Her Not-So-Secret Diary(30)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN




ON THE following Saturday night Sophie put the finishing touches to her  make-up and stood back to check her reflection. She'd chosen a  sapphire-blue dress that left one shoulder bare and had an asymmetric  hemline. But tonight wasn't about her, it was Melissa's big night.

The past week had been hectic. She'd stored what she wasn't taking. The  rest spilled out of two open suitcases on her living-room floor.

The time had also given Sophie an opportunity to get better acquainted  with Melissa. She was a complex girl but she obviously adored her big  brother. It was just that, according to Lissa, she was feeling  suffocated.

Sophie understood Melissa wanted to test her independence. Having a  protective brother, while a wonderful thing, could prove stifling-or so  Sophie imagined, thinking of her own long-lost sibling. Lissa wanted her  own place and she'd said Jared needed his privacy too.

Sophie agreed. She added a pair of silver drop earrings to complete her  look. But Melissa knew Sophie was leaving so why the conspiratorial  smile when she'd mentioned his need for space? Did she think she and  Jared were something more?

Did she maybe think Sophie was coming back sooner rather than later?  Sophie stared at her eyes in the mirror. No regrets, remember.

She and Lissa had come to an arrangement. Lissa was taking over Sophie's  apartment. The landlord was satisfied. Jared had accepted the  inevitability with only minor reservations. Everyone was happy … except  Sophie. Oh, she was happy. She told herself so every day and smiled at  her reflection to prove it. Who wouldn't be, with the trip of a lifetime  so close she could almost smell it?

Because there was Jared.

Her smile slipped away, her heart contracted and a brief mist clouded  her vision. Jared, with that adorable crease in his cheek and something  deep in his eyes that told her he had secrets he wasn't going to share  with her.

She was leaving and she knew he cared for her more than a little. His  sister was moving out after she left and he'd be on his own for the  first time. A man who loved having his family close and enjoyed  companionship. Sophie wondered how he'd deal with that.

And he'd given her a most precious gift, a gift he wasn't even aware  he'd given: her acceptance of self, belief in herself. So after  consulting Melissa, and with Crystal's okay, Sophie had arranged a  surprise she hoped he'd recognise for what it was and enjoy.

Even with Melissa planning to live independently, Jared was still very  much his youngest sister's protector. Sophie remembered a conversation  she'd had with Melissa.

'I guess that's because you're the baby,' Sophie had said. 'When your father died, Jared wanted to make sure you-'

'No.' Melissa shook her head. 'My father wanted nothing to do with me.  I'm not his biological daughter. Our mum had an affair. He discovered it  after she died. I was only a few weeks old, so I don't remember her.

'But I remember my father's coldness towards me and my bad behaviour as a  result and getting attention for all the wrong reasons. I was alone, I  was different, I was an outsider. I had no biological parents and only a  half brother and sister and they had each other.'                       
       
           



       

Sophie touched Melissa's hand, sad that she couldn't see the blessing she'd been given in Jared. 'But, Melissa … '

'I know.' Melissa flapped a hand. 'I'm so lucky. Even as a four-year-old  I remember Jared standing up to his father and copping a beating to  protect me.'

'Beating?'

'Oh, yeah.'

Which sounded to Sophie as if it had happened more than once.

Melissa didn't want to hurt Jared's feelings by appearing ungrateful and  moving out and leaving him all on his lonesome but she needed to do her  own thing. She and Crystal were also very concerned about his work-life  balance.

Yes, there were women, but not often and he never dated the same one  more than a couple of times. He needed a woman who could light his fire,  Melissa had said. And she'd looked at Sophie when she'd said it. A  woman he could settle down with and make a family of his own.

Melissa worried he wasn't looking because he still felt that  responsibility for his baby sister who was no longer a baby, but that he  might see things differently if she wasn't around …

The apartment solution was a good one, Sophie thought, on the short cab  journey to Enzo's. Jared had organised a taxi for Sophie ahead of time  so she could ensure everything was organised and he was bringing Lissa. A  place of her own would give Melissa independence, she'd be ten minutes  away from Jared, and Pam lived in the same complex if she needed help.

