If she put some distance between them and filled her mind with something else, then she could get herself back under control, she knew she could. As long as she didn’t look at him. As long as he put a shirt on. And maybe he should shave, too. There was something wickedly attractive about his roughened jaw.
Pirate.
Thoroughly flustered, she took several steps backwards. ‘I’m not looking for a relationship, Josh.’ She felt breathless and lightheaded under his searching gaze.
‘You may not have been looking,’ he murmured, raising the bottle of beer to his lips again, ‘but I have a feeling you might have just found one, angel.’
His soft endearment made her breath hitch in her throat and she took another step backwards. ‘I’m going to help Louisa with the barbecue.’ Without giving him a chance to answer, she turned and virtually sprinted across the grass to where Louisa was carefully laying pieces of chicken on the barbecue.
‘This is my secret recipe for barbecue chicken.’ She cast a smile in Kat’s direction. ‘It’s quite spicy. I hope you like it. Are you all right? Your face is pink. Maybe you should wear a hat.’
Kat lifted a hand to her cheek, relieved that Louisa hadn’t sensed the tense atmosphere between her and Josh. ‘It is a little warm.’ But she knew that if she was pink it had nothing to do with the heat of the August sunshine and everything to do with the way Josh made her feel.
Like a woman.
Like an attractive woman.
And she wasn’t used to feeling that way. She bit her lip and passed Louisa a plate. She was used to feeling like a doctor. She was used to feeling like a mother. But she wasn’t used to feeling like a woman.
‘You’ve got time for a swim if you want one.’ Louisa placed more chicken on the barbecue and Archie came sprinting up to them.
‘Can we swim, Mum? Please? I’m boiled and so is Hopeful.’
The prospect of swimming had seemed very appealing when she’d woken that morning and seen the sunshine. But that had been before she’d discovered that Josh was present. Wherever she went she was aware of his gaze lingering on her, and her body was rapidly reaching boiling point. What was
the matter with her? she wondered desperately. She never thought about sex and suddenly she could think about nothing else. It was just because she’d denied herself for so long, she reasoned, determined to apply logic to the situation. She just needed something to take her mind off Josh, and who better to do that than her son?
She smiled at him. ‘All right, let’s go swimming.’
Cold water. Lots of it. And physical activity. Surely that had to be a good thing.
Archie gave a whoop of excitement and immediately struggled out of his shorts and T-shirt, dropping them with careless abandon on the grass.
Louisa smiled indulgently. ‘He’s gorgeous, Kat, you’re so lucky. Josh…’ She waved a spatula at her brother-in-law. ‘Go with them and do your lifeguard bit. They should avoid that area round the rocks. The currents are deadly.’
Kat glanced at her in dismay. She didn’t want Josh to go with them. It was the last thing she wanted. ‘We’ll be fine, honestly, we don’t need—’
‘Josh will go with you,’ Louisa said firmly. ‘We don’t want any accidents. I’m not as nimble as I used to be.’
Everyone laughed and suddenly Kat remembered what Josh had said about Louisa interfering and matchmaking. Was she up to something? She looked at the other woman suspiciously but Louisa was concentrating hard on turning the chicken, her expression innocent.
Kat relaxed. Of course Louisa wasn’t up to anything. She was just a naturally kind, caring woman. She obviously hadn’t sensed the chemistry between Kat and Josh and therefore hadn’t recognised that Kat was trying to put distance between them.
And Josh was already wearing a pair of surf shorts so he’d clearly intended to swim at some point during the day.
Horribly self-conscious, Kat stripped down to the emerald green swimsuit she was wearing under her shorts. He saw millions of women on the beach every day, she reminded herself, gritting her teeth and telling herself not to be so ridiculous. If she ignored him, he’d soon lose interest.
And then her life could get back to normal.
She could forget about Josh.
They could work together as colleagues and nothing more.
It was going to be fine.
* * *
Josh followed Archie and Kat into the sea at a safe distance, making a mental note to have a stern word with Louisa when Kat wasn’t around. The girl was up to her tricks again. Not that he’d objected to the idea of a swim, but he liked to be in control of his own love life and he certainly didn’t want Louisa’s help, no matter how sweet and well meaning she was. From the moment Louisa had innocently suggested a swim he’d known what she was up to. Fortunately Kat seemed oblivious but, then, she didn’t know Louisa as well as he did, he thought grimly.