THE DREAM CHILD (7 page)

She only had to ask Geoff a couple of questions, and thankfully Vic wasn’t there for most of the morning to distract her with his handsome presence. He was at some managers meeting apparently, making her wonder if there were more than a dozen people present if he could give a report to them.

After their cosy, almost relaxing lunch together, she found the real Vic Rose just as intriguing and exciting as the one she’d conjured up in her dreams. Just why had she dreamt of him? She’d heard of people who claimed they could see into the future, but Sophie had never had such experiences. If her sexy interludes with him were a sign of something, she would dearly love to know of what.

When she looked up, she saw the man in question walking towards his desk, the black leather coat slung over one arm, a briefcase in his other hand. He gave the staff present a salute, which included her, before turning around to switch on his computer.

Sophie tried to return her attention to the case she’d been working on, but as she glanced at the back of his blonde head, she started thinking about the comments he’d made yesterday regarding her jewellery business. More than ever she longed to get back into it, if only this tiredness and nausea would go away. Last night she’d gone to bed at nine o clock, and fallen asleep almost immediately. She hoped she would get over it soon, as it was really starting to annoy her.

She watched Vic make a phone call, although she couldn’t hear what he was saying, and decided she’d daydreamed long enough, but trying to focus her attention on what she was meant to be doing when she was so tired and distracted wasn’t easy.

“Sophie?” She looked up when Vic said her name. “I’ve got someone on the phone who wants to talk to you. Can I put her through?”

“Of course,” she replied politely.

Expecting it to be a client, she was surprised when an older woman asked her if she’d been the former owner of
Butterfly Beads
at Artarmon.

“Yes I was,” Sophie answered, wondering where this was heading.

“I was really annoyed when you shut up shop. I was just about to enrol in one of your eight week courses, you see,” the woman said.

I never said any such thing, she though, wondering how he’d managed to interpret it as setting up shop again. “All I said was that I’d stared beading again, not that I was actually going to – “

“He told me you have the most beautiful pieces,” Vera broke in. “I simply have to see them. I’ve gone to a few lessons with another store, but I really couldn’t get the hang of it. I’m sure if we sat down together for a few hours I could give it another try. I’d be more than happy to pay you whatever the going rate is.”

The woman certainly sounded keen, Sophie had to concur, but why hadn’t she been able to catch on with one of the other teachers? If you were that eager, you practiced until you did know what to do and never wanted to stop again, unless of course your new obsession eclipsed the old one, she thought ruefully.

“Well I could show you my work, but it isn’t beginner stuff. I usually start with a floating necklace and then some wire work for the second project,” Sophie explained.

Sophie should have known they’d live in one of the poshest suburbs in Sydney. “No, not too far, and everything is still in boxes, so it should be no trouble bringing it over, but I’ll need to reorganise a few things. Can we make it the following weekend?”

“Sure, no problem,” Sophie thought she sounded disappointed. “How about two o’clock on Sunday, and I’ll have a lovely afternoon tea ready.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Sophie protested.

“This is going to be so much fun. Of course we’ll have tea. Do you want me to give you my address? Oh silly me! I’m sure my son can give it to you since you work together. He used to be a teacher too, you know.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Well, I’m sure you have other work to be getting on with now. I won’t take up any more of your time, Sophie. That’s a lovely name, by the way. I’m sure we’re going to have a lovely time next Sunday.”

“Thank you Vera. I’ll see you then. Bye.”

Sophie returned the handset to its cradle. Could mother and son be any more different? she wondered. On hearing that their conversation was over, Vic turned around and rolled his chair over to her desk.

“Mum’s a smart cookie. She might pretend she’s a bit of a blonde bombshell, but after having been a director’s wife she knows where it’s at.”

“Now why is it that the phrase ‘dumb blonde’ is only ever used in conjunction with woman, and never men?” she teased.

“Are you trying to tell me something, Sophie?” he teased back.

“That you’re a blonde bombshell?” She couldn’t believe it; they were actually sharing a joke, and it seemed that they weren’t the only people amused by it. Geoff was grinning at them from his desk.

“I’ll admit to having done a few dumb blonde things in my time. Hopefully getting you to teach her the finer points of jewellery making won’t be one of them.”

“I never knew you had a secret talent, Soph,” Geoff remarked, on noticing the sparkling cha-cha bracelet she wore around her wrist.

