Tasmanian Tangle (10 page)

'I'll admit no such thing!' replied Tanya, incensed. 'There was a reason why I turned his offer down, but not the one you're hinting at, that I'd cramp his style—that's what you meant, isn't it?' she said furiously. 'Well, you're wrong again. He's not a bit like the sort of person you're making him out to be. In point of fact he was the one man I wished my mother had married!'

Her blazing eyes met the cool sardonic ones of Kade, and she knew that he was not convinced, and the knowledge made her even more furious. 'And what about you, Mr Player?' she bit out tersely. 'Won't I cramp your style? You're a bachelor too, so the same goes for you!'

Again she noticed that sudden widening of his eyes and felt a spurt of satisfaction that she had managed to score a point there.

Kade's eyes were no longer sardonic but furious as he bit back harshly. 'If you mean what I think you mean, then I'd advise you to choose your words with more care,' he warned. 'We were discussing your mother's friend. As for cramping my style—you're not up to my weight.' His eyes narrowed speculatively as he added slowly, 'It's my opinion your mother kept you well away from any emotional involvement—after what happened to her she'd make certain history wasn't repeated,' he ended scathingly.

Tanya blinked in shock. She hadn't meant it to sound as if she was vying for a place in his love life, but either he had deliberately misinterpreted her words or he really thought that that was what was behind her challenge. As for his blunt comments on her mother keep-

ing her free from involvements—well—he was right on that score, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that !

Her small chin jutted out in a defiant gesture as she said suggestively, 'She couldn't be around all the time,' and tried to assume a cool demeanour as she met his searching eyes.

His lips thinned as he drawled softly, 'If I believed what you're hinting at then I'd agree with your haring off to Oregon.' His eyes rested on her soft full lips now clamped together in temper. 'I wouldn't mind betting you've never been kissed,' he remarked in a casual mocking way. His eyes laughed at her as she made an involuntary move away from him. 'Don't worry, I'm not about to indoctrinate you into such pastimes. We'll save that for a more suitable applicant.'

Again Tanya caught the inflection of the big brother act, and she wished she could relieve some of her fury by pummelling him with her fists, but it would be just as effective as hitting the wall behind him, only she would suffer. How dared he assume that he had the right to choose her boy-friends for her! 'Why waste all that experience of yours?' she cut back bitterly, without realising what she was saying. 'Why not throw it in as part and parcel of the business course? You never know —it might come in handy ! '

There was a small shocked silence after this, and Tanya's cheeks flamed as the full realisation of her outburst reached through her infuriated senses. How could she have lowered herself like that? If he took her up on it, then she wouldn't be waiting for the time limit to be up, she'd be off on the next plane to Oregon for a certainty!

Kade stood surveying her flushed cheeks through hooded eyes. 'The day may come when you'll come to wish you hadn't said that,' he said warningly, then turned abruptly away from her and walked to the door. 'If you've finished your lunch, we've the lower acres to inspect.'

Tanya closed her eyes; she wanted to shout out after him that she hadn't meant what she'd said, and would he please forget it, but when she opened her eyes again he'd left the room, and there was nothing for her to do but follow him. As for forgetting, it was a little too late for that. A man like that never forgot, and whatever the future held for her now, she had brought it upon herself.

The afternoon rounds of the lower orchards were decidedly different from the morning rounds. Tanya was hardly given a breathing space. Each time Kade inspected the crop of fruit from selected trees, she was told what he was looking for and why. In what seemed a remarkably short period of time she was given the history of the apple industry in the island, that went back to Governor Bligh of the Bounty, credited with bringing the fruit to the Island.

For all Tanya cared the seeds could have been dropped by the birds, but her wide grey eyes showed none of her thoughts as she met Kade's determined blue ones.

His attitude towards her now was one of teacher to student. A teacher who was determined that his pupil should do well, and that she would pass the finals if he had to push her through them! There was more at stake than his pride, she mused, for without meaning to she had offered him a challenge and he had accepted it.

When it came down to brass tacks it was a case of his will against hers. It was a fight that she dared not lose, even if it meant breaking her word and taking off for Oregon. On this thought she sighed inwardly. She didn't want to break her word; her mother had run away from her problems instead of facing up to them, and had created more problems and more unhappiness for all concerned. Tanya's problem was different in that she was free to choose her own destiny—and she chose not to fall into the same emotional trap that had brought so much bitterness in its train.

Her eyes rested on the bright green foliage of the branch that Kade was holding out for her inspection as he gave her another lecture, this time on the spraying of the trees. All this meant nothing to her; her mind was made up and he was just wasting his breath. This thought somewhat alleviated the frustration she had felt during their earlier confrontation. She would play it his way from now on—it was better than being stuck in an office anyway, and she would be a very attentive student. He had said that he meant to win by fair or foul means, hadn't he? What was good enough for him was good enough for her. She would lull him into thinking he had won the fight, and when the time limit was up she would say something soothing on the lines of how interesting it had all been, but now she must be off.

`Are you listening?' demanded Kade, eyeing the sparkle in her eyes as she contemplated her final triumphant exit from Orchard Farm, with a hint of suspicion in his.

Tanya came out of her happy musings with a guilty start, and blinked at Kade, now with a glint in his eye.

'Of course,' she replied hastily, thinking she had to do better than this if her plan was to succeed. 'You were talking about spraying the crops,' she went on hastily, devoutly hoping he would not ask her to give a verbatim report of the subject.

His sardonic reply of, `So we were,' and his added, 'Well, I guess there's plenty of time,' drawled on what Tanya could only interpret as a warning note, gave her cause to suspect that he was well aware of her intentions and envisaged no trouble in overcoming them.

