Having Sam around was a distraction.

He didn’t look like the man who had battered her young heart—and a good portion of her soul—eight years ago when she’d been twenty, but he was the same type. That outrageous masculinity, the untamed don’t-give-a-damn look that sang to something wild and feminine and reckless in her. A part of herself she thought she’d long suppressed.

Panic started its heart-stopping, breath-stealing, muscle-tensing attack on her. She took in a deep breath that came out halfway to a sob.

“You okay?” Sam’s deep voice was warm with concern.

She pretended to cough. “F … Fine, thanks,” she said. “Just … just a tickle in my throat.”

She dropped her hand from his shoulder, stepped away so his hand fell from her waist.

And immediately felt bereft of his touch.

Dear Reader,

In this, my second book for MILLS & BOON, I’m thrilled to take you back to the small coastal town of Dolphin Bay on the idyllic south coast of New South Wales, Australia. While the town is fictional, the charming harbor and beautiful unspoiled beaches are inspired by places I have visited and loved.

Kate Parker was a character in my previous book The Summer They Never Forgot. I liked Kate a lot and wanted her to have a book of her own. Kate delights in helping people, and in The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner she’s in her element organizing a very special wedding.

Romance is in the air when Kate meets gorgeous Sam Lancaster. But Kate is hiding secrets from the past that threaten her chance of happiness with Sam—and he has some secrets of his own.

I so enjoyed unravelling the defences Kate and Sam put up against the love they both deserve—I hope you will enjoy reading their story.

Kandy

The Tycoon and the Wedding Planner

Kandy Shepherd

www.millsandboon.co.uk

KANDY SHEPHERD swapped a fast-paced career as a magazine editor for a life writing romance. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her husband, daughter, and a menagerie of animal friends. Kandy believes in love at first sight and real-life romance—they worked for her!

Kandy loves to hear from her readers. Visit her website at: www.kandyshepherd.com.

To my wonderful husband and daughter for your love and inspiration—thank you!

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

AS SHE WENT about her lunchtime front-of-house duties at the Hotel Harbourside restaurant, Kate Parker was only too aware of the ill-concealed interest in her. The too-interested glances quickly averted; the undertones; the murmurs.

Poor Kate.

If she heard—or sensed—that phrase one more time, she’d scream.

Her and her big, big mouth.

Why, oh, why had she made such a big deal of her childhood crush on Jesse Morgan? She wished she’d never told a soul, let alone all and sundry in her home town of Dolphin Bay, that the next time Jesse was back she’d finally let him know how she really felt about him.

Because now he was home, now she had kissed him for the first time since they’d been just kids fifteen years ago, and it had turned out a total disaster. She’d felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Instead of turning her on, his kiss had turned her off. She’d fought the urge to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand.

And Jesse? He’d been as embarrassed and awkward as she’d been. They’d parted, barely able to look each other in the eye.

She cringed at the memory—as she’d cringed a hundred times already—as painfully fresh today as it had been three days ago when it had occurred.

And now everyone in their small community knew she’d made an utter fool of herself by believing there could be anything more between her and Jesse than the affection due to a family friend she’d known since they’d both been in nappies.

Poor Kate.

The air was thick with pity for her. She looked around the restaurant; many of the tables were already full for Sunday lunch.

She wanted to run out the door, down the steps onto the beach below and get home to lock herself in her bedroom with the music turned up loud.

Instead, she girded herself against the gossip. She forced herself to smile. First, because a warm, confident smile was essential to any role in hospitality. And second, because she couldn’t bear for any of those too-interested townsfolk to guess how churned up, anxious and panicky she was feeling inside.

It meant nothing, people, she wanted to broadcast to the room in general. Less than nothing. I walked away from that darn kiss completely unaffected.

But that wouldn’t be completely true.

Because the Great Kiss Disaster had left her doubting everything she’d believed about who was the right man for her. She’d discovered the man she’d thought was Mr Perfect was not, in fact. So where did she go next? How could she ever trust her judgement of men again?

Smile. Smile. Smile.

The restaurant in the award-winning hotel was one of the best places to eat in Dolphin Bay. More people were arriving for lunch. She had a job she valued. She wanted to be promoted to hotel manager and she wouldn’t achieve that by moping around feeling sorry for herself.

She took a deep, steadying breath, forced her lips to curve upwards in a big welcome and aimed it at the next customer—a man who had pushed his way through the glass doors that led from the steps from the beach and into the restaurant.

She nearly dropped the bottle of wine she was holding with hands that had gone suddenly nerveless. He caught her smile and nodded in acknowledgement.

Where the heck had he come from?

She’d never seen him in Dolphin Bay before, that was for sure.

Dark-haired, tall and powerfully built, his broad shoulders and muscular arms strained against his black T-shirt, his hard thighs against the worn denim of his jeans. His heavy black boots were hardly seaside resort wear, but they worked. Boy, did they work.

No wonder the two young waitresses on duty stampeded past her to show him to the best table in the house. She had to hold herself back from pulling rank and elbowing them out of the way to get to him first.

His stance was easy, confident, as he waited to be shown to a table. Her heart started to pound double-quick time. When had she last felt the kind of awareness of a man that made her ache for him to notice her?

But, when his gaze did turn in her direction, she quickly ducked her head and studiously read the label on the wine bottle without registering a single word.

She looked up again to see the young waitress who had won the race to get to him first looking up at him in open admiration and laughing at something he’d said. Did the guy realise half the female heads in the room had swivelled to attention when he’d strode in?

Not that he looked like he cared much about what people thought. His dark brown hair was several months away from a haircut—shoved back off his face with his fingers rather than a comb, by the look of it. The dark growth on his jaw was halfway to a beard.

He looked untamed. Sexy. And dangerous.

Way too dangerous.

She was shocked by the powerful punch of attraction that slammed her, the kind of visceral pull that had caused her such terrible hurt in the past. That was so different from how she’d felt for safe, familiar Jesse. She never wanted to feel again for any man that wild compulsion. The kind, when it had got out of control, that had led her down paths she never wanted to revisit.

Not now. Not ever.

She let the smile freeze on her face, stepped back and watched the other girl usher the handsome stranger to his table. She would hold off on her obligatory meet and greet to a new customer until she’d got herself together enough to mask her awareness of his appeal with breezy nonchalance. To use the light, semi-flirtatious tone that worked so well in hospitality.

Because, after all, he was just a stranger who’d breezed into town. She’d overreacted, big-time. She didn’t need to fear that rush of attraction for an unsuitable man. He was just a customer she would never see again after he’d finished his lunch and moved on. He didn’t even seem the kind of guy who would leave a generous tip.

* * *

Sam Lancaster knew he should be admiring the glorious view of the Dolphin Bay Harbour with its heritage-listed stone breakwaters, its fleet of fishing vessels and, beyond, the aquamarine waters of the Pacific Ocean. This stretch of the New South Wales south coast was known for its scenic beauty.

But he couldn’t keep his eyes off the even more appealing view of the sassy, red-haired front-of-house manager who flitted from table to table in the Hotel Harbourside restaurant, pausing to chat with each customer about their orders.

Sam wasn’t in the habit of flirting with strangers. He wasn’t the type of man who always had a ready quip for a pretty flight attendant, a cute girl behind a bar or a hot new trainer at the gym. Consequently, he was stymied by his out-of-the-blue attraction to this woman.

She hadn’t reached his table yet, and he found himself willing her to turn his way. In his head, he played over and over what clever remark he might utter when she did.

She wasn’t movie-star beautiful, but there was a vibrancy about her that kept his gaze returning to her again and again: the way the sunlight streaming through the windows turned the auburn of her tied-back hair to a glorious, flaming halo. The sensual sway of her hips in the modest black skirt. The murmur of her laughter as she chatted to a customer. All were compelling. But, when she finally headed his way, the warmth of her wide smile and the welcome that lit her green eyes made him forget every word he had rehearsed.

