Free Last Chance Proposal by Barbara Deleo Page A

shifted from all the cream puffs I’ve eaten in the last eight years.”
    She looked up to see Louis and Jonty having a sword fight with two pieces of driftwood, then focused on another spot on the sand, determined to get it right this time. She launched herself forward, flicked her legs in the air, and after wobbling for a few seconds, fell with a thud .
    Getting up again, she tugged her shorts from where they’d ridden up her legs, then smoothed the hair off her face. “I can’t believe it! Must be you that’s putting me off. Turn around.”
    “No way am I turning around,” Cy said, his head tilted to one side and a sexy grin on his face. He pushed his sunglasses up. “This is worth paying good money for. I think you’ve lost your touch.”
    She chuckled and dusted the sand from her shorts. “I have not! Come here and make yourself useful. I might be out of practice, but I’ve still got it. I reckon I could stay up for at least a minute if you help steady me.”
    He took a step closer.
    “Remember the drill? When I’ve flicked my legs up just get me balanced and then I can do the rest on my own.”
    “Okay, if you’re sure.”
    “I’m sure. Ready?’
    “On the count of three. One…two…three…” This time when she threw herself forward and kicked her legs high into the air Cy was ready to catch her, his palms warm and firm on her ankles as he held her steady. As soon as she could feel her center of gravity shifting, she yelled, “Okay, you can let go now.”
    And when he let go she was balanced in a perfect line. Looking back, she could only see his strong legs with a dusting of hair and then the fringed edge of his cutoffs. Her hair was hot against her face but she was determined to hold out.
    “Bet you can’t stay there very long,” he teased.
    “Are you watching the boys?” She took a couple of steps with her hands to balance.
    “They’re fine.” He twisted a little. “They’re still playing with the driftwood. Hey, that’s pretty good going. Reckon you can do fifteen more seconds?”
    Blood was pumping at her temples. As she adjusted one hand, her T-shirt started to ride down. In only a matter of seconds her bra would be exposed but their old competitiveness—the need to prove she could make the minute—outweighed modesty.
    “Ten more seconds,” Cy called. “Are you getting dizzy? Your T-shirt’s slipping. You won’t be able to see anything soon. And wow, is that red lace?”
    Determined to stay the distance, Ellie started to pant, her T-shirt was now over her face and she was starting to overbalance with her hands.
    “Four, three, two…!”
    “You rat!”
    “One!”
    She collapsed on the sand and gulped in fat lungfuls of air.
    Cy took a step toward her and held out a hand. “I take it all back,” he said with a heart-stopping grin. “You’ve still got it.”
    Her breath was heavy in her chest and the air seemed to still around them as she looked up at Cy’s broad palm. She reached out, and when her hand was enclosed in his sure grip, he gently pulled her to her feet. But she didn’t pull back, didn’t step away, instead she felt herself start to come under his spell, imagining the touch and taste of his mouth on hers.
    She flicked her gaze away, determined not to succumb, to resist touching those strong shoulders, that broad chest, because she knew when she did there’d be no going back.
    Cy reached out with his other hand to cradle her cheek, and when he stepped closer, her heart began to race. Slowly, she turned to look up at him as he cupped her whole face with both his hands and whispered, “Just go with it.” Then his lips were pressed against hers, his breath feathering across her face, and she wound her hands around his neck.
    With her blood fizzing everywhere Cy touched, her lips succumbing as he teased them with his tongue, she knew for sure that the connection she’d felt with Cy last night hadn’t been imagined. When he lifted his mouth from hers and