At Last (Time for Love, #5) Page 8

  “Could you send me your full proposal, Tony, with forecasts and costings and such? Then I’ll sit with Zach and Jeff to discuss it,” he said.

  “Sure. I’ll send it straight to you when it’s ready.”

  “Okay, does this mean business talk is finished?” Liana asked.

  Tony laughed. “I told you you’d just get bored joining us, darling.”

  Greg felt a hand on his thigh from under the table. Ugh.

  “I’m not here for the business talk,” Liana said, running her hand higher up.

  Greg captured it before it could reach his groin and replaced it on her lap. Seriously, did she have to do this now? He respected Liana’s parents, so he wouldn’t embarrass their daughter by doing something to draw attention to what was happening under the table.

  “Mmm. This is really delicious,” Liana said as she ate a mouthful of dessert.

  The hand was back, right smack on his crotch. He almost jumped, but managed to stay calm. Fortunately, Tony had begun discussing their plans for the afternoon with his wife.

  He squeezed Liana’s hand in warning. She squeezed back, giggling a little. Ah, damn. He’d just have to hold on to her hand to stop it from wandering around his private parts. Then he’d have to have a serious talk with Liana later and put her in her place—again. This woman had the thickest hide he knew. He’d said no to her many times before, and she kept on coming back for more.

  “Zach!” Tony said, waving to Zach, who’d entered the restaurant.

  Greg’s gaze went to Gemma and her friends who’d finished lunch and were leaving the room, except for Rebecca who was making her way to Zach.

  Zach smiled at his wife, took her hand, and they walked together to their table.

  “I was just discussing some business with Greg,” Tony said to Zach. “When my formal proposal is done, I’ll forward it on so you brothers can discuss it.”

  “Sure. Looking forward to it,” Zach responded. “How’s the food?”

  “Excellent,” Tony’s wife answered. “And if Liana doesn’t want her lemon tart, I’ll have it.”

  “Oh, I want it, Mother. I’m just waiting for Greg to release my hand from under the table so I can cut it up,” Liana said with a laugh.

  Greg dropped Liana’s hand, his face reddening. Did she have to say that in front of Rebecca?

  “Thank you, darling,” Liana said, smiling up at him. “You can have it back later.”

  He hid an annoyed sigh. What could he say? That she was feeling him under the table? That sounded worse.

  *****

  “Why the hell can’t you find anything about who set this up?” Greg demanded, scowling at his laptop screen, which showed a recent post from a blog entitled I Know Something. The site had shots of Gemma, and some of him and her best friends, that he hadn’t seen anywhere else before.

  “We’re working hard on it, sir,” Chris, their head of security, said over the phone. “Whoever did this is an expert in hiding their identity. This is not your average internet user.”

  Greg paced his room. This wasn’t just an ordinary blogger who wanted attention. This was malicious.

  The writer of the post, who called herself Miss Z, said that she had interviewed one of Gemma’s ex-boyfriends. This ‘ex’ claimed that Gemma had noticed how the women Greg Carmichael had been with attracted lots of publicity, so Gemma had dumped him to be with Greg—so Gemma could also get her share of fame.

  Gemma, it was written, had very big dreams. Teaching kids how to play the piano was just a stepping stone for her, because what Gemma really wanted was to land a recording contract. Proof of that, the article said, was Gemma singing and playing the piano for hotshots during Christmas Eve—no doubt to impress some of them enough to pull some strings for her.

  Greg shook his head in anger when he read the most destructive line. The ‘ex’ said that Gemma was sick and tired of teaching kids, and that she couldn’t wait for the time when she could get rid of them. Gemma, the ‘ex’ claimed, had long wanted to move on to bigger and better things.

  “This is all made up,” Greg said, seething. “Do everything you can to find out who’s behind this. If anyone—magazines, other blogs, whoever—picks up this post or links back to it, I want defamation notices sent out to them, so give our legal team the heads-up. I’ll speak to them soon.”

  “Yes, sir,” Chris answered.

