The Aristocrat and the Single Mum. Michelle Douglas

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      ‘I know.’ She believed him.

      ‘Are you…okay?’ He drew back too, till they were no longer touching. Perversely, she wanted skin on skin again.

      ‘Yes.’ She wrung out her hair. Of course she was okay. She was in one piece, wasn’t she? The blood might be pumping around her body with more vigour than it normally did and her lips tingling as if they’d been thoroughly kissed—which was perfectly reasonable because, of course, they had been. But the sun still shone and the seagulls still squawked and somewhere children laughed and…

      Everything felt different and she didn’t know why.

      ‘Are you?’ she asked. ‘Okay, that is.’

      ‘Yes.’ But he drew the word out slowly as if he wasn’t entirely sure and she was glad.

      ‘What I think we should do…’ she started, and his gaze shot to hers. She had to gulp back Kiss some more and replaced it with, ‘Find a nice shady tree to dry off under.’ She pointed to the strip of green beyond the beach and set off towards it without waiting for his answer.

      She found a tree, sat under it and tried to talk sense into herself.

      Simon lowered himself down beside her and she could feel him watching her. ‘Do you want me to apologise?’ he asked cautiously.

      ‘What?’ She swung to him. ‘No! No, of course I don’t want you to apologise.’

      She wondered if his world felt turned upside down too.

      ‘I mean, that…’ she motioned to the water, to the spot where they’d kissed ‘…was…’

      His lips twitched. ‘It was,’ he agreed, motioning to the same spot.

      ‘It’s just—’ she turned to face him more fully, tucking her hair behind her ears ‘—that was just about the best kiss that I’ve ever had.’ There was no probably about it!

      He sent her another of those low, sexy grins that brought cheek creases and eye creases into play. ‘There’s plenty more where that came from.’

      Her stomach rolled over and over on itself. Simon had hit holiday-maker mode with a vengeance and she liked it. She liked it a lot. ‘Wouldn’t that be reckless and irresponsible?’ She deliberately used the words he’d applied to Felice.

      His face grew thoughtful and he drew back. ‘It would.’

      ‘Simon, I don’t do reckless and irresponsible.’

      ‘Nor do I.’

      The longer she studied him, the greater the longing that built inside her. She hadn’t been with a man for a very long time, and normally she avoided any kind of romantic entanglement with tourists. Could she make an exception for Simon? The thought filtered into her mind and lodged there.

      The next moment she tried to oust it. That hadn’t been a holiday fling kind of kiss. It had been a…for ever kind of kiss.

      She and Simon for ever?

      Oh, for heaven’s sake, get a grip. He lived on the other side of the world. She’d known him for a couple of hours. A sensible person did not make lifelong plans with a person they’d only known for a couple of hours. She’d obviously had too much sun. A sensible person wore a hat.

      ‘I can see what you’re thinking.’

      Good God. She hoped not. She lifted her hands to her suddenly blazing cheeks. ‘What’s that?’ she managed to croak.

      ‘You’re thinking how you hardly know me.’

      ‘Bingo!’ The heat in her cheeks started to abate. ‘It’s true.’ She hadn’t even had the benefit of getting to know him by proxy through Felice.

      He reached out and took one of her hands, held it between both of his. ‘It doesn’t feel true.’

      She knew exactly what he meant. But… ‘You live a million trillion miles away on the other side of the world.’ She didn’t pull her hand from his.

      ‘Well, yes…or at least ten thousand miles, but what’s a trillion miles between friends, right?’

      She managed a smile.

      ‘I am, however, for the next fortnight or so based here in Nelson’s Bay.’ His hands tightened around hers. ‘And I’d very much like to get to know you better.’

      Her heart gave a joyful leap. She tried to curb it. Impossible. So she tried to talk sense instead. ‘Simon, what’s the point? I mean—’

      He reached out and placed a finger against her lips. ‘Some things don’t have a point, Kate. They just are.’

      His words shouldn’t make sense. They shouldn’t feel right.

      But when he eased back and grinned at her, she grinned back and they both remained exactly where they were.

      Carefully she detached her hand from his. ‘So you are going to wait for Felice?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘And you want to spend the next fortnight here in Nelson’s Bay?’

      ‘That’s right.’

      ‘The room Felice was using is free at the moment,’ she blurted out. ‘You can use it until she returns, if you like.’

      Simon drew back and stared at her. ‘Stay with you…in your house?’

      Good Lord, what was she doing? She gulped and swallowed and started to cough. ‘I mean, that’s not an invitation to…’ She gestured to that spot in the water again and found it impossible to meet his eye. ‘I mean, I don’t do…do…’

      He reached out and touched her knee, his smile kind. ‘I think what you’re trying to say is I’ll be firmly ensconced in the guest room.’

      She nodded because her throat had closed over at his touch and she couldn’t speak. When he removed his hand she wanted to sigh, but whether in relief or disappointment she didn’t know.

      ‘I would be honoured to accept your hospitality. And, Kate?’

      She glanced up, met the clear grey of his eyes. They’d lightened until they resembled the colour of mercury—the same colour as the bay at dawn.

      ‘I promise I will behave like a gentleman. You can trust me.’

      Could she? Yes, she had the distinct impression that she could. But could she trust herself?

      ‘And, to thank you for your hospitality, but also because I’d very much like to, may I take you out to dinner one night soon?’

      She pointed to the spot where they’d kissed. ‘That can’t happen again.’

      He met her gaze steadily. ‘It’s just a dinner invitation, Kate.’

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