Holiday with a Stranger (4 page)

‘Like what?’ He was all innocence.

‘You don’t believe me?’

He shrugged. ‘I’m not saying that. I was just wondering why you hired your staff if you don’t trust them to do their jobs properly.’

She really didn’t want to be talking about this. She was hyper-aware of the underlying panic, humming just below the surface, which she’d been struggling to suppress for weeks.

‘We can’t afford to get anything wrong right now. It’s a tough marketplace.’ She hoped the brusqueness of her tone would stop him asking any more about it.

‘So it’s all work and no play for you, right?’

His expression was neutral. She couldn’t tell whether he was teasing her.

Either way, Josie felt her blood begin to boil. How dare he? He didn’t even know her. He had no right to make judgements on her like that. She’d come across these disparaging attitudes to women in high-powered jobs so frequently that hers was a natural response by now.

She glared at him, her eyes narrowed. ‘Just because I work hard—and prefer not to loaf around the world on someone else’s dime,’ she added pointedly, ‘it doesn’t make me some hard-nosed bore. I happen to be very well respected....’ She petered out as the truth of her situation came flooding back to her.

He looked at her with his eyebrows raised. ‘I’ve heard all this before. The crazy working schedule. The inability to live outside of work. One holiday every three years...’

Josie squirmed at this.

‘...the ever-diminishing social life.’ He broke off to take a sip of his drink. ‘Is it really worth it?’

Was he serious? She still couldn’t tell. ‘Of course it’s worth it,’ she said as calmly as she could. ‘Anyway, it’s nothing like that.’ She flapped a hand at him, but the tension in her muscles made the action jerky and over-exaggerated.

Connor looked sceptical. ‘What makes it so worthwhile? Hmm? What are the benefits?’

Josie had no idea how to answer this. She had no desire to talk about what it was that drove her so hard. Not with him. Besides, she’d been doing it for so long it had become part of who she was, who she’d always been and who she always would be.

‘It’s about a sense of achievement. Making something great out of your life. Being respected and...and...’

She realised she was gesturing wildly at him again, like some kind of madwoman, but he’d got her blood up. She was angry at his insinuation that she was somehow making a mistake with her life choices. This was what she’d always wanted. What else could there be?

‘It makes me happy,’ she finished, picking up her drink and taking a long sip to cover her frustration.

‘All right. I was only asking.’ He held up his hands to her in mock surrender, a smile playing about his lips.

‘What makes
you
such an expert anyway?’ She straightened herself up on her lounger and felt her dress pull downwards, exposing more flesh than she was comfortable with. She adjusted the top hastily, then tugged the skirt back down from where it had ridden up.

Their eyes met and the air crackled between them.

‘Like I say, I’ve seen it all before.’

His voice was low and ragged and sent chills tripping along her spine. Her head spun as she drank in his penetrating gaze.

This time it was Connor who broke eye contact first. He lay back in the recliner and gazed up at the sky, closing the subject and the unnerving connection.

Josie twisted away, lips clamped tight. What had all that been about? Maybe it had just been a fun game for him, to tease and anger her. To see how far he could push her before she snapped. Her sense of frustration increased and she had to consciously release her hands from their rigor mortis clench.

This guy was something else. He knew instinctively how to push her buttons. Well, she wasn’t going to let him do it again, that was for sure.

Dumping her notebook and pen on the table, she forced herself to focus on relaxing into holiday mode to show him she was capable of doing it.

‘You know, you really should put some suntan lotion on. That pale skin of yours is going to fry in this heat. You townies have no idea how to live in the sun.’

He was looking back over at her again. There wasn’t a trace of the intensity that had been there a moment ago. Josie was almost relieved. At least she could deal with him when he was being overtly officious.

‘There’s some in the kitchen cupboard,’ he added, turning away from her.

Again, his suggestion felt more like an order, but she knew he was right.

‘I need to do something inside anyway,’ she said, rising from the lounger and sauntering inside, determined to get her own back.

In the bathroom she took out all the products she’d been storing neatly in her washbag and scattered them around the sink and the edge of the bath, giving her emergency box of tampons pride of place on top of the toilet. After brushing her teeth again, she made sure to leave a good covering of toothpaste scum in the sink. Satisfied with the results, she returned to the kitchen, pulling her now clean clothes out of the washer and draping them all around the room. Her knickers and bra she hung right over the handle of the oven.

That would do for now.

After grabbing the bottle of suntan lotion from the kitchen cupboard she went back outside and returned to the lounger. Taking her time, she smoothed lotion over the exposed parts of her body, then thumped the bottle down onto the table to show Connor he could leave her alone now.

He grinned at her and inclined his head. ‘Want me to do your back?’ he asked, a twinkle in his eye.

