Trouble on Her Doorstep (5 page)

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 often wondered what it would feel like to be the star of the show and the centre of attention. To have people adore you and admire you because you are so very special.

Well, now she knew.

It felt...wonderful.

Instead of squirming away into a corner out of embarrassment, she stretched her head high and stared right back at Sean.

Her blood was thumping in her veins, filling every cell of her body with confidence and life.

And something else. Because, the longer he smiled at her, the more she recognized that tell-tale glint of animal attraction in his eyes. Attraction which had nothing to do with the suit and everything to do with the man wearing it.

Elemental. Raw. Alive.

A look that was flicking switches she had locked down into an off position ever since she’d found Josh in bed with a pretty blonde and decided to focus on her career plans and put herself first for once.

How did he do that? How did he make her want to flick her hair, run out to the nearest department store and buy the entire lingerie department and latest beauty products?

Was there an executive training course for that? Or did it come naturally?

One thing was for certain: this hotel was looking better by the minute.

* * *

Sean could not resist smiling as he crossed the floor to where Dee was sitting. She was sitting looking up at him with a look of total innocence and sweet charm. As though she had not planned her outfit today with one single purpose in mind: to knock any chance of sensible thought out of his brain.

A printed floral dress above grey leggings which seemed to have tiny hearts embroidered on them. And her hair? Short, cropped into a pixie style. Textured into a mass of tight brunette curls which any man within a thousand feet would want to run his fingers through and tousle up a bit.

But it was her eyes that captivated him.

Who was he kidding? Those pale-green eyes reached out, grabbed him by the man-parts and tugged him to her with a steel cable that just got tighter and tighter the closer he came.

After Sasha he had set his female-resistance setting on high. But there was something about Dee that was simply irresistible.

She looked like a bright spring flower against the monochrome hotel design scheme. And just as fragile. Slender and small. A greenhouse blossom which could be knocked over in the slightest cold breeze.

No way. This tiny girl was the one who had stopped him falling flat on his face last night. Then had beaten him up verbally.

‘Fragile’ was not how he would describe her.

Interesting was more like it. Intriguing. Enchanting.

Who was she? Apart from a tea fanatic?

‘Good morning, Miss Flynn.’ He smiled and stepped forward and held out his hand. ‘I am so sorry to have kept you waiting.’

‘Actually, I was early,’ she replied and her long slender fingers wrapped around his with a firm positive grip before sliding away. ‘Couldn’t wait to hear what you have lined up for me.’

Completely inappropriate images of what those fingers would feel like on other parts of his body flicked like a video show through Sean’s mind and he gave a low cough and took a tighter hold of his briefcase.

He pointed the flat of his right hand towards the office suite. ‘I have booked one of the breakout rooms. Shall we?’

‘Breakout rooms?’ Dee laughed as she got to her feet and flung her coat over one arm. ‘That sounds ominous. Is that where your hotel guests organize the escape committee?’

‘Just the conference delegates.’ Sean smiled. ‘And only when they have had enough of the speakers. Most of the business meetings we hold here need separate rooms where they can hold workshops and seminars away from the main group. It works well.’

‘Workshops,’ Dee repeated and followed him down a wide corridor fitted with an oatmeal carpet. ‘Right. I don’t think that I shall be needing any of those.’

‘Understood.’ Sean nodded and held open the white polymer door to the only small meeting room that was available for the next hour on a busy week day. ‘After you.’

Her reply was a quick nod as he stood back, waited for her to step inside, then turned and followed her in.

Only Dee could not have taken more than two steps into the room when she whirled around to face him so quickly that he had to lean back slightly to stop her from swinging her bag into his chest.

Her eyes were wild, flashing green and he could see her breathing fast and light, the pulse throbbing in her neck.

They were so close that he could have reached out and touched her face, or fastened up the top button on her cotton dress which was gaping open slightly as it stretched taut from her coat and bag, revealing that same creamy, clear skin that he had seen last night when she’d worn the one-strap jumper.

‘Is something wrong?’ Sean asked and looked over her shoulder at the perfectly orderly and clean meeting room with its cluster of tables and chairs.

Dee took one step closer and pressed both hands against the front of his shirt. He inhaled a heady mix of bakery sweetness and spice blended with a spicy floral perfume with a touch of musk which surprised him by being so girly. Sweet. Aromatic. Personal.

