The New Year Resolution Page 4

  “How are we going to do that?” Ryan asked in a rare moment of self-doubt. The last thing he wanted was for Vincent to see through his whole charade and refuse to finance his project.

  Nicole turned her head to the side so she could look at him. “We’ll hold hands, laugh at private jokes, finish each other’s sentences... you know, the normal cheesy love stuff.”

  Ryan looked blank.

  Nicole clocked his look. “Let me guess,” she said slowly. “You’ve never been in love before?”

  “Well, love is a very subjective word.” Ryan shrugged. Could his relationship with Gabriella count as love, or Inge? Probably not, that was more infatuation or lust, or even mutual appreciation, but not love.

  “But being in love has the same universal symptoms,” pressed Nicole. “We have to look like we’re crazy about each other, like we can’t keep our hands off each other.”

  “Sounds like a lot of touching,” commented Ryan, who didn’t consider himself a touchy-feely kinda guy. Sure, sex was one thing, but walking around holding hands with a gooey expression on his face... mm.... He wasn’t so sure.

  “There usually is.” Nicole raised her arms above her head and stretched luxuriously, languishing in the late-morning sunshine.

  Ryan feasted his eyes on her body’s perfect profile and swallowed. Luckily he was still submerged in the cool water else he may be fighting a hard-on right about now. His stomach fizzled with anticipation. It was more like the feeling he got when he was on the brink of completing a new engineering project, not normally one he associated with women. Once they were with the Mahlers, he had carte blanche to touch that body as much as he liked – and she would respond.

  “So ground rule number one would be to give each other some space and privacy when we’re not with the Mahlers. That way we won’t feel like we’re living on top of each other.”

  “Fine by me,” murmured Nicole, her eyes closed against the sun’s rays. “I’m looking forward to exploring the island and working on my tan.”

  Ryan’s gaze dropped once again to the concave dip of her belly where little rivulets of water were rapidly evaporating. “And there’s no need to continue with the charade when we’re alone.”

  “Of course.”

  “And once this week is over,” he added, “everything returns to normal. There will be no ties between us.”

  “No ties,” Nicole confirmed with a half-smile. “Don’t worry. I get the picture.”

  “Good.” Ryan nodded, relieved she didn’t have a problem with that.

  Nicole was quite unlike any other girl he’d ever dated. But then he wasn’t dating her, was he? This was a pre-arranged agreement. She didn’t have the hots for him, clearly. And she was quite happy to let him go at the end of it. He was grateful she had no expectations, but he had to admit, it was a novel experience.

  “What about sleeping arrangements?” asked Nicole, turning over onto her stomach.

  “You take the bed,” offered Ryan, gazing at the sensual curve of her spine. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  “If you insist.” Nicole smiled. “I hope you won’t be too uncomfortable.”

  Not as uncomfortable as sleeping next to you. Ryan was pretty sure of that.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  He sank to the bottom of the pool, feeling the cool fingers of water thread through his hair and freshen his hot face. This holiday was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

  “You know, couples in love usually know quite a bit about each other’s pasts. Perhaps we should fill each other in on the basics so we can answer, or field, any difficult questions.”

  Nicole was in the lounge, pouring herself a G&T from the mini-bar. She still wore her bikini, but had wrapped a sarong around her waist. It was more for decency’s sake than because she was self-conscious. Nicole didn’t have a problem with her body. She’d always been slim with big breasts – much to the envy of her best friends. As a consequence she’d never had to diet or worry about her weight. The up-side of that was she had never developed the paranoia associated with yo-yo dieting and poor body image, like so many other girls.

  After their little dip in the pool earlier, she’d grabbed a bread roll and some cheese from the lunch buffet and gone for a leisurely walk around the island. Why not take advantage of ground rule number one? As Medjumbe Island was only a kilometre long, walking the circumference was hardly taxing, but she’d taken her time, stopping to admire the sandy beaches and swim every now and then in the lukewarm ocean.

