She saw him glance across as she slipped off her robe and that glance, more than anything, killed off some of the feelings which had been multiplying like bacteria inside her. Was that disbelief she could read in his eyes? Of course it was. He’d probably never seen a woman who wasn’t a size zero. Looking at her curvy body, he might think that she usually finished up all the alfajores once he’d flown back to wherever was next on his exotic list of destinations. And he would be right.
Forcing a quick, professional smile, she walked towards him. ‘Ready?’ she questioned.
‘I’ve been ready for quite some time,’ he said acidly. ‘But, as usual, you were late.’
‘It took me a while to find my costume.’
‘Sorry for the inconvenience,’ he said sarcastically. ‘Perhaps I should have given you more warning. Written it down in triplicate and signed it first.’
She decided not to react. To just pretend that nothing was the matter, but it wasn’t easy when she was being confronted by a bare and powerful torso which was making her want to squirm with embarrassment. ‘Anyway, we’re here now,’ she said brightly. ‘Just make sure you go backwards down the ladder.’
‘I think I know how to get into the damned swimming pool by now.’
Carefully, she took the crutches from him and propped them up against the wall. ‘I was only trying to—’
‘Well, stop trying,’ he snapped. ‘I’m fed up with people trying. I’ve been doing this damned regime for weeks and I think I’ve just about managed to get my head round it. Next thing you’ll be teaching me how to cut up my meat using a knife and fork. Or maybe even start spoon-feeding me.’
For Carly, it was the final straw. Coming on top of the insecurity she was feeling at having to stand in front of him, shivering half to death in an unflattering swimsuit, and the fact that she had been shoehorned into a role she didn’t want, something inside her flipped. She turned and glared at him. ‘Do you have to be quite so bad-tempered, when I’m only trying to help you?’
There was a pause as their eyes clashed in a fierce and silent battle. She felt herself tense to find herself caught in that intense black spotlight and she wondered what snapped insult he was about to come out with next. And then, unexpectedly, he sighed.
‘I know you are,’ he said. ‘It’s only frustration which is making me so unbearable. The aftermath of this damned accident has gone on for weeks and sometimes it feels as if it’s never going to end.’
‘Yes.’ She chewed on her bottom lip. ‘I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.’
He raised his brows. ‘Unless you’re about to tell me that I am pretty unbearable generally?’
Quickly, she glanced down at his bare feet, thinking how pale and perfect his toenails looked against the dark olive of his skin. ‘That isn’t for me to say.’
‘No instant denial, then, Carly?’ he mocked. ‘Leading me to conclude that I am unbearable?’
She lifted her head then and met the mocking challenge in his eyes. ‘You aren’t exactly known for your sweet and even temper,’ she said, and to her surprise he actually laughed as he lowered his powerful body into the pool.
‘No, I suppose I’m not. Come on, Carly—aren’t you coming in?’ he questioned, hitting the surface of the water with the flat of his hand so that an iridescent little plume of spray went showering upwards and fell in tiny droplets which gleamed against his dark skin. ‘Mary always did.’
I’ll bet she did, thought Carly as she slipped into the water beside him. Yet wasn’t she doing exactly what Mary had been guilty of doing? She was having some very inappropriate thoughts about her boss, only she was also being a bit of a hypocrite, because hadn’t she disapproved of the physiotherapist’s behaviour?
She waded further into the water and shivered as the cool water reached her tummy. Goosebumps iced over her skin and she felt the tips of her breast
s hardening again, just as they’d done earlier.
In an attempt to conceal it, she leaned back against the tiled wall and splashed water over her arms. ‘You’re supposed to do ten lengths.’
‘I know I am, but I’m planning to do twenty.’
‘Do you think that’s wise?’
He gave her a hard smile. ‘Let’s find out, shall we?’
She watched as he struck out, making no concessions towards his injuries as he cleaved through the water like a golden-dark arrow. He swam with the same energy and determination which he applied to everything in life, but after twelve lengths she could see that he had grown pale and his mouth was tight with tension.
‘Stop now,’ she said, as he came up for air, his black hair plastered to his head like a seal. ‘For heaven’s sake—slow down, Luis. You’re not in some kind of race.’
But he was stubborn, of course he was, and for him life was a race. She wasn’t surprised when he shook his head and continued but when he’d finished, he was exhausted. Hauling his body out of the water, he propped his elbows onto the edge of the pool and rested his head on them, saying nothing until he had regained his breath.
At last he looked up at her, his eyes gleaming blackly from between wet, matted lashes. ‘How was that?’
‘You know exactly how it was. You did twenty lengths—double that recommended by the physiotherapist. You want praise for disobeying her instructions?’