Finally (7 page)

“But I got a note in my room yesterday that I should have my big suitcase ready and placed outside my door by eight at the latest, as part of the checking-out coordination.”

He frowned. “We didn’t get that note. My suite attendant said to just be ready a couple of hours before we’re due to leave.”

She smirked. “For you people staying in the suites, maybe. You’re VIPs.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jeff said nuzzling her cheek. “I’ll ask my guy to pick up your bags this afternoon when he takes mine.”

“Um—” She didn’t get to articulate her protest as Jeff proceeded to make her body scream for him again.

*

“J
eff?”

“Hmm?” Jeff had his hands under his head and was watching her get dressed with a languid, satisfied look on his face.

“If I don’t get to see you before we disembark, I just want to say thanks for the last couple of nights. I had great fun.”

He grinned. “Me too. But I’m sure I’ll see you this afternoon.”

She smiled at him. Fortunately, the sheets were covering the lower half of his body or she might have an even harder time making herself leave his room. She was already feeling weepy.

“So do you already have another job lined up after this?” Jeff asked.

“Yes. I have two regular clients that I see for their daily post-surgery exercises. Someone else is covering for me for those jobs while I’m here with your grandmother. I’ll be back with them from next week. I also have a new request from the private hospital I work with to turn up there for a few hours a week to help with patients.”

Jeff nodded. “You have to let me know your schedule, so we can work out when we could see each other.”

Sarah’s heart pounded as she stared at Jeff. Did he mean for this affair to keep going? For how long? She took a deep breath and forced herself to speak her intentions.

“Jeff, I really enjoyed our time together. But I think it might be a good thing to keep this as a cruise-only fling.”

Jeff sat up on the bed, his brows furrowing. “Come here, Sarah,” he said quietly.

Her feet moved toward him, seeming to have a mind of their own. When she was within reach, Jeff tugged her hand so she would sit on the bed next to him.

“I thought we were having a great time,” he said, looking genuinely perplexed.

“We were!”

“So why do we have to end this so soon?”

She gulped involuntarily. What could she say? “You might be used to having casual affairs, Jeff, but I’m not,” she said, deciding to go for some semblance of truth. “I’m not sure I could keep my end of the bargain with keeping it simple if this went on. It would be safer and much less complicated if we ended it now.”

Jeff gaped at her for a long moment. “I see. Thanks for being honest.”

She smiled at him, pushing aside a melancholy that blossomed suddenly. “I’ll see you at Zach and Bec’s party.”

“Aren’t you going to my party, too? I’d really like you to come.”

She took a deep breath. “Sure. I’d love to be there.”

“Great. I’ll see you then. And thanks, Sarah. These two days have been amazing.”

She placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him softly. “Yes, they have been. I’ll see you on your birthday then.”

“Okay,” he said with a smile. “Bye, Sarah.”

“Bye, Jeff.”

She hurriedly left his suite before she gave in to the urge to fly back into his arms again.

When she’d closed his door behind her, she paused and took a deep breath. Gosh, this was much harder than she’d ever expected it to be. Which went to show she’d made the right decision. Continuing the fling would be totally disastrous.

She chewed her lip to distract herself from the heaviness that engulfed her. A big part of her wanted to turn around and knock on Jeff’s door, but she had to be smart about this. Her happily-ever-after guy was still out there and she’d be better off focusing her time and energy in identifying and catching that man, whoever he might turn out to be. One thing was for sure, he wasn’t Jeff.

The door next to Jeff’s suite opened, and Sarah’s heart raced in her chest. Wasn’t it too early for Magda to be up? Magda had said she intended to sleep in until mid-morning, as they had a late night last night.

Oh shit. It was already mid-morning.

“Sarah!” Magda said in surprise as she walked out the door.

“Hi Magda. I thought I’d see how you’re going this morning.” Sarah felt the heat creep up her face for that lie. But she couldn’t very well tell Magda that she’d just been in her grandson’s bedroom.

“Oh, I’m fine, dear. I told you last night that you should enjoy your last day of the cruise doing whatever you want to do. I’m meeting up with my friends to play some bingo.”

