asking. Even without benefit of light, he could see the embarrassed surprise on her face. ‘Don’t you think that there’s a woman who wouldn’t mind helping while away the occasional lonely night?’ he drawled.
Amy could feel hot colour flood her cheeks as she struggled to find a suitably composed reply. Eventually she stammered, clearing her throat, ‘Well, you just seemed to overreact to the idea of a party, so I thought that maybe…perhaps you…’
‘Perhaps I was a complete bore who enjoyed nothing more than pruning the rose bushes while pouring scorn on other people’s good times?’
‘No, of course not!’
‘I know how to enjoy myself, little Amy.’
The way he said that sent shivers running up and down her spine. From somewhere, she managed to dredge up the image of James, smiling, blond-haired James with his teasing blue eyes and ready grin, and just about managed to ward off the more disturbing one of Rafael the arrogant gardener in bed with a woman who wanted to help him while away a lonely night.
‘I just don’t happen to be a party animal. Drinking myself into a stupor has never held much appeal.’
Rescued from her sudden, acute embarrassment and over-active imagination, Amy was happy to be diverted back to her healthy opinion of him as an arrogant bore.
‘No, I could tell.’ His body language was letting her know in no uncertain terms that he couldn’t particularly care less what she thought of him, but Amy couldn’t seem to let it go. Arrogant bore or not, there was something curiously fascinating about him. ‘You’ve probably never been to a really good party’ she said, consolingly. ‘It’s not all about drinking yourself into a stupor. It’s about good company and good music and lots of dancing.’
She grinned at him, amused at his expression of distaste. ‘Which bit of that do you find off-putting?’
‘The bit that reeks of excess,’ Rafael told her coolly.
‘Which is where you’re in danger of going unless you clear off. I’m sure, as the party animal that you are, you don’t set much store on privacy, but I do and I would appreciate it if you respected that and stayed away from my property. Think you can understand that?’
Amy felt sudden tears of hurt prick the backs of her eyes and she nodded. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said in a small voice, which made him feel like a monster.
Rafael gave her a curt nod and turned away. It was bad enough having to take time out when there were a million things that urgently needed doing without finding his precious time further usurped by a trail of unwanted explorers making the most of their bonus week off.
When he eventually turned around to make sure that she was walking in the right direction, she had disappeared.
CHAPTER TWO
THINGS had been laid on.
Amy woke early the following morning, drifted downstairs and discovered, to her surprise considering James’s casual personality, that their days had been mapped out and planned with military efficiency.
Several others were likewise up and in the dining room, which had been laid out for breakfast buffet style.
On one wall was a large notice board indicating the activities in store for them that day, should they wish to avail themselves of it.
From behind her, Claire, her closest friend at the house, tapped her on the shoulder and giggled something about how the other half lived and that they should tuck into breakfast because not having to prepare it themselves was a luxury that wouldn’t rear its head again in a hurry.
‘Darn right!’ Amy laughed back, easily slipping into the fun-loving girl her friends all knew and appreciated. It wasn’t long before she had joined some of the others, happily allowing herself to be swept up in the excitement of planning which events they were going to try out later on.
Of course, there was always the option of staying put, which some of them intended to do, but there would also be an opportunity to go kayaking and canoeing. For the lazier of them, fishing was an option, as well as a chance to explore some of the beaches, which would involve picnics and swimming.
Amy wondered which, if any, James would be going to. He was nowhere to be seen, but when he did appear she intended to get herself noticed in a way she had yet to do.
Thus far, she had always been the very good caterer at work, always decked out in her boring white outfit and caterer’s hat. It was the least sexy outfit possible to don. Not that Amy considered herself to be the centrefold of a magazine, but she had a friendly personality and many people had told her that she was quite cute.
Well, cute could work. She had tied her hair back into two braids that reached just past her shoulders, a touch-and-go hairstyle as far as attracting the opposite sex went but very practical in hot weather. Her blue and white top was jaunty and her jeans were, she thought, just the right side of trendy. Very skinny-fitting and just right with the flat, beaded silver shoes that she could kick off if need be or walk a hundred miles if she had to.
‘Which tour do you think he’s going to be on?’ she whispered to Claire, as soon as they had sat down in front of plates that were groaning with a ridiculous amount of food. ‘I’ve dressed the part.’ She thought, briefly and unexpectedly, of the arrogant gardener she had bumped into the previous night. She imagined he would give her one of those ice-cold looks were he to see her in her get-up. For a second she was tempted to let Claire into the little secret, but she held her tongue, remembering the way he had told her to keep his presence on the ground to herself.
‘What part?’ Claire grinned. She was as plump and dark as Amy was fair and slender, but they had hit it off the minute they had met two years previously and were still the best of friends.
‘The part that’s not covered up in a white uniform with neat white plimsolls and a hairnet. A hairnet! Do you think he’ll notice me?’
‘He always notices you,’ Claire said, prompted into automatic support.
‘Yes, well. He chats and laughs but he does that with everyone!’ She skewered a piece of fresh pineapple on her fork, inspected it and popped it into her mouth. ‘I wonder which exciting little tour he’ll be on.’
Claire watched her friend drift off into some pleasant daydream land and bit back the instinct to protect her from hurt by telling her how she really felt—that James liked her well enough but that was as far as it went. She was pretty sure that he really would never actually have a relationship with someone who worked for him anyway, because wouldn’t that be against some company law? But even if he could have, he joked with her the way a guy joked with a woman he thought of as a mate. She should know. That had been her fate for long enough!
‘Just enjoy yourself, Ames, and forget about James. He’ll be at the barbecue tonight anyway!’
And as it turned out the tight-fitting jeans and the jaunty top had been in vain. James had gone off fishing for the day, bonding with some of the junior lads in the marketing department. The outfit, furthermore, had been a serious impediment when it came to kayaking and by the time four o’clock rolled round and they were all trooping wearily back to the house Amy was more than a little disconsolate.
What was she doing? She was twenty-four years old and
