An Impossible Attraction Read online

  But then he danced with her. And he kissed her. She smelled like rain, tasted like no one else he’d kissed before. And now nothing else seemed to make any sense.

  Chapter Three

  Zoe looked around her office with a smile. She’d arrived back in Cape Town over the weekend and was ready to start with all the new projects Susan had been emailing her about.

  The three months in London had been great, but she had missed her family and it had been so lovely to see all of them again.

  And after three months, she felt confident Dale Cavallo was out of her system. Over the last few weeks she’d managed not to think of him… too often. On the steamy dreams she was still having, featuring him in every scene, she was not going to dwell.

  The messages he had left for her right after the wedding to contact him she had simply ignored. At that point, she’d had no idea what to say to him. And by the time she left London to return to South Africa, she was confident she would be able to see him at family functions without changing into a stammering schoolgirl. She hadn’t heard from him again; a clear indication that whatever he’d felt for a few minutes three months ago while kissing her was forgotten.

  Susan knocked on her open door and entered, smiling.

  “It’s good to have you back after three months, Zoe. This place just hasn’t been the same without you.” Susan sat down on the other side of Zoe’s desk.

  “It’s good to be back, thanks,” Zoe said, pleased her thoughts had been interrupted.

  “You’ve been away much longer that we’d hoped, but we’ve coped.” Susan smiled, eyes twinkling.

  “Yes, it took a while before Peter was completely happy. Jerry and Adam were a great help. I’m so glad they were willing to help with the project. But I think they’re very glad to be back.”

  “Yes, that’s what they said. I have to tell you, the first thought that entered my mind when you sent a message to say you’re not coming back to Cape Town after your sister’s wedding but leaving directly for London, was that you were eloping!”

  Zoe inhaled sharply. “No!” she exclaimed before she could regain her composure. “No,” she said again, trying to hide her alarm with a smile. That eloping with Dale Cavallo had actually seemed like a good idea when she’d been kissing him was not something she wanted to be reminded of, let alone share with anyone. “You know me, getting married is not on the agenda. Happy-ever-afters are not my thing.”

  She took the file Susan held out to her. If she couldn’t even explain her frantic escape to London to herself, how could she possibly explain it to someone else? Because that was what it had been—an escape. She had fled. There, she’d admitted it. And she was very glad she left when she did.

  Dale would have a new beauty in tow by now and probably didn’t even remember the kiss they’d shared.

  “It was just one of those things, you know? It seemed easier to fly from the Seychelles than coming back here for a week,” she said vaguely and opened the file. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to know about her little… lapse. “Anyway, it’s nice to be back. The project in London doesn’t constantly need my attention now. I may have to return for one or more consultations, but at this point there is no reason for me to be there full time.”

  “I’ve enjoyed being in charge, but I am so glad you’re back,” Susan said.

  “You said in your email you have several exciting projects that you’ve signed contracts for?”

  “Yes,” Susan said and leaned forward. “The one I’m most thrilled about is the contract for the Cavallos.” She pulled out a contract. “I’m so pleased you’ve reconsidered. You have a meeting with one of the brothers later today. Dale, if I remember correctly.”

  Zoe froze at the mention of the Cavallo name. She stared at Susan. “What did you say?”

  Susan’s smiled slipped. “The Cavallos. The contract to do the interior on their hotel near the Kruger? I was under the impression you’ve decided you want to do it after all. They are part of your family now.”

  Zoe was speechless. She had given Susan the reins when she’d left for London and was happy to let her decide on which projects they would work. Susan knew the business inside out, and Zoe trusted her. It had simply never occurred to her that Dale would contact her firm for a second time. And that he’d finalize the contract without speaking to her again personally, knowing she didn’t want to do it, was simply unacceptable.

  “I’m sorry Susan, but I would have told you if I’d changed my mind. I told Mr. Dale Cavallo in no uncertain terms we don’t want the job. Why he contacted you in my absence again I don’t understand, but that’s his problem. Please email or phone him and tell him we’re not interested,” she said with as wide a smile as she could muster.

  “Not interested…” Susan said, obviously flabbergasted. “You’re not serious? This is a huge job and everyone here is so excited about it. I signed the contract as was our agreement before you left, I can’t now turn back and…”

  “I’m sorry, Susan, but you will have to. We’re not doing this job and that’s final. What else is there?” she asked as pleasantly as she could.

  Susan cocked her head and stared at Zoe for a few seconds. A hint of a smile turned the side of her mouth upwards, but she didn’t say anything.

  “What?” Zoe asked, shifting in her seat.

  “Nothing.” Susan picked up another contract. “I’ve just never seen you so upset at the mention of someone’s name. Anyway, if that’s what you want, I’ll talk to him. None of the other projects are as exciting, but there is a small block of offices in Claremont…”

  “Good, let me look through this. I’d appreciate it if you could talk to Mr. Cavallo in the meantime and explain that we won’t be able to help with their hotel.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Susan sang and left her office.

