Unexpected Places (15 page)

Ariana ground her teeth and pushed her hands against the sofa. She stood, pleased that the faintness had gone. ‘Thank you for your thoughtfulness,’ she said, forcing herself to smile. ‘Well done, Jason. You’ve lost the best friend you’ll ever have. Grandma never liked you, and, goodness me, I wish I’d listened to her.’

Jason scowled like a sulky schoolboy.

‘And you know what else?’ As she spoke, the bitter hurt at Jason’s betrayal changed into cleansing, furious anger.

‘And you know what else, Jason Hartfield?’ she said again, louder this time.

As Jason observed her rising anger, she saw him relax and smile. It had always given him a buzz when he made someone lose their cool.

Her whole body was trembled with rage. ‘You can go f…fuck yourself!’

And, with her eyes narrowed, she took aim at his sneering, surprised face, and delivered a perfectly timed jab, hook and upper cut.

With a groan, Jason slid to the floor.

* * *

‘Moonbeam, love, would you like a cup of tea?’

Ariana smiled at Grandma’s cheerful question. Even back in the days of cloying smoke and cookies of interesting composition, Grandma had always loved her tea. Black, and strong enough to keep anyone awake long into the night. None of that hippy herbal nonsense for her.

According to Grandma, everything was better after a cup of tea.

Mostly Ariana agreed with her. But not this time. ‘Thanks, Grandma,’ she said, ‘but no. I think I’ll go for a walk.’

‘You’ve done nothing but walk ever since you got here. Why don’t you phone that gorgeous man you’re mooning over and tell him to come up here and get you?’

Because he hates me.

Leaving Grandma labouring over the kettle and teapot in the kitchen, she walked out to the verandah and stared at the view of the Barrier Reef, right on Grandma’s doorstep, so to speak. And once again, her breath caught at the beauty that came with Grandma’s quirky, high-set, wooden home, with its tiny rooms and huge back deck. The pandanus palms and she oaks that lined the beach sighed in the light breeze, but it was the sea beyond the trees that drew her eyes. Exquisite, multiple shades of blue, from deepest sapphire to palest aqua, were broken by white water rippling against the exposed coral. Submerged, dark reef dotted over the ocean and hinted at the spectacular beauty below. Andre, Grandma’s charming new man, had taken Grandma and Ariana snorkelling a few times, and she’d been smitten.

She grabbed the newspaper, which had been anchored to the table under Andre’s empty beer bottle, then made her way down the sandy path. After settling in the shade of the biggest she oak, she shook out the paper and turned to Positions Vacant.

No more nonsense, Ariana. Time to get a job.
But as she turned the pages to Professional Positions, her stomach hollowed. What the heck was wrong with her? She’d got what she wanted. A way out of that stupid commune. A respectable profession. Sensible. Responsible.

Boring.

And there it was. What she’d been pushing to the back of her mind for a long, long time. She’d finally admitted it. Three years of university. Three years of fees to pay back. Three years of pushing herself into a mould that didn’t fit.

She flicked her eyes down the list of accountancy positions available. Oh she could do them okay. There was even an advertisement for a junior accountant at the firm where she’d done her most recent internship. She’d get that one in a heartbeat. She glanced at the salary. Wow. Not bad.

But it was no good. And it was all Luke Donahue’s fault. He was the one who’d seen through her carefully honed facade of respectability. He’d seen her for the hippy she was.

Thinking of Luke lured her eyes down to the pretty long green silk kurta he had bought her. Despite her protests, he’d bought her several. All beautiful, all colourful, all reminding her of Luke. Her wild, woolly-haired Grandma had nearly swooned with envy when she’d arrived wearing it, three weeks ago. It was exactly the sort of thing Grandma used to adore wearing in Nimbin. Although Grandma had fallen in love with a younger man, a mere fifty-eight-year-old, and they’d moved to a respectable home for two up here in the deep north, there was still a lot of hippy left in Grandma.

Ariana lay back on the white, gritty sand, and ignored the pieces of sharp dry coral poking into her back.

She’d left Jason moaning on his lounge-room floor. She had been crying, of course. Another legacy from Mr Donahue. He’d turned her into a watering pot. Then she’d done what any girl would have done in her situation. She’d called her Grandma.

A shadow fell over her face. She opened her eyes and stared up into two cold blue chips of ice. Luke Donahue loomed over her, his casual blue T-shirt and denim shorts doing nothing to dispel the aura of fury and danger that surrounded him. Dear Lord, was he going to kill her?

