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Even more terrifying was the thought that he might somehow wise up to what she was feeling.
What if he saw past the shiny veneer to the murky, muddy confusion underneath?
What he didn’t know about women could be written on the back of a postage stamp. How long before she let something slip, let her feelings for him show on her face...? Then what? He would be horrified. As far as Nico was concerned, they were on the same page. Some unexpected fun in the sun, a break from routine. She knew him, as he was fond of reminding her. She knew the man he was and the one he could never be.
She knew the rules of the game.
The slightest whiff that she had strayed from following those rules and everything would be lost. There was no way he would keep her on because she would risk becoming an embarrassing and needy liability. He would no longer be able to look her in the face and the relationship they had built up over the years would be gone for ever.
‘Things...seem to be progressing really well...here... I know we’ve had to stay here longer than originally planned because of the hurricane but I’ve been surprised at how efficient everyone is when it comes to tidying up behind it.’
‘They’re used to it. Hurricanes happen every year here. A lot of the places, as you’ve seen, are built in ways that withstand the onslaught.’
Grace was temporarily distracted. She looked at him with curious eyes.
‘What did it feel like?’
‘Come again?’
‘Helping clear the beach...all the debris...sorting out rebuilding some of those houses that were battered. Have you ever done anything like that before?’
‘That’s a very serious question,’ Nico murmured, flinging himself on the beach towel spread next to hers and lying on his back, hands folded on his broad chest.
‘Oh, sorry. I forgot that we steered clear of serious questions.’
‘Have I ever said that?’ He angled himself so that he was looking at her.
‘Nico, you don’t have to.’ Grace laughed lightly. ‘And it wasn’t a serious question. It was just...a question.’
‘To answer you,’ Nico said pensively, after a few seconds of telling silence, ‘yes and no. The physical exertion felt good. I’ve never been called on to do anything like that before. There was never any need. No need, growing up, to earn some money by working on a building site during the summer holidays. No need to go fruit picking to grab a bit of freedom.’ He was staring up at the twilit sky again.
‘Oh, the headache of growing up in a rich family.’
‘What about you?’
‘Normal.’ Grace thought of her far from normal background and wondered what he would make of it.
‘Is there ever such a thing?’
The conversation was beginning to feel dangerous, like suddenly staring down into an open fire.
‘Of course there is!’ She laughed. ‘It’s getting a little chilly out here.’
She rose and he did as well to begin drying himself with the towel he had been lying on.
‘It is.’ He spun round to face her, his dark gaze hot with lazy, sexy amusement. ‘I have a number of options when it comes to warming you up.’ He feathered his finger across her cheek and for a few seconds her head emptied of all intent as her body revved up in expectation of more.
He dipped his finger over her lips then into her parted mouth and Grace went weak at the knees. She sucked it, their eyes locked, her body melting. When he curved his hand to cup the side of her neck and drew her towards him, she didn’t resist.
She edged closer, weaved her arms around his neck and pulled him down to press her mouth against his, to savour the wetness of his tongue meshing with hers and to enjoy all the attendant reactions that lingering kiss roused in her.
She would get a grip. The control she’d given up was waiting to be regained. She’d seen the danger in front of her and had known what steps had to be taken to limit the damage that would be caused.
She would save herself but first...
Would it be a crime to take what was on offer one last time? Wouldn’t that just be playing him at his own game? When it came to women and from everything Grace had ever seen, Nico took what he wanted. Why shouldn’t she take whatshewanted? Would one more day make a broken heart more difficult to mend?
Because she would have a broken heart. She had made the fatal mistake of giving it to the wrong guy and there would be a heavy price to pay for her misguided generosity.
