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‘Of course. I’ll have the housekeeper arrange some clothes for you today.’
‘There’s no need,’ she denied quickly. ‘If we go home tomorrow—’
‘Monday,’ he corrected, taking up position on the lounger beside her with the appearance of effortless calm. ‘There’s no rush. We could stay longer.’
‘Oh?’
‘Technically, it is our honeymoon.’
‘Right.’ She nodded, frowning though, uncertainty on her features. ‘But that’s not really necessary.’
‘You said you love the island.’
‘I do.’
Even as he pushed this point, he wondered what the hell he was doing. He hadn’t planned to suggest they remain any longer than the weekend, but something about her inability to relax made him want to keep her here. Away from Athens, reality TV shows, ex-husbands and the real world.
‘Let’s play it by ear,’ he said with a lift of his shoulders. ‘We’ll leave when it suits us to leave.’
She opened her mouth as if to argue then shut it again, pushing herself back on the sunbed and staring straight ahead, clearly ruminating.
‘How’s the water?’ he asked after another moment had passed, the sun beating down on him, warming him to the core.
‘Divine.’
‘Did you try the ocean yet?’
She shook her head, turning to face him, her cheeks pink.
‘Well? Shall we?’
She hesitated and he could tell her first instinct was to say ‘no’, so he stood, extending a hand, gently encouraging her, waiting while she waged an inner argument and then finally pushed her legs over the side of her sunlounger.
‘Just quickly,’ she huffed, as though annoyed with herself for agreeing. He hid a smile as they walked towards the beach, Tessa one step in front of Alex, keeping a wise distance. He suspected that the slightest touch would cause them both to burst into flame.
The water was utterly perfect. It should have been relaxing and soothing, but Tessa was far too aware of Alex to let it be either of those things.
She was on edge, just as she had been all night, lying in a big bed with crisp white sheets and the sound of the waves causing an answering rush of blood through her body, making her want to do something really stupid and go in search of him.
In the small hours of the morning, she’d craved him. Human connection. Contact. But more than that, Alex. He’d awoken something inside of her; emotions she’d long thought dormant, or non-existent. Desire. Attraction. Sexual curiosity. Feelings he’d kindled years earlier, that only he had ever managed to invoke.
Navigating them again now was a nightmare.
She’d clung to the contract she’d made him sign, to the rules she’d carved out, and tried to tell herself that it would all be okay. If they were to succumb to the temptation of sex, it would only be within the parameters she’d specified. She could still control it. Everything would be fine.
But as he hovered in the water beside her, so close she could reach out and touch him, brushing her fingertips over his naked torso and feeling the muscular ridges of his abdomen, she knew she was in way over her head.
Slowly she turned to face him, unable to resist at least that temptation. Her breath caught in her throat.
He was so...elemental. So tanned his skin was like mahogany, with water droplets forming rivulets over his strong arms, his dark hair brushed back from his brow, wet and catching the glint of the sun in its ends. He was completely at one with the ocean, the sky, the sun, and when he turned to look at her and their eyes met, his smile made her heart tilt off balance. She wanted to look away, but he was too magnetic, and so she let herself stare, a moment longer, just a moment, before she returned his smile, albeit curtly, and jerked her face towards the house.
‘How long have you had this place for?’
If he was surprised by her abrupt change of conversation, he didn’t show it. ‘I bought it about ten years ago. I wanted a place to get away.’
‘Why?’
He moved to stand in front of her, blocking her view of the house, forcing their eyes to meet, and her stomach squeezed, her nostrils flared as she inhaled his fragrance and trembled in response.
