Miranda Lee - Contract with Consequences

‘About what your father said that night. He might have meant he couldn’t stand to look at you because you reminded him of Josh. You were physically identical, after all. It might not have meant that he didn’t love you just as much as your brother.’

‘Pardon me, but I think his subsequent actions rather confirm that he didn’t. He had every opportunity over the years to be a loving, caring father to me but he wasn’t. He acted like I didn’t exist. You’ve no idea how jealous I used to be of your father. Now he was what a father should be.’

‘He was rather wonderful,’ Scarlet agreed. ‘But at least you had a great grandfather.’

‘True. Grandpa was very good to me. To be honest, if it wasn’t for him, I probably would have run away from home and ended up in jail.’

‘Oh, surely not?’ Scarlet protested.

‘Why not? Jails are full of angry young men, Scarlet. Neglected sons with little self-esteem and no goals in life. My grandfather gave me back my self-esteem, plus the goal of becoming a geologist. I was shattered when he died just before my graduation. But even in death, he looked after my well-being by willing me some money. Quite a lot of money, actually. With it came a letter, telling me to travel and to see the world. So as soon as I graduated, I took off. First I went to Europe, but strangely Europe didn’t appeal to me all that much. Too many cities and not enough trees maybe! I took off again and travelled all around for about two years.

“Eventually I reached South America. By that time, I had run out of money so I had to find work or go home. As you can imagine, going home didn’t appeal all that much. Anyway, because I had no actual work experience, the only job I could get was with a speculative mining company who were looking for geologists to go places most people weren’t prepared to go. It was dangerous work, but the money was good, and I found I rather enjoyed taking risks. Over the last decade, I discovered a new emerald mine in Columbia, oil in Argentina and natural gas in Ecuador.

“In return, I got shot at several times, fell off a mountain, almost drowned in the Amazon and was bitten by more vicious insects than you could ever count. Still, for my blood, sweat and tears I got paid serious bucks. I was able to buy myself that house in Rio and this apartment here in Darwin. I now don’t have to take jobs which might get me killed!’ He smiled wryly. ‘I can even afford to support a child and give his or her mother enough financial freedom that she doesn’t have to work for the rest of her life. If she doesn’t want to,’ he added.

Scarlet hadn’t even given John supporting her financially a second thought. Now that he’d brought the subject up, she realised it was a tricky situation. If she accepted his money, it would give John more rights. Custody rights, maybe.

Her forehead scrunched into a frown as she once again considered the consequences and complications which would come with John being the father of her child.

‘More thinking, I see,’ John said before she could voice an answer to her concerns. ‘And not happy thoughts either. Look, if you don’t want my money, then just say so. I won’t ram it down your throat. Most women would be happy to have that offer on the table, but I should have known you’re not most women.’

‘I do value my independence,’ she admitted.

‘With my money you could buy yourself your own place. You could even employ a nanny, if you want to stay working.’

‘A nanny? I don’t want to hand my baby over to a nanny! As for buying my own place, I’ll have you know I already have enough money to buy my own place, if I wanted to. I’ve been saving for a house ever since I started work. Thank you very much for your offer, John, but no; I don’t want or need your financial support.’

Her stance shouldn’t have annoyed him. But it did.

‘Fine,’ he bit out. ‘I won’t pay for a damned thing.’

‘There’s no reason to get angry,’ Scarlet countered sharply. ‘You should be glad that I’m not most women. Just think what would happen if I were a gold-digger. I could take you for heaps!’

In spite of himself, John’s mouth quirked. She looked so disgusted by the very idea. Her anger had flushed her cheeks and made her look even more beautiful than usual. ‘Fine. I accept that it’s a good thing you aren’t a gold-digger. Now, are there any more questions I have to answer before we can proceed with my plan for today?’

Scarlet blinked her surprise. ‘You have an actual plan for today?’ She’d thought she was the one with the plan.

‘I did have. Before you put a spanner in the works and started wanting to get to know me better.’

‘Well I… I…’ Scarlet could not believe she was stammering when she was usually so articulate. She pressed her lips tightly together and took a deep breath before continuing.

‘Okay. Fine. No more questions for now. But I might have some more later,’ she added as an afterthought. When I can think more clearly, that is . ‘So what was your plan for today?’

‘A brief hour of sightseeing followed by a light lunch, followed by an afternoon in bed.’

Scarlet’s mouth was suddenly bone dry. ‘The whole afternoon?’

‘That’s a compromise. When you first walked out onto my balcony this morning looking good enough to eat, I wanted to whisk you right back into bed and keep you there all day.’

She just stared at him, the extent of his desire for her still a shock. So was the extent of her desire for him. Suddenly, her earlier resolve to restrict sex to the evenings dissolved, as she herself was dissolving.

‘Also,’ he went on with a sudden flare of desire in his eyes, ‘this afternoon has nothing to do with babies and everything to do with pleasure. Not just mine, either. Judging on how you reacted last night, your sex life so far has been sadly lacking. I aim to rectify that, if you’ll let me.’

Let him! How in earth was she going to stop him?

John rose to his feet and held out his hand to her. ‘Now. Let’s go sightseeing.’

SCARLET was impressed by the waterfront development. It was tourist heaven, with luxury apartment blocks, a fantastic hotel, chic shops and cafés, great walkways suitable for morning jogs, a wave pool to delight children and adults alike and deep-water wharves at which cruise ships could dock. Scarlet might have made lots more complimentary comments if she hadn’t been rendered uncharacteristically quiet by what was going on in her head, and in her body.

Never before had Scarlet felt such agitation. Her head whirled. Her stomach swirled. When John suggested they have some lunch at a trendy outdoor café, she was swift to agree, because it meant she could finally take her hand out of his. Not that she didn’t enjoy holding hands with him. She did, more than she wanted to. But it wasn’t the kind of physical closeness she was craving.

It had been wickedly clever of him to tell her what he had planned for this afternoon, she realised as they sat down opposite each other. Clever and corrupting. For she could think of nothing else now. She couldn’t even make up her mind what to eat, telling him to order for her. John didn’t seem to be similarly afflicted, ordering their lunches with the kind of savoir faire she should have expected from this new John. He didn’t even consult the menu as he told the pretty young waitress to bring them two chicken-and-salad wraps on Turkish bread and two mugs of latte.

The girl’s simpering smile showed she found John just as attractive as Scarlet did.

She almost made some caustic remark after the waitress hurried off to do his bidding, biting her tongue just in time. But the near-miss left Scarlet somewhat rattled. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was jealous. Which was insane! There was absolutely no reason to be jealous because some slip of a girl was dancing attention on John. After all, she wasn’t going to be spending the afternoon in bed with him. Scarlet was!