‘Did Beth send you to meet me?’ he asked as he ground to a halt in front of her, his accent not dissimilar to Gary’s.
Dear God, Gary! In her fluster, she’d forgotten all about him.
‘I’m sorry, no,’ she apologised swiftly, dragging her eyes away from the disturbing stranger to see if Gary had made an appearance. ‘I don’t know anyone named Beth. I… I thought you were my fiancé for a moment,’ she rattled on, her eyes agitatedly searching the now constant line of exiting passengers.
But Gary wasn’t amongst them.
She glanced back at the American, who was still standing there. He was still staring at her as well, but now with an air of curiosity, whereas before his eyes had carried…what, exactly?
She wasn’t sure.
‘You…um… look like him. Sort of.’ In truth, Gary was not quite in this man’s league. Gary was good-looking. This man was heart-thumpingly handsome.
‘Aah,’ he said. ‘I see.’
The obvious disappointment in his voice and eyes rattled Charlotte. What had he been thinking? Or hoping?
‘We’re getting married tomorrow,’ she added, for goodness knew what reason. She’d already explained why she’d waved and smiled at him.
‘Lucky man,’ he murmured, his gaze moving slowly over her from head to toe.
Suddenly she knew what she’d seen in his eyes earlier, and why he’d sounded disappointed just now.
Charlotte had encountered desire in lots of men before, but never had the message been delivered with such high voltage, and by such incredible eyes. They weren’t just beautiful, but intelligent and intriguing, and very sexy.
Her feminine antennae quivered as his message was received once more, the current charging through her veins heating her body from the inside out.
Charlotte could not have been more shocked when her face actually flamed. Why, she hadn’t blushed in years!
‘If you’ll excuse me,’ she said, and forced her legs to carry her away from his disturbing presence. But even as she went back to searching for Gary, her mind still lingered on the handsome stranger. Who was he? What was he? And what was he doing here in Sydney?
CHAPTER THREE
DANIEL was almost grateful when she gave him the brush-off. What on earth had he been doing, staring at her like that?
Hitting on women had never been his style. On top of that, she was a blonde. One of the bottled variety. Daniel had an aversion to bottled blondes.
To be fair to himself, she wasn’t the usual bottle blonde, the kind his father married. The kind Daniel often met in LA, the ones whose over-bleached, over-teased hair was not the only thing false about them.
Despite the dark roots, this girl’s hair was sleek and simply styled, falling in a straight curtain halfway down her back. There was nothing even remotely false about her face, either, which was as beautiful as it was refreshingly natural. If she was wearing make-up, it had been applied with a light hand. Her skin didn’t need enhancement, anyway, being fine and clear and olive-toned. Her eyes were just as naturally beautiful. Big and blue as the Pacific, with the longest, darkest lashes.
She did have lip gloss on. Her lips had definitely looked extra shiny when he’d stared at them. Shiny and wet and full. The kind of lips made for kissing, and for being kissed by, and for…
Daniel pulled himself up sharply and whirled away from where he’d been standing, still staring after her. It had been a long time since he’d been knocked for six by a woman at first sight. And an even longer time since he had no chance at all in being successful with one he fancied as much as he’d instantly fancied this one.
An intelligent man had to know when a female target was worth pursuing, and when she was not. This girl was getting married tomorrow. He couldn’t expect her to fall at his feet. Couldn’t expect her to respond to him in any way.
Which perhaps was what was still bothering him. Because she had responded to him, hadn’t she? He’d seen the flash of sexual connection in her eyes. He’d spotted the telling tension in her body language. Sensed that she’d been as startled by her attraction to him as he’d been by his for her.
The way she’d blushed when he’d looked her up and down might have been embarrassment. But he suspected not. She was a woman, not some naive young girl.
No, she’d responded to him all right, which was a source of great irritation.
Daniel was not a man who liked to lose at anything in life. But this time, he had to accept defeat gracefully. Had to ignore the signs of mutual attraction and move on. Literally.
With a sigh, he started searching the crowded arrivals area for his sister, deliberately making sure he didn’t go back the way the blonde had gone. The last thing he wanted was to see her throwing her arms around some other man. His male ego was still smarting. His male body wasn’t feeling crash hot, either.
But Beth was nowhere to be found. Yet she should have been here. The plane had been late enough landing.
If Beth had one flaw it was chronic tardiness.
The beeping of his cellphone had Daniel pulling it out and putting it to his ear.
‘Yes, Beth,’ he said drily.
‘I’m sorry, Daniel, but I overslept. I was so excited to see you today that I couldn’t sleep at first last night. So I lay down on the sofa to watch TV and I must have drifted off there. So I wasn’t in my bed to hear the alarm and Vince, of course, would have just banged the button down and gone back to sleep.’
‘Fine. I’ll catch a taxi.’
‘No, no, don’t do that. I am on my way. Have some breakfast in the coffee shop down the far end of Arrivals and I’ll be there in around twenty minutes, OK?’
‘OK,’ he agreed, resignation in his voice.
‘You’re not mad at me?’
‘No.’
‘I’m amazed!’
‘I decided on the plane to be more relaxed in future,’ he informed her with a somewhat ironic smile. Relaxed was not how he was feeling at this moment. Clearly, he needed more practice at being laid-back. And in handling sexual frustration.
‘No kidding. That’ll be a first. Look, I have to hang up. I can’t risk being booked talking on my mobile whilst driving. I’ve already lost three points on my licence for speeding. See you soon. Bye.’
‘Bye,’ Daniel replied into an already dead phone.
Smiling wryly to himself, he slipped the phone into his pocket, then pushed his luggage trolley down to the coffee shop Beth had directed him to. Once he’d ordered a mug of flat white at the counter—he’d had breakfast on the plane—he settled himself at a clean table, stretched his legs out, crossed his arms and started surveying the world passing by.
Bad idea.
For who should be coming towards him but the gorgeous blonde, without a fiancé by her side? She was walking very slowly, with a cute little pink cellphone clamped to her ear, totally unaware of him, her lovely head down, her concentration on the conversation she was having.
Once again, Daniel could not take his eyes off her. Not her face so much this time, but her body, which in slow motion was a sight to behold. His first visual port of call were her breasts—especially in that tight pink top. Full and lush, with perky nipples which even the confines of a bra could not hide. There was nothing wrong with her lower half, either. Small waist. Womanly hips. Flat stomach. Long legs. Slender ankles.