She couldn’t believe it. The man was a decade older and while she liked him, she’d never consider dating him.
‘No. I got my wires crossed, but I only discovered that later.’ Conall looked rueful. ‘I forbade you to go. I blocked the doorway and lectured you about not mixing business with pleasure. And about company loyalty.’
Greer’s eyes bulged. She couldn’t imagine biting her tongue after that. ‘What did I do?’
Conall opened her hand, tracing circles of delight on her palm, his smile wistful.
‘You were magnificent. You marched up and poked me in the chest. You said your private life wasn’t my concern. Then you reminded me of all the hours and effort you put into my success. You mentioned you’d already had a job offer from a competitor in Sydney, but if I had doubts about your loyalty you could always find me a new PA.’
She blinked, not surprised she’d stood up for herself, but that she’d been ready to leave the job she loved, and leave Conall. But after so long yearning for what she thought she couldn’t have, maybe she’d decided it was time to put distance between them.
‘And then?’
He shrugged. ‘I said you weren’t allowed to resign. Then I blurted out that you were irreplaceable. I also said something about being damned if I’d sit back and watch you go out with Jarvis instead of me. That I’d wanted you from the day you first walked into my office.’
Greer’s breathing quickened. How she wished she remembered this. ‘And?’
‘You accused me of making that up. You said you’d have known if that were true because you’d been attracted to me all that time. We were both so fired up it might have taken ages to sort out, so I took a short cut and kissed you.’
Greer’s eyes rounded. Shedefinitelywished she could remember that.
He grinned, his expression smug. ‘You know that long sofa in my office?’
‘We didn’t! Did we?’
Conall took her plate and, without looking, put it on the bedside table. There was a clatter and a crash, but neither looked that way. Greer saw in his expression both amusement and something much more powerful. Something that made her yearning heart squeeze.
‘Of course we did. We’d both been holding back too long. We’ve been lovers ever since.’
Greer had so many questions she didn’t know where to start, but none were as important as the certainty Conall gave her with the grasp of his strong hands and the open emotion in his face.
‘I know it’s hard, not remembering. But I’m here for you and I’m not going anywhere. Remember that, Greer. You’ll get through this.We’llget through this, I promise.’
Chapter Eight
GREER SECURED THElarge towel around herself and left the bathroom. It was mid-afternoon and Conall had reluctantly excused himself to take a call.
The proposed Singapore deal was proving more complicated than they’d thought and he’d booked a long-distance discussion with a key contact there. Greer had offered to sit in but had been glad when Conall had suggested she rest instead.
It had been a momentous twenty-four hours, and though she felt a buzz of well-being, neither of them had slept much.
She was still adjusting to the situation. She and Conall were lovers. Had been for months.
His sincerity when he’d assured her he’d be there for her, through whatever it took to get her memory back, filled her with warmth and hope.
She wished she could remember what her feelings had been for him before the accident. She tried to tell herself she was on a high of sexual satisfaction. That these intense feelings wouldn’t be permanent.
Yet it felt like her crush on the man had segued seamlessly into something far deeper than the physical. Even before they slept together, she’d been more than half in love with him. Way more. She’d never felt so much for any other man. Never dared open her heart like this.
She shook her head, her damp hair sliding around bare shoulders. No one, neither Conall nor herself, could expect her to do more than take one day at a time.
But she’d give so much to remember. Regret filled her at not recalling that first kiss. That moment when attraction had morphed into anger and challenge, and their defences had fallen. Five months she’d missed.
How had their relationship developed in that time?
Or hadn’t it? Was it truly purely sexual? Had they decided it would burn itself out given time?
She halted mid-step across the bedroom, her palm pressed to her suddenly churning stomach.