  Only then did Zoe exhale and put her head in her hands. Of all the devious and deceitful things! How could he? She should fire Susan on the spot! Even as the thought raced through her brain, she slumped back in her chair. She had given Susan full control over incoming contracts, never thinking Dale would be so devious. He knew she’d been in London and probably knew through the family grapevine that Susan was in charge while Zoe had been away.

  She quickly turned to her computer and scrolled through her sent emails. Damn it, she was sure she still had her very definite answer on an email. There it was, in writing. As she usually did, she’d also sent an email message to Dale, confirming that she was not taking the job.

  And as far as she remembered, he’d accepted her answer in writing as well. She scrolled down to the email he’d sent and read through it again. He’d said he was sorry about it but accepted her decision. It was there in writing, so what happened?

  There was a knock on her door and Susan entered, trying to look grave, but her eyes were twinkling just a tad too brightly for Zoe’s liking.

  “Zoe, I’m really sorry about this misunderstanding. You said I could sign any contract I think would suit the firm…”

  “I know and you’re right. But I very specifically told Dale Cavallo I don’t want the job. Were you able to get hold of him?”

  Susan nodded and sat down quickly. “I’ve spoken to him, but he said we’ve signed a contract and it’s binding. He’s expecting you this afternoon.”

  Zoe stared at Susan for a few minutes while frustration clawed at her insides. She did not want to work with the guy; she didn’t want to see him. Seriously? Why would he insist they do this when he knew she didn’t want to do it?

  The kiss. Of course. He was probably looking for revenge because she had walked away before he could do so.

  She finally became aware that Susan was staring at her.

  Susan cleared her throat. “So, this Dale—did something happen between the two of you?”

  “No… yes… no!” Zoe called out in frustration. “Nothing happened. I’ll go see him and settle this. I just can’t… don’t want to work with family,” she
said, using the first excuse she could think of. “It’s never a good idea.”

  Susan sighed dramatically. “If you say so. Everyone was so looking forward to this project and not least of all because Dale Cavallo would have been involved,” she said and swooned. “He’s so gorgeous. I can’t believe you didn’t snatch him up.”

  “Nobody is snatching anybody up,” Zoe said, just about gnashing her teeth, and picked up one of the other contracts. “Tell me about this. It looks interesting.”

  With a knowing look, Susan began to talk about the project and explained some of the ideas she and the team had come up with.

  Zoe tried to concentrate on what Susan was saying, but she fumed inside. The gall of the man. Except for the kiss, he’d normally just glare at her. And she was over the ridiculous crush she had on him, she was sure of that.

  What had happened to change a surly Dale into a kissing one, she had no idea, but even after three months, she vividly remembered she hadn’t even put up a fight. At all.

  She was so ashamed of her behavior. So ashamed, in fact, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to tell her sisters about the kiss, and they told one another everything.

  What Hannah would say about it, Zoe could just imagine. Her sister made no secret she couldn’t stand the sight of Darryn Cavallo and she kind of felt the same way about all his brothers. Don might be an exception, she actually liked her brother-in-law.

  So telling Hannah had not been an option. And Caitlin was useless at the moment—she was still walking around starry-eyed and would probably think it was a good idea.

  And the last person she would ever tell was her mother. Any mention of kissing thrilled her romantic soul and the scene would probably be used in her next romance novel, heaven forbid.

  There was nothing else to do. She would have to meet Dale this afternoon and just pretend they’d never locked lips. Zoe touched her mouth. Oh, hell.

  “What do you think?” Susan’s voice penetrated Zoe’s chaotic thoughts, and she pushed the contract towards Susan.

  “It sounds great, thanks, Susan. I’ll meet you back here later today, then you can show me what you and the team have come up with.” She stood up.

  Susan frowned and also stood up. “But that’s what I’ve been doing…”

  “Of course, but in more detail, I mean.” Zoe checked her watch. “I… I have a few calls to make.” Susan finally left.

  By the time Zoe parked in front of the hotel where the Cavallos had their offices, she was a nervous wreck. She inhaled deeply, trying to get some much-needed oxygen in her lungs and lowered her head on to the steering wheel. Her breathing was erratic, her heartbeat completely out of rhythm, her hands were clammy. And all because she was going to see Dale.

  Exasperated with herself and the whole situation, she flipped down the sun visor and checked her makeup in the little mirror. Her pale, worried face stared back. Lipstick. Definitely more lipstick. She rummaged around in her handbag until she found one. Good, this one was nice and red. It sent a clear I’m-in-control-and-you-are-not-going-to rattle-me message.

  Finally, she got out of her car and put her sunglasses firmly in place. He’s just a man, remember? And she’d been handling men since puberty. And whatever ridiculous feelings she’d experienced when he’d kissed her way back in February were probably the result of too much champagne. She was over the guy. Today’s discussion was all business. Business that she was getting out of as quickly as possible.

  Chapter Four

  There she was. Dale relaxed for the first time in nearly three months. He was looking down from the top story of their offices in their Cape Town hotel and had a clear view of Zoe getting out of her car.

  And even from this distance, desire kicked him in the gut and instantly heated his blood. He turned back to his brothers quickly.

  This was one of the rare occasions when they were all in the big communal office they preferred. And although that normally meant they could settle urgent matters for a change, he wished none of them were here today. His brothers tended to stick their noses where they didn’t belong.

