He broke off and looked rueful as Tottie rose, came over and arranged herself at Harriet’s feet.
Harriet glanced at him briefly. In jeans, boots and a khaki bush shirt, with his thick hair ruffled and blue shadows on his jaw, he looked the epitome of a man of the land whereas, when she’d bumped into him, in a grey suit, he’d definitely been more of a high-flying businessman.
She shivered involuntarily. He’d been so angry in a quiet but deadly sort of way.
‘Talk to me, Harriet,’ he said firmly.
She took a sip of tea and then a deep breath. ‘I need a job, quite urgently.’
‘You—according to Arthur, anyway—are highly, if not to say über-qualified. Why would you want my job?’ He frowned. ‘It’s stuck out in the country even if you don’t have an army of lovers to worry about.’
‘It...’ Harriet paused ‘...suits me.’
‘Why?’
A short silence developed between them and lengthened until he said impatiently, ‘Oh, come on Harriet! I—’
‘I just want to get this job,’ she said with sudden intensity, ‘on my merits.’
‘Well, your merits are fine but I need to know more,’ he said flatly.
‘This kind of job doesn’t grow on trees,’ Harriet said after a long moment. ‘And it so happens it’s the right district for me.’
‘Why?’
Harriet sighed. ‘My brother was badly injured in a surfing accident. He’s now in a rehabilitation centre at—’ she named a facility ‘—that’s handy to Lennox Head and Heathcote. He has to learn to walk again. That’s why—’ she looked up at last and smiled with considerable irony ‘—when this job came up, it seemed like an answer to all my prayers. Until, that was—’ She stopped abruptly.
‘You found out whose job it was,’ Damien supplied.
She didn’t answer but looked away.
‘You decided to proceed, however.’ It was a statement, not a question.
‘Yes.’
‘And I suppose that’s why you wanted to make sure the weekends were free? So you could see your brother. Talk about coals of fire,’ he murmured wryly. He added impatiently, ‘Why couldn’t you have just told me all this in the first place?’
Harriet shrugged. ‘Ever since I found out about the job, I’ve been...I have been a nervous wreck,’ she conceded. She gestured. ‘It would be so perfect but...’ She shrugged again. ‘To be perfectly honest, you’re the last person I would want to accept a favour from.’
He grimaced. ‘Needs must when the devil drives. You need the money?’
‘I need the money,’ she agreed rather dryly. ‘This is a private hospital and it’s not covered by my brother’s medical insurance but it has a terrific reputation. And to be able to be close to Brett at the same time is an obvious bonus.’
‘I see. Has it—’ he paused and raised an eyebrow at her ‘—occurred to you that I was simply driving along minding my own business that day when all hell erupted, in a manner of speaking?’