And Jared could move on with his life.

And Sophie was not going to think about that tonight. She'd be much too busy making sure everyone else had a good time.



Jared shuffled Sophie around the makeshift dance floor to one of the  local band's recent hits. The rhythm was essentially fast but they moved  to their own beat-much slower and out of time if anybody cared enough  to look.

The restaurant's sliding doors had been removed and the dance floor set  up outside. Coloured lanterns danced on their strings in the gentle  ocean breeze, the scents of kerosene torches and salty air and fried  garlic assaulted the senses.

'You did a brilliant job getting it together on such short notice,'  Jared said against her ear. 'You've worked practically non-stop and I  appreciate it. Thank you.'

Sophie looked over his elegantly clad shoulder. Pam was in the corner  having an up-close and serious conversation with some hotshot Sophie  recognised from the office. Crystal and Ian had left earlier with  Arabella, but the guest of honour was laughing up a storm with some of  her friends by the remains of the birthday cake inside. 'You're very  welcome and I'm grateful for the opportunity.'

Melissa had wanted the occasion to be a formal affair. All the guys  looked gorgeous in suits despite the warm evening and the girls, glad of  an excuse to tart themselves up for a change in what was normally a  casual lifestyle, wore semi-formal dresses and plenty of bling.

Every one seemed to be having a good time. Sophie had enjoyed a  champagne to celebrate the cake cutting. And Jared, as usual, looked  irresistible in his dark suit and classy silver tie.

He must have noticed her smiling-or was she drooling?-because he tilted  her face up to his, placed a slow melting kiss on her lips that promised  all kinds of anticipated delights and murmured against her mouth, 'I  think we can leave now.'

Oh, and she wanted that promise fulfilled. 'But it's only ten-thirty and the party's my responsibility. I need to-'

'Please the man who paid you,' he murmured again.

He slid one large finger beneath the strap on her right shoulder and  drew a sensuous circle there. 'Ah … ' She shivered at the little thrill of  anticipation that trickled all the way down to her toes, but she had a  job to do. 'But I … Lissa-'

'Will thank you very much for all you've done. Then she'll say goodnight and tell us to enjoy the rest of the evening.'

The way he said that, the way his eyes darkened, the way his finger slid  lower, beneath the fabric of her dress and towards the top of her bra …   That promise again …  And the trickle became a torrent.

'These young things don't want us oldies hanging around.' He was already  withdrawing his finger to take her hand and lead her towards Melissa to  say their goodbyes.

Sophie laughed. 'You talk as if we're over the hill.'

'We are to them. Come on.'

And she knew why he was insisting they leave early. It was their last  night together. Tomorrow afternoon she was flying to Sydney to catch her  international flight scheduled for Monday morning.

Jared drove her home. Except … they didn't seem to be headed in that direction. 'Where are we going?'                       
       
           



       

'Wait and see.' Apartment buildings and luxury hotels twinkled with a  million lights as they drove a short distance, then Jared pulled to a  stop under the portico of a well-known five-star hotel.

'We're staying here?' She stared up at the gold and marble and glass.

'I thought we might.' His desire-darkened eyes burned into hers.

'All night.' They hadn't spent the night together since Noosa. She'd  hated that, but now, with only this night left, maybe it was a very  unwise idea. Maybe the most dangerous idea she could think of.

And far too seductive to refuse.

He seduced her further with the gentle brush of a fingertip over her  lips. 'All night. We even have a late checkout in the morning.'

'But I didn't bring-'

He leaned across the centre console and nuzzled the underside of her  jaw. 'Believe me, you won't need a thing.' When he straightened again,  her pulse was already leaping in anticipation.

'But tomorrow morning … '

'Got it sorted … ' He pulled a small bag from behind his seat and set it  on her lap. 'Pam packed a few things. She hoped you wouldn't mind her  using her spare key for your apartment without your permission.'