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‘Tough. In fairness, I think my art teacher when I was sixteen was quite blunt when she said I was hopeless.’

Hope burst out laughing. ‘Cruel woman.’

‘I didn’t mind. She was very cute. Somehow that made what she said a lot easier to swallow. Right.’ He raked his fingers through his hair. ‘I’ll leave you to get on with the rest of your day. Do your own thing. You know the lay of the land. If you need me, you have my number. You can text me.’

He spun round quickly, which made her feel as though he was keen to make up for lost time and clear off as fast as he could.

On cue, Hope backed away, already telling herself that it would be a relief if she didn’t set eyes on him for the rest of the day.

Yes, she knew how to occupy herself and was confident enough to find her way around the kitchen, which was now fully stocked with enough fresh food to last them both several days.

She was better prepared when she headed back down to the cove. She took some snacks, some water and all her equipment but she still made sure to take her time heading down.

Two trips.

No rushing. Not that she was concerned about going all giddy and light-headed again.

She would do her best to get the wretched man out of her head and focus instead on enjoying the spectacular scenery and being at peace in her surroundings.

And of course, taking enough photos so that if her mother asked her to show her what she’d been up to on her so-called photographic freelance job, she could whip them out as convenient proof.

She stretched out the enormous towel she had brought down with her, lying down on it in her vest and with her jeans rolled halfway up her calves. After pulling her cap over her eyes, she fell asleep.

How long would she have carried on sleeping?

She was more tired than she’d thought. She wasn’t sure just what had woken her, but she surfaced to the warmth of the sun on her body and the soft lapping of waves in her ears.

And a shadow looming over her.

She started and struggled up into a sitting position just as Javier lowered himself to sit on the towel next to her.

‘Don’t start fainting on me again.’

‘What are you doing here? What time is it?’

‘You’ve been down here for over two hours.’

‘What?’ Hope yelped, scrabbling to unearth her mobile which she had stuck in the front pocket of her backpack. ‘I must have fallen asleep,’ she groaned.

‘Not a crime. You’re probably still recovering from jet lag. There’s no need to leap to your feet. I haven’t come here to chivvy you along. I just thought I’d check and make sure you were all right.’

* * *

Javier had surprised Hope by showing up without warning and it was obvious. As he looked at her anxious, panicked response he could see that the last thing she wanted was for him to be suddenly sharing a towel with her.

Annoyingly, the woman was getting to him in ways he couldn’t have predicted. For the second time, he’d been propelled to seek her out and, when confronted with being asked why, had resorted to a something and nothing lie about wanting to make sure she was all right. When in truth…

‘That’s not quite the only reason I’m down here,’ he admitted in a roughened undertone.

‘I thought you said you’d be working and that I should do my own thing for the remainder of the day. Please don’t tell me that you don’t trust me to be smart enough to find my way around the kitchen and get myself some lunch if I’m hungry.’

‘You’re smart enough for a hell of a lot more than that.’

‘Then why are you here?’

‘I do happen to own this place.’

Hope flushed. ‘You know what I mean.’