It wasn’t sex, Harry. That was making love.
Those short breaths stuttered, stalled, made his chest hurt. He didn’t do making love.
Want to take it back?
No. Never. His hands splayed across the soft mounds of her butt. He was a goner. The words leaked from his mouth in a bemused whisper. ‘Ah, Sienna, what have we started?’
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘I CAN’T ANSWER THAT.’ Sienna whispered her reply. Making love with Harrison was out of this world more than she could ever have imagined. ‘I only know I want to do it again.’ And again. Did she mention again?
‘I’m more than happy to oblige, ma’am.’
Elbowing him in the ribs, she laughed. ‘Cheeky.’ Then she threw herself over him and obliged right back.
‘Sun’s going down. Let’s go over to my deck, open a wine and eat some steak.’
‘Spoken like a true man.’
‘Lady, if you haven’t figured that out by now then I’ve been wasting my time.’
Another laugh spilled over her lips. She’d been giving a lot of those lately. ‘I’ll make a salad.’ Someone had to make some pretence at being healthy.
After some wine and barbecued steak with fries and salad they made their way inside and down to Harry’s room to try out his bed. It worked perfectly. Sienna only hoped the remaining weeks before he left were enough to sate her appetite. And if they weren’t? She wasn’t going there. Why spoil a wonderful interlude with negative thoughts? At the back of her mind she knew this was a short-term fling and it would come to an end, but only then would she deal with the consequences. Now was about sharing meals and talking about the most ridiculous subjects, like what to wear when on a lion safari in Africa—she had no intention of going to Africa—and making love long and slow into the late evening. She reached for him and forgot everything else.
* * *
When Harry got up to go to work in the morning Sienna had headed through the fence to shower and plan her day. Now she was heading back over the harbour bridge to a mall to do some serious shopping after an eventful morning.
On the console of her car the phone hummed. A parking space was only metres ahead, which she snagged. ‘Hey, Anna, how’s things?’
‘Just thought I’d let you know Felicity’s working out well. How she copes with that CF all the time is beyond me. She’s one tough cookie.’
‘I know. It comes from having to be.’ Sienna was thrilled Felicity and her friend were getting on well, and that Anna had no complaints about the girl’s work efforts. It had been a stroke of genius putting them together, and there hadn’t been a moment of doubt.
‘So, how’s it going with Mr Tall, Dark and Gorgeous?’ Anna always switched subjects fast, said it was how she kept the opposition on their toes in court.
Denial was a waste of time. It was this woman’s job to see through the most experienced liars. ‘Great. And that’s all I’m saying.’
‘That’s all I wanted to know.’ Anna laughed.
Sienna wasn’t buying it; she knew Anna too well. But she’d go along with her for now. ‘You decided what you’re doing Christmas Day yet?’
‘Is he as good as he looks?’
No such thing as lead-in time. Nor was there any chance she was answering that. She mightn’t be a lawyer but she could play the game. ‘You coming to my place or going to your cousin’s?’
‘Millicent’s. Sorry, but the whole family will be there and the pressure’s going on already. I’d better make an appearance, but have a spare bottle of wine in case I need to beat a hasty retreat.’ Anna adored her family, but couldn’t cope with the overwhelming love they dumped on her, saying it made her claustrophobic.
‘Your favourite Pinot Gris, no less.’ It was also her preferred choice, so it wasn’t hard to please Anna.
‘Well, is he?’
‘Not answering.’
‘I’ll take that as a yes, then.’ Then Anna turned serious. ‘I’m glad you’re having some fun; just don’t get too involved, okay?’
‘No chance. He’s leaving at Christmas. It takes longer than a few weeks for me to let anyone get close.’ Except she was already in deep, wanted more with Harrison than a fling.
Sure this has nothing to do with amazing sex and a hot man stewing your brain? Or has that knock on the head done some permanent damage?
‘I’m not so sure about that. You might’ve met your match.’
Only a close friend could get away with that. ‘I think it was the sitting on the side of the hill in the middle of a storm and seeing my life fly before my eyes that made me take a chance, but I’m still in control.’ Sienna hung up and stared out the window. Wasn’t she? Harrison wasn’t into telling her much about himself, and that irked the more time she spent with him.
He hadn’t answered when she’d enquired where his next job would be, and, not wanting to upset him, she’d left it alone. It wasn’t as though knowing where his next job was would alter what was happening between them. From what she understood, his next contract could be anywhere. That much she did know about the man, and she really knew it as that was how her father operated.
She’d have liked to use Anna as a sounding board as she worked her way through the little she knew, but no matter how close they were, how much they knew about each other, she wasn’t discussing Harry’s personal life behind his back.
Harrison had issues with relationships and she could certainly understand why, but when he’d talked about his brothers his shoulders hadn’t tightened, his
mouth hadn’t flattened, and there’d been love in his eyes. So he did have some good, honest relationships in his life. Why not try another one with a woman? Whatever had gone down between him and his parents kept him away from Melbourne and his brothers, but there had to be more to it. No one upped sticks and left without good reason.
Dad did it, and has never stopped, apart from my five years’ gift.
Her father had been on a mission to get away from his father, to be the artist he was and not the lawyer his parent expected.
But that didn’t mean Dad had to keep moving from place to place.
He could’ve settled anywhere. Couldn’t Harry stop in one place, make a home for himself where he’d create a circle of friends, get a job that he’d see through the years, not the weeks or months?
Harry, Harry, Harrison. He was in her head no matter what. She smiled, rolled her shoulders, and tugged her phone from her pocket to call him. ‘Hi, how’s your day going?’
‘Up and down. Four call-outs so far, which is kind of hectic.’ Surprise shaded his question, ‘What about you?’
Was he worried about why she’d rung? ‘I went out to the aero club to make enquiries about learning to fly, got taken on a trial flight, booked my first lesson for Monday, and soon I’ll hit the mall. Just thought I’d say hello, that’s all.’ That’s all? It was momentous for her, probably mundane for many people, but then she didn’t do hot sex with a man she didn’t know very well. That had switched on all kinds of emotions; the strongest being happy.
‘You were serious about learning to fly? I thought that was a passing notion to fill in time while stuck on that hill.’
‘It’s on the list.’
‘Yes, I saw that,’ he admitted through a laugh. ‘Are you going to do everything you wrote down?’
‘Seems like it.’
‘Have you ticked off the one we’ve been working on?’
Heat spilled into her cheeks. ‘It was tempting. I even had a red felt pen in my hand, but I chickened out.’
Have a fling with a hot man—that had happened. So far a one-night stand, but who knew what the coming days would bring? As for ticking that off the list, it kind of cheapened the experience, so she’d put the cap back on the pen and dropped it in the drawer.