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He needed to raise money to match his own to fund the purchase of expensive satellite time to track the movement of aid shipments and prevent them falling into the hands of warlords and profiteers, instead of the refugees who needed them. If he failed, the anti-piracy project would collapse, and millions of dollars of aid would continue to benefit the wrong people.
The invitation to Sydney had come at just the right time between movie commitments, but all anyone wanted to talk about was Hollywood gossip, and on top of that his meeting with a potential big donor did not go well. Teela, it turned out, was exactly the diversion he’d needed. She didn’t have a light, but she did set his imagination to crackling.
Smart, funny, with a reputation for professional excellence and quick with the banter. It didn’t hurt that she was a classic beauty, her understated dress only serving to highlight her figure and those legs that went on for miles and would look even better trapped by his.
“Your mother told you never to get into a car with a strange man, right?” he said, offering his hand to help her into the back seat.
“My mother told me to buy my own car so I didn’t need strange men,” she said, climbing in awkwardly, her wetness making her stick to the leather seat.
“I can only assume she’d be terribly disappointed in you about now.”
Teela laughed, pushing stray pieces of wet hair off her face. “I had a little bingle and my car had to be towed. If you could drop me at a taxi rank that would be fantastic.”
“Nearest cab queue,” said Rick in the front seat to the driver.
“Teela Carpenter, that’s my bodyman, Rick. Our driver is Hassan.”
“Hi. Thanks for this,” she said, trying to dry her hands on her clinging dress.
“Nearest cab rank is your hotel, Haydn,” Rick said, “but Hassan will drop Miss. Carpenter where she needs to go once we get you back there.”
Teela shifted forward to get closer to the two men in the front, her dress riding up her thighs. Haydn got an eyeful of those forever legs before she yanked the dress down, squirming to get it to cover her. “There’s no need. I can wait for a taxi at the hotel. Once the storm clears there’ll be more cars available.”
“Ah, this is a storm, I thought it might be the apocalypse,” Haydn said.
“Sudden tropical storms are a thing in summer. Cools everything down,” she said. “Wreaks havoc on transport. Lucky there was no hail.”
Teela Carpenter was the havoc. She’d caught him looking at her legs and she was amused, a smile hitching on her lips. He’d like to kiss those lips, glossy from the rain. If she was an elaborate plant, he was going to strangle Rum, but first he was going to explore his options, get to know one of the locals.
“You’re not hurt?” he said.
“Only my no-claim bonus.”
Seemed the whiplash was all his. “Hassan will drive you, but I’m sure you’d be more comfortable if you could dry off a little first.”
She wriggled back into the seat and twisted to face him. And she smirked. “Are you inviting me to accompany you to your hotel, Mr. Delany?”
That smirk did things to him that were very anatomically pleasing. “What would your mother say about that?”
“My mother is a very practical woman.”
“Mine was too.” He made it a rule to talk about Mom when he could, helped keep his memories fresh.
“You must miss her terribly.” Not a question. One of those well-known facts about his life and Teela sounded hesitant, caught between wishing he’d never mentioned Mom and needing to do the polite thing to acknowledge his loss.
“It’s a toss-up between Dad and I who misses her most.” He’d gotten used to navigating around his grief with strangers, making light of it, absorbing any awkwardness. “My mom would have insisted I find you a towel.” She’d have approved of secret weapon, Teela Carpenter.
“I guess we should honor her memory.”
His options were looking wide open and the locals were friendly.
Five minutes later, after enough sustained eye contact to create a virtual sub-tropical climate in the back seat, almost hot enough to raise steam, Hassan drove into the driveway of the hotel, easing alongside the private entrance. Rick got the car door and made sure they made it inside the elevator without being spotted or disturbed.
“Are we going to your suite?” Teela said, noting the controls only showed one floor past the mezzanine.
“Unless you’d rather not.” He didn’t want her to feel trapped.
“I imagine the towels are thick.”
