LITMIR.BIZ

      Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      1

      ZOE DIDN’T HAVE ONE hint of premonition as she stepped out of her office building and headed for her lunchtime meeting with Drake. Everything seemed wonderful in her world.

      At long last.

      Five years it had been since she’d come to Sydney from the country, a plump naive twenty-year-old with so many hopes and dreams. What a learning curve that first year had been! Hard to think about some of the things which had happened to her without wincing. Greg was the worst memory. What a louse he’d turned out to be!

      Still, she’d survived, hadn’t she? And she’d come through it with even more determination than ever to make a success of her life, to become the woman she’d always wanted to be.

      Okay, so it had taken her another four years of driving and depriving herself, of crummy day jobs and endless night schools; of diets and grueling workouts at the gym.

      But it had been worth it, hadn’t it? she told herself as she strode down George Street in the direction of the harbor. She looked pretty darned good, even if she said so herself. She had a challenging job, a fab place to live, and best of all, she’d finally landed herself one fantastic boyfriend.

      Drake was everything she’d ever dreamed about. Not only was he tall, dark and handsome, he was a success at his job and had money to burn. His most wonderful feature, however, was that he was mad about her.

      Sometimes, she could hardly believe her luck.

      They’d met four months ago when he’d been selling her boss a plush inner-city apartment. That was Drake’s job, selling apartments in the high-rise buildings which had been mushrooming up all over Sydney’s central business district, capitalizing on the growing number of professionals who wanted to live near the city and didn’t care what they paid for the privilege. Drake had literally made a fortune in commissions and had been able to afford to buy one of those same luxury apartments for himself.

      He’d asked Zoe out the very first day they’d met, claiming later it was love at first sight. Zoe had been a little wary at first—once bitten, definitely twice shy—but it wasn’t long before Drake was the main focus of her life. Gone were the long lonely weekends. Gone, the depressing moments when she wondered what on earth she was doing with her life. Gone, the fear that she would never experience the sort of love and romance every girl dreamed of experiencing.

      Gone. Gone. Gone!

      Zoe glanced at her watch when the lights at the next intersection turned red. Twenty-three minutes past twelve.

      She frowned.

      It was normally only a ten-minute walk from her building down to the Rocks area and the restaurant where she regularly met Drake for lunch. The Rockery was his favorite harborside eating place, a trendy little bistro on the upper floor of a converted warehouse. He’d said to meet him there right on twelve-thirty today and not to be late, because he only had an hour.

      Drake hated being kept waiting, even for a few minutes. Zoe supposed this impatience came from being a perfectionist. And a planner. She was a bit like that herself.

      It seemed ages before the lights turned green again. Zoe hurried across the street, her heart racing for fear of being late. But she made it down to the restaurant with three minutes to spare.

      Fortunately, Drake had not yet arrived so she made a dash to the ladies’ room for repairs, where her reflection in the mirror showed a perspiration-beaded forehead and wind-ruffled hair.

      That was the trouble with walking. Still, it only took a few strokes of her brush and a fluff-up with her fingers to make her hair fall back into its chic auburn-tinted, shoulder-length, multi-layered, face-framing style. She’d had it cut and colored by one of Sydney’s top hairdressers, who charged a small fortune. But the end result was well worth the money.

      Admittedly, she had to rise almost an hour earlier every morning to get ready for work these days. Blow-drying her willfully wavy hair straight was not a quick process. Neither was applying the sort of makeup which covered every flaw, looked almost natural and didn’t require constant touch-ups during the day.

      Except when you sprinted down George Street on a warm summer’s day.

      A swift dabbing of translucent powder over her slightly melted foundation, a refreshing of her lipstick, and she was ready.

      Another glance at her watch showed she was now officially one minute late. When she emerged Zoe groaned to find Drake already sitting at their regular table by the window, tapping his fingers on the crisp white tablecloth.

      Darn, darn and double darn!

      Dredging up a bright smile, Zoe hurried toward him. His head swiveled her way, his dark eyes definitely displeased. Zoe couldn’t help some exasperation of her own. Truly, anyone would think he’d been waiting half an hour instead of a couple of minutes at best.

      She mouthed an apology as she approached and his scowl metamorphed into a marvelous smile, his eyes full of admiration as they raked over her slender gym-honed body, encased that day in a chic black-and-white silk shift dress.

      Zoe’s inner tension vanished in an instant. She loved it when he looked at her like that; like she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

      Yet she knew she wasn’t. She’d simply worked very hard on her body and learned how to make the best of herself.

      Drake, she realized with a sudden flash of insight, was of a similar ilk. Although attractive, he had several physical flaws which he’d learned to hide, or which you didn’t notice once he turned his charm on full wattage, as he was doing now. His dazzling smile and dancing black eyes distracted from the fact his nose was too large and his lips a bit on the thin side. The superbly tailored suits he always wore masked his less-than-perfect frame, providing broader shoulders than he actually possessed. Although he did weights in the gym and was very fit and toned, Drake did not have a great natural shape.

      Not that Zoe cared. She would have been the last person on earth to judge anyone by their body alone.

      “Now that’s a sight worth waiting for,” he complimented warmly, rising to go ‘round and pull out her chair for her.

      “I really was here on time,” she said as she sat down. “But the wind had done dreadful things to my hair.”

      “Looks perfect to me. There again,” he added on his return to his own chair, his gaze still appreciative, “you always look perfect to me.”

      Zoe laughed. “You should see me first thing in the morning.”

      One of his dark brows arched. “But I have, haven’t I? And I can testify you look even more beautiful then.”

      Zoe smiled a little sheepishly

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