His Most Exquisite Conquest

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‘Elizabeth is my PA,’ Michael stated firmly, giving his brother a steely look.

Harry dug in regardless. ‘I’m more in need of her than you are right now. Lend her to me for a month. That will give me time to interview other people.’

‘A month…’ Michael frowned over the inconvenience to himself. Harry did have a point. He needed a replacement for Sean Cassidy pronto.

‘On the other hand, once Elizabeth gets her teeth into the job, she might want to stay on,’ Harry said provocatively.

Michael glowered at him. ‘You’re not stealing my PA.’

‘Her choice, Mickey.’ Harry turned to her. ‘What do you say, Elizabeth? Will you help me out for a month…stay on the island and get the resort running as it should be run? My about-to-be ex-manager has been cooking the books, skimming off a lot of stuff to line his own pockets. You’ll need to do a complete inventory and change the suppliers who’ve been doing private deals with him. It would be a whole new challenge for you, one that—’

‘Now hold on a moment,’ Michael growled. ‘It’s up to me to ask Elizabeth if she’ll do it, not you, Harry.’ This on-the-spot decision didn’t sit well with him, particularly with his brother virtually railroading him into it, yet it was a credible solution to the problem.

‘Okay. Ask her.’

Michael heaved an exasperated sigh, disliking the sense of having been pushed into a corner. ‘It’s true,’ he reluctantly conceded. ‘You would be helping us out if you’d agree to step in and do what needs to be done at the resort. I have every confidence in your ability to handle the situation. Every confidence in your integrity, too. I hate losing you for a month… .’

He grimaced at the prospect. She was his right hand in the office, always understanding and delivering whatever was needed. Gritting his teeth, he muttered, ‘I guess someone from the clerical staff can fill in for a while… .’

‘Andrew. Andrew Cook,’ she suggested, which meant she had already decided to go with Harry.

‘Too stodgy. No initiative,’ Michael said, hating the idea of having to do without her.

‘Absolutely reliable in doing whatever task he’s set,’ she argued.

‘I take it that’s a yes to coming to the island with me,’ Harry noted, grinning from ear to ear.

She shot him a quelling look. ‘I’m up for the challenge of fixing the management problems, nothing else, Harry.’

Good! Michael thought. Elizabeth wasn’t about to mix business with pleasure. If that was on Harry’s mind, as well as solving his predicament, she’d spike his guns and serve him right, given that he’d have to put up with Andrew Cook while she was away.

‘That’s it then,’ he said, resigned to a month of having to spell out everything to his pro tem PA.

‘A whole month! I’ll miss you, Ellie,’ Lucy said wistfully.

Ah, yes! A month of Lucy without her sister possibly butting into their relationship, Michael thought, realising and appreciating the one upside of this situation. It could have been tricky having his PA an everpresent watchdog while he bedded her sister. Absolute freedom from that felt good. A month might very well be the limit of this currently hot connection, anyway—everything done and dusted before Elizabeth returned to take up her position with him again.

‘The time will pass quickly enough,’ she assured Lucy.

The waiter arrived with the sweets they’d ordered when he’d cleared away their main course.

‘We need to get moving on this,’ Harry muttered as he dug into his chocolate mud cake.

‘As soon as possible,’ Michael agreed, looking forward to having intimate time with Lucy.

‘Today,’ Harry decided, checking his watch. ‘It’s only three o’clock now. We could be over on the island by four-thirty. Have him helicoptered out by six. We leave here when we’ve finished our sweets, hop on the boat… .’

‘It is Elizabeth’s birthday, Harry,’ Michael reminded him. ‘She might have other plans for today.’

‘No, I’m good to go,’ she said.

Great! he thought. No delay to what he wanted.

‘What about clothes and toiletries and stuff?’ Lucy put in. ‘You’re going for a month, Ellie.’

‘You can pack for her, Lucy,’ Harry said decisively. ‘Mickey can take you home, wait while you do it, take Elizabeth’s bags and arrange their shipping to the island.’

‘No problem,’ Michael said, smiling at Lucy. ‘I’ll give you my phone number. Give me a call when you’ve finished work and I can come by your apartment this evening.’

She’d be there all by herself. Perfect!

Her eyes danced with pleasure as she agreed to the plan, and her smile was full of sensual promise.

Michael decided he didn’t care what Harry did with Elizabeth.

Let them sail off into the sunset!

He was going to make hay with the sunshine girl!

