The Price of Seduction (12 page)

“Bree, there is one thing I’d like to be sure of.”

“What’s that?”

“If anything
develops
, I want you to tell me about it right away.”

It struck her that he couldn’t bring himself to use the word ‘pregnant’ as though a child might be just a development.

“What makes you think I wouldn’t?” she asked.

“I’m just saying that whatever happens, if something goes wrong, I want you to be honest with me. That’s not too much to ask
, is it?”

“Not at all.”

Bree felt her brow knotting into a furrow as she ripped off a hunk of croissant and thrust it into her mouth.

How
wrong
would it be if she were pregnant and what exactly would Conrad do about it? It may merely have been just a poor choice of words on his part but Bree didn’t like it. He’d never mentioned children and she had no idea how he’d react.

She leaned back in her chair, feigning a relaxed air, trying to convince herself there was nothing to worry about.

“Is something wrong?” Conrad asked.

“It’s just I don’t really know much about you. I know you took over Eden Enterprises when you were young but I
have no idea what you want out of life. You must have plans.”

“I’ve got most of the things I want. There’s not a lot money can’t buy, no matter what people may say.”

“You’ve got material belongings but you don’t have a special woman in your life.”

He shrugged, confirming she wasn’t going to
stand out in his life. “There have been lots of women but not many of them have been special. There was Sophie. We went out with for a couple of years. Even got engaged. But we both knew it wouldn’t work and eventually we drifted apart.”

“You were going to marry her?”

He nodded. “It would’ve been stupid to get married just because it was convenient. It made me realise that when I do get married it’ll only happen once and it will be to the right woman.”

So Conrad was waiting for a
mysterious ‘right woman’. Although he’d been frank about this one relationship, there was more to his life than that. There was a lot more he wasn’t telling her.

“You don’t have children
.” She threw up her hands so he’d take her comment lightly. “Surely you want heirs for the family fortune.”

“I want children one day when the time is right. Just not yet.”

She was very clear about what that meant. Not yet.
Not with her
.

He wasn’t as ruthlessly blunt as Trevor who’d listed her faults and the flaws in her upbringing and position in life but it came down to the same thing. She w
as good enough to sleep with and that was where it ended.

If
she thought she’d found something more than an affair to remember, she was mistaken.

Bree ate her breakfast quickly and swallowed back the coffee. Exhilarated by the caffeine hit, she leapt to her feet.

“We’ve got a couple of hours to kill. I’m going for a swim.”

She
headed into the bathroom to change into her swimsuit. He may have devoured every inch of her body last night but right now she wasn’t ready to expose her naked body to him.

*          *          *

Bree watched the blades of the helicopter slowing as it landed on the helipad to collect them to take them to the airport and then back to Sydney. Conrad had instructed her to wait while he ran over to talk to the pilot and check they were ready to go.

They’d already waited two hours for the helicopter and another hour while Conrad talked to some officials. Something about the helicopter or the rock art.
She’d tried to pry it from him but couldn’t get the full story.

“Such a shame you have to go so soon.”

Bree immediately recognised the smug voice sailing over her shoulder as the din of the helicopter receded. It was Trevor.

“He’s in a hurry to leave,” Trevor said
.

She looked across at him, now standing by her side as though he belonged there.

Bree refused to budge. “We’ve already stayed longer than we planned.”

“Of course, Conrad so kindly lent the helicopter for the investigation.”

She didn’t appreciate his sarcastic tone.

“You know the police came to see him earlier on,”
he said.

“And?”

“Do you really think he was just helping them with their investigation? Do you think he lent them the helicopter out of the goodness of his heart?”

“You wouldn’t know anything about acts of kindness.”

“It’s quite a coincidence that the Aboriginal rock art just happened to be stolen while Conrad was here.”

She
stared straight ahead. “What’s that supposed to mean? If you’re going to accuse him of something, at least have the decency to come out with it instead of making snide remarks.”

“I’m not accusing him of anything, Bree. I’m just saying it’s a coincidence this happened while he was here.”

She looked him in the eye. “Do you really think Conrad would steal rock art which is thousands of years old from a property he’s in the middle of buying?”

“The ‘deal’ is conditional on allowing Aboriginal people access to their sites. Even if he owns Il Bosco, he’ll never own the rock art. That will always belong to the Aboriginal people. Anyway, the deal’s not his yet. Perhaps he wanted to make sure he’s got something in case it falls through.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re here too and you’re trying to win this property on behalf of your client. Isn’t that a coincidence? Does that mean you tried to steal the rock art too?”

“Of course I didn’t.”

“Then keep your nasty thoughts to yourself.”

Trevor’s eyes narrowed.
“But I’m not interested in art, am I? You’ve known me a long time and we’ve never been to an art gallery together. I’ve never shown any interest in art and painting. I’m not that cultured, as you once put it.”

“So what?”

“Whereas Conrad’s quite a connoisseur.”

A shard of malcontent cut through her.
That was quite an observation, a correct one at that.

“Conrad’s very interes
ted in Aboriginal art.” Trevor walked around in front of her. “Isn’t he?”

In the three days she’d been back in Sydney all she’d had from Conrad was one quick phone call and word from her boss, Olivia, that they were having an emergency meeting at Eden Enterprises.