  “Good idea,” called Ryan from the patio. He had his laptop open in front of him and was sipping an ice-cold beer. Nicole didn’t ask what he’d got up to for the last few hours – but judging by the complicated-looking spreadsheet in front of him, she could guess.

  “Why don’t you start?”

  Nicole took a seat next to him, also facing the beach. The still waters of the Indian Ocean lapped at the sand only metres away. It was truly an idyllic setting... perfect for a honeymoon.

  “Okay.” She paused to think for a moment. “I suppose the best place to start is with Stephen.”

  “Stephen?”

  “My ex-husband.”

  “Ah.”

  “Stephen and I met at a work convention. He was an aeronautical engineer. Really smart.” She raised her eyebrows. “Much cleverer than me.”

  She sipped her G&T, gathering her thoughts. Ryan waited patiently. In this place the pace seemed to slow down to a crawl. There was no rush, they had all afternoon.

  “I fell hard for him,” Nicole continued. “Within weeks we were having copious amounts of sex. Within months we were married.”

  Ryan’s face remained impassive.

  “Then after two years of seemingly married bliss I discovered Stephen was having an affair with one of the bridesmaids at our wedding – a really good friend of mine, actually. They’d been screwing each other’s brains out for almost a year. I had no idea.”

  “So what did you do?” Ryan watched her carefully.

  Nicole shrugged. She could do that now. Act like she didn’t care. And she didn’t. Not really. It still hurt, or rather the memory of what her husband had done to her still hurt, but any feelings she had had for Stephen were long gone.

  “I divorced the bastard.”

  “Oh. Of course. Sorry, stupid question.”

  “I divorced my friend, too, in a manner of speaking. Never saw her again. They live in New Zealand now.”

  Ryan sat up straight. “He sounds like a piece of work. You’re probably better off without him.”

  “Hmm.... I didn’t think so at the time, but now I’m relieved. At least I don’t have to put up with his derogatory comments and controlling nature. I only answer to myself now. It’s wonderful.”

  “He obviously isn’t interested in his daughter,” Ryan observed.

  “Oh, Olivia isn’t Stephen’s,” replied Nicole, with only the slightest hesitation.

  “What?” Ryan looked confused. Nicole didn’t blame him. She exhaled. How to explain this one?

  “Olivia isn’t Stephen’s daughter,” she reiterated. “Olivia’s dad is a polymer chemist. He works in a different branch of the same company as me. We met the year after Stephen and I got divorced.”

  “So you had a relationship?”

  “No,” she scoffed. “Nothing as serious as that. I was on the rebound, still reeling from Stephen’s betrayal. It was a purely sexual fling that turned out to have some rather long-lasting consequences.”

  “I see.” Ryan drained his full glass of beer. Then he swallowed. “And do you still see him? Olivia’s father?”

  “Not romantically,” Nicole was quick to assure him. “We communicate about Olivia, of course, and he sees her every second weekend, but that’s it. He’s got a girlfriend now and I believe they’re pretty serious.”

  “How old is Olivia?” asked Ryan.

  “She’s three,” Nicole told him proudly. Three glorious years with her daughter. Three years
without sex. Not even a hint of a liaison, illicit or otherwise. To say she was sexually starved was an understatement.

  Ryan cleared his throat. “What about now?” he asked. “Are you seeing anyone?” He supposed he should have asked that question before he’d whipped her away on a week’s holiday.

  “Oh, I gave up on all that years ago. I suppose I’d like to meet a man I can settle down with one day, but I’m in no rush. Besides, he’d have to be pretty special to make me share the time I have with my daughter. I work full time – Olivia goes to daycare - so the time we have together is precious. It would have to be someone really special to make me give that up.”

  “I don’t have kids,” admitted Ryan. “So I don’t know what that feels like, but I can understand not wanting to incorporate anyone new into your life.”

  Nicole shrugged. “I’m happy the way things are. I don’t need a man to complicate them.” She looked into the distance. “I have to admit, it would be nice to go on the occasional date, or out to dinner, but I don’t want anything more serious than that.”

  To get laid occasionally might be nice too, but she didn’t add that. Three years was a long time.

