The Billionaire's Captive Bride(4)

"You're right about that," she said with feeling, having been the child of divorced parents herself.

"So you'll call me?" he pressed.

"I will," she promised, blithely uncaring about whether it was  appropriate or not. The call might lead to another meeting with this  amazing man.

"Good!" Satisfied that a pact had been sealed, he turned to the father and boy. "Got to let Thomas go with Erin now, Dave."

There was no argument.

"I'm sorry for the scene I caused," Mr Harper offered as he handed Thomas over to Erin.

"I hope you have good times together in the future, Mr Harper," she  replied with genuine sincerity, then quickly led the boy away, seeing  that Sarah had the crocodile line in order and was anxiously waiting for  them to join it.

She was incredibly conscious of her body as she walked away from Peter  Ramsey. It was as though she could feel him watching her, assessing  everything about her. It made her shoulders square up to a straighter  carriage, caused her bottom to feel twitchy, and her knees actually  threatened to wobble. She didn't look back, telling herself to maintain  some dignity and not moon over the man like some star-struck teenager.  His card was in her hand. That guaranteed another connection with him.         

     



 

Once back at the kindergarten, Erin helped settle the children for their  afternoon nap. She had intended to leave at this point, having done the  favour her aunt had requested. A story-telling session from Erin  Lavelle was great PR for the preschool, backing up the much-dropped fact  that she was, indeed, Sarah's niece. However, the intriguing encounter  in the park demanded a change of plan.

Having taken the precaution of copying the essential details from Peter  Ramsey's card into the notebook she always carried with her, Erin  slipped into the administrative office to have a private conversation  with her aunt who was sitting at her desk, hunched over a newly made cup  of coffee and looking as though she needed a shot of caffeine to stitch  frayed nerves back together.

"That could have been nasty. Really nasty," she said with a roll of her  eyes. "Thanks for helping out, Erin. I don't know how I would have  handled it … " Her voice trailed into a heavy sigh as she shook her head  over the frightening incident. "The children could have panicked … "

"It was lucky Peter Ramsey was there," Erin quickly put in.

The name jolted Sarah out of her fretful train of thought. Her eyes sharpened to a wary alertness. "Who? Who did you say?"

"The big man. His name is Peter Ramsey. He gave me his business card … "  She placed it right in front of the coffee cup, hitching her bottom onto  the front edge of the desk's large surface as she explained the card's  purpose. "He said for you to mention his name to Mrs Harper if she gets  ugly over what her husband did."

Sarah picked up the card and stared at it disbelievingly.

Erin carried on with her job as messenger. "He also gave his personal  assurance that Mr Harper would seek legal help to get some custody  rights, so you shouldn't be afraid of him going off the rails again  because of not being able to see his son."

"Peter Ramsey," her aunt said with almost breathless awe. Her eyes were  goggling when she looked up at Erin. "I should have recognised him. But  why on earth would he be in that park?"

Erin honed in on the most pertinent point. "Why should you have recognised him?"

"Because of who he is, of course," her aunt brushed off impatiently,  then caught Erin's grimace of frustration. "Don't tell me you haven't  heard of him. He's Lloyd Ramsey's son and heir."

This stunning revelation was a blow to the fantasy that had been  building up in her mind. "You mean the multibillionaire, Lloyd Ramsey?"

"The one and only," her aunt confirmed.

Lloyd Ramsey was virtually an Australian legend, making so many  headlines over so many years, even Erin who'd always lived in the world  of books, was not ignorant of the man's power and how he wielded his  wealth. He'd been nicknamed "the shark" because he went after a bite of  just about every big business enterprise going. From Sarah's reaction to  Peter's name, apparently his son had also carved out a prominent  position in Australia in more recent times.

Erin had the queasy sense he was way out of her league, occupying a far,  far different world to hers. "Is Peter Ramsey a business whiz, too?"  she asked.

"Very much so on the international scene," came the heart-sinking reply.  "All high-tech stuff. I'm not up with that but he's always in the  social pages, being photographed with other celebrities. Every time he  changes women it's big news."

Erin's stomach did a dive, too. "You mean … he's a playboy."

The macho BMW sports car popped back into her mind. Had he been the driver?

Her aunt shrugged. "Well, he's still playing the field. Hasn't married  anyone yet. Probably doesn't give much time to his relationships. Always  on the go. And let's face it, a man in his position can get any woman  he wants when he wants."

Yes. He probably could.

The excitement that had been fizzing through Erin's bloodstream  completely flattened out. The possibility of Peter Ramsey being her  prince was looking dim if not downright dead.

Yet he had certainly played knight to the rescue in the park and she had  felt a strong connection with him. On the other hand, their shared  empathy for Mr Harper's situation could have accounted for that feeling,  plus, of course, her instinctive response to his very dynamic sexual  appeal.

"Why do you think he's involved himself with this?" Erin asked, wanting more input from her aunt.

Sarah shrugged. "Why was he in the park? Maybe the two are connected."

"What do you mean?"         

     



 

"There must have been a trigger for his action." She paused to think  through what had happened. "Maybe he overheard Mr Harper yelling out  that he'd been ripped off by his wife. That could have hit a sore spot  with Peter Ramsey."

"Do you know that some woman has just ripped him off?"

"No." Sarah leaned back in her chair, a cynical little smile tugging at  her mouth. "But it has to be always on the cards with that much wealth  on the table. Remember what happened with his sister."

Erin shook her head. "I don't know anything about his sister."

Sarah looked surprised. "The story ran in the media for weeks. It was huge."

"When?"

"Oh-" she waved her hand as though trying to grasp the time element "-must be almost three years ago."

Erin thought back. "I was travelling through Asia then."

"Always off somewhere," Sarah remarked with a sigh of exasperation at  her niece's footloose life. "You should stay home more often, Erin."

The cynical thought instantly slid through her mind-What home? Her  mother had remarried and made a home with her second husband-no room for  her daughter. Her father … fat chance of being welcomed for more than an  hour or two in his household! The house she'd bought at Byron Bay was  her writing base but it was always lonely there, not what a home should  mean.

Out loud she said, "So what about Peter Ramsey's sister?"

"Big scandal!" her aunt answered with relish. "Charlotte Ramsey was  about to marry one guy and just before the wedding he refused to sign  the prenuptial agreement her father had drawn up. She turned around on  the spot and married the British billionaire, Damien Wynter, instead.  Her former fiancé proceeded to sue for ownership of the apartment they'd  shared-hers, of course-in a de facto relationship. He got it, too.  Didn't go to court. She signed off on it. The point is … "

"He was in it for a slice of the Ramsey billions."

Sarah tapped the desk with her finger to emphasise the train of reasoning in her mind. "He was going to rip her off."

"And she didn't have that problem with Damien Wynter," Erin concluded.  "Which is rather sad when you think about it, finding out you're only  being married for your money. I wonder if Charlotte Ramsey is happy with  her British billionaire."

"Erin, you might write happy endings for your stories, but there's no  way you can guarantee them in true life," her aunt said dryly.

"True. But for whatever reason, Peter Ramsey seems intent on  underwriting a happier ending for Thomas and his father." She raised an  appealing eyebrow. "Mind if I stick around to see how Mrs Harper takes  that news?"

It drew a curious look. "Why so interested?"

"The power of a name," Erin tossed off casually. "I just want to see it in action."

"She doesn't pick him up until five o'clock."

"That's okay. I'll go for a walk in the meantime."

"Mmm … " Sarah pondered the request. "It might be wise to have a sit-in witness."