‘Do I know you at all, John Mitchell? I thought I did. I thought I had you pegged as that introverted, antisocial pain-in-the-neck kid from across the street who’d grown up into an irritatingly gorgeous but pain-in-the-neck adult. Instead, suddenly, I find out you’re nothing like that at all. You’re actually quite witty and charming and… and…’
‘Maybe you never knew the real John Mitchell,’ he countered.
‘Obviously I didn’t. What other surprises do you have in store for me?’
‘Shall we go and find out?’ he said, taking her elbow again and leading her out to the visitors’ car-park.
His SUV didn’t surprise her, despite being relatively new and relatively unused. But the sheet of paper waiting on the passenger seat did. It was the printout of a medical bill of health.
She shook her head from side to side as she read it. ‘It was very thoughtful of you to do this, John,’ she said.
‘I just didn’t want to you to worry about anything at any stage. I wasn’t going to offer you less than what you were getting at that clinic. I’m quite sure your anonymous donor had a similar clearance.’
‘Yes. Yes, he did,’ she said, frowning. ‘I should have thought to ask you, but I didn’t. It was silly of me.’
‘Not silly. Just human. You’ve been upset lately. And very busy. But you would have thought of it eventually, and you would have worried. Now, you don’t have to.’
‘No,’ she said, and smiled over at him. ‘I don’t. Thank you again, John. For everything.’
‘Don’t start canonising me yet, Scarlet.’
‘I see,’ she said, and gave him a much more typical Scarlet look. Very droll. ‘I’ll try not to jump to saintly conclusions about you in future.’
‘That would be wise.’
By the time they left the airport, the sun had set and night was only a few minutes away. Despite the roads into the city being well lit, it wasn’t easy for a newcomer to Darwin to see much during the short drive to the city, so John didn’t bother doing the tourist-guide bit of pointing things out to her. Scarlet did remark on how good the road was. John explained that most of the infrastructure was fairly new and well planned, one positive legacy of the cyclone. In just over ten minutes, they were entering the Central Business District which naturally, was a lot smaller than Sydney’s.
‘It all looks very neat and tidy,’ Scarlet commented as he drove up Stuart Street then turned left into the Esplanade which was one of the best streets in Darwin to live in, in John’s opinion. As well as being right on top of the CBD, it was facing the water in a south-westerly direction which meant you could still see the magnificent sunsets as well as get the advantage of the sea breezes.
His apartment was towards the southerly end of the street in a multi-storeyed building whose walls were cement rendered in an attractive grey-blue colour. There were lots of balconies facing the water, all of them enclosed with glass panels and black railings. The gutterings, trim and window frames were all black which looked extremely smart indeed. The garages were in the basement, with John having two allotted spaces for himself and guests. He parked in one, then helped Scarlet out before removing her bag from the back. She didn’t say a word as he led her over to the lift. Maybe she was worrying that he would pounce the moment they were alone.
Her head whipped round to stare at him when he pressed the top floor button.
‘You live in a penthouse?’ she asked, taken aback.
‘Not exactly. Penthouses usually occupy the whole top floor. There are two top-floor apartments of equal size, one of which is mine.’
She fell silent once more till John showed her into the apartment, at which point she stared at him again, shaking her head at the same time. ‘You really are very rich, aren’t you?’
‘Rich enough.’
‘For what?’
He shrugged. ‘I don’t have to work for the rest of my life if I don’t want to. Though of course I will.’
Again she shook her head. ‘This place must have cost a small fortune.’
‘Not quite that much. I bought it off-plan a few years ago.’
‘Did you choose the furniture?’
‘Lord, no. I have absolutely no taste whatever in that regard. I had it professionally decorated and furnished. Would you like to see the rest of it?’
‘Yes, please.’
Scarlet quickly noted that the same colour palate had been used throughout the whole apartment, ranging from white, to white with a greyish tinge, to various shades of grey right through to black, splashes of turquoise brightening up what could otherwise have been a dull decor. Which no doubt was why the designer had chosen glass surfaces for the various tables in the living area, to lift the heaviness of the black leather sofas and chairs.
Scarlet loved the circular glass dining table-which was set in a hexagonal-shaped alcove-and had a large turquoise ceramic bowl sitting in the middle. She even loved the dining chairs, which were black leather on chrome frames. The kitchen was spectacular, the stainless steel appliances and turquoise splashback set off beautifully by black cupboard doors and white stone benchtops which had grey flecks in it. The three chrome-based stools which were tucked neatly under the breakfast bar had turquoise leather saddle-seats which had to have been specially made.
The two guest bedrooms were similarly sized and furnished, with queen-sized beds, white lacquered furniture and white shag rugs on the floor, though the bed linen was different. One had a rather masculine black, grey and white striped quilt set whereas the second one was more feminine, a white background with turquoise flowers on it. That bedroom also opened out onto the front balcony, unlike the other one. The main bathroom, situated between the two guest bedrooms, was all white with silver taps and trim, and the loveliest, thickest turquoise towels. Scarlet was rather particular when it came to bathrooms and could find no fault anywhere in that one.
When she commented on how spotless everything was, John informed her that he had the apartment serviced every few days when he was in town.
‘Housekeeping,’ he added, ‘is not my forte.’
Scarlet didn’t imagine that it would be. He was a man’s man, with an outdoors job and outdoors hobbies such as surfing and camping.
The last room John showed her was the master bedroom, which blew her away even more than the kitchen. The black quilt on the king-sized bed contrasted beautifully with the white lacquered bedhead and side tables. The bedside lamps were exquisite, with chrome bases and exotic black shades which had crystal drops hanging from the bottom edges. Two rectangular white shag rugs were perfectly positioned on either side of the bed and a huge flat-screen television was built into the wall opposite the foot of the bed.
Scarlet suddenly saw herself sitting stark naked in that decadent-looking bed, propped up against a mountain of pillows whilst John was doing unimaginable things to her. It was a struggle not to blush once again-something which she seemed to be doing a lot in John’s presence. Somehow, she made some innocuous compliment and took refuge by thoroughly inspecting the oversized walkin wardrobe, before moving onto the black marble
Once again, heat zoomed into her cheeks.
Thankfully, her back was to John.
‘You’ve gone rather quiet,’ he said from just behind her. ‘Is there something wrong?’
By the time she turned around, Scarlet had her blushing under control. She even managed a polite smile. ‘Not at all. This place is lovely, John.’
‘But…?’
‘But what?’
‘I was sure I heard a “but” in there somewhere.’
Scarlet decided to take the bull by the horns in an attempt to defuse the nervous tension which was building up inside her. ‘I was wondering if you expected me to join you in here tonight.’
In spite of his earlier plans, John was tempted to say
