Читать книгу Mediterranean Mavericks: Greeks - Кейт Хьюит - Страница 46

THE beach was uncrowded. Too early, Rose guessed, for most of the guests. The same large canopied umbrellas that adorned the sides of the pool were in evidence along the beach, dotted here and there, and closer to the glassy, lake-like sea similar-coloured padded deckchairs were interspersed. Further along, she could see that a thin finger of land projected into the sea and from a distance might have passed for a jetty were it not for the coconut trees growing along it.

It was a breathtaking sight. Really a vision of paradise, from the white powdery sand dappled with shadows cast by the overhanging coconut trees, to the still, dazzling azure of the sea.

Rose paused and savoured the scene through the protective lenses of her very dark sunglasses. She had decided to maintain her inclination to conceal her shape by wearing a knee-length, flimsy beach dress and she could already feel the rising sun burning through it.

Along the beach, a couple of the deckchairs were occupied by early risers who were mostly reading and wearing sensible large straw hats.

Typically, Nick was nowhere to be seen and Rose was peering into the distance when she felt a hand on her shoulder and he said, with a thread of amusement in his voice, ‘Why are you wearing a sheet?’

Rose swung around and glared at him from behind her sunglasses. ‘I’m trying to protect myself from the sun,’ she snapped. ‘It’s fine for you. You can tan easily but I’m a lot fairer. In fact, coming out into the sun at this hour is not a very good idea at all for someone of my complexion.’

Which, she admitted to herself, was something of a slight overstatement given it was still quite early in the day.

He, of course, was bare-backed but for the towel swung casually over his shoulders. As promised, he had brought hers with him and he reached out to give it to her, still grinning.

‘You should have brought a sombrero with you…like those practical people further along.’

Rose snatched the towel and began walking away, but slowed down at the notion that he might be sniggering as he watched her wobbly, none-too-toned rear.

She took heart from the comforting thought that this was not a holiday, this was work.

They seemed to be walking away from the scattering of people on the beach and she immediately set that particular situation right by heading towards one of the lounging chairs not far from an elderly lady who was napping with her book over her face.

‘Are you going to remove that garment of yours? Because I warn you—the sun here is very hot. Much hotter than in England.’

‘I’ve brought a notebook. I thought we might start jotting down a few things in connection with work.’ She felt pleasantly secure behind the sunglasses and half watched as he spread his towel on the sand, ignoring the sun lounger, and lay flat on it. As if that weren’t distracting enough, he began to rub sun cream haphazardly over his body.

‘Even I burn,’ he assured her. He could feel her watching him. She did that. Watched him. Nick was used to women watching him, but the concealed way she did it had become a powerful turn-on. He wanted her, but he wasn’t going to get her through outrageous flirting or expensive gifts. He settled back, closed his eyes and waited for the prolonged silence to have the desired effect.

Eventually, Rose spoke, keeping her treacherous eyes away from the tempting sight of his practically naked, bronzed body. ‘What made you decide to go into…well…hotels?’

‘You sound like an interviewer.’

‘It’s only polite curiosity,’ Rose said. ‘Everyone has a reason for doing what they do.’

‘And you went into computing because…?’

‘We’re not discussing me.’ The sun was beginning to make her feel lazy and peaceful. She didn’t want an argument. She wanted to close her eyes and let her chattering thoughts slip away. ‘I bet you don’t even stay in many hotels.’

‘On the contrary. I’m rarely out of them.’

‘I meant for pleasure as opposed to business.’ She glanced down at him and realised that he was barely listening to her. His eyes were closed and she was pretty sure that his thoughts were a million miles away. She carefully inched the flimsy beach robe off and began applying a generous layer of sunblock to her exposed skin, keeping a careful eye on him because lying flat she felt a whole lot more confident about her body than when she was sitting up, where her stomach, smooth as it might be, still seemed to have the last laugh at her for having spent years guiltily avoiding the gym.

Or maybe she was simply comparing herself to Lily who had a washboard abdomen even when she was slouching and breathing out.

Job done, Rose lay back down and shaded her face with the magazine she had brought from her room.

‘Hotels for pleasure…hmm…well, maybe it’s the pull of the challenge, to boldly embark on a project of which I have zero experience. There’s nothing like the possibility of failure to get the adrenaline going.’

