The Price of Seduction (2 page)

“I was having a bit of trouble trying to persuade you. That’s true.”

He looked her in the eye. “You haven’t answered my question. You didn’t think I was going to come over, did you?”

She tilted her head and considered him, knowing an incorrect response might well put the group shot she so desperately needed in jeopardy. It was all or nothing and
she didn’t like to gamble at the best of times.

“No, I didn’t,” she sai
d. “It looked to me like whatever you were doing was more important than the people you kept waiting.”

“You’re right.”

If the old fellow could speak to this man on his own terms, maybe she should try the same approach. Besides, she was getting fed up. She only wanted a photo. How hard could this be?

She planted her hands on her hips.
“Is that because you think you’re so much more important than these people?”

Conrad laughed. “No, not me. Jimmy Simpson. He’s more genuine than anyone else around here. The man’s a genius. He’ll be remembered for generations and it was a privilege to speak to him.”

As they reached the Mercedes, Conrad walked into the arms of a tall, willowy blonde who planted a restrained kiss on his lips. Of course he had a date and naturally she had long blond hair, model good looks and a highly revealing black halter dress.

The woman glanced in Bree’s direction, gazed down her perfect nose and gave her
the look
. Bree didn’t receive
the look
very often but she darn well knew when she was getting it. Did this female really think she was so much better than her because of her appearance?

Bree was petite.
A slim five foot four. Nothing wrong with that. That’s why high heels were invented, for times like this when you needed a little boost.

She didn’t need to put anyon
e else down to feel good and certainly wasn’t going to let some bimbo get the better of her, no matter what this other woman said or did.

Bree tossed her
rich dark brown hair, her greatest asset, behind her shoulders and approached the photographer. The night wasn’t over and she had a job to do.

Watching
Conrad through the corner of her eye as she spoke to the photographer, Bree couldn’t help but notice he had a certain presence about him. He didn’t need to speak to attract the attention of his peers but when he did talk, the group laughed at his jokes and positioned themselves for the photograph.

There was something about him that made people listen. He didn’t just work the crowd. He commanded it.

Yet she found it unnerving, a shiver shooting up her spine. It was as though he held power beyond that of good looks and wealth, beyond natural charisma.

She’d
have to be on her guard against a man like him.

Bree quickly ensured the photographer got the group shot they needed, thanked everyone for their help and watched as Conrad and his socialite friends made their way back inside.

Stephanie sidled up to her as they ambled back towards the staterooms. “I bet you’re glad that’s done.”

Bree sighed. “It’s still a lo
ng way to go until the night’s over.”

*          *          *

As they prepared to be seated for dinner, Conrad Savage saw the efficient young public relations woman speaking to the master of ceremonies, probably briefing him about the evening’s work.

That woman was all work and no play. Not a desirable combination.

Her name didn’t suit her at all. Bree should be the name of a free spirit, someone with an easygoing nature, someone more like a summer breeze, whereas she was a hurricane.

Not that it made any difference to him. She wasn’t going to order him around and interrupt his conversation with Jimmy Simpson. The man was a creative recluse. Dealing with him wasn’t like scheduling in a dentist appointment or business meeting.
They were privileged to have him there at all tonight.

Conrad had long been interested in Indigenous art and although he didn’t often have the opportunity to speak to the artists themselves
, he was aware any discussions had to be on their terms.

Jimmy Simpson refused to allow himself to be slotted into the lifestyles of corporate white people
. You couldn’t argue with that. He gave Australia the gift of his artwork and didn’t owe them anything more.

Yet Bree Baxter thought her promotional photographs were more important than an Australian icon. Had she seriously expected Conrad to drop everything and dump the fellow because he was elderly and his clothes fell well short of black tie? Not likely.

She’d dropped her veneer of professionalism briefly when she so bluntly confirmed she didn’t think he was going to oblige with a few photographs. She must have thought him extremely petty and, what’s more, she had the gall to tell him so.

That was one of the problems with being i
n a position like his. No one stated their true opinions and told it like it was. He was surrounded by ‘Yes Men’. And women too for that matter.

Women were always a problem. It didn’t
help being wealthy either. In fact, money often complicated relationships, as if they weren’t complex enough as it was.

Like Amber. For a start, that was a strange name for a blonde. She’d invited herself along tonight and was alternately hanging off him and ignoring him. He had no idea where she was at the moment and
didn’t particularly care.

He’d been taken in by sensual offers from attractive young wome
n before – one in particular – and had paid the price. He wasn’t going to get caught out like that again.

As they took their seats
, Bree stepped down from the stage, the soft fabric of her skirt floating across her finely formed thighs. He had to admit she had a stunning figure.

The deep turquoise of her dress was the perfect colour for her pale complexion and dark hair.
Plenty of women here tonight tried to look sexy by wearing tight clothes, showing off too much cleavage and exposing too much flesh.

Bree had done the opposite by wearing a dress with a fitted bodice and fine straps that showed off her slender figure.
The skirt flowed over her hips and swept down to the floor. No splits, no tight skirt and not too much flesh exposed.

A matching chiffon scarf sat loosely across her collar bones, fl
oating behind her as she walked. It was very Hollywood. Like a dark-haired Grace Kelly.