‘No, thanks.’ Just the thought of his touch disturbed her. It was too intimate an act to indulge in with him. There was no way she could handle that; she’d be a puddle on the floor. Plus, she wasn’t ready to forgive him for his comments about her career.

She was so sick of people doubting her choices. Her whole life seemed to have been spent proving herself, over and over again, until she felt dizzy with it. But no way was she going to waste her time trying to explain her work ethic to someone who was plainly more than happy to let others do the hard graft while he swanned off round the world having ‘experiences.’

She’d tell him that if he brought up the subject again. No more Miss Nice Girl. The guy had it coming.

She went to pick up her notepad again, then realised she was about to prove his point about not being able to stay away from working. She
could
do it. Of course she could. Her hands were only shaking because she was so irritated with him.

Right?

She wasn’t planning on sunbathing out here for long, anyway. She would stay long enough to show him he couldn’t intimidate her and then she’d go for a walk or something. Anything to be away from him for a while.

* * *

Connor was aware of Josie fidgeting beside him. He smiled to himself. She was obviously finding it impossible to lie still. Not that he could blame her; he’d gone at her pretty hard—but it was so much fun winding her up.

He’d been comfortably winning the conversation until she’d shifted in her chair, giving him a generous view of the magnificent curves hiding under that dress.

The sight of her long slim legs and the sweeping curve of her breasts had thrown him off balance. A vision of himself running his hands slowly along her shapely calves, up over her knees and between her soft thighs, had hit him like a belt in the face and he’d found himself losing his legendary cool. His hands were still shaking from the effort of keeping them by his sides.

She was clearly trouble—which he should back the hell away from. He had no patience with career women who valued their jobs above everything and
everyone
else. His mother had been one, and even though he’d resented her in so many ways somehow he’d found himself in relationships with women who turned out to be just like her. But he’d learnt his lesson. Enough was enough. Despite finding himself dangerously attracted to Josie, he wouldn’t allow anything to happen between them.

He watched as she stood up and stretched her arms above her head.

‘Right, I’m off for a walk. See you later.’

She slipped on her flip-flops, pulled on a sunhat and stalked away from the terrace, her sundress swishing around her endless legs. The woman was a bundle of nervous energy.

She could definitely do with having some fun.

THREE

After dozing fitfully
in the sun for an hour Connor went back into the kitchen to find it had been turned into a laundry. There was a piece of clothing on every chair, and the pièce de résistance was the array of underwear hung in a neat row over the oven door.

Nice.

He laughed to himself. The woman had balls.

If this was her attempt to make him uncomfortable about staying here she was in for a big disappointment. It was going to take a lot more than parading her knickers in the kitchen to get rid of him.

Lifting a bra from the rail, he rubbed the silky material between finger and thumb. It had been a long while since he’d got his hands on a woman’s underwear; that had to be the reason why he was as hard as concrete again.

Dropping it back onto the rail, he hurriedly left the kitchen and went for a cooling shower—only to find her girly crap spread all over the room up there as well. The fruity smell of her shampoo still hung in the air. He shook his head in wonder; she was a feisty one. Well, two could play that game.

* * *

After a day of lying low and desperately trying to find things to entertain her that weren’t work-related Josie found she was actually looking forward to having some company for supper.

She’d decided to take a short break from writing the tender document just while Connor was here—hopefully that wouldn’t be for too much longer. Abi had wanted her to have a proper break, and she’d promised she wouldn’t work while she was here to placate her. If Connor somehow let slip to Abi that she’d ignored her promise there would be trouble. She couldn’t afford to piss her business partner off any more than she already had. Everything would fall apart if they couldn’t work together any more.

As soon as eight o’clock came around she went down to the kitchen to find Connor stirring something at the stove. Her underwear was still hanging limply on the rail in front of him. As she watched he reached down and grabbed a pair of her knickers, rubbing his hands on them as if they were a tea towel. He turned when she let out an involuntary gasp and nodded to her, as if it was perfectly normal to be cleaning his hands on ladies’ underwear.

Marching over, she snatched her knickers out of his hand and gathered the rest from the rail, bumping her arm into the hard muscle of his abdomen in her hurry.

‘Careful, there, I might start thinking you’re trying to get into my pants, what with all the groping and the exhibiting of your undercrackers,’ he said.

Turning to make eye contact, she found they were so close she could smell the spicy heat of him. There was a strange throbbing in her throat, as if her pulse was trying to break free and become its own entity. Concentrating on the laughter lines at the side of his eyes, she attempted to centre herself. The sun had deepened his tan, which only made the vivid blue of his eyes stand out more.

She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out.

‘Not lost for words, Josie, surely?’

Before she had chance to pull herself together and form a suitably cutting reply he gave her another blast of that awesome smile and she melted again.

