Exactly one month and one day later. 

  It hadn’t worked. Again.

  Despair clutched at Joy’s already cramping stomach as she hunched over the toilet seat. There had to be something wrong with her. Because it didn’t make sense. The clinic had tried a different procedure this time, putting the sperm right into her womb instead of just on the cervix. It was a more expensive procedure but wasn’t supposed to give her a better chance of conceiving.

  A total waste of money as it turned out.

  She dreaded telling her mother. Yet, she would have to. Joy wished now that she hadn’t confined her plan in the first place. She should have just gone to the clinic on her own, in secret. That way, she could have handled her disappointment in private, without the added pain of watching her mother’s disappointment. Her mum sometimes pretended that she didn’t mind not having grandchildren but Joy knew that wasn’t the case. She’d often said how she’d wanted to have a bigger family herself.

  Joy frowned at this last thought. If her mother had wanted more than one child, then why hadn’t she had some more? Joy’s Dad hadn’t died till she was mine. Joy sucked in sharply at the possibility that her mother had been unable to conceive more babies. But if that were so, then why hadn’t she mentioned it to her? It might be an important clue over why she was having such trouble conceiving herself.

  Not that she could go out and ask her right now. They were both at the salon, working. Wednesday was always a busy day. It would be impossible to question her till they were on the way home late this afternoon.

  Her mom knew, the moment she saw Joy’s pasty face and dull eyes, that her period had arrived. The poor darling, she thought sadly as she watched her daughter put on a smiling face for a client.

  “You know, don’t you, mum?” Joy said the moment they were alone in the car on the way home. She’d seen the sympathy in her mother’s eyes when she’d come out of the powder room a couple of hours earlier. The sympathy and the sadness.

  “Yes,” was all her mother could bring herself to say. She was close to tears. Not for herself but for her daughter.

  “Mum,” I’ve been thinking, was there any physical reason why you didn’t have more children?”

 Her mom swallowed. She’d been expecting this question for ages.

  “Not that I know of,” she answered truthfully. “I was thoroughly checked out, the same way you’ve been. One doctor said stress and tension can sometimes be the problem.”

  “Yes, I’ve read about that,” Joy said. “That’s why couples sometimes fall pregnant after they’ve adopted a child.”

 “Your father and I were going to foot a child,” her mom confessed. “But then he was…” she broke off, unable to continue.

 “Oh, mum. I’m sorry. I know how much you loved Dad.”

  After her dad funeral she’d listened to her mother cry at night for months. It never surprised Joy that her mother hadn’t ever dated again or remarried. She’d been a one man woman.

  Joy knew she’d never find that one true love like her mother had. But she was going to become a mother, come he’ll or high water. All afternoon, she’d been thinking about the latter John left for her a month ago. When she’d first read it, she’d been incredibly touched, especially with his intuitive observation about her fragile nervous state. She’d almost changed her mind about going back to the clinic and rung him straight away. But, in the end, she simply hadn’t had the courage to take what would have not to involve other people, and to not face the problem of actually having sex with john. Joy understood that sex for men was not the big deal it could be for women. For her, anyway. She’d become more edgy about it as she’d got older. Less confident. More nervous.

 But the time for being nervous Nelly was long gone. If she didn’t take john up on his offer she would always regret it.

  Of course, he might have changed his mind by now. God, she hoped not!

  Well, if he had, she’d just have to persuade him otherwise, Joy vowed with renewed resolve. If he waffled, she’d remind him now how much he’d always wanted to have sex with her!

  Joy might have been shocked at herself if she hadn’t been so fired up.

  “Mum, I think that i might go away for a while. On a holiday.”

  “Oh? Where to?”

  “Somewhere warm. In Australia, of course. I don’t want to go overseas.”

  “Carina is nice at this time of the year,” her mother suggested.

  “I was thinking of Darwin. I’ve never been there . And I’ve always wanted to see kakadu.” A total untruth . Joy had seen one or two documentaries about the Northern Territory and was not at all interested in vast wetlands filled with biting insects, wild buffalo and crocodiles.

  “Really?” Her mother said,sounding surprised.

  “I could go on some organized tours. That way I’d have company. You could manage. I managed when you left to be an Estate Agent, didn’t I? When were you thinking of going?”

