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And, as though against his will, Guy’s hands reached for her, pulling her towards him, into the circle of his arms.
“Why?” His eyes scanned her face.
“Because your intellect is ferocious.”
His shoulders lifted. Such broad shoulders, tanned and covered in little water droplets that Addie longed to drop her head forward and run her tongue across.
“I didn’t like the prescriptive nature of school,” he said. “I wanted to learn what I wanted to know, not jump through whichever hoop my teachers deemed important. It felt like a waste of my time – something I had no intention of tolerating.”
Addie’s lips tickled with a smile. It was so like Guy. “And your grandfather didn’t agree?”
“On the contrary, Santiago has always understood. He left school when he was thirteen years old.”
“Really?” Addie’s brows lifted in surprise.
“Really,” Guy nodded, taking a few steps into deeper water, so that they were floating together, his hands running down her back. “The way he tells it, he spent his childhood shadowing his father and grandfather, sharpening pencils during meetings, listening, paying attention. He wanted to be a part of the business.”
“Just like you,” Addie murmured.
“Yes, just like me.”
“And your father?” She prompted.
Out of nowhere, something flew past, low and loud, so that Addie startled, pulling closer to Guy. “What the heck was that?”
“A bat,” he laughed hoarsely. “There are hundreds of them deeper in the caves.”
She shivered, a shiver that passed through her body and into his.
“Legend has it,” he said, his voice low and with a somewhat haunted quality, “that each bat is the spirit of a pirate that died in these caves.”
Addie’s eyes were huge. “You’re not serious?”
“No, querida, I’m not serious.” He laughed, and Addie froze. It was a real laugh. A laugh borne of amusement, like they’d shared all the time, back in London.
She swallowed, the moment touching something deep down inside of her. “But pirates did die in here?”
He shrugged. “Sure.”
“And that didn’t freak you out?”
He laughed again. “No. It fascinated me.”
A shiver ran down Addie’s spine. “You’re more adventurous than I was as a child. The only adventures I went on were in the pages of books. I loved reading about Middle Earth but I had no desire to leave the safety of my lounge room and find my own quest.”
Guy nodded, but there was something in his expression that spoke of his resentment, that reminded her this truce was very temporary. That they were enemies, locked in a battle she wanted no part of.
She could feel their easy camaraderie slipping and she moved hastily to recapture it. “You didn’t answer me,” the words were husky. “About your father?”
A muscle jerked in his jaw, and she wondered if he was going to ignore her. To refuse to respond, but then, he nodded slowly. “My father never had any interest in the business.”
“No?” Addie smiled, trying to coax him back to a place of confiding. “Isn’t it in your blood?”
Guy’s eyes landed on hers, dark brown clashing with caramel, and Addie’s breath locked in her throat. Her lips parted on a small exhalation.
“In mine, seguro. And Santiago’s. But my father is like my grandmother. Cerebral. Intellectual. Timid.”
