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So, why exactly was he here, basking in the sun, watching the world go by?
Because of the woman indolently lounging next to him. She’d bewitched him. Little by little, she’d cast a net around him, seducing him into a holiday frame of mind which had made him lazy and...content.
Unease slithered through him because this sort of situation was not one he had ever courted, or ever wanted to. As much as she pulled him to her, weaving spells he couldn’t resist, so instinct pushed him back, obeying laws of survival embedded inside him.
It was almost as though she had taken sandpaper to him and softened his edges, but Mateo knew that he needed those edges. Without them, life risked losing structure and that wasn’t going to happen.
So, did they return to London?
Definitely.
If he wasn’t as relieved as he should have been with her suggestion, if there was a scrap of him that hankered for a bit more of this truant-playing, then it was simply because she had beat him to saying what had to be said. He was usually the one who took the lead in this sort of situation.
‘And once we’re back,’ she suggested thoughtfully, ‘I’m thinking I could take a fortnight off and head back up home to help.’
‘Isn’t your mother in control of everything, except whatever’s going on with flowers and bridesmaids?’
‘She would never actuallyaskfor help,’ Maude said, sticking to the truth as much as she could. ‘Which doesn’t mean she wouldn’twelcomeit.’
She gave his hand a quick squeeze and looked away, detaching her fingers to twine them together while she waited for him to respond, to take the conversation to its natural conclusion, which would surely be a discussion aboutthem.
She flirted with the forbidden hope that, faced with this cautious ultimatum, he might declare undying love for her, tell her that he couldn’t bear the thought of them returning. That hope lasted a matter of seconds, while into the silence she read something else, something that made her blood run cold.
What if he asked her just to prolong this? They made great love together. She knew that he enjoyed her as much as she enjoyed him, and she also knew that he was not a guy who was into self-denial. From his point of view, she was on the same page as he was. A charade started in good faith had turned into something else, and now here they were, so why not just ‘go with the flow’as he was fond of encouraging her? It would fizzle out in due course, but they would have non-committal fun in the meantime.
Maude could think of nothing worse. The only way she could think to deal with this, to deal with her silly heart which she’d handed over to him on a platter, was to cut herself free. Rip off the plaster, suck up the pain and wait for it to pass.
At the end of a fortnight away from him, she would be in a better place, more able to distance herself. She could request a transfer. She could quit her job and find something else. There were options.
One of those options wasn’t waiting for him to suggest something she knew she would be sorely tempted to take.
Before he could say anything, she plunged in.
‘Let’s enjoy what we have here, Mateo. It’s been...time out for us. Weird but invigorating...and no regrets.’
‘Explain.’
Around them people came and went, and it felt odd to have this jarring conversation surrounded by such beauty.
‘When we return to London...tomorrow...then I think we should end this. It’s not as though either of us is in it for anything more than a bit of fun, is it?’
Mateo turned to face her and she likewise looked at him. Now he lifted the sunglasses to his forehead and lifted off hers, so that their eyes tangled, so that he could see what was going through her head. But there was nothing there to see, no thoughts revealed.
He dangled her sunglasses on one finger and with a frown gazed directly into her blue eyes.
‘Is this the sound of you dumping me?’ he asked softly, with teasing amusement even though he was, frankly, incredulous.
‘It’s the sound of me doing what needs to be done,’ Maude returned. ‘Wouldn’t you agree?’
No, Mateo thought. It was the sound of her hurting him, because there was a pain inside him, an ache at the thought of never touching her again, never being able to reach for her in the night.
There had been times in the early hours of the morning, still half-asleep in the stillness of the dark, when he had wondered whether he had dreamt some of the sex they’d had.
Sex with no protection.
Once. Twice. The mere fact that he was only thinking about this now was worrying enough in itself. Never mind the even more worrying notion that he had somehow become stupidly addicted to her nearness, to the sound of her laughter, to the way she enjoyed arguing with him, to her fierce intelligence mixed with that peculiar vulnerability that she was always at such pains to hide. There was a chill inside him, something dangerous and unpredictable stirring, something to be fought against.
Shutters dropped.