  “Not sure yet. Possibly the end of next week.” Joy knew exactly when she would ovulate. She’d been charting her cycle for months. Two weeks after her period started was beginning of her peak days for conceiving. No point in going to Darwin much before then. At the same time, she’d to make it seem like she was going on a real holiday. She could hardly just go for a few days.

  “For how long?”

  “I’m. A week or so, maybe ten days.” She added for good measure.

  “So you won’t be going to the clinic for another procedure next month?”

  “No, mum. I’ve decided to have a break from that for a while.”

  As soon as they arrived home, Joy made the excuse that she needed to lie down for a while. When her mother offered to make her a cup of tea, she declined, saying she was going to take some painkillers and have a short nap before dinner. Fortunately, it was her mother’s turn to cook.

  Also, fortunately, Joy’s bedroom was at the back of the house, some way from the kitchen. Once her mother turned on the television, she would not hear Joy talking on the phone.

  Joy’s hands were literally shaking as she drew John’s letter out of the bedside drawer where she’d kept it over a month ago. He’d given her two numbers, one for a regular mobile, one for a satellite phone. She say on the side of her bed and tried the mobile number first. It rang, thank heavens. She would have hated for it to be engage. As it was, she’d skyway worked herself up into a right side.

  “For pity’s sake, John answer the damned thing.” She muttered under her breath after it had rung several times.

  But he didn’t, and the phone eventually switched to his message bank. A despairing Joy didn’t leave any message, choosing instead to try the satellite phone first. She actually prayed as she punched in the numbers  

John was putting a few more pieces of wood on the camp fire when he heard the distinctive ring of his satellite phone. 

  Frowning, he crawled into his one man tent, picked up the phone and carried it back out into the moonlight, where he stared at it briefly before sweeping the phone up to his ear.

  “Hello, Joy,” he answered, trying to sound cool when inside he was anything but.

  “How did you know it was me?” She asked, clearly taken aback.

  “The caller ID said you were from New South Wales,” he explained. You’re the only person in that state who has my satellite number.”

  “Oh. I see.”

  John suddenly had the most appalling thought. What if she was ringing to tell him she was finally pregnant? It was possible, he supposed.

  “Why are you ringing, Joy?” He asked abruptly.

  Joy’s heart sank at his brusque tone.

  “You’ve changed your mind about your offer, haven’t you?” She said.

  The tension in John’s gut immediately melted away.

  “Not at all,” he replied.

  “Really?”she gasped, renewed hope flooding her hear.

  “Yes, really. So what happened, Joy? Given the time lapses since we last spoke, I presume you went back to the clinic for another go and it didn’t work.”

  “I got my period today,” she confessed with a sigh.

  “Like i said in my letter, my offer is open.”

  “I know i shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, John, but i still can’t work out why you’re doing this for me. Aside from the sex angle, that is. Which i also still can’t fathom. I mean, if you always fancied me, then why didn’t you do something about it before this?”

  They were logical questions, John accepted. He was wished he had some logical answers for her. He had to tell her something, he supposed, something which would satisfy her intelligence. Joy was no dummy.

  “Can i be blunt with you?” He said.

  “Please do.”

  “I didn’t do anything before this because I thought you would just knock me back,” he said, not untruthfully. “Until we met again last month and I realized that the attraction wax mutual. However,contrary to your belief, I also like you a lot, Joy, and i want to help you get what you obviously want very much which is a baby. And, as strange as it seems, I also quite like the idea of having a child of my own, in my bed, for a good deal longer than you spend at that wretched clinic each month.”

  Joy’s silence at the other end of the line indicated a degree of shock. Or deep thoughtfulness. John suspected the former. He had gone overboard a bit in his attempt to focus on the sex angle. But he didn’t want her questioning him further over his motives. He didn’t understand them fully himself! All he knew was that his blood was racing through his body with a surge of entirely male, powerful satisfactions at her agreement. For a short time, Joy was going to be his.

  “Come now, Joy, you must know how very desirable you are.”

  Now Joy felt hot all over. A shiver ran down her spine at the realization she might shortly find out just how desirable he thought she was.

  “I hope your silence doesn’t mean you’ve changed your mind about this?” He said, his voice sounding curiously expressionless.

