The Contract by Marsh, Nicola (read aloud books .txt) 📕

her eyes. “It’s a bit late to exchange pleasantries, don’t you think?”

He deserved that for acting like a first-class jerk. Though he wasn’t big on apologies he’d better make amends before she ran crying to daddy and Colin Lawrence came after him with a shotgun. Or worse, a law suit.

He lowered his head a fraction, aiming for humble in the hope she’d buy it. He’d never acted subservient in his life and it didn’t sit well with him now. “I don’t know what came over me. Please accept my apology. You got me so wound up, I—”

“Do you kiss everyone who talks back to you?” She interrupted, crossing her arms.

Once again, his mind drifted into the gutter as he wondered if her breasts would feel as good as they looked through the gauzy material.

He shrugged, bringing his attention back to her face with difficulty. “I’m not used to it. I don’t get disagreed with all that often.”

Sensing the direction of his gaze, she folded her arms tighter and glared. “Well, there’s a first time for everything. It’s about time someone took you down a peg or two and I’m the person to do it.”

He took in her defensive stance, a flicker of appreciation shooting through him. This woman would fight to the death for what she believed in, to protect what was rightfully hers. He admired loyalty, a rare attribute in most of the women he’d had the misfortune to date.

“Be careful. I might take you up on that challenge.” He paused, staring her up and down. “And we both know where that might lead.”

A faint pink stained her cheeks, highlighting the bewitching colour of her eyes. “My father won’t be back ’til later. I’ll tell him you dropped by. And now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do.” She held her head high and strode past him, holding open the tent flap for him to exit with her.

“You win this time. But I’ll be back.” He stepped out of the tent, the sunshine momentarily blinding him and he wondered if she’d cast some weird spell on him while he’d been cocooned with her.

“I’m sure you will. See you round, Hotshot.”

As she walked away he realised she still hadn’t answered his question. “What’s your name?”

“Amber,” she flung over her shoulder and continued on her way. He only just caught her muttered ‘and don’t you forget it’.

The name suited her. Her hair and skin a golden bronze that more than lived up to the semi-precious stone she’d probably been named after.

Perhaps this deal would be more complicated than he thought and he’d need to spend longer on the Gold Coast than first anticipated?

Yeah, it was doable. Though how he would justify the last half-hour as billable time was beyond him.

* * *

Amber stalked across the grounds towards her father’s office, wondering what on earth had possessed her to match wits with the likes of that fancy lawyer.

She’d picked him as soon as he’d entered the carnival, striding through the crowd with his nose stuck ten feet in the air. The designer suit had been a dead give-away too, not to mention the fact her father had warned her about some big-time lawyer from Sydney coming to pay them a visit.

Okay, so he hadn’t been what she’d expected. Old, wrinkly and conservative didn’t come close to describing the high-and-mighty Steve Rockwell. Not by a long shot. Try thirty-ish, lean and drop-dead gorgeous.

Not that she wanted to remember him. Anything he’d had to say and that damn kiss should be pushed to the far recesses of her mind where they belonged.

So what if he’d made her toes curl? She’d been kissed before. But never like that.

So what if he’d turned up enough heat to melt her on the spot. She could cope. She’d handled worse and come away unscathed. And if he thought for one minute he could undermine her stance on the carnival with a single kiss, he had another think coming.

She knocked once before barging into her father’s makeshift office. “Hi, Dad. Got a minute?”

Colin Lawrence looked up, pleasure etched into his weary face. He pushed his glasses on top of his balding head and leaned back in his chair. “I’ve always got time for my favourite girl. What’s up?”

“I ran into that lawyer you talked about. And he’s spouting a whole lot of trouble.”

Her father’s worried expression made her heart clench. “We’ve talked about this, love. There’s no avoiding it. Where is he?”

“I fobbed him off for now though he said he’d be back. Isn’t there anything we can do? Get another loan? Re-finance?” She wanted to stamp her feet and yell at the injustice of it all.

He shook his head, sending her brief, irrational flare of hope plummeting. “There’s nothing left. I’ve got no choice. It’s sell to the big boys or close up.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose where his glasses had rested moments before. “I’m sorry. There isn’t any other way.”

Amber walked over to her father, bent down and hugged him. “Don’t worry, things will be okay. You’ll see.” She blinked back the tears that rose at her empty promise.

Things hadn’t been the same since her mother had died when she’d been twelve years old, after a long, expensive battle with cancer. Her father had done everything in his power to keep the carnival afloat, a lasting legacy of happier times, of a business her parents had built from scratch.

Later, he’d insisted on paying her university bills, leaving their floundering finances in dire straits. So she had a business degree? Big deal. It couldn’t save the carnival