She smelt wonderful, but when she lifted her head to reply her gaze darted from side to side with alarm and there was just enough of a quiver in her voice for his every nerve to stand to attention.

‘There are no windows in this room. Not one. I can’t stay here. No way. No how. No discussion. Borderline claustrophobia. Had it for years. Nothing I can do.’

Then she shuddered and his hands automatically reached out and rested on her hips to steady her, hold her, warm her and sooth away whatever problem was causing her such clear distress.

‘Sean, I am really sorry, but I hate this hotel. Do you have another one? Because I have to get out of here. Right now.’

FIVE

Tea, glorious tea. A celebration of teas from around the world.

On a cold winter’s day? A piping-hot infusion of ginger and lemon will do the trick. Fruit and flower combinations are brilliant at lifting the spirits.

From
Flynn’s Phantasmagoria of Tea

Wednesday

Sean almost had
to snatch his raincoat from the hotel doorman before dashing out onto the pavement. But it was worth it, because Dee was still waiting to cross the busy road, her attention focused on shrugging into her duvet jacket, her bag clenched tight between her knees.

‘Dee. Wait a moment. What about our meeting?’

Her head swivelled back towards him and she looked from side to side for a moment before she realized who was calling out. Instantly her shoulders seemed to slump and she fastened up her jacket and slung her bag over one shoulder.

‘Meeting? Can we do it over the phone? I really don’t want to go back inside.’

She shrugged her shoulder bag higher and sighed out loud. ‘I think that I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one morning. Don’t you?’

Then she pulled a dark-green and gold knitted cap out of her jacket pocket and pulled it down over her pixie cut. ‘Right now I am far more interested in finding the nearest piece of park, grass, garden, anything in fact, that will make me forget the white holding cell that I have just been in. Okay?’

Then she noticed the crossing light had turned green and she turned on the heels of her ankle boots and strode forward, her cotton dress swinging from side to side above the grey-patterned leggings.

Her outfit was the perfect match for her personality: stylish, modern and surprisingly sexy. Just like the woman wearing them. The ankle boots were just short enough to display a finely turned ankle and toned calf muscles.

And just like that his libido switched up another level.

What had he told Rob? That he had missed his two weeks in the sun? Well, maybe he could find some of that life and colour right here in London in the shape of Dee Flynn.

He rarely met women outside work, and never dated guests or his employees, so his social life had been pretty static ever since the disaster with Sasha.

But there was something about this girl that screamed out that her open, friendly manner was real. Genuine. And totally, totally original. Which in his world was a first.

She knew exactly who she was and she knew what she wanted. Yet she was prepared to tell him that she had a problem with closed, windowless spaces and she had to change the rules to deal with it.

Sexy and confident inside her own skin.

And she was totally unaware of how rare a thing that was, especially in the hotel business, where most people had hidden agendas. Her goal was simple: she had placed her trust in the hotel and they had let her down. And she needed him to put that right. Because it was personal. Very personal.

Was that why he had taken time out today to meet her when his conference team were perfectly capable of finding a replacement venue in one of the other Beresford hotels in this city?

She marched ahead, then stopped and looked up at the street names high on the wall of the buildings on either side, hesitant and unsure.

‘Looking for somewhere in particular, or will any stretches of grass do?’

Dee whirled around to face him, her eyebrows squeezed together, her hands planted firmly on her hips. ‘I have no clue where I am. Seriously. I left my street map back at the shop and was too frazzled to jump on the next bus. I would probably end up even more lost. And shouldn’t you be back doing your hotel management thing?’

She waggled her fingers in the direction of the hotel with a dismissive sniff.

‘What? And leave my special client lost in a strange part of the city? Tut tut. That would be a terrible dereliction of my duties. Please. Allow me to be your tour guide.’

He closed the gap between them on the narrow pavement outside the smart row of shops and waved his right hand in the air. ‘As it happens, I know this area very well even without a map. And you wouldn’t want to see me get into trouble with the senior management, would you?’

‘Is this all part of the Beresford hotel’s five-star service?’ She asked with just enough of an uplift in her voice to tell him that she was struggling not to laugh.

