she admitted honestly. ‘Only when it’s my birthday and no one has remembered and I’m stuck in wedding-of-the-century hell.’
‘All weddings are hell.’ His fingers left her face but his focus didn’t.
Well, this one sure was. ‘Here was me thinking it was going to be a barefoot-on-the-beach number with hardly anyone in attendance, but it’s massive—ninety-nine per cent of the resort is booked out with all the guests!’
‘Hmm.’ He was silent a moment. Then he flicked her a sideways glance. ‘How lucky for you that I’m in that remaining one per cent.’
Wordless, she stared at him, taking a second to believe the lazy arrogance in the comment he’d so dryly delivered. Then she saw the teasing, over-the-top wink.
Her face broke and the amusement burst forth.
‘Finally!’ He spoke above her giggles. ‘She laughs. And when she laughs…’
The laughter passed between them, light and fresh, low and sweet. And her mood totally lifted.
‘I am so sorry,’ she apologised, shaking her head.
‘That’s OK. You’re clearly having a trying day.’
‘Something like that.’ The thought of tomorrow hadn’t made it any easier and she’d felt guilty for feeling so me-me-me that it had all compounded into a serious case of the grumps.
‘Shall we start over?’ His eyes were twinkling again and this time she didn’t try to stop her answering smile.
‘Please, that would be good.’ And it would be good. Because it was quite clear that under his super-flirt exterior there was actually a nice guy. Not to mention, damn attractive.
‘I’m Owen Hughes. Disease-free, single and straight.’
Owen. A player to be sure—but one that she knew would be a lot of fun.
‘I’m Bella Cotton. Also disease-free, single and straight.’
‘Bella,’ he repeated, but didn’t make the obvious ‘beautiful’ translation. He didn’t need to—simply the way he said it made her feel its meaning. Then he made her smile some more. ‘Any chance you’re in need of a laugh?’
She nodded. ‘Desperately. Light relief is what I need.’
‘I can do that.’ He grinned again and she found herself feeling happier than she had all day—all week even. He leaned towards her. ‘Look, I’ve got an empty pit instead of a stomach right now. Have dinner with me—unless you’ve got some full-on rehearsal dinner to go to or something?’
She shook her head. ‘Amazingly that’s not the plan. I think some of the younger guests are just supposed to meet up later for drinks. The olds are doing their own thing.’
‘Maybe they’ve organised a surprise birthday party for you.’
‘As nice as that idea sounds—’ and it did sound really nice ‘—they haven’t. You can trust me on that.’
‘OK. Then let’s go find a table.’
She found herself standing and walking with him to the adjoining restaurant just like that. No hesitation, no second thought, just simplicity.
He grinned as they sat down. ‘I really am starving.’
‘So you haven’t caught anything much lately, you big tiger, you,’ she mocked.
He laughed. ‘I’m confident I can make up for it.’
Bella met the message in his eyes. And was quite sure he could.
CHAPTER THREE
OWEN felt a ridiculous surge of pleasure at finally having made Bella see the funny side. And, just as he’d suspected, she had a killer of a smile and a deadly sweet giggle. Her full lips invited and her eyes crinkled at the corners. He couldn’t decide if they were pale blue or grey, but he liked looking a lot while trying to work it out and he liked watching them widen the more he looked.
He’d been bluffing—if he really were some tiger in the jungle, he’d have died of starvation months ago. Sex was a recreational hobby for him, very recreational. But it had been a while. Way too much of a while. Maybe that was why he’d felt the irresistible pull of attraction when she’d walked into the bar. He’d been sitting at a table in the corner and almost without will had walked up to stand beside her at the bar. Just to get a closer look at her little hourglass figure. In the shirt and skirt he could see shapely legs and frankly bountiful breasts that had called to the most base of elements in him.
Then he’d noticed the droop to her lip that she’d been determinedly trying to lift as she’d read that menu. And he’d just had to make her smile.
The table he’d led her to was in the most isolated corner of the restaurant he could find. He didn’t want her family interrupting any sooner than necessary. Wanted to keep jousting and joking with her. Wanted a whole lot more than that too and needed the time to make it happen.
‘So,’ she asked, suddenly perky, ‘what sort of computers? You work for some software giant?’
‘I work for myself.’ For the last ten years he’d done nothing much other than work—pulling it together, thinking it through, organising the team and getting it done.
‘Programming what—games? Banking software?’
‘I work in security.’
‘Oh, my.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I bet you’re one of them whiz-kids who broke into the FBI’s files when you were fourteen, or created some nasty virus. Bad-boy hacker now crossed over to the good side or something—am I right?’
‘No.’ He chuckled. Truth was the actual programming stuff wasn’t him—he had bona fide computer nerds working for him. He was the ideas guy—who’d thought up a way to make online payments more secure, and now to protect identity. ‘I’ve never been in trouble with the law.’
‘Oh. So…’ She paused, clearly trying to think up the next big assault. ‘Business good?’
‘You could say that.’ Inwardly he smiled. He now had employees scattered around the world. A truly international operation, but one that he preferred to direct from his inner-city bolt hole in Wellington. But he didn’t want to talk about work—it was all consuming, even keeping his mind racing when he should be asleep. That was why he was on Waiheke, staying at his holiday home a few yards down the beach from the hotel. He was due for some R & R, a little distraction. And the ideal distraction seemed to have stepped right in front of him.
His banter before hadn’t all been a lie, though. He did believe in going for what he wanted and then moving right on. This little poppet was the perfect pastime for his weekend of unwind time. So he’d made sure she understood the way he played it. Spelt the rules out loud and clear. She’d got them, as he’d intended, and she was tempted. Now he just had to give her that extra little nudge.
She was studying the menu intently. And he studied her, taken by the stripe
