It had been just what she needed. To feel competent and, she realised, less alone. She enjoyed her work and it was good to have something positive to focus on.
A noise made her turn her head and there he was, ridiculously breathtaking in the suit he’d worn to a meeting in the city.
Her heart seized for a second before fluttering back into something like a regular beat.
Surely she shouldn’t still react to Conall with such breathless enthusiasm. But her awareness of him was as strong as ever, if not growing. Their passionate sojourn last weekend had amplified all her restless yearning. Or maybe it was those memories of the months they’d spent together, barely out of each other’s sight.
He’d been easier to resist when she had no recollection of the bliss she found in his arms.
Conall shrugged out of his jacket and tugged his tie loose, giving her a blistering smile that made her bones melt. He took a seat beside her and the blood fizzed under her skin. She tugged her gaze away as he undid his cuffs and rolled them up to his elbows. Something about those powerful forearms always made her feel like her insides were melting.
‘Alice made coconut-and-mango cake?’
Greer looked at her half-eaten slice rather than stare hungrily at the man she was trying to hold at a distance. It was hard, now, to remember why that distance had seemed so important.
‘Would you like some?’ She pushed her plate across the glass-topped table.
‘At the risk of turning into my father, I might just do that. Thank you.’
He took a bite. His expression changed and suddenly she remembered him tastingher, savouring her body as if she were the sweetest treat.
Heat settled low in her body and she shifted, trying to ease that ache between her thighs. She watched the muscles move in his throat and her nipples hardened.
Greer folded her arms, trying to hide her reaction. ‘What did you mean about the risk of turning into your father?’
Conall licked frosting from the corner of his mouth and she had to look away. ‘He’s a big man, not just in size but in other ways too.’
‘He’s certainly got a forceful personality.’
She remembered the man in Perth. He’d dominated the conversation with his booming voice and an attitude that proclaimed him the most important person at the function.
Conall’s eyes narrowed. Was he too remembering that event? The way Fraser Abercrombie had all but ignored her, after that one sweeping survey that made her jaw lock so she didn’t demand he keep his eyes above her neckline.
‘He has.’ The affirmation didn’t sound positive. ‘He’s loud and brash. His capacity for work and success are the stuff of legend. And he matches that with an enormous appetite for pleasure.’
Conall’s mouth turned down and she read something in his eyes that made her want to change the subject, forhissake. Whatever track his thoughts followed, wasn’t pleasant.
‘It’s as well he has a big frame to match his big appetite, if he has a weakness for cake. Though I did notice last year that he’s beginning to grow portly. But I don’t think you have anything to worry about. You rarely indulge and you exercise every day.’
She heard a crack of laughter as Conall’s expression morphed from disapproving to amused.
‘With that ringing endorsement I’ll risk another piece of cake.’ He took another bite, watching her as he chewed. It felt deliciously intimate, seeing his dark eyes dance with pleasure. ‘You’re right. He has a sweet tooth. Desserts are one of his weaknesses.’
‘But not the only one,’ she murmured.
For so long she’d wanted to know more about Conall’s family but he’d avoided talking about them, apart from that recent, disturbing revelation about his sailing mishap with his appalling brother. When she’d asked if his family would attend their wedding he’d said their marriage was no business of his family. His tone had made it clear he hadn’t wanted to discuss the subject. A moment later he’d distracted her with a mind-numbing kiss.
But a kiss couldn’t blot out the suspicion he thought his family would consider her not good enough. Which had fed her concern that they weren’t marrying for the right reasons.
‘You never speak of him.’
Conall’s voice was gruff as he met her stare. ‘It’s not a topic I like discussing.’
In the past she hadn’t pressed for more information because of exactly that reaction. Was it any wonder their relationship had proved fragile when they hadn’t been able to discuss such basic subjects?
She looked away, that sense of connection they’d just shared withering.
After a moment Conall spoke again, his tone careful, and that intrigued her almost as much as his words. ‘He’s famous for his self-indulgence. Fine food and wine, expensive racehorses, expensive cigars, only the best whiskys and…’
