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Rhys reached out and pressed a gentle finger to her forehead, rubbing it between her brows. ‘Don’t look so worried.’
She tried to smile past the nerves dancing inside her. ‘It’s been a long time.’
He held out his hand and, when she took it, he pulled her up until they were standing toe to toe. ‘It’s been a long time for me too.’
All the more reason for them to both take it slowly. ‘Let’s not rush into anything, okay?’
‘Okay.’ Rhys touched her cheek, the rough calluses on his fingers sending little zings of electricity through her as he traced them over her skin before sliding a hand back to release the clip she’d used to hold back her hair. It tumbled around her face and she put her hands up to try and smooth it down. He captured her hands and tugged them down, his touch gentle but insistent.
‘I haven’t even combed it this morning,’ she protested, distracted by how messy it must look.
‘Leave it.’ His voice was deep and seductive as he played with the tangle of curls. ‘You’re always so bound up and self-contained. You should let people see this side of you more often.’
‘Says the self-confessed control freak,’ Tasha said wryly.
He laughed. ‘I’m trying to live in the moment here, give me a break.’
She leaned into him, unable to resist the magnetic pull of attraction. ‘But what happens after the moment passes?’
Rhys cupped her chin, lifting her face until their eyes met. ‘Then it passes, but at least we’ll have enjoyed ourselves until that happens.’
‘This is a very bad idea,’ Tasha whispered even as she raised her arms and entwined them around his neck.
‘Do you really think so?’ He lowered his head until his lips were just an inch from hers. ‘Tell me stop and I’ll stop.’
She should say it, should take this opportunity for both of them to escape unscathed, to shift things back onto a purely professional footing. ‘I’m trying to live in the moment here,’ she said instead.
Their laughter merged then faded as their lips met. He kissed her once, twice, three times, gentle teasing flutters of his mouth over hers. She made a dissatisfied noise and went up on tiptoe, pressing herself into him until his hands came around to cup her bottom and lift her just that bit higher so their bodies met in a way that sent stars bursting behind her closed eyelids. She opened her mouth on a soft moan and he took full advantage, kissing her as though he would never get enough. By the time they broke apart they were both panting and there was a second when she thought he might grab her hand and drag her towards the stairs. Not that he’d have to drag her, because she felt on fire from the inside out. ‘We should stop,’ Rhys said, though his eyes were telling her a different story.
‘We did say we weren’t going to rush things,’ Tasha agreed.
He touched her chin. ‘Plus, I can’t take you to the party with your face covered in stubble rash.’
Oh God, she’d forgotten all about the party. Dropping back on her heels, she raised her hands to press around her mouth. ‘How bad is it?’
‘Not that bad.’ Rhys curled his arm around her waist. ‘Come back here. I promise to be gentle.’
Tasha wiggled out of his grasp. ‘I don’t trust you.’ She didn’t trust herself, either. She glanced down at her jeans and long-sleeved striped T-shirt. It hadn’t taken her long to leave her usual business attire behind and get used to wearing more casual clothes. The two suits she’d brought with her were hanging untouched in the wardrobe and she was either going to have to go shopping at some point or do a run back to her flat to pick up some lighter clothes now that spring was well and truly here. ‘I need to get changed.’
Rhys laughed. ‘You look ready for the kind of party we like to throw. All you need is a jacket for later. Remember what I told you before about our family dress code, or rather the lack of it.’
‘At least let me go and wash my face.’ She hurried up the stairs and into the bathroom. When she looked in the mirror, her face was flushed and her eyes were as wild as her hair. ‘Who are you?’ she whispered to the almost-stranger looking back at her. This wasn’t like her, not at all. She turned on the tap and splashed her face with cold water, relieved when she glanced back up that the redness around her chin was already fading. She cleaned her teeth and reached for the stack of elastic hairbands she always kept by the sink. She tamed her curls into a ponytail and added a quick dash of liner under her eyes and a dab of pink lipstick.
When she came back downstairs Rhys was already waiting for her out on the deck, the dogs attached to their leads. She grabbed her quilted jacket from the back of her chair and tucked her phone in her pocket then joined him. ‘All set.’
‘Not quite.’ Rhys reached out, pulled the elastic band from her hair and tucked it in his pocket. ‘Now you’re all set.’
‘Hey, give that back.’ She held out her hand. He took it instead, entwining their fingers and refusing to let go even when she tried to pull away. ‘So bossy.’
Rhys squeezed her fingers. ‘Not for much longer.’ She gave him a questioning look. ‘I’m going to ask Hope to oversee the camping business. Not that you need much in the way of supervision, but someone in the family needs to have final sign-off on things. I can’t do that and do this.’ He gestured with his free hand between them. ‘Whatever this is.’
All the warnings rattled through her head, how it wasn’t a good idea to get involved with someone when you worked together, how there was no future in it because she wouldn’t be there for very long before Simon inevitably called her back, how Rhys would never forgive her when he found out she’d been lying to him every day since she arrived. All that and more battled against the instinctive pull she felt towards him, the desire to get to know him better. ‘If you transfer responsibility to Hope, she’ll want to know why. And if I’m being honest I’d rather keep things just between us for the time being.’ He didn’t look convinced. ‘Come on, it was one kiss, that’s all.’
‘You know it’s not going to stop at one kiss, though. Not unless you’ve changed your mind in the past few minutes. Have you changed your mind, Tasha?’
When she tugged her hand free this time, he let her go. ‘I don’t know. I like you, Rhys, but I don’t want things to get complicated between us. Maybe we should at least think about it before we take things any further.’
He looked disappointed, but he didn’t try to argue with her, simply fished in his pocket for the hair band he’d stolen and handed it back to her.
