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True enough, she thought, and the move made sense if she was offered the job at the publishing house. Her parents wouldn’t quibble over it. They were happy, making plans for their future, and would be happy for her to do whatever she wanted.
And she wanted him.
There was no denying that truth.
She wanted him for as long as she could have him.
On a fierce wave of determination and desire, Daisy wheeled around in his embrace, flung her arms around his neck, and kissed him in a savage need to put everything else aside, to generate once again the intense, allconsuming passion where nothing else mattered.
Seize the day…
She would face whatever tomorrow brought when tomorrow came.
CHAPTER TWELVE
TO DAISY’S astonishment, delight and immense relief, she was given the PR job at the end of the interview—no waiting to hear and no waiting to start work, either. Her new boss remarked that since Ethan Cartwright was prepared to release her from his project and he, himself, needed her services immediately to set up a publicity tour for a new author, he’d like her to begin tomorrow. Even better, the salary being offered was more than she had ever earned before.
It made her wonder if Ethan had exaggerated her worth. Certainly his personal recommendation had worked wonders. Of course, it all fitted nicely into his plan for her to move into his apartment today, but it would suit her, too, which was readily understandable to her parents—a simple case of picking up her independent life again since their financial problems had been resolved. She had already told them she’d seen an affordable place at Pyrmont at the weekend and intended to take it.
It was up to her now to make a success of this new career, get it solidly established so there wouldn’t be too big a hole in her world when her time with Ethan was over. Ever since she had lost her job with Lynda Twiggley, she had been inescapably dependent on him. The apartment was part of the deal, but at least he was no longer the only source of income for her. She would be able to strike out on her own whenever she had to. That was a good feeling.
There was more champagne that night to celebrate the beginning of her new career. Ethan was happy for her to be happy about it. Certainly he saw it as no threat to what he wanted with her. Even when she explained that a publicity tour would involve overnight trips to Melbourne and possibly other capital cities, he made no objection, seemingly taking it for granted she would not always be free when he was free.
He was definitely not a control freak.
And Daisy was hopelessly in love with him.
She looked forward to the evenings he spent with her during the week. Never on a Tuesday night because that was games night with his old friends, but most other days he dropped in at the apartment after work. They chatted over a relaxing drink, cooked dinner together, watched television, made love, after which he would always go home.
It made her wonder if that was some legal point with him—protection against any claim she might make on him in court when he wanted out of their relationship. She was living in his apartment, but they were not live-in lovers. They weren’t a couple in public, either. Although he invited her to Hunters Hill on weekends, it was only ever the two of them there—no parties. He didn’t take her out nor ask her to accompany him to any social events. Which all hammered home to Daisy that she was his private mistress and for anything more to develop between them was sheer pie in the sky.
Having resigned herself to taking each day as it came, she could hardly believe it when Ethan suddenly changed the parameters of their relationship. They were lying in bed one Sunday morning, languorously content not to move for a while.
‘It’s the Golden Slipper next Saturday,’ he remarked, running gentle knuckles up and down the curve of her spine.
‘What’s the Golden Slipper?’ she mumbled, nestling her head under his chin.
‘Only the richest horse-race for two-year-olds in the world,’ he answered dryly. ‘The prize money is two million dollars and Mickey has Midas Magic lined up to win it.’
Ethan’s horse—the one that had won the Magic Millions just before the terrible debacle with Lynda Twiggley, which had been immediately followed by Ethan’s determined drive to have her in his life. ‘I guess you want to go and see him race,’ she said, thinking of spending the day shopping since he wouldn’t want her with him in some celebrity marquee where his highsociety friends would be gathered.
‘I know you’re not into gambling, Daisy, but I think you’d find it a fun day anyway. Fashions in the Field can be eye-popping stuff. There’s the whole glamorous spectacle of the Golden Slipper ceremony, plus live entertainment—a guest star singing. Mickey has booked a table for ten in the Winning Post restaurant which has the best view of all the action. We can sit there, eating a gourmet lunch, drinking fine wines and watching it all unfold below us.’
