‘Mary…’
The name fell so softly from his lips, Chloe wondered if she’d heard correctly. ‘I beg your pardon?’
He shook his head, a bemused little smile curving his mouth. ‘You reminded me of someone.’
A woman he’d cared about? Chloe would have liked to ask about her, the momentary softness from him strongly piquing her curiosity, but almost instantly he shrugged it off and was the powerful man in charge again, walking purposefully towards her.
‘Nice dress,’ he said. ‘It suits you.’
She flushed at the compliment though there was really nothing to it, only a bit of warm approval, and he didn’t linger on it, moving straight to business as he handed her a sheet of paper.
‘This needs your signature. It gives permission to the removalist company to enter your apartment at Randwick, pack up all your personal possessions and transport them to the guest house on my property at Vaucluse. I’ll have it faxed to them once you’ve signed and they can get the job done this afternoon.’
It was all said in a matter-of-fact tone. Chloe took the sheet of paper, stared at it, tried to swallow the shock of the refuge he was offering. She wanted her things out of the apartment, needed a place to put them, but for it to be so closely connected to this man felt…dangerous. She hadn’t thought ahead, didn’t have an alternative plan to offer, yet…
‘There must be apartments to let.’ She raised anxious eyes to his. ‘I don’t feel comfortable about…’
‘I can’t guarantee your security anywhere else, Chloe.’ The dark eyes mocked her fear of him. ‘You won’t be living with me. The guest house is quite separate to the main residence. The important issue is protection against any harassment, and not only from your mother or Tony. Once this scandal breaks, the media will go into a feeding frenzy, which means the paparazzi dogging your every move. You will be completely protected on my property. Consider it a pro tem arrangement, while you think about how best to handle your future.’
Yes, she did need time to make a proper plan—one she could and would stick to—and knowing all too well the tenacity of her mother, the point about protection against harassment was very appealing. Tony, too, might try to change her mind. Besides, how would she escape the inevitable outcome of all this with reporters chasing her and paparazzi shoving cameras in her face if she was trying to manage on her own? There was so much threatening her bid for freedom and Max was holding out safety from all of it.
She heaved a sigh to relieve the tightness in her chest. It didn’t help. Another disturbing thought struck. ‘There could be talk about us if I do this. I mean…with me leaving Tony…being with you…’
He looked sardonically amused by the intimation they could be lovers. ‘I’ll make it perfectly clear you’re my guest, Chloe. I’m simply looking after the star of my show while she’s dealing with a traumatic episode in her life.’
Heat surged into her cheeks again. It had been absurd of her to feel any danger in going with him. He wasn’t about to use or abuse her. Besides, he was attached to another woman.
‘Shannah Lian might not like it,’ she blurted out.
He shrugged. ‘I can take care of my own business, Chloe.’
Of course he could. Take care of hers, too. She felt foolish for even questioning the situation when he had already taken all aspects of it into account. ‘Do you have a pen?’ she asked, deciding her best course was to accept his offer.
He handed her one. She moved over to the coffee table, signed the permission note, then passed the pen and paper back to him with a smile of gratitude. ‘It’s very good of you to do all this for me.’
His smile smacked of deep, personal satisfaction. ‘I’m a mover and shaker by nature. It pleases me to be of service to you.’
The white knight…except his eyes were dark and simmering with a pleasure that suddenly felt very sexual to Chloe. Her heart skipped a beat. Shockingly, her vaginal muscles clenched. It took an act of will to ignore this totally unwelcome physical arousal and divert her mind to something else.
‘After you’d gone this morning I looked through the newspaper,’ she babbled. ‘I thought there might be some mention of the…the scandal. When you went back to the Starlight Room, didn’t anyone say anything?’
‘I made sure the story didn’t break last night. I didn’t think you were up to handling a hounding by the media and you’re too exposed to it here in the hotel.’
Caring for her…
That was even more seductive than his physical magnetism. It was terribly difficult to keep any defences up against how he affected her.
‘The story won’t remain hidden,’ he went on. ‘Someone will talk. I simply bought enough time to set up a secure environment where no-one can gain access to you without your permission.’
She shook her head over how much care he had taken. It was extraordinary. But then he was extraordinary. The master player in action on her behalf.
‘Thank you,’ she said huskily, finding it difficult to even speak in a normal voice. She swallowed hard to work some moisture down her throat and ruefully added, ‘Despite what you tell people, it will cause gossip, you know, with me leaving Tony and staying at your place.’
He looked at her consideringly. ‘Will that worry you?’
She thought about it for several moments before answering, ‘No. It will probably lessen the humiliation of the scandal, do my pride good being linked to you.’ An ironic little smile accompanied the plain truth. ‘You’re a bigger fish than Tony.’
He laughed, his brilliant dark eyes lighting up with twinkles of amusement. ‘Let me know if you get the urge to fry me.’
‘Not much chance of that,’ she swiftly retorted, heat racing into her cheeks again. ‘You’ve never been caught.’
‘Nor likely to be. I think most people would call me a shark.’ He cocked a challenging eyebrow at her. ‘You could try casting a net around me.’
It struck her that was precisely what he was doing, casting a net of security around her with ruthless efficiency. ‘I don’t have your power.’
‘Not mine, but you do have power, Chloe,’ he said on a more serious note. ‘A different kind. It tugs at people. Even me.’
The self-mocking glint in his eyes told her that the white knight role was out of character for him. His true nature was that of a shark, always on the hunt, going after whatever attracted him, taking however many bites he wanted out of it, then cruising off, looking for other appealing prey to satisfy him. There wasn’t a net that could hold this man. She’d always thought him intimidating, dangerous, powerful, and that impression was still very much in force.
However, it gave her a weird little thrill to know she tugged at something in him, too. Her mind shied away from the thought it was sexual. She was still married and he had Shannah Lian. It was probably more an arousal of sympathy that he didn’t usually feel. Anyway, it made her feel less of an image he liked on the screen and more of a person he cared about.
‘Well, whatever I have that tugs at you, I’m very grateful for it,’ she said. ‘You’ve provided me with an escape I couldn’t have managed myself.’
‘I hope it leads to a happier future.’ He smiled, holding out his arm for her to take. ‘Let’s go and enjoy lunch.’
She grabbed her clutch bag from the coffee table and linked her arm to his, determined not to worry about his motives for helping her. ‘What about the fax to the removalist company?’ she reminded him, wanting her personal belongings out of the Randwick apartment and in her own possession as soon as possible.
‘I’ll hand it to the executive butler