will be arriving shortly to fly you to the mainland. Go and collect all your personal effects from your apartment. You won’t be coming back.’
‘What the hell...’ the guy started to expostulate.
Harry cut him off. ‘You know why. I have evidence of all your skimming activities. Providing you go quietly, I won’t hand you over to the police at this time. If you know what’s good for you, Sean, you’ll stay quiet. Any bad-mouthing of the Finn family and its business operations will have consequences you won’t like. Do you understand me?’
The threat had a steely edge to it that would have intimidated anyone. Sean Cassidy sucked in his breath, swallowed whatever defensive words he might have spoken and nodded. He looked shell-shocked.
‘Let’s go then.’ Harry waved commandingly to a door in the rear wall of the office. ‘I’ll accompany you into the apartment to ensure you don’t take anything that doesn’t belong to you.’
As the man started to move as directed, Harry turned to Elizabeth, his blue eyes ice-hard, not a vestige of a twinkle in them. ‘Take over the desk, Elizabeth. You’re now in charge of this office.’
She nodded, her mouth too dry to speak. Her heart was beating faster than normal. The air felt charged with electricity. She was still stunned by the strike-anyone-dead energy that had emanated from Harry. In her two years of working for Michael, she had never witnessed anything like it coming from him, and she had always thought he was the stronger brother.
It wasn’t until Harry had followed Sean into the apartment and closed the door that she could bring herself to actually move her feet. The desk was large and L-shaped with a computer workstation on one side. She sat in the chair that was now hers, grateful for its firm support. Witnessing the formidable side of Harry Finn had shaken her. The man was lethal, and she suddenly felt very vulnerable to whatever he might turn on her, now that she was locked into this situation with him.
That nerve-quivering blast of forcefulness... A shiver ran down her spine. Though surely he would never force a woman. He wouldn’t have to, came the instant answer in her head. He was so innately sexy he could make her feel hot and bothered with just a teasing look. But he needed her here for business so maybe he would refrain from pushing anything sexual with her. Teasing was just teasing. Hopefully she could keep a level head with that.
Having cleared her mind enough to concentrate on business, Elizabeth took stock of the other office furnishings—filing cabinets, a couple of chairs for visitors, a coffee table with brochures fanned out on top of it, framed photographs of celebrities who had stayed here hanging on the walls.
On the larger section of the desk, which faced the entrance doors to administration, was a telephone attached to an intercom system with numbers for all the villas, the staff quarters and the restaurant. Beside it was a notepad and pen for writing notes or messages. On the top page were two reminders which had been ticked. Chocs to 8. Gin to 14. Obviously she had to deal with all requests from guests as well as handle bookings and coordinate the staff for whatever was needed.
Directly in front of her was a spreadsheet, detailing the occupancy of the villas this week—arrivals and departures. Three couples had left this morning. Their villas were vacant until another three couples arrived tomorrow. One of them was only staying three days, the other two for five. Most of the bookings were for five, only a few for a whole week. She would have to have her wits about her, coordinating the turnovers, personalising the welcomes and the farewells, memorising the names of all the guests. Wealthy people always expected that courtesy and respect.
She was matching names to the occupants of each villa when she heard the distinctive sound of a helicopter coming in. The door behind her opened and Harry led Sean, who was loaded up with luggage, out of the apartment, waving him to go ahead, pausing at the desk long enough to say, ‘Hold the fort, Elizabeth. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.’
He didn’t wait for a reply, intent on escorting Sean to the helipad, wherever that was. The glass entrance doors to the office opened automatically for ease of access and Harry caught up with Sean as he made his exit. There was no verbal exchange between them. The ex-manager was going quietly.
Elizabeth watched Harry until he moved out of sight. Her heart was hammering again. Experiencing a completely different side of Harry Finn to the flirtatious tease she was used to was having a highly disturbing impact on her. It was impossible now to dismiss him as a lightweight playboy. The man had real substance, impressively strong substance, powerful substance, and it was playing havoc with her prejudice against him.
Michael had said this morning that Harry’s mind was as sharp as a razor blade and he had his thumb on everything to do with his side of the business. That description could no longer be doubted. She’d had evidence enough today of how accurately he could read her thoughts—something she would have to guard against more carefully in the future—and she would never again underestimate how capable he was of being master of any situation.
His attraction was all the stronger for it. Dangerously so.
Nevertheless, that still didn’t make him good relationship material.
He was a dyed-in-the-wool flirt with women.
And that wasn’t just her judgment. Michael had said so.
Regardless of what Harry Finn made her feel, she was not going to have anything to do with him apart from the business of managing this resort for a month. He could flirt his head off with her but she would stand absolutely firm on that ground.
He was not what she wanted in her life.
She had to look for someone steady, solid, totally committed to her and the family they would have together.
Not like her father.
And not like Harry, who probably treated women as though they were a carousel of lollipops to be plucked out and tasted until another looked tastier.
WHEN Harry returned he was accompanied by a middle-aged woman with whom he appeared to be on very friendly terms. They were smiling at each other as they entered the office. She had short, curly dark hair, liberally streaked with grey, a very attractive face set in cheerful lines and merry hazel eyes that invited people to enjoy life with her. Of average height, her trim figure declared her fit to tackle anything, and she exuded positive vibes at Elizabeth as Harry introduced her.
‘Sarah Pickard, Elizabeth.’
‘Hi! Welcome to Finn Island,’ the woman chimed in.
‘Thank you.’ Elizabeth smiled back as she rose from the desk to offer her hand at this first meeting. ‘I’ll have to learn a lot very fast and I’ll appreciate any help and advice you can give me, Sarah.’
She laughed and gave Elizabeth’s hand a quick squeeze. ‘No problem. I’m only ever a call away. Harry tells me you’ve been Mickey’s PA. I’m sure you’ll fit in here very quickly.’
Mickey? The familiar use of Harry’s name for his brother struck her as odd.
‘Go into the apartment with Sarah, look around, see what you need,’ Harry instructed. ‘I’ll man the desk.’
‘Okay. Thank you,’ Elizabeth replied, gesturing to Sarah to lead the way.
It
