‘Amelia...’ There was a warning tone in his voice. She ignored it.
‘I’m only being honest.’
‘It shouldn’t have happened.’
She made a noise of frustration. ‘Yeah, well, it did. Are you going to ignore me for the rest of the time I’m here?’
He angled his face away. ‘It’s for the best.’
She stared at him, frustration eating her, but whatever doubts she’d had earlier his determination to box away what had happened, as though it was a simple aberration they could both forget, filled her with a sense of absolute determination.
‘Are you seriously going to sit there and act as though you can just flick a switch and feel nothing for me?’
He turned to face her, his eyes showing impatience. ‘I don’t feel anything for you.’
‘I’m not talking about emotions.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘I mean chemistry. Desire. Lust.’
He ground his teeth, his jaw tightening with the movement. ‘What do you want from me?’
‘I want you to look at me. I want you to stop ignoring me and pretending it didn’t happen. I want you to acknowledge that you still want me.’
When he turned to face her, his expression was like granite. ‘It shouldn’t have happened.’ He stood, scraping the chair back.
But she wasn’t ready for him to simply walk away from her.
‘You keep saying it shouldn’t have happened, but I wanted it to! And I’d do it all again. I’d do it again right now, if you weren’t acting like a coward, too scared to face up to this.’
He made a growling noise. ‘You have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Don’t I? Or is this what it’s like for you? You have sex with a woman and then move on without a backwards glance?’
‘Generally, yes.’
She blanched a little, so he felt a wave of remorse.
‘But we are living in close quarters for the next few weeks and, believe me, ignoring you is best—for both of us.’
* * *
Amelia had waited up on purpose but the sight of Santos striding into his home still hit her with an unexpected wave of sensation. Emotions fired through her, and her body responded in kind, as though recognising its master. How she hated that.
‘Amelia?’ He stilled, his eyes sweeping over her in that way he had. ‘What are you doing awake?’
‘I want to talk to you.’
He compressed his lips. ‘We’ve already spoken.’
‘It’s not about us.’ Hurt lanced her, his easy dismissal making her feel like a nuisance. ‘It’s Cameron.’
Wariness crept across his features. He moved towards her, pausing a few feet away, a safe distance, but none the less her senses went into overdrive.
‘Go on.’
‘I get that you’re ignoring me, but if the by-product of that is you ignoring him, not being home the whole time he’s awake, then my being here is completely pointless.’
‘I disagree. You being here is meant to help Cameron adjust to life on the island, life in Greece. You’re doing that.’
‘And what about helping him adjust to you?’ she pushed, her eyes loaded with feeling.