His
eyes were still on Bree as she disappeared into the distance.

Finally, he looked around the room. S
omething had been done to change the mood of the grand ballroom. It was usually stuffy and formal whereas this event had quite a different feel about it. Perhaps it was the unusual table settings and creative centrepieces of native flora. They looked more like sculptures than flowers.

This was a large event
with hundreds of guests so he’d been expecting what he called ‘wedding food’, plates that had been kept under the warmer too long and meals that were dried out. Instead he was pleasantly surprised. The food compared favourably with Sydney’s best and indeed with the finest meals he’d had around the world.

The man sitting beside him started up a conversation about property and investments. It was always business with some people. The bloke on the other side joined in, so Conrad leaned back to give them a chance to talk.

He tried hard not to look bored but these events were always so dull.

At least it was for a good cause. The
money was going to several organisations, all of which would benefit Indigenous people. It would help Aboriginal school children from isolated areas who came to the city to study, and also give further support for those who were artistically inclined, funding the education of Australia’s talented future young artists.

Not
everyone had the same chances he’d been given in life, though even for him not everything had gone to plan. He’d grown up with a loving family, attended expensive private schools and had the best that money could buy.

That hadn’t stopped his father
from dying of a heart attack ten years ago. He’d only been fifty-five. Too young. Conrad still missed him.

That was when Conrad h
ad taken over Eden Enterprises. He hadn’t planned on taking over the company but didn’t think that was much to complain about in the scheme of things. He’d been young and it’d been an enormous challenge, luckily one he was up to.

And here he was at yet another
charity dinner. At least he’d enjoyed chatting to Jimmy, not to mention which Bree had some spark about her. Of a sort. Maybe that was why the room had so much flair tonight. He wondered if he should tell her she’d done a good job. Who knows? He might even be able to use someone with her skills.

Conrad excused himself, stood from the table and looked
for her. He had to stand back as an Elvis impersonator strode across the middle of the room and onto the stage. It took all of about ten seconds until he had the audience in the palm of his hand.

Within a minute
, the dance floor was filled and the guests in their black tie and evening gowns were rock and roll dancing. Conrad had been to many charity events but he’d never seen these people let their hair down. This had to be the cleverest public relations coup he had ever witnessed.

Winding his way through the crowd, he had to congratulate Bree on a job well done. The praise would be well deserved after all.

Nearing her, he waited a moment while she spoke to the master of ceremonies by the side of the stage. Now that the bulk of her work for the evening was over, she appeared relaxed, leaning against a speaker with a champagne glass in her hand. He hadn’t seen her drinking earlier.

He’d
only seen her ordering people around and giving instructions but now he saw a different woman. It’s true he’d already noticed her womanly curves but then it was hard to miss such a stunning figure. Yet, despite that, he hadn’t considered her particularly attractive, hadn’t seen through the professional veneer to the woman beneath.

She
tossed her head back and laughed, her smile reaching her blue eyes, her pale skin glowing. She gave the MC her full attention and he was clearly entranced. She was like a magnet pulling him into her field of attention, holding him with her gaze, pulling him in with invisible forces. Except her appeal was far from invisible.

What man wouldn’t be captivated by such intelligent beauty? How could he have missed it earlier?

There’d been many women in Conrad’s life. Women who wore only Versace and Collette Dinnigan, women who were constantly in the social pages and even a couple who’d graced the covers of magazines.

Yet those women hadn’t done much except look beautiful. As if that was their full-time profession.
There was a lot more to Bree than that.

He
stepped closer and as she glanced his way, the sparkle left her eyes, her expression becoming more distanced. This wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d thought.

The MC excused himself, leaving the two of them togeth
er. Conrad asked Bree for a business card which she retrieved from her beaded purse and handed to him.

He gave her one of his winning smiles.
“Tonight has been full of surprises, hasn’t it?”

“My job would be a lot ea
sier with a few less surprises,” she said.

“But you dealt with them so beautifully. You made it look easy.”

“You have no idea how much work goes into making things look so easy.” Her eyes looked tired but there was the hint of a laugh in her voice.

“Actually, I do,” he said.
“You never know when I might need someone like you.”

“Then you’d best speak t
o my boss, Olivia Kelly, not me.” Bree looked around as though she had other tasks with which to get on.

“You’ve done an excellent job. I’ve been to lots of these gala events and most of them are
a little on the boring side.”

She frowned. It would’ve looked unbecoming on anyone else
.

“Don’t forget there’s
a very good reason we’re here,” she said. “It’s all for a good cause.”

“I didn’t mean that
this
was a boring event. Quite the opposite, in fact. I think that’s largely down to you.”

He was expecting to be thanked for the compliment. Instead she held his gaze as if she couldn’t
bring herself to do it. He decided to press her a little further and see what happened.

“
You were extremely pushy about the photos earlier on,” he said.

“Was I?
” She lifted one finely arched brow. “I can be much more forceful than that when I need to. As, I’m sure, can you.”

Very few people were this frank with him.
He glimpsed a spark of fire beneath the previously cool surface.

He smiled. “I can be many things.”

Bree returned his smile as she stepped past him. “You must excuse me. My work isn’t over yet.”