‘I’ll eat soon.’
He watched her put her own paper-wrapped burger on a small and rather rusty iron table, then settle herself into a faded old swing seat, her ankles crossing underneath her as she gently rocked back and forth.
Her sigh wasn’t a weary one this time, it carried contentment.
Hugh stared at the transformation in her face, noting the softening in her eyes and around her mouth. Her body was more relaxed too—less tension in her shoulders.
She wasn’t wearing that killer black suit today. She was dressed in a very conservative grey number, the outfit lifted from sombre to subtly sexy by a pale pink silk blouse. She’d taken her jacket off when they’d climbed out of the car at Woy Woy, the temperature outside having reached thirty-two degrees. He’d dispensed with his own jacket and tie at that stage.
Hugh had always liked pink on a woman. And silk. The combination would have done things to him even if it hadn’t been worn by a woman whom he would have desired in sackcloth and ashes.
His eyes kept returning to her as he ate. Hopefully they were unreadable, because every time he looked at her these days his mind soon filled with erotic thoughts. At the moment, he was picturing her sitting in that swing with nothing on except that blouse, her naked nipples outlined in pink silk. In his fantasy he imagined that the softness in her face was caused by hours of lovemaking, all the tension in her body totally erased. In his daydream, she’d wanted him over and over. Soon, she would want him again. Soon, she’d look at him and the urgency would be back in her eyes.
Her head turned and their eyes met over the last bite of his hamburger.
Kathryn reefed her eyes away from his, embarrassed to find him watching her.
He must think I’m mad. Sitting here, not eating.
She rose and went over to where she’d left the food, quickly sliding the cardboard box out of the bag, then carefully lifting the over-stuffed hamburger to her lips. It was, indeed, very tasty. But the various juices, plus the tomato sauce, did make it difficult not to make a mess. She hurried over to the edge of the verandah and leant slightly forward, making sure any drips didn’t get on her own clothes.
She didn’t glance his way but she was aware of his eyes on her the whole time, making her self-conscious, not only because she was eating, but also of her whole body. She wished he would say something, but he didn’t. She ate more quickly, demolishing the hamburger in record time, then, because she didn’t have a serviette, started licking her sticky fingers, one by one.
Hugh almost groaned out loud. Hell, he couldn’t take much more of this.
‘I’m going inside to wash up,’ he said.
The bathroom was straight out of the ark. So was the rest of the house. But, for some strange reason, he still liked it.
‘The bathroom and kitchen could do with some modernising,’ he said when he emerged back out onto the verandah to thankfully find her finished with the finger-licking. ‘But you’re right. There is a feel-good feel about this place. It would be a shame to knock it down.’
She looked at him in utter surprise. ‘You really mean that?’
‘Yes, of course. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.’
‘I can’t tell you how much I love it here,’ she said.
‘You don’t have to tell me. I can see that, too.’
She gave him a thoughtful look. ‘You do have a sensitive side, don’t you?’
He smiled a wry smile. ‘So my friends tell me.’
‘But you don’t think so?’
Hugh shrugged. ‘I am what I am.’
‘Which is?’
His smile widened. ‘Arrogant, irresponsible, unreliable. Oh, and selfish to the core.’
Her head tipped charmingly to one side. ‘I’m not so sure that you are. Selfish, that is. If you were, you wouldn’t be prepared to do what you’re going to do for me. I don’t believe you’d go to the trouble of marrying me, just to keep me on as your PA. That’s ridiculous. You just said that to hide the true reason behind your offer.’
‘And the true reason is?’ Hugh asked, feeling half guilty, half amused.
‘Deep down, you’re kind.’
He couldn’t help it. He laughed. And then, when her face flushed with an embarrassed confusion, he compounded his stupidity by doing the one thing he’d warned himself not to do.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
CHAPTER NINE