business so badly and I don’t know how I could cope if my dream fell apart. Six months ago I was working for a big tea importer and going to night school to study business most evenings and weekends. But Lottie changed that when she asked me to join her in the tea rooms. The time seemed so right. I have volunteered to run the festival and I felt ready to do anything.’
‘You are ready. I know it.’
She looked up into his smiling face but stayed inside the warm circle of his arms.
‘How do you know what your limits are?’
‘You don’t. The only way to find out is by testing yourself. You would be astounded at what you are capable of. And if you don’t succeed you learn from your mistakes and do what you have to do to get back up and try again until you can prove to yourself that you can do it. And then you keep on doing that over and over again.’
‘No matter how many times you fall down and hurt yourself?’
‘That’s right. You’ve got it.’
Dee turned slightly away from Sean and looked out towards the horizon, suddenly needing to get some distance, some air between them. What he was describing was so hard, so difficult and so familiar. He could never know how many times she had forced herself to smile after someone had let her down, or when she had been ridiculed or humiliated.
Dee blinked back tears and pulled the collar of his jacket up around her ears while she fought to gain control of her voice. ‘Some of us lesser mortals have been knocked down so many times that it is hard to bounce back up again, Sean. Very hard. Can you understand that?’
Sean replied by wrapping his long arms around her body in a warm embrace so tender that Dee surrendered to a moment of joy and pressed her head against his chest, inhaling his delicious scent as her body shared his warmth.
His hands made lazy circles on her back in silence for a few minutes until he spoke, the words reverberating inside his chest into her head. ‘Better than you think. Working in the family business is not all fun. I have been in these hotels all my life one way or another. And I still have a lot to learn.’
Dee shuffled back from him, laughed in a choked voice and then pressed both hands against his chest as she replied with a broken smile.
‘So that makes two of us who are stuck in the family trade. Am I right?’
‘Absolutely. How about a suggestion instead? I know a couple of venture-capital guys who have money to invest in new business ideas. All I have to do is make a few phone calls and... What? What now?’
‘I don’t want to carry any debt. No maxed-out credit cards; no business loans; no venture capital investment. That’s how my dad got into so much trouble and there is no way that I am going there. So thank you, but no. I might be hard up, but I have made some rules for myself. I have already maxed out my credit on my share of the tea shop. I can’t handle any more debt.’
Sean inhaled very slowly and watched Dee struggle with her thoughts, her dilemma played out in the tension on her face.
She was as proud as anyone he had ever met. Including himself. Which was quite something.
And just like that the connection he had sensed between them from the moment he had laid eyes on her in the tea rooms kicked up a couple of notches.
And every warning bell in his body started screaming ‘danger!’ so loudly that in the end he could not ignore it any longer. And he pulled away from her.
She shivered in the cool air, fracturing the moment, and he grabbed her hand and jogged back across the balcony. Sean slid open the patio doors and wrapped his arm around her waist, hugging her to him, the luxurious warmth from the penthouse warming their backs.
‘Oh, that’s better. Won’t you get into trouble with the boss for wasting heat? Oh—you are the boss! Well, in that case, carry on.’
‘We should be getting back to the others,’ Sean whispered, only his voice sounded low and way too unconvincing. ‘They might be missing us.’
She must have thought so too, because she took a last step and closed the distance between them and pressed the palms of both of her hands flat against the front of his white dinner shirt. He could feel the warmth of her fingertips through the fine fabric as she spread her fingers out in wide arcs; the light perfume enclosed them.
‘This has been a magical evening. Thank you for inviting me,’ she whispered.
Every muscle in his body tensed as she moved closer and pressed her body against his, one hand reaching in to the small of his back and the other still pressed gently against his shirt. He tried to shift but she shifted with him, her body fitting perfectly against his, her cheek resting on his lapel as though they were dancing to music which only she could hear.
So he did the only thing he could.
He kissed her.
She lifted her head and her hair brushed his chin as she pressed tentative kisses onto his collarbone and neck. Her mouth was soft and moist and totally, totally captivating.
With each kiss she stepped closer until her hips beneath the sari were pressed against his and the pressure made him groan.
‘Dee,’ he hissed, reaching for her shoulders to draw her away. But somehow he was sliding his hands up into her hair instead, holding her head and tilting her face towards him. Then he was kissing her, his tongue in her mouth, her taste surrounding him.
He stroked her tongue with his and traced her lower lip before sucking on it gently. She made a small sound and angled her head to give him more access.
She tasted so sweet, so amazing. So giving.
She gazed at him with eyes filled with such delight, as if she was expecting some suggestive comment about the fact that this penthouse came with a king-sized bed...
And that look hit him hard.
He did not just want Dee to be his stand-in date for tonight. He wanted to see her again, be with her again. He wanted to know what she looked like when she had just made love. He wanted to find out what gave her pleasure in bed, and then make sure that he delivered precisely what the lady ordered.
She was as proud and independent as he was. And just as unforgiving with anyone who dared to offer her charity or their pity.
By some fluke, some strange quirk of fate, he had met a woman who truly did understand him more than Sasha had ever done. And that was beyond a miracle.
Could he take a chance and show her how special she was? And put his heart on the line at the same time?
He slid a hand down her back to cup her backside, holding her against him as he flexed his hips forward, and one hand still in her hair. She shuddered as he slid his hand in slow circles up from her back to her waist, running his hands up and down her skin which was like warm silk, so smooth and perfect. He ducked his head and kissed her again, his hands teasing all the while until he was almost holding her upright.
When their lips parted, Dee was panting just as hard as he was. She looked so beautiful, standing there with her gold sari brilliant against the night sky, her cheeks flushed pink and the most stunning smile on her face.
His response was to wrap his arms around her back and, holding her tight against him, rested his chin on her top of her hair.
Eyes closed, they stood locked together until he could feel her heart settle down to a steady beat.
All doubt was cast aside. Her heart beat for him, as his heart beat for her.
Dee moved in his arms and he looked down into her face as she smiled up at him, not just with her sweet mouth but with eyes so bright, fun and joyous that his heart sang just to look at them. And it was as though every good thing that he had ever done had come together into one moment in time.
And his heart melted. Just like that.
For a girl who was just about as different from him and his life