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He was tempted to remove all force from the situation, free her from the deal, but he liked having her in his apartment, liked having the security of knowing she was his to have. As it stood, she couldn’t walk away from him, not without breaking her word, and Daisy wouldn’t do that. He wanted more time with her. It was stupid to risk not having it.
Mickey called him at work on Friday. ‘Just letting you know Midas Magic had a great trial run on the track this morning,’ he said, his voice brimming with cheerful confidence. ‘And in case you’re not already aware, Serena has attached herself to James Ellicott.’
James Ellicott…Ethan winced at one of his clients being sucked in by Serena. The man had made a fortune in advertising and had already been divorced twice, costing him a lot of money in settlements. He liked beautiful women and was apparently prepared to pay for them.
‘They were both here at dawn watching his horse trial,’ Mickey ran on. ‘No doubt she’ll be included in his party dining in the Winning Post restaurant tomorrow. Thought I’d better warn you.’
‘Thanks, Mickey. No problem. I’m not the least bit troubled about Serena being with someone else.’
It was true. Though Mickey’s news report had instantly incited the cynical thought that Serena was buttering up another billionaire for the kill. She was not a morning person. If James Ellicott married her, she wouldn’t be accompanying him to dawn trials again. He would have to be satisfied with her gracing his arm in the winners’ circle, which Serena would do beautifully.
Ethan suddenly realised that should Midas Magic win tomorrow, he and Daisy would be in the spotlight for the presentation of the Golden Slipper. She’d been delighted with her shopping trip. He hoped her outfit was spectacular enough to shut Serena’s mouth because his ex-fiancée had no grace at all when it came to losing.
When he walked into the apartment the next morning, any worry that Daisy might be put down by anyone disappeared in a flash. She looked absolutely gorgeous. And elegant. And so sexy, desire instantly sizzled through him, making his tailor-made suit feel more snug than it should around the groin area.
Impossible to race her off to bed. It would mess up the image she had created and it was too marvellous to spoil. She twirled around in front of him, the calf-length skirt swirling in a froth of vivid colour. ‘Like it?’ she asked, her big chocolate-brown eyes sparkling with confidence in her fine feathers. ‘It’s called neon butterfly.’
The dress was a brilliant pink, the shiny silk patterned with white and purple and orange and bright green butterflies. Its low V neckline and the wide band from under her breasts to her waist emphasised her beautiful, womanly curves. Her long, dark brown hair was piled on top of her head, and curling from one ear over her crown was a stunning concoction of bright pink flowers and feathers.
‘I’m dazzled,’ he said, shaking his head in bemused appreciation. Gone was the brown sparrow. This butterfly would outshine every other woman at the Rosehill Gardens racetrack.
Her smile wavered. A flash of wary vulnerability took the sparkle from her eyes. ‘Is that good or bad?’
He grinned, warmly assuring her, ‘It’s amazingly good,’ as he walked forward to draw her into his embrace. ‘I’ll have to beat off Mickey from trying to steal you from me, because he’ll definitely see you as the most beautiful fish in the sea today.’
She laughed, relief melting into pleasure. ‘I just didn’t want to let you down, Ethan.’
‘You never let me down.’ He kissed her forehead and smiled into her eyes. ‘And that’s something I really value, Daisy.’
‘You haven’t let me down, either,’ she rushed out somewhat breathlessly, and there was a yearning look in her eyes—a look that did something weird to Ethan’s heart. It was as if a hammer had smashed into the hard shell he’d kept around it since his disillusionment with Serena, and a gush of warmth made his chest swell with waves of emotion.
He wanted to look after this woman.
Protect her.
Give her everything she needed.
The instincts that had driven him to act as he had when he had first met her suddenly made perfect sense. The need to have her, to nail her into a relationship with him…it was because she was uniquely special in his experience…a woman he could trust, a woman he could love, a woman he could share his life with.
