Page 10 of Bride Under Contract

It came as a ridiculously nice surprise when his sulky mouth moved into a slight smile. A smile that told her she was forgiven. Better still, this austere man seemed vaguely amused.

‘Thank you,’ she said again, hopefully a little less loudly than last time, and he gave her a brief, polite nod before moving on.

He was carrying a long leather cylinder and a laptop bag, and she watched as he walked along the VIP section towards the smiling flight attendants. And then her moment with the beautiful stranger was gone for ever.

Gosh, Grace thought, her heart hammering—not just at the near miss with her passport, but more at the impact of him.

She tried to shrug the brief encounter from her mind and looked around at her fellow passengers, who barely deigned to give her a glance.

She checked her phone messages and listened to Violet wishing her a safe trip. Then she felt the familiar knot of anxiety tighten as she opened her emails. It was merited, because there was the July invoice for her mother’s first two weeks in the nursing home.

It would already have been debited, so she could easily ignore it, and there was a part of her that wanted to wait until after her holiday. To simply escape the issue for a while...

Hairdresser...

Manicure...

Group Trip...

Gardening Club...

Grace closed her eyes.

Those were the exact things she wanted for her mother, but the top-up fees were beyond anything she’d remotely envisaged.

Her mind was still on the blasted account as she boarded, but as she waited for the flight attendant to check her boarding pass Grace let her gaze drift to the left, possibly hoping to see the delectable stranger. She peered at the business class cabin and saw the champagne being taken around, though there was no sign of him.

A curtain was pulled back and she glanced beyond and briefly glimpsed a flash of a white shirt and a glint of a gold watch, then a jacket being handed over, before the curtain was abruptly closed.

He was beyond business class, and somehow she’d already known that.

That stunning, prepossessing man was beyond anything she’d ever seen.

He was simply beyond.

CHAPTER TWO

SERENITY?

Not quite...

Even so, sitting in the boat with her fellow travellers, Grace had certainly caught a few glimpses of it. In witnessing Mother Nature at her finest, there were times she had to pinch herself to believe she was really here.

It had been the most incredible few days. Sunrise boat trips followed by a gorgeous breakfast with her group, then a day to explore the boardwalk around the gorgeous resort. Or simply to rest on a lounger and watch the gentle activity on the river. Or relax in her suite.

After several turbulent years, finally there had been time to reflect and think—about her mother, her future, how wonderful Violet had been.

And there had been time to daydream...to lie in a hammock and think about gorgeous strangers who stared right into your eyes. How he’d smiled...

Today, before dusk, the ten in her party had set out again, to watch the animals and birds prepare for the night ahead. While she still hadn’t seen orangutans, tonight had been a highlight—on their way back they’d had to stop the narrow open boat as pygmy elephants crossed the river.

They were not so small...

Night was closing in as the exhilarated group made their way back, the lights of the villa twinkling invitingly ahead.

‘We’re rather late,’ Felicity, their extremely efficient guide for the evening, reminded them. ‘So get changed for dinner as quickly as possible.’

Guests were expected to dress for dinner, and on the day Grace had arrived a red sarong shot with silver had been waiting on her bed. At first it had felt strange to dress up, but Grace had started to enjoy how seriously meals were taken here. A gong would summon the guests to a stunning alfresco dining area set high over the river. There the guests would sit in their allocated groups and share in a sumptuous buffet dinner.

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