Her smile was of the practised meet-and-greet type she’d bestowed on every other customer in the room. He knew that. But that didn’t make it any less entrancing. She paused in front of his table. This close, he could see she had a sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose and that her smile was punctuated with the most charming dimples.

What was a woman as sensational as this one doing in a backwater like Dolphin Bay?

Good manners prompted him get up to greet her, stumbling a little around the compact, ultra-modern chair not designed for a man of his height and build. Her startled step backwards made him realise she was just doing her job and a customer would usually remain seated. He gritted his teeth; he really wasn’t good at this. Where was a clever quip when he needed one?

But she quickly recovered herself. ‘Hi, I’m Kate Parker; welcome to Hotel Harbourside. Thank you for joining us for lunch.’ Her voice was low and throaty without being self-consciously sexy and transformed the standard customer greeting spiel into something he’d like to put on a repeat loop.

He thrust out his hand in greeting. ‘Sam Lancaster.’

Again she looked startled. He’d startled himself—since when did he shake hands with waitresses? But she took his hand in a firm, businesslike grip. He noted she wasn’t wearing a ring of any kind.

‘Hi, Sam Lancaster,’ she said, her teasing tone making a caress of the everyday syllables of his name. ‘Is everything okay at your table?’

He cleared his throat. ‘F...fine.’

That was all he managed to choke out. Not one other word of that carefully thought out repartee.

Damn it.

He was a man used to managing a large, successful company. To never being short of female company if he didn’t want it. But he couldn’t seem to get it together in front of this girl.

He realised he’d gripped her warm, slender hand for a moment too long and he released it.

She glanced down at the menu on the table, then back up at him, the smile still dancing in her eyes. She knew. Of course she knew. A woman like this would be used to the most powerful of men stuttering in her presence. ‘Have you ordered lunch yet? I can recommend the grilled snapper, freshly caught this morning.’

‘Thank you, no. I’ll order when my friend gets to the table.’

One winged auburn eyebrow quirked. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘A lady friend?’ She flushed. ‘Forgive me. None of my business, of course.’

‘Nothing to forgive,’ he said, pleased he’d given her cause to wonder about the sex of his lunch companion. ‘While I’m waiting for him, I’m admiring the view of the harbour,’ he said. ‘It’s really something.’

But the view of her was so much more enticing.

‘No charge for the view,’ she said. ‘It’s on the house.’ She laughed, a low, husky laugh that made him think of slow, sensual kisses on lazy summer afternoons.

He couldn’t look at her in case he gave away the direction of his thoughts. Instead he glanced to the full-length windows that faced east. ‘I reckon it must be one of the most beautiful harbours on the south coast.’

‘Hey, just on the south coast? I say the most beautiful in the whole of Australia,’ she said with mock indignation.

‘Okay. So it’s the very best harbour in Australia—if not the world,’ he agreed, playing along with her.

‘That’s better,’ she said with a dimpled smile.

‘I like the dolphins too.’

‘You mean the real ones or the fake ones plastered on every building in town?’

‘I didn’t see them on every building,’ he said. ‘But I thought the dolphin rubbish bins everywhere had character.’

She put her hand on her forehead in a theatrical gesture of mock despair. ‘Oh, please don’t talk to me about those dolphin bins. People around here get into fights over whether they should go or they should stay, now Dolphin Bay has expanded so much. It was such a sleepy town when they were originally put up.’

‘What do you think?’ he asked.

‘Me? I have to confess to being a total dolphin-bin freak. I love ’em! I adored them when I was a kid and would defend them to the last dorsal fin if anyone tried to touch them.’

She mimicked standing with her arms outstretched behind her as if there was something she was shielding from harm. The pretend-fierce look on her face was somewhat negated by her dimples.

In turn, Sam assumed a mock stance of defence. ‘I’m afraid. Very afraid. I won’t hurt your dolphin bins.’

Her peal of laughter rang out over the hum of conversation and clatter of cutlery. ‘Don’t be afraid.’ She pretend-pouted. ‘I’m harmless, I assure you.’

Harmless? She was far from harmless when it came to this instant assault on his senses.

‘Lucky I said I liked the bins, then,’ he said.

‘Indeed. I might not have been responsible for my actions if you’d derided them.’

He laughed. She was enchanting.

‘Seriously, though,’ she continued. ‘I’ve lived here for most of my life and I never tire of it, dolphins and all. April is one of the best times to enjoy this area. The water’s still warm and the Easter crowds have gone home. Are you passing through?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m staying in Dolphin Bay for the next week. I’ll check in to the hotel after lunch.’

‘That’s great to hear.’ She hit him with that smile again. ‘I’m the deputy manager. It’ll be wonderful to have you as our guest.’

Could he read something into that? Did she feel even just a hint of the instant attraction he felt for her? Or was she just being officially enthusiastic?

‘Let me know if there’s anything you need,’ she said.

A dinner date with you?

Gorgeous Kate Parker had probably spent longer than she should at his table. There were other customers for her to meet and greet. But Sam couldn’t think of an excuse to keep her there any longer. He was going to have to bite the bullet and ask her out. For a drink; for dinner; any opportunity to get to know her.

‘Kate, I—’

He was just about to suggest a date when his mobile phone buzzed to notify him of a text message. He ignored it. It buzzed again.

‘Go on, please check it,’ Kate said, taking a step back from his table. ‘It might be important.’

Sam gritted his teeth. At this moment nothing—even a message from the multi-national company that was bidding for a takeover of Lancaster & Son Construction—was more important than ensuring he saw this girl again. He pulled the phone from his pocket and scanned the text.

He looked up at Kate. ‘My friend Jesse is running late,’ he grumbled. ‘I hope he gets here soon. After a four-hour trip from Sydney, I’m starving.’

Kate’s green eyes widened. ‘Jesse?’ Her voice sounded strangled. ‘You mean...Jesse Morgan?’

‘Do you know him? I guess you do.’

She nodded. ‘Yes. It’s a small town. I...I know him well.’

So Kate was a friend of Jesse’s? That made getting to know her so much easier. Suddenly she wasn’t just staff at the hotel and he a guest; they were connected through a mutual friend.

It was the best piece of news he’d had all day.

* * *

Kate was reeling. Hotter-than-hot Sam Lancaster was a friend of Jesse’s? That couldn’t, couldn’t be. What unfair quirk of coincidence was this?

Despite her initial misgiving about Sam, she’d found she liked his smile, his easy repartee. She’d found herself looking forward to seeing him around the hotel. No way was she looking for romance—not with the Jesse humiliation so fresh. But she could admire how good-looking Sam was, even let herself flirt ever so lightly, knowing he’d be gone in a week. But the fact he was Jesse’s friend complicated things.

What if Jesse had told Sam about the kiss disaster? She’d thought she’d fulfilled her cringe quotient for the day. But, at the thought of Sam hearing about the kiss calamity, she cringed a little more.

She should quickly back away from Sam’s table. The last thing she wanted was to encounter Jesse not only in front of this gorgeous guy, but also the restaurant packed with too-interested observers, their gossip antennae finely tuned.

But she simply could not resist a few more moments in Sam Lancaster’s company before she beat a retreat—maybe to the kitchen, at least to the other side of the room—so she could avoid a confrontation with Jesse when he eventually arrived.

‘Where do you know Jesse from?’ she asked, trying to sound chirpy rather than churning with anxiety.

‘Jesse’s a mate of mine from university days in Sydney,’ Sam said in his deep, resonant voice. ‘We were both studying engineering. Jesse was two years behind me, but we played on the same uni football team. We used to go skiing together, too.’

So that made Sam around aged thirty to her twenty-eight.

‘And you’ve stayed friends ever since?’ she said.

She’d so much prefer it if he and Jesse were casual acquaintances.

‘We lost touch for a while but met up again two years ago on a building site in India, rebuilding the villages damaged in those devastating floods.’

She hadn’t put darkly handsome Sam down as the type who would do active charity work in a far-flung part of the world. It was a surprise of the best kind.

