TONY tried to get a grip on himself as he drove the jeep up to Macrosson Street. He'd never felt jealous over any woman in his entire life. Just a harmless comment about Hannah's dimples and David Hampson could have been a dead man back there, which was a totally over the top reaction.
The effect Hannah O'Neill had on him was getting close to disastrous. Even when she had set him straight in an upfront reasonable manner that should have forced him to be rational about the crew situation, he couldn't get over the hump of the feelings she stirred in him. He told himself it was stupid to transfer those feelings to every guy who met her. She wasn't so...stunningly captivating. She was just... very attractive.
Yet when he'd checked her over again with that one modest backpack from the locker telling him she was certainly unique amongst all the woman he'd known—living with so little—bells had definitely been ringing for him, a whole host of physical bells that still had his body buzzing with demands he had to dampen, not to mention the alarm bell in his head that told him he was in danger of losing it, along with all the common sense he'd learnt from past experience.
Remember Robyn, he savagely recited to himself as he spotted a place to park and pulled the jeep into it. He'd taken the tempting bait, fallen into the Robyn trap, then found she was claiming special privileges from the crew on the grounds of being his woman, lording it over them and even being rude to the day-trippers because she didn't have to please anyone as long as she was pleasing Tony King in bed.
No more of that.
Employees could not be playmates. Never!
He switched off the engine and steeled himself to look at Hannah O'Neill with no more than polite consideration.
"I have to pick up the apartment key from my brother. It will only take a few minutes." He pointed to the building he was about to enter. "That's the control centre for King Investments. Alex runs it. Are you okay waiting here?"
She nodded, her attention turning to the building so he only caught a glimpse of the bewitching green eyes. He got himself moving, determined on swift practical action. The sooner Hannah was delivered to an apartment, the sooner he could get her out from under his skin.
A pity he wasn't involved with anyone at the moment. That was probably half the problem, missing the intimate company of a woman he liked. There was a hole in his life to be filled, but that was no reason to fill it with Hannah O'Neill. It was just a matter of looking around, putting himself in the social swim. He'd find a woman who attracted him and maybe she'd be right for him. Like Gina was for Alex.
Now there was a marriage he could envy. His brother had hit the jackpot with Gina Terlizzi. And made a lucky escape from the woman who'd thought she had Alex right where she wanted him—a user like Robyn. Self- centred sexy women could be very dangerous. A man definitely needed to keep his wits around them.
He just caught Alex as he was about to leave. Five o'clock. No working overtime now he had Gina to go home to. "Hold on a moment! I need a key to one of the guest apartments," Tony told him, blocking the doorway out of the executive office.
His big brother backtracked to his desk, throwing him a questioning look. "I didn't know we had anyone arriving."
"We don't." He heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. "Nonna, in her wisdom, has offered an apartment to my new chef for Duchess until she gets herself settled in Port Douglas."
"She? You're replacing Chris with a woman?" Raised eyebrows. "I thought you preferred a male chef."
"Chris has worked very well, but he did put me in a bind to get someone fast and there were only female applicants." Sighing his vexation over the whole pressure situation, he went on to explain, "I asked Nonna to interview them and she seems to have taken a real shine to this Hannah O'Neill. Gave her the job before even consulting me about the others."
"Accommodation, too," Alex remarked, smiling at Tony's obvious chagrin.
"I just hope she's not a free-loader who'll prove difficult to shift once she's in," Tony muttered darkly.
"Oh, I'd trust Nonna's judgement on that. Very astute when it comes to character," Alex drawled, fishing a key out of a drawer.
"Character has nothing to do with the overall picture," Tony argued. "I don't like any of my staff getting preferential treatment, let alone a newcomer."
Alex shrugged. "If it's only a stop-gap..."
"Nonna even invited Hannah to afternoon tea in the loggia. And asked her to come again."
"So?" Alex's sharp blue eyes were highly amused at this preferential treatment. "Aren't you always telling me to relax and go with the flow?"
Tony heaved a sigh of exasperation. Alex had always been into controlling things. It seemed that being the oldest brother he'd been over- endowed with a sense of responsibility and he was big enough and tough enough and smart enough to carry through anything he thought should be done. Over the years Tony had tried to lighten him up. Turning those tables on him now was simply not appropriate.
"This is work, Alex, not play," he tersely reminded him.
"If Nonna thinks it will work out fine, I'm sure it will," he blithely returned, tossing over a key attached to the Coral King tag. "I take it this Hannah O'Neill is...uh...very appealing?"
"As far as I'm concerned she's completely out of bounds. Thanks for the key." He turned to leave, then hung back on a strong afterthought. "Don't mention this to Matt."
"Why shouldn't I mention it to Matt?"
