Last Chance Proposal by Barbara Deleo

Author:Barbara Deleo [Deleo, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, General, Contemporary Romance, Holiday, Christmas, fake engagement, second chance, Summer, friends to lovers, Family, Small Town, sweet romance, Childhood Friends, marriage of convenience, New Zealand, Beach, New Year's Eve
ISBN: 9781622663859
Google: ovMcAgAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00GQ67VSG
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2013-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Ellie stepped back and shook her head. “No, Cy.”

His chest constricted and instinctively he stepped closer. Confusion painted her face.

“This wasn’t…I’m not…” Her words wobbled as she touched her hands to her face. “I said I’d marry you, but this wasn’t part of the deal.”

His throat was so dry. He had to swallow before he could get it to work. “What if we changed the deal?”

“It’s what we agreed, Cy,” she said, but a flush bloomed from her neck up to her cheeks.

His fingertips tingled with the need to touch her, to feel her skin. “Maybe I want more.”

His breath caught at the beauty of the idea. Why shouldn’t they have more? They were adults, with their eyes open. He knew she still wanted him, had caught her looking at him. More could be better. Could take their arrangement to another level.

“More?” she said faintly.

He stepped closer, till he could feel her body heat. “Tell me you don’t want more, Ellie.”

Her voice wavered. “A summer fling, a bit of kissing practice so people will believe we have a real relationship like we had on the beach today?” She shook her head. “You haven’t thought this through.”

Thinking? If he were in control of his mind and body when he was around her, this wouldn’t be happening. “Ellie, it’s not about anything other than me wanting to kiss you.”

She shifted as if to leave, then looked directly in his face. “For the here and now? For the next two weeks? Trying to get closer to me so our relationship will seem more authentic and you can be more sure of getting what you want isn’t what I signed up for.” Her words came more quickly. “I’ve lied as much as I’m going to in my life. I’m not going to pretend we can have a real relationship when I know we can’t.”

“Ellie, that’s not what’s happening here. I’d never try to seduce you to get something I wanted. I’d never hurt you.”

Her wild honey eyes flashed as the bald truth hit him. Of course he had the power to hurt her. He’d done it before. Once. And even though he’d left to spare her the weight of him wanting to tell, and she wanting to keep their secret, he’d never forgotten the pain on her face or the tears on her cheeks.

She said nothing for a moment, then moved to the fireplace and picked up the dustpan and brush. “You’re just getting carried away in the moment.”

“Ellie…”

She began vigorously sweeping the pieces of glass into the dustpan, a loose ringlet falling across her face. “There’s too much history between us, Cy, too much hurt for us to get over. If that kiss is some sort of apology—”

“Trying to fix what happened in the past is not why I kissed you now.”

She shook her downcast head. “You’re under a lot of stress. You kissed me because we have unfinished business. Things didn’t end the way they should have between us, but now we owe it to ourselves and Jonty to start fresh.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.