Page 56 of Unbuttoning Her Brooding Boss

That stark loneliness?

It had almost hurt her with its intensity. She wasn’t adding to his burden.

She wasn’t doing to him—or to anyone—what her brother had done to her. And her mother.

‘Come on, you’ve had way too long in the sun. There’s a bed just here. Let’s make love al fresco again.’

‘We’re not making love—we’re having sex.’ And she was remindingherselfof that more than anything.

He frowned. ‘We’re makingnice.’

She chuckled. ‘Okay, we’re making good.’

‘Sogood.’

She wound her arms around him, pulling him close to kiss him so she couldn’t spill her secrets.

She wanted to tell him everything. She wanted to trust him. To lean on him.

And she couldn’t.

EIGHT

‘This placeis sobeautiful it doesn’t feel real.’

Jack stirred and sat up to look at her.Shewas so beautiful it didn’t feel real. Tousled and smiling up at him, tangled in a white sheet, she was an irresistible treat he couldn’t taste enough.

They were resting on the daybed, the forest and pool largely hidden from view by the white drapes. It was as if they were living in a cloud. Heaven.

‘It’s like something in a movie,’ she added in a soft murmur. ‘Everything is so perfect.’

Not quite everything. She was leaving soon and he’d be alone this last night.

‘You watch a lot of movies?’ he asked, clutching at this conversational straw to keep the dread at bay.

A faraway look entered her eyes. ‘I see a few...’

He wanted her to keep talking—anything light and airy that would keep him distracted. ‘I love movies.’

‘They’re your “jam”?’ She rolled over and teased him. ‘You don’t strike me as a movie person.’

‘Why not?’ he asked. ‘I travel on planes a lot—what else is there to do?’

‘Don’t you spend every hour in the air working?’

‘A few hours, sure. But there are some long flights. Work hard, play hard. Movies are play, right?’

‘Womenare play for you.’ She stretched her arms out wide on the mattress. ‘A couple of days like this—your holiday flings. I bet you have them all the time.’

‘Not at all.’

She threw him a laughing look.

Indignation rose. He’d never done this—never with a potential business associate. And he’d never had as much fun either.

‘Come here.’ He pulled her flush against him and rolled, trapping her beneath him.

Satisfaction thrummed. This was where he wanted her. Her length to his, with those gorgeous lips within easy kissable distance.

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