Australian Affairs: Taken. Miranda Lee
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his comment. ‘I don’t see why not.’
He shook his head as he looked her up and down. ‘You’re not what I was expecting.’
‘Oh?’ she returned stiffly. ‘And what were you expecting?’
‘Someone a little older and a little less…er…attractive.’
Jess thanked the Lord she wasn’t a blusher. For if she had been she might have gone bright red under the openly admiring gaze of those beautiful blue eyes.
‘That’s nice of you to say so, Mr De Silva. I think,’ she added, wondering if she’d sounded old and ugly on the phone.
‘I told you to call me Ben,’ he said, and smiled at her, a full hundred-watt smile which showed perfect American teeth and a charm which was just as dazzling.
Oh my, Jess thought, trying not to be too dazzled.
Not without much success, given she just stood there staring at him whilst her heartbeat did the tango and she forgot all about Fab Fashions.
‘Perhaps we should get going,’ he said at last.
Jess gave herself a mental shake. It wasn’t like her to go ga-ga over a man, even one as impressive as this.
‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ she said, still far too breathlessly for her liking. ‘Do you need help with your bags?’ she added, recalling what he’d said about having a banged-up right shoulder.
‘I can manage,’ he returned. ‘Just open up the back for me.’
He managed very well. Managed the passenger door without any help either.
By the time she climbed into the driving seat and belted up, Jess had taken control of her wildly dancing heartbeat, having told herself firmly to get a grip and stop acting like some awestruck schoolgirl. She was twenty-five years old, for pity’s sake!
Taking a deep breath, she reached for her sunglasses and put them on.
‘Would you mind if I called you Jessica instead of Miss Murphy?’ he said before she could even start the engine.
Jess winced. She hated being called Jessica. ‘I’d rather you call me Jess,’ she replied, and found herself throwing a small smile his way.
‘Only if you promise to call me Ben,’ he insisted as he snapped his seat belt into place.
Jess suspected that women—no, people in general—rarely said no to Ben De Silva. His combination of looks and charm were both seductive and quite corrupting. Already she wanted to please him. Yet she wasn’t, by nature, a people pleaser. Jess had always had a mind of her own and a mouth to match. Suddenly, however, all she wanted to do was smile, nod and agree with everything Ben said. Already he was Ben in her head.
‘Okay. Ready, Ben?’ she said as she reached for the ignition and glanced over at him again.
Dear heaven but he was gorgeous! He smelt gorgeous too. She did like men who wore nice aftershave.
‘As soon as I put these on,’ he replied, pulling his own sunglasses out of his pocket.
They were very expensive looking. God, now he looked like a movie star, a very sexy movie star, the kind a girl fantasised over in the privacy of her bedroom.
Jess’s susceptibility to this man was beginning to annoy her. Next thing she’d know, she’d start flirting with him. Which wasn’t like her at all! Gritting her teeth, she checked her rear and side mirrors, executed a perfect three-point turn, then accelerated up the street. Neither of them said anything for a full minute or two, Ben being the first to speak.
‘I must thank you again, Jess, for doing this for me.’
‘You don’t have to thank me. You’re paying for the privilege.’
‘Still, I can see you probably had to put yourself out to do this. I would imagine a girl as attractive as yourself would have better things to do over the weekend than work.’
‘No, not really.’
‘You didn’t have to break any dates?’
‘Not this weekend.’
‘That surprises me. I would have thought you’d have a boyfriend.’
‘I did,’ she bit out. ‘Till recently.’
‘What happened?’
She shrugged. ‘We were going to go on a road trip together around Australia. That’s why I bought this four-wheel drive. Anyway, at the last moment he decided he didn’t want to do that. Instead, he took off backpacking around the world with a mate.’
Jess felt, rather than saw, Ben’s startled look. When driving a client, she rarely took her eyes off the road.
‘He didn’t ask you to go with him?’ he quizzed, his shocked tone soothing Jess’s still lingering hurt over Colin’s defection.
‘No. He did ask me to wait for him, though.’
‘I hope you said no.’
She laughed as she recalled her quite volatile reaction. ‘I said a little more than just no.’
‘Good for you.’
‘Perhaps. Colin said I have a sharp tongue.’
‘Really? I find that hard to believe.’
Was he mocking her?
A quick glance showed a perfectly straight face. A perfectly straight, very handsome face. Jess decided he was just making conversation, which was better than sitting there saying nothing all the way to Mudgee.
‘He also said I was bossy and controlling.’
‘No!’
He was mocking her. But not unkindly.
She sighed. ‘I suppose I am a bit controlling. But I just like things to be organised. And to be done properly.’
‘I’m somewhat of a perfectionist myself,’ Ben said. ‘Ah, there’s Westfield’s. Not far to the motorway now.’
Jess frowned. ‘How come you know Westfield’s? I thought this was your first visit to Australia.’
‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘I’ve spent a lot of time here. Well, in New South Wales, at least. My parents are divorced, you see. You already know my father’s American, but my mother’s Australian. She owns the apartment in Blue Bay. I actually went to boarding school in Sydney. That’s where I met Andy—he’s the one who’s getting married.’
‘Goodness!’ she exclaimed. ‘I had no idea.’
‘Well, why would you?’ he said, sounding puzzled.
Jess suppressed a groan. As the saying went, oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.
It actually went against Jess’s grain to be less than honest with people. But her intentions had been good. Hopefully, Ben wouldn’t be too annoyed with her if she told him the truth. She really didn’t want to drive all the way to Mudgee watching what she said and didn’t say. And, yes, she supposed she did still hope to discuss the future of Fab Fashions with him. He seemed very approachable and a lot smarter than she’d given him credit for. But that didn’t make the act of confessing any easier.
‘Oh gosh, this is just so awkward. I suppose I simply have to tell you now. I…I just hope you won’t be too annoyed.’
BEN HAD NO IDEA what she was talking about. ‘Tell me what?’ he asked.
‘The thing is, Ben…’ she started, obviously with great reluctance.
‘Yes?’