‘So you work for the same international aid organisation as Jesse?’ she asked.

‘No. I worked as a volunteer during my vacation. We volunteers provided the grunt work. In my case, as a carpenter.’

That figured. His hand had felt callused when she’d shaken it earlier.

‘I’m seriously impressed. That’s so...noble.’ This hot, hunky man, who would have female hearts fluttering wherever he went, spent his hard-earned vacation working without pay in a developing country in what no doubt were dirty and dangerous conditions.

‘Noble? That’s a very nice thing to say, but I’d hardly call it that. It was hot and sweaty and damn hard work,’ he said. ‘I was just glad to be of help in what was a desperate situation for so many people.’

‘I bet it wasn’t much fun, but you were actually helping people in trouble. In my book, that’s noble—and you won’t make me think otherwise.’

He shrugged those impressively broad shoulders. ‘It was an eye-opener. Sure made me appreciate the life I have at home.’

‘I’ve thought about volunteering, but I’ve never actually done it. What made you sign up?’

His face tightened and shutters seemed to come down over his deep, brown eyes. ‘It just seemed a good thing to do. A way to give back.’ The tone of his voice made her wonder if he was telling her everything. But then, why should he?

Sam Lancaster was a guest—his personal life was none of her concern. In fact, she had to be careful not to overstep the mark of what was expected of a deputy manager on front-of-house duty on a busy Sunday.

It was as well to be brought back to reality.

She returned her voice to hospitality impartial. ‘I’m so glad it worked out for you.’ She glanced down at his menu. ‘Do you want to order while you’re waiting for Jesse?’ It was an effort to say Jesse’s name with such disinterest.

‘I’ll wait for him. Though I’m looking forward to exploring the menu; it looks very good.’ Sam glanced around him and nodded approvingly. ‘I like the way Ben built this hotel. No wonder it won architectural awards.’

‘Ben, as in Jesse’s brother? My boss? Owner of Hotel Harbourside?’ She couldn’t keep the incredulity from her voice.

‘I’m friends with Ben as well as Jesse,’ he said.

‘Of course you would be,’ she replied.

If she’d entertained for one moment the idea of following up her attraction to Sam Lancaster, she squashed it right now. She’d grown up with Ben too. The Morgans had been like family. The thought of conducting any kind of relationship with Sam under the watchful, teasing eyes of the Morgan brothers was inconceivable—especially if Jesse had told him about the kiss.

‘Do you go way back with Ben, too?’

‘He joined Jesse and me on a couple of ski trips to Thredbo,’ said Sam. ‘We all skied together.’

‘More partying and drinking than actual skiing, I’ll bet,’ she said.

‘What happens on ski trip, stays on ski trip,’ said Sam with that devastating smile.

Individually, his irregular features didn’t make for handsome. But together: the olive skin; the eyes as dark as bitter chocolate; the crooked nose; his sensual mouth; the dark, thick eyebrows, intersected by that intriguing small scar, added up to a face that went a degree more than handsome.

Jesse or Ben had not been hit with the ugly stick, either. She could only imagine what that trio of good-looking guys would have got up to in the party atmosphere of the New South Wales ski slopes. She knew only too well how wild it could be.

She’d gone skiing with her university ski-club during her third year in Sydney for her business degree. The snowfields were only a day’s drive away from Sydney, but they might as well have been a world away.

Social life had outweighed skiing. That winter break they’d all gone crazy with the freedom from study, from families, from rules. If she’d met Sam then she would have gone for him, that was for sure. Instead she’d met someone else. Someone who in subsequent months had hurt her so badly she’d slipped right back into that teenage dream of kind, trustworthy Jesse. Someone who had bred the unease she felt at the thought of dating men with untamed good looks like Sam.

‘So you’re friends with Ben, too; I didn’t know. We all went our separate ways during the time you guys must have met each other.’ A thought struck her. ‘Ah, now I get it. You’re in Dolphin Bay for Ben and Sandy’s wedding on Saturday.’

‘Correct,’ he said. ‘Though I’m not one for weddings and all the waste-of-time fuss that surrounds them.’

Kate drew herself up to her full five-foot-five and put her hands on her hips in mock rebuke. ‘Waste-of-time fuss? I don’t know if I can forgive you for that comment as I happen to be the wedding planner for these particular nuptials.’

‘Deputy manager of a hotel like this and a wedding planner? You’re the very definition of a multi-tasker.’

‘I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you,’ she said. ‘I like to keep busy. And I like to know what’s going on. Jesse calls me the self-appointed arbiter of everyone’s business in Dolphin Bay.’

She regretted the words as soon as they’d slipped out of her mouth. Why, why, why did she have to bring up Jesse’s name?

But Sam just laughed. ‘That sounds like something Jesse would say. You must be good friends for him to get away with it.’

‘We are good friends,’ she said.

And that was all they ever should have been. When they’d been still just kids, they’d shared their clumsy, first-ever kiss. But it hadn’t happened again until three days ago when she’d provocatively asked her old friend why it had been so long between kisses. A suggestion that had backfired so badly.

‘What Jesse says is true,’ she continued. ‘He calls me a nosy parker. I like to call it a healthy curiosity about what’s going on.’

‘Necessary qualities for all your various occupations, I would think,’ he said.

‘Thank you. I think so too. I particularly need to be on top of the details of Ben’s wedding which is aaargh...’ she mimed tearing her hair out ‘...only six days away.’ She mentally ran through the guest list. ‘Now I think of it, there is a Sam on the guest list; I’ve been meaning to ask Ben who it was. I don’t know anything about him—uh, I mean you.’

Sam spread out both hands in a gesture of invitation. ‘I’m an open book. Fire away with the questions.’

She wagged a finger in mock-warning. ‘I wouldn’t say that to a stickybeak like me. Give me carte blanche and you might be here all day answering questions.’ What was she saying? ‘Uh, I mean as they relate to you as a wedding guest, that is.’

‘So I’ll limit them,’ he said. ‘Five questions should be all you need.’

Five questions? She’d like to know a heck of a lot more about Sam Lancaster than she could discover with five questions.

‘Don’t mind if I do,’ she said.

Do you have a girlfriend, fiancée, wife?

But she ignored the first question she really wanted to ask and chose the safe option. ‘Okay, so my first question is wedding-menu related—meat, fish or vegetarian?’

‘All of the above,’ he said without hesitation.

‘Good. That makes it easy. Question number two: what do you plan to do in the days before the wedding? Do you need me to organise any tours or activities?’

With me as the tour guide, perhaps.

He shook his head. ‘No need. There’s a work problem I have to think through.’

She itched with curiosity about what that problem could be—but questioning him about it went beyond the remit of wedding-related questions.

‘Okay. Just let me know if you change your mind. There’s dolphin-and whale-watching tours. Or hikes to Pigeon Mountain for spectacular views. Now for question number three: do you...?’

Something made her look up and she immediately wished she hadn’t. Jesse. Coming in late for his lunch. She swallowed a swear word. Why hadn’t she made her getaway while she could?

Too distracted by handsome Sam Lancaster.

Now this first post-kiss encounter with Jesse would have to be played out in front of Sam.

Act normal. Act normal. Smile.

But her paralysed mouth wouldn’t form into anything other than a tight line that barely curved upwards. Nor could she summon up so much as a breezy ‘hi’ for Jesse—the man she’d been friends with all her life, had been able to joke, banter and trade insults with like a brother.

Jesse pumped Sam’s hand. ‘Sorry, I got held up.’

‘No worries,’ said Sam, returning the handshake with equal vigour.

‘Kate,’ said Jesse with a friendly nod in her direction, though she didn’t think she was imagining a trace of the same awkwardness in his eyes that she was feeling. ‘So you’ve already met my mate Sam.’

‘Yes,’ was all she managed to choke out.

‘I see you got the best table in the house,’ Jesse said to Sam, indicating the view with a sweep of his hand.

