
Yet when they arrived on the island and confronted Sean Cassidy in his administration office, the playboy image Elizabeth had of Harry Finn in her mind was severely dented. Right in front of her eyes his easygoing attitude disappeared, replaced by a formidable air of authority. There was no semblance of light banter in his voice as he set about firing the crooked manager with ruthless efficiency.
Sean Cassidy had risen from the chair behind his office desk to greet his visitors, a smile on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes, which skated over Elizabeth and settled warily on Harry. He was a tall, lean man, dark-haired, dark-eyed, and the unheralded appearance of his boss clearly caused some tension in him.
‘You’re out, Sean,’ Harry
