‘See you later, David,’ she threw at him as she rose from her chair, her heart pounding with excitement at the prospect of spending at least three hours with Harry.
That gave her a lot of moments to live in...to the full.
AS SOON as they left the office, Harry caught her hand, his long fingers intertwining with hers, gripping possessively, shooting an instant wave of tingling heat up her arm. ‘Which villa is yours?’ he asked.
‘Number one. It’s the closest to the office in case I’m needed.’
He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling admiration and approval. ‘Standing by,’ he said warmly.
‘I don’t think I’ll have to stand by for long, Harry. David’s very quick on the uptake.’
He nodded. ‘A case of been there, done that. Do you like him?’
‘Yes. I think he’ll manage very well. He’s at ease with the guests, too, eager to please.’
‘Good!’
‘I doubt he’ll need me for more than a few days. When I’m satisfied he’s on top of everything I’ll come back to Cairns and help you in the office.’ She threw him an anxious look, suddenly thinking she might have assumed too much. ‘If you want me to.’
He grinned happily. ‘I was going to ask if you would. Just to tide us over until Mickey can take control again. Andrew—the guy you suggested could fill in for you—is floundering like a fish out of water under the pressure of too much responsibility. Not his bag at all. Mickey had already directed an agency to find a better replacement for you, but had yet to set up interviews.’
‘I’ll stay until that can be sorted out,’ she promised.
‘You wouldn’t walk out on anyone at a bad time, would you, Ellie?’
His eyes caressed her as though she was someone very special and her heart fluttered with happiness. ‘Not if I could help,’ she answered, knowing intuitively that Harry wouldn’t, either. He was a caring man who had looked after the people who could have been hurt by Franklyn Finn’s sudden death. He hadn’t walked away. Not like her father, she thought.
She didn’t mind him calling her Ellie anymore. Every time he used that name she heard affection in it, and Harry’s affection had become very addictive.
They mounted the steps to the villa’s deck. He paused by the railing, his gaze sweeping around the bay below. ‘I don’t know how Mickey can stand being closed up in an office day after day.’
‘He likes running the franchises,’ Elizabeth pointed out. ‘And since you say he has tunnel vision, I guess that’s all he sees when he’s there.’
‘Mmm...lucky for me! I don’t think I could have handled it. I’ll be glad when he’s back in the driving seat.’ His gaze swung to target hers, the blue eyes gathering the intensity that always made her feel he was digging into her mind. ‘What about you, Ellie? Have you thought of what you want to do when everything’s on course again?’
She shook her head. ‘I’m just taking one day at a time.’
‘May I make a suggestion?’
‘I’m not going to work full-time for you, Harry,’ she said quickly, hoping he wouldn’t try to persuade her to take up that option again. She had fallen in love with him, and while working together might be great for a while, if he lost his desire for her...
‘I wasn’t about to ask you to,’ he said, drawing her into his embrace.
‘What then?’ she asked, relieved by this assurance and sliding her hands up his chest, over his shoulders and around his neck, inviting a kiss, wanting him to make love to her, craving intimate contact.
His mouth quirked teasingly. He lifted a hand and gently stroked her cheek, looking deeply into her eyes. ‘I don’t want you working for me, Ellie. I want you living with me. I’m suggesting that you think about marrying me. We could start a family, make a home together and hopefully live happily ever after. How does that sound?’
She was totally stunned. No way had she anticipated a marriage proposal! Her heart slammed around her chest. She stared at Harry, utterly speechless, barely able to believe what he’d just said.
* * *
The shock dilating her eyes told Harry he’d jumped the gun again. This time he didn’t care. He wanted her thinking about it, wanted her knowing that he was serious about sharing his future with her. She was the one he’d been looking for, the one who would complement his life in all the ways that mattered to him. He couldn’t bear her having any doubts about where she stood with him.
He had no doubts. This past week had clinched it for him. His brother was no longer a gut-tearing factor in their relationship. That had become clear in all the conversations they’d had. Caring for Mickey had not been at the heart of them. Her focus had been on him—his thoughts, his concerns, his feelings.
He wanted to banish her sense of being adrift, wanted to become her anchor, just as she had become his. She might not yet be ready to commit herself to marriage but he saw no harm in laying it on the line. Her mind was clearly rocked at the moment but he didn’t sense any negative vibrations coming from her.
‘Think about it, Ellie,’ he softly commanded, then kissed her.
* * *
Elizabeth didn’t want to think. She wanted to feel all that Harry made her feel. She threw herself into the kiss, hungry for the wild rush of passion between them—the passion that swept away everything else but the fierce need for each other. It surged through her bloodstream. Her body ached for him, yearned for him, silently but intensely communicating more than she could say.
Harry didn’t push for any verbal answer from her. He swept her into the villa and they tore off their clothes, reaching for each other, desire at fever pitch, falling onto the bed, moving urgently to come together. She grasped him with her hands, her legs. He kissed her as the strong shaft of his flesh slid into the pulsating passage that exultantly welcomed their joining. The sheer bliss of it spread through her entire body.
Her mind sang his name...Harry, Harry, Harry....
They rode the waves of pleasure together, driving up the intensity of feeling, instinctively intent on making it more sensational than it had ever been because it was more than physical this time. Much more. Her heart was beating with love for this man, bursting with it as they both climaxed, tipping them over into a world that was uniquely theirs, an intimate sharing that Elizabeth now knew with absolute certainty she would never find with any other man.
It was only a few weeks since she had dreamed of having this with Michael. It seemed weird that in such a short time Harry had so completely supplanted his brother in every sense, but he had. And this was real, not a fantasy. She hugged him to her, wanting this reality to go on forever.
She thought of Lucy.
Did her sister feel as deeply as this with Michael?
She heaved a sigh, knowing that whatever happened in that relationship was beyond her control.
Harry planted a warm kiss on her forehead. ‘Is that a sigh of satisfaction?’ he murmured.
‘I do love you, Harry,’ she said, opening up to him. ‘It may seem like an incredible turnaround, but it’s true.’
He eased away enough to prop