“Okay. If you need me for anything, please call me.”

“I will, dear. By the way, I expect to see you again soon after this. Please keep in touch.”

Sarah smiled fondly. “Of course, Magda. I’ll see you at Bec and Zach’s engagement party. Oh, and Jeff invited me to his birthday, too.”

“Oh good! I’m glad that the next time I see you is not because I need you as a nurse.”

“You’re pretty healthy, Magda. It’s just that you had that accidental fall in your bathroom that made it imperative to have your hip replacement, and possibly a knee surgery sometime in the future. Otherwise, you’re fit for your age.”

“Well, I guess I have to be grateful I even reached the age of eighty. It frustrates me, though, knowing my body’s not one hundred percent. I want to still be strong and capable for many more years. I want to be able to play with my future great-grandkids, whenever my grandsons decide to give me some.”

Sarah chuckled. “Well, Zach and Bec are your best bet at this point.”

Magda sighed in resignation. “I know. I just wish Jeffrey and Gregory would settle down soon, too. But I’m only the grandmother. I can’t tell them what to do with their lives.”

Sarah could only smile her sympathy. She hoped as well that Jeff was the marrying kind, but he wasn’t. Not anymore.

What a pity and what a waste. She wondered if there was a way she could make him change his mind about not wanting a committed relationship?

Oh hello, Sarah. What the hell did you just think? Tell yourself you’re dreaming.

J
eff hovered over his grandmother with concern. Magda had started coughing almost as soon as she got back home from the cruise. That was over a week ago now, and she wasn’t getting better. Even her breathing had become somewhat laboured.

It was probably from the change in weather and the fact that she’d been running herself to the ground with attending charity events and various other functions. She might have gotten away with not having a big eightieth birthday party by escaping to a month-long cruise, but now that she was back on dry land, invitations had been coming thick and fast. The main problem was that Magda’s golden heart couldn’t say no to most of them.

“Your cough seems to be getting worse, Gran. What did the doctor say?”

“Oh, you know,” Magda said. “Old people like me are more prone to have bronchial problems.”

“I’m sure she’s told you to get some rest.”

Magda nodded, covering her mouth to cough again.

“I’m going to give instructions to your PA to send ‘thanks, but no thanks’ responses to all your new invitations,” he said with authority. “If it’s for charity, just send them money. If it’s a birthday or some other special occasion, just send them your gift. You don’t
need
to turn up.”

“I know. I just wanted to show my support. But you’re right. This cough doesn’t seem to want to go away—” Magda paused to have another coughing fit, “—so I was thinking I’d go to the Hunter Valley early and stay there for a few weeks. The fresh country air would do me good.”

“That’s not a bad idea. But we won’t be around to make sure you behave yourself. For all I know, you’ll be saying hi and hello to everyone within a fifty-kilometre radius of our boundaries and tiring yourself even more.”

Magda laughed. “I’m not that bad, Jeffrey. Besides, I’m thinking of hiring Sarah again to look after me while I’m there. She’ll know when I’m overtaxing myself, and I
will
listen to her. I hope she’s available for another whole month. She might as well stay there with me until Zach and Bec’s party—which will also be her birthday party.”

Jeff couldn’t help the big grin that formed on his face. “Great idea, Gran. If you request it early, I’m sure Sarah would rearrange her schedule for you.”

Magda nodded. “I hope she could be ready by this weekend.”

“I’ll talk to her if you like—make sure she’s available,” he offered.

“That would be great, dear. Thank you.”

“Well, I better go so you can rest,” he said, kissing Magda on the forehead.

“Ah, if only I could get a good night’s sleep. This cough wakes me up in the middle of the night, even if I take medication.”

Jeff shook his head.  If he had to pull strings so the nursing agency would make sure that Sarah was available for his grandmother, he would. He trusted Sarah. She loved Magda and took great care of her. Apart from Sarah and Rebecca, he wouldn’t want anyone else looking after his grandmother, especially when Magda would be out of Sydney.

Zach, of course, would be unlikely to want Rebecca out of his sight for weeks unless it was an emergency, so Sarah better be available. Besides, that would give him a chance to see Sarah again before the parties. He’d been finding himself fantasising about her a lot. He reckoned it was because they’d ended their fling right at the point where it was still scorching hot. Now he couldn’t get her out of his head.