She was aware that he had half turned towards her and she kept her eyes firmly shielded behind her magazine.

‘I’ve conquered the money markets,’ Nick said casually. ‘Or rather, I’ve made enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, even if I decided never to lift a finger again. Very comfortably. What does a man do when he reaches that position?’

‘Retire and enjoy what life has to offer,’ Rose said, surprised. ‘But then, who would you enjoy it with?’

Nick sat up and lifted the magazine from her face, which immediately brought her shooting up so that they were staring at each other fully.

‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘That remark just sort of slipped out.’

‘Working with computers, Rose, might not have been the best career move for you.’

‘Meaning?’

‘Meaning you have no tact.’ Nick would have left any other woman in no doubt that overstepping the boundaries was tantamount to a still-born relationship. However there was, he reminded himself, no relationship with this woman and, anyway, she was already bristling. Of course, he wasn’t about to back down and allow a woman, any woman, to invade his private space, but was he really ready for a fight? When the sun was beating down on his back and the sea glimmered invitingly?

‘You mean that sometimes I don’t agree with you.’

‘I’m going for a swim.’ Nick stood up, a profile of one-hundred-per-cent masculine beauty, and glanced back over his shoulder to her. ‘Coming?’

‘I think I’ll just stay here, thanks, and carry on sunbathing,’ Rose flounced back onto her lounger and stuck the magazine back into position.

The notebook that she had packed to remind herself that work was the reason for her lazing on a lounger on a beach remained unopened in her bag. She had a moment of brief despair as she contemplated the remainder of their stay, then she turned her thoughts to his high-handed attitude, telling her she was lacking tact. It felt a lot better to fulminate.

By the time she had worked herself up some healthy self-righteous anger, the sun was beginning its ascent and pleasantly warm was turning into baking hot.

Rose reluctantly shelved her thoughts, sat up and glanced at her watch to discover, with shock, that Nick had now been swimming for over forty minutes, and when she peered towards the horizon, there was no sign of him.

Panic slammed into her and she shot to her feet and hurried down to the water line, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. The beach was more crowded now, although still relatively deserted. People were in the water. A quick glance told her that Nick was not among their number.

She obeyed her instinct and forged into the sea, which was so warm that her body barely needed to adjust to the temperature.

The one continuity in her life had been her swimming lessons. Tony and Flora had nurtured a vague, hippie-like notion that swimming was akin to being at one with nature, and, with that in mind, they had insisted on swimming lessons wherever they had happened to be. The Education of Life was more important than the education of the classroom, but swimming was something they had insisted upon. And Rose had enjoyed it so much that she had continued even when classes had no longer been necessary and long after Lily had packed it in because it ruined her hair. Rose, never one to spend time agonising over the state of her hair, had found the silence and privacy of swimming a soothing balm to a tumultuous adolescence.

Feeling the water on her was like coming home.

As she struck out she wondered whether she should have run further up the beach in search of a lifeguard, but the thought of creating a scene, probably for no reason, was off-putting, never mind Nick’s reaction if he returned from a simple swim to find the hotel’s rescue party hot on his trail.

Anyway, it was too late to think about that.

She was pretty sure she would spot him a little further out, and then she could slink back to shore, safe in the knowledge that he was all right.

She swam confidently out but then, when the beach was beginning to look a little too distant for the sake of comfort, she felt the slow crawl of fear through her because who knew what inhabited the waters? They looked crystal-clear and perfectly innocent, but anything could be lurking in the depths. What if he had been sucked under by something? Were box jellyfish rampant in these waters or was she mixing up her oceans?

That thought was enough to convince her that heading back to shore and summoning the search party was the best course of action.

She was hardly aware of the shape quickly gaining on her until she felt something on her waist and she spluttered in sharp, sudden panic to a stop.

‘Were you worried?’ Nick was laughing as he edged back from her.

Relief turned to anger and she glared at him, tempted to hit him smartly on his sexy, grinning face, but her training kicked in. Any kind of tussle in water was a bad idea.

‘I was hot,’ she snarled, turning away and beginning to strike out back for land.

