Page 72 of Modern Romance July 2025 #4-8

It all came flooding back to her: Leo, and making love to him right here in this bed where he had made her feel so wonderful that she hadn’t wanted the sensations ever to stop.

Things felt right in the world, and she almost didn’t recognise the feeling, because she’d lived under a cloud for so long. She felt weightless. Her body still thrummed from the pleasure of the night before—pleasure she wanted to sample again, and soon.

It was after nine in the morning. A routine would have to be established. One week had to be filled, and they couldn’t stay in bed every minute of every hour, so what was the routine going to be?

As she padded towards where she felt the kitchen should be, Cassie felt more apprehensive about those waking hours when they wouldn’t be in bed than the ones when they would be. What would they talk about? So much was off-limits.

She slowed her pace and looked around her, fully appreciating the immense luxury of her surroundings.

It was open-plan so that the sunlight pouring in through the floor-to-ceiling glass doors was maximised.

Pale colours melded with the pale wood and the furnishings were shades of white.

The living area, or one of the living areas, had clusters of off-white sofas and chairs overlooking the wraparound veranda.

Beyond that, in the daylight, she could see the landscape stretching outside was a glittering, bewitching blend of greens from the fruit and coconut trees, interrupted by vibrant shades of reds, oranges and purples of flowers that seemed to push out of the shrubbery in random profusion.

And it was hot. Even with the breeze wafting through the villa, she could feel herself perspiring in the shorts and loose vest top she had flung on.

Everywhere she looked was magical. She’d travelled with her family when times had been good, but she had never been somewhere like this, and for the first time in her life Cassie appreciated just how that tiny percentage of super-rich lived.

Why bother with a hotel when you could have this? The only window coverings were white shutters and pale voile that billowed in the gentle breeze, so that the outside felt as though it was made an inroad into the interior of the villa.

She could have dawdled for ever, but instead she fumbled her way through, following her nose, until the kitchen was there and, sure enough, Leo was standing there helping himself to coffee. His laptop was on the eight-seater pale-grey concrete kitchen table and she wondered how long he’d been up.

‘You’re awake,’ he said.

‘I don’t normally sleep this late.’ His lazy, dark gaze made her blush but she boldly held his gaze, as she felt her body heat up at the memory of their love-making.

‘Jet lag. Hits us all. Would you like some coffee? There’s fresh bread in the oven.’

‘You’ve baked for me?’ This was to lighten the atmosphere and break the compelling need to keep staring at him. It worked because he smiled, a genuine smile that she remembered from the past when their lives had been entwined and smiles had been easy to come by. ‘I’d love some coffee.’

The kitchen was vast. Over-sized marble tiles were cool underfoot and everything was in keeping. Much of the villa was pale, bar the bedrooms, from the walls to the sleek fitted cupboards and granite countertops that complemented the grey streaks in the marble flooring and the grey of the table.

‘Sit.’

‘I can help.’

‘Like I said, you’re not here to do anything in the kitchen.’ Leo poured her a cup and strolled to join her at the table. ‘And we won’t be playing at domesticity.’

‘It’s all about the sex… I know. You honestly don’t have to keep drumming it in.’

‘All about the great sex,’ Leo murmured, his dark eyes roving over her flushed face.

‘Great’ didn’t come close to describing it, Leo thought.

He’d had to resist waking her from her beauty sleep at five-thirty, when he’d woken up.

Already, at that hour, tendrils of sunlight had begun filtering through into the bedroom and he had propped himself up on one elbow and stared at her.

She’d flung off the covers and was lying on her side, her hair a wild, dark tangle, her mouth parted, and he could just about make out the curve of her full breast pressed under her arms. She’d looked young, soft and sweetly innocent and he’d had to remind himself that the days of falling for her elusive charm were long gone.

He’d known that, if he roused her, she would come to him and the thought had been such a turn-on that he’d had to suck in a shaky breath and quietly slide off the bed before he’d done something about it.

She deserved a good night’s sleep. She’d barely had any sleep for over a day and she’d been a bundle of nerves when she’d showed up the evening before.

But she’d wanted him, and he thought of the way she’d opened up to him, tentative at first, but then responding without any inhibitions at all…

There’d been no playing games, no practising any tedious arts of seduction; they’d had each other once, for one blissful moment, and for him having her again had felt like coming home.

