Page 24 of Strictly Business

‘I’m fine. Come on, come on in.’

It was only when she hesitated again that he remembered. ‘Whoa! Almost forgot. All the drama must have fused my brain. We’re keeping our distance, aren’t we?’

Whose damn fool idea had that been? His?

She looked up at him again and this time her gorgeous grey eyes were shiny with tears. ‘I haven’t thanked you properly,’ she said. ‘You were so amazing. I – I don’t know how you landed that plane. It was a very brave thing to do.’

‘That wasn’t bravery. I was working on pure adrenaline. Anyway, what about your first aid? You saved the pilot’s life. The Flying Doctor said as much.’

She shrugged. ‘My contribution wouldn’t have been much use if the plane had crashed.’ A tear trembled on the end of her eyelash, slipped down her cheek.

Liam reached over and caught it with the tip of his thumb.

‘Sorry,’ she said, blinking hard and releasing more tears.

‘Don’t be. It’s natural to be upset after a shock like that.’ What a hypocrite he was, pretending to be the cool, nerveless hero.

Alice wiped her cheeks with her fingers and gave a little shiver, and then she hugged herself, rubbing her hands over her bare arms.

Watching her hands, he couldn’t resist asking, ‘You want me to do that?’

She stared at him, her mouth parted, her eyes damp, her lashes spiky and wet. ‘What?’ But then she looked down at her arms wrapped across her front. ‘Yes,’ she whispered so softly he only just caught it. ‘I – I need a hug.’

His breathing snagged.

Once more her eyes lifted, met his and signalled a silent message. Blood throbbed in his veins, pounded in his ears. There it was – the insane chemistry they’d felt on the night they met. The urge he’d been fighting ever since. Now it triggered a violent wanting in him, an echoing tremble in her.

‘Alice, come here.’

She needed no further invitation. She floated through the doorway and into his arms. With his foot he closed the cabin door behind them.

Her body seemed to merge into his, her arms linked around him and her mouth, her sweet, sweet mouth opened to him in a kiss that was one hundred per cent distilled passion.

Liam was already lost. Lost in the need to touch and to taste and to hold her.

‘I’m so glad we’re alive,’ she whispered as she pressed eager kisses over his face.

He knew their emotions were sweeping common sense aside. Alice was overwhelmed by relief and gratitude, he by his desire and his need to blank out dark memories. But as he framed her face with his hands, as her lips parted beneath his,inviting him into her, he knew that he was a mere man, and he’d wanted this woman, had craved her ever since the night they’d met and made love.

Today they’d come face to face with the cruel mystery of chance. They’d been courted by death and had escaped its claws. And now they needed to embrace life. They needed this assurance, this coming together of warm bodies, of wildly beating hearts.

The touch of Alice’s hands on his body made his heart jolt so fiercely it practically wedged in his throat. And her hands were merciless as they explored his shoulders, as her fingers made circles on his chest.

Then the flat of her palms slid down his sides to his hips, to the waistband of his jeans and he gave up all attempts to justify this pleasure. This was okay. Very okay.

But just as he slipped his hands beneath her top, he remembered.

God help him, he remembered the one thing that couldn’t be overlooked.

‘Wait, Alice. Alice, wait.’ With an anguished groan he closed his hands around hers just as she reached the snap fastener on his jeans.

‘Wait?’ She sounded breathless and embarrassed and she buried her face into his chest.

‘I didn’t bring anything with me.’

Her head shot up. ‘I don’t understand. What are you talking about?’

‘Protection.’ He let out a deep, ragged sigh. ‘We weren’t going to do this. I gave you my word and I deliberately didn’t pack anything, so there’d be no chance of weakening.’

---