His Most Exquisite Conquest (8 page)

CHAPTER ELEVEN

L
UCY
COULD
NOT
have wished for a more marvellous time with Michael. The afternoon tea with the Pickards had been relatively stress-free. She had not felt any negative vibes coming from either of them. They were really nice people. Michael had then suggested a game of tennis, which had been great fun, followed by a dip in the infinity pool, drinking champagne as they watched the sunset. A romantic dinner for two on the deck below the restaurant had been a highlight finish to their day, eating superb food to the lapping of waves on the beach, under a star-studded sky.

On Sunday morning they slept in after a long night of making love. The fruit platter in the refrigerator was breakfast enough, since they were having an early lunch with Harry and Ellie before setting off to the mainland. Lucy wanted to see them happy with each other, as happy as she felt with Michael.

It was another beautiful, sunny day and harmony flowed between the two brothers and sisters as they sat in the restaurant, enjoying the fine cuisine. Ellie had mused out loud over the choices for each course, making decisions easy. It caused Lucy to reflect how lucky she was to have a sister who cared about her problems.

All through her school years, Ellie had tried to help her with reading and writing. She’d researched dyslexia on the internet and downloaded programs that might untangle the confusion in Lucy’s mind. When they hadn’t produced a miracle, she’d spent hours and hours coaching her to learn things off by heart. Without Ellie she would never have passed her driving test, which had allowed her to get jobs that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Lucy owed her sister a debt she could never repay. It was good to see her eyes twinkling happily at Harry. Ellie deserved a prince.

Again Lucy couldn’t help thinking how wonderful it would be if all four of them could end up together. That was a
big
dream—an impossible dream—but she was sailing along in a bubble of bliss, until Ellie dropped her bombshell.

They were sitting over coffee when Michael asked, ‘Any prospects for the position of manager here, Harry?’

He shrugged. ‘A few résumés have come in. I haven’t called for any interviews yet. Elizabeth may want to stay on now that she’s on top of the job.’

‘Elizabeth is mine!’ Michael shot him a vexed look.

‘No!’ The denial tripped straight out of Ellie’s mouth.

Lucy was shocked into staring at her sister, who suddenly looked very serious and determined.

Michael, too, was taken aback. ‘Don’t tell me Harry has seduced you into staying here.’

‘No, I won’t be staying here beyond the month he needs to find someone suitable,’ she replied quietly and calmly.

‘So you’ll come back to me,’ Michael insisted.

She shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Michael, but I don’t want to do that, either.’

‘Why not?’ he persisted.

‘Being here this week has made me realise I want a change. To try something different. I’d appreciate it if you’d take this as my notice.’

He wasn’t happy. He glared at his brother. ‘Goddammit, Harry! If it wasn’t for you—’

‘Hey!’ Harry held up his hands defensively. ‘I’m not getting her, either.’

‘Please...’ Elizabeth quickly broke in. ‘I don’t want to cause trouble. I just want to take a different direction with my life.’

‘But you’re brilliant as my PA,’ Michael argued, still annoyed at being put out.

‘I’m sorry. You’ll just have to find someone else.’

The relaxed atmosphere around the table was completely shattered. Everyone was tense. Lucy could hardly believe Ellie had come to this decision. It was like a rejection of both brothers, and the reason she gave... What direction
did
she want to take from here? Shutting herself off from two great careers made no sense.

‘Why not try out Lucy as your PA?’ Harry suggested to Michael with an airy wave of his hand. ‘She’s probably as brilliant as her sister.’

Panic instantly welled up in Lucy.
No, no, no!
screamed through her mind. She wasn’t Ellie. She could never be like Ellie. She begged help from her sister with her eyes.

‘It’s not her kind of thing,’ Ellie said firmly.

Michael was not put off, turning to remark quizzically, ‘You do work in administration, Lucy.’

‘I’m the front person who deals with people, Michael,’ she stated, her stomach in absolute turmoil. ‘I don’t do desk work. I’m good at helping people, understanding what they want, helping them to decide.... There’s quite a bit of that in cemetery administration. And I like it,’ she added for good measure, pleading for him to drop the issue.

He grimaced in frustration.

She reached out and touched his hand, desperate to restore his good humour with her. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t fill Ellie’s place.’

