Fire in the Blood

'Don't be ridiculous!'

'I'm not putting this wet rag back on, and I'm not walking back into the hotel naked!'

Sean looked round. 'I could lend you my shirt...' Then he stopped talking, turned round to each side. 'Where are my clothes?'

Nadine looked around too. There was no sign of his short-sleeved shirt, his white jeans, all the things which he had pulled off in a hurry earlier and flung to one side.

Sean swore. He was staring out over the rolling waves. Nadine followed his stare and saw something white, identified it as his jeans; as she stared it was engulfed in another wave and vanished. Nadine began to laugh wildly.

'This isn't funny!' Sean snapped at her which made her laugh louder.

'If... if...' she stammered through her laughter, 'If this was h... happening to someone else you'd laugh!'

Sean glared for a second, then gave a reluctant grin. But it didn't last long.

'Well, funny or not, how are we going to get back into the hotel?' he demanded. 'I'm not keen on the idea of walking through that lobby like this!'

Neither was Nadine. She bit on her lip, her brow furrowed, trying to think.

For security reasons she always closed her balcony windows before she left her room, and no doubt Sean did, too, as the hotel advised. They couldn't get back in to the hotel any other way; they would have to go through the hotel lobby.

She grimly took her chiffon dress and wrung it out. 'There's no real option,' she muttered, shaking it so that water sprayed in all directions. 'I'll have to put this on!'

'Hey, you're giving me a cold shower!' complained Sean, then suggested, 'If you hang it up for half an hour it might dry off a little!'

She shook her head. 'I don't want to wait half an hour, and I'm wet myself, anyway, so what does it really matter?'

She gingerly put the dress on; not a pleasant task. She had to smooth the wet crumpled layers down over her wet body, and they felt horribly clammy on her skin. She shivered.

Sean gave her an anxious look. 'Are you OK?'

'I feel like a fish, but otherwise I'll survive,' she said drily, relieved to be covered again. She had felt very uneasy not having any clothes on at all. At any minute someone might have wandered down this end of the beach and seen them. 'I'd better get to my room quickly and get out of this dress,' she thought aloud.

As she turned to go Sean caught her arm, the contact reminding her forcibly that although she might now wear clothes Sean didn't; he was still stark naked and that made her very aware of him, very edgy. She lowered her eyes to avoid seeing that powerful body.

'Hey! What about me?' he demanded. 'You've got to get me back into the hotel. I'll lurk in the trees until I see you open your balcony windows, then I'll...' He stopped dead and groaned, then began looking around on the sand in a hurried, agitated way.

'What now?' Nadine nervously asked.

'The key to my room is in the pocket of my jeans!'

She couldn't help laughing again. 'You're kidding!'

'Do I sound as if I am?' he asked through clenched teeth, and she had to admit he didn't.

'Well, now what do we do?' said Nadine helplessly.

Sean thought, scowling. 'They'll have a spare at the reception desk; you'll have to ask them for that when you get your own key.'

'I'm not asking them for a spare key to your room!' she refused flatly. 'They'd be bound to ask awkward questions, such as, "Where is he? What do you want the key for?" And then I'd have to explain that you weren't in the hotel but I wanted to get into your room... can you imagine what they'd think?'

He looked furious. 'All right then, I'll have to sleep in your room tonight!'

The passion had dissolved; they were angry with each other again. Nadine gave him a cold glare.

'Think again! You aren't moving in with me!'

He glared back. 'What do you want me to do? Spend the night on the beach, stark naked?'