Flight of Fantasy

‘I’m sorry but I can’t help you,’ she said flatly, her voice vibrant with anger. ‘I don’t know why you’re asking me but no reason could possibly justify it.’

‘Not even the lives of hundreds of Aboriginal babies?’ he said blandly.

About to thank him for the drink and walk away, she froze. ‘What did you say?’

‘I said that your agreement to what is really a simple task could save hundreds of young lives.’

‘I don’t understand.’

He leaned closer, enfolding her in the potent male aura of his aftershave lotion so that she felt slightly light-headed. ‘The resort you’re booked into is also the venue for a business convention which I’m attending, along with some friends from my university days.’

‘If this is some kind of practical joke...’

‘It’s no joke,’ he said grimly. ‘At university, a group of us invested some money with the agreement that the last one to remain single would claim what has become a sizeable amount of money.’

She took a steadying sip of her drink. ‘And you don’t want the money?’

She knew without being told that Slade’s business had made him one of Tasmania’s richest men. ‘As you’re aware, I hardly need it,’ he confirmed. ‘But the other candidate does. Bob Hamilton, the only other bachelor, is a doctor who has devoted his life to setting up clinics for Aboriginal children in the outback. The money would greatly assist him in his work.’

More confused than ever, she shook her head. ‘Then why don’t you just give it to him?’

‘Bob’s damned pride would prevent him accepting unless he thinks he’s won it fairly.’

‘So when you found out I’d be there at the same time you decided to turn up with a wife to convince him that he’s entitled to the money,’ she summarised her understanding of the situation.

‘Exactly.’ He stood up. ‘That’s the final call for our flight. Can I take it that you’ll do as I ask?’

Miserably, she shook her head. ‘I wish I could, since it’s in a good cause, but I’d be no good at it, honestly. I couldn’t convince anyone that we’re husband and wife.’

His expression became glacial. ‘I hoped you’d be more helpful, Eden. That’s why I kept your file on my desk instead of returning it to Personnel.’

Was he making it a choice between doing as he asked and losing her job? ‘I can’t believe you’d be so cruel,’ she ground out. ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’

‘Beyond accepting a job under false pretences,’ he reminded her. ‘After that, pretending to be my wife should be a piece of cake for you.’

A piece she might choke on, she thought. But what choice did he leave her? If she resigned, who else would employ her when he refused her a reference? ‘Everything I’ve heard about you is true,’ she said through clenched teeth. ‘You’re arrogant, unprincipled and manipulative.’

‘But you’ll do as I ask?’

‘For no longer than is absolutely necessary to convince your Bob Hamilton that the money is his,’ she insisted.

‘Naturally,’ he agreed, his mocking tone making her want to hit him. When he took her arm to escort her to the plane, it was all she could do not to tear herself free. She had better get used to it in her new role as his wife.

Slade Benedict’s wife. The very thought sent surges of electric sensation pulsating through her. She told herself it was anger at the way he had virtually blackmailed her into playing the part. After all, what else could it be?

CHAPTER TWO

THE Sunshine Coast airport with its plush lounges and tropical gardens was a far cry from the sandy patch of Maroochy Beach where the first aircraft landing in the region took place in 1922.

In those days, guests stayed in boarding houses designed in traditional Queensland style with wide, airy verandas but little in the way of luxuries. Today, their plane was met by a uniformed resort driver who whisked them in air-conditioned comfort to a new, low-rise resort hotel which fronted Coolum Beach.

With the exception of a central core, the resort had no building higher than three floors. They nestled into the curve of the landscape, the colours chosen to echo the natural surroundings.

Although sharply conscious of the man at her side who was supposed to be her husband, Eden was distracted by the patterns of light and texture the design created with its clever use of roof angles, overhangs and lattices.

As their driver pointed out the resort’s own large tract of coastal rainforest alongside the golf fairways, she gave a sigh of longing. If only Slade hadn’t come along with his impossible demands, she would have looked forward to exploring the resort.

She jumped when he enquired solicitously, ‘Ready, darling? We’re here.’

