Cavtat. Why had he agreed to go with her? How could he not when she’d looked at him with such candour in those heart-stopping eyes and said it was only for a meal? That felt like a challenge, and challenges were not to be ignored. ‘I’ll call to let you know what night works with my programme at the children’s home.’
‘I’m going to spend time with Capeka again so I might see you there.’ She clambered out of the car. ‘Goodnight, Kristof.’
No way. Alesha wasn’t getting away that easily. The brakes were off. He wanted her. ‘Wait.’ He held his hand out for the keys. ‘Let me.’
‘It isn’t necessary,’ she quipped. ‘I usually only make an idiot of myself once over any one thing.’
‘Humour me, okay? One thing I did learn growing up was manners.’ And to work hard at being different from his father. But that was another story, which had nothing to do with what was going on in his body.
‘You just don’t want to find me sleeping on the side of the road when you go to work in the morning.’ Somehow she managed to pass the keys to him without touching his skin.
‘I’ll bring some toast in case.’ The sorry dope he’d suddenly turned into had been hoping for a little bit of contact, an indication she might be a little attracted to him.
Her laughter tinkled in the clear air, drew him closer to her as they climbed the steps up to the apartments. His gaze fell to the curved, swaying backside in front of him, his groin tightening alarmingly. He should’ve stayed in the car. Then they were on the level and Alesha was waiting for him to open the door to her apartment, her back to him.
‘Who’s going to undo that zip for you?’ The words spilled out. A logical question considering he’d had to finish doing up the zip in the first place, but it was filled with suggestion and hope and need that he couldn’t hide. When had he last felt so awkward with a woman? Probably when he’d asked Melissa Stokes to his sixth birthday party.
‘I could go door knocking,’ she tossed over her shoulder as she stepped inside.
He followed her in and reached for her, hands on her shoulders. ‘I don’t like that idea.’
‘Really? Then what are you going to do about it?’
Slowly he turned her around and lifted those long waves of golden brown hair with one hand. With the other he nudged the zip down an inch. And another inch. Another. All the way to the top of those curves he’d followed up the steps. The air stuck in his throat at the beauty before him. Soft, satin-like skin the colour of vanilla ice cream. The gentle flaring of those hips shaping her dress. The heat, the scent of summer. Everything about Alesha made his body hum.
Oh, so slowly Alesha turned. His hand spread across the width of the small of her back, the other cradling her hair, letting the silky texture slide through his fingers. The last of the restraints he’d placed on himself during the evening evaporated in an instant of heat and desire. Gone. All he knew was he wanted her so badly it hurt in places pain had no right to be. He leaned down so his mouth could caress Alesha’s. It wasn’t enough. Her soft lips melted into his so they became one where their mouths joined. It wasn’t enough. His hands slid under the fabric of her dress, slid it down over her shoulders, while at the same time he kicked the door closed.
Alesha hesitated, pulled back to lock an unsteady gaze on him.
His lungs stalled.
Please don’t say no.
Then she smiled and her lips were returning to his, her tongue making forays into his fevered mouth, driving him crazy. If this was what kissing Alesha did to him, then the next hour was going to be unbelievably erotic.
A low, slow groan escaped her mouth as she pressed her breasts against his chest, her taut nipples like beads of desire throbbing with the beat of his blood. He wound his arms tighter, brought her so close they moulded together. It was wonderful. The heat, the need coursing through his veins, and, he knew, hers too. It wasn’t enough. His shirt and her dress were impediments.
Setting Alesha back only as far as necessary, he nudged the narrow straps from her shoulders. The dress fell away. Nothing held those pert breasts, no lace or silk, nothing but nature. His knees bowed. As he reached to bring her up against him she resisted.
‘I want to see you.’ Her hands were tugging his shirt free of his trousers.
He took his hands away from that warm skin for the moment it took to drag the offending garment over his head and toss it aside. Then he went back to touching, holding, looking. Feeling, aching, needing. And lifting her into his arms to place her on the beckoning bed where he could make love with this amazing woman all night long. Where he would give her everything she needed and wanted, first. Where the pleasure would be as much his as hers. Where he could lose himself in her heat, and her generosity.