  Greg hung up and stared out his window. He wouldn’t tell Gemma about this immediately. It was New Year’s Eve today. He didn’t want to ruin the festivities for her. It could wait. With any luck, not many people would stumble upon it.

  But damn, why would anyone want to destroy her business and reputation?

  *****

  “Greg!”

  “Annette,” Greg said in a cold tone, not stopping to see what Annette wanted. He was in a bad mood to start with, and his annoyance with Annette for bringing a reporter into the Sanctuary still hadn’t alleviated. She was lucky her brother was one of Jeff’s good friends. Otherwise, she’d be gone by now.

  “I have something important to tell you,” Annette said, following him to the back entrance.

  “Not now, Annette.”

  “It’s really important,” Annette insisted.

  “What’s it about?” he asked with irritation.

  “There’s something about you and Gemma Aldwyn on the internet.”

  He stopped walking.

  Encouraged, Annette told him what he’d read himself a few minutes ago.

  “How did you find out about it?” he asked suspiciously.

  “I’ve set your name for a Google alert,” she said, embarrassed. “It came up today.”

  He inhaled deeply. This was what he was scared of. There probably wouldn’t be many people who’d set up an alert for news about Gemma, but many would have done it for information about him. Fat chance of that post not being seen by more than a handful.

  “I thought you might want to know in case there was some truth to it,” Annette said.

  “It’s not true. And I expect you not to spread false rumours, Annette. Or you might find yourself in more trouble than you already are.”

  “Of course not,” Annette said, reddening, then leaving him.

  Shaking his head, he resumed walking, only to be stopped by Tony Sanders, who was coming out of the restaurant.

  “There’s something I want to show you, Greg,” Tony said in a low whisper, pulling his phone from his pocket.

  Greg stared at Tony in dismay, already guessing what it was going to be about.

  “Read this,” Tony said. Yes, it was the blog post from Miss Z.

  “I’ve seen it,” he said calmly, although he wanted to shout at Tony for even considering that blog site important enough to mention. It had a total of three posts in it, for heaven’s sake.

  “Good. As long as you’re aware of it,” Tony said, patting his shoulder. “Sometimes you just can’t tell, so you have to be careful.”

  “Gemma’s a friend of mine, Tony. I know what she’s like. And she’s the best friend of my brothers’ partners.”

  “I’m aware of that, Greg,” Tony said in a fatherly tone. “But you know that even I have had issues with my own brother trying to scam me. All I’m saying is if Gemma is showing interest in you, suss her out carefully first. That’s all. You know she’s not the first one who’s tried something like this on you boys.”

  “Thanks,” Greg said, just wanting to end the conversation. Hadn’t Tony noticed his own daughter’s actions? Seriously.

  Greg finally made it to the outdoor pool area without any further delay. His gaze was immediately drawn to Gemma, who was in the water doing some aqua aerobics with her best friends, his grandmother and his grandmother’s friends. His eyebrows rose when he spotted Lucas, Ben and Jim exercising with the women, grinning like idiots. He bet this was one of their ways to impress Gemma.

  Well, he didn’t like it.

  Jeff and Zach waved to him, catching his attention. He join
ed his brothers, seated at an outdoor setting nearby.

  “You’ve spoken to Chris?” Zach asked in a low voice.

  He nodded and told them about his conversation with their head of security. “Do the girls know?”

  “No. We haven’t told them yet,” Zach said, casting his glance at the group in the pool, who were clearly enjoying themselves.

  “This is extremely bad for Gemma, guys,” Greg said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve already got Annette and Tony telling me about this. It’s ridiculous! I don’t want people here walking around talking behind her back as if there were a grain of truth in that post. Plus, if any of her clients see it, they might think of pulling their kids out of her studio.”

  “Considering nothing is going on between the two of you, wouldn’t it be worthwhile to just issue a denial and expressly vouch for Gemma’s character?” Zach asked.

  Greg smirked. Obviously, his brother didn’t know he’d started sleeping with Gemma.

  “I don’t think that would help much,” Jeff said. “Wouldn’t it just give credence to the blog? Besides, whoever’s behind it clearly wanted to hurt Gemma’s reputation. A denial from us would draw more attention to it.”

