Not even close. ‘Whatever you want’s fine by me.’ Turning away, he moved to his gear, pulled out a pair of shorts and a T-shirt.
‘Didn’t you mention risk-taking and adventure?’
He yanked off his sneakers. ‘You’ve been ill. I won’t push you into anything strenuous today. We can call a dip in the pool water sports if you want. By the way, a guest in the gym this morning was asking after you.’ He padded towards the bathroom. ‘She saw you faint in the lobby last night and said to tell you if you don’t trust foreign doctors she has her own practice in Perth. She’s in room thirty-three.’
Kate heard the bathroom door close, then rubbed at her arms to mask the flesh made sensitive by Damon’s hands as she stared at the shimmer of sand and sea. So Blondie was a doctor. Now she felt like an idiot for thinking the worst about him and the woman in the gym. The sound of running water only intensified the whirlpool of conflicting emotions.
He wasn’t Nick. He wasn’t anything like Nick. But she refused to let him callously reel off her shortcomings in one minute, and kiss her senseless the next.
She tried not to think about what she was missing out on. Wall-to-wall marble bathroom. Damon. A stack of luxury products designed to soothe and pamper, gliding over skin and muscle.
Damon. Naked. Soaping up with those products under the double shower heads. All that bronzed skin glistening with water and oils… If she just walked in…would he change his mind? Her pulse rate picked up pace. Should she? She bit her lip. She was never indecisive. Clear and level-headed in any situation.
Not this particular one.
And if she did choose to follow him into the shower, one-night stand aside, it would never be the same between them again.
It would be more, an inner voice whispered.
Until he went back to wherever he came from, she warned that inner voice. Disentangling her arms, she crossed the room, rummaged in the bottom of her bag for the supply of condoms she’d carefully packed beneath her clothes, then kicked off her sandals.
Office hours did not apply in Bali.
CHAPTER NINE
KATE knocked once, then when there was no reply she eased the door open a fraction and called, ‘Damon?’
The fragrance of something cool and green wafted to her nose. The sound of the water reminded her of a tropical rainstorm as she peeked tentatively around the door and said, ‘Damon?’ again.
She caught sight of him behind the water-spattered glass. He was rinsing his hair, and, oh, my…goodness. Even slightly blurred she could see he was perfect. The lighting gilded his skin, highlighting strong facial planes and angles. Dark masculine hair spattered his broad chest and arrowed down a washboard stomach to… Wow.
She swallowed as everything inside her liquefied. Her legs seized up, nailing her to the spot when she would have stepped back. Out. Away. Whatever was she thinking, coming in here?
You know exactly what, her now cheerful inner voice said. She’d made up her mind. Be it a holiday or an educational, whatever this trip was, right now they were a world away from home and family, business and work colleagues. Consequences didn’t enter into it. She knew what she was getting herself into. Didn’t she?
He ran his hands through his hair, gave his head a shake, scattering drops, then glanced her way. His expression didn’t change, as if he was accustomed to women joining him in the bathroom unannounced. ‘Kate?’
She jerked her eyes to his. Then to the bird-of-paradise floral arrangement on the vanity. Her legs turned from unresponsive to jelly and she sank to the side of the spa. ‘I have a question.’
‘You have a question,’ he repeated. ‘It couldn’t wait until I finished?’
‘Actually, no.’ She forced herself to meet his eyes. Only his eyes. ‘When you said you’re not going to have sex with me…do you mean ever?’
Barely letting his eyes stray, he selected a bottle of something, squeezed a dollop into his hand. ‘I meant now.’ He rubbed the liquid between his palms together slowly. A muscle clenched in his jaw and the topaz colour in his gaze smouldered, but his voice didn’t waver when he said, ‘So I suggest you leave. While you still can.’
The thought of her being the cause of him losing that cool control scorched its way down her body, making her pulse heavy, her blood syrupy. ‘I was thinking—um—we could maybe try the “make love not war” thing and see if it works for us.’
‘Kate,’ he warned, his voice thickening. ‘I’m not kidding here.’
‘Nor am I.’ She opened her hand and showed him the condom packet. Then she rose, reached behind and unzipped her dress. Slipped the straps off her shoulders and let it drop to the floor. ‘You mentioned water sports?’