Harrison

The sun seemed to shine all the brighter the next morning when Harrison awoke with Clarice's beautiful naked body tucked in his arms. They had retreated back to their temporary penthouse suite for the evening once their pa.s.sions became too inflamed to fulfill out on the public beach. The resort was fairly uninhibited, but the beach was no place for the things they wanted to do to each other.

He held her close against him and planted sweet kisses along her head and face as she cooed her way out of sleep. She smelled like heaven.

"Baby," he said against her ear. "We must get up, darling. Your friends will be waiting."

"Mmmm," groaned Clarice, nuzzling tighter against his chest. "Can't they just come in here and say goodbye?"

"Certainly, as long as you're fine with them seeing me naked."

"They could stand to be a little jealous of me for once," she giggled.

They fooled around in bed a little before Harrison finally insisted they get moving, knowing it wasn't just Clarice's friends, but also his parents, who were waiting to visit before they departed the island. They took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed down to the main lobby floor.

Harrison groaned when they came around the corner and saw that his parents were, again, already waiting for them. But so were Clarice's lovely friends, and to see the delight in her eyes as she ran toward them made him endlessly happy.

Last night, after retreating to their room for hot make-up s.e.x, both she and Harrison took a break to have meetings with their loved ones and tell them about the plan they had come up with. Harrison had to go through the difficulty of breaking his mother's heart regarding her future grandchild - for which she rightly gave him a slap across the face - but she seemed soothed by his revelation that he had fallen in love with Clarice in earnest, and that her grandchild was at the most, delayed. He promised both of them to make their relationship better, as well, including semi-annual visits.

Clarice took her girls to dinner and then private shopping at the boutiques on Harrison's tab, a gift he insisted would soften the blow when she told them she wouldn't be returning to New York with them. She had saved up vacation time at work and intended to take it all right now, so that she and Harrison could begin laying the groundwork for her permanent move to Bali. She wouldn't have to work at all, if she didn't want to, though she was sure she would find something amazing to do eventually. She wanted to build a new life with Harrison, a new adventure here in Bali, helping him run his empire, and starting a family.

They returned to each other emotionally exhausted, but happier than either of them had been, and spent the wee hours of the morning making love. But morning came, and though it was heavy, their goodbyes now were only the first step on this new road.

Harrison stood with his arm around his mother as Clarice said her goodbyes to her friends. Each of them gave her a bright, warm hug - especially Trudy, who wrapped her so tight she looked like she was trying to absorb her best friend right into her skin. All of them were teary-eyed except the one called Liz, but even she had a look of sweet emotion on her face.

"I'll call you as soon as I get back," said Trudy, when she finally released her grip. "You're sure about all this?"

"I'm sure," said Clarice with a smile. "Never been more sure. I'm just going to take all the vacation I have left at the publishing house before I cruise home to get the move started. I'm, uh... I'm not quite ready to leave yet." She turned and gave a wink to Harrison.

"I did not expect adventure Clarice to come roaring out so boldly again," laughed Trudy. "I should have known better. She was hibernating too long, prepping for something big."

"She was," agreed Clarice. "And I'm glad she's back, too."

"How the s.h.i.t are we going to live in the city without you?" said Sophie, with a few sniffles. She patted her nose with a cloth handkerchief she pulled out of her patent leather bag. "It won't be the same at all."

"I know, but that's not a bad thing," said Clarice. "Things change all the time. And besides, now you guys not only have the perfect excuse to come back to Bali, but you won't even have to pay for it!"

Behind her, Harrison cleared his throat in an obvious manner, and quirked his eyebrow at her sternly. "Oh, is that right?"

Sheepishly but with her own seductive charm, Clarice gave him a pouty look. "Well, that is if my darling partner approves such frivolous expenses, right sweetheart?"

"What in the h.e.l.l have I gotten myself into," muttered Harrison playfully to his mother.

"It's about time someone was able to keep you in line," she replied.

"As if I needed another reason to support you finally getting some regular, high-cla.s.s tail," said Liz when Clarice pulled her into a hug. "And I will be taking you up on that trip offer probably every single summer until I die at my desk, okay?"

"C'mon, Liz, we all know the kids will kill you before they'll let you die of natural causes."

Liz gave her a happy, lopsided grin and tweaked her nose between her fingers. "I'm really going to miss you, dummy."

