His face was expressionless. ‘No. They don’t need to know. As to who you are—I told them you used to work for me, and that now we’re seeing one another.’
As she opened her mouth to protest, he shrugged.
‘You’re the first woman I’ve ever taken to meet them.’ His grey eyes watched her steadily, his mouth tugging up at the corners. ‘It was either that or pretend you were coming to fix the hard drive.’
They landed in Sydney an hour later. Ram’s limo was waiting for them at the edge of the private airfield, and soon they were cruising along the motorway.
But instead of turning towards the city centre, as she’d expected, the car carried on.
‘Didn’t you want to go to the office first?’ Frowning, Nola glanced over to where Ram was gazing down at his phone.
‘I changed my mind.’ He looked up, his face impassive. ‘I thought you might like to freshen up, and I need to pick up a car.’
‘Where are we going?’
He smiled. ‘We’re going home.’
She frowned. ‘I thought you had a penthouse in the city?’
He shrugged. ‘I do. It’s convenient for work. But it’s not my home.’
Home.
The word made her think of her flat in Edinburgh, her shabby sofas and mismatched crockery. But home for Ram turned out to be something altogether grander—a beautiful white mansion at the end of a private drive.
Stepping dazedly out of the car, Nola felt her heart jump. She’d recognised the name of the road as soon as they’d started to drive down it. How could she not? It was regularly cited as being the most expensive place to live in the country, and Ram’s house more than lived up to that reputation.
‘Welcome to Stanmore.’ He was standing beside her, smiling, watching her face casually, but she could sense a tension beneath his smile, and suddenly she knew that he cared what she thought—and that fact made her throat tighten so that she couldn’t speak.
‘It’s incredible,’ she managed finally.
A couple of hours ago she’d denied being intimidated by his wealth, but now she wasn’t sure that was still true. For a moment she hesitated, caught between fear and curiosity, but then his hand caught hers and he tugged her forward.
‘I’m glad you think so. Now, come on. I want to show you round.’
As they wandered through the beautiful interior Nola caught her breath, her body transformed into a churning mass of insecurity. How could Ram seriously expect them to marry? This was a different world from hers. And no doubt his parents would realise that the moment she walked through their door.
‘My great-great-grandfather, Stanley Armitage, bought this land in 1864,’ Ram said casually as he led her into a beautiful living room with uninterrupted views of the ocean. ‘I’m the fifth generation of my family to live here.’
Nola nodded. ‘So you grew up here?’
His face didn’t change but his eyes narrowed slightly.
‘My mother moved out when she got
married. They live just along the road. But I spent most of my holidays here, aside from the odd duty dinner with my parents.’ He paused. ‘Which reminds me... We should probably think about getting ready.’
Nola gazed down at her skirt and blouse in dismay. They had looked fine when she’d put them on that morning, but after two hours of travelling she felt sticky and dishevelled.
‘I can’t meet your parents looking like this.’
‘So don’t,’ he said easily.
‘But I don’t have anything else.’
‘Yes, you do.’
Before she had a chance to reply, he was towing her upstairs, through one of the bedrooms and into a large dressing room.