  “Well, I can only think of one thing that would work,” Zach said. “It’s for everyone to see that Gemma’s not after you. Her actions would be the proof that the article is false.”

  Greg gulped, running his hand on his face.

  “Yes,” Jeff agreed. “As for other guests here suspecting her of ulterior motives, it would help for you not be part of the game where she’ll pick someone to kiss at midnight tonight, Greg.”

  Zach nodded. “Yes, pull yourself out of the game.”

  Greg narrowed his eyes at his brothers, a rebellious feeling welling up within him. He didn’t want Gemma to kiss anyone else tonight.

  “What, you don’t think it’s a good idea?” Jeff asked, surprised by his expression.

  “How could you ask Gemma to choose from among those three stooges?” he asked, angling his head at the direction of the three playful men in the pool.

  “Why? Are you thinking she’s gonna choose you?” Jeff asked, slitting his own eyes at him.

  “Are you hoping she’s gonna choose you?” Zach piped in, his gaze watchful.

  “Yes and yes,” he answered.

  “Then you might be making things worse for her,” Jeff declared. “Annette and Tony weren’t the only ones who saw the post this morning. Our auntie and a couple of my friends have mentioned it, too. They weren’t being suspicious, but they were very curious. With Liana and Annette obviously going after you, adding Gemma to the mix makes it all the more intriguing for them. Unfortunately, they don’t know Gemma well enough to dismiss the article. They’re bound to wonder, and watch you and her with interest. You won’t be able to avoid that.”

  Greg shook his head, highly irritated by the whole thing. But his brothers made sense. It would take the heat off Gemma if she didn’t show any interest in him whatsoever.

  The Carmichael family had learnt long ago not to take things of this nature lightly. It could blow up to something big if they weren’t careful.

  He glanced at Gemma, and found her looking at him. They smiled at each other. At the same time.

  “Oh, hell,” Zach muttered. “Didn’t I tell you not to touch her, Greg?”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Gemma entered the ladies’ change room after having showered upstairs in her own suite. She found it occupied by her four friends, who were getting dressed.

  “Why does Zach want to talk to all of us, Bec?” she asked, sitting down on the bench while she waited.

  “I don’t know,” Rebecca answered.

  “From the way they looked, the guys must have been discussing something serious,” Sarah said.

  “Maybe they planned a New Year’s Eve lunch party for us,” Amanda commented. “They’ve asked Connor and Ash to head up to Bec and Zach’s cabin, too.”

  “Well, yes,” Rebecca said. “Zach did say he’d asked the chef to prepare something and have it delivered there.”

  “I doubt it’s just an ordinary party, though,” Gemma said. “Hey, have you guys told your men about Greg and me?”

  “Not yet,” three of them said.

  “I’ve told Ash,” said Brenna.

  “What did he say?” Gemma asked, her eyes rounding.

  “He got worried. He knows what Greg’s like.”

  Gemma rolled her eyes. “Did you tell him I’ve agreed to a fling?”

  “Yes. He did say he thinks it’s more than that for you, which we all know it is. But I said you know what you got yourself into.”

  She smiled at Brenna. “Thanks, hon.”

  “You do know what you got yourself into, right, Gem?” Amanda asked with concern.

  “Of course I do,” she said with extra exuberance. “Anyway, if you girls are ready, let’s go. I’m dying to know what the boys have planned.”

  “I take it it’s Greg you’ll be smooching with tonight?” Rebecca asked.

  “Of course. Although the other guys won’t be happy with my decision. They reckon Greg should be disqualified for not participating in those hilarious challenges Lucas set up.”

  They laughed.

  “Those origami flowers they presented to you looked like crunched-up wads of paper!” Sarah said.

  “I know,” Gemma said. “And what about when they drew hearts on their chests with melted chocolate for me to lick?”

  “You didn’t even taste, though,” Rebecca said, chuckling.

  “No. I was thinking that Greg’s chest was the best. And yes, I licked that one, even without the chocolate.”

  The other four hollered.