"Because..." He didn't want his younger brother sniffing around Hannah. She wasn't Matt's employee. He'd feel free to pursue an interest in her and...
"Well?" Alex prompted, looking quite intrigued.
The conflict he was struggling with could not be voiced. "Just leave well enough alone. As Nonna should have." Holding the key between finger and thumb, he shook it at Alex. "She's gone too far with this."
"I imagine she was just trying to give you a smooth changeover, Tony," came the bland reply. "Do you have Hannah O'Neill parked downstairs?"
"Yes, she's waiting in the jeep."
"Then I'll walk out with you and meet her. Give you my opinion." "That isn't necessary," Tony grated, wishing he hadn't run off at the
mouth.
"I'm curious. As you say, it's not every day Nonna takes such a personal interest in someone she's just met."
At least Alex didn't have eyes for anyone but his wife, Tony reasoned, giving up on arguing. This brother probably wouldn't even notice Hannah's dimples. He certainly wouldn't look as far as the butterfly!
Hannah noted the display window of a real estate agency just along the street. As soon as she had some spare time, she'd inquire there about available accommodation for residents. She was tempted to do it right now, but it would probably be a black mark against her if Tony King returned and didn't find her waiting in the jeep. Besides, her backpack couldn't be left unattended in this open vehicle. It was not a good move to risk losing what she had, including her new job.
Tony King's confusing attitude towards her was very unsettling. She wished she hadn't accepted his grandmother's offer of the Coral King apartment, even with the understanding it was only on a very temporary basis. While it was too late today to change her mind on that issue, she would certainly assert her independence as soon as possible.
Her nerves tightened as she saw him emerge from the building in step with another man who was undoubtedly his brother, coming to check out the unheralded guest his grandmother had insisted on accommodating.
Alessandro... Alex...
He was bigger and taller than Tony, though there was no mistaking the family likeness in their strong facial features. Same thick black hair, too.
The way they carried themselves held an innate confidence that somehow exuded success in whatever they did. Both very striking men, Hannah thought, yet it was Tony's presence that made her heart slip beats.
Sure she was about to be introduced, Hannah opened the passenger door of the jeep and hopped out, feeling the need to stand her ground in the face of being judged again. The action instantly drew attention from Tony's brother who took one sweeping glance at her and then smiled, apparently seeing no wrong in her at all.
"Hannah, this is my brother, Alex. Hannah O'Neill."
Alex's eyes were a vivid blue and Hannah felt warmth and kindness flowing from them as he offered his hand. "Welcome to Port Douglas, Hannah," he said in a deep pleasant voice that contrasted sharply with Tony's curt tone.
She smiled back, relieved at his ready acceptance of her. "It's good to be here." The touch of his hand was nice and warm, too, comforting. "I hope I haven't caused a problem," she added earnestly. "I can find some other place to stay."
"As I understand it, Tony's rushing you straight into work, so I'm perfectly happy to go along with my grandmother's arrangements."
"Thank you." Needing to establish she had no intention of becoming a problem, Hannah quickly added, "I promise I won't impose on your generosity for long."
"Don't worry about it."
Alex withdrew his hand and clapped his brother on the shoulder, grinning widely as Tony shot him a sharp look. "You've got the key. I'll leave you to handle everything. Happy days!" he added, saluting both of them as he moved off about his own business.
"What a nice man!" Hannah remarked on a sigh of pleasure in the meeting.
"Alex is married."
The emphatic warning tightened up her nerves again. What did Tony think she was? Some kind of man-eater? "I know that," she stated, glaring considerable impatience at him. In fact, enough was enough on this point. "Mrs King told me so. She also told me he has a son and his wife is pregnant. Should that stop me thinking he's a nice man and she's a lucky woman?'
He grimaced at her irritation, looking quite irritated himself. "I was merely giving you information which I didn't think you had."
"Thank you," she bit out, reminding herself he was her new boss and while he might be the most exasperating man alive, she didn't really want to get on the bad side of him, so she climbed back into the jeep, vowing to keep her mouth firmly shut in his presence except for saying "Thank you," when it was appropriate.
He settled himself beside her and said, "I'll drive you down to the apartment now."
Hannah wondered where it was but limited herself to replying, "Thank you."
It was only a three-minute drive. The jeep pulled up outside an apartment block situated on the lower side of Wharf Street. She'd walked past it earlier this afternoon on the way up to the castle. The apartments were terraced down the hill to the waterfront and all of them would clearly have a fantastic view of incoming and outgoing boats, not to mention the sunset which would start happening soon. Great location!