Daisy could hardly believe her ears. She jerked up to look him in the eye. ‘You want me to go with you? Be introduced to your friends?’
He frowned at her incredulous tone. ‘They won’t be all strangers to you. You saw Mickey at the Magic Millions and you know Charlie.’
‘Yes, but I thought…’ She struggled to find the right words. ‘I thought you were keeping me in the background of your life. Not upfront.’
His frown deepened. ‘You were worried about what your parents might think of our connection. I was waiting for a reasonable amount of time to pass in your current career for them to accept it was okay for me to pursue my personal interest in you.’ He grimaced. ‘There’s bound to be publicity about us once we’re seen together.’
Daisy was stunned again. She’d had it all wrong. Totally wrong! He’d been considering her, caring about her. In one huge galloping leap, the hope she had so sternly repressed emerged from its dark dungeon and bloomed in bright sunshine. She had just been elevated from secret mistress to public partner. Her heart skipped and jumped in wild joy. There was a chance this relationship could become a serious one if Ethan was happy for them to be seen as a couple.
‘I have to go shopping. Today,’ she announced, giving him a look of determined purpose. ‘I won’t have enough free time during the week to find something suitable, Ethan.’
‘You could wear your red-and-white dress,’ he suggested. ‘You look great in that.’
‘No, it won’t do.’ She shook her head emphatically. ‘I saw what your crowd wore at the Magic Millions, remember? I need a fantastic outfit with a matching hat.’ She grinned at him. ‘Not brown.’
He laughed. ‘Okay. I’ll take you shopping, buy you whatever you want.’
‘No, you won’t!’ she cried indignantly, bridling against being put in the bought mistress bracket again. ‘I have to accept the free accommodation you give me because of the deal I agreed to, but I’m making good money now and I can afford to buy some fine feathers of my own, thank you.’
She flounced off the bed and stood up in a challenging stance, hands on hips. ‘Those are my terms, Ethan.’
He rolled onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow, the green eyes regarding her with a glint of triumph, as though he had just won something. ‘Then I’ll just tag along, be your chauffeur, take you to lunch somewhere along the way.’
She couldn’t argue with that. Her free time was exclusively his. Besides, having lunch with her out in public was more delightful proof that he didn’t want her kept hidden away. Nevertheless…‘I’d prefer you not to be with me in the boutiques. It’s much more fun for me to surprise you on the day.’
He smiled. ‘I’ll park myself in a coffee shop with the Sunday newspapers.’
Daisy smiled back, bubbling with joy inside. ‘You’d better come and shower with me. We have to get moving. And I warn you this might be a marathon shopping trip. I’m not going to settle for anything less than spectacular.’
Pride insisted she look at least as good as anyone in his party—good enough to be accepted as Ethan’s partner in everyone else’s eyes. She wanted to make him feel proud to have her on his arm, make him feel she could be his partner in every sense. For the first time she thought it could be a real possibility. It wasn’t about just having her in his bed. It was about pursuing his interest in her.
Ethan felt an exhilarating sense of triumphant satisfaction all week, leading up to the Golden Slipper Saturday. Daisy’s response to being with him for the big horse-race proved beyond a doubt that his judgement of her character had not been astray. If she’d been into bartering sex for gain, she would have pounced on his offer to buy her clothes. And he was quite sure now she would walk out of his apartment at the end of the year—the deal done—without any thought of making a claim on it.
His cynical view of her resistance to having an affair with him—a form of manipulation to get him to solve her problems—no longer seemed feasible. There was nothing underhand about Daisy. She played everything straight down the line. Best of all, since the way had been cleared for her to have an open relationship with him, she seemed happy about it. Genuinely happy. Which meant he wasn’t buying her submission to what he wanted of her any more.