CHAPTER FIVE
ALESHA ROLLED OVER in the rumpled mess that was sheets and pillows and the heady smell of a night making love with Kristof, and dragged her eyes open. Some time after the sun came up he had left to go back to his mother’s house to get ready for a day at the children’s home. He hadn’t kissed her goodbye, hadn’t uttered a word, just slipped into his shirt and trousers, slung his jacket over his shoulder and left. Message clear—this had been a one-off night.
It was surprising how comfortable she was with that. It might be too soon after being dumped but she’d gone into the evening eyes wide open and mind clear about having fun without any attachments. Her heart had not been involved, nor was it going to become so. Just because they’d both wanted to have fun without consequences that didn’t make them a couple, or even best friends.
Shuffling up the bed and stuffing a pillow behind her, she leaned back and looked around. Sunlight snuck around the edges of the wooden blinds, teasing her to get up and make the most of another bright and sunny day. In a minute. It was relaxing to sit here with nowhere she had to be by a specific time. Freedom from work. Freedom from other people’s expectations. Living up to her own for a change. Feeling hollowed out, yes, but that came with a sense of getting to understand herself as never before.
Looking back, she saw the nine-year-old version of Alesha—sad, bewildered, lost. Her parents suddenly didn’t have time to talk to her about school or the games she played as they’d done before. They withdrew their love so she went looking for it elsewhere. Which was where this chasing men came from, she recognised now. She plucked at the sheet, unable to cry for the child who’d become the woman she was now, her heart heavy. Yet persistent hope pinged her. This time it was hope she’d get her life sorted in a way that fitted with her new dreams. Be strong and—She faltered. And single? Was it Kristof who’d made her see things differently? If so, she owed him, and not in a clingy, ‘let’s be together’ kind of way.
There’d been a certain freedom about the evening, followed by that sexy, sensual night, with a man she’d only met the day before. Having never done anything so unrestrained before she’d have thought remorse would’ve been her prime emotion today, but no. For the first time in a long time she was completely relaxed, wasn’t looking for hints of what might come in the future, what Kristof might expect of her today or next week or even when they were back in London. For once she wasn’t getting ahead of herself.
Untangling her legs from the sheet, she leapt out of bed and stretched up on tiptoes, arms above her head, then bent to touch the floor with her fingers. While muscles everywhere ached, her body felt alive and ready for action. More action. Like a swim, breakfast, a visit to see Capeka, and then walk into the Old City to take a mini-tour up to the lookout on the hills behind the city.
‘Morning,’ Karolina called from the other side of the deck where she was s
weeping the moment Alesha walked outside dressed in her bikini. ‘You had a good time last night?’
How much did she know? ‘I had a great time. The auction was a huge success.’
‘So I hear.’ Karolina’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
So she knew more than how the dinner had gone. No need to confirm or deny though. Placing her keys and phone on a sunbed, Alesha then dived into the sparkling water and popped up at the far end. ‘How often does Antonija organise auctions? I gather last night’s wasn’t the first.’
‘Once a year. She says any more wouldn’t bring in more money and double the cost of putting them on.’
‘That makes sense.’ As far as Alesha could discern, if ever there was a sensible woman Kristof’s mother was her. ‘The children’s home must cost a bit to run.’
‘I think so. Though Kristof arranges for doctors to come from England throughout the year free of charge.’
So he was happy to help out but had issues about his mother. She was not about to ask Karolina anything about him. That gleam in those knowing eyes would only increase and she didn’t need that. She also wasn’t going to explain she was having a week like no other where she’d be free and happy and take whatever was on offer, then go back to England, sign up for another job. Which reminded her—that job Cherry called about. She’d send in an application before she got on with this new way of life.
Oh, boy. She had plenty to think about. But not now. Job application, then a shower before heading down the hill for breakfast at one of those bakeries she’d spied yesterday on her way back from Port Gruž.
* * *
‘Morning, Alesha,’ Kristof called from the other end of the hallway as she entered the building. ‘I didn’t expect you here quite so soon.’
I didn’t expect my pulse to go from slow to racing in two seconds flat just seeing you.
‘Hi. Thought I’d spend some time with Capeka before I go sightseeing, if that’s all right?’ Had Kristof been looking out for her? Unlikely after his quiet way of leaving her apartment that morning. ‘I’d like to try reading to her again, but only if you think it won’t distress her when I’m leaving at the end of the week.’