Although he had a bevy of reliable people working for him, he wouldn’t be happy until he was back at the helm overseeing things and feeling satisfied that everything was being done properly and to the high standards he expected.
A short while after he had washed and dressed there was a knock on the door and his intention to be sensible was immediately put to the test as Kit came in, pushing his wheelchair. This morning she was wearing mouth-wateringly fitted blue jeans that hugged her slender hips and thighs as though paying devoted homage to her arresting contours and what looked to be a large-sized man’s red and white check flannel shirt, encircled by a shiny red belt that showed off her ridiculously small waist. Once again her wavy auburn hair was threatening to tumble free from the topknot that never seemed quite able to secure it.
Hal stared. He couldn’t help it. A bolt of white-hot heat shot through him at the thought of taking down that fiery hair, unbuttoning the ridiculous man’s shirt she wore, freeing her breasts from her bra and kissing them until his lips and body were on fire from the sea of blissful pleasure that he would no doubt be drowning in...
‘Good morning.’ She smiled.
Feeling somewhat dazed by his heated reaction at seeing her again, Hal continued to make a personal inventory of her assets as though noticing them for the very first time. Her eyes were as blue as the brightest delphiniums that Mother Nature could devise, and her rosy cheeks and full red lips would surely tempt even the most devout monk to rethink his vows. Kissing them would be like tasting the sweetest ripe cherries he could imagine.
‘Henry...are you all right?’
The most exquisite little frown he had ever seen puckered Kit’s smooth alabaster brow. She must have put a spell on him. He had a creative mind, but never before in his entire romantic history to date had he thought of a woman’s frown as being ‘exquisite’. He sat on the edge of the vast king-sized bed, with his injured leg stretched out in front of him and resting on a footstool, and right then life felt surprisingly good. If this was what this incredible woman could do for him—make him feel happy to be alive in the midst of what he had previously deemed a disaster—then he’d be an absolute idiot to let her go.
At last he managed to convey his pleasure at seeing her to his lips. Shaping them into a pleased smile, he said, ‘I’m absolutely fine. In fact I’ve never felt better.’
‘I take it you’re being sardonic?’ Again Kit frowned, but this time the gesture was undoubtedly more perturbed.
‘Not at all. I slept like a baby last night. Consequently I feel on top of the world.’
‘Must have been those painkillers that you took.’
‘Maybe.’ With his smile still intact, Hal nonchalantly shrugged his big shoulders.
With a bemused sigh Kit manoeuvred the wheelchair a little closer towards him. ‘Anyway...I thought I’d wheel you into the kitchen for breakfast this morning and save the wear and tear on your legs. Especially after that fall you had last night. You can use your crutches later, after you’ve seen the nurse and when you’ve rested up a bit.’
Even though her concerned declaration made Hal feel more like an eighty-year-old than a young, fit man at the height of his powers—or at least he had been until his accident—he was predisposed to forgive her, because the very welcome sleep he’d enjoyed last night, along with the growing realisation that she was somehow becoming important to him, made him feel much more amiable than he’d felt in a very long while. But he couldn’t resist the opportunity to gently make fun of her. ‘Save the wear and tear on my legs? Who was your last client, Kit? Methuselah?’
‘Very funny. Why don’t you get into the wheelchair and we’ll go and get you some breakfast before the nurse arrives?’
At the table, Kit poured him a large mug of coffee and then sat opposite him to sip the cup of tea she’d made for herself.
‘I’m so relieved to hear that you slept well last night,’ she told him. ‘I was worried that your fall might have given you a few extra aches and pains to keep you awake.’
‘Well, it didn’t. Like I said, I slept like a baby. By the way, what time is the nurse due?’
‘I checked in the diary and she’ll be here in about an hour. That gives me plenty of time to get you your breakfast. What can I get for you?’
‘A couple of slices of wholemeal toast with marmalade will suffice. I rarely have much more than that.’
‘Well...’ Her rosy cheeks dimpled disarmingly. ‘One of these mornings I’m hoping you’ll let me cook you the full English. It’s one of my specialties.’