It was all he could do not to growl. And not just at the sight of her in her robe, untied of course, and no doubt designed to show off her shortie pyjamas and her perfect legs. What she lacked in height, she made up for in shapeliness, all sweet curves and toned flesh. He turned his eyes away. ‘I suspect you know the answer to that.’
‘Shame,’ she said, covering her mouth with her free hand on a yawn. ‘I slept really well.’ She moved to the window and stood staring out at the view a while. ‘Wow, I can see the tops of Mt Gower and Lidgbird. The weather seems to be clearing.’
‘Just not enough.’
‘Oh,’ she said, taking a sip of her coffee. ‘Bad news for you, then. Although I have to confess not being sorry.’
He grunted. ‘I didn’t think so.’
‘So,’ she said turning back, ‘what are we going to do today?’
‘Why do we have to “do” anything?’
‘Because we can’t spend the entire day inside.’
‘I’m perfectly happy spending the day inside.’
‘Okay, so there’s always the pool, I guess. I could soak in there a while.’
He squeezed his eyes shut. Not the pool. Not the strapless bikini with that little ruffle at the top. Please god, not the tiny bikini again. He was supposed to be reminding himself of all the reasons he needed not to touch her. He was supposed to be keeping his distance. He didn’t need a refresher of those sweet curves. But how attractive could the plunge pool actually be after the storm? ‘I’m sure the pool will be uninviting—it no doubt needs cleaning after all the debris from the storm landing in it.’
‘Hmm.’ She seemed to weigh that up as she looked out the window to the deck and the pool outside. ‘There is a lot of rubbish in it.’
‘There you go,’ he said, wanting to sigh in relief.
She turned and pulled out a chair opposite his at the table. ‘In that case, I guess we’ll just have to chat.’
He pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. ‘Or you could get dressed.’
‘I will. After breakfast.’ She looked around. ‘What is for breakfast by the way?’
‘I don’t know. The maid must be taking a day off. Why don’t you look in the pantry and fridge to see what there is to eat?’
‘Wow. Somebody got out of bed on the wrong side this morning. Or have you just been taking cranky pills again?’
The smile she added at the end of the sentence was the kicker.
His chair scraped on the floor as he pushed it back, rising to his feet to put more than a table’s width between them. ‘I’m not cranky,’ he said, his turn to look out the windows to the incredible mountain vista that lay beyond. Okay, so it was a lie, but what did she expect, making out that everything was sweetness and light between them when she knew—she damned well knew—that she was goading him, torturing him, with her every appearance, her every word.
She must know that kiss last night was a mistake. She must know the danger she was putting him in—acting in his own interests instead of his client’s, and messing with a rescue, a princess no less. He had no place. He had no right.
And yet she seemed so carefree. Almost as if she took delight from tempting him. Had her conquests in Sydney given her confidence and licence to explore her new-found skills while she still had some say?
He was sure her time back in the palace in Rubanestein would be more regulated, more controlled. Even if she tried, she would be known and recognised by the populace. There would be no more casual encounters with someone at the beach or in a café somewhere.
Was this her final fling?
Did she have him lined up as her final fling?
If that’s what she’d planned, she was way out of luck, because there was no way he was falling for that. No way he’d give in to her. Sure, she’d felt like light and hope in his arms, but that was an illusion. Something she’d wanted him to feel. Because there could be no light. There was no hope.
Not after Sophia.
Not with anyone.
Especially not with Princess Isabella.
The beguiling scent broke him out of his thoughts. Of onions browning, of capsicum, tomatoes, mushrooms and more. A toaster pinged. He turned to see her adding scrambled eggs to a skillet filled with sauteed vegetables.
