Ultimate Love (7 page)

"Hmm, I see," Jared said. "It is homely. You know, I wouldn't have thought to use these old mismatching tables, chairs and couches, but it kinda works. Who's the artist who produces the surf art?"

"That's Tom Ballinger," she said. "He's lived here like forever, and he's an old time surfer. The art on the wall opposite, that's Amy Chandler. She's Tom's wife. They both surf actually. Most people do around here."

"Do you surf?" he said as his piercing blue eyes turned to appraise her.

"Oh no, I simply don't have time. I've tried, but it's really hard and I'm scared of the waves," she confessed.

"Wait, what?" Jared exclaimed in mock horror. "You, scared of waves? And you live beside a surf beach? That's funny. It's just water you know."

"I nearly drowned once when I was a kid. The ocean is really powerful and you have to respect it. Anyway, I never really learned how to swim properly. I can do a passable breast stroke, but putting my head underneath the water just feels so unnatural."

"Okay, well that explains the lack of surfing."

"Do you surf?" she asked him, hoping the answer was yes. She had always found surfers really attractive to watch in the water and admired anyone brave enough to do what she simply could not.

"Yeah! Actually that's why I was originally attracted to Devon Bay. It's got a wicked point break. I bought a place here so I could get away sometimes and catch some waves," he said.

He was just another typical holidaymaker Dinah thought with dismay. Like many of the permanent residents of Devon Bay she held some dislike of Aucklanders who owned second homes in the community. They were looked upon as a necessary evil. To be tolerated but not liked. They filled the small town to over capacity during the long summer holiday break, bringing traffic noise and petty crime and money. Most of Devon Bay's residents lived there to get away from crowds and those that were not employed in retail or service businesses tried to leave for quieter spots during summer. Dinah and the other local business owners could not do that. They needed the seasonal business the Aucklanders brought, but that did not mean they enjoyed the crowds or different driving habits or noisy holidaymakers.

Jared mistook her sudden reserve for concern over the development. Now was the time to broach the subject he needed to speak to her about.

"You see we left the beginning of the development until end of summer," Jared began. When she didn't reply to his comment he continued. "We've managed to figure out how we can shuffle the businesses in this block around using the two vacant spaces. You should have minimum disruption while the development is underway."

Jared looked carefully into her face to gauge her reaction.

Dinah smiled.

"Thanks, yeah, I noticed you waited until the summer holiday was over and school started again," she said. "That's when the place starts to calm down again. Your foreman did come over yesterday and outlined when they needed to work in my cafe. It seems it can wait until closer to the quietest time of the year. So does this mean my lease is not cancelled?" She had nothing formal from Jared's office yet, and the lack of notice was disquieting. Dinah liked everything to be clear and complete. Her attention to detail demanded it.

"Probably. It depends on how the development goes, which may depend upon the weather. If we have a nice calm and dry autumn then you may get your wish," he said.

Dinah didn't like it, but at least it was better than what she had faced previously.

"Hey, do you mind if we move on from business now? I'm starving. Where can a guy get a good meal around here?" he said. He grinned at her, knowing her cafe was famous locally for the best food.

"Well, the best is closed," she said as she indicated her cafe with a wave of her hand. "But if it's dinner you want then Harvest down the road does great locally grown food, even the meat is locally sourced and everything on their menu is organic."

"Will you join me? Just so I don't get lost. I'm sure that having a local to show me around will make sure I get the best service too," he said, grinning at her.

How could a girl resist? "Sure!" she said. "Just let me finish up here first. How about you give me an hour?"

"Okay. It's a date," he said with a soft voice, his eyes focus on her lips. With those words and that look a tremor of lust shot through Dinah, or was it love? She was in so deep she really couldn't tell.

Dinah's world had been rocked by that night they spent together in Auckland. She had escaped early the next morning because she couldn't face her guilt at what she had done, sleeping with a guy on the first day she'd met him. But she had spent the last few weeks thinking of nothing but sleeping again with Jared Knight.

