LITMIR.BIZ

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the gym.

      Or maybe she was simply comparing herself to Lily who had a washboard abdomen even when she was slouching and breathing out.

      Job done, Rose lay back down and shaded her face with the magazine she had brought from her room.

      ‘Hotels for pleasure…hmm…well, maybe it’s the pull of the challenge, to boldly embark on a project of which I have zero experience. There’s nothing like the possibility of failure to get the adrenaline going.’

      She was aware that he had half turned towards her and she kept her eyes firmly shielded behind her magazine.

      ‘I’ve conquered the money markets,’ Nick said casually. ‘Or rather, I’ve made enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, even if I decided never to lift a finger again. Very comfortably. What does a man do when he reaches that position?’

      ‘Retire and enjoy what life has to offer,’ Rose said, surprised. ‘But then, who would you enjoy it with?’

      Nick sat up and lifted the magazine from her face, which immediately brought her shooting up so that they were staring at each other fully.

      ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘That remark just sort of slipped out.’

      ‘Working with computers, Rose, might not have been the best career move for you.’

      ‘Meaning?’

      ‘Meaning you have no tact.’ Nick would have left any other woman in no doubt that overstepping the boundaries was tantamount to a still-born relationship. However there was, he reminded himself, no relationship with this woman and, anyway, she was already bristling. Of course, he wasn’t about to back down and allow a woman, any woman, to invade his private space, but was he really ready for a fight? When the sun was beating down on his back and the sea glimmered invitingly?

      ‘You mean that sometimes I don’t agree with you.’

      ‘I’m going for a swim.’ Nick stood up, a profile of one-hundred-per-cent masculine beauty, and glanced back over his shoulder to her. ‘Coming?’

      ‘I think I’ll just stay here, thanks, and carry on sunbathing,’ Rose flounced back onto her lounger and stuck the magazine back into position.

      The notebook that she had packed to remind herself that work was the reason for her lazing on a lounger on a beach remained unopened in her bag. She had a moment of brief despair as she contemplated the remainder of their stay, then she turned her thoughts to his high-handed attitude, telling her she was lacking tact. It felt a lot better to fulminate.

      By the time she had worked herself up some healthy self-righteous anger, the sun was beginning its ascent and pleasantly warm was turning into baking hot.

      Rose reluctantly shelved her thoughts, sat up and glanced at her watch to discover, with shock, that Nick had now been swimming for over forty minutes, and when she peered towards the horizon, there was no sign of him.

      Panic slammed into her and she shot to her feet and hurried down to the water line, shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun. The beach was more crowded now, although still relatively deserted. People were in the water. A quick glance told her that Nick was not among their number.

      She obeyed her instinct and forged into the sea, which was so warm that her body barely needed to adjust to the temperature.

      The one continuity in her life had been her swimming lessons. Tony and Flora had nurtured a vague, hippie-like notion that swimming was akin to being at one with nature, and, with that in mind, they had insisted on swimming lessons wherever they had happened to be. The Education of Life was more important than the education of the classroom, but swimming was something they had insisted upon. And Rose had enjoyed it so much that she had continued even when classes had no longer been necessary and long after Lily had packed it in because it ruined her hair. Rose, never one to spend time agonising over the state of her hair, had found the silence and privacy of swimming a soothing balm to a tumultuous adolescence.

      Feeling the water on her was like coming home.

      As she struck out she wondered whether she should have run further up the beach in search of a lifeguard, but the thought of creating a scene, probably for no reason, was off-putting, never mind Nick’s reaction if he returned from a simple swim to find the hotel’s rescue party hot on his trail.

      Anyway, it was too late to think about that.

      She was pretty sure she would spot him a little further out, and then she could slink back to shore, safe in the knowledge that he was all right.

      She swam confidently out but then, when the beach was beginning to look a little too distant for the sake of comfort, she felt the slow crawl of fear through her because who knew what inhabited the waters? They looked crystal-clear and perfectly innocent, but anything could be lurking in the depths. What if he had been sucked under by something? Were box jellyfish rampant in these waters or was she mixing up her oceans?

      That thought was enough to convince her that heading back to shore and summoning the search party was the best course of action.

      She was hardly aware of the shape quickly gaining on her until she felt something on her waist and she spluttered in sharp, sudden panic to a stop.

      ‘Were you worried?’ Nick was laughing as he edged back from her.

      Relief turned to anger and she glared at him, tempted to hit him smartly on his sexy, grinning face, but her training kicked in. Any kind of tussle in water was a bad idea.

      ‘I was hot,’ she snarled, turning away and beginning to strike out back for land.

      He caught her again, this time by her ankle, and she spun around and began treading water. ‘In case you don’t know,’ she snapped, ‘it’s dangerous to fight in the water.’

      ‘Who’s fighting?’ He flicked his head in the direction of the promontory she had noticed earlier on. ‘In case you were wondering how come you couldn’t find me…I was on that strip of land. I saw you swimming out and decided to meet you.’

      ‘Just in case I ran into problems?’

      ‘Can’t have my employee drowning on my watch, can I?’

      ‘I happen to be a very strong swimmer.’

      ‘I noticed.’

      Rose wasn’t sure that she liked the thought of him looking at her while she had been swimming.

      ‘So…joining me? We could always swim back to shore and walk across, but better exercise this way.’

      She didn’t think he needed the exercise. Unlike her. But she was enjoying the water and she suddenly wanted to prove just how good a swimmer she was. She nodded and then headed strongly away towards the strip of land, invigorated as he swam up behind her, then alongside and finally in front, easily making it to land before her so that she found herself coming out of the water, dripping wet, with no protective outer layer of baggy clothing, while he sat on the sand and surveyed her at his leisure.

      Self-consciousness kicked in along with all the insecurities she had always had about her body, ones which should have been put to bed a long time ago because, really, what did looks matter?

      Everything about her was unfashionably big. Her breasts were not the pert, small bumps beloved by fashionistas, her hair was too uncontrollable, her frame was just too short and stocky and she was sure that her rear could have done with several thousand more trips to the local swimming pool.

      And there he was. A study in casual male beauty, sitting lazily on the trunk of a fallen coconut tree.

      Her modest swimsuit suddenly felt like a handkerchief tied together with a few bits of string and Rose wrapped her arms around her body in a show of feeling cold.

      ‘I really never thought that this would be part of a working trip over here,’ she said crossly, all too aware that he was sizing her up and finding her wanting in every department.

      She

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