His brother muttered a curse and relayed the message. Theo heard Perla's whoop of delight. 'The love of my life grudgingly agrees but suggests that perhaps, next time, you could be courteous enough to give us a heads-up sooner?'
'Next time? You mean you'll be getting married for a third time?'
He hung up to more pithy curses ringing in his ears and found himself smiling. Without taking his eyes off the figure below, he descended the spiral staircase and walked towards the bikini-clad goddess reaching for the towel on the shelf next to the pool.
Her back was turned and he slowed to a stop as the sight of her tiny waist and curvy hips made blood rush through his veins. Lust twisted through his gut, hard and demanding.
Hell, this was getting unbearable.
He threw his cell phone on the breakfast table and watched her jerk around to face him. The towel she was holding to her hair stilled.
'Hi.'
'Good morning. Enjoy your swim?'
'It was very refreshing,' she replied huskily, her eyes following him warily as he strode towards her. 'So, what's the plan for today?' she asked.
I want to haul you off to my bed and keep you underneath me until we both pass out from the pleasure overload.
He wrenched his gaze from her full breasts, lovingly cupped by damp white triangles, and concentrated on breathing. 'We're headed for Copacabana. We'll stop for something to eat then head back tonight. Or if you want we can stay on the boat and leave in the morning?'
She thought about it for a second and nodded. 'I'd love to draw the boat in the moonlight.'
'Then that's what you shall do.'
Her gaze turned puzzling, weighing.
'What's on your mind?' he asked.
She shook her head slightly and slowly folded the towel. 'Sometimes I feel as if I'm dealing with two people.'
Something hard tugged in his chest. 'Which one do you prefer?'
'Are you joking? The person you are now, of course.'
He froze as the tug tightened its hold on him. His breath came in short pants as he closed the distance between them. 'I thought we weren't going to delve into our issues today.'
'You asked me what was on my mind.'
He nodded. 'I guess I did.' He stared into the pure, make-up-free perfection of her face and something very close to regret rose in his gut.
'Now it's my turn to ask you what's on your mind, Theo,' she murmured thoughtfully.
'It's completely pointless, of course, but I'm wishing we'd met under different circumstances.'
Her mouth dropped open. 'You are?'
The urge to touch grew, and he finally gave in. He traced his thumb over her lips and felt them pucker slightly under his touch. 'As I said, it's pointless.'
'Because you would've been done with me within a week?' she ventured.
'No. I would've kept you for much longer, anjo. Perhaps even for ever.'
He forced himself to step away. Once again she'd slid so effortlessly under his skin, opened him up to wishes and possibilities he'd forced himself never to entertain after what their respective fathers and his mother had done to him. She was making him believe in impossible dreams, feelings he had no business experiencing.
He strode quickly towards the pool. A cold dip would wash away the fiery need and alien emotions tearing his insides to shreds. He hoped.
He emerged twenty minutes later to find her polishing off the last of her scrambled eggs and coffee. Over the past fortnight he'd noticed that she ate with a gusto that triggered his own appetite. Or appetites.
As he poured his coffee and helped himself to fruit, she reached for the ever-present duffel bag and pulled out her sketchpad.
'Have you thought of doing something with your talent?' he asked.
A shadow passed over her face before she tried to smile through it, but he guessed the reason behind it. Her father. 'I will once I resume my education. I put pursuing my degree on hiatus for a while.'
He didn't need to ask why. 'Until when?'
She shrugged and searched for a fresh page in her pad. 'I haven't decided yet.'
Theo tried not to let his anger show. They'd called a truce for twenty-four hours.
'What will you study when you return?'
'I love buildings and boats. I may go into architecture or boat design.'
He glanced from her face to the pad. 'Boat design, huh?'
She nodded.
He picked up his coffee and regarded her over the rim. 'Why don't you design me one?'
'You want me to design a boat for you?'
'Yes. I'm sure your research showed you what sort of designs we specialise in. It has to be up to the Pantelides standard. But use your own template. Make it state-of-the-art, of course.'
'Of course,' she murmured but he could see the gleam of interest in her eyes as she stared down at her pad.
Her pencil flew across the paper as he devoured his breakfast. She didn't look up as he rose and rounded the table to where she sat. He didn't glance down at her drawing; he was too absorbed with the sheer joy on her face as she became immersed in her task.
Even when his finger drifted down her cheek to the corner of her mouth she barely glanced up at him. But her breath hitched and she jerked a tiny bit towards his touch before he withdrew his hand.
As he walked away, Theo marvelled at how light-hearted he felt.
CHAPTER NINE
THEY DROPPED ANCHOR about a mile away from Copacabana Beach and took a launch ashore.
Inez looked to where Theo stood, legs braced, at the wheel of the launch. The wind rushed through his dark hair, whipping it across his forehead. Stupid that she should be jealous of the wind but she clenched her fingers in her lap as they tingled with the need to touch him.
I would've kept you for much longer, anjo. Perhaps even for ever.
Try as she had for the last few hours, she couldn't get his words out of her head. They struck her straight to the heart in unguarded moments, made her breath catch in ways that made her dizzy. Every time she pushed the feeling away. But, inevitably, it returned.
She was in serious trouble here …
A shout from nearby sunbathers drew her attention to the fact that they were not alone any more.
She watched the surge of people and the noise of tourists enjoying a Sunday stroll along the beach roads and suddenly felt as if she was losing the tenuous connection she'd made with Theo last night and this morning. Which was silly. There was no connection. Just a precarious truce.
And an exciting task designing a Pantelides boat, which had made joy bubble beneath her skin all day.
He brought the launch to a smooth stop at the pier and turned off the engine. Jumping out with lithe grace, he held out his hand to her, the smile on his face making her breath stutter in her chest as she slipped her hand into his.
'I'm in the mood for some traditional food and I know just the place for it. You happy to trust me?'
Safely on solid ground, she glanced up and found herself nodding. 'Yes.'
His eyes darkened. 'It's a bit of a walk.' He glanced at her high-heeled wedges with a cocked eyebrow.
'Don't worry about me. I was born in heels.'
'Then I pity your poor mãe.'
She laughed and saw his answering smile.
Gradually they fell silent and his gaze drifted over her face, resting on her mouth for a few seconds before he tugged on her hand. 'Come on, anjo.'
He led her along the pier and towards the streets. Ten minutes later, she stared in surprise when they stopped outside a door with a faded sign and a single light bulb above it.
'I hear they serve the best feijoadas in Rio,' he said, his gaze probing her every expression.
Inez forced the lump in her throat down as she stared at the sign that had been very much part of a long ago, happier childhood. 'It's true. I … how do you know about this place?'
The hand he'd captured since they alighted from the boat meshed with hers, causing her heart to flutter wildly as he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it. 'I made it my business to find out.'
Again tears choked her and she couldn't speak for several moments. 'Thank you.'
He nodded. 'My pleasure.'
They stopped in the doorway to allow their eyes to adjust to the candlelit interior.
'Pequena estrela!' A matronly woman in her late forties approached, her face lit up with a smile.
After exchanging hugs, Inez turned to introduce Theo.
'Camila and my mother were best friends. I used to have supper here many times after school when I was a kid.'
Theo responded to the introduction in smooth, charming Portuguese that had the older woman blushing before she led them to a table in the middle of the room.
'You want the usual?' Camila asked after she'd brought over a basket of bread and taken their wine order.