Consequences of a Hot Havana Night

‘Are you a member of the crew from that mega-yacht out there?’ she asked, trying another tack. ‘Did you swim to the beach from that...?’ She could only be pleasant for so long under this sort of pressure. ‘That floating office block?’ The huge vessel had been moored up in the bay since first thing that morning. It was the type of eye-popping craft favoured by billionaires and potentates. If he worked for someone like that, she could understand that he’d want to clear the beach before his boss came on shore.

‘Crew?’ he queried, frowning. ‘Floating office block?’

‘That boat out there,’ she said, pointing.

If only her pulse would slow down and her wits would speed up, she thought as he replied in a clipped tone, ‘I’m not crew. And the vessel you refer to is the Spirit of Kaimos.’

‘Well, I’m very sorry, but I’ve never heard of it. And you still haven’t answered my question. Where are you from?’

‘Why is that so important?’

‘It isn’t. I’m just curious.’

‘As am I,’ he shot back.

His lazy gaze stripped her bare and, while her wilful body applauded, her mind sensibly screamed, This isn’t right... I need recovery time... What am I doing here, trading insults with a sexy stranger?

All Kimmie had wanted when she came to the seashore was to dance all the bad stuff out of her head. Instead she was getting deeper into conflict with a man who thought he could order her friends off the beach. She’d reached her tipping point. It was enough to know she’d let everyone down by bringing them all the way to Greece for a wedding that wasn’t going to happen, without having some arrogant Titan order them to leave.

‘Talk and I might let you stay.’

Kimmie’s jaw firmed and her eyes flashed fire at him, but she had her friends to consider. Curbing her anger threw her thoughts back to the mistakes of the day. She should have seen that Mike’s romantic interest in her had only grown wings when her exhibition of paintings straight out of college had been such an unexpected success. That should have rung warning bells, but Jocelyn was like a sister and Kimmie loved her dearly, and she had so wanted to belong and have a family of her own. Mike couldn’t wait to share everything with her, he’d said. Now she realised the only thing he’d actually meant to share with her was the money she’d made from the sale of her paintings. And now this man wanted to take another bite out of her life?

‘I’m not here to sort out your problems,’ he rapped, confirming her impression of him as harsh and unfeeling. ‘Or to be the butt of your anger,’ he added in the same hostile tone.

She stared him straight in the eyes. He might terrify some people, but she’d been through the wringer today and had no intention of backing down, though she had to handle him carefully for the sake of her friends.

‘Without proof that you have the authority to tell us to leave, I don’t see why we should.’

‘I’m asking you politely to leave,’ he emphasised.

‘And I’m telling you equally politely that we’re not doing any harm, and that we’ll leave the beach exactly as we found it.’

* * *

She was wholly in the wrong, but she’d impressed him. Determined to defy him, after what could only have been one hell of a start to her day, he guessed what she’d really like to do was to find a dark, quiet place where she could be alone with her thoughts as she tried to work out what had gone wrong. She struck him as an intelligent woman, not the type to bl

under into a hasty marriage, so he was curious too. To her credit, she was concentrating on her friends, doing everything she could to make things right for them. This included holding him at bay, which was no mean task. He was used to women waiting for him to call the shots before falling in line with whatever he wanted. This woman would never do that. He found himself in the unusual position of telling her to go while wanting her to stay. In the interest of compromise he decided to back off for a while.

‘Kris,’ he said, extending his hand in the customary greeting.

Ignoring his hand, she frowned suspiciously. ‘Does that mean you’re joining us?’

‘I didn’t say that.’ He noted the flush in her cheeks and her darkening eyes as his hand closed around hers. The urge to drag her close and kiss her hard was overwhelming, but control was second nature to him.

Displaying the same iron resolve, she stepped back, pulling her hand out of his. ‘Kimmie—Kimmie Lancaster. Kimmie isn’t short for anything; it’s just Kimmie.’

This woman wasn’t just anything. ‘So, just Kimmie...burning a wedding dress and throwing away a diamond ring, and now you’re having a party.’

‘A wedding wake,’ she reminded him. ‘We can’t waste the food. Kyria Demetriou at the Oia Mare, where we’re staying, went to so much trouble to prepare a wedding feast, and this is the only way we can show our appreciation.’

‘Commendable. She’s a friend of mine.’

‘Kyria Demetriou?’

‘Yes.’

Kyria Demetriou was a pretty good judge of character, and he could see Kimmie thinking, Okay, so maybe he’s not so bad.