Jacqueline Baird - Mediterranean Tycoons - Dark & Demanding

‘So unless there is somewhere else you need to go,’ he urged her along the pavement, ‘any shopping or more errands to run for your boss…?’ He stopped and trailed off.

‘No, no,’ Liza denied, not quite sure what she was denying—his question or her helpless response to him. ‘Work finished when I dropped a package off for my boss at Daidolas in the town this morning, just before I met you actually.’

‘Daidolas the opticians?’ Nick asked swiftly.

‘Yes, that’s right, I think it was probably some glasses,’ she babbled on, intensely aware of him with every beat of her heart. ‘My time is my own from now on.’ She saw his dark eyes flicker with some emotion she did not recognise, and felt the sudden tension in his tall frame, and her hand trembled in his. ‘So thank you for your kind invitation, Niculoso,’ she heard herself say with ridiculous formality in an attempt to hide the chaotic feelings his nearness aroused in her, and snatched her hand free from his, dying with embarrassment.

Then she gasped as two large hands closed around her waist, and she was lifted off her feet and spun around, a hard, warm mouth briefly brushed her lips, and then she was in the Jeep.

‘So polite, Liza,’ he drawled mockingly. ‘Please, we are old friends and my friends call me Nick.’ And, chuckling at her flushed, bemused expression, he added, ‘Fasten your seat belt,’ before strolling around the front of the car and stepping into the driving seat.

‘My friends call me Liza,’ she muttered distractedly, still reeling from the touch of his mouth on her own, as he started the engine.

Nick cast her a glance, a broad grin lighting his tanned face. ‘I did know that, Liza,’ he mocked her. The speed with which she had offered the information he required meant his mission would not be as difficult as he had thought. ‘I just have to make a call.’ He gestured with his mobile. ‘The reception is better away from the traffic.’ And he jumped back out of the Jeep and strolled a few yards to the beach. He was taking no chances on Liza overhearing. Damn! But she was good. By revealing her actions so readily, either she really was simply an innocent messenger, or a consummate actress.

It may have been glass in the package! But not of the optical variety…he would bet his last cent.

Quickly he called Carl and gave him the information about the drop-off point and then talked Carl out of having Liza picked up immediately by persuading him it made more sense for Nick to keep her with him on the off-chance she had more information of use to them.

What troubled him slightly as he leapt back into the Jeep was why he was so keen to believe in her innocence. A man of his wealth, and bachelor status, he was used to the adulation of women and was wise to all their tricks to entrap him; consequently he had a very cynical attitude to the female sex in general, but Liza confused him… Not an emotion he was comfortable with.

Liza wriggled deeper into the seat as Nick flashed her a brief smile before driving away. She glanced down at his elegant, bronzed hand wrapped around the gear stick, saw the sinews in his strong arms flex as he changed gear, and thought of the same hand on her breast.

Oh, hell! She silently groaned. What a time to start having erotic thoughts about the man. She must remember Nick thought he was miles above her in every way; he had made that very plain years ago. She had to try and relax and enjoy the day for what it was. Two old friends sharing a tour of the island. It was sheer coincidence they had even met again. But in that she was wrong…

‘FIRE MOUNTAIN; I can see why,’ Liza said softly, staring around in awe. After a brief visit to a building site, Nick had driven Liza into the national park, passing a trail of about fifty camels, provided to give rides to the tourists. But Nick had taken them up into what looked like a lunar landscape. At first she had thought it was the sun shining off the lava that made it appear red, but the further they went she realised it was the rock itself that was red.

Nick stopped the Jeep and lifted her down, keeping one hand around her waist, and she stood in the crook of his arm, not sure which affected her the most—the man or the mountains. She had never seen or felt anything like it in her life. Craters, some huge, some small, the rock red and black and even a trace of green, but not a blade of grass grew there, and the silence was almost spiritual.

‘Impressive, hmm?’ Nick prompted. ‘Some people thought the gods were laughing when the eruptions started on April the first in 1730. It is known as the greatest volcanic holocaust ever witnessed. Thirty-two volcanoes rose up and erupted, spewing forth great quantities of molten rock.’ His hand tightened around her waist, his fingers against the bare skin of her midriff guiding her towards a view of five mountains in a line. ‘Those five erupted one after the other like Chinese firecrackers apparently. What finally wiped out most of the vegetation was the last eruption in the 1850s.’

Liza felt a bit like erupting herself; she had never been so conscious of a man in her life. She had had boyfriends and one she actually thought she loved, until they’d got engaged and made love for the first time and it was a disaster as far as Liza was concerned, and the end of the relationship. No man had ever affected her the way Nick’s simplest touch seemed to do. She had to make a deliberate effort to fight down the stirrings of desire just the sound of his voice aroused in her. Ruthlessly she clamped down on her wayward thoughts, and turned in his hold to look up at him. ‘I have never seen anything like it; it is absolutely fascinating.’ She smiled.

His heavy-lidded eyes darkened softly on her upturned face. ‘So are you, Liza.’

Suddenly the atmosphere was thick with tension. Liza was aware of his hand on her bare midriff, his fingers flexing on her skin, and she knew he was going to kiss her, and then to her surprise he stepped back, setting her free.