Was it her own consciousness calling for her? Or was there someone out there reaching for her?
But no, it couldn’t be.
There was nobody here for her. She had nobody here for her.
Then, all at once, everything went black.
‘Olivia?Olivia, can you hear me?’
The sweet, cooling darkness was being interrupted by a vigorous shaking. Why couldn’t she just stay here?
‘Olivia!’
But the shaking was getting rougher and the voice louder. It was harder and harder to ignore.
‘OLIVIA!’
Reluctantly she opened her eyes.
Her insides froze and her heart plummeted.
No.
She blinked, praying that this time when she looked, her eyes would not be staring directly into pools of liquid liquorice.
No. No. Absolutely not.
‘Aha, there you are! Thought we’d lost you for a moment.’ The beetle-black eyes crinkled, and Jacob’s face broke into a smile.
She turned her head to find that for some reason she was horizontal and … oh God, she was lying in his arms!
Immediately she tried to get up, but his firm, warm hands held her still.
‘Woah there, easy does it.’ Gently, he guided her upright.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she spluttered, noticing that a little ring of space had been cleared around them. If only her brain would stop being so goddam foggy, maybe then she could think straight. It didn’t help that Jacob was looking at her with those abnormally dark eyes, and a cocky grin. Her skin was flushed, and her mouth was exceptionally dry.
‘If you must know, I was stopping you from faceplanting the ground for the second time in two days.’
‘But I don’t understand.’ Embarrassment and anger weredoing their familiar dance inside her, each one fighting to take the lead. ‘Why are you even here?’
‘I decided to take a walk through the market, and there I was minding my own business when I spotted you looking …’ He hesitated, his brow furrowing. ‘Well, not looking 100 per cent OK. So I called out for you, and when you didn’t answer I came closer. I caught you just as you fainted. It was quite a save, if I say so myself.’
Olivia’s cheeks blazed with shame.
‘I see.’
‘Yeah, you were as white as a sheet and stumbling all over the place. Lucky I was here, wasn’t it?’
The horror seemed to penetrate new depths, robbing her of speech. Instead, she gave a feeble nod of her head.
‘Anyway.’ Jacob ran a hand through his mop of golden hair. ‘How are you feeling? Are you still dizzy?’
‘No. Just tired,’ she mumbled, becoming aware of the leaden feeling in her bones. ‘And thirsty. I’mreallythirsty.’
‘Hmm.’ Jacob reached into his bag and pulled out a water bottle. ‘I thought so. The classic case of not enough food, not enough water and way too much heat. Here, drink as much as you want.’
Olivia took the bottle and gulped the cool, fresh water, her body crying out in relief at the taste. Each sip brought her back to life a little more. How could she have got it so wrong?Again?This guy must think she was a total idiot.