She screamed, scrambled up in a flurry of silk to her feet, and delivered a neat left hook to his jaw.

* * *

‘Ari, that hurt!’

Why the hell did he teach Ariana to box? Luke rubbed his jaw and glared down into Ariana’s wary eyes.

‘Why did you sneak up on me like that?’ she demanded. ‘You scared me to death, looking like you wanted to murder me.’ She shoved her hands on her hips and glared right back at him.

Well, she’d picked up on his intention exactly. He’d flown all the way up to north Queensland for the express purpose of murdering this little thief. Or at least telling her exactly what he thought of her. But he felt his lips twitch. Felt a bubble of happiness that never seemed to be far away when he was around Ariana.

And that’s when she broke down into floods of tears.

‘Ari,’ he whispered, his mouth suddenly dry. ‘Sweetheart, I’m sorry I scared you. You know I’d never hurt you. Please don’t cry.’

Ariana raised her tear-drenched eyes to his. And at last he admitted what he’d refused to acknowledge ever since Ariana had left him at Colombo’s airport. None of the crap about the map or the emeralds mattered. He gathered Ariana into his arms and kissed her.

Many happy seconds passed, as he familiarised himself all over again with her soft, slim body and her sweet lips.

‘Get a room!’ The nasal accents of the schoolkids walking by snapped Luke back to reality. He drew away and blinked, suddenly remembering why he was here. He tried to recapture the anger he’d experienced when he’d discovered Ariana lying on the beach, apparently without a care in the world.

But Ari laughed. ‘Luke Donahue, don’t even try.’ She reached up and slid her arms around his neck. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘For punching me or stealing my emeralds?’

‘Both.’ She narrowed her eyes at his face. ‘Oh goodness, it’s swollen and red where I hit you!’ And, standing on tiptoe, she kissed his chin. As she stared up at him, her bottom lip suddenly wobbled. She seemed to crumple. ‘I’m so sorry for everything! I’ve been horrible to you, and you were right. Jason wasn’t in danger at all. He used me to steal your emeralds. He’s a lying, sneaking pig.’ Tears cascaded down her cheeks. ‘And he made you hate me and…’ she sobbed, ‘…and I love you so much.’

Ariana loved him?

Well, that did it. He placed his hands on her soft cheeks and brushed away the tears with his thumbs. Her sobs ceased. She hiccoughed. He kissed her again, slowly exploring her soft mouth. Breathed in her sweet perfume. Long, exquisite seconds passed. Seconds he’d never forget. Kissing his lovely Ariana on a beach in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Finally, he lifted his head and said what he’d probably known since the day he’d met her. ‘I love you too, Ariana.’

Ari’s eyes widened. ‘You do?’

‘Yes, my sweet little thief, I do.’ Those pink lips of hers, plumper now from his kisses, called him back. He kissed her again.

Then, hand in hand, they walked down to the water’s edge. The crystal-clear, tropical sea lapped against their bare feet. Ariana suddenly frowned. ‘So, Luke Donahue, why did you wait three whole weeks before coming to find me? And, how
did
you find me?’

With Ariana waiting expectantly for his answer, he forced himself not to kiss her one more time. ‘I waited three weeks because I tried to tell myself I never wanted to see you again. Once I decided I wanted to murder you, it was amazing how quickly I got here.’

She swallowed. ‘You actually wanted to kill me?’

He grinned. ‘Well, verbally. And I found you easily. Grandma told me.’

Ariana’s brow pleated. ‘Grandma told you?’

‘In Sydney, when we were…er…otherwise engaged, she phoned you and said she’d moved to Dingo Beach. Remember?’

Ariana laughed. ‘Of course. And Grandma doesn’t exactly whisper.’

‘My turn now.’ He fixed Ariana with a stern eye. ‘How the fuck did you manage to steal the emeralds?’

To his astonishment, Ari didn’t protest about his swearing.

‘That was easy,’ she said. ‘When we were at university, Jason was a magician and I was his assistant. You know — sparkly dress, rabbits in hats, magic wands.’

‘He taught you how to be a pickpocket?’

She paused, then giggled. ‘Yep. I guess that sums it up.’

‘When you marry me, young lady, we’ll have no more of that nonsense.’

* * *

Ariana’s heart faltered. ‘When I marry you?’

Luke’s severe expression disappeared. His eyes smiled, as he dropped to one knee onto the sand, narrowly avoiding the water.

‘Miss Moonbeam Ariana I-don’t-know-your-surname, I would be honoured if you become my wife, and don’t keep me waiting, because this coral is killing my knees.’

