about the fact that she was regretting that their evening together was nearly over.
They’d walked all the way to the rocks at the far end of the beach before he paused beside her to stare out over the sea. Without a word being spoken they stood side by side, the breeze gently fluttering hair and clothing, and she was aware of a strange feeling of contentment.
‘I wasn’t ready for the evening to end,’ he said quietly, finally breaking the silence. ‘I hope you don’t mind.’
Lissa was so startled to hear him voice her own feelings that she wasn’t quick enough to keep a check on her tongue.
‘Neither was I,’ she admitted fervently, then could have kicked herself. What on earth was wrong with her? Over the last few weeks she thought she’d become adept at hiding her thoughts and feelings from others. Surely an evening in his company wasn’t enough for her to lose that hard-won control. She’d really hoped that she’d learned not to reveal her thoughts so impetuously.
How humiliating to lapse now, she groaned silently, turning her face away. And he was probably only being his usual polite self, telling her what he thought she wanted to hear…
‘Ah, Melissa, it’s more than that!’ he exclaimed, breaking into her scrambled thoughts as he turned her back to face him. ‘Tell me that you feel it, too—this crazy attraction between us.’
He captured each of her hands in his and pressed them against the soft cotton covering his chest.
She was so overwhelmed by his unexpected exclamation and so aware of the warmth of his body and the rhythmic beat of his heart that she almost missed his next words.
‘Do you not know that ever since I saw you standing there in the hospital, all long bare legs and big dark eyes, you have filled my mind…my thoughts.’ He brought her hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to each.
Lissa was lost for words, her own heart beating so loudly that she was sure he must be able to hear it over the sound of the sea.
‘But this is so crazy,’ he continued, his tone almost one of exasperation. ‘We’re not teenagers to be overtaken by lust in the blink of an eye. We’re both responsible professional people. This can’t be real.’
‘You’re right. It is crazy,’ she said, trying to hang on to logic in the face of almost overwhelming temptation. How was she supposed to resist when he was looking at her like that?
‘Matt, we only met a few days ago and under the most fraught conditions.’ She tried to pull her hands free but he wouldn’t release her, forcing her to stay close enough to breathe in the musky warmth of his body. It certainly didn’t help as she tried to put her thoughts into words.
‘I’m just a visitor here,’ she continued, trying to be logical. ‘And I certainly didn’t come here looking for a holiday fling.’ Ah, but the thought of it was so beguiling. For the first time, she could almost identify with those groups of girls she’d been watching.
‘I never thought it for a moment,’ he agreed gently. ‘I’ve seen the young men lurking on the beach and in the square. It’s probably the same in the discos and nightclubs, although it’s years since I last bothered to go.’
It was almost uncanny how closely his thoughts had mirrored her own and when the silence grew between them she somehow knew that he was wondering where they went from here, too. He was still holding her hands against his chest and she drew comfort from the fact that he hadn’t released her.
‘Can we be friends?’ she suggested quietly, but without much hope that he would agree. He was such a strong, decisive sort of man, so vibrant, that she was afraid he wouldn’t be interested in half-measures like friendship.
‘I DON’T think mere friendship will be possible between a man and a woman,’ Matt had said in a husky voice that had thrilled and dismayed Lissa all at once. ‘Especially when there is so much attraction between them.’
His softly accented voice had had an effect all its own as they’d stood in the moonlit darkness of the Italian night. She’d seen from his shadowy expression that he hadn’t been happy with his thoughts and had found herself holding her breath as she’d waited for him to finish. She could hardly have blamed him if he’d wanted nothing more to do with her, but something deep inside her had wanted to know more about the effect he had on her.
Not just the physical awareness, that had been easy to understand. It had been the indefinable ‘something’ she’d felt when he’d been near her…
‘But if that is what you wish,’ he’d conceded softly, ‘then that is how it must be.’
His words had repeated themselves so often in her head that they had become part of her dreams and her nightmares.
At the time, she’d been so relieved that he hadn’t dismissed the idea out of hand that she hadn’t commented or asked any questions. It hadn’t occurred to her until much later that she’d tacitly agreed to being attracted to him.
Had he been one of the unscrupulous Lotharios she’d seen on the beach, he would probably have taken advantage of that attraction in spite of her misgivings.
The fact that he hadn’t even tried was either proof of the fact that he was honourable enough to stick to their agreement, or that she’d effectively killed his interest.
It didn’t stop him being a pleasant, albeit platonic companion but it left her with a growing dilemma. The more time she spent with him, the more she enjoyed it, but the more she found herself reacting to his slightest touch. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to feel the same way.
Now, nearly a week later, she was more than tempted to push the boundaries of their ‘arrangement’ but had no idea how to do it, or even if Matt still wanted anything more than her company.
Not that he’d given her any hint that he was bored; he was far too much of a gentleman for that.
She certainly wasn’t complaining about the turn her holiday had taken. There had been no time to lie on the beach wondering how to fill the hours when she knew Taddeo was going to arrive at any minute demanding her attention.
Each day they would explore the rock pools left behind by the tide, then embark on the building of yet another of her young friend’s individually designed sand castles.
Her swimming ‘lesson’ came next, as he coached her about her style so that, ‘if you practise hard enough, one day you might be able to swim as fast as me’.
Lissa hated to admit it, but her swimming had actually improved since she’d started taking his advice. Tonight, she would have to remember to thank Matt for the secondhand tuition.
Just the thought of seeing Matt was enough to send her pulse rate up several notches and put a smile on her face.
Spending so much time in his company was rapidly becoming one of the most frustrating things she’d ever done, but she’d never enjoyed herself so much.
After the chaos of the food-poisoning episode, his workload had apparently settled down into the usual