‘And the best deputy manager,’ said Sam gruffly, nodding to Kate.

‘Why, thank you,’ she said. For Sam, her smile worked fine, a real smile, not her professional, hospitality smile.

Jesse cleared his throat in a way she’d never heard before. So he was feeling the awkwardness, too.

‘Yes; Kate is, beyond a doubt, awesome,’ he said. Kate recognised the exaggerated casualness of his tone. Would Sam?

‘We’re just friends,’ Kate blurted out. She shot a quick glance at Sam to see a bemused lift of his eyebrow.

‘Of course we’re just friends,’ Jesse returned, too quickly. He stepped around the table to hug her, as he always did when they met. ‘Kate and I go way back,’ he explained to Sam.

Kate stiffened as Jesse came near. She doubted she could ever return to their old casual camaraderie. It wasn’t that Jesse had done anything wrong when he’d kissed her. He just hadn’t done anything for her. He was probably a very good kisser for someone else.

But things had changed and she didn’t want his touch, even in the most casual way. She ducked to slide away.

Big, big mistake.

Sam frowned as he glanced from her to Jesse and back again. Kate could see his mental cogs whirring, putting two and two together and coming up with something other than the zero he should be seeing.

It alarmed her. Because she really wanted Sam Lancaster to know there was nothing between her and Jesse. That she was utterly and completely single.

‘Why don’t you join us for lunch?’ Jesse asked, pulling out the third chair around the table.

No way did she want to make awkward small talk with Jesse. The thought of using her three remaining questions to find out all about Sam Lancaster was appealing—but only when there was just him and her in the conversation.

She pointed her foot, clad in a black court pump, in the direction of the table. ‘Hear the ball and chain rattling? Ben would have a fit if I downed tools and fraternised with the guests.’

Did she imagine it, or did Sam’s gaze linger on her leg? She hastily drew it back. ‘Shame,’ he said. He sounded genuinely regretful.

Not only did she want to walk away as quickly as she could from this uncomfortable situation but she also had her responsibilities to consider. She’d spent way too much time already chatting with Sam. ‘Guys, I have to get back to work. I’ll send a waitress over straight away and tell the chef to fill your order, pronto. I’m sure you both must be hungry.’

In an ideal world, she’d turn and walk away right now—and not return to this end of the room until both men had gone—but before she went there was wedding business to be dealt with.

‘Jesse, will I see you this evening at Ben and Sandy’s house for the wedding-planning meeting? We need to run through your best-man duties.’

‘Of course,’ said Jesse. ‘And Sam will be there too.’

‘Sam?’ Ben had never mentioned that the Sam on the guest list would be part of the wedding party.

Sam shrugged those impressively broad shoulders. ‘I’ve got business with Ben. He asked me to come along tonight.’

She’d anticipated seeing Sam around the hotel, but not seeing him so soon and in a social situation. She couldn’t help a shiver of excitement at the thought. At the same time, she was a little put out she hadn’t been informed of the extra person. Didn’t her friends realise a wedding planner needed to know these things? What other surprises might they spring on her at this late stage?

Ben hadn’t mentioned employing a carpenter. Were they planning on getting Sam to construct a wooden wedding arch on the beach where the ceremony was to be held? She wished they’d told her. They were counting down six days to the wedding.

But she would find that out later. Right now she had to get back to work.

‘I’ll see you tonight, Kate,’ said Sam.

Did she imagine the promise she heard in his voice?

CHAPTER TWO

SAM DIDN’T WANT to have anything to do with weddings: whip-wielding wedding planners; mothers-of-the-bride going crazy; brides-to-be in meltdown; over-the-top hysteria all round. It reminded him too much of the ill-fated plans for his own cancelled wedding. Though it had been more than two years since the whole drama, even the word ‘wedding’ still had the power to bring him out in a cold sweat.

If it hadn’t meant a chance to see Kate again he would have backed right out of the meeting this evening.

Now he stood on the sand at the bottom of the steps that led down from the hotel to the harbour beach. Jesse’s directions to Ben’s house, where the meeting was to be held, had comprised a vague wave in the general direction to the right of the hotel. He couldn’t see a house anywhere close and wasn’t sure where to go.

‘Sam! Wait for me!’

Sam turned at the sound of Kate’s voice. She stood at the top of the steps, smiling down at him. For a moment all he could do was stare. If he’d thought Kate had looked gorgeous in her waitress garb, in a short, lavender dress that clung to her curves she looked sensational.

She clattered down the steps as fast as her strappy sandals would allow her, giving him a welcome flash of pale, slender legs. Her hair, set free from its constraints, flowed all wild and wavy around her face and to her shoulders, the fading light of the setting sun illuminating it to burnished copper. She clutched a large purple folder under her arm and had an outsized brown leather bag slung over her shoulder.

She was animated, vibrant, confident—everything that attracted him to her. So different from his reserved, unemotional ex-fiancée. Or his distant mother, who had made him wonder as he was growing up whether she had wanted a son at all. Whose main interest in him these days seemed to be in how well he managed the company for maximum dollars on her allowance.

Kate came to a halt next to him, her face flushed. This close, he couldn’t help but notice the tantalising hint of cleavage exposed by the scoop neck of her dress.

‘Are you headed to Ben’s place?’ she asked.

‘If I knew exactly where it was, yes.’

‘Easy,’ she said with a wave to the right, as vague as Jesse’s had been. ‘It’s just down there.’

‘Easy for a local. All I see is a boathouse with a dock reaching out into the water.’

‘That is the house. I mean, that’s where Ben and his fiancée, Sandy, live.’

‘A boathouse?’

‘It’s the poshest boathouse you’ve ever seen.’ Her face stilled. ‘It was the only thing left after the fire destroyed the guesthouse where the hotel stands now.’

‘Yes. I knew Ben lost his first wife and child in the fire. What a tragedy.’

‘Ben was a lost soul until Sandy came back to Dolphin Bay. She was his first love when they were teenagers. It was all terribly romantic.’

‘And now they’re getting married.’

Kate laughed. ‘Yes. Just two months after they met up again. And they honestly thought they were going to get away with a simple wedding on the beach with a glass of champagne to follow.’

‘That sounds a good idea to me,’ he said, more wholeheartedly than he had intended.

She looked at him, her head tilted to one side, curiosity lighting her green eyes. ‘Really? Maybe, if you don’t have family and friends who want to help you celebrate a happy-ever-after ending. Dolphin Bay people are very tight-knit.’

He wondered what it would be like to live in a community where people cared about each other, unlike the anonymity of his own city life, the aridity of his family life. ‘Hence you became the wedding planner?’

‘Yes. I put my hand up for the job. Unofficially, of course. The simple ceremony on the beach is staying. But they can’t avoid a big party at the hotel afterwards. I aim to take the stress out of it for them.’

‘Good luck with that.’ He couldn’t avoid the cynical twist to his mouth.

‘Good planning and good organisation, more likely than mere luck.’

‘You mean not too many unexpected guests like me?’ he said.

Her flush deepened. ‘Of course not. I’m glad Ben has invited a friend from outside.’

‘From outside?’

‘I mean from elsewhere than Dolphin Bay. From Sydney. The big smoke.’

He smiled. She might see Sydney as ‘the big smoke’, but he’d travelled extensively and knew Sydney was very much a small player on the world stage, much as he liked living there.

‘My business with Ben could be discussed at a different time,’ he said. ‘I honestly don’t know why they want me along this evening.’

‘Neither do I.’ She immediately slapped her hand over her mouth and laughed her delightful, throaty laugh. ‘Sorry. That’s not what I meant. What I meant was they hadn’t briefed me on the need for a carpenter.’

He frowned. ‘Pass that by me again?’

‘You said you were a carpenter. I thought they were asking you tonight to talk about carpentry work—maybe an arch—though I wished they’d told me that before. I don’t know how we’d secure it in the sand, and I haven’t ordered extra flowers or ribbons or—’

‘Stop right there,’ he said. ‘I’m not a carpenter.’

