It couldn’t be just about having sex with her.
There had been genuine concern in his eyes when he’d asked, ‘Are you going to be okay today?’ before leaving her at the office door after their night at the pavilion villa.
She’d assured him that she would be and he’d added, ‘I’ll be on hand.’
Ready to run interference if she needed it, as he had last Monday.
It felt really good to have him caring about her—someone she could depend on to get her through this weekend without too much heartache. Oddly enough, she wasn’t feeling any heartache at all over Michael wanting Lucy, although seeing them together again might strain her current sense of being able to set them at an emotional distance.
Harry was to meet them at the jetty and transport them to the administration centre. Elizabeth felt reasonably confident about handling their queries about how well she was coping with management responsibilities. Lucy, of course, would angle for a private conversation with her, but she didn’t think that would trouble her too much. She no longer felt so shattered over her lost dreams.
A few guests dropped into the office to check on arrangements they’d made for diving expeditions. There were inquiries about bookings to be answered. A couple of beach picnics had to be sorted out with the chef. Sarah Pickard came by, ostensibly to put in an order for new towels, but her eyes shone with lively curiosity about this new development between Harry and his stand-in manager.
Probably all the staff on the island knew about it by now since the villa had to be cleaned this morning, ready for Michael and Lucy. Elizabeth had decided it didn’t matter but she certainly wasn’t going to talk about her private life to anyone.
‘Harry said it’s your sister coming with Mickey today,’ Sarah remarked.
‘Yes,’ Elizabeth answered briefly.
‘That’s nice.’
Elizabeth smiled. ‘Yes, it is.’
‘When did they meet?’
‘Lucy came into the Cairns office to see me and they clicked. Simple as that,’ she said airily.
‘And Harry, of course, met you when he went to see Mickey.’
‘Yes.’
Realising that Elizabeth was not about to be chatty, Sarah backed off, only tossing out the comment, ‘Well, it’s all very interesting,’ as she left the office.
It wasn’t interesting so much as complicated, Elizabeth thought. She didn’t know if these connections were likely to lead anywhere good for either Lucy or herself. Two brothers who were close, two sisters who were close, the work situation—if things started going wrong, there could be a nasty ripple effect.
She remembered Lucy’s blithe comment when Harry had been ordering their cocktails last Monday—wouldn’t it be great if we ended up together...all happy families! Possibly it could be great if it worked out like that but Elizabeth wasn’t counting on it. It was far too early to think the possibility was high.
Lucy slid out of relationships almost as fast as she started them.
As for herself and Harry, she couldn’t even call it a relationship yet. All she could really say for certain was that her stance against him had been substantially shifted. And he was fantastic in bed!
It was almost midday when he called from the jetty to say Mickey’s motor-launch was about to dock. Her nerves instantly started jangling, mocking any idea that she could breeze through this meeting with no angst at all. She fiercely told herself the important thing was to keep her composure, regardless of what she was feeling.
Lucy was hugging Michael’s arm when Harry led them into the office—the woman in possession and obviously loving having this man in tow. Her skin was glowing, her eyes were shining and the smile on her face beamed brilliant happiness. Elizabeth’s heart contracted at this evidence that her sister was over-the-moon in love.
‘This island is fabulous, Ellie,’ she cried. ‘What a great place to work!’
‘Tropical paradise,’ Elizabeth responded, pasting a smile on her face and moving from behind the desk to greet them appropriately.
Lucy released Michael’s arm to rush forward and give her a hug. ‘Are you loving it?’ she asked, her eyes bright with curiosity about the situation, which, of course, included Harry.
‘Not too much, I hope,’ Michael semigrowled in the background.
‘It’s been quite a change,’ she said dryly, flicking him a sharply assessing look.
Somehow he was more handsome than ever, his face relaxed in a friendly way, his very male physique shown off in casual clothes—smartly tailored shorts in a blue-and-grey check teamed with a royal blue sports shirt. He still had the impact of an alpha man scoring ten out of ten, but she wasn’t feeling it so personally anymore. He belonged to her sister now.
‘A good one, I hope,’ Harry slid in, drawing her attention to him.
Another alpha man—no doubt about it now—and the memory of last night’s intimacy caused a wave of warm pleasure to roll through her. The piercing blue eyes were digging at her again, but she didn’t resent it this time. He cared about what she was feeling.
‘Yes,’ she answered with a smile, wanting to allay his concern for her.
‘Now, Harry, poaching my PA is not on,’ Michael shot at him.
‘Like I said before, Mickey—her choice,’ he replied with an affable shrug.
‘Okay, while you two guys argue over my brilliant sister, I want her to show me her living quarters,’ Lucy put in quickly. ‘You can mind the office, can’t you, Harry?’
‘Go right ahead,’ he said agreeably.
‘Come on, Ellie,’ she urged, nodding to the door at the back of the office. ‘Michael said your apartment was right here. I want to see everything. And while I’m at it, may I say you look great in the island uniform?’
Elizabeth laughed. ‘Not as spectacular as you this morning.’
Lucy wore cheeky little navy denim shorts with a red-and-purple halter top, big red hoop earrings, red trainers on her feet and a purple scrunchie holding up her long blond hair in a ponytail.
‘Am I over-the-top?’ she asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. ‘You can carry off anything, Lucy.’
‘I wish...’ she replied with a wry grimace as Elizabeth ushered her into the apartment and closed the door on the two men in the office.
Elizabeth eyed her quizzically, sensing something was weighing on her sister’s mind. ‘Is that a general wish or...?’
‘Oh, nothing really,’ came the airy reply, her hands gesturing dismissively as her gaze swung around the living room. ‘This is lovely, Ellie. Show me the bedroom and bathroom.’
She stopped at the queen-size bed, her sherry-brown eyes twinkling mischief at Elizabeth. ‘Have you shared this with Harry yet?’
‘Actually, no.’ Wanting to divert any further personal probing, she retaliated with, ‘Do you want to tell me what’s going on with Michael?’
She threw up her hands. ‘Everything is happening! I swear to you, Ellie, I’ve never been this mad about a guy. I’m in love like you wouldn’t believe, and while it’s incredibly wonderful, it’s also scary, you know?’
‘In what way scary?’
She flopped onto the bed, put her hands behind her head