  Ryan nodded like he understood. Nicole picked up her drink and took a long satisfying gulp. She felt drained after talking about her personal life.

  “What about you?” she asked, redirecting the focus onto him. “I don’t know anything about you.”

  Ryan looked uncomfortable. “There’s not much to tell.”

  Nicole chuckled. “Not according to the press.”

  “They never get it right,” snapped Ryan, glaring at the waves which were merrily lapping up against the shore.

  “Explain it to me,” suggested Nicole.”We have an hour before we have to go and get dressed.”

  “Okay.” Ryan leant back in his chair and placed the tips of his fingers together. “I met Vincent’s daughter at university. I was studying engineering. She was studying law. Both fairly demanding career choices. Our relationship lasted about six months but she was always more attached than I was. After I graduated I started my business and she went on to do her bar exams. We barely saw each other.”

  “So you broke up with her?”

  “There was no point in continuing the relationship. Our careers kept us apart.”

  “Except she was upset,” guessed Nicole, from Vincent’s attitude at the New Year’s ball.

  “She didn’t see it the same way,” confessed Ryan. “I didn’t realise she was in ...” He paused and cleared his throat. “Let’s just say I didn’t realise the extent of her feelings for me.”

  “Sounds messy,” remarked Nicole. “Is that why Vincent doesn’t trust you? Because you dumped his daughter and broke her heart?”

  “No. He doesn’t trust me because he thinks I used his daughter to get to him.”

  Nicole shook her head. “I don’t understand?”

  Ryan sighed. “I’d asked Vincent for a loan, for my business. We had a good relationship prior to that. He was a sort of mentor. But after Melanie and I broke up, he retracted his offer and flatly refused to see me again.”

  “Oh dear,” whispered Nicole. Things were starting to make sense now, like Vincent’s inherent distrust of Ryan, and Ryan’s need to prove himself. “So what did you do?”

  “I got a loan from the bank.” Ryan ran a hand through his damp hair. “Then I focused on building my company. During that time I dated a few women, none of them seriously. My work was always more important. No one could understand that.”

  “I can,” said Nicole. “If you love your job as much as I do my child, there’s no contest.”

  Ryan stared at her. “Thank you. That’s exactly how I felt. No contest. Then I went to Spain after securing a major government contract. I met Gabrielle at an embassy function. She was connected to Spanish royalty, a distant cousin to the Queen, and very beautiful. I suppose I was flattered she wanted me.” He lowered his voice. “I also thought the publicity might be good for business.”

  “And was it?”

  “No. I couldn’t have been more wrong. When the affair ended, it got horribly publicised in the media and I was portrayed as the bad boy who broke the countess’s heart. I had the whole nation against me.”

  “Tough one,” commented Nicole.

  “Yeah, luckily all the articles were in Spanish so I didn’t understand most of it.” He sniffed. “So I left Spain and moved to Holland. Amsterdam. I supply solar panels to the Dutch for their solar energy production so it was a good base.”

  “That’s where you met the supermodel?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. That also ended badly. Once again she wanted more than I was prepared to give. So again, I got dragged through the press.”

  He shook his head. “For some reason the paparazzi love me – and not in a good way.”

  Nicole couldn’t relate, but she sensed his frustration. She glanced at his dark hair, mussed up from sweeping his hand through it, and the rough-and-ready good looks. They probably loved him because he took such a good picture. Men like him sold newspapers.

  “Now I don’t date anymore.”

  “You don’t date? What, like ever?”

  “Well, I’ve managed to keep a really low profile for the last few months and I plan to keep it that way. In South Africa nobody knows who I am, so there’s safety in that.”

  “Is that why you came back?” enquired Nicole. “For the anonymity?”

  His life was so much more interesting than hers. In fact, he was like a minor celeb. It was crazy to think she was here, closeted away in Mozambique with him, right now. If she didn’t watch herself, she might get carried away by the novelty of it all – and never want it to end.

  “Yes, and because I want to test my new product. The cost of a wind farm in South Africa is considerably less than in Europe or the States.”