‘But you said you worked in India as a carpenter.’

‘As a volunteer. Yes, I can do carpentry. In fact, I can turn my hand to most jobs on a building site. My dad had me working on-site since I was fourteen. But my hard-hat days are behind me. I manage a construction company.’

He couldn’t really spare the week away from the business in this sleepy, seaside town. But with the mega-dollar takeover offer for the company brewing, he needed headspace free of everyday demands to think.

The idea of selling Lancaster & Son Construction had first formed in India, where he’d escaped to after his cancelled wedding. In a place so different from his familiar world, he’d begun to think of a different way of life—a life he would choose for himself, not have chosen for him.

‘So I’m not in the business of whipping up wedding arches,’ he continued.

‘Oh,’ Kate said, frowning. ‘I got that wrong, didn’t I?’ He already had the impression she might not enjoy being found mistaken in anything.

He threw up his hands in surrender. ‘But, if they want a wedding arch, I’ll do my best to build them one.’

‘No, that’s not it. That was only something I thought about. I wonder why they wanted you there, then?’

He smiled to himself at her frown. It was cute the way she liked to be in the know about everything.

‘I’ve got business with Ben,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure if it’s hush-hush or not, so I won’t say what it is.’

She glanced down at her watch. ‘Well, let’s get there and find out, shall we?’

Kate started to stride out beside him in the direction of the boathouse. He noticed her feet turned out slightly as she walked. The financial controller at his company had a similar gait and she’d told him it was because she’d done ballet as a kid. Kate moved so gracefully he wondered if she was a dancer too. He’d like to see her moving her body in time to music—some sensual, driving rhythm. He could join her and...

Kate paused. ‘Hang on for a minute. The darn strap on the back of these sandals keeps slipping down.’

She leaned down to tug the slender strap back into place, hopping on the other foot to keep her steady. She wobbled, lost her balance, and held on to his shoulder to steady herself with a breathless, ‘Sorry.’

Sam wasn’t sorry at all. He liked her close—her face so near to his, her warmth, her scent that reminded him of oranges and cinnamon. For a moment they stood absolutely still and her eyes widened as they gazed into each other’s faces. He noticed what a pretty mouth she had, the top lip a classic bow shiny with gloss.

He wanted to kiss her.

He fisted his hands by his sides to stop him from reaching for her and pressing his mouth to hers.

He fought the impulse with everything he had.

Because it was too soon.

And he wasn’t sure what the situation was between Kate and Jesse. Earlier today, he hadn’t failed to notice the tension between two people who had professed too vehemently that they were just friends.

* * *

Kate started to wobble again. Darn sandals; she needed to get that strap shortened. Sam reached out to steady her. She gasped at the feel of his hand on her waist, his warmth burning through the fine knit fabric of her dress. She wanted to edge away but if she did there was a very good chance she’d topple over into a humiliating heap on the sand.

She didn’t trust herself to touch him or to be touched. Before she’d called out from the top of the steps, she’d paused to admire him as he’d stood looking out past the waters of Dolphin Bay to the open sea, dusk rapidly approaching. She’d been seared again with that overwhelming attraction.

But that was crazy.

She’d only just faced the reality that Jesse was not the man for her. That she’d been guilty—for whatever reason—of nurturing a crush for way too long on a man whom she only loved like a brother.

Of course, there had been boyfriends in the time between the two kisses. Some she remembered fondly, one with deep regret. But, in recent years, the conviction had been ticking away that one day Jesse and she would be a couple.

That kiss had proved once and for all that Jesse would never, ever be the man for her. There was no chemistry between them.

Could she be interested, so soon, in Sam Lancaster?

He’d changed to loose, drawstring cotton pants in a sludgy khaki and a collarless loose-weave white shirt—both from India, she guessed. The casual clothes made no secret of the powerful shape of his legs and behind, the well-honed muscles of his chest and arms—built up, she suspected, from his life as a builder rather than from hours in the gym.

Now, as he helped her keep her balance, she was intensely aware of the closeness of their bodies: his hand on her waist; her hand on his shoulder; the soft curve of her breast resting lightly against the hard strength of his chest. The hammering of her own heart.

Somewhere there was the swish of the small waves of the bay rushing onto the sand then retreating back into the sea; the rustle of the evening breeze in the trees that grew in the hotel garden; muted laughter from the direction of the boathouse.

But her senses were too overwhelmed by her awareness of Sam to take any of it in. She breathed in the heady aromas of masculine soap and shampoo that told her he was fresh out of the shower.

She was enjoying being close to him—and she shouldn’t be. Three days ago, she’d wanted to kiss Jesse. How could she feel this way about a stranger?

She couldn’t trust feelings that had erupted so easily. She needed time to get over the Jesse thing, to plan where she went to next. Not straight into another impossible crush, that was for sure.

Having Sam around was a distraction. He didn’t look like the man who had battered her young heart—and a good portion of her soul—eight years ago when she’d been twenty, but he was the same type. Sam had that outrageous masculinity; the untamed, ‘don’t give a damn’ look that sang to something wild and feminine and reckless in her—a part of herself she thought she’d long suppressed.

Panic started its heart-stopping, breath-stealing, muscle-tensing attack on her. She took in a deep breath that came out halfway to a sob.

‘You okay?’ Sam’s deep voice was warm with concern.

She pretended to cough. ‘F-fine thanks,’ she said. ‘Just...just a tickle in my throat.’

She dropped her hand from his shoulder and stepped away so his hand fell from her waist. She immediately felt bereft of his touch. With hands that weren’t quite steady, she switched her handbag to her other shoulder.

‘Let me carry that bag for you,’ Sam said, taking it from her, his fingers grazing the bare skin of her arm. It was just a momentary touch but she knew she’d feel it for hours.

‘Th-thanks,’ she stuttered.

He heaved the bag effortlessly over his own shoulder. ‘It weighs a ton; what on earth do you have in it?’

‘Anything and everything. I like to be prepared in case anyone needs stuff. You know—tissues, insect repellent, pain-relievers, tamp— Never mind. My bag’s a bit of a joke with my friends. They reckon anything they need they’ll find in there.’

‘And they probably rely on it. I get the impression you like to look after people.’

‘I guess I do,’ she said. There was no need to mention the accident that had left her sister in a wheelchair when Kate had been aged thirteen, or how her father had left and Kate had had to help out at home more than anyone else her age. How helping other people run their lives had become a habit.

‘So what’s in the folder?’ he asked.

‘The master plan for the wedding. The documents are on my tablet too, and my PC, but I’ve got backup printouts just in case. There’s a checklist, a time plan, everyone’s duties spelled out to the minute. I want this wedding to run like clockwork. I’ve printed out a running sheet for you too, to keep you up to speed, as they’ve made you part of the meeting.’

Schedules. Plans. Timetables. Keep the everyday aspects of life under control, and she’d have a better chance of keeping errant emotions and unwelcome longings under control.

She couldn’t let Sam Lancaster disrupt that.

* * *

Sam noticed that as Kate spoke her voice got quicker and quicker. She was nervous. Of him?

Had she somehow sensed the tight grip he’d had to keep on himself to stop from pulling her into his arms?

He hadn’t been looking for a relationship—especially not when everything was up in the air with the business. Selling it would impact not only on his life but also on the lives of the people employed by his company, including the contractors, suppliers and clients. It was important to weigh up the desire to free himself from the hungry corporate identity that had dominated his life since he’d been a child with the obligations due to those loyal to the company. He owed it to the memory of his father to get such a momentous decision right.

But in just the few short hours he’d been in Dolphin Bay Kate Parker had wiggled her lovely, vivacious way under his skin. He hadn’t been able to think of anything else but seeing her again since he’d said goodbye to her at the restaurant.

And now he wanted to take her hand and walk her right past that boathouse—past the meeting she’d scheduled for a big wedding the bride and groom didn’t seem to want and onto the beach with him, where she could ask him any questions she wanted and he could ask her a few of his own.

