The #1 Bestsellers Collection 2011(132)

There was nothing for it but to cut straight to the chase, he decided. “Why are you sick?”

“What?”

“Are you pregnant?”

“No!” Holly shot to her feet and swayed slightly, her face bleached white at the sudden movement.

Connor pushed her back down in the chair and lowered himself next to her. He could see her pulse fluttering in her neck, like a trapped bird, against the alabaster of her skin.

Most people came back from their summer holiday tanned and rested. Holly’s skin, usually filled with a warm glow that had nothing to do with sunshine was now wan and sallow, and unhealthy shadows underscored her eyes.

“Are you sure? You’ve seen a doctor?”

“Of course I’m sure. I would never make a mistake about something like that. Never!”

Her vehement response took him aback. He rose from the couch and went to pour a glass of water from the cut-crystal carafe on the antique sideboard against the wall. Their fingers brushed as he handed it to her, sending a surge blazing up his arm. The weeks apart hadn’t dulled the edge of his hunger for her. If anything, the aching need to be with her again was even stronger.

“What’s wrong then?” he pressed. “You haven’t been sick once in the three years you’ve worked for me.”

“Something I ate this week hasn’t agreed with me. That’s all.”

“You’ve been sick for a week?”

“I’ve only been feeling a bit off colour for a day or two. I’m sure it’ll pass soon.”

“Take tomorrow off.”

“That’s quite unnecessary, it’s just a mild tummy bug. Now, if that’s all you wanted me for …?” Holly stood, more slowly than before, and walked towards the door. There was no legitimate reason he could keep her here any longer.

“Have dinner with me.”

She stopped and turned. “I beg your pardon?”

The words had sprung from his mouth before he’d had time to consider them fully, but now he’d had a second or two to turn the idea over in his mind it sounded like a good one.

He rose and walked over to her. “Have dinner with me. I know you’ve barely eaten all day and you must be starving. Just something simple, okay?”

Holly’s stomach growled in response. She grimaced and placed a hand over her abdomen, a movement that caught Connor’s eye. Quickly she let her arm drop. It wouldn’t do to give him any further ridiculous ideas.

“I should get going, I’ll miss my bus.”

“Damn it, Holly. I’ll take you home. What kind of man do you think I am? I’m not asking you to leap into bed with me!” Although the prospect of doing just that painted a vivid image of the two of them—naked, together—with such sharp clarity his entire body tensed. He held his breath waiting for her to reply. Her determinedly obvious inaccessibility had made him begin to question why it was so important to him that she say yes. All he knew was since that night, here in his office and upstairs in his bed, he’d wanted more of her in every way. It wasn’t enough to have her working at her desk outside his office. He wanted her by his side. In his bed.

“Yes, all right.”

Just like that? He had to put his libido on hold and double take on what she had agreed to. With unaccustomed sluggishness his brain finally caught up and overcame the raw desire that surged with a seething hunger.

“Great. Let’s go, then.”

Traffic was light along the Auckland waterfront at this time of the evening. Hundreds of walkers, joggers and families on their bikes were still out enjoying the warm summer evening despite the encroaching night. Connor pulled his car into a car park that fronted onto the beach at Mission Bay.

“Let’s take a walk along the beach before we have dinner,” he suggested, and took Holly’s hand, guiding her towards the promenade.

It was a gorgeous evening. The last of the sun’s rays spread in a flash of darkest red through to the palest orange. The light reflected across the gentle sea in the harbour. Seagulls wheeled and dived through the air, shrieking their strident cry as they scouted out for the nearest scrap of food. Mission Bay was easy pickings for any bird, including the fat pigeons that cooed and strutted along the path by the sea wall.

Bit by bit Holly began to relax and started to feel a lot better. The fresh air and gentle exercise seemed to be doing her good, and her appetite had quadrupled by the time they’d meandered past the massive fountain at the centre of the domain and crossed the main road towards the plethora of restaurants on the other side.

“How do you feel about Italian? If you’d prefer, we can take a table on the pavement.”