They had arrived at Reception and their luggage was already being unloaded. A uniformed doorman held the limousine door for her to alight. Slade’s casual use of the endearment brought the colour rising to her cheeks and she ducked her head. It was one thing to agree to act as his wife but quite another to actually carry it out.

‘I something the matter, darling?’ he asked, materialising at her side.

‘Must you keep calling me that?’

‘It’s good practice,’ he said, unperturbed.

‘But everyone doesn’t have to think we’re married, only your doctor friend.’

‘Who is a highly intelligent man,’ Slade warned her. ‘The more comfortable we become with our roles, the more convincing we’ll be.’

‘I suppose so,’ she said on a sigh. ‘I hadn’t bargained on starting so soon.’

‘You didn’t find it difficult to keep up your act at work,’ he reminded her. ‘Why should it be a problem now?’

Fresh colour flamed in her cheeks, sparked by anger this time. ‘All right, so I was in the wrong, but I’m doing my penance. Must you keep reminding me of it?’

‘Only when you need encouraging to play the part you agreed to.’

She tossed her long hair expressively. ‘Was blackmailed into, you mean. The only redeeming feature is knowing that some underprivileged children will benefit from having my holiday ruined.’

The hand she fluttered to express her frustration was captured in a firm grip. ‘It needn’t be ruined,’ he said in a soft undertone. ‘My wife is entitled to enjoy herself while she’s here.’

She felt an instant lifting of her spirits which she refused to connect with the warmth of his fingers entwined with hers. ‘She is? I mean...I am? You mean it’s all right if I explore the rainforest and the wildlife sanctuary?’

Her naive enthusiasm elicited a smile which softened the angles of his face, making him look almost attractive. ‘Of course. You’re free to explore while I attend the conference events. Provided you’re at my side at the opening and social occasions, the rest of the time is your own. Of course, that freedom doesn’t extend to holiday flirtations, you understand?’

Steel fingers crept up and down her spine, chilling her with the reminder of her unwanted obligation. ‘Of course not,’ she mocked. ‘How would it. look if Slade Benedict’s wife was seen flirting with another man?’

His hand clamped around her wrist, drawing her irresistibly closer until his lips brushed the curve of her ear. ‘I warn you not to try my patience, Eden. I want your word that you’ll go through with this to the best of your ability.’

The alternative was disgrace and, quite probably, long-term unemployment. Besides, it was in a good cause, as he had just reminded her. ‘You have my word,’ she agreed. ‘Now will you release my hand? You’re hurting me.’

‘Not as much as I will if you go back on your promise,’ he vowed. But his fingers loosened and she retrieved her wrist, rubbing it significantly so that he would know how bruising his grip had been.

But there was worse to come, she found when they were shown to their accommodation.

‘You can’t expect me to share a room with you,’ she seethed in an undertone, her glance moving to the porter who was delivering their luggage.

Slade’s eyebrows lifted in mocking amusement. ‘Not a room, a suite. Married couples usually share sleeping quarters.’

Despair throbbed through her. Despite his assurance, she was beginning to wonder how far he intended to take this charade. ‘Married couples, maybe. But we’re not...’

‘Not in need of another thing,’ he said, lifting his voice as the porter approached them. He accepted Slade’s generous tip with a salute and left, closing the door behind him.

She was alone with Slade for the first time and a confusing medley of sensations assailed her. The sense of alarm, she understood. The prospect of sharing close quarters with him was enough to alarm any woman. But there was something else, too, an undercurrent of excitement which was even more shocking.

‘This wasn’t part of our agreement,’ she denied, annoyed by the betraying tremor which vibrated in her voice. She had the uncomfortable certainty that he saw through her facade of coolness to the cauldron of emotions seething inside her.

‘Scared, Eden?’ he asked in a voice as soft as a caress.

‘N-no.’ It was true, wasn’t it?

His aura enveloped her as he came up behind her, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders, the warmth of them pervading her body. ‘Good. You shouldn’t be scared of me, ever.’

Weakness invaded her limbs. ‘Then you understand why I can’t possibly agree to share your suite?’

‘I understand why you don’t wish to, but it’s necessary.’ His finger slid down her throat and came to rest on the pulse which fluttered like a caged bird. ‘Most women would find the prospect stimulating.’

