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“Okay,” Josh said, “I’ll go and stand over there.” He pointed to the edge of the bank. “That way, I won’t hear you.”

With a smirk, and a shake of his head, he stood to walk down to the water’s edge, but he only got three steps away when Kitty’s efforts to stifle the biggest burp in recorded history failed.

At the noise, both Josh and Kitty froze. She, with a look of horror on her face and he, with his back to her.

Oh god! What the hell had just happened? A blazing burn hit Kitty’s face, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Josh still hadn’t turned round, but looking on the bright side, he hadn’t left either. Instead, he stood on the spot, his shoulders twitching. Hang on, they weren’t twitching. They were bouncing. Bouncing with silent laughter.

After an excruciating few seconds, they stopped, and Josh let out a breath. “Pardon you,” he said before bursting into a belly laugh and turning around to face her.

His smile was the same as the little kid in the pictures at Small Oaks. Cheeky and infectious. She hadn’t realised quite how much she adored it. Kitty put her head into her hands.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve never done that before in front of a….”

Kitty caught herself before she said the word boyfriend. Joshwasn’ther boyfriend, and after making such a joke of herself, he probably never would be. Her cheeks fired hot.

“Look, it’s just that you brought me to this perfect place, and then I had to go and ruin it.”

Josh’s brows pulled together, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Remember what Wendy said earlier? Nothing has to be perfect. Nobody needs to be perfect.” One corner of his mouth twitched, and he stepped back towards her. “Look at it as payback for me spilling my guts in the car. One kind of hot air for another.”

Kitty snickered. “But it's gross!”

“It’s fine. It’s perfectly acceptable behaviour in front of a ....”

“Colleague?” Kitty finished, one brow arched.

Josh winced, sitting back down next to her. “Exactly.”

They settled back into a comfortable silence, the hum of the bees keeping time with the gurgle of the water. This magical place was just where she needed to be today. And she was sitting next to the best person to share it with, even if she had rendered herself unimaginable in the romance department. She wouldn’t be able to do this when she was stuck behind a desk in a concrete tower.

Josh sat gazing at the opposite bank, and beads of perspiration formed on his upper lip. Kitty longed to kiss them away. She couldn’t help it. Her promise to stay focussed on her career was slipping away by the second under the onslaught of his all-around gorgeousness.

Kitty raked her fingers through the sand of the bank, still wrapped in thoughts of soft, damp lips, when she noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked at Josh, who’d stood up, brushed himself off, and peeled the T-shirt from his body.Not again!His tanned, toned torso had Kitty’s eyes on stalks, and her mouth dropped open.

What was he doing?

Her imagination went to all the wrong places as her thoughts tumbled over each other. Was he about to declare he was a rampant naturist, or was he about to jump on her? For all the expression on his face revealed, he could have been ordering a pizza.

A singe of heat crept over Kitty’s face as Josh slowly unbuttoned his jeans, lava rushing to her cheeks. With his crotch at eye level, it was like watching her own private strip show. Her very own porno. Kitty’s breath caught in her throat. Where was the pause button? Where was the emergency oxygen?

After a long, torturous wait, Josh slipped his jeans off and stood before her, a smile on his face. He wore small black trunks that moulded to every inch of him. Kitty swallowed. From where she sat, the inches he had looked impressive.

“I’m going for a swim,” he said. “Join me?”

Wide-eyed, Kitty’s brain went into overdrive, begging herself not to look at his package, say anything stupid, and to be cool for once in her life.

“Sorry?” she said, looking at him.

“A swim in the river. It’s beautiful on a hot day.”

Kitty froze.

“I…I don’t have swimmers.”

Josh shrugged. “You have undies on, though? Unless that’s not your style, of course.”

Josh grinned at her. Bloody hell. He must think she was some kind of deviant.

“Yes, I do, but…” her words trailed off.