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As she rang the doorbell on Thursday morning of the third week of working for him, Daisy was thinking she had to find a new job. Fast. With a boss who didn’t agitate her so physically and make her dream impossible dreams.
The door opened and she was confronted by another strong blast of sex appeal, though at least it was encased—enhanced?—by a superbly tailored business suit. ‘Ah, Daisy!’ Ethan Cartwright rolled out in his rich voice. ‘I have a special task for you today.’
The twinkling anticipation in his gorgeous green eyes made her heart flutter. She had difficulty catching enough breath to produce a querying ‘Oh?’
He flashed a teasing grin. ‘You’re so good at leaving me lists of things to note, I thought you’d appreciate getting a list from me. It’s in the kitchen. Come on in.’
He set off down the hallway and she followed him at a safe distance, fiercely telling herself not to get besotted by a silly grin. Despite this stern resolve, her stomach was mush and her pulse was pounding at her temples so distractingly her mind barely registered the words he tossed back at her.
‘You know the tennis court people and the guys who’ve done such a great job with the swimming pool…’ he cast a sparkling glance back at her ‘…with your eagle eye upon them will all be finishing up tomorrow.’
She nodded.
‘Well, I thought I’d give them a barbecue lunch in appreciation of the fine work they’ve done,’ he continued cheerfully. ‘Send them off with good feelings so they’ll be happy to return if any problem arises.’
‘You want me to do it?’ Daisy asked, not expecting him to be on hand during the day.
‘No. I want you to shop for it today and help me with the preparation tomorrow morning. I’ll do the cooking.’
Surprise tripped her into saying, ‘You’re going to feed a group of tradesmen yourself?’
He paused at the kitchen doorway, shooting her a quizzical look. ‘Why not?’
She almost bumped into him. Heat flooded into her cheeks as she reared back a step, wishing she could evade the riveting intensity of his eyes, but determined not to appear even more disturbed by him than she had already revealed. Since it was impossible to voice her assumption that he wouldn’t mix socially with ordinary people when he obviously planned to, she had to come up with something else.
‘I thought you’d be occupied with your important clients.’
He lifted a hand, featherlight fingertips grazing her hot skin. ‘Everyone is important, Daisy,’ he said softly, his eyes smiling at her confusion. ‘And I believe in rewarding good work.’
Her heart was thundering. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the caring in his, or her face away from his mesmerising touch. She liked him. She really, really liked him. And she wanted…but she couldn’t let herself want that.
‘Right!’ she managed to mutter.
For a long, long, moment he said nothing. Her toes curled with tension. Her mind whirled with dangerous possibilities. What if he stepped forward and kissed her? What would she feel? The terrible part was she didn’t want to resist if he did make the move and that could land her in all sorts of trouble.
‘Right!’ he finally repeated, and with a quickly sucked-in breath added, ‘Let’s get to the list.’
Daisy sucked in quite a few quick breaths herself as she followed him into the kitchen, sensibly walking around to the other side of the island bench to put it between them. She was still shaking inside from that moment of aching vulnerability and was intensely grateful to have the list to look at as Ethan went through it with her, explaining what he intended to do with everything. The wives of three of the men would also be coming, he informed her, so there would be twelve people to feed, including herself and Ethan.
‘Just add anything you think would be good,’ he said, pulling a wad of notes from his wallet. ‘This should cover everything.’
She frowned at the amount of money he was trusting her with. ‘I’ll bring home the dockets and give you the change tomorrow.’
His mouth quirked in amusement. ‘I’m sure you’ll account for every cent.’
‘It’s what I’m used to doing,’ she shot at him with a touch of belligerence, needing to emphasise the difference between them for her own sake. He could afford to splash money around as much as he liked whereas she…she started to wonder if he would use leftovers or let her take them home at the end of the day.
He immediately changed the subject. ‘Do you play tennis, Daisy?’
‘Yes,’ popped out of her mouth before she thought where that question might be leading.
‘Good!’ His smile smacked of wicked satisfaction. ‘Bring your tennis gear with you. And your swimming costume. I’ve already spoken to the men about trying out the pool and having a game of tennis. Should be a fun afternoon.’
Fun?
It might be for him, but it wouldn’t be for her.
Her mind boggled at the thought of seeing Ethan Cartwright in nothing but a swimming costume. It was bad enough being trapped into spending a whole day in proximity with this treacherously attractive man. She could only hope he wore surfboard shorts.
‘Have to leave now,’ he ran on, tapping the list. ‘Are you okay with this?’
‘Yes. Have a good day!’ she rattled out, relieved that she was not going to be mentally and physically buffeted by his presence any longer. At least, not today. Tomorrow was looming as an exercise of intense discipline over her mind and body with him around all the time.
Tomorrow…it was like a song of glorious promise in Ethan’s mind as he drove towards the city centre. There’d been a moment this morning when he’d almost given in to the temptation to kiss her until she melted against him, the heat in her cheeks coursing through both of them in a firestorm of desire. He’d imagined sweeping her up in his arms, carrying her up the staircase to his bed, ravishing her until she gave up everything she was to him.
Only the constraints of time had stopped him. He had an important business meeting this morning. But tomorrow he’d manipulate a situation where she couldn’t deny the strong connection that had unmistakably pulsed between them in the hallway. One way or another he was going to persuade Daisy Donahue to surrender to it with all the intensity of passion he’d felt vibrating from her since the moment they’d met.
CHAPTER SIX
WHEN Ethan opened the door to Daisy on Friday morning, he was wearing black shorts, a black sports shirt with white trim around the collar, black-and-white tennis shoes with black socks. The athletic style of the man in these clothes instantly raised his sex appeal which was already far too high for Daisy’s peace of mind.
He gave her appearance a quick cursory glance—a loose blue-and-white striped T-shirt over knee-length white shorts—a sensible, sexless outfit—and his mouth quirked with ironic amusement as though he knew she had deliberately dressed down. For one stomachchurning moment challenge simmered in his green eyes, but he simply greeted her normally, then stood back and waved her inside.
‘The men are rigging up the sails which will shade the barbecue dining area,’ he informed her as they headed down the hallway. ‘The tennis court is getting a last vacuum before the net goes up. Everything should be ready by the time the wives arrive after dropping their children at school. We have about an hour and a half to prepare all the food before taking on the host and hostess roles. Are you okay with that?’
‘Yes,’ she answered, only too grateful that she could soon busy herself with other people.
It was good to be busy in the kitchen, as well, helping Ethan prepare the salads, cutting up onions to accompany the steak and sausages, spreading garlic butter on the loaves of French bread.
‘I see you’re used to doing this kind of catering,’ he remarked after they’d been working together for a while.
‘Family parties. We all get together at Easter and Christmas,’ she explained with a shrug.
‘You have a big family?’
‘Three older brothers and one older sister. All married with children. I was the accident. Mum was forty when she had me.’
‘And how old are you?’
‘Twenty-seven.’
‘No marriage in view as yet?’
‘No.’
‘Boyfriend?’
She frowned at him. ‘That’s a very personal question.’
He shrugged. ‘You’ve been working for me for three weeks and I realise I hardly know anything about you, Daisy. Not even where you live.’
‘I live at Ryde with my parents.’
‘To save money, no doubt.’
She flashed him a grim look at his quick understanding. ‘Yes, a fact that my last boyfriend didn’t appreciate.’
‘Ah!’ His mouth twitched into a satisfied little smile.
