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He had to say something to reassure her.
‘I would never fire you, Harry,’ he said. ‘If that’s what’s bothering you.’
Her head turned his way, but she was wearing sunglasses and he couldn’t see what was going on in her eyes.
‘I know that,’ came her rather cool reply.
‘Then what is bothering you? Are you regretting last night?’
He was taken aback when she laughed. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Sleeping with the boss is never a good idea, even if he promises not to fire you when he grows bored with you in bed.’
‘I can’t see that happening in a hurry,’ he muttered. And he meant it. Which was a first for him. Alex had a low boredom threshold at the best of times. He was always looking for new challenges, new goals and, yes, new girlfriends.
Of course, Harry would never be a proper girlfriend. She was going to be his secret mistress, one who would be at his sexual beck and call only at weekends. Stupid rule, that. He had been an idiot ever to suggest such a masochistic arrangement.
‘I have no illusions,’ came her firm pronouncement, ‘about how this affair of ours will end.’
Maybe it will never end, Harry, came the unexpected thought. Maybe I will keep you as my secret mistress for ever.
It was a truly wicked thought. But a hell of an appealing one. People said you could never have your cake and eat it, too. But maybe he could. At least for a while. There was no hurry for her to get married, surely? She was only twenty-nine. Women got married later these days. And had children later. He would have to let her go eventually, he supposed. But till then he aimed to make her his. Without all these silly rules.
For the first time during this exasperating drive, Alex’s black mood lifted. Knowing what you wanted in life was always a good thing, he accepted. And he wanted Harriet. Not just for a few weeks. For much, much longer than that.
‘It’s never a wise thing to think about endings, Harry,’ he said, adopting his best salesman voice. ‘Far better to live in the moment. The only assurance we have in life is the here and now. You like having sex with me, don’t you?’
She sighed. ‘You know I do.’
‘Then stop stressing and just enjoy. We could be dead tomorrow.’
When he glanced over at her, he saw that she was frowning.
‘I can’t think like that,’ she said. ‘I have to plan. You plan. You plan all the time. So stop giving me this “live in the moment” nonsense, Alex. If you think you can persuade me to change my mind where the rules of our affair are concerned, then you can think again.’
Alex gritted his teeth. Lord, but she would try the patience of a saint. And he was no saint. He was, however, a man who rose to a challenge.
Relaxing the clenched muscles in his jaw took an effort, but he managed before shooting her a warmly amused smile. ‘Can’t blame a man for trying, Harry. Last night was so fabulous that I find it unbearable to wait another week to sample some more of your bewitching charms.’
‘You were the one who claimed sex was better if you wait.’
He smiled with amusement at the cleverness of her mind. And the sharpness of her wit. ‘Yes, well, there’s waiting and waiting. I was talking about a few hours on that occasion, not a whole week. I would imagine that by Friday night I’ll be ready to explode.’
‘Too much information,’ she threw at him.
He laughed, then she laughed, breaking the tension that had been building since they’d set off.
‘That’s better,’ he said.
‘Better?’ she echoed.
‘I wasn’t looking forward to sitting next to Miss Grumpy all the way back to Sydney.’
‘I wasn’t grumpy. I was just...thinking.’
‘Thinking is almost as bad as planning. Or so Jeremy tells me. He doesn’t believe in either.’
‘Your best friend, Jeremy? The rake from London?’
‘The one and the same.’
‘He sounds very shallow.’
‘Oh, he is. He admits it. But he’s also intelligent and charming and the most wonderful friend I’ve ever had. Outside of Sergio, that is.’
‘I presume it’s Sergio, then, who’s getting married.’
‘Yes, the poor devil.’
‘Why do you say it like that? What have you got against marriage?’
‘Don’t misunderstand me. I have nothing against marriage. It’s the woman he’s marrying that worries me.’
‘What’s wrong with her?’
For a split second, Alex hesitated. But then he told her. All about Sergio and Bella, detailing their past history and their current romance. She was taken aback at the identity of the bride-to-be, of course. Bella was very well known in Australia. But so was her reputation with men.