He caught her again, this time by her ankle, and she spun around and began treading water. ‘In case you don’t know,’ she snapped, ‘it’s dangerous to fight in the water.’

‘Who’s fighting?’ He flicked his head in the direction of the promontory she had noticed earlier on. ‘In case you were wondering how come you couldn’t find me…I was on that strip of land. I saw you swimming out and decided to meet you.’

‘Just in case I ran into problems?’

‘Can’t have my employee drowning on my watch, can I?’

‘I happen to be a very strong swimmer.’

‘I noticed.’

Rose wasn’t sure that she liked the thought of him looking at her while she had been swimming.

‘So…joining me? We could always swim back to shore and walk across, but better exercise this way.’

She didn’t think he needed the exercise. Unlike her. But she was enjoying the water and she suddenly wanted to prove just how good a swimmer she was. She nodded and then headed strongly away towards the strip of land, invigorated as he swam up behind her, then alongside and finally in front, easily making it to land before her so that she found herself coming out of the water, dripping wet, with no protective outer layer of baggy clothing, while he sat on the sand and surveyed her at his leisure.

Self-consciousness kicked in along with all the insecurities she had always had about her body, ones which should have been put to bed a long time ago because, really, what did looks matter?

Everything about her was unfashionably big. Her breasts were not the pert, small bumps beloved by fashionistas, her hair was too uncontrollable, her frame was just too short and stocky and she was sure that her rear could have done with several thousand more trips to the local swimming pool.

And there he was. A study in casual male beauty, sitting lazily on the trunk of a fallen coconut tree.

Her modest swimsuit suddenly felt like a handkerchief tied together with a few bits of string and Rose wrapped her arms around her body in a show of feeling cold.

‘I really never thought that this would be part of a working trip over here,’ she said crossly, all too aware that he was sizing her up and finding her wanting in every department.

She had, he noticed, made sure to sit as far away from him as was humanly possible without it looking glaringly obvious. Coy, he thought, not for the first time, was not a word in her vocabulary. Neither were the words flirting or teasing. If she had had her notebook to hand, he was pretty certain that she would have brandished it just to make sure that he got her hands-off message.

Once upon a time, he might have been amused by that because his hands would not have wanted to be on her, but not so now.

Next to her, the women he had dated in the past were stick insects, devoid of personality and sex appeal. He wanted to tell her that instead of huddling next to him, arms wrapped around her body in an attempt to hide the glorious abundance of her body, she should revel in her womanly curves.

However he acknowledged that she would probably hit him if he did that, so he dragged his eyes reluctantly away from her and resigned himself to the prospect of a slow seduction via harmless small talk, not a route he had ever favoured.

‘What do you think of this spot?’

Rose inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. She had been half expecting something sarcastic along the lines of her resemblance to a beached whale. Scenery, she figured, she could expound upon, and she did, asking him a million questions about Borneo. Whenever there appeared to be a pause in the conversation, in she jumped to carry on the subject while the sun continued to rise in the sky. Eventually, Nick turned to her and raised his eyebrows.

‘So, do you think we have exhausted the tourist angle?’

‘I’m interested.’

‘You’re sunburnt.’

‘What?’ Rose automatically raised her hands to her face, allowing Nick a bird’s-eye view of her luscious breasts, which her severely cut swimsuit was having a hard time concealing.

‘Right there.’ He ran his finger quickly along the strip of her nose and Rose pulled back with a little yelp of shock. ‘We need to get you back to our towels and bags.’

‘Oh, no. I’ve only just thought—were they safe being left on the beach?’

‘As houses.’ Nick stood up and held out his hand for her to take.

Flustered, Rose grasped it and he pulled her neatly to her feet, covertly watching her breasts bounce as she gathered her balance. Since when, he wondered, had he become a dirty old man, covertly watching a woman’s body and getting turned on?

‘You never did tell me…’ Rose said as they strolled back towards their possessions, which, as he had predicted, were exactly where they had been left.

‘What?’ Nick enquired, staring straight ahead of him and trying to subdue his overactive imagination.

‘Why you chose to branch out into the hotel business. You said that you no longer felt challenged by making money, but why hotels?’

‘You mean considering I’m a sad and lonely old man still searching for the perfect woman?’

