AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Ah. I thought so!’
‘You did?’
‘Uh-huh.’ Pushing away her barely touched plate, she smiled. ‘I can imagine you wielding a sledgehammer on a building site. You’ve definitely got the build for it—no joke intended.’
For some reason, Leon found her remark slightly insulting. Was she implying he was all brawn and no brains? For a moment he was tempted to tell her that he’d been offered a place at Stanford at a precociously young age, until he’d decided that his future didn’t lie in academia and he needed to get out there and make some money. But then he wondered what he was thinking. This wasn’t some sort of boasting exercise. He certainly wasn’t there in order to establish his intellectual credentials, or prove himself to her. He knew exactly why he was there—and judging from the sexual energy which had been fizzing between them from the get-go, she knew it too.
‘Have you finished?’ he asked.
She surveyed her plate. ‘Well, I have and I haven’t. I really don’t want to offend the chef, but I’m not hungry.’
‘Me, neither.’
‘Must be the heat.’
‘Must be.’ There was a long pause. ‘Don’t worry about the chef,’ he said softly. ‘We’ll make sure we tip generously.’
‘Yes. Yes, of course.’ Hastily, she reached for her beach bag and a sandy shell fell onto the table as she started to rummage around inside. ‘I’ll get my purse—when I can find it, that is. I’m happy to split the bill.’
Leon’s eyes narrowed. It was a novel experience to have a woman offer to pay and for a moment he thought about letting her, because novel experiences were rare in his world. Until he reminded himself that despite the clifftop restaurant’s deceptively rustic appearance, the food commanded prices far beyond the reach of most mortals. He shook his head. ‘No, you won’t—but thanks for the offer. I’ll see to it.’
‘But—’
‘I said, I’ll pay. Now, would you like to look at the desserts before I ask for the check, or would you prefer to walk on the beach and catch the last of the sunset?’
His words floated on the warm air and as Marnie stared into his sculpted face, she was unbearably tempted. Until he’d suggested it, she hadn’t been aware of just how much she wanted to be alone with him—away from the frankly intrusive glances of the attendant staff who seemed to be hovering around their table quite unnecessarily in her opinion, considering they were the only customers in the place.
But she wasn’t stupid and she knew how the world worked. If it were possible for a person to be aware of the corrupting power of sex without ever having had any actual experience of it—then Marnie was that person. She had been brought up to fear it. To be aware of all the trouble it could get a woman into. It was why it hadn’t particularly bothered her when men had accused her of being frigid or cold, whenever she’d failed to respond to their fumbling kisses. But those kisses had felt like ambushes, whereas the thought of Leon’s lips pressing down on hers was making her feel quite dizzy with need.
He was making it clear that he found her attractive and maybe she should be scared by the knowledge of where that could lead. Maybe she should tell him that if he wanted to see her again, then he should take her number and call her and then arrange a second date. That was what you were supposed to do, wasn’t it?
But she wasn’t going to.
Because Marnie knew better than anyone how fleeting happiness could be and something was telling her that if she didn’t grab at whatever he was offering, she might never get the chance again. Why wouldn’t she want to take a walk with this gorgeous man whose black waves tumbled so riotously against his darkly golden skin?
Which was why she nodded. Why she rose to her feet with a solemn expression. Why she accepted that she was about to break one of her most fundamental rules—and break it big time. ‘I’d like that very much.’ Her fingers tightened around the strap of her beach bag. ‘I’ll just use the bathroom and then I’m all yours.’
Her words were clumsy and open to misinterpretation and she wished she could take them back. But there again, why should she?
They both knew what was on the menu for tonight and it certainly wasn’t fish and salad.
CHAPTER THREE
HIS LIPS WERE SOFT. Surprisingly soft. Marnie had thought they would be hard. Hard like his body. Hard like the fierce blue glint of his eyes. But what did she know, other than when Leon Kanonidou pulled her into his arms it felt as if this were the reason she’d been born?
They had left the restaurant and walked slowly along the sand, the pain in her heel gradually receding as they watched the setting sun make its slow descent in the sky before finally slipping into the sea. Their arms brushing occasionally, they had commented on the soft sound of the waves and the fiery glow of the dying embers. But that conversation had felt mechanical, rather than natural, and it had filled Marnie with all kinds of fears—the main one being that she had totally misjudged the situation and maybe the attraction she felt for him was one-sided.
She’d found herself wishing he would touch her. But he hadn’t. They’d just walked and walked until all the daylight had disappeared and faint stars had begun to puncture the moonless sky, before turning to retrace their steps towards his motorbike. And the more he had kept his distance, the more she had wanted him.
They had turned to retrace their steps and Marnie had seen the restaurant in the distance—all brightly lit up like a cruise liner. They must have started playing music after they’d left but as they stopped to listen to the faint chords of a bouzouki drifting on the warm air, she had been acutely aware of a sinking sense of disappointment.
So was this it? Was her determination to do something wild and free for the first time in her life about to amount to nothing, because the man she was with wasn’t interested in her? Maybe he really had just been acting as an impromptu guide, eager to show the English tourist the hidden delights of Paramenios.
And then, almost as if he’d read her mind, Leon caught hold of her and turned her round, his hands on either side of her waist. She held her breath because his touch felt electric and he studied her upturned face for what felt like a long time, before lowering his head to kiss her.
It was...dynamite.
It was...life-changing.
