‘Prim, proper, prissy,’ Angel labelled without hesitation.
‘Your first lover? What age were you?’ she pressed, defying that censure while wondering how on earth he could still think of her that way after the time they had spent together.
‘Too young. You don’t want to know,’ Angel traded.
‘I do want to know,’ Merry argued, stretching indolently in the drenching heat, only vaguely wondering what time it was. They had spent the morning swimming and entertaining Elyssa on the beach and then Sally had come down to collect their daughter and take her back up to the house for lunch and a nap. Now the surf was whispering onto the shore a hundred yards below them while the cane forest that sheltered the orange grove from the coastal breezes concealed them entirely from view.
‘I was fourteen. She was one of my mother’s friends,’ Angel admitted grimly.
Frowning, Merry flipped over to stare at him. ‘Seriously?’
‘You’re still so naïve,’ Angel groaned, lifting up on his elbows to study her, hard muscles flexing on his bare bronzed torso, the vee at his hipbones prominent above the low-slung shorts as he leant back. Just looking at that display of stark masculine beauty made her mouth run dry and her heart give a sudden warning thud, awareness thundering through her at storm-force potency.
‘What do you think it was like here when I was an adolescent with Angelina in charge?’ he chided. ‘I came home for the summer from school and there were no rules whatsoever. Back then it was all wild, decadent parties and the house was awash with people. Believe it or not, my mother was even less inhibited in those days and, being an oversexed teenager, I naturally thought the freedom to do anything I liked was amazing and I never let my father know how debauched it was.’
‘So, your first experience was with an older woman,’ Merry gathered, determined to move on past that sordid revelation and not judge, because when he had been that young and innocent she believed he had been more sinned against than he had been a sinner.
‘And the experience was disappointing,’ Angel admitted with derisive bite. ‘It felt sleazy, not empowering. I felt used. When the parties here got too much I used to go down and camp out with Roula’s family for a few days.’
‘She lived here on the island back then?’ Merry said in surprise.
‘Still does. Roula was born and bred on Palos, like me. This is her home base too. She runs a chain of beauty salons, comes back here for a break. Unlike me, she had a regular family with parents who were still married and their home was a little oasis of peace and normality… I loved escaping there,’ he confided. ‘Rules and regular meal times have more appeal than you would appreciate.’
‘I can understand that,’ Merry conceded ruefully. ‘My mother was very disorganised. She’d want to eat and there’d be nothing in the fridge. She’d want to go out and she wouldn’t have a babysitter arranged. Sometimes she just left me in bed and went out anyway. I never told Sybil that. But when I was with Sybil, everything was structured.’
‘Thee mou… I forgot!’ Angel exclaimed abruptly. ‘Your aunt phoned to ask me if there was any chance we’d be back in the UK in the next couple of weeks because your mother’s coming over to stay with her for a while and she wants to see you. I said I’d try to organise it.’
Merry frowned, reluctant to get on board with yet another reconciliation scene with her estranged mother. Natalie enjoyed emotional scenes, enjoyed asking her daughter why she couldn’t act more like a normal daughter and love and appreciate her, not seeming to realise that the time for laying the foundation for such bonds lay far behind them. They had missed that boat and Merry had learned to get by without a mother by replacing her with the more dependable Sybil.
‘You’re not keen,’ Angel gathered, shrewd dark golden eyes scanning her expressive troubled face. ‘Sybil made it sound like it was really important that you show up at some stage. I think she’s hoping you’ll mend fences with her sister.’
Merry shrugged jerkily. ‘I’ve tried before and it never worked. Sybil’s a peacemaker and wants everyone to be happy but I always annoy Natalie by saying or doing the wrong thing.’