The week stretching ahead of him couldn’t get any better.

‘So, plans for today…’ he said briskly, heading to the oven and bringing some piping hot bread rolls to the table along with some butter and a jug of fresh orange juice.

‘The beach. I suggest we go as soon as you’re ready and catch the sun before it becomes too hot.

Should be empty as well. At its most packed, this place only ever has a handful of people on any of the beaches.

While we’re away, my housekeeper will tidy and be gone before we get back.

Last thing I want is someone hovering underfoot and popping up in unexpected corners. ’

‘Very inconvenient, I’m sure,’ Cassie said dryly, blowing on the coffee and looking at him over the rim of her cup. ‘What time did you get up?’

‘Before six. I had work to get through before the day begins.’

‘I’ll have to check some emails as well,’ Cassie said.

‘What did you tell your mother and your friends? And your helpful bank manager who’s guiding you through your financial woes?

Although that process should swiftly be wrapped up.

I would love to be a fly on the wall to see his expression when the cash comes flooding in.

Let’s hope he’s discreet or the world and its granny will know all about your personal situation before you can blink. ’

‘He’s very discreet.’ Cassie reddened and distracted herself by buttering one of the rolls he had produced from the oven. ‘I just said…er… I was going away for a few days…’

‘No further details? No where, how and why? Very tactful. Who bought that story—surely not your mother? If she knows about the mess your family business is in, then wouldn’t she question your sudden desire to go on holiday with funds you don’t have?’

‘I said things were looking up on the financial front, if you really must know.’

‘Very diplomatic. What will you tell her when all the money worries have been miraculously sorted?’

‘I haven’t thought about that yet,’ Cassie admitted, reddening yet further.

Leo’s eyebrows shot up and he grinned. ‘If you blush like you’re doing now when you make up whatever fairy story you’re planning, I can tell you straight away that she’s going to smell a lie.’

‘As long as she never finds out that I spent the week with you here and that you were the guy responsible for saving us.’

‘“Saving” is a big word, Cass. Why would she be upset anyway?’

‘Why do you think? She’ll figure out that I traded myself to you for money. I don’t even like to say that out loud and I can’t imagine… Well, it would devastate my mum if she thought that.’

‘Well, you’ll just have to come clean and tell her that you threw yourself into the situation as enthusiastically as I did.

’ He pushed his plate to one side and looked at her thoughtfully.

‘Or maybe she might still be attached to the idea that I’m too undesirable for her daughter, even though I’ve made so much money I could buy the town you all live in, never mind the house that’s collapsing round her head! ’

‘It’s nothing like that,’ Cassie muttered, tensing.

‘Forget I said that, Cassie,’ Leo said eventually, raking his fingers through his hair.

‘It was out of order.’ He smiled at her.

‘And not exactly conducive to the mood I’m aiming for today.

’ He reached forward and tilted her chin so that he was looking at her.

‘No more bringing the past into the present. My fault.’

Cassie smiled back but tentatively.

‘What sort of mood were you aiming for?’ she asked.

‘Relaxation. This place is made for that.’

‘Then why don’t you come more often? Who doesn’t like down time?’ She poured some juice for herself, drank it and watched him. Her shrewd gaze made his neck itch.

‘Anyone who has an empire to run. Down time tends to get in the way of that. I hope you’ve brought a swimsuit with you, as per my instructions?’ He turned the subject briskly.

‘I’m wearing it under my clothes.’

‘In that case, meet me by the front door in half an hour. I have a couple of calls to make.’

Cassie was there promptly. The one-piece black swimsuit, which she wore for serious swimming at the local pool, was prim and proper and she couldn’t wait for him to strip it off her.

She’d had some qualms before she’d come but she knew that she was doing just what she was meant to—weaning Leo out of her system.

The key was to avoid getting wrapped up in the past too much and, if she did, then it was important she keep her thoughts to herself.

All roads led to a past they were never going to discuss.

If that hurt, then she’d have to suck it up because, even if they could sit down and talk about how things had broken down between them, it wouldn’t get them anywhere.

She was standing, staring down at the floor and frowning, as Leo approached.