The CEO(52)

He pulled her up tight against his chest and pulled her hard into his life. He leaned in and kissed her, soft and slow, his lips hot and wet, and when she parted her lips, his tongue danced with hers and she felt his groan vibrating in her own chest. It was long and loaded and full of promise and when he lifted her off her feet she held on to him and savoured every inch of that kiss.

When he put her down on the grass, the grass tickled her bare feet.

‘I needed to tell you all this in case you think it’s weird or stalkery or something and change your mind about maybe loving me. Because you’re it for me, Callum.’

He reached for her hand. The look in his eyes told her he wanted to do so much more.

‘And you, Ava Gibson, are it for me. I haven’t known it as long as you’ve known it, but I know it now.’

Suddenly, the sweet smell of jasmine was in the air all around her. She squinted her eyes into the bright, bright sun and willed herself to remember this moment. Every second of it.

She loved and was loved in return.

‘I might not be good at this, Ava. My first wife was in love with someone else for a whole fucking year and I had no clue until the day she left.’

‘Callum …’

‘But I love you, Ava Gibson.’

‘And I love you, Callum Malone.’ Then she laughed, happily and heartily. ‘In case you were in any doubt on that score.’

She reached for him and pulled him down on to the grass. He fell flat on his back with a groan and she straddled him, her floral dress all around her, and she reached down and held his face between her hands. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So she did a bit of both.

‘Ava the Terrible,’ Callum said as he looked up at her. ‘Who would have thought?’ He kissed her left cheek. ‘Ava.’ He pulled her down. ‘The.’ He kissed her right cheek. ‘Terrible.’ He found her mouth, slowly, teasingly, bit her lip and tugged it.

‘That’s a really awful nickname, you know.’

‘I promise never to use it again.’

‘Hold your horses. Let me think. I actually am terrible in the kitchen but I love food.’

‘I noticed.’

‘I’m really, really messy and judging by your house, you’re a neat freak.’

‘Not really. I’m just not home often enough to make it messy. But that’s something I plan to change. Starting Monday.’

‘Good. Now.’ Ava traced a line across his jaw to his lips. ‘Given we’ve already had sex and decided we love each other, are you going to actually ask me out on a date?’

In a move so quick Ava assumed he’d practised it, he’d flipped her over and was now lying on top of her. She gasped at his speed and his strength. And at how much he loved her.

‘You want to go on a date?’

‘You bet,’ she said, breathless and happy. Oh, so happy.

He kissed her, gently. ‘You’re so demanding, you know that?’

‘You ain’t seen nothing yet, Mister.’





Chapter Nineteen




‡


Ava couldn’t get out of the elevator. She was stuck to the wood-panelled sides of the small space as if she’d just been spun in a centrifuge. Callum had stepped out into the expansive foyer of Malone Enterprises’ offices and was waiting for her to make a move. It had taken three solid months of persuasion to get her up here to his office, forty-eight floors above Sydney. And now she was stuck at the final hurdle, her expression a mix of defiance and plain old shit-scared. She planted her palms flat on the wall on either side of her hips.

‘C’mon, Ava. You can do this.’ Callum was trying damn hard not to laugh.

‘Give me a minute,’ she said, pushing her hair back from her face.

Callum pushed back the sleeve of his midnight blue suit and checked the time. ‘You can stay there if you want, but you’ll miss the big announcement.’

She looked at him, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

‘You know full well I can’t miss that. Another minute, I promise.’ She looked pale and kind of sweaty. God, he loved her.

‘So we’re on the forty-eighth floor?’

He took a step into the lift and reached out a hand for her. ‘C’mon. I’ve got you.’

Ava reached for Callum’s hand and gripped it with nervous fingers. ‘Oh, God. What am I doing here? You know I don’t do heights. I like my feet planted firmly on the ground.’

‘And that’s what I love about you.’ The doors began to close and Callum forced them back. ‘If you come out, I’ll kiss you.’

She managed a jittery smile. ‘Tempting.’

‘And when we get back to my place, we’ll do more than that.’