‘Regrets?’
‘None in the slightest. How’s the shoulder?’
‘Fine. Like I said, it’s just a scratch.’
I rolled my eyes and grinned, which elicited a smile from him in return before he slid his gaze from mine to the view beyond the four walls of the room. ‘The storm’s over.’
‘So I see.’
‘I took another look at the generator. The power’s back on. You can charge your phone.’
‘I’m not sure I want to,’ I said with a faint shudder at the thought of how many emails and missed calls I might have. ‘Can you let Seb know we’re OK?’
‘Sure.’
‘And the headlines? The photographers?’
‘Gone.’
‘Thank you.’
‘So there’s nothing to stop you from leaving.’
As his observation hung in the space between us, I realised with a disconcerting and unpleasant jolt that, theoretically, he was right. Not only had the threat of the press been neutralised, I’d also electronically signed the contract he’d emailed me while despairing about my response to him and fretting over the weather, so in that respect I’d achieved what I’d set out to achieve. The tension between us was history and we’d made a good start on clearing up all those misunderstandings. I could get up right now, put a call in to James and pack my things. I could be home in less than twenty-four hours.
But I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do less. I wasn’t done here. Not by a long shot. Why on earth would I willingly give up the best sex of my life when it was still so new and exciting? Besides, the new level of understanding we were beginning to reach was fragile and needed further strengthening. Basically, this whole thing felt like unfinished business.
‘Do you want me to?’ I asked, my breath catching and my heart skipping a beat since it was impossible to tell from the look on his face what his opinion on the subject might be.
He shook his head. ‘No.’
My lungs relaxed and warmth flooded through me, the relief almost overwhelming. Thank goodness for that. I didn’t need to stay long. I had a job and a life to get back to, a fortune to manage and a future to plan. So there’d be no danger of whatever was going on here turning into something more, of emotions becoming engaged or of me finding myself suddenly in too deep and unable to get out, as I’d feared only yesterday. There simply wouldn’t be time.
‘Well, I suppose I don’t need to go just yet,’ I said, my heart pounding wildly as, incredibly, desire began to drum through me all over again. ‘As you pointed out, we have years to make up for. I can always get the morning-after pill flown over. And I do have a few days of leave left. It seems a shame to waste them, don’t you think?’
‘Good decision,’ he practically growled as he slowly stalked towards me, weakening my muscles and melting my bones with his athletic grace and powerful intent. ‘A truly excellent decision.’
CHAPTER TEN
ITWASAgood couple of hours before we resurfaced. When my stomach gave a rumble that put a stop to proceedings, Nick declared it was time for brunch and headed downstairs. I returned to my room to freshen up and to tease the knots out of my very tangled hair, which took quite a while given the mess he’d made of it. At the entrance to the kitchen, I gave him a twirl with a jazz hand ‘ta-da’ and he glanced up from the chopping board to give me a smile that stole the breath from my lungs and the wits from my head.
‘If I’d known we were dressing up,’ he said, evidently appreciating the one formal dress I’d packed judging by the heat in his gaze as it roamed over me, ‘I’d have put on my tux.’
He didn’t need a tux. He looked just fine in the pair of loose jogging pants he wore low on his hips. Better than fine. He looked good enough to eat but my body couldn’t take any more and I was ravenous in a different way. ‘You’re funny.’
‘I can be. You’re stunning.’
‘In this old thing?’ I said, brushing aside the squeeze of my chest in response to his compliment and instead sidling towards him with a wave of one hand at the strapless pale pink sequinned bodice that flared out to a knee-length tulle skirt of the same colour. ‘It’s the only clean item of clothing I have left to wear.’
His eyebrows rose and his eyes darkened. ‘Nothing else?’
‘Nothing else.’ Let him make of that what he wished. ‘It’s very liberating. Nice and airy.’
‘Your clothes have always given me trouble,’ he said, turning to the fridge and extracting a bowl. ‘The image of you in that bikini stuck to my brain like a limpet. It didn’t matter what you wore after that. I inevitably imagined you naked. It was immensely frustrating.’
‘Am I meant to apologise?’
‘You’re meant to eat. You need to keep your strength up.’