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He studied her, his eyebrows raised. Her anxiety mounted. He didn’t seem to be buying it. She touched his arm and then regretted it because the feel of his skin sent her heart further into overdrive. “I’m used to getting her organised. It’s what I did when she first started out.” She paused to take a deep breath and smiled. “And I am her PA for this trip, after all.”

He returned her smile and shook his head. “There’s no need to apologise. It’s not your fault.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it kind of is.” She paused. “I was a bit hard on her this morning.”

He nodded slowly. There was a weird look on his face, and it seemed as if he was deliberately holding back from asking any more. “Don’t worry. You’ll rise above it and work it out.”

She held his gaze for a moment, trying to fathom what he meant by ‘rise above it’. Staring into his eyes was doing weird things to her insides, so she looked away. “Maybe I should go, to give you and Ash some time to yourselves.”

“Absolutely not,” he said quickly.

She glanced at him, taken aback by his firm tone.

He paused. “I mean…we’d be delighted if you came back to the villa for a bit. It doesn’t matter if Isla’s with us or not.” He rubbed his neck. “We’d love to have you.”

Nina took a glance over at the surf where Ash seemed to be rolling around taking photos of herself as the water washed over her. “Are you sure?”

“Definitely,” he said, smiling. “Ash was thrilled that you were coming today. She says you’re cute and smart.”

Nina laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called ‘cute’ before.” She wrinkled her nose. “Difficult, maybe.”

He frowned. “Difficult? Why?”

She shrugged. “It’s the sort of thing that women in science and technology have to contend with. In male-dominated careers, if females show any assertiveness, that’s how they get labelled.”

He nodded. “I get that. The women in my field struggle to get the recognition that the men come by easily.”

Nina raised her eyebrows. She’d expected him to brush it off. She found it unusual that guys would notice it under their own steam. The majority of the time they were oblivious, because the prejudice didn’t affect them.

The more she spoke to him, the more he surprised her. He seemed so different from the first impression she’d had of him.

She smiled at him and he reciprocated the expression. The weird churning in her stomach intensified.

“Hey, did you find Isla?”

Nina tore her eyes from Cam’s to where Ash was coming to sit next to her. “No,” she said. “She left.”

Ash frowned, taking off her wide-brimmed sun hat and fanning herself with it. “Oh? Where’d she go?”

Nina glanced at Cam. It wasn’t appropriate to say that Isla had buggered off with Ash’s ex. “She’s gone to meet someone. We’re not sure who…probably a guy.”

Ash opened her mouth to say something but Cameron interjected. “I’ve asked Nina to come back to the villa. She can stay for dinner,” he said.

Nina smiled at him, grateful that he’d prevented Ash from asking which guy Isla might be with—and also that his previous invitation had been extended to dinner. She didn’t mind eating on her own, but it was one of the few things that she preferred to do in company. He gave her a wink and her pulse picked up pace.

Ash rubbed her hands together. “Awesome idea. Shall we go back now? I feel like I’ve got sand in every crevice.”

Nina smiled. “Fine by me.”

Cameron stood and started packing the stuff back into their bag. He glanced at Nina. “You can take a dip in the pool again if you’d like.”

She pulled her sundress on and paused. Had he noticed how much she loved the pool? She’d always enjoyed the water. She shook her head and carried on dressing. It was probably just a general comment rather than him being interested in her as a person.

They gathered their belongings and walked over to the Jeep, Ash arm in arm with her. Nina found that she was enjoying Ash’s company more and more. She could see why everybody found her so captivating. Even though they didn’t have a great deal in common, Nina found her kind and entertaining, and in any case, she had always prided herself on having an eclectic collection of friends rather than just a clone army.

They climbed into the car, Nina in the back and the others in front. She buckled in and Cameron started along the hill road. Ash started chatting with them in her usual not-expecting-much-of-a-response sort of way, which Nina now found rather refreshing. She liked that she could sit back and listen without having to process too much or make conversation. She got the feeling Cam was doing the same. Her eyes strayed to the flex of his arms as he steered the car. She inadvertently made eye contact with him in the rear-view mirror and he smiled. She smiled back and glanced away, heat rising in her cheeks. What’s wrong with me? He’s taken and he’s also a massively famous star who wouldn’t look twice at me, even if he were single.

She turned her attention to the scenery out of the window, missing Isla. What was going on with her? She was behaving so erratically. She’d always had a tendency to be flighty but not like this—and not when the collaboration meant so much to her. It was as if she was on a self-destructive streak. Also, it was strange how she’d taken a dislike to Ash, because Nina would’ve said under normal circumstances that Ash was more Isla’s cup of tea than her own.