Tempted by the Tycoon's Proposal

IT HAD BEEN over a week since Sophia had seen Jack and Lily, but it felt like so much longer.

They’d spent every evening together following that night, right up until their departure for Tokyo. Sophia would finish work and head up to the penthouse just in time for bath and bed, and sometimes Sophia would read, other times Jack, but it was always the three of them squeezed into the one bed with Lily and Baby Bear in the middle.

There’d been no more sleepovers though, much to Lily’s disappointment. Work and it being a ‘school night’ were the excuses given but, in reality, Sophia knew they were trying to take things slow, to keep Lily from getting hurt, to hold themselves back too.

Everything was moving too fast, her own feelings for him—for Lily too—growing out of her control and with it came the fear. The fear of pushing him away, of confessing too much and having him run. The fear of the past, of his experience with Elena coming between them regardless of the seemingly comfortable happiness they had found.

Their ‘us’ was just too fragile.

And it wasn’t just the fear of losing him; she would be losing Lily too, and the very idea had her tummy turning over and her feelings for him trapped deep inside, her lips sealed around them. Unless she was kissing him of course... She warmed even now with the thought, the remembered caress of his mouth over hers, the way he could coax her entire body to life with just the sweep of his lips, the stroke of his fingers...

‘We’re here, Ms Lambert.’

She jerked alert, a startled sound erupting from her throat as Jack’s driver spoke into the silence. She met his eyes in the rear-view mirror, grateful he didn’t look as if he’d noticed her teeny outburst or the crimson flush sure to exist in her cheeks now.

‘Thank you.’ She glanced out of the window and frowned. Where’s here?

They weren’t in the airport departures drop-off zone, that was certain; in fact, they were a good distance away from the terminal itself. She was about to query

it when her door shifted open and she looked up to see Jack leaning in.

‘Jack!’ Her heart soared, the air leaving her lungs in a rush as she launched herself up, her arms wrapping around him.

A secret—yeah, right; her feelings were written in every movement she made.

‘Hey,’ he said against her ear, pressing a kiss there. ‘It’s good to see you.’

He breathed her in and then he lifted his head, forcing her back so he could scan her face. ‘I missed you.’

‘I missed you too,’ she murmured, her eyes welling with her heart and she blinked the dampness away. ‘Where are we?’

‘My private hangar.’

‘You’re kidding.’

‘Not at all.’

‘No, of course you’re not.’ What a stupid thing to say—this is Jack!

‘Sphea!’ Lily came running up, wrapping her arms around them both and distracting Sophia from her self-deprecation. She crouched down and scooped her into a hug, the elation running through her obvious to anyone looking on. Her secret truly was no secret at all. ‘I missed you.’

Lily squeezed her tightly. ‘I missed you too.’

‘Are you excited for your birthday trip?’

She nodded emphatically. ‘Daddy has read your brochure with me every night.’

She looked up at Jack. ‘Every night, hey?’

He chuckled. ‘She can probably tell you more about where we’re going than the people who live there.’

Sophia laughed as she stood back up. It was then she saw the plane with its door open, staff and steps at the ready, the engine whirring through the brisk cold air. ‘Is that...yours?’

There you go again with the naïve questions.

‘It is.’ Jack’s grin turned lopsided. ‘You ready to see inside?’

Was she? She felt nervous, out of place, suddenly uneasy. She turned away. ‘I’ll just get my things.’