He knew exactly what she was up to; she could see the amusement in the depths of his eyes and in the jaunty angle of his eyebrow. Why the hell had she thought a pair of her knickers would scare off a man like him? What had compelled her to sink so low?

Desperation.

She was a mess. And now so were her knickers.

As all the connotations of
that
thought hit her she was totally unable to stop a full-blown grin spreading across her face. Then a giggle broke free, and then a great heaving laugh. Once she started she couldn’t stop. Turning away and taking a step back, she steadied herself against the kitchen chair until she managed to get the convulsions under control.

‘My God, you’re a handful.’ She shook her head in bewildered despair, but it felt good to laugh out loud.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘I rather think I am.’ He leant back against the stove. ‘Maybe two handfuls.’

At this, she started giggling again, like a nervous teenager, and he joined in with a deep chuckle.

Why had it been so long since she’d laughed with someone like this?

He moved towards her and her giggle fit subsided. She was acutely aware of how his shorts and T-shirt fitted his body perfectly. How soft the golden skin of his throat looked. How much she wanted to feel the strength of him under her hands.

‘I know you’re trying to get rid of me, Josie, but I’m not budging. You can put up with me for a couple of days, right?’

It was more of an order than a question.

She ran through her options.

There were none.

It wasn’t as if she’d be able to physically chuck him out, and he seemed totally uninterested in her perfectly reasonable points of argument.

Ah, what the hell? She could put up with him for a short while. At least it would help to break the boredom. It was kind of fun, sparring with him. He was stimulating company, and she was rather enjoying just looking at him.

‘Okay. Fine. But the bed’s mine.’

He held his hands up. ‘You women and your passion for beds.’

‘Clinophilia.’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘Having a passion for beds is clinophilia.’

He gave her a stunned smile. ‘You just pulled that out of the air?’

She shrugged. ‘It’s general knowledge.’

He snorted. ‘Is it?’ He raised a seductive eyebrow. ‘Well, far be it from me to kick a lady out of my bed.’

She shook her head in wonder at his gall. ‘You can’t resist a double entendre, can you, Connor?’

‘I can’t help myself when I’m around you, Josie.’

She was so breathless she had to concentrate hard on sucking air into her constricted lungs. The combination of flirty talk and the proximity of his to-die-for body was having a devastating effect on her.

‘It’s nearly time to eat,’ he said quietly, a mirthful smile in his eyes.

He knew. He knew all too well.

She realised she was gawping at him and dragged her gaze away.

‘Smells great,’ she muttered.

When she glanced back at him the look on his face made her insides flip over. Breaking eye contact, he turned back to the stove and added some herbs to the pan. She felt the loss of his attention keenly, as if the sun had slipped behind a cloud.

Drumming her fingers against her legs, she looked around the kitchen for something to do, her nerves jumping.

‘Do you need any help? With supper?’

He looked back and gave her a lopsided grin. ‘I think it’s probably better if I take care of it.’ He gestured towards the work surface. ‘No microwave,’ he said by way of explanation.

Her hackles rose. ‘Just because I don’t cook at home, it doesn’t mean I can’t be useful in the kitchen.’

He just smiled, not rising to her cross tone. ‘I’ve got this covered—but, thanks.’

She shifted from foot to foot before leaning awkwardly against the chair-back. She was reluctant to be on her own again after spending all day bored out of her brain.

He watched her in bemusement. ‘If you want something to read there are yesterday’s newspapers in the snug.’

He wasn’t making it easy for her to stay and watch him.

‘Okay, then.’ She swung her finger to point behind her. ‘I’ll get out of your hair for a bit.’

‘Okay.’ He waved his hand, as if dismissing her, turning back to the stove without another word.

* * *

Supper was a sumptuously tender boeuf bourguignon with buttery new potatoes and crispy green beans. Josie wolfed it down with barely a pause. Neither of them spoke during the meal except to exchange pleasantries, which suited her fine.

She wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous around him. She’d faced CEOs of multi-million-pound corporations and been less jittery than this. He had some kind of strange effect on her, and she found it distressing. She should be able to handle this, no problem, but just his presence next to her set her mind into a spin. Every movement he made sent vibrations along her nerves. His gestures were precise, but elegant, and she thought she could probably watch him for hours and not grow bored.

‘That was delicious, thanks,’ she said, leaning back in her chair.

‘You’re welcome. Woman should not live on cornflakes alone,’ he said, giving her a look of reproach.

She grinned sheepishly, then tapped her hands gently on the table, beating out a rhythm.

Connor continued to watch her as she battled with the unwelcome warmth spreading through her under his intense gaze.

The silence between them lengthened.

‘So, how do you usually spend your evenings?’ she asked, trying to break the atmosphere.

