AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She had packed some overnight things in her briefcase, along with her notebook and the Professor’s, and as she looked around she felt at peace for the first time in a long time. It was something that settled into her skin and sank into her bones. The call to relax, the urge to let go a little, and she thought she’d seen the same thing in Mateo’s eyes. The wooden jetty turned into a path that cut into the grove of palm trees and she was about to ask Mateo where they were going when the trees opened up and she stepped almost directly onto a beach of pure white sand, the likes of which she’d only ever experienced in her wildest fantasies.
She couldn’t help the gasp that fell from her lips as she took in the curve of the sandy bay and the azure-blue sea gently lapping rhythmically at the blond grains of the beach. Halfway across the bay, widely interspersed between palm trees, were four huts, open to the elements, with thatched roofs and string lights hanging from the eves.
There wasn’t another soul on the beach and something unfurled in her chest as excitement and hope lifted the lid on her desires. She dared to cast her gaze to Mateo, praying not to find disinterest or boredom in something that was so magical to her, but she should have known better.
Because there, looking back at her with the same sense of barely repressed excitement, was Mateo, and the words next on his lips stole her heart.
‘Welcome to paradise.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
ONCEAGAINMATEOfound himself marvelling at how expressive Evie’s face was. He could have described every single feeling she experienced as she looked out across the beach at dusk. But wonder was the one he recognised the most. That was what he’d wanted when he’d asked Annie to let them off here at one of the Kei Islands. To take away the hurt he’d carelessly inflicted and cover it with something beautiful.
There was a much larger hotel on the other side of the island, but this? This was perfect. He had no intention of telling her that he’d hired out the entire hotel for just the two of them. He bit back a laugh at the thought of how she would berate him for the waste of money. But he didn’t consider it a waste at all.
He’d bitterly regretted the things he’d said over lunch. It didn’t mean that he’d changed his feelings about it, but he should never have said what he’d said, nor spoken of her adoptive parents. If he was honest with himself, he knew where his anger came from, a deep realisation of what they could never be to each other; of what they could never have. But he also knew that he’d have to make it up to her. And from the look on her face, he was right. Something hot and heavy eased in his chest and he breathed his first full breath since that afternoon.
‘Dinner will be served on the beach in an hour, but until then you can get settled in your suite, or you can take a swim, or...’ The way she was looking at him stopped his words. ‘What?’
‘I’m not quite sure that this is how I’d describe getting my feet back under me. It’s more like sweeping me off them,’ she half laughed, but stopped suddenly as if she’d realised what she’d said. She bit her lip as his gut clenched, but then... ‘Thank you,’ she said, simply. For a moment he thought she was going to rise on her toes and press a kiss to his cheek. For a moment hewantedthat. But then she was gone, walking past him towards the huts in the apex of the bay.
Walk away. Walk away now.
A familiar internal warning ran through his brain, and for the first time since he could remember he wanted to ignore it. He followed behind her, trying to ignore the allure of the sway of her hips and the way that her wedged sandals sank her a little lower into the sand. He kept pace with her until she came to a stop a few feet away from the huts, sensing her reluctance to tear herself away from the view of the sea.
That he was just as reluctant to tear himself away from the view of her was all he needed to know that he should find his suite before he did something he couldn’t take back. Maybe he was the one who should have stayed back on the yacht, not Annie.
Evie remembered telling Queen Sofia that she had never stayed anywhere more beautiful, but this? Mateo wasn’t wrong. It really was paradise. She looked around her at the achingly stunning surroundings. It felt like serenity and she hadn’t realised how much she’d needed it. The hut Mateo had pointed her to was on one side of the beach, his was at the far end of the small settlements. She’d known that because she’d all but hidden behind a curtain and watched as he’d walked to the far side of the encampment and up the steps of a hut that mirrored hers, half thankful and half bereft for the distance between them.
