What A Westmoreland Wants / Stand-In Bride's Seduction. Yvonne Lindsay

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СКАЧАТЬ problem. When can you get away?”

      She pulled out her cell phone to check her calendar and her schedule for this week. Once she saw the place and gave him an official estimate, she could ask for a deposit, which would make up some of what Niecee had taken from her. “What about tomorrow around one?”

      “That might be a bit of a problem.”

      “Oh.” She figured he would probably be tied up at Ram’s ranch doing something at that time, so without looking up she advanced her calendar another day. “What about Wednesday around noon.”

      He chuckled. “Twelve noon on Monday would be the earliest availability for me.”

      She nodded when she saw that time was free for her, although she wished she could see it sooner. “Monday at noon will be fine.”

      “Great, I’ll make the necessary flight arrangements.”

      She put her phone back into her purse and glanced over at him. “Excuse me?”

      “I said that I will make the necessary flight arrangements if we want to see the house Monday at noon. That means we’ll need to fly out no later than Thursday morning.”

      Gemma frowned. “Thursday morning? What are you talking about? Just where is this house located?”

      Callum leaned back in his chair and gave her one kilowatt smile. “Sydney, Australia.”

      Two

      Gemma didn’t have to look in the mirror to know there was a shocked look on her face. And her throat felt tight, as if sound would barely pass through it if she tried to speak. To prove the point, she tried to utter a word and couldn’t. So she just sat there and stared across the table at Callum like he had lost his ever-loving mind.

      “Now that that’s all settled, let’s order some dessert,” Callum said, picking up the menu.

      She reached out, touched his hand and shook her head. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “You don’t want dessert?”

      She drew in a deep breath, made an attempt to speak once more and was glad when sound came out. But to be absolutely sure he understood, she held up her hands in the shape of a T. “Time-out.”

      He lifted an eyebrow. “Time-out?”

      She nodded. “Yes, time-out. You lost me between the flight on Thursday and Sydney, Australia. Are you saying this house that you want me to decorate is in Sydney, Australia?”

      “Of course. Where else would it be?”

      She fought hard not to glare at him; after all, he was a potential client. “I thought possibly in the Denver area,” she said in what she hoped was a neutral tone.

      “Why would you think that?”

      She couldn’t hold back her glare any longer. “Well, you’ve been in this country for almost three years now.”

      “Yes, but I’ve never said or insinuated to anyone that I wouldn’t return home. I was here helping Ramsey out and now that he has the hang of things, I’m no longer needed. Now I can get back home and—”

      “Get married,” Gemma supplied.

      He chuckled. “As I said earlier, I don’t plan on staying single forever.”

      “And when do you plan on marrying her?”

      “Her who?”

      Gemma wondered why some men suddenly went daft when their girlfriends were mentioned. “The woman waiting for you back in Australia.”

      “Umm, I didn’t know there was such a creature.”

      Gemma stared at him in disbelief. “Are you saying you don’t have a fiancée or a sweetheart back in Australia?”

      He smiled. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Where did you hear something like that?”

      Normally Gemma wouldn’t divulge her sources, but typically, Jackie knew what she was talking about, and that wouldn’t be anything the woman would have made up. “Jackie Barnes. And everyone figured she got the information from you.”

      Callum shook his head. “She didn’t get that from me, but I have an idea where it came from. Your brother, Zane. I complained about Jackie making a nuisance of herself and he figured the best way to get rid of a woman like Jackie was just to let her believe I was already taken.”

      “Oh.” She could see Zane doing something like that. If for no other reason than to shift Jackie’s interest from Callum to him. Her brother was a womanizer to the nth degree. And Derringer wasn’t any better. It was a blessing that the twins, Adrian and Aidan, were away at college, where the only thing on their minds was making the grade. “I assume Zane’s plan worked.”

      “It did.”

      “In that case you were lucky,” Gemma decided to say. “Some women would not have cared that you were spoken for. They would have taken it as a challenge to swing your interest their way.”

      Callum couldn’t help but think of just where his interest had been for the past three years and knew no one could have succeeded in doing that. The woman sitting across the table was the one he intended to marry.

      “And you actually assumed I have someone of interest back home?”

      She shrugged. “Hey, that’s what we all heard and I had no reason to assume differently. As far as I knew, you weren’t dating anyone and whenever we had events you always came alone.”

       And tried hanging around you every chance I got, he thought.

      “You were almost as much of a loner as Ramsey,” Gemma added. “If your goal was to keep the women away, then it evidently worked for you.”

      He took a sip of his drink, wondering if the reason she had yet to pick up on his interest in her was because she figured he was already taken.

      “Callum, about this trip to Australia?”

      He knew where she was about to take the discussion and was prepared with a spiel to reel her in. “What about it? If you’re having second thoughts, I understand. No sweat. I’ve already contacted a backup in case you couldn’t do it. Jeri Holliday at Jeri’s Fashion Designs has indicated she would love the job and will have her bags packed for Australia before I can blink an eye.”

      Over my dead body, Gemma thought as she sat up straight in her chair. Jeri Holliday had been trying to steal clients from her for years.

      “I think she liked the fact that I’m offering $50,000, and half of that upfront.”

      His words froze her thoughts. “Come again?”

      He smiled. “I said, considering that I’m asking the decorator to give up at least six weeks, I’m offering $50,000, just as a starting price.”

      Gemma СКАЧАТЬ