Page 138 of Modern Romance December 2025 5-8

Her eyes went from his outstretched hand to his face, which was creased with a wary, quizzical expression that indicated she must look like lunatic. She pressed a hand to her mouth in an attempt to physically suppress any further outbursts and took some gulping breaths, mortified by the unrestrained spillage of suppressed emotions.

‘It could be worse; I could be crying.’

He felt a surge of empathy shake free inside him and sidestepped it, not ready to accept his own feelings—the feelings she shook loose in him.

‘Are you waiting for me to do empathy?’

She swallowed a bubble of laughter. ‘Don’t, or you’ll set me off again. It’s the migraine; it can leave me feeling a bit…’

Insane.

In lust.

In deep, deep trouble.

‘Let’s get you back to the house.’

‘Castle,’ she was unable to stop herself correcting. ‘And I can get myself back.’

‘Give me strength.’ He would certainly need it, he decided as he watched her tramp with a gentle sway of her hips up the sand, the full skirt of her yellow dress whipping around her legs in the sea breeze.

He had brought her here thinking of revenge, never dreaming that what he was really doing was locking himself in a room with a live, primed sexual grenade.

Another school of thought, jeered the voice in his head,is that you knew exactly what you were doing, Leo.

She’d hurt him once; only a fool would invite her to take a second shot. And he wasn’t a fool.

‘I wasn’t offering to carry you,cara.’ And he wasn’t offering her another shot at his heart either. ‘Once in one day is enough; you are more solid than you look.’

Determined not to give him the satisfaction of responding, she twisted her lips and stalked off.

There was no cosy conversation during the return walk; there wasn’t even any confrontational conversation. The couple of glances she risked throwing in Leo’s direction suggested that his thoughts were elsewhere.

‘Will you be able to find your way back to your suite?’ he asked when they reached the big oak door.

‘Of course,’ she replied with a calm confidence she was far from feeling. ‘Thank you for the guided tour.’

‘We hardly scraped the surface, but I’ll arrange for someone to give you the full tour soon.’

Someone,not him. She got the message and obviously she was glad.

‘We thought you’d prefer to have your dinner in your room.’

She assumed thewewas him, but she said nothing. She didn’t even point out that someone could have enquired about her preference, which required great restraint on her part.

He made to move away and stopped. ‘Oh, the garden lighting on the beach paths is temporarily out of service for some repairs. So if you do decide during the week to take any night air, stick to the gardens around the castle. The kitchen garden is that way and the tennis courts and swimming pools are just a little further on.’

She tipped her head in acknowledgement and walked in through the double doors without looking back.

She was waiting when her dinner was served.

The maid looked startled to be greeted by Amy, who took the tray and joined her in the hallway. ‘I think I’d prefer to eat with company in the kitchen.’

Her appearance was greeted with surprise and more sympathy than Amy had anticipated, as she assured them that she wasn’t here to work.

‘I was going a bit mad just talking to myself.’

There were fewer staff than the previous day, which made sense. Apparently, they were only serving two—plus the staff—who, from what she saw, ate very well.