Page 13 of A Wedding Negotiation with Her Boss

The hotel was quiet when he arrived back, his chauffeur-driven car noiselessly circling the courtyard to deliver him in front of the flamboyant flowering trees that guarded the reception and the various pathways that led to the clusters of cottages on the grounds.

It was still warm, although the sun was beginning to dip. He headed straight for his quarters, brushing past the exuberantly romantic canopy of trees, thinking ahead to what he could accomplish in the hours ahead.

He was barely looking left or right.

The romance of the setting was beginning to get on his nerves. His erstwhile girlfriend might have thought long and hard about finding the right place to seduce him into the sort of commitment he had no intention of making, and he might have found it reasonably charming, had she still been on the scene minus unreasonable demands. But, given the circumstances, all this lush foliage, mouth-watering scenery and tantalising shaded pathways were a nuisance. When his thoughts were all over the place, the last thing he needed was damn romance.

In the midst of brushing some blossoms from his shirt, he stilled at the faint sound of water, of splashing. Someone was swimming in the pool behind the cottages.

Gabriel hesitated.

But then curiosity got the better of him, and he was irritated with himself even as he followed the path that wound alongside the cottages. It nestled amidst stunted trees and over-sized flowering shrubbery in a way that had been artfully created to give the illusion of it being hewn from the rocks, stones and earth through which it threaded, rather than purposefully engineered by men in hard hats sitting in digger trucks.

He knew what he was expecting. He half-hoped that he was wrong; that the splashing, which was barely a sound quivering in the still air, came from other occupants eager to take advantage of the late-summer warmth and sunshine.

He emerged by the pool and stood completely still.

She was as graceful in the water as a fish, her slender body encased in a black one-piece, slicing through the blue-green, barely needing to tilt her head to draw breath.

Gabriel felt he had never seen anything like it.

How could dreary office suits and buttoned-up blouses conceal a body that was so slender and so perfectly proportioned? Even as she moved, he could make out strong, well-shaped legs, arms that carried definition and the curve of her narrow waist.

He breathed in sharply, unable to move forward but incapable of beating a retreat. Images that had been playing in his head coalesced into a reality that was a thousand times more alluring. Standing in the shade of overhanging trees, he watched and then flushed when she came to a stop by the side of the pool, her hand on thefauxmossy ledge, and turned towards the cottages.

He should have walked away when he’d had the chance.

Too late.

Their eyes tangled and eventually he propelled himself forward, because heading towards her in a natural and easy manner seemed the better of two options, the other being shiftily skulking off in plain sight.

‘I see you decided to try the pool,’ he drawled, when he was within earshot.

The pool, shaped to resemble a very large pond, was dappled from the setting sun slanting through the overhanging trees.

Her hair was wet and clung to her cheeks and her skin was smooth and flawless.

‘What are you doing here? I thought you were having dinner with your friends.’

‘Work.’ He pulled across one of the wooden chairs, largely the only concession to the fact that this was actually a swimming pool and not a natural body of water in the middle of a glade. He sat and promptly leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs. ‘Thought I’d cut short the evening and see if I could work through some of the details that still need ironing out. How’s the water?’

‘Please don’t let me keep you if you’ve returned to work.’

‘Maybe I’ll join you. I haven’t been in since I got here, and it’s a nice evening for it.’

Damn, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. How had he not paid more attention to just how huge her eyes were? How long, lush and dark her eyelashes? Or how her mouth was so beautifully full and defined?

‘I was just getting out, as it happens.’

Helen could have kicked herself. What had possessed her to say that?

One minute she’d been swimming, loving the glide of cool water over her and the peaceful, noiseless silence of the pool. But the next, there he was, lounging against one of the trees, his hand indolently shoved in the pocket of his loose cream trousers, looking every inch the sophisticated billionaire.

Shock at seeing him had ripped through her, bringing her out in goose bumps. He’d walked towards the side of the pool and, the closer he’d come, the more her nervous system had plunged into disarray.

She felt exposed. Here in the deep end, she was treading water, one hand on the ledge to support herself. The pool might have been fashioned to replicate a pond, but the water was chlorinated and clear as crystal, and she was horribly aware of the distorted image of her swimsuit-clad body under the surface.

‘Were you?’

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