Forgotten Husband Read Online Free PDF Page B

glance.
     
    'You are more important to me than any vehicle.' Was she? 'You didn't answer the question.' 'It will be several weeks before you gain medical clearance to get behind the wheel of a car. And, when you do, it won't be a fashionable sports model. Meantime, Jose can drive you wherever you need to go.'
     
    She looked at him in stunned silence for several seconds before venturing in protest, 'You can't be serious.'
     
    'Unequivocally.'
     
    Elise added another quality to his character. In- flexibility. 'Are you usually this... overbearing?'
     
    'Protective,' he corrected. 'You could have lost the child. Worse, I could have lost you.'
     
    The lights changed, and his attention returned to the road ahead. As the Bentley gathered speed Elise evinced an interest in the passing scenery.
     
    There were many coves and inlets, picturesque beaches, crisp sand, softly waving tree-branches stirring beneath a gentle breeze, and an expanse of glorious blue sea that stretched out to the horizon to merge with the sky.
     
    'How long before we reach Palm Beach?'
     
    'About forty minutes, depending on traffic'
     
    It was just after midday when Alejandro swung the car into a driveway leading to an imposing double-storeyed house overlooking the ocean.
     
    It was the antithesis of what she had imagined a beach-house to be, and once inside there was a sense of unreality as he led her through several rooms on the lower floor. Beautifully furnished, it was almost as magnificent as the Point Piper mansion. There was even a swimming-pool adjacent to the terrace— almost a decadent addition, given the accessibility of the ocean a few short steps distant.
     
    The upper floor held four bedrooms with en suite facilities, and as she followed Alejandro into the largest suite Elise couldn't help but wonder how frequently he made use of the house.
     
    'Do you come here often?' she queried, watching as he deposited their bags.
     
    'Whenever I can manage a few days away.'
     
    Crossing to the large picture window, she moved the curtain fractionally to admire the view. Sun-dappled water, a few cruisers anchored offshore, young children, supervised by their mothers, playing happily in the sand. 'It looks so peaceful.'
     
    She sensed rather than heard him move to stand behind her, and sensation stirred deep within, lending an awareness that made her feel acutely vulnerable. His body warmth seemed to enfold her, and all the fine hairs on her skin rose up in instinctive self-defence.
     
    'The precise reason why I bought the place,' he told her.
     
    'An escape from the wheeling and dealing of high-powered executive city living?'
     
    Was that why she felt such an empathy with the house? Because it represented a refuge? From what... whom? The man who owned it?
     
    She gave a sudden start as his hands rested lightly at her waist, and there was no way she could disguise the frisson that shook her slim frame as his Ops settled against the curve of her neck.
     
    'Alejandro...' Her voice faltered, then regained a measure of strength. 'I'd like to go downstairs,' she said, on a note of desperation. He was too close, much too close. It bothered her, and she couldn't reason why. 'Lunch,' she elaborated, and felt immeasurably relieved when he disengaged his clasp and moved fractionally away.
     
    'Then we shall eat. The fridge and pantry are well-stocked.'
     
    Elise turned slowly to face him. 'You're going to play cook?'
     
    He lifted a hand and trailed gentle fingers across her cheek, letting them slide down the edge of her jaw to tilt her chin.
     
    She gazed at him in mesmerised silence, taking in the hard planes and angles of his broad facial structure, the vertical crease that slashed each cheek, the powerful sweep of his jaw, the wide mouth.
     
    'You find the prospect of being alone with me so daunting?'
     
    He was teasing her, and suddenly it seemed so unfair that he had the advantage while she had none.
     
    Indecision and a fleeting sense of