CHAPTER ONE
LEXSTOODINthe arrivals hall at Cape Town International airport, an iced coffee in one hand and a battered Thorpe Industries sign in the other. She kept meaning to make another one but, between her part-time jobs, ferrying her sisters to their after-school activities, supervising homework, making dinner and studying towards her degree, time was short.
The little things tended to fall between the cracks—such as signs.
Lex blew a copper curl out of her eyes and, when it refused to budge, she used her baby finger to pull it back and tuck it behind her ear. She’d pulled her too-long hair into a loose braid but it was already falling apart. She needed a hair cut, a facial, a massage, two million dollars...
Lex looked at the electronic board and then at her phone, checking the time. The incoming flight from London had landed fifteen minutes ago, so she could expect the passengers to start walking through any moment now.
She’d picked up many Thorpe Industries employees over the past couple of years and wondered who she’d get this time. Sometimes she’d get a talker, wide-eyed and excited about being in Africa, and she’d be peppered with questions, which she answered as best she could. Sometimes she got someone glued to their phone, who either spent the trip back to their hotel or to Thorpe Industries’ headquarters looking at their tablet or taking and making calls and answering emails.
She frequently had to resist the urge to interrupt their scrolling or incessant work-based conversation to tell them to look out of the window, to take in the world-famous Table Mountain—sometimes covered by its cloud table cloth, sometimes not.
She wanted to point out the endless sea curling around the land, wild in winter, calm in summer. She wanted to remind them that they were in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, to take the moment, to haul in a breath, to pick up their heads and look at something besides their screens. But she kept her mouth shut and drove, because that was her job, and it was one she needed.
Flexible, well-paying jobs were not easy to come by.
Lex sipped her coffee, hoping that the extra hit of caffeine from the double espresso would soon kick in. Last night she’d fallen asleep at the dining room table, somewhere around two. Studying for her degree in Forensic Psychology was something she only got to after Nixi and Snow went to sleep and, invariably, when she was exhausted. She was passing her modules, but she wished she had the time to do better, to dive deeper into the subject. She didn’t like being average, or not living up to her potential, but there was only a finite number of hours in the day.
You’re doing the best you can. It’s all anyone can ask of you. It’s all you can ask of yourself.
But it still felt as if she were walking a tight rope above a sky-high canyon, about to plunge onto the jagged rocks below. Right now, the rope was tight and steady, and she knew where to put her feet. If the wind picked up or someone else jumped on the rope, she’d lose her balance and do a rope-free bungee jump.
Life had to keep ticking along just as it was, with no interruptions or distractions.
Lex noticed that the passengers from the London flight were starting to trickle into the arrival hall. Lifting her sign, she sipped her coffee, wondering whether the tall blonde wearing white linen trousers would be her pick-up, or the geeky-looking guy wearing horn-rimmed glasses. No, these were the first-class passengers and, while she’d had one or two pick-ups who were that far up the corporate ladder, most of her pick-ups either flew business class or economy.
The airport was busy and there was always something, or someone, to capture her attention. Two little boys of no more than four or five, were bouncing up and down, thoroughly over-excited at the thought of seeing Daddy, Mummy or Grandma. A thin woman stood opposite her, her arms tightly folded, staring at the ground, looking as if she’d rather be anywhere but here, meeting the person coming off that plane. There was a lull in passengers coming through the tunnel and Lex shifted from foot to foot, turning her head to look behind her.
Taller than most, at six two or six three, and dressed in solid black, he immediately caught her attention. Lex cocked her head, enjoying the view of his broad shoulders and narrow-hipped swimmer’s body. The sleeves of his V-neck jersey—cashmere. she was convinced—were pushed halfway up tanned and muscled forearms. The fine material skimmed his wide chest and hugged big, muscular upper arms. He wore a pair of black trousers that didn’t disguise the length and strength of his legs. Trendy black-and-white trainers covered his big feet and he carried an expensive-looking bag and a sleek laptop case.
He was breathtakingly, knee-shakingly sexy.Hot.
Lex was currently single and would be for the short-and, she presumed, medium-term future. Even if she had time for an affair—which she didn’t—most men backed away when they realised her love life had to be scheduled around the needs and demands of her half-sisters. Even if it was just a short-term fling, men didn’t like not being at the top of her priority list.
Even if she wanted a relationship—and she didn’t—her mum had jumped in and out of relationships her entire life so she was cynical about love and humans’ ability to commit—having a guy in her life would be impractical and unworkable.
Even a short-term affair would be tricky but, wow, with someone like Gorgeous Guy she’d make the effort to fit him into her day. Or night.
He stopped, pulled a smart phone from the back pocket of his trousers and scowled down at it, his thick eyebrows pulling together. His hair was a rich, dark sable, cut short to keep the waves under control. She couldn’t tell what colour his eyes were, but his nose was long, his jaw chiselled and his cheekbones high. He wasn’t pretty-boy handsome but, man, his sheer masculinity stopped traffic. Lex grinned as a woman turned back to look at him, not watching where she was going, and bumped into a luggage trolley she hadn’t noticed.
Lex didn’t blame her. Gorgeous Guy deserved a second or third look.
Unable to look away, she watched as he raked his hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. He jabbed a finger at his phone and lifted it to his ear, scowling. He looked Italian—maybe Greek or Arabic? His nationality didn’t matter. He would be classified as a hottie from Cartagena to Canberra and everywhere in between.
And she had to stop gawking at him before he noticed her open mouth and glassy eyes. Honestly, she should get out more if she was this affected by a random handsome guy in an airport terminal.
Pull yourself together, Satchell!
Unfortunately, yanking her eyes off him proved harder than she expected. She was about to—she was!—when he turned his head and his eyes collided with hers. Despite being across the room, she felt the heat of his gaze as his eyes moved over her face and down her long body. It was easy enough to figure out what he was thinking: bright-red hair, long and curly, tendrils springing out around a heart-shaped face, every inch covered in distinctive freckles with a small nose, a wide mouth and green eyes. A tallish, too-thin redhead dressed in black jeans, biker boots and a battered black denim jacket over a long-sleeved white T-shirt.
He didn’t drop his eyes or walk away and a hot slap of attraction hit her, causing the world to shift under her feet. A million tiny needles hit her over-sensitised skin and she felt light-headed and weird. Why did all the colours and sounds in the airport seem amplified? Maybe she was having a stroke because all her nerve endings felt as if they were on fire, sending bolts of current up her arms and straight to her heart.
Or maybe this was pure animal attraction. She tipped her head to the side. She’d heard of the phenomenon but had never experienced it, not to this degree anyway. He picked up his overnight bag and started to walk...
And, good grief, was he heading in her direction? Was he seriously going to initiate a conversation...with her? What?Why?
She was way out of practice with guys and didn’t know how to flirt any more. Lex shuffled from foot to foot, her heartbeat loud in her ears. She couldn’t get enough air into her lungs and, despite having taken a few sips of icy coffee, her mouth felt as if it hadn’t experienced liquid for weeks. What would he say when he reached her. How would she respond? Lex darted a quick look over her shoulder... Maybe someone behind her had captured his attention and she was reading the situation wrong, but...nope. He was definitely focused on her.