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string-pulling.

      She was startled when Will Templar abruptly switched his focus to her. ‘Do you want to wait a while, Sunny?’ he demanded rather than asked.

      ‘I think husband and wife should be in total agreement on when they have a baby and it’s no one else’s business but theirs,’ she said slowly, keeping her wits alert to the undercurrents. ‘I’m sure Bryce would consider what I want, every bit as much as I would consider what he wants.’

      Will Templar leaned forward, boring in. ‘Do you realise I still have the power to strip Bryce of his position in the company?’

      Sunny felt her spine bristling. Her eyes locked onto the older man’s and fought fire with fire. ‘I didn’t marry Bryce for his position, Mr. Templar.’

      ‘What did you marry him for?’

      ‘I fancied him rotten and I thought he’d make a great father for the children I want.’

      ‘You fancied him rotten?’

      Either he was unfamiliar with the term or she’d knocked him off his power perch. Sunny decided to play her hand to the hilt.

      ‘Mmm…’ She gave Bryce a smouldering look. ‘He has a way of inspiring the most terrible lust in me.’

      He smouldered right back. ‘The inspiration goes both ways.’

      ‘Enough!’ Will Templar snapped. ‘You don’t have to prove you’re besotted with each other at my table!’

      Bryce shrugged. ‘Actually, we don’t have to prove anything, Dad. We just came to visit.’

      ‘Fine visit this is…not even opening the bottle of champagne.’

      ‘I’ll be happy to open it,’ Bryce said, lifting the bottle out of the ice bucket. ‘Ready for a glass now, Sunny?’

      ‘Yes. Thank you. These dips really are delicious.’

      ‘Are you always so direct?’ his father demanded of her.

      Sunny frowned quizzically at him. ‘Weren’t you being direct with me, Mr. Templar?’

      He looked somewhat disgruntled. ‘Just testing your mettle.’

      ‘Did I pass the test?’

      He snorted. ‘It’s plain you and Bryce are two of a kind.’

      ‘Is that good or bad?’ Sunny queried.

      For the first time she saw a flash of respect in his eyes. ‘You can call me Will.’

      ‘Thank you.’ She smiled warmly. ‘I take that as a real compliment.’

      ‘So you should.’ He visibly thawed. ‘Just see that boy of mine starts fathering real soon. Can’t wait forever for a grandchild, you know.’

      From which Sunny deduced it was Bryce’s child he most wanted to see, not Damian’s.

      That thought stayed with her long after the lunch visit was over and Will Templar had conveyed his rather crotchety blessing on the marriage and expressed his pointed hope that their honeymoon would be productive.

      The chauffeur transported them to the L’Auberge Inn which was nestled along the bank of a pretty, tree-lined creek and surrounded by towering red cliffs. It had a European-style lodge, supplying luxurious amenities for resident guests, and the secluded cottage Bryce had booked for the night was very romantically furnished in a rich, French provincial style.

      ‘May I say how delighted I am that you fancy me rotten,’ Bryce tossed at her the moment they were alone.

      She laughed and repeated her smouldering look. ‘Your father clearly does not see you through the eyes of a woman.’

      ‘I’m only interested in your eyes, Sunny,’ he said seriously, enfolding her in his embrace. ‘You handled my father brilliantly, but…can I believe every word you said?’

      ‘You know the wanting is real, Bryce. How could it not be when…’ She blushed at the memories of her deeply primitive response to him.

      He reached up and ran his fingertips over the self-conscious heat, his eyes burning into hers as he softly asked, ‘Did you fancy me rotten before you broke with Derek?’

      Her skin became even hotter under his questing touch. The intensity he was projecting seeded a wild thought. Was he jealous of the relationship she’d had with her ex-fiancé?

      ‘You must be aware of how attractive you are physically, Bryce. I think any woman would fancy you. The saleslady who sold me my wedding dress certainly did. But I didn’t know you in any personal sense…’

      ‘And now that you do?’

      ‘Derek belongs in the past. It’s you I want.’

      She wound her arms around his neck and kissed him to prove there was no looking back on her part. He was her husband now and she wanted no other.

      Bryce stormed her mouth with a passionate possessiveness that swiftly moved into much more than a kiss. They made love in a frenzy of desire for each other, craving an affirmation that their marriage was right and always would be.

      It was hours later, when they were dressing for dinner—Bryce insisting she wear the cream lace gown again for the six-course ‘wedding feast’ he planned to order at the gourmet restaurant in the lodge—that Sunny recalled the question raised at lunch with Will Templar.

      ‘Are you in competition with your half-brother, Bryce?’ she asked bluntly, wanting to know the truth.

      ‘Damian?’ He looked amused, his eyes mocking the suggestion as he answered, ‘My father cares too much for Templar Resources to ever put Damian in control of it, Sunny. He knows it. I know it. It’s not an option.’

      ‘Then why did he threaten it?’

      Bryce shrugged. ‘It’s simply a measure of how much he wants me to have a child.’

      She frowned. ‘You played it like a power game, saying we might wait.’

      ‘A gift is one thing, a pressured demand quite another.’

      ‘What would you do if he did give the CEO position to Damian?’

      ‘Go into opposition. In effect, my father would lose me.’

      And you would lose him, she thought.

      ‘He won’t go that far, Sunny. Don’t worry about it.’

      All the same, she couldn’t help thinking it would be best—easier all around—if they did have a child straight away. And Bryce had to be thinking that, too.

      A productive honeymoon…

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      SUNNY was not the least bit nervous about introducing Bryce to her family. She was happily looking forward to it as she settled herself to sleep away some of the hours on the long flight from Los Angeles to Sydney. Travelling first class gave her much more leg room to make herself comfortable and the wider seat took away the sense of feeling cramped. She tucked the airline blanket around her, sighed contentedly and closed her eyes.

      ‘Sweet dreams,’ Bryce murmured indulgently, leaning over from the seat beside her to drop a kiss on her forehead.

      She smiled. He made her feel loved. During their whole honeymoon, which Bryce had extended to ten days, he had made her feel loved, and she knew now that she loved him. The words had not been spoken but that didn’t matter. The feeling was there, which meant nothing was missing from their marriage…except a baby…and since she may well have conceived already, Sunny was not going to let that concern weigh on her mind.

      She had such good memories to dwell on; action-packed days, touring the

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