He threw up his hands and they all laughed at Ethan Cartwright in such a dilemma.
‘So then I had to turn myself into a hero and give her a job until she found another suitable PR position,’ he continued.
‘Supervising the renovations of his house,’ Charlie chimed in. ‘And let me tell you she was a stickler for detail. Didn’t let the tradesmen slip up on anything. They didn’t need any supervision from me until after Daisy left.’
‘But did she look kindly on me for this rescue act?’ Ethan queried theatrically. ‘As far as Daisy was concerned I was just another boss. I remember very clearly her first day at the house when I was doing my best to charm her. She looked sternly at me and laid down the law—the master of the house does not dance with the staff.’ He rolled his eyes and pulled a sad grimace. ‘No dancing with Daisy.’
Everyone was vastly amused by his show of frustration.
‘This has to be a first for you, Ethan, having your interest in a woman turned down,’ one of his old friends from Riverview, Dave Marriot, commented, grinning widely. ‘Now you know what it’s like not to be an instant winner.’
‘And good for you, Daisy, keeping him on toast,’ his wife, Shannon, said approvingly. ‘Guys like Ethan get used to women falling in their laps.’
‘I didn’t deliberately keep him on toast,’ Daisy quickly slid in. ‘It just took me a while to realise he wasn’t so insufferably arrogant, not caring about anything but what he wanted.’ She smiled up at him. ‘I found myself liking him for lots of reasons. He didn’t even mind when I was beating him at tennis.’
‘You beat Ethan at tennis?’ Mickey crowed.
She laughed. ‘No, he won in the end. He made the mistake of going easy on me early on and the set went to a tie-breaker.’
‘I give you all fair warning,’ Ethan said. ‘The next tennis party I hold, Daisy and I are going to wipe everyone else off the court.’
‘Was that how you finally won her over, being a good sport?’ Olivia asked, looking thoroughly entertained by the story.
‘No. I was still the boss and Daisy has principles with a capital P.’ He sighed over her recalcitrant attitude, making everyone laugh again before he delivered the punchline. ‘I had to wait until she moved on to a new PR position at a publishing house. Only then did she consider it appropriate to let me into her personal life. Which is why you haven’t seen her with me before today.’ He tossed off a helpless gesture. ‘All her doing, not mine. As I said, a terribly difficult woman.’
It was a very clever spin on the real story and Daisy was deeply grateful that it made their relationship so readily acceptable by his friends. Who she was didn’t matter. They simply loved the idea of Ethan having to chase her for months to win what he wanted, which clearly made her quite marvellous in their eyes.
And made Ethan even more marvellous in hers.
There’d been no ego in that story. He had deliberately played her up and played himself down and she loved him all the more for it. The tension she’d been feeling about meeting his friends had been completely dissipated, and the foundation set for a delightfully happy day together.
They moved on to the Winning Post restaurant, the starched white linen tablecloths and classy settings adding their special touches to it. The floor was constructed in tiers, giving all the diners, wherever they sat, a clear view of the action out at the racetrack. For an even closer look at every entire race, a television set was attached to each table.
Directly below them was the parade ring where the horses circled around before moving out to the starting gates. At one end of that was the stage where presentations of prizes were made and other entertainment took place. Just beyond this area was the finishing line for each race. All the fences were lined with roses in full bloom. It was a great view with much to see and enjoy.
They had just sat down when they saw a helicopter coming in to land in the middle of the field. ‘James Ellicott making his usual entrance,’ Mickey remarked, shooting a quizzical look at Ethan who shrugged and openly said, ‘No problem. Daisy knows about Serena.’
‘And may I say I much prefer your current partner,’ Charlie said, grinning at Daisy. ‘I’m far more comfortable with down-to-earth than airs and graces any day.’
‘Yes, Serena does tend to put it on,’ Allyson commented with a warning look. ‘Don’t let her patronise you if she stops at this table to say hello.’
‘Just remember, you’ve got Ethan. She hasn’t,’ David pointed out.