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She frowned, looking out at the pure blue sky and the glittering azure sea in the bay below her. It was time to stop waiting for Nik.
It was a beautiful Mediterranean day and she’d take Danny and go exploring. They’d already investigated every nook and cranny of the villa’s beautiful garden, but now she decided to go further afield. She’d take the path that she’d discovered led down to a private beach far below.
She knocked back the last of her juice and lifted Danny out of his highchair.
‘Let’s go.’ She smiled at him. ‘Are you going to walk a little bit today?’ She held his hands and guided him along in his funny, bouncy tiptoeing walk. He’d been pulling himself up to stand, even ‘cruising’ around the room, hanging onto the furniture, for a month or so, but he’d shown no real desire to actually walk yet.
Half an hour later Carrie set off along the winding path, finding it a delightful walk down a wooded slope to the beach. The going was steep, and she was glad of the three-wheeler buggy that Irene had produced from somewhere, but the tantalising glimpses of sparkling sea would have drawn her on even if she’d had to carry Danny and the very heavy bag.
It was wonderful to be out and about on her own with Danny, and in hardly any time at all she turned one last bend and there in front of her was a gorgeous curve of beach and the glittering blue sea. But right across the path there was a tall wrought-iron gate, blocking her way.
She stopped in her tracks and stared at it. Was it locked? Would she have to turn back? At that moment the gate swung soundlessly inward on well-oiled hinges, and Carrie noticed the little camera and voice grid mounted on the gatepost.
‘Thank you!’ she called, looking up at the camera and smiling as she recalled Nik’s words about the best security system. No doubt cameras covered the beach as well—their usual purpose being to prevent intruders making their way onto Kristallis property, but on this occasion to stop her trying to flag down a passing boat in an attempt to sail away with Danny.
The idea suddenly struck her as funny. Despite Nik’s comment in the limousine she knew that the security system hadn’t really been set up to keep her prisoner, but she had the sudden childish impulse to start acting suspiciously for the benefit of the cameras, just to see what would happen.
At that moment Danny squealed, and started wriggling against his harness. She’d never taken him to a beach before, and his eyes were round and bright as he stared out at the exciting terrain.
She pushed the buggy through the gate and found herself at the top of a few steps down to the beach. The steps were wide and sloping and, being constructed of sun-bleached olive wood packed with silvery grey pebbles, were in perfect sympathy with the unspoilt beach. They looked as if they’d been there for years.
Carrie stooped to lift Danny out of his seat, and a moment later she was crunching across the narrow beach towards the sea, with Danny’s cries of excitement tickling her cheek.
‘Isn’t it lovely?’ she murmured, quietly absorbing the subtle beauty of the setting. It truly was a charming bay, with a sweeping arc of silver pebbles giving way to a strip of rich golden sand that was gently lapped by the water. At each end of the small bay precipitous ochre cliffs plunged into the peacock-blue sea, and behind her the wooded slopes rose up steeply, enclosing her in a beautiful secluded paradise.
If she’d wanted a shady spot she could have settled under the branches of the wizened old olive trees that edged the beach, but she was enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin too much. She put Danny down and sat beside him, letting her fingers close over a warm flat pebble. All the pebbles seemed to be perfectly smooth, perfectly round—perfect for skimming.
With a dip of her body and a flick of her wrist she flipped the pebble out over the sea. One bounce, two bounces and it disappeared under the water with a plop.
Danny let out an excited squeal and grabbed up a handful of pebbles to launch at the sea himself.
‘Oh, dear.’ She smiled wryly. ‘I probably shouldn’t be teaching you to throw stones!’ But even though she knew she shouldn’t, she just couldn’t resist it.
A few minutes later, encouraged by Danny’s enthusiastic response, she was standing up and practising her skimming skills. It was ages since she’d skimmed stones, and try as she might she couldn’t manage more than two bounces.
Suddenly a stone whizzed past her shoulder and tripped across the water. One, two, three, four, five bounces, before breaking the surface and sinking down into the clear sea.
She gasped and looked round, to see Nik standing on the beach behind her.
He was smiling broadly. It was a heart-stoppingly gorgeous expression she’d never seen him show before, and suddenly butterflies started to flutter in her stomach.
She smiled back, instinctively matching the warmth in his expression, and a surge of excitement ran through her. She’d spent the last five days resenting his absence, but somehow his smile had the power to lift her mood. All at once she was brimming with memories of their lovemaking, and she let her eyes run over him with a buzz of pure pleasure.
He was wearing worn jeans and a tight black T-shirt and he looked simply incredible. He was dressed more casually than she’d ever seen him before, but the look really suited him—the short sleeves showing off the well-defined muscles of his arms, the snug jeans emphasising the lean athletic strength of his long legs.
‘Hello,’ he said, still smiling. ‘How are you? How’s Danny?’
‘We’re fine.’ Carrie suddenly found it a challenge to bring her thoughts into any kind of order as his blue eyes caught hold of hers. ‘He’s full of beans today.’
‘That’s good,’ Nik replied. ‘I’ve always liked it here.’ He knelt down next to them and leant forward to catch Danny’s attention. ‘Hello, what have you been doing?’
Carrie watched them with a curious feeling spreading through her. As far as she could remember Nik had never spoken directly to Danny before. It seemed as if he actually wanted to engage properly with his nephew for the first time.
‘Um…learning to throw stones,’ Carrie said awkwardly.
‘Everyone likes to throw stones into water,’ Nik said with a shrug, still maintaining eye contact with the baby. ‘We’ll just have to teach you to be careful when people are around, won’t we?’
Danny grinned and lifted his arms, as if he wanted Nik to pick him up. Nik glanced over at Carrie, then reached out and swung Danny up into his arms.
