‘Isn’t it?’
‘We are two adults who gave in to the chemistry between us. I don’t make a habit of sleeping with my employees...in fact, I haveneverbeen tempted to do anything of that sort...but we slept together and I’m not going to beat myself up over it. Are you?’
‘I’d planned on doing that, now that you mention it.’
He laughed and stroked her cheek. ‘There’s that sense of humour again...don’t beat yourself up, Ellie.’
‘It’s easy for you to say. I don’t do this sort of thing.’
‘Never?’
‘I... Life has always been a serious business for me,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve had one boyfriend, but flings? Hopping in and out of bed with strangers? That life belongs to some other girl...’
‘We’re not strangers to one another.’
‘I know but...’
‘Shh.’ He rested one finger against her lips, silencing her. ‘Did you enjoy what we just did? Did you enjoy making love with me?’
His words invoked a rush of heady pleasure and she briefly closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. There was no way she could lie, and she liked his honesty. She nodded, and he laughed softly and told her that she’d have to speak up because he didn’t quite catch what she was saying.
‘I enjoyed it.’ Ellie glared at him, then smiled and tentatively outlined his mouth with her finger.
‘So did I. Plenty. Think we should go there again?’
‘We can’t!’ Her grey eyes were confused when they met his. ‘How can we? We would never be able to work alongside one another again. It would spoil the relationship we have, and I enjoy my job too much to risk losing it.’
‘Don’t you think it would be worse if we cut it short now?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Think about it, Ellie. We turn our backs on one another and agree to move forward and put this down to a one-off escapade...’
‘Yes, exactly!’ But there was already a coldness seeping inside her at the prospect of that, even though she knew it made perfect sense.
‘Hold on. I’m not finished quite yet.’ He sifted his fingers through her hair, twirling a silky strand into a ringlet and then letting it fall, slippery straight again. ‘We take that road and how does that play out for us working together, with all that pent-up chemistry still sizzling between us? It would be impossible to relax back into anything approaching a decent working relationship.
‘There would also be the danger of everyone eventually sussing that something was going on between us. Some of those employees of mine can trace the scent of something off with the accuracy of a bloodhound. They would see the change between us, and it wouldn’t take long for them to put two and two together. And how do you think you would be able to deal with that?’
Ellie could feel tears pricking behind her eyelids but she had no one but herself to blame for this situation. She could have pushed him away. He wouldn’t have persisted. Instead, she had allowed curiosity through the front door so that it could kill the proverbial cat.
‘You’re firing me,’ she said bluntly, swinging back and resting one arm across her face.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I’m not firing you, Ellie! Why would I do that when you’re the best PA I’ve ever had? Probably the only person on the planet who can put up with me!’
‘Then what?’ She sneaked a glance at him from under her lashes and her breath caught in her throat as their eyes collided.
‘I’m saying we give in to this thing between us...let it run its course as it will. We’re here, far away from prying eyes. Let’s enjoy this, and trust me, by the time I’m back in London after my brother’s wedding this will be nothing more than a pleasant memory which we will be more than happy to relegate to the history books. We’ll be able to face one another as we always have done and, if there’s an extra added facet to our relationship, then it won’t interfere with anything. In fact, it might make what we have even better...’
Ellie’s brain seemed to get stuck on the bit aboutrelegating it to the history books,but she swept past that discomfort, because he was right. This was lust, and lust never lasted.
He was also right when he said that to end this prematurely would make things impossible between them because there would be that charge, thatelectricity, waiting to be snuffed out.
Another week here... She thought about this, about the freedom to touch him when she wanted, and she felt faint.
She would return to London ahead of him. He would fly to Hawaii shortly after she left. He had already mentioned drumming up some business there that could dovetail with the Barbados deal. He would have time to explore that before the wedding and then, by the time he was finally back in London, she would be back to her normal self.
She almost laughed because she felt that, once those prim suits were back in place, she would revert to the person she had always been. Her personality was way too ingrained for it to be thrown off-course by a week of giddy passion.