Her throbbing pulse betrayed how stimulating she found it, which was precisely why she dared not agree. For a heartbeat, she wondered what it would be like if she was really his wife, sharing this suite and... so much more.

Shocked by the power of her thoughts, she wrenched free and went to the glass door which opened on to a wide terrace, fixing her gaze on the ocean view while she fought for composure.

‘All the same, I can’t stay,’ she said when her throat allowed words to pass again.

He spoke so close behind her that she jumped. ‘You have no choice, I’m afraid. The hotel is booked out for the conference.’

Her eyebrows winged upwards. ‘What about my original reservation?’

‘Cancelled in favour of this one.’

A shiver propelled itself down her spine. She tried to tell herself she was affronted by his high-handedness, but the sense of rising excitement drowned it out. ‘You were pretty sure I’d agree,’ she said with a coolness she was far from experiencing.

He gave a crooked smile at which her heart did a kind of somersault. ‘I felt confident I could persuade you.’

Her throat dried as she visualised his methods of persuasion. She had the feeling they would be devastatingly effective. Enjoyable, too, a traitorous inner voice insisted.

‘I also counted on your ambition to overcome any lingering scruples you might have about the arrangements,’ he added.

Surprise flared in her amethyst gaze. ‘My ambition?’

‘You needn’t pretend with me,’ he said, confusing her all the more. ‘Anyone who bluffs her way into a job as you did, then works as hard as you’ve done to keep it, has to be ambitious. The number of courses you attend and the hours you put in speak for themselves.’

He was also well aware of her determination to gain promotion, she thought. It painted a different picture of her from the true one. Yet she couldn’t defend herself without explaining that most of it was for her mother’s sake, which she had no intention of doing.

The strength of her reluctance caught her by surprise. She didn’t want his pity, but there was another reason, she recognised unwillingly. She liked having Slade treat her as a desirable woman and it would end as soon as he knew the truth. Didn’t she have enough experience of what happened with first her father, then Joshua? She didn’t want to go through such anguish ever again.

‘What is it, Eden?’ Slade asked, shattering her reverie as he touched a finger to her chin, tilting her face up to him.

The light touch against her throat and the intense concern she glimpsed in his eyes was almost too much. Then common sense asserted itself. ‘Nothing, why?’

‘For a moment, you looked incredibly sad, as if the weight of the world was on your shoulders.’ His hands slid down, coming to rest on the top of her arms. ‘They’re much too slight for such a burden.’

Choked by feelings which threatened to overwhelm her, she spun away on to the terrace. ‘I’m tougher than I look.’

She felt rather than heard his change of demeanour. His voice was cold when he said, ‘I don’t doubt it. Someone with your ambition would have to be.’

No, no, you’re wrong about me, she wanted to deny—then immediately questioned why she should care what he thought. Wasn’t it better if he accepted his own explanation of her behaviour, rather than sought the real one?

She affected a bright smile as she turned back to him. ‘You’re right, of course. Now which bedroom do you want me to take?’

A wry smile spilled across his features. ‘I don’t suppose there’s any point in saying mine?’

‘None at all,’ she said briskly, striving to control her heartbeat, which contrarily picked up speed at the very idea. ‘It wasn’t part of our agreement.’

He gave an exaggerated shake of his head in mock-disappointment. ‘What a pity.’

It was only as she settled into the master bedroom which he generously allocated to her, complete with its own terrace and ocean view, that she realised how restrictive this arrangement must be to him.

By ruling out holiday flirtations for her, a supposedly married woman, he had also ruled out casual sex for himself. If the reports of his love life were even partially true, celibacy was not his preferred state.

Her uneasy glance went to the closed door which separated them. She could hear him humming under his breath as he mixed a drink for himself, she having already declined one. She hoped he had his male hormones firmly under control because she had no intentions of taking this make-believe marriage any further. Slade Benedict was arrogant, unfeeling and iron-willed. His readiness to commandeer her holiday for his own purposes was proof enough. She would be crazy to let him use her any further, when she knew from past experience how it was bound to end.