‘What do you think?’ he asked, and was rewarded with a knowing smile before she squeezed her lips together, a faint blush glowing on her neck.

Her gaze scanned his face, hesitant at first, but the longer she looked at him, the more her features seemed to relax and she lifted her chin before replying in a low, soft voice which to his ears was like the rustle of new leaves in the trees that lined the street. The relentless noise of the buses, taxis and road traffic faded away until all he could focus on was the sound of her words. ‘I think I would like to see the river. Do you know how to get there?’

Sean nodded, and soon they were walking side by side along the wide, grey stone pavement that ran along beside the river Thames.

‘Okay, what was it that made you hate my hotel so much that we had to dash out into the rain?’ Sean asked.

Dee winced. ‘Do you really want to know? Because I am famous for being a tad blunt with my opinions when asked questions like that.’

He coughed low in his throat and took a tighter grip on his briefcase. ‘I noticed. And, yes, I do want to know.’ Then he glanced over at her and gave a small shrug. ‘It’s my job to keep the guests happy and coming back for more. So fire away; I can take it.’

Dee stopped walking and dropped her head back, eyes closed. Her chest lifted and fell inside her padded jacket a couple of times.

‘I’m so glad that the rain stopped. I like rain. Rain is good. Snow too. But cold sleet and grey skies? Not so much.’

Then she opened her eyes and looked up at him. ‘What were you like when you were fifteen years old?’

The question rocked Sean a little and he took a second before replying. ‘Fifteen? Living in London, going to school then working in the kitchens at my dad’s first hotel: loading dishwashers, peeling veg, helping to clean the rooms. My brother and sister did the same. We are a very hands-on family and there was no special treatment for any of us. We had to learn the hotel business from the bottom up. Those were the rules. And why do you want to know that?’

‘I was born in north-east India. At a tea plantation where my dad was the general manager. He worked for a big firm of Scottish tea importers who owned most of the tea gardens in that district of Assam. And don’t look at me like that. I am simply answering your question the long way round.’

‘Are you always so curious about other people’s lives?’ Sean asked.

‘Always, especially when I can see the worry on your face. No doubt you have some terribly important business meeting that you should be attending at this very minute instead of putting up with me. As a matter of interest, how long had you given me in your whizzy electronic diary this morning? Just for future reference?’

Sean lifted both hands in the air and gave a low chuckle.
‘A whole fifty minutes. So we are still on the clock. Please, carry on. Your delightful childhood in sunny India. That must have been very special.’

She grinned, shook her head, then carried on walking. ‘You have no idea. Both of my parents were working estate managers so I was left with my nanny and the other kids to run feral across a huge farm most of the time outside school. It was paradise. I only went down with serious diseases twice and grew up speaking more of the many local languages than English. I loved it.’

‘When did you leave?’

‘We moved four times to different estates in fifteen years and that was tough. But they all had the same problems and my dad had a remarkable talent for turning the businesses around. He seemed to have a knack for dealing with people and helping them with what they needed. Mostly better education for their children and health care.’ Then her voice faded away and she looked out over the wide, grey river in a daze. ‘They respected him for that. I’m sure of it.’

‘Did you come back to England for your education?’ Sean asked and stepped closer to avoid a couple of joggers.

Dee stopped and turned back to face him, and her eyebrows squeezed together as she focused on his question. ‘Partly. But mainly because the firm promoted my dad to be a tea broker. We came back to London when I was fifteen.’ Then she exhaled and blew out hard. ‘Total culture shock. I had been here for holidays many times, but living here? Different thing.’

Then she paused and licked her lower lip. ‘That was when I realized how much I had taken the outdoor life for granted. Being cooped up in a classroom with only a couple of small windows to let in air and light started to be a real problem, and my schoolwork suffered. I found that the only lessons where I could relax were the cookery and art classes where we were taught in a lovely sunlit studio extension at the back of the school.’

She looked up at him through her eyelashes, which he realized were not black but more of an intense dark brown.

‘I was okay there. Big open patio doors. Lots of space. And colour; lots of colour. The gardens were planted out in wonderful displays of flowering shrubs and plants. Tubs and hanging baskets. Planters everywhere.’

Then she pressed her lips together tight. ‘In fact, that studio was just about as opposite as you could get to that windowless, airless cube of a white room we have just escaped from.’

