A Proposal to Remember

‘So you mostly dealt with infertility in your last job?’

‘Actually, we offered a total care package,’ he explained. ‘From conception to discharge home after delivery.’

‘Do you think the baby will be all right?’

He pulled a face and shrugged. ‘Who can say? He’s in the right place now—all we can do is wait and see. I’m just glad they agreed to go to hospital in the end. It made life a lot easier.’

She nodded agreement and smiled up at him. Suddenly the smile faltered and her green eyes locked with his, anticipation heating her gaze.

She wanted him to kiss her.

The silence thickened around them and he sucked in a breath.

‘I’d better go.’ His voice came out in a croak and he almost laughed at himself. He’d never been so clumsy around a woman before.

But, then, he’d never known chemistry like this before either. The sexual tension between them was so powerful that it was a living force, drawing them together.

She stepped closer to him, her eyes never leaving his.

‘Do you want to go?’ Her question was loaded with meaning and he closed his eyes briefly.

How had he ever got himself in this mess?

He couldn’t make love to her when she didn’t even know who he was. He just couldn’t do it.

‘Zan, I don’t think—’

She reached up and touched a finger to his mouth, silencing him.

‘That first night, when you wanted to make love, it just felt a bit fast.’ Her slim fingers were locked on the front of his jumper, hanging onto him, her eyes incredibly shy. ‘But you’re not a stranger any more and I— I mean, if you still want to…’

Her meaning was clear and he felt desire slam through his body.

She wanted him to make love to her because she felt that she was beginning to know him.

But she didn’t know him.

He wasn’t who he said he was. In fact, she knew virtually nothing about him.

Conscience ripped through him and he muttered a curse and stepped back from her.

Having a secret identity had been great at the beginning, but it had gone from being the solution to the problem.

Her hands fell to her sides and she wrapped her arms around her middle self-consciously. ‘You’ve changed your mind.’ She kept her tone light and her brave smile made him want to thump the wall.

‘I haven’t changed my mind.’ His voice was husky and he fought the urge to reach for her again. ‘I promised you I’d slow the pace.’

‘Oh.’ Zan’s eyes brightened and the smile that followed his confession was pure sexual invitation.

Heat engulfed his body.

For a woman with no experience she certainly knew how to make a man sweat.

She licked her lips. ‘You need to learn the difference between slow and stop.’ Her eyes dropped to his mouth and then lifted to his eyes.

Drawn in by the expression in her green eyes, Carlo forgot about going slow. In fact, he forgot about everything.

He closed his fingers around her wrists and backed her against the wall, his mouth capturing her soft gasp of excitement. Her lips were soft and warm and she opened her mouth for him, tempting him inside.