But he would not do that while there was any chance she could be involved with his good friend.

Again, she glanced down at the watch on her narrow wrist. ‘C’mon, I can’t bear to be late for anything—and especially for a meeting I arranged.’

He liked the dusting of freckles on her pale arms, so different from the orange-toned fake tan that was the standard for so many Sydney girls. He liked that she was so natural and unaffected, unlike the girls his mother, Vivien—she’d never liked him calling her Mum—kept trying to foist on him ever since the big society wedding she’d wanted for him had been called off.

‘Let’s go, then,’ he said, trying to inject a note of enthusiasm into his voice. When they started talking flowers, caterers and canapés, he’d tune out.

Dusk was falling rapidly, as it did in this part of the world. The boathouse ahead was already in shadow, the lights from the windows casting a welcoming glow on the sand. There was music and the light hum of chatter. He thought he recognised Ben’s laugh.

As Kate walked beside him, he realised she was keeping a distance away from him so that their hands would not accidentally brush, their shoulders nudge. He didn’t know whether to be offended by her reaction to his closeness or pleased that it might indicate she was aware of the physical tension between them.

It was torture not knowing where he stood with her.

As they got within striking distance of the boathouse, he couldn’t endure not knowing any longer. He wanted to put out his hand and stop her but he didn’t trust himself to touch her again. He halted. She took a few more steps forward, realised he’d stopped and turned back to face him, a questioning look on her face.

Before she had time to speak, he did.

‘Kate—stop. Before we go any further, I have to ask you something.’

‘Sure,’ she said, her head tilted to one side. ‘Fire away. We’ve got a few minutes left before we’re late.’

He prepared himself for an answer he didn’t want to hear. ‘Kate, what’s the story with you and Jesse?’

CHAPTER THREE

KATE’S FACE FROZE in shock at his question. For a long moment she simply stared at him and Sam waited for her reply with increasing edginess.

‘Me and J...Jesse?’ she finally managed to stutter out.

Sam nodded. ‘You said you were just friends. Is that true?’

‘Yes. It is. Now.’

‘What do you mean “now”?’

‘You mean Jesse didn’t say anything?’

‘About you? Not a word.’

Kate looked down so her mass of wavy hair fell over her face, hiding it from him. She scuffed one sandal in the sand. Sam resisted the urge to reach out and push her hair into place. She did it herself, with fingers that trembled, and then looked back up at him. Even in the fading light he could see the indecision etched on her face. ‘Do you want to hear the whole story? It’s...it’s kind of embarrassing.’ Her husky voice was so low he had to dip his head to hear her.

Embarrassing? He nodded and tried to keep his face free of expression. He’d asked the question. He had to be prepared for whatever answer she might give him.

Kate clutched the purple folder tight to her chest. ‘Our mothers were very close and Jesse, Ben and I grew up together. The mums were always making jokes about Jesse and me getting married in the future. You should see the photos they posed of us as little babies, holding hands.’

Sam could imagine how cute those photos would be, but he felt uncomfortable at the thought of that kind of connection being established between Kate and Jesse at such a young age. He had a vague recollection of Jesse once mentioning a red-haired girl back home. What had he said? Something about an ongoing joke in the family that if he and the girl never found anyone else they could marry each other...

Sam had found it amusing at the time. He didn’t find it amusing right now. How difficult would it be to break such a long-standing bond?

‘So that’s the embarrassing bit?’ he asked.

Kate pulled a face. ‘It gets worse. When I was thirteen and he was fourteen we tried out our first ever kiss together. It was awkward and I ended up giggling so much it didn’t go far. But I guess in my childish heart that marked Jesse as someone special.’

Jealousy seared through Sam at the thought of Jesse kissing Kate, even if they had been only kids. He was aware it was irrational—after all he hardly knew Kate—but it was there. It was real.

He had to clear his throat to speak. ‘So you dated?’

She shook her head so vehemently her hair swung over her face. ‘Never. We both dated other people. As teenagers, we cried on each other’s shoulders when things went wrong. As adults, we lived our own lives. Until...’

Her brow creased as though she were puzzling out loud. ‘Until a few years ago—I don’t know why—I started to think Jesse might be the one for me. After all, everyone else thought so. I developed quite a crush on him.’

‘So what’s so embarrassing about that?’

She paused. ‘Three days ago we kissed—at my suggestion.’

Now that jealousy turned into something that seethed in his gut. He’d always prided himself on being laid-back, slow to anger. He felt anything but laid-back at the thought of her in another man’s arms, even one of his friends. Especially one of his friends.

‘And?’ His hands were fisted.

‘Crush completely over. It was an utter disaster. So wrong that words can’t describe it. And I speak for him as well as for me.’

Sam’s fists slowly uncurled.

‘So Jesse doesn’t want you as more than a friend?’

‘Heavens, no!’ Her voice had an undertone of almost hysterical relief. ‘We could hardly wait to make our getaways. And we succeeded in avoiding each other until we met in the restaurant earlier today.’

‘It seemed awkward between you. Tense.’

‘At first. But it’s okay now. We’ve been friends for so long, seems we can both laugh it off as a monumental mistake and move on.’

With no more kissing, if Sam had anything to do with it.

He stepped closer to her. This time he did reach out and smooth an auburn curl from falling over her cheek. She started but didn’t step away and he tucked it behind her ear before letting his hand drop back to his side. They stood as close as they could without actually touching.

‘So Jesse’s right out of the picture,’ he said. ‘Is there anyone else?’

Anyone else he had to fight for her?

Her face was half in shadow, half in the dim light coming from the boathouse. ‘No one,’ she said. ‘I...I haven’t dated for quite some time.’ She paused. ‘What about you? Question number three: is there any special lady in your life?’

‘I was engaged to a long-term girlfriend. But no one special since that ended.’

He’d smarted for months at the way the engagement had been terminated, the wedding cancelled. In fact, he’d been so gutted he’d taken off to India to get away from the fallout. With perspective, he could see ending the engagement had been the right decision. But, while the wounds had healed, he had been wary of getting involved with anyone. Now he was ready. His ex had moved on, but he hadn’t met a woman who had interested him. Until now.

‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Would it count as question number four if I asked about what happened—or would that be part of question number three?’

He grinned. ‘I’ll allow it as part two of question three—but it might have to wait until I have more time to answer it.’

‘I’m okay with that,’ she said with a return of her dimples.

The last thing he wanted to do was scare Kate off. He had never before experienced this instant attraction to a woman. He had to work through how he handled it.

Kate was so obviously not the kind of woman for a no-strings fling. It wasn’t what he wanted either. But his previous relationships had started off slowly with attraction growing. He understood how that worked, not this immediate flaming that might just burn itself out in a matter of days. The kind of flaming that had seen his parents trapped in an unhappy marriage, the consequences of which he had been forced to endure.

That aside, he realised Kate might not feel the same way as he did. If he wanted to get to know her, he knew he had to take things carefully.

‘Before Jesse came into the restaurant, I was about to ask you out on a date,’ he said. ‘What would you have said?’

‘I...I... You’ve taken me by surprise. I would have said—’

Just then the door of the boathouse opened, flooding them with further light. Ben peered through the door and called out. ‘Hey, Kate, what are you doing out there? You warned us all to be on time or suffer dire consequences and now you’re running late.’

Kate immediately stepped back from Sam so fast she nearly tripped. ‘I’m coming!’ she called in Ben’s direction.

Sam cursed under his breath at the interruption. He wanted to shout at Ben to get lost.

Kate looked back up at Sam. ‘Sam, I...’

But Ben was now heading towards them. He caught sight of Sam. ‘Sam. Mate. I didn’t see you there. Come on in.’

Sam groaned. Kate looked up at him in mute appeal. He shrugged wordlessly in a gesture of frustration. But not defeat; he would get Kate’s reply sooner rather than later.