The grimace slowly tilted up into a soothing smile. ‘I shouldn’t have expected it. You are a people person and I like that, Lucy. I wouldn’t want to change it.’

Relief poured through her at having crossed this tricky hurdle without having to spell out why she’d be such a hopeless alternative to her sister.

‘I hope you’ll give me a good reference, Michael,’ Ellie said, drawing attention away from Lucy.

He sighed and turned to her. ‘It will be in the mail tomorrow. I hate losing you, but I wish you well, Elizabeth.’

It was a fairly graceful acceptance of the situation, but Lucy was extremely sensitive to the fact that the congenial atmosphere around the table was not about to resume. Tension emanated from Harry. It was obvious he didn’t like this decision, either.

‘Thank you,’ Ellie said, nodding to Michael.

Case closed.

Except it wasn’t.

Stony glances were being exchanged between the brothers. Frustration simmered from both of them. No one chose to eat any of the petit fours that accompanied coffee. Nothing was going to feel good until Michael and Harry cleared up their differences, which could be done only by leaving them alone together. Apart from resolving that problem, Lucy was also anxious to query Ellie about her reasons for leaving the PA job with Michael.

Had turning thirty hit her hard, triggering this sudden desire for change?

Or did the decision have something to do with foreseeing a bad outcome for the relationship Lucy had entered into with Michael? Ellie might not want to be around him if he let her sister down, and maybe she believed that was going to happen, complete with some horrible emotional fallout. If she was acting on that belief...Lucy inwardly recoiled from the idea. She would hate it if anything she did mucked up her sister’s career.

As soon as Ellie had finished her cappuccino, Lucy pushed back her chair and rose to her feet. ‘I’m off to the ladies’ room. Will you come with me, Ellie?’

‘Of course,’ she said, immediately rising to join her.

The moment they were closeted away, Lucy confronted her, determined to learn the truth. ‘Why are you leaving your great job with Michael? He’s not happy about it.’

Ellie shook her head. ‘It’s not my mission in life to keep Michael happy,’ she said drily.

‘But you always said you loved that job.’

‘I did, but it’s high pressure, Lucy. I didn’t realise how much it demanded of me until I came out here. I don’t want to be constantly on my toes anymore. I want to look for something else—more relaxed, less stressful.’

Was this the truth? Ellie had always been ambitious, and walking away from such a top-level position seemed like a complete turnaround from achieving what she’d aimed for. On the other hand, Lucy knew nothing of high pressure jobs, never having had one, so Ellie might actually need to give it up and move on.

‘Then it’s not because of me and him?’ Lucy asked worriedly, wanting to believe this decision was as straightforward as her sister made out.

‘No,’ she replied, her eye contact remaining absolutely steady as she laid out what she thought. ‘I’m sorry Michael is unhappy about it, but I don’t think he’ll take it out on you, Lucy. If he does, he’s not the man for you.’

Lucy hadn’t got that far in her own thinking. Her main concern had revolved around Ellie sacrificing her job out of some sense of protective loyalty. If there were personal repercussions from Michael because of his frustration over the situation...well, that simply wasn’t acceptable. He would not be the man for her. It would be frog territory. Lucy was not so blindly in love that she couldn’t see that. This was a test he would have to pass or there was not even a small future for them.

She heaved a sigh to relieve the tightness in her chest, gave her sister a quick hug, then looked her directly in the eye. ‘You’re right. Okay. It’s completely fair for you to look for something else. He’s just got to lump being put out by it.’

‘You can play nurse and soothe his frustration,’ Ellie said with a smile.

Lucy laughed, more in the grip of hysteria than from any amusement. She desperately didn’t want things to start going wrong between her and Michael, but if they did, she had to be as sensible as Ellie. However seductive a fairy tale fantasy was, in the end there was no escaping from reality.

* * *

Michael couldn’t recall ever being at serious odds with his brother, but he was right now. He’d lent Elizabeth to him to facilitate the quick removal of a crooked manager. He could tolerate not having her on hand for a month, but losing her altogether had not been on the table.

Just one week over here and she was handing in her resignation as his PA. He didn’t buy her reason for leaving him. Something had happened and that
something
had to do with Harry. Michael waited until the two sisters had closed themselves in the ladies’ room, safely out of earshot, and unleashed his anger.

