Little Rainbows Read Free Page A

out of the loop for the better part of two years.
    He turned to his desk, moved the mouse and watched as the website sprang to life. He’d better have a quick look at this woman Karl had hired before she walked into his office. The website looked professional enough and a quick glance at the testimonials showed nothing except lavish praise. But all the information was nearly two years old. Still, the time for second thoughts had long since passed. With the party taking place in a fortnight, and this company apparently being the only one specializing in events like the one he’d be hosting, he had no other options. He’d left it much too late to get somebody from America. He only had himself to blame. If he hadn’t abdicated all responsibility for the preparations to Karl, he wouldn’t be in this position.
    He’d just have a quick glance at the picture gallery and…
    A firm knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Party time . With a frown, Jason got up and turned to stare out of the window again while he listened to the door opening behind him.

Chapter Two
     
     
     
    “Master Jay.”
    Heather heard the surprise in Karl’s voice but wasn’t quite sure what had elicited it.
    “Your guest, Heather Staunton, has arrived.”
    “Thank you, Karl.”
    The voice was gruff and faintly familiar.
    Heather took advantage of the fact that the man on the other side of the bright and spacious office had his back to her and studied her surroundings. She liked this room with its uncluttered feel. The furniture was big, made of dark wood and very masculine. The window on the other side of the room gave her another spectacular view of the Atlantic. She didn’t think she’d ever get tired of that picture. A slight change in the light provided Heather with a vague reflection of the man who had to be Master Jay . Something inside her stuttered. She knew this man. But no, it couldn’t be. Surely she had to be imagining things. There was no way on earth Master Jay could be the same person as the man she’d known as…
    “Mrs. Staunton.” The man turned and stopped talking. “Heather?”
    “Jason?”
    She would have laughed at both of them speaking at exactly the same time if she hadn’t been so shocked about finding herself face-to-face with somebody she hadn’t expected to ever meet again.
    How long had it been? It had to be at least twenty years since she’d last seen this man she’d known as Jason Hudson. Twenty years since that summer in Wexford when they hadn’t quite managed to get together. A chill ran down Heather’s spine. What did this mean? Would this make her project harder or easier? Would she have preferred to deal with a complete stranger? Then again, wasn’t he a stranger anyway? A few weeks over one summer twenty years ago didn’t mean she knew who this man was—or how to work with him.
    “Jason. It’s okay to call you Jason, isn’t it? Should I say Jay? Or even”—she couldn’t stop herself from smiling—“Master Jay?”
    It was a relief to see him return her smile as he took her hands and squeezed them lightly. The frown that had formed on his face when he first recognized her had been worrying.
    “Jason is fine, Heather. It is my name, even if I rarely use it these days. And I’m not your Master.”
    The smile disappeared again.
    “In fact…”
    Heather watched, trying to make sense of the unfinished sentence and the deepening frown. It reassured her Jason was as surprised by this meeting as she was. On the other hand, she’d enough reservations about this project without having to take on the possible complications resulting from their previous acquaintance as well. She needed him to be sure of what they were doing because she knew she wasn’t. One of them had to be in charge or they’d never get this party organized, never mind turned into a success.
    She recognized the moment he gave himself a mental shake and took control.
    “How did we not know we were dealing with each