CHAPTER SIX

Even though she had everything ready and packed, Sophie still felt nervous about her first lesson in six years. Part of the reason was because Vic had talked her into letting him drive her to St Ives, He maintained that his parents’ house was a bit hard to find.

The other reason was because she would be dealing with a woman whose husband had once been the auspicious and revered State Director. Sophie had only ever seen him once in person, across a crowded room where he’d been presenting an all-staff briefing. She’d heard plenty about him of course, not much of it good. Compared to the current incumbent, who was supportive of his staff and interested in hearing their views, James Rose had only ever been interested in pandering to the Minister.

But then she’d been listening to Louise’s opinion on the matter. According to her they were all crooks and only interested in feathering their own nests.

As for Vic, Sophie was going to make up her own mind about him. If Sophie was completely honest with herself, she was really starting to like the man. The fact that he admitted to having made mistakes in his life spoke volumes as far as she was concerned.

Duncan, for one, had never been able to take responsibilities of his actions, be they right or wrong. It was always someone else’s fault, particularly their inability to have a child. Sophie really didn’t want to wish him ill, but she hoped that if he found someone else he’d treat her better than he’d treated her.

For the first time Sophie found herself wondering if she would have another serious relationship. She’d had a few boyfriends before him, one lasting almost twelve months, but Duncan had been the only one she’d felt close enough to want to marry. Now she wondered what she’d ever seen in him. When she compared him to Vic he came a very poor second.

What was she thinking?

How could she even contemplate getting serious about Vic?

Sure she liked him, and was definitely attracted to him, but he was her boss, and probably only being nice to her to her so his mother could learn jewellery making.

Right on cue she heard a loud knocking on her front door. He was here, and she wasn’t ready. Well, she had everything she wanted to take packed, but she wasn’t sure what she had on was appropriate.

She’d put on her best pair of jeans, thinking what she wore to work would be too business-like, but now she wondered if perhaps she shouldn’t have put on one of her long gypsy skirts with a plain black top. She was waring a pink skivvy with a casual jacket over the top, and a pair of low heeled black boots.

Of course she’d teamed it with some of her jewellery. When in the business, you showed off your creations, and today she had on a pink and blue beaded Chech glass crochet twist necklace with matching earrings and bracelet. She’d pulled back her hair with another matching beaded hair clip, as she didn’t want it getting in the way while she worked.

Well, it was too late to change her mind now, so she opened the front door.

As soon as she saw him, she knew she shouldn’t have worried, as he too was wearing jeans and a jumper, over which he had on a funky leather jacket. The man obviously loves his leather, she couldn’t help thinking. Since she’d never seen him without a tie before, she couldn’t help staring at him. He looked even better in jeans than he did in business attire. They hugged his long muscular legs like a second skin.

He greeted her with a smile, as he too gave her the once over.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

Sophie nodded, wondering just what he thought of her. His lingering gaze gave nothing away. Come on, he’s only doing this for his mother. He’s
not
interested in you, she told herself sternly.

“I’ll just get my handbag and the travel case. There’s also a box. I was wondering if you could carry that for me. I wasn’t really sure just how much to take so I’ve probably overdone it, but it’s better to be over-prepared, than not prepared enough.” She knew she was rambling, but she wasn’t used to dealing with him outside the work environment.

“I love bushwalking, and the further away I can get from civilization, the better,” he explained, as he unlocked the large shiny vehicle.

“Yeah, it looks like it can mow down anything,” Sophie acknowledged with a wry grin. “Just don’t do any bush-bashing today. I don’t think my stomach could handle it.”

She was still feeling queasy. She also realised it had been weeks since her last period, which wasn’t unusual for her. She’d always had an irregular cycle, one of the reasons why she’d opted for IVF, but right now she wished it would hurry up so she could get it over with, as she suspected the nausea and tiredness would probably go away after that.

“Not today, although Mum and Dad’s house is up a long, steep drive,” he told her.

Once they had her bags stashed in the back, Vic opened the passenger side door for her and helped her up into the seat. The feel of his hand against her waist had the same effect on her as when he’d touched her in the lifts and in the cafe. Yes, there was definitely sexual chemistry there, on her part at least.

“Thank you kind sir,” she couldn’t help imparting, once she was safely in the passenger seat.