Despite her earlier misgivings about accepting this very hospitable offer, Hannah couldn't stop her spirits rising at the thought of spending her first few days in Port Douglas at a place that had such marvellous advantages. It was close to the township, close to the marina, and being a "guest' apartment, it would undoubtedly provide pure luxury after her weeks of bunks in back-packer hostels.
She followed Tony down a path which led straight to one of the top floor apartments. He was carrying her bag with no visible effort which showed just how strong his muscular arm was...and his muscular back and muscular buttocks and muscular legs.
She sighed, wishing he wasn't such an enigma. Was he off women for some reason? He'd been curt with Sally, too, so maybe it wasn't just her.
If he'd had a bad experience—and Hannah certainly knew how bad experiences felt—well, being sour on women in general could be quite understandable. It did wear off after a while. Though learning to trust again was difficult if one had been brutally let down by someone near and dear.
The shields went up and no one was allowed close.
A wounded man, Hannah thought, feeling a rush of sympathy for Tony King as he unlocked the door and waved her to enter ahead of him. "Thank you," she said warmly and smiled to show she harboured no ill feelings about his manner towards her. After all, he didn't know her very well...yet.
He stiffened into a very upright stance as she sailed past him. Hannah kept going, giving him some space to feel more comfortable with her. A galley kitchen led to a big open living area, furnished with a dining and a lounge setting—all cane with brightly coloured cushions in a cheerful tropical pattern.
"This is lovely!" she cried, forgetting to limit her speech to "Thank you' as she beamed her pleasure back at him.
He lowered her bag onto the floor. Refraining from any comment on her comment, he pushed the Coral King tag attached to the door key into a slot on the wall. "This turns on your electricity and the air-conditioner."
"Thank you," she said, clasping her hands gratefully and hoping he didn't think she'd been too effusive about a place which was strictly temporary.
He stared at her for several seconds and Hannah caught the sense he was in some fierce conflict with himself. "Right!" he finally snapped. "I'll leave you to it then. Don't forget it's an eight o'clock start tomorrow."
"I'll be there on the dot. Probably earlier just to be sure. You can count on it," she assured him.
"Good!" He nodded but his head was the only part of him that moved. He seemed stuck there in the doorway, his gaze still locked on her, like he was trying to burn his way into her mind to see if she could be trusted.
"I'll keep everything here spick-and-span. You don't have to worry I'll make a mess of it."
"I'm not worried," he asserted, frowning over her supposition. "I'd better give you my card so you can contact me if you run into any problems. The mobile phone number can always reach me."
He started forward, taking his wallet out of his back pocket and opening it to extract a business card. Hannah also moved forward to meet him halfway, anxious not to hold him up since it was clear he wanted to get away. He was looking at the card, stuffing his wallet back in his pocket and walking so fast he almost collided with her.
Shock on his face.
His hands instinctively grabbed her upper arms to steady her as she rocked back from him.
"Sorry..." The word rushed out of her mouth, just before her throat completely choked up as shock hit her, as well.
His face was so close his eyes seemed to blaze into hers, and the fingers pressing into the soft flesh of her arms...they seemed to burn, too. She felt invaded by an electric current that was playing total havoc with her entire body.
Heat was swarming through her like a giant tidal wave, making her senses swim, filling them with a huge awareness of the man holding her, the overwhelming maleness of him tugging at her own sexuality, the strength he emanated, the power, even the masculine scent of him was flooding through her nostrils, an intoxicant that jammed all thought.
She stared back at him, her mouth still half open though incapable of emitting sound. Her ears seemed to be roaring with other messages...a million bells exultantly ringing that he wanted to do far more than hold her arms, far more than tunnel into her brain to find out who and what she was. There was no reason at all in what sizzled from him but its sheer physical blast held Hannah totally captivated.
His gaze dropped to her parted lips and the certainty he was going to kiss her clutched her heart. His head started lowering towards hers, then unaccountably jerked up. For one shattering moment she saw horror in his eyes. The hands on her arms sprang open, releasing all contact. He shook his head, stepped away, bent and scooped up the card that had fallen on the floor.
Hannah was too dazed to move a muscle. He lifted one of her hands and pressed the card onto her palm, actually curling her fingers around it. "There!" he said on a heavy expulsion of breath. "Must go now. Must go.
Number's on the card if you need me."
His fingers brushed her cheek as though driven to draw her out of what had happened between them and into the immediate now. "Okay?" he asked, the horror in his eyes replaced by anxious alarm and a need to paste something else in place.
She nodded, still unable to get her throat to work.
"Okay," he repeated, backing off, swivelling around, heading straight for the way out.
He was gone with the door closed behind him before Hannah could even blink. She found herself touching her cheek as though his fingers had left some imprint there.
She'd never felt anything like this before. Not even with Flynn, whom she'd loved. Tony...Tony King.