Connor’s brow furrowed as he gave it some thought. ‘Game of chess?’

‘Chess, huh? Okay. I’ve not played in a while, but what the hell?’

‘I warn you, I take no prisoners.’ He wagged a finger at her.

‘Thanks for the warning,’ she said, going into the snug and grabbing the chessboard.

Neither did she.

* * *

‘Ah, the Corporate Opening,’ Connor joked as Josie moved her first piece.

‘Always works for me,’ she said, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

Connor didn’t hesitate before moving his first piece.

‘Hmm, the Nomad Defence. Daring,’ Josie said, an eyebrow raised in jest.

‘They don’t call me Crazy-eyed Connor for nothing.’

‘Do they really?’

‘Actually, no.’ He pretended to look sad.

‘So, how else do you entertain yourself when you’re travelling?’ She tapped her fingers against her leg whilst studying the board for her next move. She was determined to win this game.

‘When I get the chance I go mountaineering—sometimes ice climbing.’

Josie raised both eyebrows this time. ‘Action man, huh?’

‘Got to get my kicks somehow.’

‘Right.’ She moved another piece, holding on to it for a few seconds before releasing it.

‘You, I see, have a more cautious nature.’

She shrugged. ‘I don’t like making mistakes.’

Connor laughed. ‘Some of my worst mistakes have led to the most interesting times I’ve ever had.’

‘I’ll take your word for it.’

‘You’ve never been tempted by extreme sports?’ He looked up at her before glancing down to move his next piece.

‘Not unless you count falling out of a tree.’

He smiled. ‘Ah, so there
is
an adventurous spirit in there somewhere, then?’

‘No, not really, but a friend dared me.’

Connor smiled again. ‘And you never back down, right?’

Josie looked at him steadily. ‘Something like that,’ she said, moving another piece.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Connor was scratching his head in bewilderment. ‘You’re good.’

‘What’s with the surprise?’

He barked out a laugh. ‘I don’t get beaten very often.’

He held her gaze for a moment; he was looking for something, but she wasn’t sure what. His pupils dilated as he gazed at her and once again a strange swooping feeling hit her deep inside. Her skin tingled and the breath hitched in her throat. They were two feet apart, but she felt the connection as if she was caught in a tractor beam.

How did he
do
that?

Not sure how to handle the feeling, she broke her gaze and sat back in the chair, trying to get some distance between them, her fingers dancing at her sides.

Connor was disappointed when Josie looked away. He was trying to figure out if she was for real. He’d been burned before by women trying to worm their way into his affections and he was suspicious about the apparent softening in her attitude. Perhaps this was another ruse to try and get rid of him somehow. He needed to be careful.

On the outside she seemed genuine enough. Despite her spikiness, or maybe because of it, he wanted her, and now she was showing a softer side he wanted her even more. This was driving him crazy. But he’d be a fool to get involved with her right now. He should do himself a favour and put some distance between them before it was too late.

Picking up a newspaper to look at the crossword, he found Josie had already completed it.

‘What the...? When did you do this?’ He smacked his hand against the paper.

Josie looked across at him. ‘Hmm? When you were cooking dinner. Sorry, did you want to finish it? I thought maybe you were stuck.’ There was a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

He scowled. ‘I did, but I’d just had a brainwave.’ He peered at the crossword. ‘Although apparently I hadn’t.’ He shook his head, perplexed. He picked up the other paper only to find she’d finished the crossword in that too. These were tough cryptic puzzles that he’d been struggling with for hours.

‘Did you do these in that fifteen minutes before dinner?’

‘Yeah.’ She flushed under his scrutiny.

‘Do you have some crazily high IQ or something?’

She shuffled in her seat, drawing her knees up onto the sofa, her body forming a fetal position. ‘I don’t know. I’ve never been tested.’

‘Really?’

She shrugged. ‘I’m good at remembering things. I don’t always understand them—not like...’ She paused, looking down at her hands. An evasive manoeuvre.

‘Not like...?’ He wanted to push this; there was obviously more to it than she was letting on.

‘Not like some people.’

‘It sounded like you had someone in mind there.’

‘Hmm...’

He could tell by the way her eyes shifted sharply to the left that she was hoping to escape the subject by acting dumb. Not a hope in hell.

‘Who are you talking about, Josie?’

She sighed, the weight of her reluctance heavy in her breath. ‘My sister Maddie. Madeline Marchpane.’ She gave him a look, as if she was waiting for him to connect the dots, for the correct synapses to snap together.

Then the penny dropped.

Madeline Marchpane was in the media a lot, celebrated for being a sexy genius scientist. She had a popular show in which she explained complex theories in layman’s terms. The public had lapped her up. That was why Josie’s name and face had dinged those bells for him.

‘Are you twins?’

‘She’s two years older than me.’