for a girl who had made her tiny flat the size of the hotel’s luggage store into a home and was willing to share her joy with him. And who wanted nothing in return but a chance to see a meteor shower from a penthouse balcony.
God, he admired her for that.... Admired her?
Sean stopped, his body frozen and his mind spinning.
He didn’t just admire Dee, he was falling for her.
Just when he thought that he had finally worked out that he had nothing to give to any woman in the way of a relationship.
Think! He had to think. He could not allow his emotions to get the better of him.
If he cared for her at all then he should stop right now, because the last thing Dee needed was a one-night stand which would leave her with nothing but more reasons to doubt her judgement.
He wouldn’t do that to her. Hell, he wouldn’t do that to himself. It would only be setting them up for heartbreak down the road.
‘I think we might want to rethink the whole getting back in time for dessert...’ She grinned as though she had read his mind.
‘Right as always,’ he replied, and stroked her cheek with one finger. ‘God, you are beautiful. Do you know that?’
Dee blushed from cheek to neck. It was so endearing that he laughed out loud, slid his arms down to her waist and stepped back, even though his body was screaming for him to do something crazy. Like wipe everything off the dining-room table and find out what came next.
He sucked in a breath.
‘You are not so bad yourself. I had no idea that hotel managers were so interested in astronomy.’ And then she bit down on her lower lip and flashed him a coquettish grin. ‘Or did I just get lucky? You are one of a kind, Sean.’
Lucky? He thought of the long days and nights he had spent working for the company to the exclusion of everything else in his life, including the girls who had cared about him. Sasha had lasted the longest.
He had sacrificed everything for the family hotel chain. Everything.
Now as he looked at Dee he thought about what lay ahead, and the hard, cold truth of his situation emptied a bucket of ice water over his head.
His hands slid onto her upper arms and locked there, holding her away from him and the delicious pleasure of her body against his.
‘I am not so sure about the “lucky” bit, Dee. Right now I am in London for a few days to sort things out and run a few classes, then Paris for a month at most. Then I’m off to Canberra...and my diary is full for the next eighteen months. Constant pressure. And all the while I feel as though I am running and running and not getting anywhere.’
‘Then maybe you should stand still long enough to look around and see what you have achieved,’ she said. Dee tilted her head to one side. ‘Somewhere along the way to being the best, I think you forgot the fun part. But I think that funny and creative side of Sean is still inside you, all ready to get excited about new things and have the best time of his life.’
Stretching up onto tiptoes, she kissed him on the lips. ‘You deserve it.’
She stepped back and patted him twice on the chest. Then she laughed. ‘And now it is time to head back down stairs before I embarrass myself even more.’ And she moved a step backwards with a smile.
He frowned, nodded just once and muttered something under his breath along the lines of what he did for the firm. Then he lifted his head, turned towards the door and presented the crook of his arm for her to latch onto. ‘Shall we go to the ball, princess? Your audience awaits.’
Tea, glorious tea. A celebration of teas from around the world.
Astrologers have long used tea leaves to predict the future. Try it for yourself by leaving a little tea in the bottom of your tea pot with the tea leaves. Stir the brew three times, empty the tea pot into your saucer, then inspect the pattern the leaves make in the cup. Each specific pattern has a special meaning.
From Flynn’s Phantasmagoria of Tea
Friday
A week later
Sean strolled into the bar at the Beresford Riverside and nodded to the head barman who was serving after-dinner drinks to guests wandered in from the dining room.
The light strains of a cocktail piano could just be heard in the background against the chatter and laughter from the guests.
He quickly scanned the bar and lounge area to see if Dee was still there. She had called him a couple of times during the afternoon to let him know that Prakash and his team had done an amazing job and all of the last minute worries that had kept her awake were sorted.
The tea festival was all set to go tomorrow.
Then he heard her laughter ring out from a table of Japanese guests who had clustered around the tables next to the long patio doors which led onto the landscaped gardens.
Ribbons of white outdoor lights trailed over the budding branches of the cherry trees which Dee had enjoyed over the past few days.
The first smile of the day slid over his mouth. Hell. His first smile all week. Last minute presentations, flying visits to France with his dad and two days scouting for locations in Scotland meant that he had hardly seen Dee since the night of the dinner.
He missed her like crazy.
Dee was sitting at the table, and spread out in front of her was what looked like a makeshift kitchen. White saucers from the kitchen were scattered all around her, and on each was a tiny sample of what looked to Sean like clippings from the evergreen plants outside in the garden but were no doubt some example of specialist tea leaves.
Whatever they were, the hotel guests seemed enthralled. They were picking up the saucers, sniffing, tasting and chatting away with enormous enthusiasm and clear delight. Nodding, delighted, bewitched.
Because at the centre of it all was Dee.
Sean paused at the bar and leant on the rail, happy just to watch the woman he had come to find.
Her long, sensitive fingers flitted above the table gesturing here and there, no doubt on some terribly important point about growing conditions and water temperature, and he could see the glint of gold in the bangles around her wrists.
She was wearing what for Dee probably passed for quite a conservative outfit of a fitted jacket in a knitted navy fabric which clung to her curves as she moved. But of course that was offset by a stunning scarf which shimmered in shades of blues and greens, highlighting her fair complexion, and even though her head was down he knew that those pale-green eyes were going to be totally enchanting.
This was the real Dee. Sharing her passion and enjoying every second of it.
The Dee he had fallen for the minute he had looked up from a tea room floor and was sucked into oblivion by those eyes. Why wouldn’t he? She was stunning.
Recognition came flooding in, and instead of pushing it away Sean held it in his mind and treasured it like a precious gift that he had never expected to receive but adored.
He was falling for Dee Flynn. In a big way. This was way beyond attraction. He cared about her and wanted to be with her, in every way possible.
And the very idea shocked him and terrified him so badly that he could only stand there and take it like a sock in the jaw.
His life had been a roller coaster for so many years, he had forgotten what it felt like to make connections with people and form bonds that went beyond business transactions, contracts and meetings in windowless white rooms.
But why now?
He slid silently onto a high-boy leather bar stool.
This was the way