This thought somewhat dampened her earlier enthusiasm for the fight ahead, but by the time the inspection had finished and they were on the way back to Orchard Farm at the close of the working day, she had recovered her fighting spirit. Oddly enough Kade's own words had brought about her recovery. She remembered what he'd said about her being a fighter, and not being the type to run away. Although it could be argued that he was just saying that to make her agree to stay and see things through, but she knew that he was not a person to utter glib statements, and would certainly not lower his standard to suit the occasion—any occasion—he was too straightforward for that.

When Kade told her that she would be accompanying him to Hobart the next day, Tanya realised that there was more to the business than just inspecting the orchards and making out the accounts. When another and much less palatable thought hit her, she very nearly gave up the fight then and there. It was Kade's cool order that she should pack an evening dress as they would be attending a social function after the conference was ended that started her palpitations.

The plain fact was that she didn't know enough

about the business to know whether he always attended the ensuing social get-together. She had a nasty suspicion that he didn't, but was making a point of doing so for her benefit. She swallowed. If it was for her benefit then he needn't have bothered, but she could hardly say so, could she? not after her rash outburst during lunch. So much for hoping that he would forget her lapse from grace, she thought bitterly as she envisaged an evening in his company.

Her heartbeats increased rapidly at the thought of dancing with him and beat a positive tattoo as she recalled his threatened reminder that one day she would regret her open invitation to him to teach her the wiles of love. It looked as though that 'day' had arrived!

In an effort to stem the rising panic she felt hovering at the back of her senses she made herself go over that all-too-revealing scene again in her mind. The more she thought about it, the worse it looked for her. Only the thought that Kade must have known that she had no idea of just what she was suggesting somewhat calmed her. He had also known that she was completely inexperienced, and most certainly not in his sophisticated grade, in spite of her pathetic attempt to mislead him.

It would be amusing for him to try her out, she thought miserably, and that was all it would be for him. An interesting study into the mind of one Tanya Hume, a little girl cosseted all her life from the big bad world. The worst of it, was that it was the truth. She had never had to fend for herself; she had never been given the opportunity—even now, when she might have made a start, this hard man was making a take-over bid before she had time to find her feet.

The fact that this same hard man filled her dreams

and set her longing for something that was completely unattainable, made the situation even more complicated. It did, however, serve to strengthen her resolve to leave Orchard Farm as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Dreams or no dreams, Tanya was basically a sensible girl, and the thought of a future filled with hopeless longings was not to be contemplated. With Kade constantly near her, and the sound of his deep autocratic voice that could raise her to the heavens, or cast her into the deepest dungeons, there would be little chance of happiness for her.

When Kade called for her the following morning, Tanya was waiting for him. Her overnight case, that held what she hoped would be a suitable dress for the evening's entertainment, stood outside on the verandah to be collected as she left the house.

Her heart gave a little leap as she took in his tall lean figure, dressed now in town wear and looking as well turned out as the moneyed set of people she had spent most of her earlier life with. Not that he ever looked anything but what he was—boss—and master of all he surveyed. He was now surveying her, she noticed, and knew an anxious moment as to whether her finely tailored suit of lime green came up to standard. She still wasn't sure that it did after his curt nod and abrupt, `Ready?' because of the way his eyes lingered on the frothy bow of her white blouse, and she wondered miserably if she oughtn't to have chosen a more business-looking blouse to go with the suit.

`We'll be late, Connie,' he called out, as he picked up her case and strode towards the car leaving an uncertain Tanya to follow him. She couldn't win whatever she did, she told herself, as she obediently took the

front seat that he stood impatiently waiting for her to take and ready to slam the car door after her.

She had made some attempt to make herself look a little older by twisting up her hair and fixing it in a little knot on the top of her head, but the car windows were wide open and fine tendrils of the white-blonde hair kept escaping from the loosely fixed bun, whipping across her face and causing her much irritation.

From time to time she would reach up an impatient hand to remove the offending tendril, and make some effort to secure it back into position. She was just making another futile attempt to catch another wisp that had settled across her left eye when Kade growled; 'For heaven's sake ! Either fix it properly, or let it loose!'

Tanya glared at him. What business was it of his how she wore her hair? If it offended him that much, then she would sit in the back seat!

She was about to say as much when he added, still on a note of asperity, 'It doesn't suit you, anyway. You've plenty of time to look your age without trying to hurry up matters. It's not a question of looks, either,' he went on, heedless of Tanya's outraged gasp. 'It's personality that counts. Just be yourself and stop trying to convince everybody that you know it all.'

By everybody, he meant himself, thought Tanya, fuming, and how on earth could he accuse her of trying to impress him? So she had tried to make herself look older, but it hadn't been for his benefit—well, she conceded honestly—only in a roundabout way she had tried to look the part. It was a business trip after all was said and done. She took refuge in sarcasm. 'Not in a very good mood, are we?' she queried sweetly. 'What

happened? Did one of your lady friends let you down?' she added acidly, determined to show him that she had no illusions where he was concerned, and the sooner he realised this the sooner he would stop slating her on the personal front.

She knew a spurt of alarm when he glided the big car to a stop in a layby they were about to pass, and switched off the engine with a snap of his strong fingers, then sat back and with narrowed eyes raked the inwardly cringing Tanya who was determined not to show him that she was afraid of him. 'Let's get one thing straight, shall we?' he bit out at her. 'We'll keep personal issues out of this. What I do in my spare time is no concern of yours—and never will be. If you've any sense at all, then you'd do well to remember that.'