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He swallowed his food. ‘You have six months to convince yourself of that. For now, you should eat something. We will be leaving soon.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Back to London.’

Thank God for that.

It would get better when they were back there, she assured herself, when cold drizzle and concrete greeted her rather than brilliant blue skies and palm trees.

London was her home. Her territory. It was where she belonged.

She hid her relief to ask, ‘What happened to your holiday?’

‘We have wheels to set in motion, matia mou…a wedding to prepare.’

‘You said we wouldn’t announce our engagement until your cousin’s wedding.’

‘We still need to arrange our own and you need to return to work and inform your colleagues that the tip-off you had been given about me is completely unfounded and that you are so convinced of my innocence that you have fallen madly in love with me.’

She scoffed.

He laughed loudly. ‘I’m sure faking mad, passionate love will not be a problem for such an accomplished actress as yourself.’ Getting to his feet, he stretched his back. ‘I’m going to have a swim in the pool before we leave. Can I tempt you to strip off those clothes that are making you so uncomfortable to join me?’

‘I can’t think of anything less tempting.’

He shrugged and whipped off his T-shirt, the movement sending a wave of his cologne into her senses. The sun shone down on his bare torso, his toned and oh-so-masculine physique seeming to shimmer under it.

Tiny pulses set off low inside her as she remembered just how good it had felt to be held so tightly against that body…

Moisture filled her mouth and she fisted her hands against her thighs while striving to keep her features neutral, fighting the fresh hunger uncoiling itself inside her.

For a long moment he stared at her. A smile played on the lips that had kissed her so thoroughly, before he placed his T-shirt on the back of his chair. ‘Are you sure you’re not tempted?’

‘Very sure.’ But she wished her voice sounded more convincing and that she was the only one to have heard the husky rasp that had come into it.

His eyes gleaming, he hunched over to whisper into her ear, ‘Your mouth says one thing, matia mou, but your eyes say another. I know which I believe.’

The sensation of his warm breath against her skin was all too fleeting for no sooner had he spoken than he was striding away from her.

‘You’ve only just eaten so try not to get a stitch while you’re swimming,’ she called out, forcing strength into her voice. ‘It would be dreadful if you were to drown before we marry.’

He turned but didn’t stop walking, surefooted even as he trod backwards. ‘But it would mean you having to give me the kiss of life so it would be an excellent way to meet my maker.’

Then he winked and hardly broke stride to turn around again.

Carrie put a hand to her chest, her heart thumping hard against it, watching the long, muscular legs walk away from her.

Once he was out of sight, she took some deep breaths and closed her eyes.

It would all feel different when she was back on home soil.

It had to.

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE ELEGANT FIGURE stepped out of the revolving doors with an older woman a pace behind her, the two women chatting between themselves.

The older woman was the first to spot him standing against a black Bentley watching them. She nudged Carrie and nodded in his direction.

He raised a hand in greeting.

Carrie’s eyes found his. Even with the distance separating them Andreas could see the high colour slashing her cheeks as she mimicked his greeting, then used the same hand to smooth a loose strand of hair that had fallen from the knot it had been tied into off her face, then to smooth her long cream overcoat. Her movements were rapid but her colleague noticed, a smile spreading on her face as she watched Carrie subconsciously groom herself.

After a beat, Carrie said something to her colleague, then walked steadily to him, chin aloft, her right hand clutching the strap of her handbag to her chest.

‘This is a pleasant surprise,’ she said when she reached him, speaking in a voice loud enough that those of her nearby colleagues, all hurrying to the nearby underground station in their eagerness to get home, would be able to hear. The inflection of surprise she put in it was a masterstroke.

Andreas had been waiting by his car for twenty minutes. He estimated a dozen of the people who had come out of the building that housed the Daily Times had done a double take at his presence outside their offices.

He gave a slow smile, feasting his eyes on the face that had consumed his thoughts all day. The wind picked up the strand of hair she’d only just smoothed down and he reached out to tuck it behind her delicate ear.

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