‘This is bloody nonsense!’ he hissed at Harry. ‘Elizabeth never showed any dissatisfaction with her work situation. Whatever I threw at her, she ate up, and came back for more. And I paid her what she was worth. She’s completely on top of her job. Why the hell would she want to take a different direction? The only thing that makes sense is you’ve thrown a spanner in the works, Harry.’

‘If she wants a different direction, why isn’t she staying on here?’ he retaliated. ‘She’s on top of this job, too. It’s not me pulling the strings, Mickey.’

‘Then what is it?’ he demanded testily.

Harry eyed him grimly. ‘I’d say it’s Lucy.’

‘That’s nonsense, too! Lucy was just as shocked as I was at Elizabeth’s resignation.’

‘Wake up, Mickey!’ Sheer exasperation laced Harry’s voice. ‘You’re having it off with your PA’s younger sister—a sister she’s more or less been a mother to after their own mother died. From the moment you took up with Lucy, Elizabeth’s resignation has probably been on the drawing board. Seeing how it is for her sister this weekend undoubtedly clinched it.’

‘What do you mean?’

Harry rolled his eyes. ‘Even to me it’s obvious that Lucy’s head over heels in love with you. Elizabeth would be well aware that your relationships have never lasted long. You might end up hurting her sister very badly.’

‘And I might not!’ Michael retorted heatedly. ‘I might want to keep this relationship.’

Harry shrugged. ‘Whatever... But you introduced a personal element that wasn’t there before.’

‘What about you? Don’t tell me you haven’t got very personal with Elizabeth this week.’

‘Which is probably why she won’t stay on working for me, either,’ Harry retorted, then threw up his hands in exasperation. ‘I don’t know what’s going on in Elizabeth’s head. I wish I did. I do know that once she makes up her mind, she follows through, so we both have to accept her decision whether we like it or not.’

Michael huffed in frustration. ‘Okay,’ he conceded. ‘It’s not your fault.’

‘Definitely not,’ Harry vehemently insisted.

‘Dammit! Why did Lucy have to be her sister?’

‘You be careful how you treat her, Mickey. I don’t want your affair with her messing up what I might have with Elizabeth.’

Michael shook his head over complexities he hadn’t considered. ‘We’ve never been mixed up like this before, Harry.’

‘I’ll tell you now. I’m not letting Elizabeth go if I can help it.’

He was deadly serious.

‘I’m not about to let Lucy go, either.’ Not in the foreseeable future. There was absolutely no point to ending it within a month, since Elizabeth wasn’t coming back to work for him. He could let it go on for as long as it pleased him.

Harry nodded. ‘So...are
we
sorted, Mickey?’

‘Yes, sorted.’

Which didn’t mean he liked the situation, but at least he agreed Harry wasn’t to blame for it. Elizabeth had pulled the trigger on the professional side, quite possibly swayed by the personal elements of two brothers and two sisters becoming emotionally entangled. Lucy had called her
‘the sensible one.’

Michael castigated himself for not seeing this coming, yet he hadn’t known the nature of the relationship between the two sisters when he’d been bowled over by Lucy last Monday. He’d begun to see it more clearly in his conversation with Sarah yesterday, but he still hadn’t anticipated this breakaway by Elizabeth.

It seemed an extreme action.

And he resented the assumption that he might treat Lucy badly.

He had never treated a woman badly.

Yet both Sarah and now Harry were warning him to be careful with how he treated Lucy. That didn’t make a lot of sense, either. She hadn’t come across to him as a fragile personality, more like a free spirit, flitting around, trying anything that appealed to her. If their relationship took a wrong turn, surely she would flit somewhere else, not fall in a heap and need massive support from her sister.

Regardless of what he thought or felt, Elizabeth’s decision had been made and there was no point in sweating it. He didn’t regret picking up with Lucy even if it had lost him his PA. She could become very important to his life—a joy not to be missed or set aside. And he still had three weeks of having her to himself before her sister returned to Cairns—time for the relationship to consolidate, if it was going to—without any outside influence interfering with it.

Michael didn’t believe being ‘head over heels in love’ meant a relationship was on unbreakable ground. It was probably a fair description of how he felt about Lucy right now—infatuated to the point of obsession. But this could be a fairy floss stage, melting into nothing in the end.