Socialite's Gamble(49)

When she did she glanced at herself in the mirror and released a slow breath. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were dark. Brown. They looked like two fathomless pools of churning emotion.

Had she just made a huge mistake?

‘You’re thinking this has been a huge mistake.’

Startled, Cara whirled around at the sound of Aidan’s deep voice and snatched a towel off the rail to hold in front of her body. Silly, really, when he had already seen all of her. Touched all of her … Kissed all of her …

He leaned against the doorjamb wearing nothing but the board shorts from earlier, the Velcro hastily pulled together and doing little to hide the bulge beneath. Cara swallowed hard. He was so rampantly male he took her breath away just looking at him.

‘Aren’t you?’ she asked, her voice husky from lack of use.



‘Don’t worry about what I’m thinking.’ His voice brought her eyes back to his. ‘What are you thinking?’

That this is all a huge mistake.

And that she couldn’t stop wondering what he was thinking. It seemed more important than her own view on it. How silly was that?

‘You’re too sensitive, Cara.’ Her sister’s words came back to her.

Was she? Was she being that now?

And why couldn’t she be honest? Why couldn’t she say that she was worried that she had felt too much in his arms earlier? That she was sure that no man would ever make her feel the way Aidan did again, which scared the pants off her.

Somehow she wasn’t that brave. She’d rather live in the grey world of half-truths than confront things and be hurt by them.

Unfortunately this man was more the confront-things-head-on type.

‘If it’s important for you to know what I’m thinking,’ he said, ‘then I’m thinking that tonight—or is it last night?—was sensational.’

‘Oh.’ Her hands tightened around the towel.

‘And that this doesn’t need to be complex. We can keep everything nice and simple.’

‘Simple?’ She knew there was a warning implicit in those words. A warning for her not to lose her heart most likely but her body really didn’t care.

‘Yeah.’ He moved closer. ‘Simple.’ A slow smile curled the edges of his lips. He stopped an inch away from touching her and smoothed her hair back behind her ears, catching one of her tiny braids between his fingers. ‘We’re two adults who share an explosive sexual chemistry that I, for one, am not finished exploring.’

He leaned forward and kissed the corner of her lips. He touched her there briefly with his tongue before transferring his attention to the other side. Liquid heat pooled low in her pelvis and Cara closed her eyes to savour the sensations.

‘I’m not ready to go back to Sydney yet, either,’ he surprised her by adding. ‘I haven’t had a holiday for a long time. I thought I might try and embrace a little Fiji time. Why don’t you embrace it with me?’

Why didn’t she? Because things had a tendency to go wrong for her.

He lifted his mouth from hers and shifted slightly back from her. ‘No pressure.’

No pressure. Is that what she needed? She didn’t know. She only knew that she needed him.

‘I have to be in London by Sunday for the Demarche unveiling,’ she reminded him.

He nuzzled her neck and her pulse jumped in her throat. ‘Then we’ll leave Friday. Is that soon enough for you?’

‘Yes, but … “we”?’

‘You said you don’t like being alone. Unless of course you have another date lined up?’

‘No.’ God. ‘I’d like you to come with me.’

‘Good, that’s settled.’ His voice was a hot whisper along her skin, making her nerve endings strain for more. ‘Now we just have one more thing to settle.’

Cara slid her hands into his thick hair and loved the feel of its soft springiness. Was he seriously going to come with her to London? She couldn’t stop the smile from splitting across her face and she pushed aside the little voice in her head that reminded her that he didn’t believe in true love. ‘Oh? What’s that?’

His hands slid to her waist and he stepped her backwards, towards the shower. ‘The island frowns on water wastage. I didn’t want to say anything before but …’ He turned on the shower and pulled her towel away. ‘I think we should consider sharing.’

‘Really?’

His gaze drifted over her body. ‘It’s a very serious offense.’

‘Well, I certainly don’t want to offend anyone…. ’ Cara demurred.

‘Glad to hear it. So …’ He smiled. Stepped forward and crowded her back.