Princes Waitress(61)

‘You are not walking away from me.’

‘Watch me.’ With her free hand, she jammed the hat onto her head and then gasped as he swung her into his arms. ‘Put me down right now.’

‘No.’ Ignoring her protest and her wriggling, Casper walked purposefully to the end of the beach, took a narrow path without breaking stride and then lowered her onto soft white sand.

‘You’ve probably put your back out,’ Holly muttered, her fingers curling over his warm, bronzed shoulders to steady herself. ‘And it serves you right.’

‘You don’t weigh anything.’

Noticing their surroundings for the first time, Holly gave a soft gasp of shock, because she’d never seen anywhere quite as beautiful.

‘I had no idea there was another beach here. It’s stunning.’

‘When we were children, my brother and I called it the secret beach.’ His tone gruff, Casper spread the rug on the sand and gently eased the bag from her shoulders. ‘We used to play here, knowing that no one could see us. It was probably the only real privacy we had in our childhood. We made camps, dens, we were pirates and smugglers, and—’

‘All right—enough.’ Emotion welling up inside her, Holly held up a hand, and Casper looked at her with exasperation.

‘I thought talking was good.’

‘Not when I’m angry with you.’ Holly flopped onto the rug and shot him a despairing look. ‘I’m so, so angry with you, and when you start talking like that I find it really hard to stay angry.’

Evidently clocking that up as a point in his favour, Casper joined her on the rug, his usual confidence apparently fully restored by her reluctant confession. ‘You find it hard to be angry with me?’ Gently, he pushed her onto her back and supported himself on one elbow as he looked down at her. ‘You have forgiven me?’

‘No.’ She closed her eyes tightly so that she couldn’t see his thick dark lashes and impossibly sexy eyes. But she could feel him looking at her. ‘You’ve hurt me really badly.’

‘Sì, I have. But now I am saying sorry. Open your eyes.’

‘No. I don’t want to look at you.’

‘Open your eyes, tesoro.’ His voice was so gentle that her eyes fluttered open, and she tumbled instantly into the depths of his dark eyes.

‘Nothing you say is going to make any difference,’ she muttered, and he gave a slow smile.

‘I know that isn’t true. You’re always telling me that I should know who you are by now, and I think I do.’ He lifted his hand and stroked her cheek gently. ‘I know you are a very forgiving person.’

‘Not that forgiving.’ Her heart was pounding against her chest, but she refused to make it easy for him.

Lowering his head, Casper brought his mouth down on hers in a devastatingly gentle kiss that blew her mind. ‘I am sorry, angelo mio. I am sorry for not believing that the baby was mine—for implying that you targeted me.’

Holly lay still, waiting, hoping, praying, dying a little—knowing that he was never going to say what she wanted to hear.

His eyes quizzical, Casper gently turned her face towards him. ‘I’m apologising.’

‘I know.’

He frowned. ‘I’m saying sorry.’

‘Yes.’ His apparent conviction that he’d done what needed to be done made her want to hit him again and he gave an impatient sigh.

‘Clearly I’m saying the wrong things, because you’re lying there like a martyr burning at the stake. Dio, what is it that you want from me?’ Without waiting for her answer, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with devastating expertise.

Holly was immediately plunged into an erotic, sensual world that sucked her downwards. Struggling back to the surface, she gasped, ‘I don’t want to do this, Casper—’

‘Yes, you do—this side of our relationship has always been good.’ He eased his lean, powerful frame over hers, careful to support most of his weight on his elbows. ‘Am I hurting the baby?’

‘No, but I don’t want you to—’ She broke off as she saw his expression change. ‘What? What’s the matter?’

‘The baby kicked me.’ There was a strange note to his voice, and Holly felt her heart flip because she’d never seen Casper less than fully in control of every situation. He pulled away slightly and slid a bold but curious hand over the smooth curve of her abdomen. ‘He kicked me really hard.’

‘Good. Because quite frankly, if you weren’t pinning me to the sand at this precise moment, I’d kick you myself for being so arrogant!’ Holly glared at him but his face broke into a slow, sure smile of masculine superiority as he transferred his hand to the top of her thigh.