The Bridal Bargain by Emma Darcy Read Free Book Online

remarked on a sigh of pleasure in the meeting.
    “Alex is married.”
    The emphatic warning tightened up her nerves again. What did Tony think she was? Some kind of man-eater? “I know that,” she stated, glaring considerable impatience at him. In fact, enough was enough on this point. “Mrs King told me so. She also told me he has a son and his wife is pregnant. Should that stop me thinking he’s a nice man and she’s a lucky woman?’’
    He grimaced at her irritation, looking quite irritated himself. “I was merely giving you information which I didn’t think you had.”
    “Thank you,” she bit out, reminding herself he was her new boss and while he might be the most exasperating man alive, she didn’t really want to get on the bad side of him, so she climbed back into the jeep, vowing to keep her mouth firmly shut in his presence except for saying “Thank you,” when it was appropriate.
    He settled himself beside her and said, “I’ll drive you down to the apartment now.”
    Hannah wondered where it was but limited herself to replying, “Thank you.”
    It was only a three-minute drive. The jeep pulled up outside an apartment block situated on the lower side of Wharf Street. She’d walked past it earlier this afternoon on the way up to the castle. The apartments were terraced down the hill to the waterfront and all of them would clearly have a fantastic view of incoming and outgoing boats, not to mention the sunset which would start happening soon. Great location!
    Despite her earlier misgivings about accepting this very hospitable offer, Hannah couldn’t stop her spirits rising at the thought of spending her first few days in Port Douglas at a place that had such marvellous advantages. It was close to the township, close to the marina, and being a “guest’ apartment, it would undoubtedly provide pure luxury after her weeks of bunks in back-packer hostels.
    She followed Tony down a path which led straight to one of the top floor apartments. He was carrying her bag with no visible effort which showed just how strong his muscular arm was...and his muscular back and muscular buttocks and muscular legs.
    She sighed, wishing he wasn’t such an enigma. Was he off women for some reason? He’d been curt with Sally, too, so maybe it wasn’t just her.
    If he’d had a bad experience—and Hannah certainly knew how bad experiences felt—well, being sour on women in general could be quite understandable. It did wear off after a while. Though learning to trust again was difficult if one had been brutally let down by someone near and dear. The shields went up and no one was allowed close.
    A wounded man, Hannah thought, feeling a rush of sympathy for Tony King as he unlocked the door and waved her to enter ahead of him. “Thank you,” she said warmly and smiled to show she harboured no ill feelings about his manner towards her. After all, he didn’t know her very well...yet.
    He stiffened into a very upright stance as she sailed past him. Hannah kept going, giving him some space to feel more comfortable with her. A galley kitchen led to a big open living area, furnished with a dining and a lounge setting—all cane with brightly coloured cushions in a cheerful tropical pattern.
    “This is lovely!” she cried, forgetting to limit her speech to “Thank you’ as she beamed her pleasure back at him.
    He lowered her bag onto the floor. Refraining from any comment on her comment, he pushed the Coral King tag attached to the door key into a slot on the wall. “This turns on your electricity and the air-conditioner.”
    “Thank you,” she said, clasping her hands gratefully and hoping he didn’t think she’d been too effusive about a place which was strictly temporary.
    He stared at her for several seconds and Hannah caught the sense he was in some fierce conflict with himself. “Right!” he finally snapped. “I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t forget it’s an eight o’clock start