Page 29 of The Moonstone Major
“It took years to get these hospital plans approved and now underway. I cannot delay this project because you are proposing changes to the courtyard. The entire tract of land must be leveled and the building’s foundation needs to be poured and set before the cold weather comes on.”
“So you will not allow us to help in any way?”
“I will listen to all your ideas once the hospital is built. But I am not changing a single brick or we’ll be waiting another three years for construction to begin.”
She nodded. “All right. But let us work within the scope of your designs. Why should the army care what we propose if we are footing the cost?”
“They shouldn’t, but they will. Perhaps it is nonsensical, but it is the army’s way.”
They walked out of the house together and took the stairs down to the beach. The tide was already coming in and had flooded the sandy walkway between Moonstone Cottage and Westgate Hall. They would have to climb over the rocks separating their beaches.
It was not a particularly difficult climb, but Chloe had just recovered from a sprained ankle, and it still had to be tender. Not to mention her ribs might still be sore as well. This meant he needed to stay close and possibly hold on to her to make certain she did not aggravate her injuries or take a spill.
This would require putting his hands on her.
She sensed his reluctance and gazed up at him with pitying eyes. “Are you worried you will not make it over those rocks with your damaged leg?”
He laughed, the sound carrying on the wind and mingling with the whoosh and crash of waves now hitting those rocks. “No, I was worried about you. My leg is fine.”
“I am wearing my sturdy walking boots and just need to hold on to the hem of my gown so as not to trip over it as I climb. Close your eyes, Fionn, if the sight of my legs offends you.”
“Nothing about you offends me…that’s what I’m worried about.”
She cast him a soft smile. “That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard you say to me in ages.”
He raked a hand through his windblown hair. “You shouldn’t be climbing, and I shouldn’t be aiding you. What if you get hurt?”
“You will protect me, won’t you?”
“Of course, but…” He shook his head and started up the rocks before the tide covered them as well. “Here, give me your hand. I’ll pull you over.”
He tried not to stare as she raised her gown and secured it to her belt. This left her shapely legs exposed to her knees. She took his offered hand and scampered up beside him. They repeated this routine twice more, he climbing further up and then reaching down to assist her, until they reached the top.
Now it was a matter of helping her down the other side, a trickier undertaking because the rocks were quite wet and slippery as waves began to crash closer around them. “Wait. Let me get a foothold, and then I’ll help you climb down to me.”
Except climbing down involved not quite the same logistics.
He was now required to stand beneath Chloe, which gave him an unimpeded view of her bare legs. Her shapely derriere was outlined beneath the muslin fabric of her gown and practically in his face as she slowly moved downward with his assistance to secure her footholds.
One wave suddenly crashed too close, and she lost her footing.
“Bollocks, Chloe. I told you this was a bad idea,” he muttered as she slid down the length of his body.
She held on to him for an aching eternity, her arms wrapped around his neck and her divine bosom flattened against his chest, before steadying herself and turning to regain her footing on those slick stones.
It was all he could do to keep his body from betraying him.
He kept an arm around her to hold her securely. “Don’t look down or you’ll make yourself dizzy. Just concentrate on me. Blast, this was a terrible idea. I could kick myself for allowing you to talk me into it.”
And yet he lived for such moments when he could touch her, breathe her in, and wrap her in his soul.
“Honestly, I wish you would stop berating me or yourself. I’ll be more careful. We are not exactly climbing a mountain. We’ll be fine.”
He was not going to be fine at all. Was there ever a woman created with a sweeter body? They should not have fit in any way, and yet they did to perfection.
“Please don’t be angry with me, Fionn.”
“I’m not.”
