Free Last Chance Proposal by Barbara Deleo Page B

pulled her into a hug, she could feel the speeding of his heart against hers and she drew in a breath.
    “Hey, you two,” Cy said to someone behind them.
    Ellie twisted around.
    “Don’t stop on our account.” It was Callum Brown, Cy’s old surfing buddy, and his wife, hand in hand with a small brown dog on a leash. They’d obviously been walking up the beach and Cy must have seen them before Ellie did. Just go with it. That was the reason he’d kissed her.
    “Hey, Callum; hey, Lyn.” Ellie hoped no one else noticed how fast she was speaking or that her breath was tight in her lungs. She slid her arm around Cy’s back and pulled him closer, determined he wouldn’t sense what a fool she’d just made of herself. “Sorry about the PDA!”
    Lyn laughed and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “We had a little snog on the beach a little while ago too, didn’t we, hon?” She stroked her husband’s arm. “Something about this sort of weather that makes all those hormones start racing, right?”
    “Yeah, weather seems to be what does it for me.” Cy chuckled. “Rain, sun, typhoon. Any weather, I’m not fussy.”
    They all laughed then made small talk about what they were doing for Christmas and how great the fishing was off Aroha Island. When Lyn and Callum said good-bye and carried on with their walk, Cy turned to Ellie. “Hey, I’m sorry about that. I saw them coming toward us and thought it was a good opportunity to show a bit of spontaneous love. I hope I didn’t take you by surprise?”
    “Surprise?” She bent down to brush sand off her flip-flops, anything to avoid looking in his eyes. “No, of course not. I saw them coming, too, which was why I held your hand so long.” She stood and smiled up at him. I think we had them convinced.”
    He grinned back and the relief on his face was like a kick to her gut. “I think we did, too.” He called over her shoulder, “Hey, boys, look. Here comes the boat.” The boys raced over and Cy began to walk with them to the jetty as Ellie got angry with herself. How could she have been so stupid to think that was real? Just like last night, Cy was making a public show of their lie and she’d let her body be fooled into believing his reactions to her were real. Well, they weren’t real, and never would be, and she was going to have to make her heart believe that.
    In no time they were on the yacht, heading straight for Aroha Island. The hard decking dug into Ellie’s thighs and she tugged her shorts lower.
    The boys were up front, hair blowing back, decked out in their lifejackets and looking like two little sumo wrestlers. Jonty’s scarf was wrapped around his neck and flapped in the wind. They were heading straight for Aroha Island and at this rate would be there in no time.
    “Can you hold this for me, Ellie?” Cy passed her a metal shackle on the end of a rope. “Stand here while I hook it up.” He reached closer and the fresh, cool smell of him invaded her senses.
    His chest was only inches from her face, muscles firm beneath. Between his proximity, the memory of the barbecue last night, and their connection back on the beach, her thoughts drifted to the last time she’d been on this boat. He hadn’t known she was a virgin when they made love. Well, if he had, he never said. And the fact that her very first time was overshadowed by the devastation of William’s death, then the anguish of Cy’s rejection when she told him she loved him, made it something she shouldn’t want to remember. She shouldn’t be drawn to the strength in his legs, the power in his shoulders, or wonder what it would be like to make love to him now that he was a man.
    “Ellie?”
    She shook her head to clear the fantasy from her mind and looked up at him. “Sorry?”
    He grinned. “I said you can let go now. Has the blood not made its way back to your body since the handstand? You look flustered.”
    Fire rushed to her cheeks as she let the clasp go. She stood back as