Behind The Proposal novel Chapter 9

"Mummy, I need you!" Jasmine's voice broke the spell and she looked down, glad to have a distraction from the potent maleness in front of her.

"What do you need?" she bent down and looked in her daughter's eyes.

"I need you to help with my sandcastle," she demanded. "Please, Mummy," she jumped up and down.

Sophie glanced at Tom, shrugging her shoulders and then sat on the sand beside her daughter.

He sat down on the other side. "Can I help too?" he asked, a grin on his face.

Jasmine looked at him warily for a few moments then nodded her head with a flourish. Tom smiled and started to dig around in the sand and Sophie took the opportunity to just sit and watch, and enjoy someone else entertaining Jass for a change. When his searing gaze and attention wasn't on her she could relax and just be herself. She watched as he dug channels and piled sand up in mounds, drawing squiggly lines and dots that eventually began to look a lot like a mermaid. She was amazed at what he'd done in a relatively short space of time, all while he'd been laughing and joking with her daughter. They'd thrown sand, they'd run down to the water's edge to collect buckets of water and shells, the two of them having a great time. It made her heart swell to see her daughter so happy and that in turn made her fall just a little bit in love with him. He'd make a great dad one day.

Sophie stood up and took a few steps back to admire the life size mermaid figure he'd created. "Wow!" she breathed, absolutely stunned. She took her phone out of her bag and took a picture.

"Mummy, Mummy! Look what Tom made! It's Ariel!" Jasmine jumped up and down excitedly, clapping her hands and giggling.

"It's great, isn't it," she rubbed her daughter's blonde head as she looked over to the gorgeous man sitting on the beach, covered with sand. "You have some hidden talents," she commented as she took a couple more pictures, with Tom and her daughter posing proudly beside their work of art.

"I'm a man with many talents," he grinned her way and winked.

Too bad he had a job to do. This was why he didn't do relationships. He didn't have the time to devote to one. He worked sixteen hours a day. He rarely took days off. He barely had time for himself, let alone somebody else. Or two somebodies.

Tom was still thinking about this several hours later as he drove them back to the hotel after a nice dinner. They'd had a great picnic, which Jasmine had been delighted in, and a short dip in the ocean. He'd taken Jasmine's hand and led her into the water to splash around a little and look in the little rock pools at the crabs and other sea creatures. To know that the little girl had trusted him completely had touched a place in his soul that he'd never opened up to anyone.

Could he open up his life to them? But then again, what if he didn't? It'd be the end of his dream resort. And he'd never see her again. Sophie fascinated him. She was different to any woman he'd ever been involved with, in a surprisingly great way. Which led him to his next question...

He glanced in the rear-view mirror at the sleeping girl in the back seat, and then across at Sophie, who was staring out the side window at the glimpses of the ocean and bright sunset flitting past them between the palm trees. What would his family think of them? More importantly, could they be the family his grandfather wanted for him? Would that give him the freedom to do the resort his way, rather than follow the same old formula that they'd been building hotels with for the past sixty years? He wanted to bring them into the twenty-first century before he took over running the company.