‘I never said you were sad and lonely,’ Rose objected, flushing.

‘Just someone who had no experience of staying in a hotel for fun, an all-work-and-no-play kind of guy…’

‘I’m sure you have lots of fun,’ Rose stumbled, wondering how they had managed to swim out of safe waters into the perilous seas of personal conversation. It wouldn’t bother him, she was certain, but it bothered her.

‘Had,’ Nick amended guilelessly. ‘I haven’t actually been out with a woman since I met your sister…’

For a few seconds Rose felt completely disoriented by that admission. He had told her that his relationship with Lily had been platonic and she had believed him. She hadn’t stopped to wonder whether that had not been of his choosing and, at the thought that he might actually fancy her sister, she felt a sudden coldness in the pit of her stomach.

‘Lily has been known to have that effect on men,’ she said brightly, clearing her throat.

‘What effect is that?’

Rose shrugged. ‘Being worshipped from afar.’

‘Whoever mentioned anything about worshipping her from afar?’ Nick asked incredulously. ‘I meant, my darling, that the night I met your sister happened to be the night I broke up with a woman and ever since then I’ve stayed away from the fair sex. All men need a break from complications.’

Had he just called her ‘my darling’? Well, yes, not as an endearment, but for a few wild seconds her heart soared, then she registered the rest of his sentence and realised that, for whatever reason, he had decided to fill her in on a slice of his private life. He was practising celibacy.

‘They do,’ Rose said approvingly. ‘And it’s a mistake to think that sex is the answer to everything.’

Nick felt a kick of satisfaction that he had manoeuvred the conversation exactly where he wanted it. Sex. Such a small word to cover such a massive subject and, with testosterone coursing through his body, he was in the perfect mood to talk about it.

‘But that’s not why we’re here, is it?’ Rose hastened on. ‘We’re here to do some groundwork for your project. It doesn’t matter why you wanted to go into the hotel business. That’s your private matter and I know you’ll agree that we shouldn’t let chit-chat about our private lives intrude on the reason why we’re here in the first place.’ Rose felt quite proud of the adult manner in which she had grounded their wayward conversation.

One step forward, two steps backward. Nick ground his teeth together in frustration.

‘Would you like me to make a list of the usual tourist sites?’ Her beach dress beckoned like manna from heaven and Rose gratefully snatched it up and slipped it over her head.

‘That won’t be necessary, Rose.’ Interesting, this feeling of having the rug pulled very swiftly out from under your feet. Interesting and not particularly agreeable. ‘I suggest we use the rest of the day to do a bit of sightseeing.’

Rainforests…mountains and waterfalls…rare flora and fauna…the world-famous orang-utan sanctuary…Then a flurry of meetings and, of course, Lee Peng and his family with their abundant hospitality…supper to meet family and friends…

There was hardly time to draw breath and no time at all with Rose. Just that one morning on the beach, which, after nearly five days, seemed like a lifetime ago.

Nick had never met a woman more adroit at standing a mere five feet away from him and yet scrupulously avoiding his company. She was awash with good ideas, all faithfully detailed in her ever-present notebook and all related with an air of earnest professionalism, whenever she happened to find herself alone with him. Nightcaps at the hotel were politely but firmly rejected, with convincing yawns to back up her claims that the heat made her tired. Breakfast was always sent to her room because, and this she had told him with an apologetic smile, she liked to use the time to multitask. Eat and communicate with her friends back home via email.

With increasing frustration, Nick realised that he was gradually being reduced to the level of a schoolboy, unable to stop sneaking looks at her in her tee shirts and shorts and then fantasising about her late at night when he lay in bed staring at the ceiling and telling himself that he was behaving like a lunatic.

He could have anyone and yet when he tried to think of the many women he could have, he found his thoughts blurring and finally there she was, in his head yet again.

And here he was now. Facing another night of frustration because Rose had retired early, this time claiming the perennial headache excuse.

He looked at his watch and discovered that it was after midnight. One fifteen, to be precise, and he considered his options. Remain in bed, scowling into the darkness, or else get up and at least solve one of his problems by having a very cold shower.

