Dating the Rebel Tycoon - By Ally Blake Page 0,41
place is neck-deep in cafés in Morningside. So you’re right; we are all a stone’s throw from home.’
She crossed her ankles to stop the jiggling and shoved a hand into her hair as she let her upper arm sink against the bench. ‘So why didn’t you move to the other side of the city when you had the falling out with your dad? Or the other side of the country, for that matter? Or the world. I’ve done it, several times over. It’s too easy.’
He tipped his glass and let it fall back upright before pushing it away and giving her his full focus once more. ‘And imagine where you might have ended up had interplanetary travel been on the cards. I hazard a guess that this place wouldn’t have seen you for dust.’
Three dates. That was as long as they had really known each other. She thought she had him figured out, but it hadn’t occurred to her til that moment that maybe he had her figured out too.
She wrapped her hands about her shoulders, her fingers sliding against the white cotton T-shirt and digging into soft flesh. ‘But we’re not talking about me.’
His hand slid along the bench to tap her elbow. ‘How about we do?’
She shook her head slowly. ‘No need. Unlike yours, my life is all figured out. No more analysis necessary.’
He watched her for a few long seconds before sliding his hand beneath her elbow, and turning her on the spot until she was looking out the window at the view of the Brisbane skyline.
His low, rumbling words brushed the hair against her ear as he said, ‘That view of that city is what inspired me to do what I do. I can see almost every building I’ve built from here, and I spend way more time than I ought to admit to sitting by the pool, fantasising about where the next one should go. And that view reminds me that, while I am creating the future of the city, I need to be mindful not to take anything away from the aesthetic created by those who came before me, and hope one day another developer will do the same for me.’
As Cameron’s words came to an end, Rosie felt like she was stuck in a kind of suspended animation. Her eyes were locked on the peaks and valleys of the teeming metropolis glittering brightly in the dark distance. And with his deep words echoing in her ears for the first time she saw the profound beauty he saw. In what he did. And in who he was, the true man deep down inside the fortress.
He swung her back round to face him, one eye closed, his divine mouth twisted in chagrin. ‘Was that the biggest load of egotistical clap-trap you’ve ever heard?’
She shook her head slowly, wondering if he had a single clue how at risk she was to his smiles in that moment. ‘That wasn’t what I was thinking at all.’
‘No?’
‘I was thinking that, no matter how much you might like people to think that you consider yourself to be the centre of the universe, you really don’t. I’m not sure that you ever have.’
He opened both eyes and lost the humble grin. He let his hand slip away from her elbow, ostensibly to grab his drink, but she knew better. Even before he said, ‘Whatever gave you that idea?’
‘Why skyscrapers? Why not mini-malls or housing estates or parking garages?’
‘The bigger the building, the bigger my…income.’ He grinned. Gorgeously.
‘See, now you might think you can dazzle me with your jokes,’ she said, waggling a finger at his nose, ‘And your fancy noodles, but I’ve realised something.’
He leant a forearm along the counter-top and inclined his head towards her. His voice was deep, dark and beguiling as he said, ‘Enlighten me.’
‘The pragmatic black-sheep, lone wolf, tower of strength, big boss, cool-as-a-cucumber thing you have going on is all an act. You, my friend, are a romantic.’
Well, now, that was the last thing Cameron had ever expected to be called.
Demanding, ruthlessly ambitious, with tunnel-vision. He’d been labelled all of the above at one time or another. But romantic?
Rosalind was so mistaken it was laughable. But by the sureness in her wide grey eyes, and the heavy air of attraction curling out from her and enveloping him, he knew laughter was definitely the wrong response.
Needing a moment to find the right way to let her down easily, he slid from his seat, collected the takeaway paraphernalia,