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“Yeah,” she said, the smile falling from her face, “I feel like I do.” Her pulse gathered pace as his hazel gaze held hers. The overwhelming desire to kiss him surged inside her, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that their fingertips were nearly touching in the sand. With a mammoth effort she swallowed and looked away. Time to change the subject. “My friend Matt called last night from Glasgow. There’s a job coming up at his lab that he says I should go for.”

“Oh yeah?” Cameron said slowly. “Do you want it?”

Nina blew her breath out through pursed lips. “I don’t know. It’s kind of a step backward. But it would mean some security, at least for a while.”

He touched his fingertips to hers. “Don’t sell yourself short.”

She met his gaze. “I think I’m just too naturally cautious. I always take the safe option.”

Cam nodded. “I get that. But there’s no harm in keeping your options open. What about the US one? Is that a step back?”

“No,” she said, letting her fingers rest against his and appreciating the warm feeling that travelled along her arm. “It would be a career progression.”

He shifted his hand closer so that their fingers interlocked. “Maybe you could go for the US one too. Then the Glasgow job is a plan B if you decide it’s not the right move for you?”

Nina struggled to concentrate on what to say next. His touch was distracting her ability to think clearly. “I might.” She glanced away. “Thanks for listening to my boring work chat.”

He smiled. “It’s not boring. You can talk to me any time.”

The look in his eyes and the touch of his hand was causing her heart rate to careen out of control, so she cleared her throat and got to her feet. “Shall we swim back? I think your shoulders are getting red.”

He stood next to her. “Stop eyeing up my shoulders, you perv.”

She laughed and gave him a gentle shove before running into the surf.

“Oh no you don’t,” he called after her, splashing through the water to catch her. They both dived into the sea and struck out for the yacht.

Once they reached the vessel, Nina hung back for a second, allowing Cam to pull himself out first so she could admire the ripple of his muscles and the droplets running over his skin. She also suspected that hanging back would mean he’d offer her a hand to get out herself, which she didn’t need but wanted, nonetheless. He did. After she got to her feet on the wooden deck, she held onto his hand for a second, meeting his eyes with a flare inside her belly. She let him go and caught Isla watching them with a grin on her face. Nina cleared her throat. “Shall we go get some shade?”

Isla got to her feet and nodded. “I need you to put some more lotion on my back.”

“No problem,” Nina said, following her up the stairs to the next level. She took out the factor fifty and gestured for Isla to lie on her front while she made sure she was adequately covered.

Isla glanced over her shoulder. “Cam needs some too. Us Scots can’t be too careful in the sun.”

“Absolutely.” Nina nodded, and made to toss Cam the bottle.

“No,” Isla said. “You’ll need to put it on for him. He can’t get to his back any more than I could get to mine.”

Nina raised her eyebrows. “Why don’t you do it then?”

Isla pouted. “But you’re so good at it. I’ll miss a bit then he’ll get burned and I’ll feel guilty.” She turned back and lowered her head onto her sun lounger.

Nina turned to Cam, expecting him to say he could manage. But he just smiled. “Come on. I thought you said my shoulders were getting red.”

The heat in Nina’s cheeks indicated her face was far redder than his shoulders were. She went to sit behind him and started rubbing the lotion onto his back, trying to suppress the electricity flowing into her core at the touch of his skin. It cranked her temperature to the point that it seemed to eclipse the heat from the sun itself. She ran her fingertips over the swell of his muscles, trying to ensure he was protected but not linger too long and have him realise how much he affected her. By the time she’d finished, her pulse was pounding in her ears.

“There you go,” she said, dropping her hands with a mix of relief and disappointment.

“Thanks,” Cam said, taking the bottle and starting to cover his front.

Nina sat back, trying to calm her hammering heart.

“Okay,” Cam said, shifting to face her, “your turn.”

Nina glanced at Isla, wondering if she should make a token effort at asking her to do it instead. She turned her back to Cam, secretly hoping that Isla wouldn’t volunteer to perform the task. Luckily it appeared as though she’d fallen asleep.

Nina did a poor job of suppressing her involuntary shudder of desire when he touched her skin. She bent her head as he rubbed in circular motions over her back. Her nerve endings tingled with pleasure, his fingers brushing over the goosebumps elicited by his contact. There was a strange mix of excitement and relaxation rising and falling inside her. There was no doubt that she found him intensely attractive and that feeling only grew with each passing hour, never mind day. But his touch also soothed and calmed her, working out the tension in her muscles. He finished and broke contact, leaving her sore with disappointment.