He slid out from under the covers and felt the pleasantly cool touch of tiles under his bare feet. Overhead, the fan whirred rhythmically, drowning out the little noises of night creatures outside. The prospect of a cold shower was about as appealing as the thought of switching on his computer and catching up on work, which was usually his routine when he couldn’t sleep.

Nick moved quietly, without bothering to switch the lights on, and stuck on some drawstring cotton trousers, which were the closest thing to pyjama bottoms he possessed.

Making very little noise, he opened the sliding door that led onto his private veranda, from which the landscaped gardens stretched before him as a series of darkened shapes.

Borneo was proving to be a marvel of surprises. Few places, he thought, could provide such a winning combination of white sandy beaches, blue, calm sea and the spectacle that was the wonder of the rainforest.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. It was just a flicker behind the trellis separating his veranda from his neighbour’s. In this instance, Rose. Normally, the leafy fronds clambering over the wooden trellis acted as a very successful screen, but in the inky blackness of the night whatever she was wearing must have been of a light colour.

Nick felt a rush of adrenaline surge through him. Without pausing to think, just acting with the unerring instincts of the predator, he circled the patch of lawn and appeared in front of her, bare backed because the night was balmy but, other than that, decently clad, if lacking shoes.

‘Well, well, well,’ he drawled, ‘come here often?’ He sprinted up the two wooden steps, not giving her time to beat a hasty retreat.

Whatever she was wearing, it was obvious she had not dressed for an accidental meeting with her boss. Her nightie was ultra thin and barely skirted her thighs. The light trickling from the room behind her was her cruellest enemy because it showed the full, rounded outline of her bare breasts. With a little leap of the imagination, Nick could almost see the shape of her nipples.

Rose looked at him in horror. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing here?’ she demanded, too shocked by his sudden appearance to even think of what she was wearing.

‘Same as you. Couldn’t sleep.’ Ever one to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to him, Nick sat on the chair next to her and grinned. ‘I know why I couldn’t sleep, but what about you?’

Rose was literally lost for words. Never in a million years had she expected this. She could have wept with frustration because she had done so well over the past few days. She had behaved with impeccable and detached politeness and pointedly ignored him whenever she could get away with it, and when she couldn’t she had fallen back on talking about work. Yes, it was an ordeal, but at least the nights were hers. And now…How dared he invade her down time? Behaving for all the world as though he had every right?

‘I think you should go,’ Rose said coldly, rising to her feet. She snatched up the glass of water she had brought outside with her and spun round on her heel.

‘Not so fast.’

Before she knew it, he was standing in front of her, his hand biting into her arm.

‘What are you doing? Let me go.’

‘Tell me why you’re running away from me.’

‘I am not running away from you.’ If only she could sound a bit more convincing, but her voice was a high whisper and, Lord, her legs were like jelly.

‘You mean you’ve suddenly and coincidentally realised that you’re very tired and need to go to bed immediately?’

‘I mean…’ She took a deep breath to steady herself. This situation felt so intimate. Just the two of them, eyes locked, while the rest of the world slept. His semi nudity was an affront to all her senses, filling her up until it seemed to be the only thing she could see even though she was making every effort not to. ‘I mean that this is my private time and I don’t want you in it. I may work for you, Nick, but when I’m in my own quarters I don’t really expect you to barge in as though you own the place.’

‘Hardly barging in. I saw you through the trellis and, as neither of us could sleep, I figured I might as well pop over, make sure you were okay.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘You don’t look fine. You’re shaking. Are you cold? You’re wearing next to nothing.’

‘I’m wearing more than you.’

Nick gave her a rueful smile. ‘Apologies, but like you I didn’t expect company at one thirty in the morning. It was either this or nothing.’

Rose gulped.

‘I don’t possess pyjamas.’

‘Everyone possesses pyjamas.’

‘I challenge you to rifle through my belongings.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘Let’s go inside. We wouldn’t want the neighbours talking, would we?’ There was no chance of that. The hotel was cleverly designed to ensure that guests had almost total privacy, with only the double cabanas sharing the same veranda split by leafy trellises. Nick took advantage of her momentary lapse in concentration to walk into her rooms, which were identical to his with only variations in some of the decor to differentiate the two.

