Nicola Marsh - Bedroom Seductions

So what now? She wouldn’t have the guts for a fling, no matter how far her confidence soared. She couldn’t do something like that unless she was emotionally involved. And while Zac said he liked her, like didn’t equate to what she craved: a lifelong love from an incredible man who’d put her first.

Completely moronic, completely delusional, completely crazy, but she’d been dreaming of her own happily-ever-after for so long she’d somehow taken his genuine niceness and tangled him up in her fantasy.

She cast a sideways glance at his profile and sighed, her heart hoping for a minor miracle while her head shouted, Wake up and smell the sea air .

‘What are you thinking?’

‘Not much.’ He really, really didn’t want to know.

‘I can hear your mind ticking from here.’

‘If you’re that perceptive, you tell me.’

‘I think you’re mulling over what I said back at the cove. Close?’

There he went again, being way too perceptive.

‘Don’t give up your day job. You’d make a lousy mind-reader.’

‘So?’

‘So you told me not to say anything unless it was nice, and I’m having a hard time coming up with anything.’

His chuckles warmed her better than the sun’s rays. ‘See—that’s why I like you. Every prickly, cynical, blunt inch of you.’

‘Yeah, well, I can’t help it if you’ve been spending too long in this tropical heat.’

He slowed the Jeep and turned onto the dock. ‘You know, you can hide behind that smart mouth of yours all you like, but I’m going to get to know you better whether you like it or not.’

‘Yeah?’

He stopped the engine and turned to her, his slow, sexy smile sending a shiver through her. ‘Yeah. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

Charming sailor boy she could handle. Single-minded sailor boy with a determined glint in his too-blue eyes had her plans to hold him off sinking faster than the Titanic .

Hoping her voice didn’t quiver, she aimed for flippant. ‘I stand duly warned. Thanks for the tour.’

‘My pleasure. Hope it lived up to your expectations.’

If she’d had any he’d blown them clean out of the water with his shrewd observations back at the cove. She didn’t want to get involved with a guy like him. But what if it was too late?

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Great. I better get this Jeep back to Raj. See you at dinner?’

She nodded, the thought of spending more time with him after the day they’d just had sending a tiny helix of joy interwoven with doubt spiralling through her.

He winked, sent her a jaunty half-salute, and drove away, leaving her mind spinning and her tummy tossing with nerves at the many possible ways he could ‘get to know her’ over the next few days.

Zac pulled up at the front of Raj’s and switched off the engine, wishing he could switch off his thoughts as easily.

Things were out of control. Or, more to the point, things with Lana were out of control.

After lunch and his chat with Sujit he’d been all gungho, determined to explore the possibility of a relationship with her. Then they’d talked at the cove and things had rushed downhill from there.

He’d known she was inexperienced—but not even dating? Hell, did that mean she was a virgin too? No way. She’d had that moronic ex—not that that meant much—and there was the way she’d responded to his kisses, the way she had that funny gleam in her eyes at times. But what did that mean? That she had a bit of sass lurking beneath her prudish front?

He didn’t dally with virgins. In fact he didn’t dally with women, period, considering it took all his concentration these days to perpetrate his plan.

But he wasn’t fooling around with Lana. Had known that the instant she’d made her true opinion of him clear.

He’d kissed her to shut her up, to demonstrate what she really meant to him—a gentle, soft kiss, when he’d been hankering to devour her all day.

He wasn’t toying with her. He wasn’t just after a fling. So what could he do to prove it to her?

He got out of the car and headed for the house. Considering Raj’s happy marriage and five kids, maybe he could give him a pointer or two.

As he reached the veranda of the whitewashed bungalow, Raj stepped out. ‘Hello, my friend. Had a good day?’

‘Yeah. Thanks for the Jeep. I had a great time down at the cove.’

‘I’m sure you did. Sujit phoned me and said you had a beautiful lady companion with you today.’

He groaned. ‘I can’t believe you two old gossips.’

Raj’s grin broadened. ‘He also said you were so ga-ga over this woman you could hardly finish your dahl. Must be serious. Care to tell me more?’

‘Maybe. Though I’d kill for a cold beer first.’

Raj clapped both hands to his head. ‘Where are my manners? Come in.’

As Zac sank into a comfortable cane chair with a beer in his hand, Raj raised an eyebrow.

‘So my friend. Time to tell all.’

He had two choices: stay silent and listen to the hum of the ceiling fan, or get an objective perspective on a situation that was complicated at best.

‘Lana’s different from anyone I’ve ever met. I want to get to know her better, but I only have a week before I head to Europe. Not enough time to really get involved.’

Especially when the likelihood of her retreating back into her shell was high. He’d seen her growing confidence—the perfume, staying on after the kiss last night, the hot new bikini today—but small changes didn’t mean she wouldn’t retreat at the first sign of an over-eager sailor laying a possible future relationship on her after knowing her for a week.

He took a long slug of beer, savouring the icy brew sliding down his throat. ‘That’s the short version.’

‘Do you have to return to Europe?’

He nodded. He’d let his uncle down once before. Not this time. He’d make sure of it.

‘Jimmy’s sick again. The cancer’s back and it’s spread.’

Raj’s bleak expression mirrored his. ‘I’m sorry. Is it—?’

‘Terminal? Yeah.’ He downed most of his beer in one gulp, hating the injustice of this disease that had no cure and robbed a man of his health, his dignity, his life.

‘How much time?’

He shrugged. ‘He’s seen all the best docs in London and had varying opinions. Some say six months; some say a year, max.’

Raj shook his head and clicked his tongue. ‘Very sad.’

‘He says he wants to be left alone, but I know the stubborn old coot better than I know myself. That’s why I’m moving head office to London for the next year. So I can visit him whether he damn well likes it or not.’

‘Ah… ’ Raj nodded like a wise old guru. ‘So this is the problem with your woman. She lives in Australia and you’ll be based in London for at least the next twelve months?’

Zac leaned forward, rested his head in his hands. ‘It’s more complex than that.’

‘Matters of the heart often are.’

He leaped out of his chair and started pacing, wishing he hadn’t mentioned Lana to his friend. ‘Why are we even having this conversation?’

‘Because you have fallen, and fallen hard.’

He pulled up short. ‘You know the biggest problem? I’ve lied to her, and she’s a straightforward, no-nonsense person. She’s been lied to before and it cut her up badly. How the hell am I going to tell her the truth now, when she barely trusts me as it is?’

Raj’s eyebrows shot heavenward. ‘She doesn’t know your true profession?’

‘No. You know secrecy’s been paramount, to give me a chance to catch our saboteur.And I only met her a week ago.’

‘For a woman you only met a week ago, you’re sure doing a lot of soul-searching.’