Then he was swept along into the boathouse with Kate, Ben walking between them like an old-fashioned chaperone.

* * *

An hour later, Kate was pleased at how well the meeting had gone. Everyone who needed to be there had been there—except for Sandy’s sister who lived in Sydney, and her five-year-old daughter who was to be the flower girl. Plans had been finalised, timetables tweaked. Now the bridal party had been joined by a few other friends. Snack platters from the hotel kitchen had arrived and the barbecue was being fired up. There wasn’t much more she could do to ensure the wedding went to plan on Saturday.

If only she hadn’t been so darned conscious of Sam the entire time. It had been more than a tad distracting. She’d found herself struggling to remember important facts, her mind too occupied with Sam. But no one seemed to have noticed the lapse from her usual efficiency.

She just hoped they hadn’t noticed the way she’d found herself compelled to check on him every few minutes. He’d met her glances with a smile, even a wink that had made her smother a laugh. It was only too obvious he was bored by the details of the wedding meeting. He’d crossed his long legs and uncrossed them. He’d not-so-subtly checked his mobile phone. He’d even nodded off for a few minutes until Ben had shoved him awake.

But she hadn’t had a moment alone with him since they’d been interrupted on the beach.

She’d been just about to say yes to Sam’s suggestion of a date. But would it really be a good idea?

Her fears screamed no. Just the light touch of his fingers on her cheek had practically sent her hurtling to the stars. She’d never felt such strong attraction so quickly. She was terrified that it might lead her into the kind of obsession that had nearly destroyed her in the past. It would be wisest to keep Sam at a distance.

But her loneliness urged yes to seeing Sam. Why shouldn’t she go out with him on an uncomplicated, everyday date, with no other agenda than to share a meal, enjoy a movie, find out something about what made the other tick? Flirt a little. Laugh a lot. It didn’t have to go further than that.

For so long she’d been on her own. Surely she deserved some masculine excitement in her life—even if only temporary? Sam would only be around for a week and then he’d be gone. Where was the harm in enjoying his company?

It was time to say yes to that date.

She’d lost sight of him—difficult in the space of the boathouse, which was basically just one large room converted into luxury living. He must have escaped outside to the barbecue. She’d go find him.

Before she could make the move, the bride-to-be, Sandy, sidled up beside her. ‘Sooo,’ she said in a teasing tone. ‘You and that gorgeous hunk, Sam Lancaster...’

Kate couldn’t help it; she flushed again and Sandy noticed. That was the problem with being a fair-skinned redhead: even the slightest blush flamed. ‘What about me and Sam?’ she said, knowing she sounded unnecessarily defensive.

‘You’ve hardly kept your eyes off him all evening. And he you. I reckon he’s smitten. And maybe you are too.’

‘Of course he’s not. Of course I’m not.’

‘Oh, really?’ said Sandy in an overly knowing tone.

Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you by any chance paying me back for the way I poked my nose in with you and Ben when you first came back to Dolphin Bay?’

Kate had been overprotective of her friend Ben when Sandy had showed up out of the blue after twelve years of no contact. But she’d very soon warmed to Sandy and they’d become good friends.

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Sandy. ‘I’m so deliriously happy with Ben, I want you to be happy too. Sam is really nice, as well as being a hunk. I got the lowdown on him.’

‘I only met him today. Nothing is happening there, I can assure you.’

Nothing except her heart starting to race every time she caught a glimpse of him towering over the other guests.

‘But it might. You know what they say about what happens at weddings.’ Sandy smiled. ‘The bridesmaid and the groomsman...’

Kate frowned. ‘I don’t know what you mean. I’m your bridesmaid. But Sam isn’t Ben’s groomsman. I should know, as your wedding planner.’

‘Uh, think again. Right now, Ben’s asking Sam to be just that.’

‘What? I thought he only wanted a best man?’

‘He’s changed his mind. My sister Lizzie, as chief bridesmaid, will be partnered by the best man, Jesse. That means you’d be coming up that beach aisle by yourself. We thought why not even things up by partnering you with Sam? You’ll easily be able to readjust your ceremony schedules. That is, if Sam agrees to it.’

Kate tried to tell herself she was being oversensitive but she could sense that echo again: poor Kate.

‘Sandy, it’s so sweet of you, but is this about what happened with Jesse and me three days ago? If so, I—’

Sandy’s hazel eyes were kind. ‘Kate, I’m so sorry it didn’t work out with Jesse. I know how much you’ve always wanted him.’

Kate swallowed hard. It was so difficult to talk about it. ‘Did I really, though, Sandy? I think maybe I dreamed of a kind, handsome man—so different from the men I’d dated—and Jesse was there. I...I fixated on him. It wasn’t real.’

‘You could be right. To tell you the truth, I didn’t ever see any chemistry between you.’

Kate giggled. ‘There was no chemistry whatsoever. I can’t tell you how much I regretted it. I couldn’t run away fast enough.’

‘I bet you wouldn’t run too far if you were alone with Sam Lancaster. Doesn’t he fit the bill? He’s handsome, all right—and he must be kind, or he wouldn’t have been off volunteering in India, would he?’

Kate sobered. ‘All that. But, Sandy, don’t try to matchmake, will you? I don’t want a pity party. I’m not desperate for a man.’

Sandy put her hand reassuringly on Kate’s arm. ‘Of course you’re not. But is it a bad thing for your friends to look out for you? And for you to let them? You’ve got to admit, it’s more fun being a bridesmaid if you have a handsome groomsman in tow.’

‘Of course it is. And you’re right; you don’t get more handsome than Sam Lancaster. And he’s interesting, too.’ She found herself looking over her shoulder to watch out for him, only to see him coming back into the room with Ben. ‘Here he is. I hope he didn’t hear me twittering on about how handsome he is,’ she whispered to Sandy.

She watched as Sam and Ben approached. Funny; she’d always found Ben so imposing, Jesse so good-looking. But Sam outshone any man she’d ever met in terms of pure, masculine appeal.

‘So did Sam say yes to being groomsman, Ben?’ asked Sandy.

‘Of course he did,’ said tall, blond Ben.

Sam stood shoulder-nudging distance from Kate. She could feel his warmth, smell the hint of bourbon on his breath. ‘As if I had a choice, when I heard who would be the bridesmaid I was escorting,’ he said with a smile that was just for her. She smiled back, glad beyond reason to have him by her side.

She would ask him on a date. ASAP.

Now the planning part of the evening was over and her duties done, she could get the heck out of there and take Sam with her, so they could talk in private away from too-interested eyes.

But Ben had other ideas. He turned to Kate. ‘I was going to introduce you to Sam tonight, but as you’ve already met I’ll cut straight to the chase.’

Kate sighed inwardly. All she could think of was being alone with Sam. But she was aware that, while Ben was a long-time friend, he was also her boss. He had his boss voice on now; she almost felt she should be taking notes.

‘Yes, sir,’ she said flippantly, at the same time wondering how a work thing could possibly involve Sam.

‘We’ve finally got planning approval for the new resort,’ said Ben with a whoop of triumph.

‘Really?’ she said, scarcely able to let herself believe the news. ‘Really and truly?’

‘Really,’ said Ben with a huge grin.

‘Congratulations, Kate,’ said Sandy, hugging her. ‘I know how hard you worked with Ben on the submission.’

Momentarily lost for words, Kate hugged Sandy back. Then she looked from Sam to Ben to Sam again. ‘That’s amazing. After all the hours we put in, I can hardly believe it’s actually happening,’ she said.

She grabbed hold of Sam’s arms and did a little jig of excitement—then realised what she’d done and dropped her hands. She pulled a face. ‘Sorry. I got carried away.’

‘Don’t be sorry,’ he said. ‘I can see this means a lot to you.’

Ben put up his hand. ‘Wait. There’s more. Sam’s company is going to build the resort. Lancaster & Son Construction is one of the biggest and the best in the country. We’re fortunate to have him on board.’

Kate stared, too astounded to say anything. Why hadn’t she known this?

