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It might have benefited his business, but it had done nothing for his ability to trust women.
He really, really didn’t believe in love and she was beginning to understand why.
* * *
What the hell was the matter with him?
Zander ground his teeth in irritation. He never spilled his guts to anyone, and here he was talking to Lauranne about subjects that he had never discussed with another living soul.
The touch of her fingers on his arm and the sympathy in her blue eyes had eroded the emotional barriers he’d built between himself and the world.
Stunned by his own uncharacteristic behaviour, he ignored the concerned look in her eyes and strode ahead towards the crowded beach, trying to drag his mind back to a state that he recognised.
What was it that she did to him?
Why did he always behave in a manner that was totally out of character whenever he was near her?
Lauranne flashed him a smile and lifted her face to the sun. ‘Fancy a paddle before dinner?’
‘A paddle?’ Thrown by the change of subject, he threw back his head and laughed, some of the tension leaving him. ‘You sound about six years old.’
Only she didn’t look six years old.
She was a full woman and keeping his hands off her was becoming more difficult by the minute.
‘Maybe, but everyone should behave like a child once in a while,’ Lauranne told him, slipping off her shoes and running towards the water shrieking with laughter as he grabbed her from behind and almost toppled her in. ‘You rat!’
He swung her into his arms, a wicked expression in his eyes. ‘What will you give me not to drop you?’
‘I’ll give you a black eye if you do drop me.’ Her arms were round his neck and he held her easily. ‘Try explaining that to Theo Kouropoulos.’
He waded slightly deeper. ‘I’m beginning to wish that Theo Kouropoulos and his whole damn resort would just vanish,’ he muttered, his Greek accent suddenly very pronounced. ‘I want to make love to you on a beach and I would far rather we didn’t have an audience.’
He felt her tremble in his arms. ‘Do you remember the Caribbean?’
He gave a groan and shot her a reproachful look. ‘You ask me that here? In such a public place? Have you no mercy?’
‘It was just you and me,’ she said softly, her tongue flicking out to moisten her lips, ‘with the dark as curtains and the swish of the sea on the sand.’
He mutter
ed something in Greek and dropped her in the water.
With a yelp of laughter she landed on her feet, clutching at his shirt. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Cooling us both down.’ He shot her a sizzling smile and splashed water in her direction.
‘Zander! Stop it!’
‘I thought you wanted to behave like a child.’
She was still laughing as she wiped the sea water from her eyes, but as she met the burn of his dark gaze there was nothing of the child in her eyes.
Before she could speak, he grabbed her wrist in his fingers and virtually dragged her through the water and back to the sand, pausing briefly to pick up their shoes before striding purposefully back towards their villa.
* * *
Lauranne shot him a glance and her heart turned over as she read the blatant intent in his eyes.
