It was so hot outside the aircraft that Natalie felt faint. From an English autumn to the air conditioned cabin and now this heat was shock enough, without the tiredness and fear she had struggled with all the journey long. The bright light dazzled her, increasing an already bad headache, and she couldn't wait to get out of the sun.
In the airport building it was cooler but the crowds seemed to jostle her all over the place and for the first time in her traveling life she felt lost, incapable of asserting herself, her usual drive quite gone. Luckily she didn't have much luggage and it was soon collected, dragged over to a seat and safe.
She sat down and waited because there was nothing else to do. Whoever was meeting her would eventually find her. She rested her head back, closed her eyes and hoped for the best. Her head was drumming, a great throbbing pain that made her feel sick. She would give just about anything to go to bed right now and as soon as she got to her hotel she would simply sleep. Tomorrow would feel better.
The crowds cleared but she remained still her eyes closed, her head resting back against the seat, and the man who came in and looked round for her stood stock still for a moment as he saw her, a look of disbelief on his face.
His dark eyes made an instant catalogue of her appearance, his gaze searchingly intent, running over the whole of her slim figure from her finely shaped head to the beautiful slender legs. Her hands rested lightly on her laps, the fingers long, elegant, the nails pale with no varnish. His jaw tightened, an angry breath leaving him slowly.
She was a mirage of black and gold. out of place in the world of tanned, confident people he was used to. For a moment he almost refused to believe what he saw, but this had to be the girl he was meeting; just about everybody else had gone. His dark brows drew together in annoyance and for a few seconds more he simply watched her, hoping he was wrong.
She seemed to be resting lightly almost ready to take her flight, her blue black hair straight and long, parted in the middle, her oval face pale beneath an Olive-tinted skin. The faint sheen of exhaustion about her had his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
Her dress was black with bright yellow flowers across it, golden chains around her waist and her neck. There was a delicate look about her that belied everything he had been told. The closed eyes were shaded with purple shadows, her mouth drooping like a sick child's. An exotic butterfly! Hell! she wouldn't survive in Madembi, or anywhere else by the look of her.
He felt a wave of irritation against his friend Gabriel Basoni but quickly suppressed it. Gabriel hadn't ordered this girl out here. Somebody at the TV company had thought up this bright idea and this was their advance party, this exhausted girl. If anyone had to take care of her he could just imagine who it would be. He damned Gabriel all over again and some nameless idiot in England.
'Miss West?'
The coldly authoritative voice had Natalie's immediate attention and her eyes came open slowly, sleep almost winning the battle. The dark eyes that watched her held a barely suppressed hostility that startled her and she struggled to sit upright, surprised to see an English face. Somehow she has expected to be met by an African, somebody from the minister's own office. She stared at him momentarily unsettled.
'Yes. I'm Natalie West.' Long green eyes looked back at him, peculiarly changeable, unusual against her dark hair and tinted skin. With her eyes open she looked more exotic than ever and his lips tightened in spite of his efforts to be dispassionate.
'Kip Forsythe. As I was in Nairobi, I offered to meet you.'
She was used to people, dealt with them all the time, and she read his expression. He hadn't offered. She could tell that at once. He had been pressurized into it----no, charmed. This man didn't look as if he could be pressurized. He was tough - looking, with a handsome tanned, determined face, well-delineated lips, dark eyes. He was well over six feet tall and although she was way above average height herself he made her feel almost tiny. His hair was fair, bleached further by the sun, and the dark eyes looked her over and obviously found her wanting. He didn't like her.