best offer he’d had all day.
He followed her, admiring the gentle swishing of the long skirt around her ankles. She wore sandals, an anklet and a silver toe-ring, and he briefly wondered if they completed her outfit or she favoured that sort of thing all the time. He’d never been a fan of jewellery, especially the bizarre piercings that many women liked these days. In fact, he would hazard a guess that this lady sported a navel-ring to match the one wrapped around her second toe.
‘Do you intend to come in or are you going to stand out there all day, admiring my feet?’ She held open a purple drape and gestured him inside, a cheeky smile tugging at the corners of her lush mouth.
Lord, that mouth. Outlined in a sheer pink gloss, it sent his imagination into overdrive. The midday sun must have addled his brain more than he’d thought. Since when did he ever mix business with pleasure?
He brushed past her and entered the gloom. ‘Who said I was admiring anything?’
‘I see all,’ she said, sitting behind a small table covered in red satin. ‘So, truth time. Show me your palm.’
Feeling utterly ridiculous, and wondering what the hell he was doing in a claustrophobic tent at a run-down theme park, he reached forward and unfurled his fingers.
As soon as she touched him, he knew. This mystery woman had grabbed his attention the first minute he’d laid eyes on her and he would have followed her anywhere to find out more.
‘OK, Miss Know-All. Am I an open book?’
She peered into his palm, turning it from side to side. ‘Mmm…interesting.’
You can say that again.
With her attention focused on his hand, he had free rein to study her just as intently. Her veil had fallen back as she leaned forward, displaying a glorious mass of wild blonde hair which tumbled past her shoulders. She obviously spent a lot of time outdoors, her hair’s sun-streaked highlights shimmered in the candlelight, framing her tanned face. A slight frown marred her forehead as she studied his palm, her mouth pursed in concentration, and he had a sudden urge to smooth away the frown and kiss those pouting lips.
She was a beauty all right. A pity he had to rush back to Sydney, otherwise he might have enjoyed getting to know her a whole lot better.
‘You still haven’t told me anything,’ he said, wishing she would look at him so he could glimpse those startling eyes once again.
As if reading his thoughts, she looked up and fixed him with a piercing stare. ‘You’re impatient, self-assured and used to getting your own way. A real go-getter, who won’t let anyone stop you from reaching your goal, with a liberal dose of arrogance thrown in for good measure.’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘Oh, you’re good. Anything else?’
‘You’re nothing but trouble.’ She pronounced it calmly, though he noted her hand shook before she quickly dropped his.
‘Only when someone stands in my way.’ Despite the fact that she piqued his interest, he glanced at his watch and decided he’d wasted enough time. He stood up, suddenly annoyed that he’d dallied this long. He needed to find Colin Lawrence and get down to business.
‘Tell me something I don’t know. So what do you want with Colin?’ She sat back and folded her arms, as if she had all the time in the world.
He didn’t. ‘I’m here on business. Now, where can I find him?’
She nodded, like the all-seeing sage she pretended to be. ‘I knew it. You’re one of the vultures. Accountant? Lawyer?’ She spat out the last word, as if the profession was poison.
He quirked an eyebrow, admiring her feistiness. ‘You really do have amazing powers. My name’s Steve Rockwell and I’m a lawyer, here on behalf of Water World.’
She clenched her fists, fear flashing in her eyes before she tilted her chin up.
‘Go away. We’ve got nothing to say to you.’
‘We?’ Since when did a pint-sized woman posing as a fortune-teller speak for the business he’d come to close down?
She jumped to her feet. ‘You heard me. My father and I aren’t interested in your business. So go back to where you came from.’
God, she was magnificent when riled, bristling like some fierce tawny cat, her eyes glowing with golden fire. He wouldn’t mind taking a shot at taming her, though she’d just thrown a major spanner in the works. This creature was Colin Lawrence’s daughter and he never mixed business with pleasure.
He shook his head. ‘That’s not possible. Unless the owner of this establishment speaks to me and brokers a deal, this place is finished.’
She walked around the table and stood in front of him. ‘No deal. That monstrosity next door has been trying to buy us out for years and it just won’t happen. Got it?’
‘Water World is one of the largest theme parks around here. Do you really think you stand a chance?’ He towered over her, feeling like a nasty ogre come to wipe out the Lilliputians.
To his amazement, she jabbed her finger into his chest, several times. ‘Now, you listen to me, mister. This place is my father’s life and no one is going to take it away from him, least of all the likes of you. What do I have to do to get it through that thick skull of yours?’
He’d never been impulsive. His whole life had been planned, from the exact minute of his C-section birth, just as his mother wanted it. In fact, every action in his well-ordered life had been planned to the nth degree.
Except what he did next.
Pulling her against him, he claimed her mouth with almost brutal force. She’d stirred him with her spirited retorts and quick wit and he needed to prove a point. Though he forgot what it was the moment his lips touched hers.
She didn’t stand a chance as he kissed her like a man starved, coaxing her lips to open beneath him. She made a soft, whimpering sound before giving in, her mouth allowing his tongue to plunge between her lips, seeking, plundering. He plied her mouth with prolonged skill, nipping her bottom lip, nibbling and suckling till she leaned into him.
His fingers tangled in her hair as he angled her head for better access to the sweetness of her mouth. Like a forbidden delicacy, he tasted and sampled, accepting he would regret it later. Surprisingly, she met him halfway, grasping his shirt and hanging on for dear life as he deepened the kiss to the point of devouring. At her touch, he drew in a breath, knowing he shouldn’t be doing this yet powerless to stop. He’d lost all reason the minute the temptress responded to him.
Suddenly, she pushed away from him, a dawning horror growing in her passion-hazed eyes. ‘What was that all about?’
‘I’m sorry,’ he murmured, drawing back farther. He took in her flushed cheeks, her slightly swollen lips, her ragged breathing, not sorry in the least.
In fact, he wished he could kiss her again, repeatedly, till she lay writhing beneath him, begging for more.
She turned away from him and ran a hand through her tousled hair. ‘I think you should leave.’
He could
