‘Oh, no. I’ve only just thought—were they safe being left on the beach?’
‘As houses.’ Nick stood up and held out his hand for her to take.
Flustered, Rose grasped it and he pulled her neatly to her feet, covertly watching her breasts bounce as she gathered her balance. Since when, he wondered, had he become a dirty old man, covertly watching a woman’s body and getting turned on?
‘You never did tell me…’ Rose said as they strolled back towards their possessions, which, as he had predicted, were exactly where they had been left.
‘What?’ Nick enquired, staring straight ahead of him and trying to subdue his overactive imagination.
‘Why you chose to branch out into the hotel business. You said that you no longer felt challenged by making money, but why hotels?’
‘You mean considering I’m a sad and lonely old man still searching for the perfect woman?’
‘I never said you were sad and lonely,’ Rose objected, flushing.
‘Just someone who had no experience of staying in a hotel for fun, an all-work-and-no-play kind of guy…’
‘I’m sure you have lots of fun,’ Rose stumbled, wondering how they had managed to swim out of safe waters into the perilous seas of personal conversation. It wouldn’t bother him, she was certain, but it bothered her.
‘Had,’ Nick amended guilelessly. ‘I haven’t actually been out with a woman since I met your sister…’
For a few seconds Rose felt completely disoriented by that admission. He had told her that his relationship with Lily had been platonic and she had believed him. She hadn’t stopped to wonder whether that had not been of his choosing and, at the thought that he might actually fancy her sister, she felt a sudden coldness in the pit of her stomach.
‘Lily has been known to have that effect on men,’ she said brightly, clearing her throat.
‘What effect is that?’
Rose shrugged. ‘Being worshipped from afar.’
‘Whoever mentioned anything about worshipping her from afar?’ Nick asked incredulously. ‘I meant, my darling, that the night I met your sister happened to be the night I broke up with a woman and ever since then I’ve stayed away from the fair sex. All men need a break from complications.’
Had he just called her ‘my darling’? Well, yes, not as an endearment, but for a few wild seconds her heart soared, then she registered the rest of his sentence and realised that, for whatever reason, he had decided to fill her in on a slice of his private life. He was practising celibacy.
‘They do,’ Rose said approvingly. ‘And it’s a mistake to think that sex is the answer to everything.’
Nick felt a kick of satisfaction that he had manoeuvred the conversation exactly where he wanted it. Sex. Such a small word to cover such a massive subject and, with testosterone coursing through his body, he was in the perfect mood to talk about it.
‘But that’s not why we’re here, is it?’ Rose hastened on. ‘We’re here to do some groundwork for your project. It doesn’t matter why you wanted to go into the hotel business. That’s your private matter and I know you’ll agree that we shouldn’t let chit-chat about our private lives intrude on the reason why we’re here in the first place.’ Rose felt quite proud of the adult manner in which she had grounded their wayward conversation.
One step forward, two steps backward. Nick ground his teeth together in frustration.
‘Would you like me to make a list of the usual tourist sites?’ Her beach dress beckoned like manna from heaven and Rose gratefully snatched it up and slipped it over her head.
‘That won’t be necessary, Rose.’ Interesting, this feeling of having the rug pulled very swiftly out from under your feet. Interesting and not particularly agreeable. ‘I suggest we use the rest of the day to do a bit of sightseeing.’
Rainforests…mountains and waterfalls…rare flora and fauna…the world-famous orang-utan sanctuary…Then a flurry of meetings and, of course, Lee Peng and his family with their abundant hospitality…supper to meet family and friends…
There was hardly time to draw breath and no time at all with Rose. Just that one morning on the beach, which, after nearly five days, seemed like a lifetime ago.
Nick had never met a woman more adroit at standing a mere five feet away from him and yet scrupulously avoiding his company. She was awash with good ideas, all faithfully detailed in her ever-present notebook and all related with an air of earnest professionalism, whenever she happened to find herself alone with him. Nightcaps at the hotel were politely but firmly rejected, with convincing yawns to back up her claims that the heat made her tired. Breakfast was always sent to her room because, and this she had told him with an apologetic smile, she liked to use the time to multitask. Eat and communicate with her friends back home via email.