When she finally got her breath back, Kate turned to Sam. ‘So that was the hush-hush business.’

And she’d thought he was a carpenter.

‘Not so hush-hush now,’ he said.

‘I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about this project,’ she said. ‘A luxury, boutique spa resort nestled in the bush on that beautiful spot. It’s on land overlooking Big Ray Beach—that’s our surf beach—with incredible views. The resort’s a big deal for Dolphin Bay.’

‘And a triumph for Kate. It was initially her idea,’ Ben explained to Sam. ‘As her reward for kick-starting it, she has equity.’

Her ownership was only measured in the tiniest of percentages—a token, really—but Kate intended to be a hands-on manager once the resort was up and running. It would be her dream job, something she wanted so much it hurt.

‘Congratulations,’ said Sam. ‘It’s great to hear you’re such an entrepreneur.’

Kate basked in the admiration she saw in his eyes. At age twenty-eight, she’d had a few false starts to her career; now she was exactly where she wanted to be. ‘I’m still a bit dazed that it’s actually going to happen,’ she said.

Ben turned to Kate. ‘I want you to be our liaison person with Sam—starting from now. I’ll be away on my honeymoon after next week and this week too caught up with work at the hotel.’

She blinked at Ben. ‘Th..that’s a surprise.’

‘But it makes sense,’ said Ben. ‘You know more about the project than anyone else but me. You can start by taking Sam to the site for him to take a look at it. That okay with you, Sam?’

‘Of course,’ said Sam, though Kate thought he looked perturbed.

‘I’ll leave you to two to discuss the details,’ said Ben, ushering Sandy away.

Finally Kate was left alone with Sam, exactly what she’d longed for all evening. She’d never been more aware of his big, broad-shouldered body, his unconventionally handsome face.

Only now she would value a few minutes on her own to think over what had just happened.

Ten minutes ago she’d been ready to drag him outside and arrange a date. Or two. Except now things were very different. She would have to put all such thoughts on hold. Sam was no longer a stranger blown into town for a week, never to be seen again. He was someone with ongoing links to Dolphin Bay. She’d be working with him as a professional in a business capacity.

How could she possibly think she could have any kind of personal relationship with him?

CHAPTER FOUR

SAM HAD BEEN knocked sideways by the news that he’d be working with Kate on Ben’s new resort development. He’d always enforced a strict rule in the company—no dating clients. Without exception. Not for his employees, not for him. He’d amended a number of his father’s long-standing edicts when he’d taken over but not that one. It made good business sense.

How ironic that it now applied to Kate—and company protocol was too important to him to have one rule for the boss and another for the rest of the team.

He felt like thumping the wall with his clenched fist, right through the tastefully restored wooden boards. He clenched his jaw and uttered a string of curse words under his breath.

He had to get out of this room. On top of his frustration, he felt stifled by all the wedding talk buzzing around him. When it came to his turn to get hitched—his own derailed wedding hadn’t turned him off the idea of getting married one day—he thought elopement would be a great idea.

Then there were the overheard murmurs that had him gritting his teeth. They had all been along the lines of what a shame it was about Kate and Jesse—immediately hushed when he’d come near. Whether that was because they saw him as an interloper, or they could tell he was interested in Kate, he didn’t know. But he didn’t like it.

Everything he’d heard about the oppressive nature of small-town life was true.

He hated everyone knowing his business. How Kate could bear it was beyond his comprehension. Anything smaller than Sydney, with its population of more than four-and-a-half million, would never be for him.

A middle-aged woman was bearing down on them. No doubt she wanted Kate’s opinion on the colour of ribbons on a flower arrangement or some such waste-of-space frivolity.

‘I’m going outside for some air,’ he muttered to Kate and strode away before the woman reached them.

He realised his departure was being watched with interest by everyone else in the room. Tough. There’d be nothing for them to gossip about now. Kate was strictly out of bounds.

It was dark outside now but the moon was full, reflecting on the quietly rippling waters of the bay. He gulped in the cool evening air, then let out those curse words at full volume as he kicked at the solid base of a palm tree as hard as he could.

His first thought was that after the site inspection tomorrow he would get the hell out of Dolphin Bay. But he’d promised to be Ben’s groomsman. He cursed again. He was trapped here—with a woman he wanted but suddenly couldn’t have.

The door opened behind him, a shaft of light falling on the deck. He moved away. He was in no mood to talk. To Ben. To Jesse. To anyone.

‘Sam?’ Her voice was tentative but even without turning around he knew it was Kate.

He turned. There was enough moonlight so he could see the anxiety on her face. She was wringing her hands together. He ached to reach out to her but he kept his hands fisted by his sides.

‘Let’s walk out to the end of the dock,’ she said. ‘You feel like you’re on a boat out there. And no one can overhear us.’

He fell into step beside her. A row of low-voltage sensor lights switched on to light them to the dock. The builder in him admired the electrics. His male soul could only think of the beautiful woman beside him and regret about what might have been.

They reached the end of the dock without speaking. A light breeze coming off the water brought with it the tang of the sea and lifted and played with the soft curls around Kate’s face. She seemed subdued, as if the moonlight had sucked all that wonderful vivacity from her.

She turned to him. ‘I had no idea you were building the resort.’

‘I had to keep it confidential. I didn’t know you were involved in any way.’

‘It was the first time I heard I was to liaise with you. I hadn’t seen that coming.’ She looked up at him. Her face was pale in the weak, shimmering light, her eyes shadowed. ‘This...this changes things, doesn’t it?’

‘I’m afraid it does,’ he said, knowing from the regret in her eyes that she was closing the door on him before it got any more than halfway open.

‘It...it means I have to say no to that date,’ she said.

One part of him was plunged into dismay at the tolling finality of her words, the other was relieved that he hadn’t had to say them first.

‘It means I have to rescind the offer,’ he said gruffly. ‘I have an iron-clad no-dating-the-clients rule.’

Her short, mirthless laugh was totally unlike her usual throaty chime. ‘Me too. I’ve never thought it was a good idea. There can be too many consequences if the dating doesn’t work out but you still have to work together.’

‘Agreed,’ he said. ‘There are millions of dollars at stake here.’ And his company’s reputation—especially at the time of a publicly scrutinised buy-out bid. The company had to come first again—as it always did. This time, it came ahead of him dating the only woman who had seriously interested him since his broken engagement. Again he had that sense of the business as a millstone, weighing him down with protocol and obligation—as it had since he’d been fourteen years old.

Kate laughed that mirthless laugh again. ‘Funny thing is, I suspect it’s Ben’s clumsy attempt at matchmaking and it’s totally backfired.’

He gave a snort of disbelief. ‘You think so?’

‘The groomsman thing? The cooked-up excuse to get me to show you the land when there’s no real need for me to?’

‘My take on it is that Ben thought you knew more than anyone else about the plans for the new resort. You were the best person for the job. Why would you believe any differently?’

‘I guess so,’ she said with a self-deprecating quirk of her pretty mouth. ‘But the out-of-the blue request to be a groomsman?’

Sam snapped his fingers. ‘I get it—you were concerned an extra member of the wedding party would put your schedules out?’

Her smile was forced as she raised her hand. ‘Guilty! I guess I was a little disconcerted about that. But I mainly felt bad for you being coerced into being a groomsman on such a trumped-up excuse. You don’t seem to be comfortable with all the wedding stuff—I saw you yawning during the meeting. Then you get thrown in at the deep end.’

‘Ben didn’t have to coerce me to be his groomsman. I liked the idea of being your escort at the wedding.’

Wouldn’t any red-blooded male jump at the chance to be with such a gorgeous girl? Or had Jesse done such a number on her she didn’t realise how desirable she was?

Truth be told, if it hadn’t been for the prospect of more time with Kate, he’d rather have stayed a guest and stood apart from the wedding tomfoolery. Now he would have to spend the entire time with Kate, knowing she was off-limits. It would be a kind of torture.

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