with his right hand like a male fashion model on a photo-shoot. The master of the ship. Lord of all he surveyed.
He looked taller somehow. More in control. Last night he had invaded the tea rooms and entered a foreign territory with strange new customs and practices. But here and now the difference shone out. This was his space. His world. His domain. Confidence and authority seemed to emanate out from him like some magical force-field.
No wonder the doorman was happy to take his coat; there was absolutely no mistaking that he was the boss.
She envied him that confidence and physical presence that came from a wealthy family background and the education to match. He had probably never known what it was like to be ignored and sidelined and made to feel second rate. It was as if they were from different worlds.
Sean rolled back his shoulders, picked up his briefcase and strode out towards the reception desk. And as he turned away Dee sucked in the breath that had been frozen in her lungs.
The fine navy cloth of his superbly cut business suit defined the line of his broad shoulders. From the way his legs moved inside those trousers, she wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if Sean made regular use of the gym facilities she had just been reading about in the hotel magazine.
That confident stride matched his voice: rich, confident and so very self-assured of his identity. He knew who he was and liked it.
This version of Sean could have graced the cover of any business magazine. He was the personification of a city boy. A man used to being in authority and calling the shots.
The second son and heir.
A man who would never know what it felt like to have to cash in his pension fund and savings to pay the staff wages.
A lump formed in Dee’s throat and she turned her gaze onto what passed for the floral display on the coffee table.
Her sweet, kind father had been too soft-hearted to cut the wages for the estate workers when it had become obvious that his dream tea plantation on Sri Lanka was not able to pay for itself. Those wages paid for health care and made it possible for the workers’ children to go to school. How could he take that away from them? How could he be responsible for ruining so many people’s lives? But, even when they were selling their possessions, her parents had kept reassuring her that she shouldn’t worry, they would get their savings back. It would all work out for the best in the end.
Dee exhaled very, very slowly and focused on the pattern of the marble floor tiles beneath her boots.
Past history.
And it was not— not —going to happen to her.
History was not going to repeat itself.
She was not going to lose her tea shop or let her dream slip away. With her contacts and experience, she had the technical ability to go right to the top. Now all she had to do was make it happen. No matter how scared she was.
She had worked so hard to get to this point, she could not afford to let her foolish pride get in the way.
Even if it meant asking for help now and then.
A rustle of activity across the room broke the hushed silence of the reception area and she looked up just as Sean turned away from the desk and saw her.
There must have been something about her that amused him, because she felt those blue eyes scan her entire body in a flash, from the toes of her practical red boots to the top of her head, before they slid down to her face. His gaze seemed to lock onto hers and stay there, unmoving, as though he was trying to decide about something.
Whatever it was, the corner of his mouth slid into a lazy smile which reached his eyes as they locked with hers and held them tight.
The heat of that smile warmed the air between them faster than the hot-air vent behind her legs.
The few hotel guests and staff milling around disappeared and all Dee could see was the handsome man in a suit and tie standing at the reception desk.
It was as though they were the only people in the room.
Dee had
He looked taller somehow. More in control. Last night he had invaded the tea rooms and entered a foreign territory with strange new customs and practices. But here and now the difference shone out. This was his space. His world. His domain. Confidence and authority seemed to emanate out from him like some magical force-field.
No wonder the doorman was happy to take his coat; there was absolutely no mistaking that he was the boss.
She envied him that confidence and physical presence that came from a wealthy family background and the education to match. He had probably never known what it was like to be ignored and sidelined and made to feel second rate. It was as if they were from different worlds.
Sean rolled back his shoulders, picked up his briefcase and strode out towards the reception desk. And as he turned away Dee sucked in the breath that had been frozen in her lungs.
The fine navy cloth of his superbly cut business suit defined the line of his broad shoulders. From the way his legs moved inside those trousers, she wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if Sean made regular use of the gym facilities she had just been reading about in the hotel magazine.
That confident stride matched his voice: rich, confident and so very self-assured of his identity. He knew who he was and liked it.
This version of Sean could have graced the cover of any business magazine. He was the personification of a city boy. A man used to being in authority and calling the shots.
The second son and heir.
A man who would never know what it felt like to have to cash in his pension fund and savings to pay the staff wages.
A lump formed in Dee’s throat and she turned her gaze onto what passed for the floral display on the coffee table.
Her sweet, kind father had been too soft-hearted to cut the wages for the estate workers when it had become obvious that his dream tea plantation on Sri Lanka was not able to pay for itself. Those wages paid for health care and made it possible for the workers’ children to go to school. How could he take that away from them? How could he be responsible for ruining so many people’s lives? But, even when they were selling their possessions, her parents had kept reassuring her that she shouldn’t worry, they would get their savings back. It would all work out for the best in the end.
Dee exhaled very, very slowly and focused on the pattern of the marble floor tiles beneath her boots.
Past history.
And it was not— not —going to happen to her.
History was not going to repeat itself.
She was not going to lose her tea shop or let her dream slip away. With her contacts and experience, she had the technical ability to go right to the top. Now all she had to do was make it happen. No matter how scared she was.
She had worked so hard to get to this point, she could not afford to let her foolish pride get in the way.
Even if it meant asking for help now and then.
A rustle of activity across the room broke the hushed silence of the reception area and she looked up just as Sean turned away from the desk and saw her.
There must have been something about her that amused him, because she felt those blue eyes scan her entire body in a flash, from the toes of her practical red boots to the top of her head, before they slid down to her face. His gaze seemed to lock onto hers and stay there, unmoving, as though he was trying to decide about something.
Whatever it was, the corner of his mouth slid into a lazy smile which reached his eyes as they locked with hers and held them tight.
The heat of that smile warmed the air between them faster than the hot-air vent behind her legs.
The few hotel guests and staff milling around disappeared and all Dee could see was the handsome man in a suit and tie standing at the reception desk.
It was as though they were the only people in the room.
Dee had
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