After a couple of weeks after her visit to Auckland and her night with Jared she had calmed down enough to call her sister, Angela, and tell her all about it. Angela had helped her get over her guilt, telling Dinah that it was okay to take pleasure when it was offered and it was okay for a woman to enjoy her sexuality. Dinah had not let on to Angela that she was afraid that it was more than her body she had shared with Jared, that she was afraid her heart was involved too.

As the weeks went by Dinah had been more able to relegate the memories to a corner of her mind, bringing them only out at night when she was alone in her flat. But now with the sudden reappearance of Jared in Devon Bay Dinah was thrown. Lust had returned with a vengance and she was aware that her heart was in danger of falling in love with Jared Knight.

Dinah de-scaled the coffee machine on autopilot. When that was done she prepared the dough for tomorrow's bread, leaving it to rise overnight, and then made a couple of calls to suppliers. By 5 o'clock she had finished and had just enough time to rush upstairs to her flat and freshen up her appearance.

Normally she would have worn just old jeans and a shirt. Devon Bay was not the kind of place you needed to dress up for dinner. It was more a beachwear and bikini kind of place. But tonight Dinah wanted to feel more elegant. She told herself it had nothing to do with wanting Jared to look at her as an attractive woman. She selected a simple summer dress with a deep halter neck top and quickly splashed her face with cold water and touched up her makeup, finishing with a swipe of her favourite strawberry lip-gloss. When she applied the gloss the smell of it took her immediately back to her night with Jared. It was funny how smells could recall a memory in full colour and vivid detail. Heat pooled between her legs as images of the wild sex they had shared that night came back to her, of his hard body beneath her fingers and the things he had encouraged her to do. She realised with dismay that despite a few weeks apart she still had the same reaction to him that she discovered when she first met him. Time had not reduced her response. If anything it seemed that because her body knew what could be on offer again that her desire for him was increased. With a groan Dinah looked at her flushed cheeks in the mirror. She was now fully aware that the chemistry between them was still as strong as it was when she first met Jared, but her heart was threatening to fall for him too. She was afraid of being hurt. She was afraid he would break her heart. "
It's just dinner. He's just a womanising love-them-and-leave-them kind of man. Don't let your heart get hurt!
" she told herself.

Jared returned briefly to his house by the beach to make a few calls and change. He struggled to keep his mind focused while he finished up business for the day and he was more than necessarily brief with his instructions for his foreman for the next day. After a quick shower and change he found himself staring blankly out the full length bi-fold doors facing the beach, not noticing the stunning view at all. His mind was full of a certain delectable female body with soft chestnut hair and clear green eyes.

Seeing Dinah again had hit him hard, and he had not expected it. He had known she was not out of his system yet, that the one incredible night with her had just whetted his appetite for more, but he was beginning to wonder just how much more of her he needed to rid his system of this wanting. Oh well, he rationalised to himself that a man had to eat and a man had to have a woman from time to time. He may as well have Dinah Luxford, and when he was done with her he would be able to get back to Auckland and back to his life.

Jared was punctual, again, as Dinah expected him to be. He was at the door of the cafe exactly one hour after he had left. Dinah drew a shaky breath as she opened the door, feasting her eyes on his tall wide physique clad in clean blue jeans and v neck t-shirt stretched tautly across his impressive chest. She managed a small tight smile as she turned to lock the door behind her.

"You look beautiful! I love the dress," Jared said. His eyes roved over her form appreciatively.

Dinah felt a small glow of warmth inside. "Thank you. You look pretty good yourself," she said.

He smiled. Holding her by the elbow he guided her to his car parked outside her cafe and helped settle her into the soft leather seat.

Dinah took a moment before he opened the door on his side to try and steady her nerves. One simple touch of his hand and she was a blubbering jellyfish again! Get a grip girl she told herself silently, struggling to bring her breathing back under control.

In tiny Devon Bay the restaurant was a short two-minute drive away. Once they were settled in its interior with menus in front of them the butterflies in Dinah's stomach began to settle.

