"Abbey!"
Abbey tried to smile. "Hello, Nick."
It was clear he hadn't been expecting her. The wide-eyed stare and pale expression made her heart skip wildly. Was this a good sign or a bad one? Was he happy to see her?
Right now he just looked shocked. His mouth hung open like an unhinged door.
He also looked incredibly sexy. But despite the neatly combed hair and the carefully shaved chin, Abbey could see signs of stress. A web of spidery lines that hadn't been there before crept across his forehead, and his black eyes-which she could only remember as shining brilliantly-were dull.
So, the last month had been hell on him, just like it had been for her. Good. He deserved it.
Nick's colleague cleared his throat and approached. He introduced himself as the new VP of Marketing, Mathew Willis, and she introduced herself as the new manager of the JJC Pharmaceuticals Melbourne office.
They sat at the long table and for several moments everyone stared awkwardly at each other.
Finally, Nick stirred from his stupor. "Where's Tarken?"
"Tarken no longer works for JJC. I replaced him."
A smile curved across Nick's lips. "Good for you," he said quietly.
Abbey felt her face heat up and she glanced at Donaldson to get proceedings moving.
Donaldson took his cue and went through the technical details with Mathew Willis. Abbey tried to concentrate but her attention was constantly drawn to Nick. He stared back at her. Intently.
There was no humor in his eyes, no bright spark as there had been a month ago. Today, his eyes were somber and his expression hard as he scanned her face.
Abbey tried to smile but couldn't. She just felt too awkward. She raised a brow in question and he finally awoke from his trance. He shifted in his seat, asked Willis a question and nodded at the answer. Willis continued to drone on and Nick's attention turned to her again.
He smiled, a tentative smile that warmed Abbey's heart. It wasn't a vindictive smile but a questioning one. Are we okay? it seemed to ask.
Abbey glanced away. She wasn't ready to answer that yet.
An hour later and progress was much slower on the deal than Abbey had expected. It seemed that Nick wanted to discuss every point. He debated all options, then mulled over possible conclusions, even when there was an obvious one.
Delaying tactics. To throw them off? It was a deliberate strategy businessmen like him used in the boardroom, she'd quickly discovered. Well it wasn't going to work on her. She'd sit quietly, let him talk and debate, then she'd go in for the kill when all options had been argued over.
At four-thirty Beverly brought in coffee and biscuits.
"Let's take a break," suggested Nick.
Everyone looked relieved. Except Abbey. "I think we should keep going. We have a six-thirty flight."
"Actually Beverly booked you into a hotel for the night just in case. If you give her your flight details she'll reschedule them for tomorrow."
Nick looked smug. He hovered beside her elbow, close enough that Abbey could smell his cologne. It was intoxicating and brought back so many memories. Painful ones, but good ones too.
"Abbey?" Nick prompted when she didn't answer.
She nodded and forced herself to concentrate. "I'll go see her now."
Beverly took down the flight details and gave her the name of the hotel and directions. "I also organized spare clothes for you for tonight and tomorrow. I hope I got your size right."
Abbey thanked her. "This meeting seems to be taking longer than I thought. Nick wants to discuss every point. He doesn't seem sure about anything in there."
Beverly raised her penciled-in eyebrows. "That doesn't sound like Mr. Delaware. Usually his meetings are short and to the point."
"Not this one."
Beverly shook her head. "How unusual. Just between us girls, most people call him The Machine round here. He just goes in, gets the job done and gets out again. No messing about. Doesn't care who's in the way usually. Although..."
She shook her head again and pursed her red lips.
"Although...?" prompted Abbey.
"Well, he has been a little strange this last month. Ever since he got back from the seminar in Melbourne."
Abbey caught her breath. "Different? How so?"
Beverly shrugged. "Not so...aggressive. Actually, he's been very nice. I quite like this new man." She grinned. "I hope the other Nick doesn't come back in a hurry."
Abbey thanked her and returned to the boardroom, her mind a little dazed.
She knew Nick was the straight-down-the-line businessman who always got what he wanted when he wanted-she'd seen evidence enough of his arrogance in Melbourne. Yet it was a side of him that was totally opposite to what she'd experienced at other times. Passion, need and a desire to be loved and to love someone back-these were the traits Nick Delaware had allowed her to see in Melbourne.