Free Christmas Holiday Husband by Kris Pearson

briefs down a few inches. Ellie stood close behind him, massaging the slippery lotion out over his hipbones, in to his spine again, and lower than was probably wise. She pressed a little harder, rubbing just above his tailbone, knowing how much he used to enjoy being touched there. He tensed...breathing faster...alive beneath her hands. She feathered her fingers upward to his shoulders and began to smooth the sunscreen over his arms.
    He let out a long frustrated sigh and she smiled, unseen, behind him.
    “Ellie...” he said. It was a moan, a plea, an acknowledgement of need. She’d taken him on at his own game and beaten him. He swivelled to face her.
    And to hide the state of his body from his daughters?
    “Will you do my front, too?” he asked.
    For a few moments she stood quite still. And then, tempted beyond breaking point, she squeezed out more sunscreen into one palm, hooked a finger into the waistband of his boxers, slid her slippery hand inside and grasped him.
    He groaned as she drew her slick fingers back along his impressive length once, twice, then deserted him and whirled away.
    “You seem to have done it beautifully yourself,” she called back over her shoulder as she escaped into the river. “A nice cold dip is good for that sort of inflammation.”
    He pursued her into the water, catching her around the waist and pulling her back against him. They collapsed together in a splashing heaving heap, steam practically boiling off their superheated skin.
    “Daddy—mind our waterfall!” Ants exclaimed.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    Ellie knew it would be almost impossible to regain her ground now. Why on earth had she given in and done that?
    He’d been deliberately winding her up. So? Some of the older children at school were experts—and she could cut them down to size with a cool stare and a few stern words.
    But she was out of control with Tony. Grabbing him was inexcusable. It was such an obvious invitation when she’d sworn to keep her distance. And so close to the girls! Could she ever backtrack from here? “More chicken?” she asked, avoiding his eyes.
    He passed his plate across and she forked the food onto it as they reclined in the dappled shade of the big willow tree. Tony had spread out a picnic rug and the two beach towels Ginny had packed. The girls had eaten, and wandered a short distance away to pick wildflowers.
    Unspoken questions sizzled back and forth in the languid air. Tony put down his plate.
    “Shall we look for the fossils now?” Ellie asked, too fast.
    “No.” He smiled faintly. “We’ll make the most of our relative privacy and decide how we’re going to handle this situation.”
    “There’s no ‘situation’ to handle.”
    “That’s not how it feels to me, Ellie. As far as I’m concerned, we’re back in Sydney. We had a fantastic thing going there. I’m lusting for you again to an unbelievable degree.”
    Lusting. Yes, that about sums it up.
    She chastised herself yet again for responding to him on the balcony the previous evening...absolutely cursing at her stupidity with the sunscreen, even if the satin-and-steel sensation of him under her fingers had been magic.
    Lusting was something animals did. She was prepared to admit she lusted after Tony. Would even concede, in her most secret heart of hearts, that it might be more than lust as far as she was concerned. But she couldn’t possibly let him know that.
    She bit down on her wayward tongue and searched for words to somehow deflect his intensity. “Tell me about Julia,” she demanded.
    “Julia,” he sighed. “You’re not playing fair, Ellie.”
    “I’m not playing at all.”
    He collapsed back onto the rug and clamped his hands over his face. Ellie watched as he rubbed at his temples with his fingertips.
    “Julia,” he repeated, despairingly. “I’m never going to forgive myself for wrecking Julia’s life.”
    “I hardly think you did that.”
    “She hated it here. She wasn’t a country girl. I