She was as neat as he had expected her to be. The little sitting area was tidy, unlike his, which always bore the signs of work in progress. She had only switched on the side light by the sofa and he preferred to leave it that way.

Looking at her, he could tell that she was on the verge of imploding and it had obviously hit home that she was in a very transparent item of clothing because her arms were once more protectively around her as she hovered by the door. Wondering, no doubt, what tactic she could employ to chuck him out.

Well, he had waited for days in a state of frustration. He wasn’t going to blow this chance. He wanted her and he knew that all he needed to do was smash through her veneer of polite aloofness and she would be his because she wanted him too. The air between them had sizzled ever since they had arrived on the island. He intended to douse it.

‘It’s mad to be up at this hour.’ Rose laughed nervously, keeping her distance. ‘We’ll be fit for nothing in the morning and we’ve another busy day ahead.’

Nick strolled lazily towards her until he was standing right in front of her. In the muted light, breathtakingly sexy and very, very dangerous. Every alarm bell in her head was clamouring, but there was still a part of her that scoffed at the notion that there might be anything to be afraid of. After all, what was he going to do? A man like that? Kiss her? Men like that, she knew, made passes at girls like her sister. They didn’t look at her twice and if her heart was beating like a hammer, it was simply because she was scared of her own reaction to him, scared of him getting physically any closer just in case her legs gave way and she did something undignified like swoon.

‘Sometimes mad can be fun,’ Nick mused. ‘Have you never done anything mad in your life, Rose?’

‘No.’ Rose laughed, this time a little hysterically. ‘No—’ she cleared her throat and tried to get a grip ‘—mad really isn’t me.’

‘How do you know if you’ve never tried?’

She had managed to somehow find herself with her back to the wall, which turned out to be not a very good idea as he now laid his hands on either side of her so that she seemed to be surrounded by him, locked in and deprived, if not literally of oxygen, then certainly of the ability to think coherently.

‘Here we are, Rose…on one of the most stunningly beautiful islands in the world. Outside, the night is like black velvet and in here…well, just the two of us…Shall I tell you what my mad thought is?’

No! Her head screamed. ‘What?’

‘This…’ Nick leant into her. She felt his hand cradle the back of her neck and she almost couldn’t believe what was happening even as her skin burned where he touched her.

‘No…’ she protested in a pathetically weak little voice and Nick half smiled, already hearing her submission and knowing, in that instant, that his suspicions had been right: she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. His body reared up with a sudden, savage heat that shocked him, and he brought his mouth down to hers, turned on by her small whimper as she parted her lips and closed her eyes.

Rose pressed her hands against his chest and felt the hard bunch of his muscles under the flat of her hand. Yes, of course she should push him away. That was a given.

She ran her hands over his chest, contouring the outline of his flat brown nipples, and moaned softly under her breath while his mouth continued to devour hers, catapulting common sense into orbit.

When she finally surfaced sufficiently to draw breath and speak, she did manage a weak protest, but her breasts, pressed against him, were aching and sensitive. Weeks of yearning left her helpless. The feel of him was like a miracle of revelation.

What had she ever done before? Had safe relationships and not even very many of them. She had chosen boyfriends on all the right grounds: compatibility, kindness, friendship.

This man was neither compatible, kind nor her friend and, even if she weren’t sharp enough to have sussed that for herself, his background spoke volumes. A life strewn with women who had stepped off the front covers of magazines, dismissive of commitment, driven but for reasons she had never valued.

Nick drew back and looked down at her. ‘One last chance,’ he said thickly.

‘For what?’ She knew exactly what he was talking about.

‘For decision-making. When morning comes, I don’t want to be accused of taking advantage of you.’

‘I would never do that.’

‘You misunderstand. We both go to your bedroom with our eyes wide open or tell me now to leave.’ And what would he do? Nick thought. Have another cold shower? Go for a swim in the sea? Switch on his computer and hope that numbers, reports and figures would distract him from the thought of her separated by the thickness of a wall?

He had never been in this position before, at the mercy of a woman, and he had to restrain himself from the indignity of trying to persuade her into the decision he wanted her to make.

Rose felt his body hard against hers. What choice did she have? Common sense was a plane-flight away. For now…it was time to be mad.