Page 38 of A Wedding Negotiation with Her Boss

‘Just for the record, I still want to sleep with you.’

‘Don’t say stuff like that,’ Helen whispered.

‘Why not?’ He trailed his fingers beneath her belly button and over the soft, downy hair between her legs, and her breath hitched.

‘Because...’

‘Do you still want this? Us making love?’

‘Don’t! I’m trying to be sensible.’

‘Have you ever been anything but sensible, Helen? Have you ever dared to take a risk?’

‘I...’

‘Take this risk. We’re here for another day or so. Let’s enjoy one another—maybe hang around for a bit longer. I’ve earned the right to do what I want when it comes to showing up in an office and sitting behind a desk.’

‘And when it’s time for reality to kick in, Gabriel? To face me across the width of that desk and for things to return to what they used to be? How’s that going to be possible?’ Her words were a desperate plea.

‘Have you thought that getting this thing out of our systems, whatever it is, is the very thing that will make it possible to face one another once, as you say, I’m facing you across the width of my desk?’

‘I don’t understand.’

‘When this fire has burnt out,’ Gabriel murmured, his hand drifting to her breast so that he could play with her nipple, which stiffened at his touch, ‘What will remain will be fond memories of something that came and went. Who knows? Maybe this has been building between us from day one without either of us paying attention to it. Itispossible, Helen, for two people to make love, to enjoy one another, to have something of a relationship and still be able to face one another afterwards...’

‘You make it sound easy.’

‘It’s as easy or as difficult as you choose to make it.’

There was a flaw in that logic but Helen was struggling to see it, because his words were as soft and tempting as the darkest, most luscious of chocolate. Shewantedto believe him because she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to this wondrous thing he had stirred in her.

When she thought about the business of walking away—of giving up her job, of never seeing him again, hearing his voice or drinking in the way he smiled, the way he laughed, the way he frowned—she felt physically nauseous.

Was he right? Was this something that had been simmering beneath the surface for a long time, finally released into the open?

If people became lovers, wasn’t it still possible to be friends afterwards? If people could get married and have kids and then divorce and end up friends, then of course it was possible!

She needed this. It was safe because she wouldn’t be foolish enough to try and build anything from it. Surely she could dump common sense and chasing safety just for a while? She would never be able to give up those fundamental principles that guided her, but she could dare just this once, couldn’t she?

And the bottom line was that if working with him proved uncomfortable, because of this, then she could just get another job. Yes, she loved the one she had, but if because of this she no longer did then London was a thriving city and she would soon find something else.

‘We should head down,’ she said softly, but she was running her hand along his sinewy thigh and curling her own thigh over his, which made him smile slowly and with intent.

‘We have a little time to ourselves...’

Helen smiled because, if she was going to succumb to this, then she was going to do it without reservation.

‘Think you can be quick?’ she asked daringly.

Gabriel drawled, ‘Now, that’s a challenge I can work at trying to overcome...’

Gabriel watched as their cases were being taken to the chauffeur-driven car waiting for them. For a few seconds, he appreciated the sun on his face, then the sound of voices reminded him that they were on their way.

They had stayed on for an extra day at Arturio’s magnificent villa, and he and Helen had actually managed to get work done, as they had catalogued what would need to be done insofar as renovations went.

The more he saw of Arturio and his family, the more important it seemed that he discover more about his own lineage. His parents had dumped their country and severed the bonds that had held them there. It felt important that he not follow in their footsteps now that this door had been opened that led to a family he hadn’t known.

All told, everything had worked out perfectly, and that included what had started life as a charade and had morphed into something altogether different.

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