Laughing, she pulled him to his feet. Her heart sang as she leant forward and kissed his gorgeous flat chest. It was the easiest part of him to reach.

‘My surname is Noonan. And yes, Mr Luke I-don’t-know-your-middle-name Donahue, I would love to marry you.’

A huge smile spread across Luke’s handsome face. ‘Alexander.’ He kissed the top of her head. It was probably the easiest part of her for him to reach too.

‘But Luke…’ As much as she wanted to explore this blissful getting married stuff, they had something important to talk about.

He raised an eyebrow.

Did she just do something embarrassing, like sigh? Her husband-to-be
was
the most beautiful man on the planet.

She shook her head and pressed her lips together. ‘Luke, I need to say this. I’ve spent three years of my life doing an accountancy degree. And, like you realised in Sri Lanka, way before I did, I don’t want to be an accountant at all. But I don’t know what I can do instead. And I have three years of fees to repay and—’

‘Baby—’

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Baby?’ Then she laughed. Who would have guessed she’d miss him calling her names?

He chuckled. ‘Sweetheart, little though you seem to appreciate it, I’m a wealthy man. I’ll pay your university fees.’

‘No! Luke, I love you. But I can’t just be your wife. I need to
do
something.’

Luke grinned. ‘
Just your wife
? Thank you.’ He blew out his cheeks as he considered her problem. ‘Maybe you could do our books and our taxes? Bob and I aren’t partners any more.’

‘Did you have an argument with him?’

‘Not at all. We’re still best mates. He bought me out.’ He took her hand. ‘Ariana, both of us will be making massive changes. When I was in Melbourne, imagining all sorts of vengeance I could wreak on you…’

Goodness, that sounded interesting.

‘Fuck, Ari, when you look at me like that, I can’t think straight. Which reminds me, why aren’t you complaining about my swearing?’

She remembered what she’d said to Jason. ‘I’ve come to understand there are sometimes extenuating circumstances.’

‘You can tell me all about that later.’ He raised his sexy eyebrow again. ‘Maybe when we’re lying in post-coital bliss.’

Did she just sigh again?

‘Anyway, my pretty one, I’m trying to be serious here.’ He flicked her nose and grinned. Then his eyes grew solemn. ‘I went to see Dad. You were right when you said I was too scared to tell my father I didn’t want to be CEO of the family firm. Ever since his heart attack, I’ve been afraid of upsetting him. He’s a pretty fiery old guy. But I knew I had to be straight with him. So I told him. How I hated being a suit. How I was going to use my archaeologist’s qualifications and how I was going to chase after treasure.’

Goodness. ‘Was he okay?’

‘He was stunned at first, but he’s tougher than I’d given him credit for. He came round.’ Luke grinned. ‘When he got some idea of the money I make from what I sell, he came round real fast.’

Now that one troubled her. ‘Luke,’ she said, staring guiltily at the sand, ‘you didn’t make any money this time, because of me. I’m—’

‘Hey,’ he interrupted, skimming his fingertips across her lips. ‘Swings and roundabouts. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. Mostly I win.’ He stilled, an arrested expression on his face. Then he laughed and took her hand. Her gold charm bracelet jingled. He stared at it, smiling. ‘More about that in a minute. Things have changed in a huge way for me. Before you marry me, you should know what you’re letting yourself in for.’

For the first time since she had met him, Luke seemed worried. ‘I’ve sold my shares in Donahue Inc. to Bob and he’s the CEO now. My house in Melbourne is under contract. I’ve accepted a freelance position as a marine archaeologist with the University of North Queensland. I’ll be free to go off treasure hunting any time I want.’ He raised his eyes to hers. ‘Ariana, I want you to be my wife and my treasure-hunting partner. I want to teach you to scuba dive and how to sail, and some correct bloody nautical terms. And some time, down the track, I want you to be the mother of my babies.’ He stared at her anxiously. ‘Will that be enough for you?’

Treasure hunting? Sailing? Scuba diving? Having Luke’s babies? Ariana hugged herself, as a whole exciting future opened out in front of her. She threw herself into his arms and hugged him as well, as tightly as she could. ‘Yes!’

Luke laughed and hauled her against him as he lowered his head to hers.

Small ripples lapped at their feet. Tiny waves crunched over the coral sand. A tern flew overhead in a flash of white. Slowly, their lips parted. With a sigh, Ariana wrapped her arms around Luke’s slim waist, closed her eyes, and relived his romantic, sexy proposal. Luke held her against his chest, his lips buried in her hair.