Seduction And Sacrifice

‘Yes.’

Gemma interpreted Nathan’s curt tone as grief, since Byron’s wife would have been his adopted mother. But his closed face didn’t allow gushes of sympathy and she fell silent.

‘I can understand this opal business has come as a great shock to you,’ Nathan resumed. ‘You were probably relying on the money. But I’m sure Byron will give you a substantial monetary reward for its return.’

Gemma brightened. ‘Do you think so?’

‘I guarantee it. Call back in the morning and I’ll have either the reward for you, or your opal back again. Where are you staying, by the way?’

‘The Central Hotel for the present.’

A dark frown scrunched up his high forehead.

‘That’s no place for a young girl like you to be staying. Look, you’d better come home with me. We’ve plenty of rooms, then tomorrow we’ll see if we can’t find you a decent flat.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Come on, I’ll take you to your hotel right now and get your things, then I’ll drive you home to Belleview.’

Gemma scrambled to her feet. ‘Oh, but I...I can’t let you do that. What will your wife say?’

‘My wife?’

‘Yes. Mrs Whitmore.’

His smile was ironic. ‘I dare say Mrs Whitmore might have plenty to say. But it won’t make a blind bit of difference. Lenore Langtry ceased to be my legal spouse two years ago. Does that put your sweet mind at rest?’

No, Gemma thought as he swept her out of his office. Not at all, she reaffirmed once herself being settled into the most luxurious car she’d ever seen. Most definitely not, when Nathan stayed leaning over her for a second longer than necessary, peering down her cleavage then up into her eyes with an expression no female could mistake a second time.

Ma’s warnings came back to haunt her. What was she getting herself into here? This was no schoolboy she was going home with. They were easy to ward off. Neither was he a safely married man with a chaperoning wife in tow. He was a mature man, a divorced man, a...a city man. And she was letting him take her home for the night. Ma would be having apoplexy by now if she knew!

But no sooner were they under way than Nathan started chatting away with her quite naturally, putting her at ease, making her feel very relaxed in his company. Soon she began wondering if Ma’s warnings had made her paranoid about city men. So he’d glanced at her a couple of times. What did she expect after wearing this type of bare-necked dress? She’d bought it specifically with Nathan Whitmore in mind after all. Oh, she’d denied it to Ma at the time, but there was no point in denying it to herself. She’d wanted him to look at her and he had. But looking was only looking. Nothing to work up a head of steam about.

Finally, the questions came about her trip down and her impressions of Sydney, Nathan listening with gentlemanly politeness as she babbled on about how large and intimidating she found everything, how she hadn’t been able to sleep the night before because of the traffic noise, how she thought everything was awfully expensive, even a rather dingy hotel room.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to a sandwich costing over three dollars,’ she said, with awe in her voice.

‘Yes, you will,’ he returned drily, then smiled across at her. ‘But not too soon, I hope. I like you just the way you are.’

Gemma flushed with pleasure at what she saw as his seal of approval. He liked her. He really liked her. How exciting. Not even thinking about Ma or her warnings could still her dancing heart.

It must have taken them over an hour to get from the city office block which housed Whitmore Opals down to the hotel then back over the Harbour Bridge. But Gemma didn’t really mind. Her eyes were everywhere. There was no doubt that, despite the claustrophobic feeling the city gave her, it had the most beautiful setting in the world.

Her mouth remained open as they drove across the Bridge. There was so much to see with Darling Harbour and the Opera House and the Quay and all that lovely blue water. How different from the dry, dusty, grey crater-filled landscape that had been her world for eighteen years.

No, twenty, she corrected herself again, a frown forming as she remembered her other mission in coming to Sydney. Would she be able to find out more about her mother? A trip to the registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages would be a start. Hopefully, she’d be able to get a copy of her parents’ marriage certificate, which she hadn’t located among her father’s things. Then there were electoral rolls to check. Motor registry lists, maybe. Driving licences, perhaps.

But would the authorities give her such information freely? If not, maybe the missing-persons division of the police could help, because she certainly couldn’t afford a private detective. Not now. She had to be very careful with her money. And she simply had to get a job.

‘Mr Whitmore. Nathan...’

‘Mmm?’

‘Do...do you think there might be a job for me at Whitmore Opals? I’ve learnt a lot about opals over the years, you know.’

‘I’m sure you have. What would you like to do?’

‘I don’t know. I could serve behind the counter, I guess. Do you have shops like that, ones that sell opals to the public? Or do you just make jewellery?’

‘We have two retail outlets. One down at the Rocks, and one in the foyer of Regency Hotel. Yes, I’m sure we could use someone with your knowledge behind the counter, though you’d be required to do a course in Japanese first. A lot of our customers are Japanese businessmen and tourists.’

‘How long would it take me to learn Japanese?’ she asked, concerned about her money situation, not to mention her ability to learn another language. She’d only been average at school.

‘With intensive lessons, most people are able to communicate on a basic level after a couple of months.’

‘A couple of months! But I’ll have run out of money by then.’

‘I doubt that. I’m sure Byron will be very generous with his reward. That opal is conservatively worth over a million dollars.’

‘You’re joking!’ Gemma gasped.

‘Not at all. Prices are on the rise again.’

‘A million dollars...’

‘Are you upset that you’re probably not going to be an instant millionaire?’

‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘I am.’

‘Money doesn’t always make you happy, Gemma.’

She laughed. ‘Neither does being poor.’

Now he laughed. ‘You could be right there. Well, at least you have a better chance than most poor people of ending up rich.’

‘How do you figure that out?’

His head turned to rake over her once more. And once again, Gemma was shocked. Not so much by what she saw behind those grey eyes, but by the way they could make her feel. All hot and heady and helpless.

‘A beautiful young girl like yourself should have no trouble ensnaring a rich husband. Who knows? I might even marry you myself.’

Gemma sat there, stunned. Till he bestowed a wry little smile on her and she realised he was only teasing.

‘You shouldn’t make fun of me,’ she said with reproach in her voice, but turmoil in her heart. For she would marry him in a flash if he asked her, this man she’d only met twice, but who already had her in the palm of his hand. It was a shocking realisation and one which underlined her own foolishness where Nathan Whitmore was concerned.

Gemma had often wondered why women made fools of themselves over men, not having ever understood the strange power of that alien emotion, love. She’d also scorned girls who claimed to have fallen in love at first sight. What rubbish! she had used to think.

Now, as she wallowed beneath the onslaught of a tidal force of longing, she had to accept she’d been wrong. This had to be love, this dreadful drowning feeling, this mad desire to go along with anything and everything this man suggested, even something as insane as marrying him.

But of course he hadn’t meant it. She had to keep reminding herself of that. No doubt city men couldn’t resist teasing silly, naïve country girls. She simply had to pull herself together.

He was smiling at her again, amusement in his eyes. ‘Who says I was making fun of you?’