CHAPTER FIVE

LUCY WAS NERVOUS. Excited, too. Much more excited than she usually was about having a first date with a new man, which was probably what was making her so nervous. Plus the fact that Michael Finn was a high-flyer and she had never connected with anyone from his level of society. She was definitely out of his league in any social sense, and more than likely he only wanted a sexual fling with her, which she might as well accept right now and not get herself in a twist about it.

Regardless of his intentions, she wanted to be with him, wanted to experience him, so no way was she going to back off at this point. Besides, a Cinderella could win a prince. Miracles could happen. Failing that, if the worst came to the worst, she could write off her time with him as a case of real lust being satisfied. Because while she had certainly fancied other guys in the past—not like this, not nearly as strongly as this—Michael Finn had her in an absolute tizzy of lust.

Just thinking of him, she was squeezing her thighs together, and when she’d been in the shower earlier, running her hands over herself, dying to know how it would feel with his hands caressing her naked body. Even now as she prepared the Thai salad to go with the prawns she’d bought on the way home, her stomach muscles kept contracting.

He’d be here soon—another ten minutes or so. The apartment was tidy. The table was set. She’d changed into a yellow wraparound dress with a tie belt that could be easily undone, and underneath it she wore her sexiest white lace bra and panties, wickedly intent on knocking his socks off, though he probably wouldn’t wear socks. Or shoes. Easily slipped off scuffs, she decided, like hers. she’d deliberately left off jewellery, not wanting it to get in the way. Her only adornment was a frangipani flower she’d picked off the tree in the front yard and stuck in her hair.

She imagined him wearing shorts and an opennecked sports shirt that could be pulled off in a second. Would he have a hairy chest? Not too hairy, she hoped, but having such thick black hair, and obviously loaded with testosterone, he was bound to have some. She couldn’t wait to see, to touch. Her fingers were tingling with anticipation.

The doorbell rang.

Her heart started pounding.

Please let him be a prince tonight, she wildly prayed. Please let him not do or say anything to put me off him. I want this night to be perfect.

The rush of desire steaming through her made her legs feel weak as she walked to the door and opened it. Her breath caught in her throat at seeing him again—so stunningly handsome, and the silver-grey eyes shining with pleasure at seeing her. She barely managed a husky ‘Hi!’

His smile was dazzling. ‘I’ve been looking forward to this moment ever since we parted this afternoon,’ he said, the lovely deep tone of his voice sending a thrill through her.

‘Me, too,’ she said, smiling back. ‘Come on in, Michael.’

He was wearing shorts and a sports shirt—navy and red and white, a strong combination that emphasised his alpha maleness. He handed her a bottle of wine as he stepped into the living-room. ‘To go with whatever you’ve planned to feed me.’

She laughed. ‘It’s only a light meal. It was a very substantial lunch.’

‘Perfect!’ He matched the word to the glance encompassing her appearance before adding, ‘It’s a light wine, too.’

A very good one, she thought as she glanced at the label—Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc. Almost giddy with excitement, she certainly didn’t need alcohol to feel intoxicated, but she asked, ‘Do you want to open it now?’

‘When we eat,’ he said dismissively, taking in her living space. ‘This is a wonderfully welcoming room, Lucy. Did you do the decorating?’

It was a fairly standard two-bedroom apartment, one bathroom and an open kitchen combined with the living area, but she was proud of how they had turned it into their home, and Michael’s approval of it was especially pleasing. She set the bottle of wine on the kitchen counter so she could use her hands to gesture at various items as she answered him.

‘Ellie bought the basic furniture. I added the cushions and the wall posters and the rug in front of the lounge. We wanted it to be a cheerful place to come home to, and with the walls and floor tiles being white, the whole place virtually begged for bright splashes of colour.’

‘You’ve done a brilliant job.’ He gave her another dazzling smile, setting off a fountain of joy inside her. ‘My mother was great at using colour to please the eye, too.’

Being compared to his mother felt like a huge compliment. Lucy beamed at him. ‘I’m glad you like it.’

He shook his head slightly as he moved towards where she stood in front of the kitchen counter, ‘There’s nothing not to like about you, Lucy.’

The lovely low throb in his voice set her stomach aflutter and her heart leapt into a wild gallop when his hands started sliding around her waist. Her own hands automatically lifted to his shoulders as he drew her closer, gently pressing her lower body to his. The silvery-grey eyes darkened with a storm of feeling, searching hers for a reflection of the same storm.