The CEO(32)

‘Only for very special guests.’

Ava cleared her throat. ‘So … no to a table?’

Callum looked down at the plans. ‘No to a table, but why don’t we go with some comfortable chairs? Somewhere I can sit and read. Or drink scotch or stare out at the ocean.’ And the image of him doing all three, shirtless, tanned, stubble on his chin, almost set Ava on fire.

‘Okay.’ She made a note on the plans. ‘I’ve planned three large black pots out here with succulents in them. I would recommend zamia furfuracea.’

He gave her a sideways glance. ‘I love it when you talk dirty.’

She tried not to shiver because that look of his was dirty, too. ‘It’s Latin,’ she managed.

‘Even better.’

‘A zamia furfuracea is a type of cycad, Callum.’

‘It’s a what now?’

Ava tried not to smile. ‘You really don’t do plants, do you?’

‘You need to ask?’

‘What a waste to grow up in such a spectacular garden when you have no interest whatsoever in flora.’

There were both leaning over, looking down, their hands flat on the table. His hand was so close to hers. It was a big hand, strong, with long fingers. There were fine hairs on the back of it and on his wrist he wore an expensive-looking watch. James Bond expensive, it almost glittered in the early morning light flooding into his house. Ava could feel his body right there, in her space. When she shot him a sideways glance and found him looking back at her, she held it, bravely and breathlessly.

‘I’ll have you know I did appreciate those massive grounds. They were a spectacular cricket pitch.’

‘Heathen,’ she muttered and turned away, hiding her smile. She could see him there, now that she’d visited The Meadows and had seen the gardens. She imagined him there as a boy, full of energy, full of life, roaming that property and playing cricket with his brothers. For all of them, life must have been so much simpler back then, when their mother was alive. Callum didn’t yet have the power and responsibility of running his family’s company and hadn’t yet had to cope with disappointments and missteps.

‘So what’s this?’ Callum tapped his finger on the paper. When he moved, his arm nudged hers.

Ava tried really, really hard to concentrate on her plans. Work. That’s why she was here. ‘If we go down, level by level, starting at the top, we’ve got the entertaining area just out here. Then, the pool. I don’t think that needs anything around it at all, just some cleaning and filling. So, if we go down another level, that’s the grassed area we were discussing.’ Ava held her breath before forcing herself to say the words. ‘The play area for children. I did some measuring and it’s big enough to fit a small trampoline or perhaps a hanging swing if you want. For the future.’

‘That looks good,’ he said.

Ava turned her attention to her plans once again. ‘Down here,’ she pointed out a section of the plan. ‘On the lowest level? I’ve planned for some coastal shrubs and succulents with a natural stone path leading to the gate.

‘Great.’ Callum stood up straight, shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and took a step back from the table.

This shouldn’t be complicated. He knew that. He was used to studying three-hundred-page tender documents, forensically searching for a sub-clause or typo that could mean disqualification from the entire process or millions more dollars in costs. It was what he did. It was why Malone Enterprises was winning work all over the Asia-Pacific region. It was what had saved the company when his father had dropped the ball and decided that screwing around all over Europe and Asia was a better use of his time that saving his company.

So, why the hell were the lines and names on the page swimming before his eyes like a smudged mess?

He knew why. Oh hell yeah, he knew why.

Because Ava the Not-So-Terrible was standing next to him in a white tank top and cut-off denim shorts. Because Ava the Not-So-Terrible smelled like fresh flowers. Because Ava the Not-So-Terrible had long, long legs and a tan and freshly washed hair that draped over her bare shoulders like a silk curtain.

He breathed deep and hard.

‘Callum?’

When he snapped out of the thought, he found a pair of brown eyes staring up at him. Ava had tucked her hands into the back pocket of her shorts, which pushed her breasts out and towards him. Her gaze was soft and those eyes of hers were full of questions. She was so different from Lulu that he still found it hard to believe they were sisters. One had been all sweetness and tenderness. The other had been distant and just plain mean.

Turns out he wasn’t sure now which sister was which.