He caught hold of her hand and drew her back before she could move too far away. ‘Why are you curious? You don’t usually ask me things.’
She allowed him to pull her back into his arms. She didn’t ask him things because she was afraid that the closer she got to him, the harder it would be to ignore the fact that she was crazy about him. ‘I don’t know why I asked. It’s just that I always see you in the impersonal surroundings of your hotel suites.’
He stroked her hair back from her face. ‘I know, why don’t I take you to my house in Crete for the weekend?’ It would be the perfect place to propose to her, he thought suddenly. Plus it would get her away from her father, who would be arriving back soon.
‘Don’t be silly, Nicholas.’ She pulled away from him with a frown. ‘Why would you do that?’
‘Why do you think?’ He looked at her mischievously, one dark eyebrow raised.
‘Because we can have an uninterrupted weekend of sex.’ She supplied the words dryly.
‘Plus you can check out my décor,’ he teased. ‘Find out if I favour the minimalist look or not.’
‘Ha ha, very funny.’
He watched as she swung away from him and reached to pick up her shorts from the floor. ‘Do you want a drink or something?’ She flicked him a glance over her shoulder.
She was running away from him again. Why did she keep doing this? He’d never met a woman who was so passionate and yet so. hard to fathom and pin down.
‘It’s very warm in Crete at the moment—twenty-eight degrees. You can relax by the pool, recharge your batteries.’ He made the tempting offer and then stared at her back in frustration when she didn’t answer immediately.
‘Actually, I’m busy this weekend.’
‘Busy doing what?’
She looked around at him with a raised eyebrow. ‘Just busy, you know. Catching up on work.’ She opened a drawer and took out another T-shirt and pulled it over her head. ‘But thanks for the offer.’ She was heading for the door now. ‘Did you say whether you’d like a drink or not? I’m going to put the kettle on.’
‘I’ll have a coffee.’
‘OK.’ She smiled at him breezily and then closed the door behind her.
Nicholas stared up at the ceiling. Busy this weekend. The words taunted him. What was she going to do—meet up with her father … meet up with the man from the photograph?
He threw back the sheet and reached for his clothes. She had to come to Crete and preferably for longer than just a weekend.
‘Listen, Cat, I’ve been thinking—?
? As he strode into the other room he was surprised to see her sitting on the sofa, her head down between her knees. ‘Are you all right?’ He moved over towards her hurriedly.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just tired and I was waiting for the kettle to boil.’
He crouched down in front of her to look at her. ‘You don’t look fine. You look very pale.’
‘Really, don’t fuss, Nicholas. I’m fine.’ She pushed him away and went over to the kitchen to continue making their drinks.
He watched her with a frown.
‘So what were you thinking about?’ she prompted him firmly. She didn’t want to talk about what could be wrong with her.
Her hand shook as she lifted up the jar of coffee. She was almost frightened to unscrew the cap again because a few moments ago the aroma had made her stomach suddenly heave.
‘Are you sure you are OK?’
His voice seemed to be coming from a long way away.
‘Yes—just tired.’ It took all her willpower to get herself a glass of water from the tap.
‘Do you want me to make the coffee?’