Dammit.
Well, he’ll soon get bored with it. With me. No doubt. There are a lot of beautiful women here at the hotel, sitting around the pool in their tiny designer bikinis, their long, toned and tanned limbs stretched out in perfectly poised poses.
And I’m not here to flirt with Kit. I’ve come to have a relaxing, restorative time.
With that affirmation in mind, I climb out of the pool and walk, dripping, over to my lounger.
‘Looking strong there, Dasher,’ Kit says as I move my clothes so I can pick up my towel and pat myself dry with it before laying it back onto the lounger.
‘Thanks,’ I say, keeping my tone friendly, but final. I don’t want to get into a conversation with him about the state of our bodies.
No way am I admitting out loud that I’ve even noticed what his body looks like.
‘Do you still dance?’ he asks, clearly undeterred by my indifferent tone.
‘Whenever I can,’ I say, sitting on the lounger and making myself comfortable. Taking my sunglasses out of the tote, I put them on and lie back, hoping he’ll take the hint that I don’t really want to chat right now.
He doesn’t.
‘You always did love to dance. I remember you doing it for hours whenever we went out clubbing.’
‘Hmm.’
‘I’ve not been to a club for a while. Katya, my ex, didn’t like dancing.’
‘Oh. Shame.’
There’s silence for about thirty seconds before he says, ‘So what else do you do with your time now?’
I let out a jokey sort of sigh then turn to look at him.
Which is a mistake.
He’s looking back at me in that intent way of his and I feel something dangerous stir deep inside me. It’s that pull of desire I always felt whenever he was around. It’s what attracted me to him in the first place and what kept us together for as long as it did over those few intensely sexually charged months.
I look away quickly and try to compose myself before speaking. I’m terrified my voice is going to come out wobbly.
‘Um… I’ve been working for a charity that protects woodland and the endangered species that live in it since I graduated,’ I say, relieved when it comes out sounding relatively normal.
‘Oh wow,’ he says, his deep voice infused with what sounds like real warmth. ‘You must get a lot out of that.’
‘I do,’ I agree. ‘It’s a great place to work, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get people to donate. Trees often get pushed down the pecking order when people are struggling to feed their kids. But they’re such an important part of our ecosystem. And someone has to fight for them.’
‘Thank God for people like you,’ Kit says.
I think he genuinely means that too.
‘Thanks,’ I say, aware of heat rising up my neck to my face.
It’s so weird sitting here with him, fielding his compliments. The last time we’d been together for any significant amount of time we’d been awkwardly bringing our fling to an end. There hadn’t been any real bad feeling between us, but we’d been pretty emotionally distant with each other.
‘How about you?’ I ask, aware I’m being rude by not asking him any questions back.
He bats a hand like it’s of no consequence what he’s been up to. ‘Ah, you know. Business shit. I’m heavily investing in a new tech start-up which has the potential to be seriously disruptive. I can’t talk much about it right now though. It needs time to incubate before we introduce it to the world, and we’re trying to fly it under the radar of any competitors.’
He sits up and waves towards a guy on the other side of the pool, who’s just finished serving drinks to a couple sitting on the loungers opposite us.
‘Do you want a drink?’ he asks me.