  “Mm... twenty million... cheap?” murmured Nicole.

  “You should see what it costs to set up and operate overseas,” he told her with a grin. “Twenty million Rand, which equates to roughly two million Dollars, is a pittance compared to that.”

  “I suppose so,” gulped Nicole. “And Vincent isn’t short of cash, that’s for sure.”

  “He can spare it easily,” confirmed Ryan.

  “Then we’ll have to make sure he does.”

  Nicole put her glass down on the table and stood up. “I’m going to get changed. I believe we have cocktails in half an hour.”

  “Indeed.” Ryan grinned, his eyes crinkling at the sides. “Let the games begin.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Ryan stared as his “girlfriend” emerged from the bedroom. She waltzed onto the deck in a multicoloured, silk, cocktail dress that swished around her thighs. The shortness of the dress, coupled with shiny black heels, made Nicole’s already long legs look positively endless. Ryan suddenly pictured them wrapped around his waist and blinked furiously. Not a thought he wanted to have right now. A black belt gave more than a passing nod to fashion and showed off her slim waist but what Ryan particularly liked was the way her dress fell off one shoulder, exposing smooth, flawless skin already turning gold from the sun.

  “Will I do?” she asked, giving him a twirl. Her hair floated around her like a blonde aura.

  Hell, yeah.

  “You’ll do perfectly.” He cleared his throat. That dress... what a knockout! It was the perfect combination of classy and sexy. Vincent would approve.

  They walked the short distance up to the main bar, taking the path behind the beach rather than traipsing through the silky sand. Ryan didn’t think Nicole would appreciate it in those heels.

  The wooden and thatch building was lit up with soft amber lights and doused in a pink glow from the setting sun. There were no walls, rather the thatch roof was supported by numerous wooden poles that provided a three-hundred-and sixty degree view of their surroundings.

  They found Vincent and Sylvia at the bar, sipping martinis and admiring the awesome display of colo
urs in the sky in front of them.

  “Gorgeous, isn’t it?” said Sylvia as they approached.

  Ryan nodded. “Spectacular. I don’t think there are many places on earth that deliver a sunset quite like Medjumbe.”

  Nicole greeted Vincent and Sylvia, kissing them on both cheeks. Vincent smiled merrily, clearly impressed by her actions.

  “I’m so glad you could join us, my dear.”

  “Thank you for inviting me,” Nicole replied. “The island is truly idyllic.”

  “That’s why we love it so much.” Sylvia smiled. “We come here twice a year, if we can. Vincent enjoys the sailing and fishing and I like the solitude.”

  Ryan found himself watching Nicole as she interacted so seamlessly with his mentor and his wife. He couldn’t have picked a better candidate to bring along on this trip. She was a natural. Totally unfazed by Vincent’s wealth and status, she chatted away to them like she’d known them for years. It was only when Vincent directed a question directly at him that Ryan realised he’d been staring, lost in thought.

  “Sorry, what was that?” Ryan asked, kicking himself for losing concentration.

  Vincent grinned. “I asked if you wanted to do a spot of game fishing tomorrow? I’ve instructed the hotel to get the 42-ft catamaran ready. I thought we might go out to St Lazarus Banks. What do you say?”

  Ryan flashed a glance at Nicole.

  “I’m sure Nicole won’t mind,” cut in Vincent, reading his mind.

  Nicole looked surprised, but recovered fast. Why was he even bothering to consult her?

  “Of course not. Go and have fun, darling. I’m more than happy to relax by the pool with my book.”

  “And I’ll collect her for lunch,” added Sylvia, patting Ryan’s hand reassuringly. “They do a lovely light salad buffet and I’d love the company.”

  “That sounds lovely,” agreed Nicole, with a firm nod of her head.

  Ryan gave himself a mental shake. Focus. You are here to secure the funding, not spend time with the girl.

  Nicole didn’t require his company and judging by her surprised look she wasn’t expecting it, either. Ground rule number two or was it three? The pretence stops when the Mahlers aren’t around. Give each other space.