Yesterday's Sins (21 page)

"I didn't know."

"Don't let it worry you. It's no more than I deserved."
 

Silence settled and they drifted off to sleep. Sometime later, strong hands aroused her from sleep.

With exquisite gentleness Alex made love to her again, leaving no response un-awakened or unappeased, before finally taking his possession with such overwhelming tenderness, she cried with an emotional overload.

He kissed the tears from her cheeks, soothing her until she fell asleep, wrapped in his sheltering arms.

The grey fingers of dawn cast ghostly shadows when Kate stirred. She groped for Alex's warmth and not finding it, opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling as she considered the ramifications.

What was she to do now?

Alex was her lover.

He was an addiction her body craved. An addiction she could no longer deny or resist. She knew no shame or pride when she was in his arms.

And no reasoning or remorse could alter the taint of their relationship.

Unable to bear remembering her willing response to the man she had vowed to despise forever, she leaped out of bed and headed for the shower. But no amount of scalding water or fierce scrubbing could erase his possessive touch.

Afterwards, she stripped her bed, desperate to erase the lingering trace of Alex's body scent.

Why had he come? To finish the encounter started in his bedroom? In despair, she slumped on the bed burying her face in her hands. The doorbell intruded on her thoughts. Who could be at her door at this hour of the day? Alex? It pealed again and she answered the imperious summons.

"Flower delivery, Ms. Audley."

A basket of flowers was thrust at her, and she was struck by a sense of déjà vu. A similar flower delivery had changed her life.

Startled, Kate took them.

Her eyes softened as she took in the romantic arrangement of dainty ivory, pink tinted roses and baby's breath in a white cane basket. A satin bow in the same shade of palest pink was tied at the base of one side of the handle.

She buried her nose in them savouring their delicate fragrance.

Her fingers trembled with anticipation as she reached for the heavy white card nestled among the flowers.

There was just one word.

Alex.

Payment for last night?

She rejected that wounding thought.

His repudiation of such sentiments had been implacable. With innate fairness, she admitted he'd never tried to bribe her with his wealth. Why had such a hard, uncompromising man sent her such a romantic bouquet?

Because they were lovers again?

Her lips trembled. Was Alex hoping she would be content with a purely physical relationship? He had forced her into such a relationship once.

She would never allow it to happen again.

Chapter Nine

D
ave met her as she walked into the office later that morning, a roll of plans in his hands. "The scheme plan for the subdivision of Smith's Farm was in the mail. Korda has asked to be informed immediately they arrive."

"Why?" She gave her boss a startled look.

"He wants first refusal. He has relatives wanting to relocate. Do you want to handle it? Or would you prefer me to?"

Kate hesitated, unsure if she was ready to face Alex. More importantly, did she want to have professional dealings with him?

She glanced at Dave and surprised a compassionate gleam in his eyes. "Well?"

"What price has he put on the lots?" she asked, playing for time.

"Hefty." Dave's grimace was expressive. "These are the last premium sites anywhere close to the village."

"Can I look at the plan?"

They went into her office, spreading the plan on her desk. "His surveyor has sited the roads cleverly. Every mature tree has been spared felling."

"Has he priced the individual lots?"

Dave turned back the letter stapled to the map, unclipped it and handed it to her.

"Whew. It will be exclusive." Kate was surprised. Clevedon was a very sought after rural dormitory suburb for the Auckland Metropolis but had never quite reached these dizzy heights.

"What an understatement." He gave a crack of amused laughter. "Will they sell or sit a while?"

"They'll sell," she said firmly. "There are so many people seeking small lots of land close to the village."

"Do you want to contact Korda?"

"Yes." She had to face him sometime. "Did he say which relatives were thinking of moving here?"

She was curious. Reviewing those members of the Korda clan she knew, none seemed logical candidates for relocation considering he had left Australia rather than face their censure.

"No." Dave stood up from the edge of the desk. "I'll leave you to handle this?"

"Okay."

After he'd gone, Kate sat for a few moments before calling Alex's business number. When his secretary briskly informed her neither Alex nor Gregori Nicolaides could be reached, she was relieved.

Throughout the rest of the day she was on tenterhooks.

As she liaised with Gavin Smith, seeking his input on the advertising launch, part of her mind worried her next meeting with Alex. She relaxed when, by the end of the day, she had no response to her message.

