* * *
To hell with playing nice, thought Kate grimly, passing by Theo as he held open the villa’s front door after what had to be one of the most excruciating, most stressful evenings of her life.
What was wrong with him?
He’d been tense ever since he’d returned from his marathon swim, the progress of which she’d surreptitiously watched from the bedroom window while admiring the way he powered through the water, but tension was nothing new. It seemed to be embedded in his DNA.
However, the moment they’d gone through to supper, she’d noticed a dramatic change in his demeanour. He’d been even more on edge than usual, his mood black and rippling with swirling undercurrents that luckily it appeared only she had been able to detect. Outwardly he’d engaged, but inwardly he’d been somewhere else entirely and she’d lost count of the number of times she’d had to cover for him. He’d ruined for her a delicious dinner on a terrace that had the most incredible views with interesting and gracious hosts, and she badly wanted to know why.
‘Okay,’ she said, turning round to face him and crossing her arms over her chest as he closed the door and locked it. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing’s wrong,’ he said flatly.
‘Was it something I said? Something I did?’
‘You were fine,’ he muttered, moving round her and fixed himself a drink from the kitchenette. ‘Want anything?’
‘A glass of water, please.’
He filled a glass with some water and thrust it at her. As she took it from him, their fingers brushed and electricity arced through her, setting fire to her blood and charging the air surrounding them with a crackling sizzle.
‘Thank you,’ she said, firmly banking down the heat, ignoring the sizzle and getting a grip.
‘You’re welcome.’
‘Well, something was up,’ she continued, not planning to let it go any time soon despite his reluctance to share because she was done with guesswork and as
sumption and always getting it wrong. ‘You were all right at drinks and then not all right at supper. What happened in between?’
‘Nothing happened.’
Right. ‘Is there anything you want to talk about?’
His mouth twisted and he took a slug of his drink. ‘No.’
‘Sure?’
His jaw tightened. ‘Leave it, Kate.’
‘Because if there’s something I can do to help...?’
‘Okay, fine,’ he snapped, slamming his glass down and shoving his hands through his hair. ‘Actually, you are what’s wrong.’
Oh. That was a blow. ‘But I thought you said I did all right,’ she said, frowning.
‘You did,’ he said, stalking towards her with a look in his eye that had her instinctively wanting to retreat. ‘Do you want to know what I was thinking at dinner when I should have been paying attention to the conversation?’
Did she? Suddenly she wasn’t at all sure. Every drop of intelligence she possessed was telling her that if she had any sense of self-preservation at all she should get far, far away because she sensed he was on the brink of a confession from which there’d be no return. But she’d pushed for this and she wasn’t going to back down now, so she ignored the warning voice in her head, and said, ‘Of course.’
‘I was thinking about you, Kate,’ he said, his voice low and rough as he came to a stop just in front of her. ‘In that bed upstairs. With me. And no pillows down the middle.’
His eyes blazed into hers with more heat than she could possibly have imagined and her body flamed in response. Her pulse galloped and desire pooled between her legs. ‘Well, that’s not going to happen,’ she said a lot more breathlessly than she’d have liked. ‘Let’s not forget the only reason I’m here, Theo. Because you blackmailed me. I wouldn’t sleep with you again if you were the last man on earth.’
‘Wouldn’t you?’
‘No.’
His dark eyes glittered. ‘Are you sure about that?’