Outback With The Boss

Mitch opened the door and the fellow launched forward, his hand outstretched.

‘Mr Wentworth?’

Mitch nodded as the man stepped through the doorway and he shook the proffered hand. ‘How do you do?’

‘Henry Aspinall. And I’m very well, sir. I must say this is indeed a great honour. Oh, boy, it’s such a stroke of luck meeting you here, Mr Wentworth, sir. I’ve been trying to ring Grace all afternoon to check your arrival time and…’

Mitch interrupted the enthusiastic outburst. ‘Grace? Grace Robbins? You know her?’

‘Sure.’ Henry nodded. ‘When I couldn’t reach her at her flat, I thought she must still be here.’

‘No, there’s no one here—not even Ms Robbins,’ Mitch confirmed.

‘Oh, well, not to worry.’ Henry grinned. ‘It was really you I wanted to meet. You’ve received my e-mail messages?’

Mitch rubbed his brow, cursing the tiredness that fogged his memory. ‘Aspinall, Aspinall…’ He needed to recall whether this was someone really important he should remember, or just a nuisance fan.

Henry took advantage of the hesitation. ‘Grace told me about New Tomorrow and I’ve designed some computer graphics to blend in beautifully with the North Queensland outback…’

Mitch held up his hand to halt the flow of Henry’s enthusiasm. ‘Of course. You swamped my Los Angeles office with messages. You’ve done some graphics for the battle scenes.’

Henry looked jubilant. ‘That’s it, sir! What do you think? Would you like to see them?’

Mitch shot Henry an appraising glance. ‘Do you mind if we start walking? I’d kinda like to get to my hotel.’

‘Yes, sir. No problem. Where are you staying? The Sheraton? I’d be honoured to give you a lift.’

Mitch shrugged. Why not go with the fellow? It would save hunting up another taxi. While under other circumstances he might have found Henry Aspinall’s zeal annoying, like the unwanted attentions of an over-enthusiastic puppy, this evening it appealed to his dented ego. At least someone was keen to see him and seemed eager for his film’s success. He grunted his acceptance of the offer.

As they stepped onto the street, Henry skipped along the pavement with excitement. ‘My flat’s on the way. I’ve got everything set up. We could call in and I could quickly show you—’

Mitch held up his hand and nodded. ‘Sure thing,’ he agreed as Henry opened the passenger door of a battered and rusty sedan. ‘Take me to your disk.’

To his relief, they pulled up in front of a set of low maisonettes within five minutes. The car door squeaked on its hinges as Mitch prepared to follow Henry into his flat. After sitting for even such a short time, his weariness had returned with a vengeance. He would make this call as brief as possible. All he wanted now was to crawl into crisp, clean hotel sheets and sleep for three days.

‘That’s funny,’ commented Henry as they crossed the short strip of weedy front lawn. ‘I don’t remember leaving any lights on.’ He shrugged a puzzled smile Mitch’s way before sorting through his keys for the one he needed.

But his key never reached the lock.

As their footsteps echoed on the concrete paving of the narrow entryway, the front door flew open.

‘Surprise!’

A blaze of light flooded the doorway, illuminating a beautiful creature wearing next to nothing. Her eyes were fixed on Henry.

‘It’s Tuesday! National Girlfriend Exposure Day!’

Standing back in the shadows, Mitch was vaguely aware of strangling noises coming from Henry, but he was too stunned to move or speak.

A goddess, tall and tawny-headed, posed before them, dressed in the briefest of black lacy undergarments. She was absolutely breathtaking. Her creamy skin was satin-smooth and her womanly curves perfectly shaped—delicate slenderness and lush fullness balanced in proportions designed to impel a man to reach out for them.

He blinked, but shot his eyes wide open again in case he missed something.

And what he noticed was the ‘something’ in her eyes that didn’t quite mesh with this vision of alluring temptress. Was it fear, embarrassment? The shy tilt of her head and the downward curve of her shoulders made him think of a little girl pushed into the stage’s limelight by an overly ambitious parent. This woman had the body of a sultry seductress and the mien of a vulnerable child.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ Henry yelled.

His voice sent her slumping against the door frame like a puppet whose strings had been cut. But, almost instantly, her eyes flew to Mitch and she suddenly jerked again to terrified life.

‘Oh, my gosh,’ she moaned, and stared at Mitch in absolute horror. She clasped her hands to her chest. ‘Oh, no! Oh, no!’ she cried.

Her arm shot out and the door slammed in their faces.

CHAPTER TWO

‘GRACE! What has got into you?’

Grace turned, shaking with terror, her eyes wide and her hand covering her mouth, as she watched Henry stride across his living room towards her. His crimson face was twisted with anger.

‘Do you realise what you’ve just done?’ he shouted. ‘Do you know who—?’ Henry stopped shouting abruptly, as if he realised he was making this fiasco much worse. His voice dropped to a panicky whisper. ‘That’s Mitch Wentworth at the door!’

‘I know, I know,’ Grace moaned. Her eyes hunted around the small room, searching frantically for any item of clothing she could grab. Where was a gaping black hole when she needed to leap into it?

‘How could you do this to me, Grace? What’s he going to think?’

As if the answer to his own question suddenly popped into his head, Henry swore, spun on his heel and darted back to his front door.

Grace made a speedy escape to the bedroom.

‘He’s gone!’ she heard Henry roar. ‘Wentworth’s left already!’

She sank with relief onto the bed. Thank heavens for that. With shaking hands, she pulled a T-shirt over her head.

Henry burst into the room. ‘You’ve ruined me! You do realise that, don’t you? I’ll never get Wentworth to look at my graphics now.’ Flinging his hands into the air, he glared at her. ‘I had Mitch Wentworth here, Grace. Here in my own home. He was going to look at all my designs tonight! Tonight! You stupid woman! You’ve spoilt everything.’

Grace shuddered. ‘I’m sorry, Henry,’ she replied dully. ‘How was I to know you’d bring him home? I didn’t even know the man was in Townsville.’ With nervous, wrenching movements, she pulled on her jeans. All she could think of was how badly she wanted to get away.

And never come back!

Henry was carrying on like a spoilt little boy who’d dropped his ice-cream cone in the dirt.

‘I’m sure you’ll be able to show your ideas to him some other time,’ she muttered. Why had she ever wasted one moment trying to arouse Henry’s interest in her? He couldn’t have been less appreciative of her efforts if she’d trashed his entire flat.

She shoved her feet into trainers. ‘I’m sorry my silly plan was such a flop,’ she told him as he slumped and sulked on the far side of the bed. Her shoulders rose in a dismissive shrug. ‘It—it seemed like a good idea at the time…’

But not any more! A wave of shame drenched her with fresh horror. Never had she been more aware of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Henry shook his head and growled. ‘I thought you were supposed to be smart, but that was about the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen.’