Because of the rock art theft, Il Bosco was getting some bad publicity so Kelly Communications had to pull together a communications strategy to manage this.

The meeting was over and
Bree still wasn’t sure where she stood with Conrad. She’d never had a fling like this one before and wasn’t sure of the protocols but she assumed when it was over, their relationship would be purely a professional one.

There was also something about Trevor’s allegations against Conrad which disturbed her. She knew Conrad hadn’t physically left The Residence and blasted
the rock himself but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been involved in some way.

Trevor was not a man to be trusted and if he was warning her away from Conrad, it wasn’t from the goodness of his heart
but because he wanted to show her what a bad choice she’d made.

Unfortunately, there was an inkling of truth somewhere in Trevor’s allegations. Conrad did have a passion for Aboriginal art and although he’d told her he was speaking to o
fficials about the theft, he hadn’t elaborated, hadn’t explained why they were questioning him about it.

In fact, he’d been
quite mysterious about it.

She didn’t want to believe Trevor but she couldn’t leave a s
erious accusation like that lingering and decided to ask Conrad about it when they were alone. That was, if the opportunity arose.

Bree and Olivia gathered their papers and stepped towards the
boardroom door but Conrad reached across for the door handle.

His eyes slid down Bree’s figure and she felt him undressing her with his eyes. It wasn’t as though he didn’t know what she looked like beneath her clothes. He had, after all, explored her body in some detail.

Her breasts tingled, her nipples pressing against her bra. She didn’t want him to make her feel this way, not when she needed her wits about her.

“Olivia, please let my driver take you back to the office,” Conrad said. “The receptionist will see to it.”

“Certainly,” Olivia replied. A knowing smile spread across her lips as she left the room.

He
pressed the door closed behind him, his eyes fixed on Bree. She wished he’d say something but, seemingly content to drink her in with his eyes, he didn’t appear anxious.

Bree jumped in. She couldn’t stand it any longer. If he was thinking of
the right words to tell her their fling was over, she wanted to get it done with.

“I presume you got rid of Olivia so you c
ould talk to me,” she said. “Look, it’s okay. I understand that the weekend is over and we’re back to a working relationship now.”

“You can’t tell me that’s what you want.”

Bree’s stomach fluttered. “Isn’t that the way these things work?”

“It’s not the way this is going to work. You’re always so blunt with me. You tell it like it is. I’m going to return the favour and be equally frank with you.” Bree was expecting him to cut her off but that’s not what his eyes were telling her. “You’re coming to lunch with me. That’s why I got rid of Olivia.”

Bree was hungrier than she wanted to admit.

In more ways than one.

*          *          *

Not wishing to waste any time, Conrad chose a small Italian place
tucked away in a basement around the corner from his office.

As Bree sat
across the table from him, he wondered how he could have been so wrong about her. She’d given him what he’d asked for. One weekend together at Il Bosco.

B
ut that wasn’t enough, not nearly enough.

He’d had lots of women but he’d never had a sexual relationship as powerful as this one.
That had been the single most intense sexual experience of his life, no question about it.

It ma
de him smile. She was so petite. She seemed to be so proper. And most of the time she was a highly efficient public relations executive. That just went to show how much was hidden behind her professional exterior.

Who would look at the two of them sitting at lunch and believe
she
could be the one to overpower him?

She’
d stood up to him too, as no one else had in the past. She’d spurned him the first night at Il Bosco, perhaps rightly so, standing by her principles and refusing to budge. She hadn’t let him buy her off with promises of the Il Bosco contract or even with the jewels she had so quietly returned to him.

Bree ha
dn’t let him take her but when she was ready she’d given herself freely with her mind and her body. That was a much greater gift than simply falling into bed with him because he was rich.

He wasn’t think
ing about marriage but he wanted to see her, know her better, go out with her. He wanted her at his side and in his bed.

He wanted her. Full stop.

She looked so much less corporate now she’d taken off her charcoal business jacket. The three-quarter sleeve emerald green top was stunning against her pale skin and much to his delight the plunging neckline revealed her ample cleavage.

Worn with a pair of well cut, purple
, low-waisted pants she looked smart enough for business or for lunch but he preferred her without the jacket. It was too much like a uniform and he liked to see the real Bree. He preferred to see the lush figure under the jacket.

She had no idea how alluring she looked just twirling her fork into her spaghetti carbonara, her eyes lowered, her face fixed in concentration.

“I was surprised you wanted to have lunch with me today.” She looked up at him. “You know, when you’ve been so busy this week and all.”

“I knew it’
d be a hectic week, what with tying up the loose ends for the purchase of Il Bosco,” he said.

She held his gaze. “That’s not what I meant. I didn’t expect we’d be having lunch together or seeing much of each other at all now we’re back in Sydney.”

“But you knew I’d still see you.”

“Yes, at meetings and through work. Only professionally. That was the arrangement, wasn’t it? Or had I misunderstood?”

She was certainly frank. She wasn’t going to let this slide or allow them to continue their affair until she knew exactly where she stood.

T
hen, it wasn’t an affair, no matter how it had begun. He might not be able to define their relationship with clarity and precision but he knew what it wasn’t.