  “Zoe has arrived. I’m meeting her in the conference room,” he muttered, hoping no one would notice that he was leaving. He grabbed a file and his cell phone from his desk on his way to the door.

  Don got up from his desk and walked around it. “About?” he asked, and Darryn and David also looked up.

  Dale sighed. Damn it, now he’d have to try and explain something he didn’t understand himself. “The hotel near the Kruger. The contract to do the interior has been signed by the woman Zoe left in charge while she was in London. This morning she phoned me, apparently wanting to back out.”

  David frowned. “Back up a little bit. I thought Zoe declined to work for us at the end of last year already? When did you sign this contract and how come she didn’t know about it?”

  “If I remember correctly, I was the one who suggested we use her and you weren’t all that keen for her to do the work in the first place,” Don said. “So why—”

  “I’m still not keen. But I’m not going to be the bad guy here. Anyway, I’ve seen her firm’s work in the meantime. Peter Walsh, for one, is very taken with what they’ve done in the London hotel. According to him, she’s the best, and I thought we always use only the best.”

  “I still find that interesting, you know. That you got her another job when she declined the one we offered her, one far away from South Africa.” Don smiled. “Any particular reason?”

  “You were the one who thought we should help her,” Dale said.

  David cocked an eyebrow. “The fact that she is a long-legged, blue-eyed, gorgeous brunette you couldn’t take your eyes off at Don’s wedding has nothing to do with it?”

  Dale glared at his brother. “This is business, nothing else.”

  “Yeah, right. I saw how you danced with her at the wedding. The two of you were practically welded together, if memory serves me right.” David smiled.

  Darryn grimaced. “Please, just don’t tell me another one of my brothers is falling for a Sutherland. I told you to stay away from them.”

  With a grin, Don slapped Darryn on the back. “The way you’ve stayed away from Hannah? I’ve seen you kissing her twice now—you have a thing for a Sutherland as well?”

  Darryn swore and jerked up from his chair. Dale had to end this conversation before Darryn got riled up again. It was obvious something had happened between Darryn and Hannah at some point, but it wasn’t a topic his brother ever talked about.

  “I don’t have a thing for anyone,” Dale snarled. “Zoe does interior decorating, you suggested Zoe, we need a good one, she has a pristine reputation, and her firm is well-known for delivering good work. That’s it,” he said, fed up at this point with his brothers. He left the room and walked towards the conference room.

  *

  There was no logical reason why he’d contacted her firm and why he’d signed the contract without speaking to her again. There were many other reasons why he’d make sure he had a signed contract, none of them made any sense, though.

  After the wedding, after the kiss, he had to stay away from her. But as soon as he heard from Don that she’d left someone else in charge of her firm in South Africa while she was in London, he’d known what he was going to do.

  Getting Susan to sign the contract was easy. It wasn’t as if he’d done anything illegal. He’d simply let Susan assume Zoe had changed her mind. He never actually said that in so many words though, so she couldn’t accuse him of lying. Now he had a contract. One that would ensure Zoe wouldn’t be able to back out, like she’d tried to do this morning.

  Irrational. But then, there was nothing rational about the way she made him feel, period. For the past three months he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head or his dreams, he’d missed her at the family functions and he’d realized no matter where in the world she found herself, she’d be constantly on his mind.

  So his illogical solution was to
get close to her, and the only way he was to do that was to get her to do work for them.

  If they were to work together, if he saw her regularly, he might find all he’d been feeling was lust for a pretty face. This unrest inside of him was nothing more than having the hots for someone for a short period of time.

  Any other possibility was too frightening to contemplate.

  *

  Zoe squared her shoulders and walked through the doors of the beautiful boutique hotel in Bantry Bay, one of a dozen in and around Cape Town that belonged to the Cavallos.

  Like all their hotels, this one had also been designed by Dale and his signature glass exterior for most of their hotels worked particularly well here in the centre of Cape Town.

  The inside of the hotel carried the same clean lines as the glass exterior. There were no upsetting patterns. Instead, the foyer was decorated in subdued greys and white. Texture had been embraced and cushions made of different materials invited guests to relax on wide couches. Big windows let in plenty of light and Zoe noticed artwork from several local artists on the walls. Grudgingly, she had to acknowledge this place succeeded in giving the feel of a home away from home.

  Hurrying forward, she forced herself to concentrate on why she was here. She had to get out of this contract. Businesswise, it would be unwise though. A contract like this would be good for her firm, the Cavallo name in her portfolio would entice more clients to make use of her interior decorating skills, etcetera, etcetera.

  But, darn it, it was her company and she could still decide whether she wanted a job or not. And she didn’t want this job. She didn’t want to work with Dale. She—

  Zoe stopped in her tracks. But she was over him, wasn’t she? The damn crush or whatever it had been was gone. She couldn’t turn away work like this because she was afraid she would fall for a guy. That would be ridiculous.

  Besides, she probably wouldn’t have to work with him personally. Surely tycoons like the Cavallos had minions running around doing most of the work. She’d do her job, take his money, and that would be that.