All the same, there was something about him which haunted her. His power over her job and pay cheque couldn’t explain it. This was much more intimate and disturbing, and she slammed her suitcase lid down hard, as if she could also put a lid on her thoughts. The sound reverberated through the suite, reminding Eden that she hadn’t heard any sounds from the other room for a while. Slade had said he intended to check out the conference venue, as he would be giving an address next day, so he must have gone to do so.

Cautiously, she opened her bedroom door and stepped into the living-room which separated their sleeping quarters. The remains of his drink sat on a side-table, a film of moisture beading the glass. Lazily she traced a pattern in the moisture then withdrew hastily. It was only his glass, for goodness’ sake. She should throw it in his face, not dream over it. What on earth was getting into her?

Her wandering gaze was arrested by several items lying behind the glass. Slade must have emptied his pockets before going out.

She ignored the jumble of keys, tickets and other paraphernalia, drawn instead to an open ticket wallet in which she glimpsed some photographs. Slade’s family? The temptation to peek was irresistible.

They were indeed family snaps, she found when she drew them towards her. One was of Slade wrestling an enormous black dog, a Newfoundland, Eden noted. He looked more relaxed and happy than she had ever seen him at the office. The second photo was a studio portrait of a young girl of about nine or ten. Her face was set in such a wistful expression that Eden’s heart constricted in response.

‘My daughter,’ Slade supplied in a harsh tone.

She jumped, not having heard him return. Waves of nausea washed over her. If this was his daughter, then somewhere there was a real Mrs Benedict. What did he think he was playing at?

‘Not my real daughter, of course,’ he supplied as if reading her thoughts. ‘Katie was my sister’s child. She and her husband were killed in a road accident and Katie was the only survivor.’

Tears blurred Eden’s vision. ‘Poor little mite. How old was she when they died? I mean, I don’t want to pry or anything, but——’

‘But you need to know about her in order to play your part,’ he cut in before she could finish. He joined her on the couch and lifted the folder from her hands. His expression softened as he studied the photo and she wondered at the change in him. Where was the ruthless, uncaring dictator now?

The expression was gone in an instant, replaced by a hard, cold mask which chilled her to look upon it. ‘My sister married against family advice,’ he told her. ‘When her husband found out that she had no money of her own other than an income from shares I’d given her in my company, what love there was soon died. By then Julie was pregnant with Katie and she stayed for the sake of her child.’

Eden touched his hand lightly. ‘You don’t have to tell me any more.’

His bleak expression raked her. ‘I don’t, but I shall, so you know exactly how things are with me. A wife would know, wouldn’t she?’

But a real wife, not a play-acting one, she thought painfully. It occurred to her that perhaps there weren’t many people he could take into his confidence. With his knowledge of her own personnel file, she was hardly likely to betray his confidence, so he felt safe telling her the facts. With a feeling of emptiness, she nodded.

He linked his hands behind his head and stared at the ocean beyond the window. ‘Julie endured it as long as she could but her husband’s womanising got too much to ignore. Eight months ago, she telephoned me to say she was leaving him. She and Katie were to stay with me until she decided their future.’

A lump rose in Eden’s throat. Was it his sister’s experience which had soured him on the idea of marriage? ‘What happened?’ she asked softly.

‘Her husband followed them in his own car, finally forcing them off the road. The roads were wet. Both cars rolled, killing their drivers. Katie was strapped into the back seat of Julie’s car and they were able to get her out with only minor scratches.’

‘How horrible,’ Eden said, wanting to cry. ‘Is Katie all right now?’

‘She has occasional nightmares about the crash but I’ve tried to give her as normal a home life as possible. I moved to a house along Nutgrove Beach where she seems to have settled down.’

The area was one of the most exclusive residential parts of Hobart, only a few minutes’ drive from the city centre. ‘Who takes care of her while you’re away from home?’

‘Our housekeeper, Ellen. She worked for Julie before the tragedy, and has known Katie since she was born, so it’s an ideal arrangement.’

Slade as a family man, with an adopted daughter, was so at odds with her perceptions of him that she felt confused. ‘You must love Katie very much to do all that for her,’ she speculated.

