Kate Hewitt - Bad Blood

‘It’s beautiful.’ Slinging her bag down on the sand, Katie sat and rested her chin on her knees. ‘I did some preliminary sketches for your script, by the way. Just a few ideas. Might be completely wrong and not what you were imagining.’

‘Do you have them with you?’

She reached into her bag and pulled out her pad, suddenly nervous. ‘They’re just ideas.’

He sat down next to her and took her sketch pad. Silent, he flipped through the pages. ‘Brown?’

‘Yes, because in this scene she isn’t sure of herself. She doesn’t want to stand out. Then later—’ Katie leaned across and turned another page ‘—here, she’s wearing bolder, more flamboyant colours and everything is tailored because she isn’t hiding behind her clothes any more.’ Suddenly she realised what she’d done and she felt a flash of mortification. She’d made it personal . ‘If you don’t think it’s a good idea I can—’

‘I think it’s a great idea. I wouldn’t have thought of doing it like that. You’ve shown her character arc through costume.’ Nathaniel studied the drawings carefully. If he spotted any parallels, he didn’t comment. ‘They’re original. Clever.’

‘You really like them?’

‘Yes. Can you work up a costume plot?’

‘Do you have a computer I can use?’

‘You can’t do it the old-fashioned way with pen and paper?’

‘Yes, but it won’t look so professional and you won’t be able to email it to whoever you need to email it to.’

‘Good point. I’ll sort something out for you.’ He sprang to his feet and held out his hand. ‘Sun’s going down. If you want romantic, this is the closest you’ll get.’

She didn’t want romantic, did she? At least, not with this man. She wasn’t that foolish. But after a moment’s hesitation she took his hand and let him pull her upright. The chemistry sparked immediately.

She knew he felt it too, because she heard him swear under his breath.

For a moment she thought he was going to ignore the heat, but then he hauled her into him and the searing burn of his mouth on hers melted the last of her inhibitions. Flames licked at her nerve endings and a wicked thrill shot through her entire body. She felt his hand slide to the base of her back and he pulled her hard against him, his other hand locked in the soft mass of her hair as he used his mouth with erotic purpose.

His fingers massaged her scalp, his touch so inherently sexual that her excitement levels shot into overload.

Her eyes flew open and she found herself staring straight into his.

In that single moment she saw Alpha Man, the ruthless soldier about to possess the daughter of his enemy.

Confused by that vision, Katie pulled her mouth from his. ‘No.’ It was hard to breathe. ‘This is … surreal. I look at you and I see the movie star, not the man.’

He lowered his forehead to hers. ‘You just kissed the man, Katie.’

She dragged herself out of his arms, and stepped backwards, the sand warm and soft under her feet. ‘I just assume you’re acting. Like earlier in the week—’

‘I wasn’t acting then and I’m not acting now.’

Of course he was acting. He could act desire every bit as convincingly as he could act daring and dangerous. ‘You know how to look at a woman in a way that makes her feel beautiful. The scary thing is I know that, but it still works on me.’

‘Katie—’

‘And much as I’d love to tell myself that I’m stunning enough to attract the world’s sexiest movie star, one look in the mirror reminds me that I’m not. You can look at a woman like that and not mean it, I know you can. You do it on the screen all the time. When you kissed the daughter of your enemy in Alpha Man you were so convincing that I actually believed that the two of you must be together in real life because I just couldn’t imagine how you could look at her like that and not mean it.’

‘I’ve already told you I couldn’t stand the woman.’

‘I know.’ Katie gave a confused laugh. ‘Which shows how good an actor you are! And that proves my point.’ She ran her tongue over her lips, wishing she’d never let him kiss her. Now she just wanted more and she knew that if she allowed herself more she’d be in dangerous territory. Whatever she shared with this man would be scorching and intense, but it would also be fleeting and ultimately painful. ‘You made me come here because you were worried I’d talk to the press, so I’m here. But I don’t want to do anything else. I’d be crazy to let myself fall for that whole movie-star thing. Just because you’re bored and you’ve been deprived of your diet of Hollywood women, doesn’t mean you can use me as a substitute.’ Her hand shaking, she rubbed her fingers over her forehead. ‘I don’t move in the same world as you. Quick meaningless sex just doesn’t work for me.’

‘Have you ever tried meaningless sex?’ There was humour in those eyes. But there was also gentleness and it was the surprising gentleness that ripped at her self-control.

‘No.’

‘You should try everything once.’

‘In that case you should try opening up and trusting. You might find a meaningful relationship really satisfying.’

Still holding her hands in his, he backed her against the rocks. ‘Right now I know exactly what I’d find satisfying.’

Sandwiched between smooth rock and solid male muscle, Katie’s willpower faltered. Her body throbbed and ached and excitement was a tight ball in the pit of her stomach. Sexual tension pulsed between them, the heat so intense that it was like flying into the sun. She stared up into his face, trying to read those eyes ….

As he lowered his head towards her, she thought about the week they’d spent together. He’d told her nothing about himself. She knew no more now than she had when she’d worked in the theatre with him.

Katie planted a hand in the centre of his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart under her fingers. ‘Are you ever yourself?’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘You’re playing a role. Do you ever play yourself, Nathaniel?’

The change in him was almost imperceptible but it was there. Shimmering desire faded and his eyes were guarded. A tiny muscle flickered in his jaw and he watched her without speaking.

Then he released her in a smooth movement and stepped away. The cynical, mocking look was back in his eyes. ‘We would have been good together.’

Katie was glad she was leaning against the rock. Her knees were shaking so much she needed the support. Her hands ached to reach out for him, drag him back to her, lose herself in the heat of his mouth.

But she wanted it to be real, and this wasn’t real.

They’d spent a week together, but she knew she hadn’t spent a single moment with the real Nathaniel Wolfe.

His head throbbing from yet another sleepless night, Nathaniel flung snorkelling gear onto the deck while Ben and one of the other members of staff loaded food and equipment.

‘Where are you going?’ A soft, female voice came from behind him and he turned to see Katie standing on the jetty. Her feet were bare and her hands pushed into a pair of shorts. Even from a distance, he could feel her tension. Her cheeks were pale and there were dark shadows under her eyes.

Having spent most of the night wide awake in the hammock, it gave him some satisfaction to know that she wasn’t sleeping any better than he was.

‘ We are going sailing. Given my misfortune of being trapped on this island with someone with your moral code, I need a distraction to take my mind off the total lack of meaningless sex.’ And a

distraction to keep his mind off the new messages waiting on his phone .