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‘I worked hard, played hard back then, too.’ She remembered. She’d only been a teenager, but she’d been fascinated by her brother’s best friend, by his charisma and charm, his incredible good looks. She’d loved it when stories ran about him online, or in the papers, and she could read what he’d been doing. He’d taken on an almost god-like presence to her. ‘The island was removed from all that. Calm, and quiet. There were no bars here, no parties.’
‘You didn’t ever invite friends here?’
‘No. Not my father. Not even Stav.’ He moved closer, so there was only a small volume of salty water separating them. ‘You’re the first person I’ve ever brought to Epíneio.’
Her tummy flooded with butterflies and she pulled back through the water, just a step, just enough. He echoed her movement, so the distance between them didn’t grow any greater.
‘Why?’ she asked unevenly, then, with more urgency, ‘Why did you bring me here?’
A small frown creased his brow as he contemplated that. ‘You are in need of a haven more than anyone I can think of right now.’
She tingled all over. ‘I’m glad you did.’
‘Are you?’ His eyes drove into hers, pushing her to look inside her heart and be honest. ‘I did wonder if you’d prefer to be back in Athens right now, blissfully ignoring me.’
‘I don’t want to ignore you,’ she admitted with a gnawing sense of doubt in her chest.
‘No?’
She shook her head, slowly, not sure what they were talking about, nor what she was conceded, but following her instincts.
He moved closer, so now they were touching, and she froze, because on the one hand, this contact was all her dreams coming true, and on the other, it was terrifying, so her body jolted, frightened by the immediate response she felt in her cells, and the strength of her need for him.
‘I wish...’ he said, then cut himself off, eyes holding hers, his expression inscrutable.
‘What do you wish?’ she prompted urgently, the warm ocean lapping against her sides, their bodies brushing in the water, her pulse thundering.
He lifted a hand, holding it tentatively beside her arm before resting it on her shoulder, his gaze dropping to the sight of his dark skin against her fairer. ‘That you’d never married him,’ he said with dark honesty.
Her heart twisted sharply, but she refused to read anything into his admission. After all, they’d both said their one night together had been a mistake. It wasn’t as though he was admitting some long-held unrequited love.
‘He was bad for you,’ Alex continued, moving his hand to the collar of his business shirt she wore, holding the fabric between his fingers. It billowed in the water, so she was secretly aware of her exposed belly, of how close to naked she was beneath the shirt, with just a flimsy pair of undies protecting her modesty. That knowledge was setting her soul on fire, dragging her closer and closer towards the desires she knew she ought to fight.
‘Yes,’ she said simply, because he had been.
‘You deserve better than that.’
She wondered, in the back of her mind, if she should pull away from him. It would be the smart thing to do. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let things get out of control between them. She couldn’t. If she surrendered to these feelings, she’d lose herself completely.
‘Anyone does,’ she said with a tight movement of her shoulders.
‘You particularly.’
‘Why?’
A frown flickered across his face and, rather than answering, he shifted closer, so his body pressed to hers, and every single inch of her was aware of the hard planes of his body, the warmth of his flesh beneath the waters of the Aegean, his skin supple and firm, hair-roughened on his chest, and covered in water droplets so she had an insatiable urge to lean forward and taste him.
‘I was so angry after you left.’
‘When?’
‘The night we slept together.’
Her eyes widened, the change of subject unexpected, so she startled as though being awakened from a dream. ‘Were you?’ She dropped her gaze to the pristine water that lapped between them.
‘I’d been so weak.’ Her eyes lifted once more to his face, but the intensity of his stare sent little arrows of awareness through her, making it impossible to concentrate. ‘Not only had I slept with you, but I’d also been your first lover. I felt as though I’d betrayed Stavros in the worst possible way.’
‘You were his best friend. He probably would have been thrilled to think of us together.’