"The lamb is probably their best dish on the menu. Everyone raves about it," said Dinah.

"Great. That's what I'll have then. See, this is why I need you to show me around. Local knowledge and all that," Jared said with a cheeky smile.

"Sure. No worries!" Dinah managed to say between parched lips. She used the excuse of her water glass to divert her attention from Jared.

Her heart did flip-flops inside her chest. When her eyes met his she stopped thinking straight. He was more gorgeous than any man had the right to be!

"I'll let you choose the wine. You'll know which of these local wines is best," he said.

There were two local vineyards, both of which produced exquisite wines. One did a particularly good Sauvignon Blanc with overtones of passion fruit, and the other made a rich smooth Malbec, which was full and dry. Dinah ordered the Malbec. It would match the lamb perfectly.

Letting the wine slip like velvet down her throat Dinah wondered nervously if she should bring up her sneaking out of his penthouse. Immediately afterwards she decided that no, she didn't need to explain her behaviour to him and she needn't apologise. She owed him nothing, and she'd better remember it. She didn't want to be in this man's debt and apologising to him would feel like she owed him. Best to leave it alone. If he brought it up first she would deal with it, but so far so good.

"I've been thinking also about some of your ideas on the timing of the work for my development. You've got some good ideas. What time of the year does it start to get really quiet?" said Jared. He was looking earnestly into her eyes and Dinah felt the strong magnetism of his personality draw her deeper into his gaze.

"The middle of winter is the quietest," she replied. "But it starts to get quieter as autumn cools the air down. No one seems to want to come visit the beach when it's cold and wet."

"Mmmm. The problem with that is the rain. It's pretty difficult to put a new roof on when it's raining most days. It'll have to be autumn. I think we can fit the new roofs before the rain sets in, then get the interiors finished after that."

"That sounds fabulous! Perhaps the interiors could be fitted closer to winter. Many of the local businesses take their holidays then so they'd be closed anyway. Wow, if you could move the schedule like that to fit around the seasonal business cycle the locals would be really grateful. They'd all be on your side."

"That would make life easier. No more unexpected visits from frantic cafe owners in Devon Bay turning up at my office. Actually… Maybe that's not such a good thing."

He smiled at her cheekily.

"Well, maybe not, but this particular cafe owner is relieved and thanks you."

Dinah raised her glass to him.

Dinah was finding it so easy to slip into a relaxing conversation with this man. He smiled across at her, blue eyes crinkling at their edges, and a full sexy mouth with turned up lips slightly parted. Dinah watched as he brought the wine to his lips, drinking deeply.

"Mmmm. This wine is excellent. I wouldn't have thought to try a Malbec. It's nice and dry and smooth. Thanks for the tip Dinah. See, it does pay to have a local with local knowledge show you around," said Jared. His sexy eyes glinted at her.

Dinah felt herself relaxed in Jared's company and enjoyed her dinner with him. The lamb was excellent, slow cooked to tender perfection, with a slight sweetness from caramelised red onions and red capsicums. The Malbec suited it perfectly. After they had finished the lamb and ordered dessert Jared asked Dinah to choose another bottle of wine. She chose a crisp light Sauvignon Blanc to go with the kiwifruit and raspberry dessert.

Dinah enjoyed watching Jared savour his meal. She was proud that the locals produced such excellent food, and the service at the restaurant was friendly and professional. Of course the owners knew Dinah well. She was aware that there would be local gossip about the two of them dining together, but she hoped to be able to put it in a business context quashing any rumors of a romance before they could begin.

The meal finished and with the night deepening Jared drove Dinah back the short distance to her flat. He escorted her to her door. Fumbling with her key Dinah was suddenly all nerves again. The few glasses of wine she had consumed didn't seem to help her nerves either! She felt Jared's hand over hers as she tried to figure out which key to fit into the lock.

"Here, let me do it," he said. He was very close and his breath tickled the stray tendrils of hair against her nape. She felt Jared's hand take her upper arm firmly and turn her to face him.