She titled her head to one side and blinked. ‘Human beings are not supposed to be in spaces like that meeting room of yours. Seriously. What was the designer thinking? Monochrome, hard surfaces. No colour or texture. No living plants. If I was a business person, it would be the last place on the planet where I would want to go to work.’

Then she winced and flashed him a glance. ‘Sorry, but you did ask. And I am sure that the bedrooms are very nice and cozy.’

‘Actually, they are exactly the same. We market the style as minimalist couture. No pictures on the walls and all-white polymer surfaces and sealed tiling.’

‘What about the food?’ Dee asked in a low, incredulous voice.

‘Micronutrients, hand-harvested seafood and baby organic vegetables. It is very popular with the ladies who lunch.’

‘Not the same ladies who come into our tea rooms. Those girls can eat! We are run off our feet keeping up with the demand. But I am starting to get the picture. Oh, Sean! I don’t envy you that job. How do you survive? Oh no—I’ve just had a horrible thought. Wait. Wait just one minute.’

Sean stopped walking and Dee stomped up to him, close enough that she had to look up into his face.

‘Please tell me that this other hotel is not the same! I’m not sure that I could stand another minimalist venue. Forget the breakfast meeting. All I want is a replacement venue, Sean.’ And she clutched hold of the lapels of his raincoat. ‘Somewhere with windows and light and air where people can enjoy tea. Because you have to understand, that’s what tea is all about. Having fun and sharing a drink with friends and family. The ceremony and the rituals are optional extras. And you can’t do that in a cement basement garage. Please give me some light and space. Is that too much to ask?’

Her bright eyes were shining. Her hands were on his coat, so it made perfect sense for his right hand to rest lightly on her hip.

‘As it happens, this hotel is the first one on my list of options. They have a vacancy a week Saturday and can easily fit the numbers you gave on the booking form.’

He flicked his head over his right shoulder. Dee’s stunning green eyes widened in surprise and she took a small gasp of astonishment.

‘This was the first of the Beresford luxury five-star hotels. Art deco. Original stained glass. Plenty of natural light, and the conference suite opens up onto the lawns leading down to the river. It’s also the same place where I cut my teeth as a junior manager so I think I know it pretty well. And not a minimalist detail in sight. In fact, I would go as far as to say it is old school. So. What do you think?’

‘Think? I am too stunned to think. Wow. You can officially consider yourself forgiven.’

And, without asking permission or forgiveness, she leant up on the tips of her shoes and tugged his lapels down towards her so that he was powerless to pull back even if he wanted to.

The quick flutter of her warm breath on his cold cheek happened so fast that, when her soft and warm lips pressed against his skin, the fragile sensation of that tender, sweet kiss was like liquid fire burning her brand onto his skin and in a direct line to his heart.

To Dee it was probably nothing more than a quick, friendly peck on the cheek but when Sean looked into those smiling green eyes he saw his world reflected back at him.

He should have looked away. Made a joke, stepped back and pointed out some of the famous London landmarks that were on the other side of the Thames. But for the first time since Sasha the only thing Sean was interested in was the warm glow and welcome that a pair of captivating green eyes held out to him.

Tantalizing. Alluring. He was held tight in their grasp and that suited him just fine. Forget the cold wind. Forget that they were on a public footpath. Forget that she was a client.

All that he could think about was the red glow on her cheeks, and when she tilted her face to one side the first real smile of the day creased the corners of her mouth and lingered there for a moment before reaching her eyes.

Sean lifted his hand and popped a stray strand of hair back under her knitted hat with one finger. He made sure that the knuckles of that hand traced a feather-light track along cheekbones which were so defined and yet so soft that his skin ached to do it again to make sure that he had not mistaken the sensation.

Instantly her head lifted just a little and those eyes recognized a shift in the electricity in the air between them. It had that same power as the energy bolt he had felt when he first saw her in the hotel, but here it was magnified a hundred times.

It seemed only natural to drop his briefcase to the floor, slip both hands behind the back of Dee’s head and cradle her skull. When he bent down and pressed his cheek against her temple, he could feel her breath on his skin, and each breath he took was warmed by the scent of the woman he was holding so close to his chest.