The look in her eyes told him she wanted to be convinced that could happen and the realisation hit him that all along she hadn’t believed it was a possibility. Her determined avoidance, her resistance to an affair with him, her stunned surprise that he wanted her to appear in public with him…she simply hadn’t believed a relationship with him would work, that it would always be limited to sex on his terms.
And that wasn’t good enough for Daisy Donahue.
Nor should it be.
Today was a testing ground.
He must not let her down.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
DAISY and Ethan arrived at Rosehill Gardens in a chauffeured limousine—no parking problem, no drunkdriving problem. A crowd of people were milling around the entrance gates, waiting to get in, although showing no impatience about it. It was a bright sunny day and everyone seemed to be in a festive mood—the men mostly dressed in suits, the women favouring cocktail dresses, with more of them wearing fascinators than hats, which gave Daisy extra assurance that her outfit had been a really good choice.
As Ethan escorted her towards a side gate with his member’s pass in hand—no queuing for him—quite a few people turned to look at them. Ethan, of course, was a strikingly handsome man, superbly attired in his grey pin-stripe suit, white shirt and gold and grey silk tie, but Daisy felt she really matched him today, as well as she could.
‘Hey, Daisy!’
The call of her name startled her and she stopped dead as she spotted Carl Jamieson striding out from a group of people, grinning at her as though he was delighted to claim acquaintance with her again. With unbelievably crass arrogance he ignored the fact she was with another man and focussed entirely on her.
Still grinning, he said, ‘You look fabulous, Daisy. No more penny-pinching, huh?’
Daisy instantly stiffened with resentment. Her ex-boyfriend was proving once again he was a fine weather friend. ‘I didn’t know you were into horse-racing, Carl,’ she said coldly.
‘It’s not usually my bag. I’m here with a bachelor party. One of the guys is getting married tomorrow.’
‘Then I suggest you rejoin your party.’
His ego took umbrage at her blanket rejection and he shot a sneering look at Ethan. ‘Got better fish to fry, have you?’
‘Yes, she has,’ Ethan replied with unruffled aplomb. ‘And I suggest you take Daisy’s advice and return to your party.’
Carl’s chin jutted up belligerently, but something in Ethan’s expression quickly changed his mind about challenging anything. ‘Fine!’ he snapped. ‘Have fun!’
Ethan’s arm tightened around hers as Carl turned his back on them. ‘Let’s move on,’ he murmured.
Daisy forced her feet to fall into step with him. ‘Sorry about that,’ she mumbled. ‘I didn’t expect to run into him here.’
‘Your ex-boyfriend?’
She winced. ‘Yes.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t give him any encouragement,’ he said dryly.
She lifted her gaze to his and found amusement twinkling in his green eyes. Her vexation with Carl broke into a giggle. ‘Well, he was very rude, Ethan, breaking in on us like that.’
He smiled with devilish humour. ‘And got his just deserts.’
Having regained her pleasure in the day, Daisy hugged his arm as they moved past the gate and strolled up the rose-bordered path to the pavilions overlooking the racetrack. She sniffed the scented air and felt a blissful joy in Ethan’s company. He was so different from Carl—caring, considerate and best of all, a giving person. Although he did want what he wanted in return. Which was fair enough, Daisy decided.
He had also stood up to Lynda Twiggley on her behalf—not that she had appreciated it at the time—and she had no doubt he would have dealt comprehensively with Carl’s rudeness if her ex-boyfriend had pushed it any further. He was definitely the kind of man she wanted at her side. If only it could last…
‘I should probably mention that my ex-fiancée will be here today, too,’ he suddenly drawled.
All the lovely warmth she had been feeling was plunged into ice.
He had never spoken of his ex-fiancée.
Daisy only knew of her through Charlie Hollier.
Was this why Ethan had invited her to the Golden Slipper, to show his former love he was happily involved with another woman? Off with the old, on with the new?
‘I broke up with her last year,’ he said matter-of-factly. ‘I wouldn’t put it past her to be rude to you on the sly. If that happens, Daisy, it’s because she didn’t get what she wanted. Okay?’
