‘You’ve never mentioned family to me, Tamalyn,’ he commented at one point, eyeing her curiously. ‘Don’t you have one?’
She winced. It was not a subject she liked talking about and tried to brush it off quickly. ‘Not really. I’m an only child. I guess you could say I’ve made my friends my family.’
‘Yes, you’ve made it clear they’re important to you, but what of your parents? You’re not close to them?’
‘It’s hard to be close to someone who isn’t there for you,’ she stated bluntly.
He frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
Realising he was going to keep pressing her on the subject, she rattled out some bald facts. ‘My parents were divorced when I was very young. I was excess baggage that neither my mother nor father wanted in their desire to move on. A string of nannies looked after me until I was deemed old enough to take care of myself. At eighteen I was presented with a small car and a studio apartment at North Sydney. I’ve lived an independent life ever since. Enough said?’
‘A lonely life,’ he remarked.
‘It would have been without my friends.’
‘My mother and Celine are very close. I would have thought most mothers and daughters are. What’s the problem with yours, Tamalyn?’
She shook her head. If her mother met Fletcher and knew he was worth billions, not even the fact that he was twenty years younger would stop her from trying to ensnare him to the point where she could get a big chunk of that money out of him. Telling him how it was with her mother might start him wondering if the daughter was cut from the same mould. Tammy didn’t want to put a gold-digging question mark in his mind.
‘I’d rather talk about something more cheerful.’ She seized on a bit of news she hadn’t told him, smiling brightly as she delivered it. ‘Jennifer thinks she’s found her Mr Right so maybe there’ll be another wedding soon.’
His mouth curled sardonically. ‘Who’s the lucky man?’
His expression of cynical disinterest instantly reminded her of their divisive conversation at Celine’s wedding when he had arrogantly scorned her friends for viewing marriage as their ultimate ambition. It hadn’t been a fair comment to her mind then, and she didn’t like his tone now. Any couple finding they were right for each other were lucky.
‘He’s an author,’ she answered, refusing to let him diminish her pleasure in her friend’s happy excitement. ‘Jennifer works in PR for a publishing company and she took this guy—his name is Adam Pierce—on a publicity tour and they hit it off straight away.’
‘Adam Pierce…’ Fletcher mused over the name. ‘There was an article about him in this morning’s newspaper—an overnight sensation, his first book on the New York Times bestseller list.’
To Tammy’s relief, the cynicism in his eyes was replaced with genuine interest.
‘That’s him,’ she confirmed. ‘He wrote an erotic thriller, and it’s taken off in a big way. Jennifer gave me a free copy and I’ve brought it with me to read on the island.’
Fletcher grinned at her, his dark eyes dancing wickedly as he reached over and took her hand, his fingers threading evocatively between hers. ‘You can share the erotic bits with me.’
Heat coursed up her arm and spread through her entire body. Her mind lost all reasoning power, flooded with memories of how wonderfully erotic Fletcher had made the sex between them last time. The desire to feel everything with him again attacked her so strongly she almost squirmed in her seat. Fortunately, the steward announced they were coming in to land, and since Tammy had the window seat, she quickly turned her gaze to get an aerial view of the island, needing some distraction from the wild feelings Fletcher evoked.
It was in the shape of a crescent, the remains of an extinct volcano. There were rocky cliffs at one end, two mountains with their tops wraithed in clouds at the other, and a very green plateau in between with beaches on either side edging lagoons of gorgeous turquoise water. The outer reefs were outlined by the incoming surf breaking against them into masses of white froth. There were no obvious signs of habitation. The island had a primaeval look about it, a piece of exotic nature planted in the middle of pristine blue ocean.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she murmured.
‘Yes. And completely unspoiled,’ Fletcher said with satisfaction.
‘You’ve been here before?’ She turned her gaze back to him, wanting him to elaborate on his reasons for this choice.
His mouth curved in a reminiscent smile. ‘About twenty years ago. A school vacation with my parents and Celine. Best vacation I ever had.’
‘So you’re returning to a memory. Twenty years is a long time. It might have changed since then.’
‘No.’ His eyes were serenely certain. ‘That’s the beauty of Lord Howe. It’s like a national treasure, valued for what it is.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘You’ll see. I wanted you to share my pleasure in it.’
Her heart leapt with joy. Apart from physical intimacy, he’d shared so little with her. This island was clearly special to him and he’d chosen to bring her here. Surely that meant she was special to him, too. It wasn’t just about sex. Tammy hugged this lovely warm thought to herself as the plane landed. Five days with Fletcher were bound to reveal more of the inner man—not so much his super-brain but his heart and soul.
Hope was a hopelessly uncontrollable thing.
It simply would not lie down and die.
They alighted from the plane and walked across the runway to a white picket fence that enclosed a beautifully mown green lawn with park benches for people to sit on while waiting for flights, and a house that was apparently the airport terminal. Cows grazed in a pasture beyond the runway. Tammy couldn’t help smiling at how quaintly old-world and low-key it all was, almost as though they were stepping back in time to a different era when life was very simple.
They were met by the owner of their accommodation, who took charge of their luggage and ushered them to a minivan. As he drove them along the island road, which ran between towering Norfolk pines and masses of palm trees, he pointed out the bowling club, the school, the hospital, the island museum, the bicycle hire shop, the boat-shed where they could arrange snorkelling and diving trips or go out to the reef in a glass-bottom boat. All these places were well spaced out along the road, and they passed no cars, only people walking or riding bikes, which was the most common form of transport on the island.