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He got up from behind his desk and walked to the big windows overlooking Cape Town. This hotel had been his first project when he’d joined his brothers in the business. When he’d seen this particular piece of land, he’d immediately been able to see the finished building in his mind’s eye—lots of glass to reflect the mountain, the sea, the blue skies.
The building had been a talking point in the architectural world. Since then, he’d tried to emulate the same feel in most of the other hotels he designed.
And he’d designed the hotel in such a way that guests would be able to experience the city’s two main attractions—Table Mountain, one of the new seven wonders of the modern world on the one side, and the harbor and the sea on the other.
But today, the mountain’s usual powerful and charismatic pull failed to enchant him like it usually did and he stared out towards the harbor, his gaze following a ship as it was leaving. He wished it was that easy to forget about Zoe.
It was an ordinary Sunday the first time he had seen her. His mother had invited them all for lunch at her restaurant. And there they were. All three Sutherland sisters and a friend, Dana, if he remembered correctly. All four of them stunning, but his eyes had zoomed in on just one of them. And he’d known even before they were introduced which sister she was. Zoe. The one with the voice.
He had seen Caitlin before and she was a stunner, so he should have expected her sisters to be as gorgeous. But he wasn’t prepared for Zoe. At all. She was wearing a simple turquoise top and a short, white skirt showed off her long, tanned legs. He was a leg-man, always had been. And Zoe’s legs had nearly brought him to his knees.
He didn’t remember much else about the day. Except sitting next to her, listening to her voice, absorbing her scent. He’d been like a lovesick schoolboy, for crying out loud. He’d walked away that day with every intention of staying away from her. She was the kind of woman who could ruin a man.
There was a knock on his door and his younger brother David walked into his office. They normally shared one big office, but they also each had a smaller one they used when they were seeing clients or when, like today, he didn’t need his brothers’ constant bantering.
“Don says Zoe declined your offer to do the interior of the hotel near the Kruger National Park?” David said.
Irritated, Dale shrugged. “It wasn’t my idea to use her to begin with. It was Don’s suggestion.”
“I hear she’s very good at what she does.”
“Well, I don’t trust strangers with my plans, so it’s just as well,” Dale said. “And you saw her at the site last week—she’s a bloody spitfire, and I don’t need that kind of aggravation in my life.”
David laughed. “Well, she thought Don was cheating on her sister—in her shoes, you’d react the same way. So, what’s really bothering you? That she’s too sexy?”
Dale quickly looked at his brother.
“Yes, I think she’s sexy, don’t you?” David grinned.
Dale opened his mouth to deny it but realized it would be useless. Zoe was stunningly beautiful. But he didn’t like the idea that his brother thought her sexy.
“Yes, she’s beautiful. All the more reason I’m happy she declined the offer.”
David cocked his head. “Is this because of that intern who worked for you early last year? What was her name again? Tammy, Sammy? The one who used your plans to enter a competition? The one you had a thing for?” He grinned.
Dale scowled. “Don’t remind me. I still can’t believe how gullible and foolish I’d been. I’d let myself be duped by a pair of baby blues and a dimple—not a mistake I intend to make again.”
When Tammy had asked to take the plans of a new hotel home with her, he hadn’t hesitated. She was working for them and, yes, he’d been sleeping with her.
Fortunately, a friend of his who had been on the selection committee of the competition recognized the plan as Dale’s work and contacted him. Dale had been in time to stop the process, but the whole incident left a bad taste in his mouth and left him distrustful of women in general and of people who wanted to use his work in particular.
David laughed. “It’s called lust, my dear brother, and that usually clouds the brain.”
“Don’t I know it. What that lesson taught me is to stay clear of career-driven, beautiful women who will do anything to advance themselves.”
“The Sutherland women are gorgeous, I have to agree, but I’ve heard very good things about Zoe’s firm,” David said. “I don’t think you can accuse her of sleeping her way to the top.”
“Look, just leave it, okay? I’m the architect and I’ve done all the interior decorating of our hotels up until now. I don’t see why I have to involve a stranger just because our brother is sleeping with her sister. And, yes, I know her firm is doing well, but frankly, power-hungry women scare the living daylights out of me. And I can’t help wondering—whose idea was it to offer her the job? Don’s or hers?”
“You’re not making any sense,” David said. “She declined your offer remember?”
“Yeah, probably after she realized she won’t be able to wrap me around her little finger.”
David slapped him on the back. “Sounds to me like that’s exactly what she’s been doing!” He grinned as he left the office.
Scowling, Dale stared after his brother. Damn it, he had to get this bloody woman out of his mind. He still remembered in vivid detail how she’d looked when she ripped into Don last week. Her sapphire eyes had been spitting fire, and all Dale could think about was how it would be to unleash all that passion in a bedroom. His bedroom.
That was the reason he’d ignored her for the rest of the day. Because speaking to her meant he had to look at her. And every time his eyes met hers, all he wanted to do was cart her off to the nearest bed. So, instead of being friendly, he’d behaved like an insufferable fool.
