Miss Prim's Greek Island Fling

How had he got this wrong? ‘When you saw the flyer in the bookshop window you looked...’

‘I looked what?’

Her eyes turned wary with that same damn restraint that was there when she talked about her shop. Frustration rattled through him. Why did she do that?

‘Looked what?’ she demanded.

‘Interested,’ he shot back.

Wistful, full of yearning...hungry.

‘I can’t draw.’

‘Which is why it says “Beginners”—’ he pointed ‘—right here.’

She blew out a breath.

‘What’s more I think you were interested, but for some reason it intimidated you, so you chickened out.’

Her chin shot up, but her cheeks had reddened. ‘I just didn’t think it’d be your cup of tea.’

‘You didn’t think lying on a beach reading a book would float my boat either, but that didn’t stop you. And I’ve submitted with grace. I haven’t made a single complaint about your agendas. Unlike you with mine.’

‘Oh!’ She took a step back. ‘You make me sound mean-spirited.’

She wasn’t mean-spirited. But she was the most frustrating woman on earth!

‘I’m sorry, Finn. Truly.’ She seemed to gird her loins. ‘You’ve chosen this specifically with me in mind. And I’m touched. Especially as I know you’d rather be off paragliding or aqua boarding or something.’

He ran a finger around the collar of his T-shirt. That wasn’t one hundred per cent true. It wasn’t even ten per cent true. Not that he had any intention of saying so. ‘But?’ he countered, refusing to let her off the hook. ‘You don’t want to do it?’

‘It’s not that.’

He folded his arms. ‘Then what is it?’

‘Forget it. You just took me by surprise, is all.’ She snapped away from him. ‘Let’s just go in and enjoy the class and—’

He reached out and curled his hand around hers and her words stuttered to a halt. ‘Audra?’ He raised an eyebrow and waited.

Her chin shot up again. ‘You won’t understand.’

‘Try me.’

A storm raged in her eyes. He watched it in fascination. ‘Do you ever have rebellious impulses, Finn?’

He raised both eyebrows. ‘My entire life is one big rebellion, surely?’

‘Nonsense! You’re living your life exactly as you think your parents would want you to.’

She snatched her hand back and he felt suddenly cast adrift.

‘You’ve not rebelled any more than I have.’

That wasn’t true, but... He glanced at the studio behind her. ‘Art class is a rebellion?’

‘In a way.’

‘How?’

She folded her arms and stared up at the sky. He had a feeling she was counting to ten. ‘Look, I can see the sense in taking a break, in having a holiday. Lying on a beach and soaking up some Vitamin D, getting some gentle exercise via a little swimming and walking, reading a book—I see the sense in those things. They lead to a rested body and mind.’

‘How is an art class different from any of those things?’

‘It just is! It feels...self-indulgent. It’s doing something for the sake of doing it, rather than because it’s good for you or...or...’

‘What about fun?’

She stared at him. ‘What’s fun got to do with it?’

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘Evidently nothing.’ Was she really that afraid of letting her hair down?

‘When I start doing one thing just for the sake of it—for fun,’ she spat, ‘I’ll start doing others.’

He lifted his arms and let them drop. ‘And the problem with that would be...?’

Her eyes widened as if he were talking crazy talk and a hard, heavy ball dropped into the pit of his stomach. It was all he could do not to bare his teeth and growl.

‘I knew you wouldn’t understand.’

‘I’ll tell you what I understand. That you’re the most uptight, repressed person I have ever met.’

‘Repressed?’ Her mouth opened and closed. ‘I—What are you doing?’

He’d seized her hand again and was towing her towards a copse of Aleppo pine and carob trees. ‘What’s that?’ He flung an arm out at the vista spread below them.

She glared. ‘The Aegean. It’s beautiful.’

‘And that?’ He pointed upwards.

She followed his gaze. Frowned and shrugged, evidently not following where he was going with this. ‘The...sky?’

‘The sun,’ he snapped out. ‘And it’s shining in full force in case you hadn’t noticed. And where are we?’