AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She jerked to standing, eyes flashing with his, and it was only when she met his gaze that she began to suspect he might have been deliberately goading her. ‘Retrieve me?’ she repeated with incredulity. ‘Seriously? Like a lost pet, or a missing suitcase or something?’
His smile irritated her even as she was captivated by the way it transformed his features.
‘Don’t laugh at me.’
‘I’m not.’ He lifted a hand in surrender. ‘You’re funny, that’s all.’
‘I’m not meaning to be.’
He lifted his shoulders. ‘You still are.’
She expelled a long, calming breath. ‘Did you come out here just to ask me about sunscreen?’ she asked, determined to shut down their conversation. Maybe he’d been right the night before? Maybe they needed to either ignore each other or at least pretend to, if every one of their conversations led to an argument.
‘Yes,’ he said, without moving.
‘Well, then, you’ve done your duty. You can go.’ She gestured across the deck for him to leave.
He arched a brow.
‘You’re the one who suggested we ignore each other.’
‘Easier said than done,’ he drawled.
‘God, Benedetto, you’re impossible.’
‘So I’ve been told.’
‘I’m serious. You’re like a whole bundle of mixed messages. Why don’t you just decide what you want and let me know?’ And with that, she settled back onto the sun lounger and pulled her glasses over her eyes, feigning sleep.
But not for long.
Not five minutes later a splashing sound alerted her to the fact she wasn’t alone, and a quick shift of her head showed Benedetto in the pool across the deck. He was swimming through the water, powerful and confident, and although the pool wasn’t Olympic length, he had enough space to complete a lap and turn under water, swimming back the other way, where he paused against the coping, his powerful, tanned arms mesmerising, covered in water and delightfully tempting.
She blinked away.
Only, he was right there, half naked, tanned, wet, relaxed, and even when she knew the smartest thing to do was disappear off the deck and away from temptation, she found herself lasting barely ten minutes before she stood and paced to the edge of the pool, an unimpressed scowl on her face.
‘Yes?’ he asked at the water’s edge, standing with legs braced wide apart, blinking up at her through eyes that were rimmed with dark, wet lashes, hair slicked back showing a high brow.
She glared at him. ‘Don’t you have work to do or something?’
‘I’ve been working,’ he replied with a shrug. ‘Late last night, and from early this morning. Does it bother you for me to have a break?’
That wasn’t what she’d meant. ‘It’s none of my business,’ she muttered, holding up her hands in surrender. ‘It just seems like you’re going out of your way to aggravate me.’
‘By swimming?’
She raised her brows. ‘By swimming when I’m right here.’ She gestured to the deck.
‘There are two of us,’ he pointed out. ‘You could go somewhere else if my presence bothers you that much. It’s a big ship.’
The water was so tempting, and suddenly all Amelia wanted was to dip into it, just for a moment, to cool off. She’d been lying in the sun for hours and she was quite warm all over. But there was no way she’d show even a hint of her thoughts to Benedetto. There’d be time later to swim—for now, she needed to escape.
‘Great idea. Thanks for the suggestion,’ she said with mocking obedience in her tone. She followed it up by doing an overly exaggerated salute. ‘See you later.’
She felt his eyes on her the whole way across the deck.
Inside, she fixed herself a sandwich and took it to her room to eat, brooding as she stared out at the ocean. Once finished, she decided she couldn’t pass the rest of her time sulking and staring into space, and there were limited alternatives on board. And so she made her way back to the library, intending to grab a book. But when she strode in, without knocking, it was to find Benedetto there, hair still wet, body mercifully covered now in a T-shirt and fresh, dry shorts.