"You off home?" Dave stopped at her office doorway, a sheaf of papers and listing books under one arm.

"Yes." Kate tidied her desk, keeping her face averted from his shrewd gaze.

"Heard from Korda?"

"He's been in meetings all day. Gavin Smith wants no advance publicity until the official launch. Alex has plenty of time."

Dave paused a moment, frowning as he studied her face. "It's not too late for me to take over if you find dealing with him threatening."

Her heart warmed at his gruff anxiety.

"Dealing with Alex isn't a problem." She'd come a long way from the hurt woman who hurled a vase of flowers at his handsome head. "I see him every week when I visit Sarah."

"That's great news." Dave gripped her shoulder. "Does she know who you are yet?"

"We want to let her get to know me first." Kate smiled at the man who'd been so very kind to her during the bleak years of her exile.

"Build her trust and respect and she'll accept you." He hesitated a moment before asking warily, "Is there no chance of you getting back together?"

"No."

"That's a pity." He watched her expression, seeing more than she realized. "Are the barriers too high?"

What would Dave say if he knew just how non-existent the barriers had been last night?

Heat surged up her neck when she saw the gleam in his eyes. She made her excuses and left.

A chill southerly whipped at her legs as she left car and walked to the letterbox. Engrossed in flipping through her mail, she didn't see the man in the shadows. He stood up as she stepped onto the porch, startling her.

"Alex. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." He lifted his hand and ran a finger down her cheek. "I didn't mean to startle you. May I come in?"

Was she being stupid letting him come inside?

"I only want to talk to you," he said, seeing her hesitation.

Kate flushed, unlocking the door, allowing him to follow her inside. As she went to switch on the light to alleviate the evening gloom, he extended a hand preventing her. He took her handbag and letters from her nerveless fingers and tossed them onto a small table.

"What do you want?" She hated the anxious note in her voice.

"Are you okay?" He held her shoulders, his fingers gently kneading taut muscles. She nodded and he sighed.

"Why?" The lengthening shadows made it difficult to discern anything from his expression.

It was his turn to hesitate. "I was a trifle rough. Did I hurt you?"

She stifled the uncharitable impulse to agree. His roughness was from acute need and she'd matched it with her own desperation.

"Of course not, " she said, heat flooding up her face.

He drew her into a tight hug and she relaxed against him, savouring his warmth.

"I shouldn't have come here last night." His breath ruffled her hair.

"Why did you?" Kate pushed against him.

"To find out why you disappeared. Sarah was bitterly disappointed." She hadn't stopped to think of Sarah's reaction to her precipitate departure. "What did you tell her?"

"I've become very adept at realistic excuses for her mother's absence. Explaining your departure was much easier."

Hot, humiliated heat seeped into her face. She turned away, wrapping her arms around her body. Was his lovemaking a crude form of punishment?

"Noni upset me."

"And no one is allowed to upset Catriona without being punished?"

"Oh you punished me. Admirably." So much for thinking those flowers were a romantic gesture. He didn't understand the meaning of the word.

"Is that what you think?"

"What else did you intend?"

For several heart stopping moments, tension arced between them. With a sigh Alex turned away, extending a hand and flipping on the light and defusing the tension.

Kate shivered as the coldness penetrated.

"Can I persuade you to make me a coffee?"

"I need to talk to you about Smith's Farm." Happy to drop the contentious subject, she switched on the electric fire and plugged in the kettle, then drew the curtains, shutting out the cold. "The approved scheme plan arrived this morning. Gavin Smith wants to have the sales launch next week."

Alex didn't answer immediately. He sat in one of her comfortable armchairs. She was surprised by his frown.

"How far away are the titles?"

"The surveyors moved in today and as soon as they're done, the road works will begin." Kate poured coffee in pottery mugs. "Once the fieldwork is done, it's approximately three months until title."

"The terms? Ten per cent deposit with the balance payable on title?"

As he accepted the coffee, his grey eyes danced with amusement. And she realized she'd just demonstrated how little she'd forgotten about him and his tastes. Heat seeped up her throat and face.

"Or fifty per cent if you want immediate possession," she said, flustered by his knowing look. "Which relatives are thinking of relocating here?"