by Nicola Marsh
She touched his arm, sorry for his genuine sadness.
‘Uncle Jimmy raised me, funded my education. He has been like a father to me, and I owe him. And now he’s dying…’ He shrugged, pain pinching his mouth. ‘I’ve discovered our saboteur. Turns out to be a disgruntled employee who we suspect may be mentally unstable. The authorities are waiting to take him into custody. But I still need to prove to my uncle I can do this—prove I’m trustworthy, prove I can make his legacy the best in the business, make this difficult time for him the least stressful as possible.’
‘So you’ll be based in London for a year?’
He nodded. ‘I’m afraid that’s the non-negotiable part of the deal.’
Perhaps her head still spun from his kiss and his declaration, because she didn’t quite get what he was saying.
‘What deal?’
He caressed her cheek, his hand slipping to cradle her head, his fingers winding deliciously through her hair. ‘The deal where you and I give this relationship everything we’ve got, long-distance or not. The deal where you use your annual leave to board the company jet and come visit your desperate boyfriend. The deal where I spend a fortune on teleconferencing and e-mails and every other newfangled way on the planet to keep in contact with the woman I’m crazy about. The deal where you can try as many new things as you want as long as you don’t forget about your boyfriend pining for you on the other side of the world.’
Gently angling her head, he slanted a slow, sensual kiss across her lips—a kiss that reached deep down and soothed the parts of her soul that had ached when she’d thought she’d lost him for good.
‘That’s the deal.’
He broke the kiss, rested his forehead against hers. ‘And, being the incredibly successful magnate I am, I won’t take no for an answer.’
‘You have to know this trip wasn’t just about trying new things for me. I needed to build my confidence, and thanks to you I have. But what if we try the long-distance thing and it doesn’t work?’
She had to ask. Logic demanded it. But she was almost afraid of his answer as her heart dared to hope. If she took a chance on him, on them, and it didn’t work, her confidence would take another dive, and she’d hate that after how far she’d come. Not to mention how she’d handle a shattered heart.
‘It’ll work. I won’t settle for anything less.’
Her breath caught as he cradled her face, stared directly into her eyes.
‘I love you. I’ll always love you. All the oceans in the world can’t keep us apart.’
Her heart expanded till she thought it would burst, and her legs joined her hands in the shaking stakes.
‘I don’t know what to say…’ She blinked back tears as his thumb skated across her lips, grazed her cheek.
‘I think you do.’
His lips brushed hers, slow, thoughtful, in a soul-reaching kiss that coaxed her into believing this was happening and this was real.
‘I love you too,’ she breathed on a sigh, clinging to him, powerless to do anything other than love this incredibly impressive man.
As he let out a jubilant whoop, louder than the ship’s horn, she kissed him with all the passion, love and adoration she’d been storing away for days now—ever since she’d realised the terrifying truth: that she loved this man, would never love another as much as she loved him.
‘I love you so much, sweetheart. Don’t you ever run out on me again. Last night was the longest, loneliest night of my life.’
‘Same here.’ Snuggling into him, she breathed in his sinfully addictive scent, stunned she’d get to savour it for the rest of her life.
He nuzzled her neck and she squealed as he nipped her, his lips searing a trail towards her mouth as heat flooded her body, having a predictable response as she swayed towards him.
It had been like this right from the start. Her body had always known on some instinctual level that he was the man for her, while her head had taken a while to process the idea.
Zac loved her. This powerful, commanding, sexy guy loved her.
Life couldn’t get any better.
‘You know, I could always see if any of the London museums are interested in a top-notch curator on secondment.’
He pulled away, shock widening his eyes to endless blue proportions. ‘You’d do that for me?’
‘Only if you’re good.’
With the same wicked smile he’d used to charm her from day one, he wrapped his arms around her, stroked her back, set her body ablaze.
‘Oh, I’m better than good. I’m brilliant.’
‘That’s a pretty high recommendation to live up to, sailor boy.’
‘Care to help me try?’
‘Aye-aye,’ she murmured, and his lips lowered to hers.
All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S.à.r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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First published in Great Britain 2009
Harlequin Mills & Boon Limited,
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Nicola Marsh 2009
ISBN: 978-1-408-90932-4
