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‘Mio Dio!’ He was beside her in a flash, extending an     arm to help her ashore. ‘Are you hurt?’

‘No, of course not.’ Refusing to make eye contact, Lottie let     go of his hand the second she was on dry land. ‘I’m not quite so sure about the     boat, though, I’m afraid there might be a bit of a scrape...’

As she turned back to look at it Rafe caught hold of her arm,     spinning her round to face him.

‘I don’t give a damn about the boat.’ He glared down at her,     his voice harsh with immense relief. ‘What the hell do you think you were doing?     You don’t have the first idea how to drive that thing. You could have killed     yourself.’

‘Well, I didn’t.’ Shaking her elbow free, Lottie defiantly     glared back at him. ‘And for your information I actually managed perfectly fine     until you started interfering.’

‘Right.’ Rafael matched her stare. ‘So it’s my fault,     is it? My fault that you were hurtling towards the shore at sixty knots per     hour?’

‘Yes—yes, it was.’ Lottie wasn’t going to back down. ‘You made     me lose my concentration.’

‘Well, all I can say is it’s a good job I did. Your     “concentration” was going to end up taking you to the bottom of the lake—along     with a pile of fibreglass that had once been my boat.’

‘Don’t exaggerate.’ Tossing her head, Lottie turned to retrieve     her bag from the seat of the damaged boat.

‘Where have you been, anyway?’

‘Just to do a little shopping.’

‘Why didn’t you answer my calls?’

Retrieving her phone from the bag, Lottie registered the seven     missed calls. ‘I was driving, remember? Surely you know you shouldn’t use your     phone when you are driving?’

She raised her eyebrows at him, all too aware, but not caring     in the least, that she was seriously winding him up.

‘So, where is this shopping?’ Not that it mattered.     But, needing the distraction, Rafael looked around and could see no evidence of     it.

‘Here.’

Their eyes met over the chemist’s bag that Lottie slowly     withdrew from her handbag and the world around them suddenly skidded to a     halt.

‘Ah. I see.’

Silence hung heavily between them.

‘You are going to do it now?’ His voice seemed to come from a     long way away, his eyes remaining fixed on the unremarkable bag.

Lottie nodded. ‘I guess so.’ She gave a throwaway laugh. ‘Now’s     as good a time as any.’

There was another brief silence.

‘Buono.’

Brisk now, businesslike, Rafael took a step towards her and     attempted to put an arm around her shoulder. But Lottie refused to respond and     it ended up more like a manly pat on the back. Awkwardness pushed them apart     again.

‘Come on, then.’ Clearing his throat, he tried again. ‘Let’s do     this.’

* * *

Rafael was standing by the window, his back to her, when     Lottie emerged from the bathroom. She was delicately holding the tester stick in     front of her, as if it was made of plutonium, or something capable of destroying     their lives.

‘How long?’ Turning, Rafael looked at her, then at it, the     catch in his voice betraying his tension along with his shoulders, which were     hitched unnaturally high.

‘It says up to three minutes.’

Lottie could barely speak. Sinking down on the bed, she tried     to regulate her breathing—to breathe at all, in fact. She felt dizzy, her hands     shaky and clammy as they gripped the plastic time bomb.

Crossing over to the bed, Rafael gently took the tester stick     from her and placed it face-down on the table. He squatted beside her, taking     her hands between his own, his warm strength pumping into her.

‘I want to say something to you, Lottie.’

Lottie didn’t want to hear it—not now, not ever, actually. She     couldn’t face any more emotional trauma. This waiting was threatening to kill     her, literally. She realised she couldn’t breathe any more and the room     was starting to spin.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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