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They had breakfast on the balcony and made love once more before hunting down some snorkels and wandering down the steps to the beach. It was as if her life in Los Angeles didn’t exist. Lizzie had finally found relaxation, peace and a man she not only had amazing sex with, but she could be herself with. A man who was not only a great friend, but who she was seriously falling in love with. She ignored the voices in her head telling her this wasn’t going to last — that it wasn’t real life. They could take a running jump for a while.
‘How is your swimming these days? Progressed from the doggy paddle?’
His eyes teased and she slanted him a look. ‘I think you’ll find I’m no longer that six-year-old girl you tried to teach to swim.’
The glance he shot back was hot and heavy. ‘I know.’
Instantly her pulse rocketed and her insides liquidised. Incredible. She even felt herself blush. He might have a deceptively calm, quiet exterior but beneath it lurked a positive sex God. He looked ready to take her again, this time on the beach steps. A shiver ran through her, but she didn’t feel cold. On the contrary, she felt hot. Extremely hot.
‘Last one in the sea cooks dinner,’ she announced, jumping off the last step and onto the beach.
‘Hey, that’s not fair,’ she heard Nick yell after her. Racing across the sand, she risked a quick peek over her shoulder and smiled at the sight of him struggling to run with flippers in his hands and assorted masks and snorkels dangling from the rucksack on his back.
Arriving at the sea, she splashed straight into it.
‘Yikes, that’s cold,’ Nick exclaimed a moment later as he hit the water.
She ducked her head into the waves, loving the feel of the spray on her face. ‘You always were a big chicken when it came to cold water.’
‘Who, me?’ He shook his head at her. ‘I think you’re confusing me with Robert. I’ve just got a healthy respect for the temperature of the sea. Probably because I don’t have the luxury of the layers of blubber you females enjoy.’
With one sharp pull she tugged him, very efficiently, into the cold water. ‘Blubber my arse.’ When he reared up and deliberately looked at her bum, she pushed him under again. ‘I have it on good authority that my bottom is perfect.’ She wriggled that part of her anatomy suggestively in his face. ‘I was signed by Calvin Klein to be their swimwear model, I’ll have you know.’
Standing up, he reached out and pinched her rear. ‘Umm, maybe I can see why, but to be sure I’ll have to take these down.’
She swatted away the hand that tugged at her bikini bottoms and went to fetch the mask and snorkel he’d abandoned on the beach. ‘You know, I haven’t been snorkelling since . . .’ Abruptly she stopped. A family holiday in the Greek islands. She must have been about ten, Robert a much older fifteen. He’d begged their parents to allow Nick to come too, successfully arguing there was no way he could be expected to put up with his kid sister for a whole week. With a pang of remorse and a heavy dose of guilt she thought of Robert now, lying on his bed in LA, staring unseeing at the ceiling. It was a sharp reminder of why the life she was living with Nick could only ever be a temporary escape.
Nick gave her hand a light squeeze, gently bringing her attention back to him. ‘It was Greece,’ he supplied softly. ‘I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. A holiday abroad, with my substitute parents and best friend.’ He flashed her a smile. ‘Just a shame this annoying brat followed us round all the time.’
She pushed him again, hard, but this time he was ready for her, laughing as he captured her hands. It was only later, as she was snorkelling, that she realised he’d known exactly what to say to lift her mood.
* * *
They snorkelled for half an hour before falling, dripping wet, onto their towels. Nick leant on his elbow, watching Lizzie as she stretched out in front of him. She had the grace of a cat and the body of a siren. It was no wonder he couldn’t get enough of her. Of its own volition, his hand reached out and began to trace the skin at her slender waist.
‘All those people who gaze at this body in magazines; the women with envy, the men with desire.’ His fingers smoothed across her toned stomach. ‘They have no idea that what they’re seeing is only a pale copy of the real thing.’
‘I’ll have you know I’m lightly tanned.’ Her face smiled up at him.
He ignored her self-effacing comment and carried on his study. ‘Your skin is amazingly soft.’ He wished he knew how to describe it to do it justice. Saying it was like silk was too clichéd, yet he couldn’t think of any other description. He was a numbers man, not a words man. Deciding he was better letting his actions do the talking, he dropped light kisses across her stomach, his face erupting in a satisfied smirk as her nipples hardened.
‘Lizzie.’ She turned to meet his eyes and whatever he was going to say stuck in his throat. Unable to resist, he bent to capture her mouth, kissing her with the intensity of a man starved of female company. It was how he felt around her. For years he’d made do with loving her in his dreams. Now, for these few precious days, she was a reality. He intended to make the most it.
His hands crept under her bikini top, palming her breasts, but suddenly the answering warmth wasn’t there. Worse, she was pushing him away.
‘Nick, no.’ Sitting up, she crossed her arms over her chest. ‘God, what if someone’s out here, taking photographs? I’ve had enough of people watching me have sex to last me a lifetime.’
Her words sliced through him and he rolled away, feeling every inch the horny teenager accused of pawing a girl out of his league. ‘You’re right, sorry,’ he replied tightly, turning his eyes towards the sea, hurt and annoyed with his lack of control. The trouble was, they were coming at this affair from two very different directions. She was a touch of paradise he’d never be able to get enough of. He was a pleasant distraction from her troubles back at home.
Lizzie reached out a hand to touch his leg. ‘Nick, sorry, that sounded harsher than I meant it to.’
Cutting off her attempt to placate him, he scrambled to his feet. ‘I’m going for a swim.’ With a bit of luck the cold water would dampen his flaming ardour, something he couldn’t seem to keep in check when he was with her.
* * *
Calling herself all kinds of names, Lizzie levered herself onto her elbows and watched anxiously as Nick swam up and down the small bay. She’d panicked, pure and simple. A sudden flashback to the photographs of herself on a bed, Charles licking her breasts, another man looking on with a leer on his face. For a fleeting moment she’d felt the awareness of a camera with a long telephoto lens. By the time she’d realised her fear was irrational, that the private, secluded bay was totally deserted, it was too late. She’d pushed Nick away, denting his pride.
Huffing out a breath, she sat up and rested her head on her knees, her eyes on the lone swimmer. She might have gone about things like a charging bull, but Nick had the sensitivity of flipping litmus paper. How could he possibly think she didn’t want him? Couldn’t he tell that every time he touched her, her body leapt into flames?