‘That’s the trouble,’ he said harshly. ‘I don’t know. I’m still getting used to this father business.’

Eden sat up, hugging her knees close to her chest, unaware of how youthful the pose made her look. ‘Why did you decide to adopt her if fatherhood is so unappealing?’

‘I didn’t say it was unappealing.’

‘Your tone did.’

Irritation furrowed his brow. ‘You’re right. I never wanted the domestic package of a wife and two-point-five children. I had my parents’ and Julie’s marriage to prove that it doesn’t work. But I couldn’t abandon my own sister’s child.’

Anger rose in Eden, coiling tightly in her chest until she had to say what was on her mind. ‘Well, no wonder you don’t enjoy fatherhood with that attitude. Katie’s probably well aware that she’s a duty to you.’

‘I’ve never allowed her to know how I feel.’

‘You don’t have to. Children know when they’re loved and wanted.’

His thunderous expression should have warned her she’d gone too far. ‘As far as I’m aware, you’re no expert on the subject of marriage and children, unless you lied about them, too.’

‘I didn’t lie. It was a stupid misunderstanding which got out of hand.’ Without telling him the whole story, she couldn’t convince him that she had allowed the error to stand out of the purest motives.

‘Before coming to work for you, I spent some time as a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten. I thought about getting a certificate in early childhood education.’ Until the need to earn a living had ruled out the required years of study, she thought ruefully.

‘But corporate communications promised bigger rewards and a fast track to the top.’ He put his own interpretation on the facts.

She shook her head until her hair haloed around her head. ‘It may look that way, but it wasn’t why I gave up teaching. I loved being around the little ones. They’re so eager to learn, so fascinated by the newness of the world.’

He took in her shining eyes and heightened colour. ‘You sound like perfect mother material. When are you going to get off the career ladder and have some of your own?’

Pain knifed through her until she jumped to her feet. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she threw at him and flung herself through the door into her bedroom, where she leaned against the door, her chest aching with unshed tears.

His fist pounded on the door, sending vibrations shuddering through her. ‘Go away,’ she shouted.

‘Not until you tell me what I said to provoke such an outburst,’ he insisted. ‘You’d better open up. I’ll break the door down if I have to.’

She had no doubt that he meant it and had the strength to back up his threat. Shakily, she opened the door, guarding a narrow opening with her body as if daring him to thrust past her. His shoulder forced the opening steadily wider until she gave up and moved aside. Standing in front of the window, she wrapped her arms around her trembling body.

He came up behind her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him reach for her, and every nerveending tensed. If he touched her, her defences would crumble and she’d be forced to tell him the truth.

Instead, he rested his hands on the back of a chair alongside her, his arms enclosing her without touching her. ‘What is it, Eden? What did I say?’

‘You didn’t say anything. The problem is mine. I can’t have children.’

He swore under his breath. ‘And I went and put my foot right in it, didn’t I?’

‘You couldn’t know.’ Her voice was ragged. This was the last subject she had expected to discuss with him. ‘It isn’t something I like to advertise.’

‘Of course not.’ The compassion in his voice caught her by surprise. She hadn’t expected him to make allowances for any kind of weakness. She searched his face, seeking at least a trace of the distaste he must be feeling, but found none. ‘What’s the problem, something physiological?’ he asked gently.

She was curiously unwilling to let him think she was less than a whole woman. ‘Everything works,’ she said, aware that his concern threatened to undermine her shaky defences.

His hand drifted to her cheek, his touch feather-light. ‘I wasn’t doubting your womanhood,’ he assured her. ‘You have only to look into a mirror to see the beauty and femininity you possess in breathtaking abundance.’

There was no need. She could see it reflected in his eyes as he regarded her with heart-stopping intensity. Her heart hammered against her ribs. How had they shifted on to such dangerously intimate ground so quickly? It must be the talk of babies which clouded her mind with images of Slade making love to her, the vision so vivid that a gnawing sense of loss filled her. Tears sprang to her eyes.

Slade caught one droplet on the tip of a finger and tut-tutted softly. ‘I’m sorry I brought up a sensitive subject. Isn’t there anything to be done—test tubes, donor sperm, that sort of thing?’