The front of the exotic suite faced the sea and was open to the elements. Even now a gentle salt-scented breeze pushed at the tendrils of hair that escaped the loose plait she’d wound her hair into. Behind her, a series of reed walls allowed both for a sense of liberating openness and discreet privacy. The bathroom was enclosed, and there was a shower out on the decking that wrapped around the hut completely hidden from view.
A canopy bed was placed in the centre of the hut with views of a beach now dusted with dusk and from which she could already see a few twinkling stars in the sky. She had seen a few people dressed in white and black uniforms discreetly passing before the huts, presumably getting their dinner together.
It served only to remind her of the night she had met Mateo. Had it really only been three days ago? Before, when she’d thought of the Professor’s son, there had been resentment towards an undefinable figure who, in her mind, had taken his father for granted. But now? Now that she had seen so much more in theman,could she really continue to lie to herself and deny that she wanted him? That, even knowing he didn’t want the love and marriage she secretly was so hopeful she would have in her own life, shestillwanted him?
She was almost sure that he desired her—she felt it press against her when he looked at her, burn in her skin when he touched her, fill her lungs whenever he was near—but it was clear that he didn’twantto want her. Something in her fought against that, wanted to push and prod and poke at the barrier between them.
They had clashed from the very first moment they’d met, and in that fire, in that friction, was something alive and twisting, needing to get out. It simmered beneath her skin, making her restless, making her...reckless. Never before had she understood more the phrase ‘throwing caution to the wind’. The thoughts and hope for her future, they belonged to someone else, to some other time. He had brought her to paradise and it was whispering desires and wants from her most secret fantasies.
Could she really just ask him for what she wanted?
Could she take just this night, perhaps?
There was something seductive in the thought of just one night. Not because he might agree, but because surely, if she knew that there was no possibility of the kind of future she wanted, then she would be safe from hurt? Herheartwould be safe?
She started at the gentle tinkle of a bell. Frowning, she made her way out onto the decking and the sight made her heart leap. A wooden dais had appeared as if by magic. Large fire torches marked each corner, illuminating a white cloth-covered table set for a feast and decorated with local flowers and shells. Mateo was standing in front of it, waiting expectantly for her.
She was thankful she’d taken the time to freshen up and change into the sarong that had been waiting for her on the bed. The material was soothing against her heated skin and the colour, a deep turquoise, was beautiful. She’d never worn anything like it, but when Mateo’s eyes finished his slow, intense perusal from top to toe, returning to meet her gaze, she felt absolutely incredible—invincible almost. It was only when she took the first step onto the sandy beach that she realised she had left her heels behind, and, barefoot, she made her way towards him with a self-confidence that was empowering. Her heart shifted in her chest as she drew level with Mateo, who hadn’t taken his eyes off her once.
‘You are beautiful,’ he said, the words not intended to flatter, or to manipulate. It was simply a fact for him, but she wanted more. They fired something in her breast, as if they had been a call to arms that only she heard. He poured her a glass of wine and passed it to her.
‘Where are the other guests?’ Evie asked.
‘It’s just us tonight,’ he replied, trying to swallow the heat in his throat.
The table was full of lots of little dishes, all of which he was sure were utterly delicious, but Mateo couldn’t have described a single one. He was simply unable to draw his attention away from Evie. As if by tacit agreement, they avoided speaking of the Professor or the coordinates, but instead shared happy stories of their childhoods. Over the starter, Mateo dutifully described the trouble he would get into at boarding school with Henri. He couldn’t have said when the plates were cleared, because of the way her eyes shimmered at hearing about his achievements and his own sense of accomplishment at providing his mother and friends with the security he felt they deserved. He barely noticed the main course as Evie regaled him with amusingly awkward stories of Carol and Alan, and through dessert, she entertained him with the more humorous disasters she’d experienced as a young girl as she’d tried to navigate her intelligence in an environment meant for much older children.
‘Do you feel you missed out on things?’
