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‘Don’t be nuts. Why would I think that?’ But she went beetroot-red. ‘I know this is a working holiday for you! And I hope you haven’t come in here because you...because you feel guilty at leaving me to my own devices.’
‘You were hurt. I could see it on your face.’
‘I wasnot.’ Maude wondered whether this conversation could get any worse.
‘I had to leave because I wasn’t sure whether I was going to end up making a nuisance of myself.’
‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘When I came back here earlier and saw you in the pool, Maude...’ He raked his fingers through his hair and sat back, briefly closing his eyes. ‘I don’t think you have the slightest idea how you look.’
‘How Ilook?’ Maude was prepared to be indignant but something about those dark eyes fastened on her was bringing her out in a cold sweat.
She found that she was fidgeting with the wine glass and sorted that problem by gulping down the lot and pushing the glass to one side.
‘Sexy,’ Mateo muttered huskily. ‘That swimsuit...your body...’
‘Me?’
‘You. Don’t look so shocked. You must have known that I am attracted to you, Maude? You must have felt it when we kissed at the party and then later...?’
‘Youcan’tbe attracted to me! Not really.’
‘What does that mean? I’m sitting here and it’s all I can do not to reach out and touch you.’
‘You’reyou, Mateo,’ Maude said helplessly as she grappled to keep a hold on common sense.
‘What is that supposed to mean?’
‘You could have anyone you want. Iknowthe sort of women you want. I know the sort of women men go for and it’s not strapping brunettes with careers!’
‘Maude, you’ve lost me. What the hell are you talking about?’
‘I lost my heart to someone once!’ she burst out impulsively. ‘It was when I first went to university. His name was Colin and he was just about everything I knew wouldn’t look at me twice...he was tall, dark and handsome and smart...but hedidlook at me and we went out for a few months before...’
She felt her eyes sting and was cross with herself because that was all a lifetime ago, and afterwards, she’d known that she hadn’t been in love with the guy at all. She’d just had a coming-of-age moment, destined to be lost in the mists of time.
‘Before...?’ Mateo prompted gravely. He leant towards her, reached for her hand and she didn’t pull away.
‘Before he found true love with a petite blonde.’
‘What happened years ago has nothing to do with what’s happening right here, right now. Nothing to do with what my body feels whenever you’re around. I’m not comfortable telling you this, because I don’t like not being able to control my own responses, but it seems like in this instance my body has other ideas. I couldn’t stay away today like I’d planned, and I couldn’t work for the rest of the evening knowing you were around, also like I’d planned.’
Maude looked away, face burning, and her body aflame at what he was saying.
‘Look at me, Maude.’ He gently tilted her chin so that she was staring at him, wide-eyed and in a state of shock. ‘I’m attracted to you, it’s as simple as that. I don’t know what to do with this attraction but I felt I had to get it out in the open.’
He paused and tilted his head to one side, his eyes searching hers. ‘You had a crap experience with a guy you met when you were younger and you’ve let that play into a narrative about the way you look. For reasons that baffle me, you somehow never gained self-confidence when it came to appearances, so you relied on your brains instead to see you through. I’m guessing you don’t want to be hurt by anyone again. Am I right?’
‘No one mentioned anything about that,’ Maude muttered.
‘That’s as may be but...’ He hesitated. ‘This thing I feel...this isn’t about love, Maude.’ He smiled crookedly. ‘Despite the fact that we’re supposed to be a pair of love birds on course to a lifetime of happy-ever-afters. This is about attraction. It’s about my eyes following you and my hands longing to touch. It’s about having to take cold showers because when I think of you my body goes into overdrive. The world may think one thing but we know different. We’ve found ourselves in a peculiar situation but this isn’t about love, is it?’
‘No. No, it’s not. Of course it’s not!’
‘People get hurt because they hand their emotions over to someone else’s caretaking. That’s not what this is about. For me? This is about a pull I can’t shake. I want to sleep with you, and I’m telling you this because if you’re not of the same mind set then tell me. Tell me and you have my word that this conversation ends here.’
‘I...’