Maybe she wouldn’t mind resuming their little affair—just long enough for him to have his fill of her. Hell, he couldn’t even douse the flame with another woman. He’d been so busy at work that he hadn’t had time to get interested in any new fling partner. So he suffered at nights remembering how hot Sarah was.

He could understand why Sarah didn’t want their affair to go on for too long. Women did seem to want more if you stayed with them for a length of time. He appreciated that Sarah recognised that and took steps to ensure their relationship stayed within the boundaries they’d both agreed to.

But surely a few more times wouldn’t hurt? They’d only had two nights together. That wasn’t long at all. He wanted more. What would Sarah think about that?

*****

J
eff stared at Sarah as they sat in a coffee shop, discussing Magda’s health and her request for Sarah to stay with her at the Hunter Valley for a month. How was it possible that she looked more attractive than he remembered?

“I’d be more than happy to look after Magda again, Jeff,” Sarah said. “Your grandmother’s my favourite client. But I’m already lined up for another job for the next couple of months. That client has specifically asked for me as well, so that’s probably why the agency couldn’t change my schedule.”

“How about I talk to your agency about this? Would that help?”

Sarah’s eyes registered surprise. “Haven’t you told them yet? I thought you already had and you’ve been informed that I’m not available—that’s why you’re here.”

“No.” He hadn’t exactly followed protocol. He went straight to Sarah. He wanted to see her.

“Oh. Well, maybe the agency wouldn’t mind me backing out of my other job then. They usually give Magda Carmichael whatever she wants.”

“Good. So what’s the process? What do I do next? Do I call them or something?”

Sarah laughed. “Just like how it happened the last time, Jeff. I think it was Magda’s PA who requested the job with the agency. She knows what to do.”

“Okay. I’ll ask her to arrange everything then.”

“You could have just called. I could have saved you time by not having to drive here.”

“Well, I’m here now. And this afternoon’s not very busy for me.” That was a lie, of course. He had work coming out of his ears. But he couldn’t resist the opportunity to see Sarah again. “So what have you been up to since I last saw you?” he asked.

By the time they left the café, it was already getting dark. He went home feeling inexplicably light. He loved talking to Sarah. He loved knowing more things about her. She was guileless but also witty. He’d found himself wanting their conversation to go on and on.

He sighed. He actually hadn’t wanted to go home yet, but he had a dinner meeting with his brothers. But in all honesty, he’d much rather spend more time with Sarah.

*****

J
eff pressed the buzzer to Sarah’s apartment, grinning like an idiot. He was looking forward to her expression when she discovered that it was he who had come to pick her up to take her to the Hunter Valley with Magda.

“Hello?” came her answer.

“I’m Mrs. Carmichael’s driver, ma’am,” he said, hoping that the deeper voice he’d used was enough to not give him away.

“Oh, right. Thanks. We’re coming down.”

Jeff frowned.
We’re
coming down? Who was she with? He pressed the buzzer again.

“Hello?”

“I’m supposed to help you with your bags, ma’am.”

“Thanks. But no need. My friends will help me carry them down. We’ll be there in a minute.”

Friends? He shrugged, deciding to wait.

A minute later, the building front door opened and Sarah walked out, followed by three other girls.

“Jeff!” Her eyes were round and her mouth was open as she stared at him in shock.

“Hey,” he said with a grin, rushing over to take a large suitcase from her.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m driving you guys today. Gran gave her driver the weekend off.”

“Oh,” Sarah said, standing stock-still, eyes still wide.

He looked past her to smile at her friends. “Hi, I’m Jeff.”

One of the women brushed past Sarah. “Hi Jeff. I’m Amanda.”

The other two ladies introduced themselves as Gemma and Brenna.

“I thought it might be a good idea for them to say hello to your grandmother today,” Sarah said, recovering from her shock. “Magda said she’d love to meet them, and since they happen to be here to see me off...”

“Oh, sure. The car’s parked around the corner. That was the closest spot I could find.”