Page 44 of Her Diamond Deal with the CEO

‘Don’t you? Or do you just want to pretend it never happened?’ The bitterness in her voice echoed around the bedroom.

There was a silence. His eyes narrowed. ‘That’s not what I said.’

It wasn’t. ‘I know.’

‘But I could see why you might think it’s what I meant.’

Their eyes met. Jack was still standing at the end of the bed, still tall and astonishingly, shockingly beautiful, but he looked serious now and yet also younger. It reminded her of when they were out on the bluff.

‘You can?’ she said slowly.

He nodded. ‘Being married like this, it’s been harder than either of us thought. And any part that’s been made more challenging is almost certainly my fault. I have a lot of faults, as you’ve probably realised.’ He gave her a small, tight smile. ‘But I’m not a total idiot. Or a monster.’

‘I don’t think you’re an idiot or a monster. I just think we should talk about what happened. Only I’m not very good at this kind of conversation.’

‘And you think I am?’ He hesitated, and then he walked round to where she was hunched against the pillows and sat down beside her on the bed.

‘Well, you’ve dated more than two people so, yes, I would hope so.’ She shivered, her nerves ambushed by a sudden spasm of misery imagining Jack’s multiple conquests. ‘It’s just that last night, we said some things. And I meant what I said, and I thought you did too but then when I woke up this morning you’d gone and so I thought maybe I’d got it wrong. That it wasn’t real—’

‘You think I faked that?’ He seemed stunned.

She frowned. ‘I don’t mean the mechanics. You made it sound as if you wanted me, wanted to have sex with me—’

‘I did.’ His voice was hoarse. ‘I do. I guess I didn’t want to assume—No, actually that’s a lie. When I woke up this morning I wanted to make all kinds of assumptions.’ His eyes fixed on her face. ‘One of them was that we could just carry on without having to talk about it.’ Reaching out, he uncurled her fingers and slid his hand around hers. ‘But what I should have done was tell you the truth. That I wanted you since that very first day when you kicked me out of your house. And I want you now.’

Her body ached with need.

‘You’re not worried about it making things more complicated?’

‘I think we passed complicated a long time ago,’ he said softly, and, leaning forward, he fitted his mouth to hers.

For a moment they kissed, back and forth, teasing the heat from each other, then she felt him tense. ‘What is it?’

‘I worked out pretty hard in the gym. I definitely need to shower.’ He grimaced. ‘You can’t want me like this.’

She did. The scent of his sweat was tugging at her senses. Then again—

Picturing Jack with water spilling over all those glorious curving muscles, she felt a shiver of anticipation dance across her skin.

‘So take a shower.’ Still clutching the sheet, she stood up.

‘What are you doing?’ His gaze had risen to meet hers and now she let the sheet drop and his eyes seemed to glow as they fixed on her naked body.

‘Coming with you.’ Hunger jackknifed inside her. ‘I can’t let you go into the water alone. Or did you forget the rules?’

She managed two steps before he caught up with her, making her shriek with laughter as he scooped her into his arms and carried her into the bathroom.

CHAPTER NINE

SHIFTINGBACKINhis chair, Jack stared at his laptop and reread the final line of text on the screen. The proposal was finished. He was just tinkering with it. What he should be doing was sending it to his grandfather, but he wasn’t ready to do that yet. And yet he couldn’t leave it alone either so now he was carrying his laptop around with him everywhere like a security blanket.

Not that he needed one. He felt calmer than he had in years, decades even, and happy. But then he had a lot to be happy about. His plan was working, more than working, he thought, glancing through the window.

Outside in the garden, Ondine was standing on the croquet lawn, practising her swing, her forehead creased with concentration, her light brown hair spilling across her shoulders. The same shoulders he’d kissed and licked earlier as she’d leaned forward, moaning softly, hands splayed against the shower wall. Remembering what had happened next, he felt his groin harden.

On waking, he had been shocked to find Ondine’s soft body curled so trustingly against him. More shocking still had been how right it had felt. It was that rightness or rather his panic at seeing it in those terms that had made him slip from the bed and make his way to the gym.

He hadn’t booked a session with Mark, but he had pounded the punchbag for thirty minutes then hit the treadmill for another fifty. But he couldn’t keep away.

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