  “I can’t wait to see Liana’s and Annette’s faces when they watch you and Greg pash tonight, especially Liana’s,” Amanda said.

  “That woman is trouble,” Rebecca said in a serious tone. “And even though I approve of Greg for you, Gem, you’ve only agreed to a fling. I’d be watching him and Liana closely.”

  “Why?” Gemma asked.

  Rebecca shrugged. “She’s not giving up on him. You know what an out-and-out flirt she is.”

  “Do you know something I should know?”

  “Only that she’s getting more and more forward by the day. I did ask Zach if he thinks Greg’s sleeping with Liana or Annette. He said no.”

  Gemma breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t think that Greg was having sex with anyone else, either.

  But Rebecca’s comment had her worried. Liana had extended her stay at the Sanctuary until the end of January. Greg had a reputation of not being seen with the same woman for more than a month. Where would Gemma and Greg be in four weeks?

  *****

  Gemma stared in utter shock at the large TV screen in Rebecca and Zach’s private cottage, which projected the I Know Something blog. “My God, why would anyone do this?” she whispered.

  “Whoever’s involved in this is most likely doing it because of your connection with me,” Greg said. “Either they’re jealous because they think we’re together, or they’re simply envious of the publicity you’ve been getting from all those articles that came out about us. But don’t worry. We’ve got a whole team working on finding out who this Miss Z is.”

  “Do you think this supposed ex of mine is the guy who calls himself my fan?” she asked.

  “We don’t know yet,” Greg answered, stroking her back soothingly.

  “Someone must hate me so much to come up with all this,” she murmured. She hadn’t even gone out on a date in over a year, much less broken up with a guy just days earlier to snare Greg.

  “Don’t worry, Gem, we’ll get to the bottom of this,” Zach said. “Jeff and I suggested to Greg that it might be a good idea if the two of you don’t appear hot for each other in public, including in front of the guests here.”

  Gemma glanced sharply at Zach, then looked at Greg.

  He grinned at her. “They know.”


  “Oh,” she said, blushing a little.

  “Do you girls know?” Jeff asked, looking at Sarah.

  “Yes. We got it out of her yesterday.”

  “Well, Greg and I already agreed to keep it quiet so as not to add to the, err, entertainment that Liana and Annette are already providing,” Gemma said.

  She was glad she was here at the Sanctuary. If this had come out while she was back in Sydney, she didn’t think she’d be taking it as calmly as she was taking it now. It helped that Greg was around, along with all of her friends.

  She frowned when she re-read a certain line. Leaning forward, she paid close attention to what the section said.

  Her hand went to her mouth, and she felt hot all over.

  “Gem?” Greg asked.

  “This says I sang and played the piano here on Christmas Eve,” she whispered.

  “You did.”

  “But no one outside of this place knew,” she said, her mind wanting to reject the possibility that someone at the Sanctuary—either a staff member or a guest—could be involved in this spiteful article. “Even my friend, who helped me with the melody for the songs, didn’t know I was going to sing them live. He thought that the recording we did was what I was giving to Ash and Brenna.”

  The brothers looked at each other. Then as one, they raked their hair.

  “I honestly doubt it’s one of the staff,” Greg said quietly. “Although I’m not discounting the possibility.”

  “Or it could be something unintentional,” Zach said. “Someone here might have spoken to someone else outside the Sanctuary about the Christmas Eve party and commented about Gemma singing those songs for Ash and Bren. It could have been totally innocent from the people here, and whoever received the news might have been the culprit.”

  Greg exhaled harshly. “It would almost be impossible to know without questioning everyone. No matter how carefully we do it, some people are bound to feel insulted at the thought that they’re considered suspects.”

  “How can we stop this, then?” Sarah asked.

  “Well, I think we should treat it as though there is someone among us here with a big grudge on Gemma because of her connection with Greg,” Jeff answered. “Which means that it would be a good idea for Greg to pull out of your game tonight, Gem. While we don’t know who’s behind this, it’s better if you and Greg don’t add fuel to any fire, in case this is really all about jealousy and envy.”