"I won't give you enough time to miss me. You're all calling me when you get home and we're getting drunk over webcam," said Clarice, pointing a sweeping finger at all of them. "I mean it, alright?" Her voice was firm and light, but she was wiping tears from her eyes anyway.

Harrison put his arms around her gently to comfort her. He smiled at the ladies. "I can't thank you all enough for bringing Clarice here. If it wasn't for you, we never would have met."

"Yeah, you're d.a.m.n welcome," said Trudy. "You make sure you take care of her and we won't have a problem, got it?"

"On my honor," said Harrison with his hand over his heart. "And on the name of my father. Also, Clarice is right. You are all welcome back whenever you want, no charge. It's the least I can do to repay you for introducing her into my life."

The ladies all beamed and squealed until the bellhop came running up to inform them their car to the airport had arrived. Clarice gave them all one last hug before she watched them wander out the lobby doors, waving as they did.

"I hope they don't mind, but I replaced their shuttle van with a limousine. Oh, and I changed their flights, they'll be taking a private jet all the way back to New York," whispered Harrison to Clarice quietly.

"What were you thinking? They will be furious," she giggled. Harrison kissed the top of her head and pulled her into his side playfully.

George Moore cleared his throat, and Harrison turned to watch his parents exchange a glance with each other before his father began speaking. "Well, I must say this is the most unusual engagement holiday I've ever heard of. Certainly the most unusual in our circle of friends."

Clarice turned a bit red and stuck close to Harrison's side. Despite his promises that his parents didn't hold anything against her for the ruse, she was still insecure about her part in it. "Hopefully it won't turn into some resentment toward your fabulous new daughter-in-law? For real this time?"

"Wait, when did I properly propose to you?" asked Harrison.

Clarice blushed. "Oh, well, you didn't, I just a.s.sumed."

"You just a.s.sumed I would want to marry you."

"Well, yeah... I mean, look at me," said Clarice, waving a hand up and down her form.

Harrison beamed and laughed, pulling her close for a hug and a kiss.

His father watched them, shaking his head, but there was a sparkling smile on his face. "I wonder if you two weren't playing a ruse on yourselves this whole time, rather than us."

"That's very philosophical, father," said Harrison. "But you know how I feel about learning life lessons and such." He stuck his tongue out and made a thumbs down.

"Harrison, what has gotten into you?" his mother gasped, with a gentle slap on his arm. But she was smiling, too.

"That old black magic," said her son, winking at Clarice. "It's what you two always wanted anyway, wasn't it? Surprise! My confession was actually the ruse; we weren't pretending this whole time."

"We just didn't realize it right away," said Clarice.

"That is typically how it happens, I find," said his father with a loving look towards his mother. "But I'm afraid we must head back to England. I've been too long away from the board rooms. Everything is liable to collapse at any moment."

"Of course, the fate of the free market depends on it."

Harrison shook hands with his father, and then pulled him into a tight hug. His father was surprised at first, but he returned it firmly, patting his son on the back. His mother's embrace was far more loving, and she kissed him thrice on the cheek before she was satisfied enough to leave.

"We'll invite you back when the wedding or the baby is on, whichever comes first," said Harrison as they headed for the door.

"Which will definitely be the wedding," added Clarice.

"Take care of my baby, Clarice!" said Vanessa.

"I promise I will," she replied.

They shared one last wave goodbye before the Moores disappeared into their own limousine and headed for the airport.

Harrison turned to Clarice and wrapped his arms around her. He dropped a kiss on her head. "Well, my queen, what would you like to do on this first day of your rule?"

Clarice twisted her mouth in thought. "I'd like to dare you to streak through the water gardens."

Harrison fought a smile, and instead heaved a big, dramatic sigh. He pulled away from her and started to unb.u.t.ton his shirt. "As my queen commands..."

About the Author.

Bestselling author Sienna Valentine grew up in Canada and still lives there, spending her time reading and writing. Steamy romance has always been her favorite genre, and now finds that the only thing more satisfying than dreaming up her fantasies in the first place, is writing them down and being able to share them with others.

Don't forget, if you want to be the first to know about her upcoming projects or join her ARC team, be sure to sign up on her mailing list!

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Acknowledgments.

I would like to thank all of my wonderful readers who continue to buy my books, keeping me from having to go back to a regular job. I hope to continue to keep you entertained for years to come.

I also want to thank my editor Dawn, who stepped in at the last moment to look over this book and help make sure it didn't look like it was written by a 3rd grader.

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