She flopped down onto the bed and took a few deep, steadying breaths.
Perhaps this holiday wasn’t going to be as relaxing as she’d hoped.
* * *
The tavern was as magnificent as Xavier had described and Soli had a hard time choosing what to eat from the comprehensive seafood menu.
‘I don’t usually eat fish. I’ve never learnt to cook it because Domino has an extreme aversion to the smell,’ she said, her mouth watering at the thought of the meal she’d just ordered. She’d been hesitant to ask for the lobster – she’d always wanted to try it – but Xavier seemed to have sensed her worry and told her to order whatever she wanted. So lobster it was, with a large glass of crisp Sancerre, which he’d recommended.
She was in heaven.
‘So, I thought tomorrow we could explore some of the coves. Maybe take a picnic lunch with us. I have a small motorboat moored in our cove which we can take along the coast,’ Xavier said, putting down his wine glass and fixing her with his tingle-inducing gaze.
‘Oh, wow! I’d love that!’ she said. This whole set-up was like something from the movies.
The smile he gave her made his eyes twinkle and she took a hurried gulp of her own wine to calm her suddenly racing pulse.
She needed to remember that this wasn’t real. They were just pretending.
At least he was.
She wasn’t so sure about herself any more.
* * *
They slept in late the next morning on Xavier’s insistence and ate a light breakfast before strolling down the winding path to their cove and climbing into the boat.
The turquoise sea glittered in the late morning sunlight and Soli laughed with joy as they sped through the gentle waves to the other side of the island and one of the other secluded, and usually deserted, coves that Xavier knew about.
Once there, he brought the boat in to shore and tied it to a large rock, making sure it wouldn’t float away before helping Soli out. Her hand was warm and firm in his and for a moment he contemplated not letting go of her and pulling her towards him instead.
To do what, he wasn’t sure.
No. He was. But he couldn’t allow himself to think like that. They’d made a pact and he needed to keep to it. For his own sanity.
After exploring the small cove, where Soli scrambled over the rocks and stood on the largest one with her hands on her hips and her curls blowing in the wind – eliciting in him the strangest feeling of lightness he’d ever experienced – they settled down onto the picnic blanket he’d brought and tucked into the food his housekeeper had stocked the fridge with.
Once they’d finished, he lay back on the blanket with his hands behind his head and gazed up at the azure-blue sky, letting the heat of the day wash over him. It had been a very long time since he’d felt this relaxed – even though an undercurrent of crackling energy still pulsed through him. Something he couldn’t quite identify, though he had his suspicions.
‘Phew! It’s so hot!’ Soli said next to him. ‘I think I’ll go for a swim. Want to join me?’ She looked at him expectantly.
‘Not right now,’ he said, unwilling to move from his comfortable position. ‘You go ahead.’
He tried not to watch as she took off the light summer dress she’d been wearing to uncover a cherry-red bikini.
Tried and failed.
He also tried to keep his gaze off her as she skipped down the golden sand to the water and tentatively dipped her toes in.
That was a lost hope too.
‘It’s warm,’ she called back, sounding delighted with the discovery.
He gave up and turned to rest on his side, watching her splash around, grinning from ear to ear as she went deeper into the water.
Her body was lithe, but curvaceous, imperfect in places – and wonderfully real for it.
It had to be the most alluring sight he’d ever seen.
