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Remembering her remark about the view from his high horse, he felt his mouth twist. That horse had bucked him off—big-time.
A movement out on the deck tugged at his gaze and he glanced over. His eyes narrowed and his body hardened with crashing predictability at the sight of Mimi leaning over the table. She was obviously just playing around with angles, as she had been doing most of the morning, but thanks to the feverish desire gripping his body it took less than thirty seconds for his brain to summon up a vision of her leaning in much the same way over his bed...wearing nothing but those heels she’d had on in the restaurant...
Breathing in sharply, he stood up. He needed to move—get some fresh air, get some perspective. Or at least stop what Alicia would call objectifying women.
Alicia.
He gritted his teeth. He had completely forgotten about his sister in all this, but now he felt his chest tighten. He was fairly sure he knew how Alicia would react. With her wedding so close, she was predictably loved-up right now, and he could imagine that nothing would give her greater happiness than for her brother and best friend to fall in love.
Except they weren’t in love.
In lust, definitely—but love? That feeling of being intertwined with someone else’s essence? That was something he had never felt.
Of course in a perfect world he would choose what Alicia had with Philip, what his parents had shared for twenty-two years. But it was the aftermath of his mother’s tragic death, not his parents’ happy life together, that he remembered the most.
In the weeks and months following the accident all their lives had been knocked off course. Alicia had been just fourteen, and she had been devastated, but his father had never recovered from losing the woman he loved, and for a time it had felt as if they were orphans.
He’d hated seeing his sister so upset and his father so broken. All he’d wanted to do was take away their pain, to protect them from a cruel and unjust world, and now he wanted to do the same for Mimi.
He could protect her here. Here, they were safe—she was safe—from the predatory press and a public hungry for gossip.
But they couldn’t stay on this island for ever.
He glanced down at his laptop. Back in the real world he had responsibilities—a business to run, a family who needed him. What was happening here with Mimi wasn’t real, and it wouldn’t—couldn’t—survive any kind of brush with reality.
And yet this thing with Mimi felt more real than any relationship he’d ever had, and although it might sound crazy he felt closer to her than to all the other women he’d dated.
But was it that surprising?
One way or another Mimi had been in his life for the best part of a decade.
And now she was in his bed.
Only, what did that mean?
For him? For her? For both of them?
It was a question he’d been asking himself in a variety of ways since leaving her bedroom, and he was still no closer to answering it. But maybe he didn’t actually need to know what any of it meant when they would both be back in England tomorrow.
Ignoring the tension in his back at that thought, he made his way outside.
On the deck, Mimi was now talking to Claudia. There was nothing remarkable about that, except the fact she was speaking in Spanish. Agreed, she was not particularly fluent, but he found it oddly endearing that she was bothering. In fact, he was surprised that her making such an effort mattered so much to him.
He stopped beside her. ‘Muy impresionante!’
Turning she blushed. ‘Gracias... I think.’
He felt his own skin prickle as she met his gaze. ‘I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.’
‘That would be because I don’t.’ She turned to the housekeeper, smiling. ‘As Claudia can confirm.’
Claudia shook her head. ‘I was the same as you when I started speaking English. What is important is to try.’
From the direction of the kitchen a buzzer went off, and she excused herself and went back into the house.
For a moment neither of them spoke, and the silence was broken only by the gentle rhythmic splash of water against the side of the deck.
After the fierce intensity of their naked coupling it felt strange seeing her clothed, out here in the daylight, and he could tell from her stillness that his feelings mirrored hers.
