She gave him a rueful look. ‘Yes, and I’m aprincess,’ she said.
He laughed. ‘Yeah, that’s right. You are.’
‘Alex.’
‘Stop worrying about it,’ he said as he helped her into the car. ‘I’ve got it all under control.’
She waited until he was behind the driver’s wheel before speaking. ‘Have you found out anything yet?’
He started the engine and backed out of the space, swinging a quick glance her way as he drove out of the hospital grounds. ‘I have someone working on it as we speak. But just for tonight let’s forget all about it, OK?’
‘If that’s what you’d prefer.’
He sent her a warm smile that momentarily suppressed the dark shadows she’d seen in his eyes. ‘It’s what I prefer,’ he said.
Amelia sat in silence as he drove the short distance to his cottage, her senses on high alert. She could smell the sexy musk of his body intermingled with the lingering fragrance of his citrus aftershave, and her skin began to prickle all over at the thought of feeling his kiss, his touch and his intimate caresses.
How would it feel to have his arms around her, his skin on her skin, his body within hers again?
She knew their relationship was being conducted on borrowed time, but the sense of urgency only heightened her attraction to him and she wondered if he felt it too.
She sneaked a look at him as he drove, his long-fingered hands steady on the wheel, his face showing nothing of the inner turmoil he surely must be going through.
Alex caught her looking at him. ‘I hope you’re not having second thoughts.’
‘About what?’
‘About us.’
She looked down at her hands. ‘This is temporary, Alex. You and I both know that.’
‘You’re putting up obstacles that don’t need to be there.’
‘But they are there,’ she insisted. ‘Pretending they’re not isn’t going to make them go away.’
His jaw tightened. ‘I don’t want to talk about it tonight, remember? Tonight we’re just a man and a woman who are attracted to each other.’
‘I’m not denying that, but I think we both should be realistic.’
‘You’re being fatalistic, not realistic,’ he said.
‘I’m trying to protect myself from hurt.’
He let out a deep sigh and reached for her hand, bringing it up to his mouth to press a soft kiss to her fingertips. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, Amelia.’
‘You won’t be able to avoid it.’
He met her troubled gaze. ‘I will do everything in my power to avoid it. Trust me.’
Could she risk her heart another time? She had spent the last eleven years regretting the one and only time she had let her guard slip.
‘Trust me?’ he said again.
She gave him a tremulous smile. ‘I know I’m going to regret this, but I do trust you.’
‘Good girl,’ he said. ‘Now we’re getting somewhere.’
Amelia used the bathroom to change out of her uniform while Alex organised the picnic and within a few minutes they were on their way to a beach at the far end of Santa Fiera where the sandy shore was less frequented by tourists.
‘How about a swim first?’ Alex suggested once he’d laid a blanket on the sand and anchored it with the picnic basket.
‘You go. I’ll sit here and watch for a while,’ Amelia said.
Alex could sense her self-consciousness. In spite of the evening’s warmth she was dressed in a shapeless cotton shift that looked at least three sizes too big. He could also see the thick straps of the dark one-piece bathing costume she was wearing, its unflattering lines suggesting she hadn’t been to the beach in a very long time.
He wondered if he’d done the right thing in bringing her here, but he’d figured that at least on a picnic she hadn’t had to worry about dressing up. Besides, he wanted time with her away from other people and their increasingly speculative stares.
He still couldn’t get his head around the circumstances surrounding his infancy. At first he had hoped it was all a mistake but the investigations he’d set in motion so far had led him to suspect the opposite. The legal people he’d engaged to work on it had already come across one or two discrepancies in the paperwork regarding his adoption and had hinted that there could be even more. He couldn’t bear the thought of informing his parents of what he’d discovered. He knew it would hurt them immeasurably to find they had inadvertently adopted a child who had had parents who had loved him and desperately longed for his return.
Alex felt as if he was in limbo; he couldn’t go back and neither could he go forward until he knew for sure what was expected of him. But for the time being he had a responsibility to get the king through his surgery; that was a main priority—everything else would have to wait.
He had even shelved his earlier concerns about Amelia’s family connections, unable to accept her as anything other than a young woman who was learning how to live again after a bitter let-down, not unlike his own. He had found it hard to become involved with anyone since his break-up with Sarah and instead had thrown himself into work as a distraction. The hurt he had felt about her affair with another man had niggled at him for so long and yet when he was with Amelia he completely forgot about it.
He let out a small sigh as he walked down towards the ocean. The water was refreshing after the heat of the day and he struck out vigorously, hoping to exercise some of his tension away.
* * *
Amelia sat on the sand hugging her bent knees, watching as Alex swam further than most people could walk. He was a picture of health and vitality, his tanned, muscular body carving through the water like a streamlined torpedo.
She couldn’t help a little sigh of envy. She had never learned to swim with any proficiency. Her family circumstances had ruled out swimming lessons during her childhood and as she’d grown older she’d become too embarrassed to admit to her inability.
Her mother’s bathing costume felt scratchy and uncomfortable and she longed to remove it. This end of the beach was deserted, but the thought of sitting next to Alex with nothing on but her thin shift was too disturbing.
She saw him make his way towards her, his strong legs slicing through the shallows, the crystal droplets of salt-water making his whole body glisten in the evening sunlight.
‘Come on in,’ he said, offering her a hand.
‘No…I’m fine here.’
‘Come on, Amelia. It’s not the least bit cold.’
‘Please…I’d
