The New Year Resolution (3 page)

Nicole wouldn’t be an issue. After tonight it was doubtful he’d ever see her again. The press wouldn’t cotton on to this New Year’s Eve date. It was so random, and she was so different to the kind of girl he usually dated, which was precisely why he’d agreed to go out with her.

When Dave had called with the New Year’s Eve proposition, Ryan had seized the chance. It was the perfect setup. An unknown local Pretoria girl wouldn’t attract any attention. Plus, she was ideal for his needs. Vincent was impressed by her, he could tell, and she’d done an excellent job covering for him.

“Given enough time the media will hopefully find a different target,” he mused.

“I hope so, for your sake, my boy.”

The ladies returned. The rest of the table had filled up with other guests, some of whom knew Vincent and his wife and there were more introductions. Nicole seemed totally at ease amongst the financial minds of the banking industry and contributed to the lively conversations, and Ryan could see she’d earned Vincent’s respect and admiration.

After dinner the band kicked it up a notch and a few couples hit the dance floor.

“Do you want to dance?” asked Ryan suddenly, as Nicole leant back in her chair, a small smile playing on her lips. She looked serenely beautiful, with her blonde hair piled up in a loose bun with tendrils falling around her face. For the first time he noticed the elegant line of her neck and shoulders, and the smoothness of her honey-coloured skin, adorned with a simple diamante necklace. He really couldn’t have found a more suitable date if he’d hand-picked her himself. She oozed elegance and intelligence. Now all he had to do was convince Vincent that she was around to stay and hopefully the mining magnet would agree to finance his latest project.

“Sure.”

Ryan saw Vincent smile approvingly as he led Nicole onto the dance floor. The band was playing popular cover versions, easy to dance to. Ryan liked music but he wasn’t a natural dancer. Like most men he lacked rhythm, but in this instance he was willing to make an exception. Whatever it took to secure the deal....

Nicole danced in a manner that was both enticing and admirable. She moved almost instinctively, oblivious to what other people thought of her. Ryan could see she was enjoying herself and he was glad. If this deal went through he owed her – big time.

As she sang along to the track, her cheeks flushed and her pale blue eyes sparkling with delight, Ryan felt a twinge of guilt. Vincent was right. She was a nice girl. He wondered how she’d react when he told her this was it, that he wouldn’t be seeing her again.

Nicole caught his eye and smiled. “I love this song. It reminds me of my university days in Cape Town.”

As she twirled around in front of him, Ryan caught the floral whiff of
Allure
, by Chanel.  It suited her. He fought the urge to move closer. Her enjoyment was contagious. For a brief moment he wished he could relax and live in the moment like she was doing, but this project was too important. It would be too easy to grab her hand, whirl her around the dance floor and laugh along with her, but that would be dangerous. It could lead to complications.

So he reined himself in and smiled politely, watching her lose herself in the music.

“I told you, it was a fun night.” Nicole uncurled her legs from the sofa and tickled the Great Dane’s ear with her toe. Rupert was curled up leisurely at her feet, enjoying the morning sunshine. He grunted in response to her touch.

“But what about Ryan? What was he like?” probed Janine from the other end of the phone.

“He was interesting...” Nicole began, unsure how to proceed. The night had progressed much along the same vein, with Vincent Mahler promising he’d think about Ryan’s proposal.

In the car on the way home Nicole had sensed Ryan’s frustration. He’d hoped for a more positive response, obviously. Although Nicole didn’t know the ins and outs of the project, she knew it was important to Ryan to secure Vincent’s approval and she hoped it worked out for him. She’d said as much when he dropped her off outside her house. It was two in the morning when they’d finally got home. The latest night Nicole could remember since Olivia was born.

As midnight had struck, Ryan had leant over and kissed her gently on the cheek. It was a platonic kiss, with no hint of anything more. Nicole also had the sneaky suspicion it was more for Vincent’s benefit than her own. Right then she knew this date wasn’t going to progress anywhere – and she was fine with that. It had been fun. Ryan was great, but that’s all it would ever be. One fun night.

“Nicole, I want to thank you for your help tonight. I really appreciate it,” Ryan had said on the way home. “I know I took you by surprise and I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be, it was fun,” scoffed Nicole, unperturbed. “It’s not often I get to pretend I’m some millionaire playboy’s girlfriend.”

Ryan frowned. “What makes you think I’m a playboy?”

“Google,” said Nicole, with a cheeky grin. She’d looked him up on her iPhone while waiting in the line for the loo, earlier that evening. His love life made for interesting reading. “Not that it matters to me. I had a great time tonight and Vincent and Sylvia are lovely. I hope you get to work with him.”

“Me, too,” said Ryan, giving in and smiling with her.

They pulled up in front of Nicole’s house. The Merc drifted to a stop, the engine idling. “Thanks again, Nicole.”  There was a note of finality in his voice.

“Goodbye, Ryan,” she whispered, and climbed out of the car. The Jacaranda blossoms had covered the pavement with a soft lilac carpet which muted the sound of her heels on the concrete.

It was nice knowing you.

“Hot interesting or boring interesting?” pressed Janine, refusing to let it go. Nicole giggled.

“Jan have you Googled this guy? He’s a bona fide playboy. He dated some Spanish princess and when they split up it was plastered all over the international press. A month later he was with some super-model in Majorca. The guy’s way out of my league.”

“I had no idea...” There was a pause as the information filtered through. “I never would have suggested it if I’d known. Dave didn’t say a word.”

“Perhaps he didn’t know, either,” suggested Nicole, stroking Rupert’s big head that was now resting on her knee.

“Actually, he probably didn’t,” admitted Janice. “He does have his head buried in an engineering book most of the time. Foreign princesses and super models aren’t really his forte, thank goodness.”

