Birthday Bride. Jessica Hart

thirty? There’s certainly plenty of sand out here, and Justin’s initials are J D...’

      ‘And I’m going to be thirty? Don’t remind me!’

      ‘Just think, this could be your big chance to meet your destiny!’ said Lucy dramatically, and they both giggled.

      ‘I won’t hold my breath,’ said Claudia. ‘After this last year with Michael I think I can do without destiny—I’ll settle for a good time instead!’

      It hadn’t been easy to take two weeks off at one of the busiest times of the year, but once Claudia had made up her mind to do something she was doggedly determined to succeed, and she had booked her ticket the very next day. Everything seemed to have gone wrong since then, but Claudia had gritted her teeth and told herself it would be worth it when she got off the plane to Lucy’s welcoming hug. She was going to have a good time in Telama’an if it killed her...and in the meantime she might as well amuse herself by irritating David Stirling some more!

      ‘You’ve come all this way in pursuit of a man that you’ve never met but that you just hope will have the right initials?’ He was still shaking his head in amazement.

      ‘Why not?’ she asked, but he was so appalled at the idea that he missed the teasing glint in her eyes.

      ‘Well, I presumed, since you were travelling alone, that you had some intelligence, even if it is very artfully disguised,’ he said caustically. ‘Not even someone as desperate as you sound would go all the way to a place like Telama’an without a good reason!’

      Claudia considered that after the year she had had the prospect of some sun and some fun and some flattery was reason enough to go anywhere, but that was none of David Stirling’s business. ‘You don’t understand,’ she said dramatically. ‘I’m at a crossroads in my life! I’m going to be thirty tomorrow, I can’t just carry on like before. I’ve got to seize my opportunities!’

      ‘What opportunities?’

      She clutched her throat and somehow managed to keep a straight face. ‘To meet my soul mate, of course! JD is waiting for me in the desert... I just know it! All I have to do is fly to him!’

      David curled his lip. ‘JD? No doubt Lucy has been scouring the compound for someone with the right initials! Has she come up with anyone yet?’

      ‘Maybe,’ said Claudia coyly.

      ‘Which poor unfortunate soul has she lined up?’ David ran through the possibilities in his mind. ‘Jack Davis? He’s married. Jim Denby? Unlikely. Ah!’ he said suddenly. ‘Justin Darke! Why didn’t I think of him straight away?’

      ‘My lips are sealed,’ said Claudia, suddenly realising that in her determination to irritate David Stirling she was running a grave risk of embarrassing Lucy’s American friend.

      David had seen the flicker in her eyes, though, and drew his own conclusions. Justin Darke was nice enough, but he was no match for a woman like Claudia Cook, that was for sure. Did he have any idea what Claudia and Lucy had planned for him? Th first thing he would do when he got to Telama’an was drop a warning word in Justin’s ear, although there was something so single-minded about Claudia’s attitude that it would take more than a friendly warning to stop her, he was sure.

      He shook his head. ‘Poor Justin!’ he said.

      ‘I really don’t know who you’re talking about,’ Claudia lied. ‘And in any case, knowing who I was going to meet would spoil it. All I know is that I’m going to be at that party tomorrow night, and after that I’m leaving it to destiny!’

      CHAPTER TWO

      DAVID her a sardonic look. ‘It looks like you’re going to have a busy day being thirty and meeting your destiny tomorrow,’ he said, and the unconcealed sarcasm in his voice was enough to provoke a dangerous glitter in Claudia’s blue-grey eyes.

      ‘But don’t you see? The two are linked!’ she gushed, hoping that she sounded as ridiculous as she felt. ‘Thirty is such a crossroads in one’s life, isn’t it?’

      ‘Is it?’ said David unencouragingly.

      ‘Yes! It’s a time to reassess what one wants out of life, a time to change direction, a time to let go of one’s youth and face up to the prospect of mortality!’

      He turned to her consideringly. ‘Do you know,’ he said, ‘I find it hard to believe that you’re going to be thirty tomorrow?’

      Claudia was rather taken aback. She didn’t think she was looking too bad for her age either, but she hadn’t expected a compliment from him. Perhaps she should have tried flirting with him after all? ‘Why, thank you—’

      ‘Because,’ David interrupted her ruthlessly, ‘I never thought that anyone over the age of five could talk such a load of tosh!’

      So much for compliments! Bridling, Claudia glared back at him. ‘Oh, and I suppose you didn’t have a crisis at thirty—or can’t you remember back that far?’ she added nastily.

      ‘I was far too busy to have any crisis.’

      She sniffed. ‘Well, just wait until you’re fifty, that’s all! You’ll have spent your life working without ever really thinking about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it, and one day you’ll wake up and realise that you’re fifty and it’s too late to do anything about it. You’ll be in crisis then!’

      ‘Possibly,’ said David, nettled by her assumption that he was practically past it already, ‘but I don’t propose to worry about it now. As it happens, I haven’t even made it to forty yet! I’ve still got over a month before I have to deal with that crisis!’

      ‘Oh?’ Claudia’s voice had just the right tone of surprise to be insulting. ‘When’s your birthday?’

      He sighed. ‘September the seventeenth.’ He knew what was coming next!

      ‘You’re a Virgo, then.’ Claudia nodded sagely, although she wasn’t in fact at all sure when Virgos became Capricorns, or was it Librans? ‘That figures.’

      David wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of asking what figured. All he knew was that she was by far the silliest and most exasperating woman he had ever met, and he wasn’t going to indulge her any longer, Lucy’s cousin or not.

      ‘I’m sure,’ he said dismissively. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really do have to do some work.’

      ‘Oh, of course!’ said Claudia with exaggerated contrition. ‘I’m so sorry for disturbing you. I’ll just read my magazine quietly, and you won’t even know I’m here.’

      David didn’t think that was very likely. She was the kind of girl who could sit in a dark room without moving or speaking and still be distracting. Still, if she would just shut up for a while, he might be able to finish that report.

      He bent over it and began jotting quick, decisive notes in the margin while Claudia, reduced to pulling out a magazine, tried not to watch him. It was hard not to be impressed by his ability to concentrate as he worked methodically through the report, and in spite of herself her eyes kept sliding sideways to skitter along the forceful line of his jaw.

      He wasn’t good-looking, not really. He had a hard mouth and lean, intelligent face, but there was an air of restraint about him, as if he deliberately presented himself in a low key. It was difficult to accuse him of being colourless, though, much as she would have liked to. The strength of his personality was obvious in his calm assurance, in the disconcerting sharpness of his eyes and the intangible quality of authority that clung to him.

      He had taken off his jacket, and rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt in a businesslike fashion. Claudia was very conscious of the dark hair on his forearms, and she had to keep hers rigidly together on her lap in case her arm brushed against him. She tried not to look too obviously, but out of the corner of her eye she could see the pulse beating