  “No,@ she chocked out, still blushing at her earlier train of thought. Thank heavens they weren’t face toy face!

  “Good.” His voice relaxed again. “When can you get yourself up here?”

  Joy swallowed, then sat up straighter l. She’d always been more comfortable following a plan.

  “I thought as soon as possible,” she said briskly.

  “How about the beginning of next week?”

  “Well, I have to get stuff organized at work…”

  He rode over her objections. I’m sure you can sort it. Once you’ve booked your flight next week, text me your time of arrival and I’ll be at the airport waiting for you.” He sounded equally brisk, and it was so difficult as ever to guess what he was feeling. “Don’t send the text to this number l. Send it to my mobile. I’ll be back in Darwin by then.”

  Scarlet rolled her eyes in exasperation. Why was it then men wouldn’t listen? “Where are you, anyway?”she asked.

  “Camping out in one of the national parks.”

  Joy had been doing some mental calculations.

  “Wait, next week is way too early. I can’t possibly fall pregnant till a week after that. I never ovulate before day fourteen on my cycle. I know this for a fact because I’ve been taking my temperature every day for the last year and….”

  “Joy,” he interrupted. “If you want to get pregnant then let’s try this my way.”

  Truly, he could be as irritating a man as he’d been an irritating boy! “Which is?” She snapped.

  “Not taking your temperature every day, for starters. Not caring about when you bloody ovulate either. Because, let’s face it, that method hasn’t been working too well for you up till now, had it?”

  “I guess not,” she admitted grudgingly.

  “I suggest you leave this whole operation up to me. Put yourself entirely in my hands. No arguments, no more buts.”

  “Yes,” she bit out.

  “Good,” he said, smiling wryly to himself at the thought that “yes” wasn’t a word Joy was used to saying. But she was going to say it. No, he would make her want to say it. For that was what he craved all of a sudden. Not just Joy’s compliance but her complete surrender.

  The idea perturbed him. He’d never been into that kind of thing. Sex for him was actually just a physical release with no strings attached. He’d always steered well clear of becoming emotionally involved with the woman he slept with. John could see, however, that this was a different situation entirely. If truth be told, his emotions were already involved. The problem was which ones?

  He almost told her to forget it then; that he’d changed his mind. But it was too late. The roller coaster of destiny was already moving and he was solidly strapped in . There would be no escape till it came to rest at the end of the ride.  

Because she'd a window seat her head was too fuzzy to read, Joy spent most of the four and half hour flight to Darwin staring down at the landscape below. With no clouds in the sky, there was nothing to hinder her view of what was really an incredible sight. The landing seemed to take forever, but exiting the plane was relatively quick, thank goodness as her seat was right down the back, not far from the exist. She walked across the tarmac towards the terminal building, her only thought at that moment being that every step brought her closer to John. 

John stood at a window in the arrivals area, scanning the passengers as they left the plane. He spotted Joy immediately, the rays of the setting sun bouncing gold off her blonde hair which was down and blowing in the breeze. She was wearing jeans and a white jacket, with a white and blue top underneath.

Clearly, she didn't see him standing nearby, although her eyes were farting around the place. When he stepped forward to make his presence known, she gave him a tight smile.

There was only one word to describe the way he was feeling.

Thankfully, his eyes had by then moved in the direction of the nearby carousel where the luggage was coming out.

"What does your bag look like?" He asked, glancing back over his shoulder at her.

It's black with a big pink ribbon tied to the handle. There it is now," she said, pointing.

John strode over and scooped her bag off the carousel, his eyebrows lifting when he felt the weight of it. "I only asked you to come for ten days, Joy," he said with dry amusement as he steered her towards the exit, dragging the bag behind them. "Not for life."

"I hate going away anywhere and getting caught with either not enough clothes or all the wrong ones."

"Can't say it's a problem I have often."

"You're not a female."

"Which is rather a good thing," he said with a wry little smile.

Joy ground to a halt and stared up at him.

"What?" He said.

"Do I know you at all, John Davis? 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 Davis," he countered.

"Obviously I didn't. What other surprises do you have in store for me?"

"Shall we go find ou?" 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. 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 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 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 canonizing me yet, Joy."