Nicole laughed. “Never mind, Jan. I had a great night. It was worth it just for the experience. It’s not like I wanted anything serious, anyway. This was the perfect splash of colour to kick-start my new year.”

The doorbell rang.

“Oops, sorry, better go. There’s someone at the door.”

They hung up and Nicole padded barefoot to the front door. Rupert, ever faithful, trotted along at her heels.

“Who is it?” Nicole called.

“It’s Ryan,” came the curt reply.

Nicole frowned. What on earth was
he
doing here? Despite her confusion, her heart traitorously skipped a beat. Then she chastised herself. He had only shown her polite indifference last night. It was not a romantic reason that had brought him back here this morning.

She pulled open the heavy wooden door. Rupert immediately gave Ryan the once over and then stuck his big wet nose into the man’s crotch.

“Rupert, come here,” hissed Nicole, pulling the big dog backwards by the collar. “Sorry,” she said to a surprised Ryan, “he always does that with strangers.”

“No problem.” Ryan walked into the front room, patting Rupert on the back. “That’s a beautiful dog you’ve got there.”

“I know.” They stared at each other for a few seconds before Nicole said, “Why don’t you come in? I’ll make some tea.”

“Thanks.” Ryan followed her awkwardly into the lounge and sat down on the sofa, in the exact spot where Nicole had been sitting only moments earlier. Nicole put the kettle on and turned to face him across the open-plan kitchen and lounge area.

“So, I have to admit this is something of a surprise.”

As are you
, in those jeans and a t-shirt.

Ryan looked the antithesis of the suave businessman he’d been last night. Denim jeans stretched around tight thigh muscles, giving the impression of someone who was used to hard manual work. His T-shirt had a surfing logo on it, a testament to an outdoorsy lifestyle and the pale colour contrasted nicely with his tanned arms.

“Yes, I can see how it would be,” he began, clearly unsure where to start. “And I had no intention of bothering you today, believe me.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled, trying to make a joke. “I didn’t have that much to drink last night. I’m hangover free.”

Ryan fell silent as the kettle bubbled to a noisy climax.

“Sugar?” asked Nicole.

“Please, one.”

Nicole stirred the teas, wondering why the teaspoon suddenly seemed incredibly loud against the edges of the mugs. “Here you go.” She handed a steaming cup to Ryan and perched on the leather armchair opposite him. “Now, why don’t you tell me why you are here? Did I leave something in the car?”

“No, nothing like that.”

Ryan took a sip, gathering his thoughts. This was harder than he had expected. When Vincent had called this morning with his proposal, Ryan had been ecstatic, until he’d heard what the proposal consisted of. But he couldn’t refuse. Vincent was holding out an olive branch and Ryan had to take it. It was his only shot.

He looked at Nicole, face freshly scrubbed, barefoot and totally relaxed in her domain. She didn’t seem worried that he was seeing her with no make-up on. A far cry from Inge who wouldn’t leave the room without first spending an hour in the bathroom, or Gabriella who always had her personal make-up woman do her face before she appeared in public.

“I have a proposition for you,” he said, feeling more confident. For some reason he felt that he could talk to this girl honestly and she wouldn’t berate him.

She studied him with interest. “Oh?”

“Yes. You don’t have to agree to it, but I’d be incredibly grateful if you did.”

Please agree,
he begged silently.

The look of interest increased. Good.

“I heard from Vincent Mahler this morning. He has invited me to spend a week with him and his family.”

“Wonderful! Then you got the funding?”

“Not exactly.” Ryan hesitated. At Nicole’s confused look he added, “He invited you as well.”

“Me? But why me?” stammered Nicole, shaking her head.

“Because he thinks you’re my girlfriend,” pointed out Ryan. “And the crafty old bastard is putting me to the test.”

“You think he doubts us?”

“I don’t know.” Ryan shrugged. “But he’s not going to hand over twenty million without doing some serious due diligence first.”

“Twenty million?” mouthed Nicole, her eyes out on stalks. “No, of course not.”

“So I need to ask you if you’ll come away with me?”

Nicole leant her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. Ryan waited. She really did have a lovely neck. His eyes idly drifted downwards over her chest. He realised with a start she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples pushed against the thin material of her T-shirt, becoming more obvious the more he stared at them.

Quickly, he lifted his gaze. Nicole opened her eyes.

“Look, I’m really sorry Ryan, but I can’t come away with you. It’s impossible.”

Ryan blinked. Had she just turned him down?

“Why not?” he asked, surprised.

Most girls would jump at the chance to go away with him. In fact, he was never short of female company wherever he went. These last three months excluded, but that was only because he’d practically gone to ground.

“Look around you,” she said, waving her arms around. “I have animals. I have a child. I can’t just get up and leave for a week.”

A child?

A cold shiver ran down Ryan’s spine. Nicole had a child. He looked around the room, searching for clues. There was a plastic kiddie cup and plate on the bar counter that separated the kitchen from the lounge. The cupboard underneath the TV cabinet had a safety lock on it. There was a
National Geographic Kids
in the magazine rack.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice,” he said, feeling silly. Except that only made his problem worse. Vincent was expecting Nicole to show up with him. He couldn’t go alone; he wouldn’t get the contract.

“She’s with her father in Johannesburg this weekend, which is why the house is so tidy,” explained Nicole with a wry grin. “I miss her like crazy, though.”

Ryan was silent. He couldn’t relate. Children had never come into his orbit. The women he dated were usually too obsessed with themselves or their figures to think about kids.

Now what was he going to do? He couldn’t ask her and her kid along. Vincent would know it was a set-up. Although it would up the sympathy factor.

No! He banished the thought. He wasn’t going to even go there. Using a kid to further his own ambitions was beyond even him.