Miss Prim's Greek Island Fling

He forced his stance to remain relaxed. ‘Wanna go for a run?’

‘A run?’ She snapped away and then stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. Which was better. Much much better. ‘Do you not know me at all?’

He shrugged. ‘It was worth a shot.’

‘No running, no rushing, no racing.’ She ticked the items off her fingers. ‘Those are the rules for today. I’m going to explore the rock pools.’

He followed because he couldn’t help it. Because a question burned through him and he knew he’d explode if he didn’t ask it.

They explored in silence for ten or fifteen minutes. ‘Audra?’ He worked hard to keep his voice casual.

‘Hmm?’

‘What the hell did that bastard Farquhar do to you?’

She froze, and then very slowly turned. ‘Wow, excellent tactic, Sullivan. Don’t get your way over going for a run so hit a girl with an awkward question instead.’

A question he noted she hadn’t answered. He rolled with it. ‘I work with what I’ve got.’

Her hands went to her waist. She wore her T-shirt again but not her sarong, and her legs... Her legs went on and on...and on. Where had she been hiding them? ‘Who’s this woman in Nice you’re trying to avoid?’

Oho! So Rupert had told her about that. ‘You answer my question, and I’ll answer any question you want.’

Her brows rose. ‘Any question?’

‘Any time you want to ask it.’

CHAPTER FIVE

ANY TIME SHE wanted to ask it?

That meant... Audra’s mind raced. That meant if Finn were running hell for leather, doing laps as if training for a triathlon, risking his neck as if there were no tomorrow, then...then she could ask a question and he’d have to stop and answer her?

Oh, she’d try other stalling tactics first. She wasn’t wasting a perfectly good question if she could get him to slow down in other ways, but...

She tried to stop her internal glee from showing. ‘You have yourself a deal.’

Finn readjusted his stance. ‘So what’s the story with Farquhar? The bit that didn’t make the papers.’

She hiked herself up to sit on a large rock, its top worn smooth, but its sides pitted with the effects of wind and sand. It was warm beneath her hands and thighs.

He settled himself beside her. ‘Is it hard to talk about?’

She sent him what she hoped was a wry glance. ‘It’s never fun to own up to being a fool...or to having made such a big mistake.’

‘Audra—’

She waved him silent. ‘I’m surprised you don’t know the story.’ She’d have thought Rupert would’ve filled him in.

‘I know what was in the paper but not, I suspect, the whole story.’

Dear Rupert. He’d kept his word.

Oddly, though, she didn’t mind Finn knowing the story in its entirety. While they might’ve been friendly adversaries all these years, he was practically family. He’d have her best interests at heart, just as she did his.

‘Right.’ She slapped her hands to her thighs and he glanced down at them. His face went oddly tight and he immediately stared out to sea. A pulse started up in her throat and her heart danced an irregular pattern in her chest.

Stop it. Don’t think of Finn in that way.

But...he’s hot.

And he thinks you’re hot.

Nonsense! He’s just... He just found it hard to not flirt with every woman in his orbit.

She forced herself to bring Thomas’s face to mind and the pulse-jerking and heart-hammering came to a screeching halt. ‘So the part that everyone knows—’ the part that had made the papers ‘—is that Thomas Farquhar and I had been dating for over seven months.’

Wary brown eyes met hers and he gave a nod. ‘What made you fall for him?’

She shrugged. ‘He seemed so...nice. He went out of his way to spend time with me, and do nice things for me. It was just...nice,’ she finished lamely. He’d been so earnest about all the things she was earnest about. He’d made her feel as if she were doing exactly what she ought to be doing with her life. She’d fallen for all of that intoxicating attention and validation hook, line and sinker.

‘But it’s clear now that he was only dating me to steal company secrets.’ A fact the entire world now knew thanks to the tabloids. She shrivelled up a little more inside every time she thought about it.

The Russel Corporation, established by her Swiss grandfather sixty years ago, had originally been founded on a watchmaking dynasty but was now made up of a variety of concerns, including a large charitable arm. Her father was the CEO, though Rupert had been groomed to take over and, to all intents and purposes, was running the day-to-day operations of the corporation.