"I see," she said, and gave him a much more typical Joy look. Very doll. "I'll try not to jump to saintly conclusions about you in future."

"That would be wise."

His apartment was towards the southerly end of the street in a multi store yes building whose walls were cement rendered in an attractive grey blue color. There were lots of balconies facing the water, all of them enclosed with glass panels and black railings. The gutterings, trim and windows frames were all black which looked extremely smart indeed. The garage were in the basement, with John having two allotted spaces for himself and guests. He parked in one, then helped Joy 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. Penthouse 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 quit 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."

Joy 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.

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."

Joy 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 bed head and side tables.

Joy 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.

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, Joy 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."

Joy 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 yes, by God , of course i am.

"I thought you'd be too tired," he said, doing his best to ignore his body, which shouted in protest.

She smiled. A rather odd smile, but a smile nevertheless.

"When I'm nervous about something, I like to get it over and done with as soon as possible."

"There's no reason for you to be nervous."

Joy laughed. "You have no idea."

"I have no idea about what?"

Her face twisted into a grimace. "I should have told you earlier."

"Told me what?

"I think I might be a little bit frigid."

Je deliberated for a moment, then reached out to take gentle possession of her chin and turn her face back to his.

He doubted very much that she was frigid he'd seen passion in her too many times.

"Lest just take this one step at a time," he said softly, his eyes holding hers. "You like to be kissed, don't you? When you're with a man you're attracted to, that is."

She blinked, then nodded.

Joy thought he was going to kiss her. But he didn't. Instead, he released her chin then lifted his hand to rub two of his fingertips back and forth along her lower lip, before tracing the full circle of her mouth over and over. Soon, her lips were tingling, her heart was pounding madly in her chest and she was dying for him to kiss her. Her mouth fell open as she struggled for breath, her tongue drying as she sucker in much needed air. At which point he finally did what she craved, removed his fingers and replaced them with his lips.

It was a kiss such as she had never experienced before. Perversely restrained, but incredibly exciting. He cupped her face as he gently caressed her swollen lips, till a frustrated Moab escaped her throat. Only then did he deepen the kiss, his lips applying more pressure, holding her lips far enough apart for his tongue to slide into her mouth.

Joy's head whirled. She could not think straight. Neither did she care. All she wanted was for John to keep on kissing her.

But he didn't.

She made some sort of protest when his mouth lifted abruptly from hers. A Moan. A groan. She could not be sure which.

When she stared up at John she saw that he didn't seem at all rattled.

"I take it then," he said coolly, " that you find me attractive?"

Her state became a glare. "You're an arrogant bastard, John Davis."

His smile widened. "And you're incredibly beautiful,Joy Mike."

She purses her lips in defiance at the involuntary pleasure his compliment gave her.

"You're also not even a little bit frigid."

"Oh!" She exclaimed frustratedly. "You really are the most annoying man."

"But an attractive one,"he reminded her with a perfectly straight face.

She couldn't help it. She laughed. "Whatever am i going to do with you?" She said without thinking.

John's eyebrows arched, his eyes twinkling suggestively. Joy's own blue eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare say anything. Now, I'm going to go unpack in one of the guest bedrooms. I'd love the one with the turquoise flowers, if it's okay with you? Meanwhile, I don't suppose there's any food about?"

"Unfortunately, cooking is not my forte either, he returned. "So the best I can offer you is takeaway for tonight. But I know lots of local Asian style restaurants who'll deliver within half an hour. What would you prefer? Chinese? Thai? Vietnamese?"

"I'm not fussy," she said. "You choose."

"Thai it is, then," he said as they both turned and walked back into the living room. "Join me back in here when you're ready. I bought some snacks and some wine in anticipation of your visit."

Joy almost told him that she didn't usually drink much; that she'd just been upset that day. But she didn't want to bring up the subject of her ongoing failure to conceive a child. For a while there, she'd forgotten about that.

She'd forgotten to ring her mother as well. Oh dear.

"I'll have to ring my mother first before I do another thing," she said, feeling terrible guilty. "Let her know I've arrived safely."

"Fine. You do that. I'll go ring the restaurant. And Joy.....?"

"What?"

"You can relax; I promise i won't be making you to do anything you don't want to." His mouth curled up in a wicked smile. "Not unless you beg me, anyway."