A Wedding in Africa (The Africa Series) Read Online Free Page B

be. Now, he was a real jerk as far as Tate was concerned. Definitely not the kind of guy he’d normally want to do business with.
    But then splashing his home across the pages of a glossy magazine wasn’t the kind of thing he normally did either; letting some woman into his private world wasn’t the kind of thing he normally did. It just wasn’t his style. And he didn’t like it at all. But he knew he had to do this if he wanted the lodges to bring in the kind of money he needed. He had no choice. He just had to hope it was all going to be worth it in the end.
    Later that day, Lacey sat in her room with her laptop open on the table in front of her. She’d written up her early observations from her first day at Matshana, but then she’d saved the file and opened up another document that she’d called “ Manuscript ”.
It was her book.
    The very thought of it gave her a real sense of purpose; of freedom. This book was her dream. She’d created it all by herself. She was developing it alone, without help or support from anyone. It was nothing to do with the magazine; nor her father; nor Mortimer for that matter. It was her creation. Her baby. And it meant the world to her.
    Unusually though, she was finding it hard to concentrate right now. Writer’s block, she told herself. But she knew it was more than that. For once her imagination wasn’t free to wander among the pages of her novel.
It was tethered to Matshana. To Tate Maddox.
    She could picture him now as they drove back from the lodges. His dark eyes silent and brooding. Cold, like gunmetal. His mouth was set in a determined line. But rather than spoiling his good looks, it made him look even more attractive. He drove with his right elbow resting on the open window to catch the breeze, guiding the steering wheel with his other hand. It was a big, heavy truck, yet he managed to steer the vehicle with ease.
    He was tough. Immensely masculine. And Lacey had to force herself to look away. The man drew her to him like a magnet – and she didn’t like it one little bit!
    Even now, as she sat in her room staring out at a dusky-pink and magenta sunset, she couldn’t get him out of her mind. It took a lot to drag her imagination away from her precious novel, but Tate Maddox had managed to do it – and he wasn’t even trying! In fact, Lacey wasn’t sure whether he even liked her. He certainly seemed to resent her presence in his home.
    No matter, she told herself briskly. She’d just get what she wanted for her feature and then she’d be gone. Back to Cape Town. To her own world. And Tate Maddox could get back to the kind of solitude he so clearly preferred.
    She dressed for dinner in a flowing gypsy skirt and off-the-shoulder embroidered top. She wasn’t sure whether it was a good choice. The top skimmed the swell of her breasts and made them look enormous. Big mistake! Self-consciously, she tried to hoick the flimsy cotton as high as it would go as she took her seat opposite Tate at the dining table. But the wretched thing wouldn’t budge.
That was something else she had to do when she got back to Cape Town - bin this top!
     
‘The food smells delicious,’ she said, feigning a confidence she didn’t feel. ‘You must have a very good cook.’
     
‘She’s more than just a cook,’ Tate replied. ‘She’s very special to me. She’s practically family.’
    Lacey looked up as a beautiful young Zulu woman came into the room. She had the classic soft moon face of her race framed by a ring of tight black curls. Her huge eyes were the colour of dark chocolate, and they glimmered against her warm caramel skin tones. She walked with her head upright, her hips swaying to some unconscious rhythm. She looked at Lacey and her beautiful, friendly face broke into a massive smile. Lacey liked her at once.
‘This is Nandi,’ said Tate, standing up to take the tray from her hands. ‘Nandi – meet Lacey Van der Zyl.’
     
‘Oh my!’ Nandi’s fingers flew to her