Page 17

DELILAH

I finally managed to sleep once I’d got myself off.

But I wake early the next morning and lie there listening to the whistling of the wind outside. If anything, it sounds more ferocious than it did last night, not less.

Yikes .

I hope the storm’s going to pass soon so the helicopter can land safely later.

Shoving my niggling worry about this aside, I turn my thoughts to what happened with Jem yesterday.

My body’s been humming with sexual energy ever since he walked away from me after that mistake in the bathroom, then gave me that deeply hot kiss at the dinner table in front of Jeff and my dad, where I couldn’t do anything but take it. Which had its own kind of erotic power.

And it doesn’t seem to have calmed down overnight either.

I’m still really turned on.

The trouble is, now we’ve opened that door, I want more. Much more. But Jem’s made it clear it’s not on the cards and – typically – being denied it is only increasing my longing for it.

Frustration doesn’t even come close to what I’m feeling right now.

But it’s probably only because I’ve not dated in a while.

So I should put the guy right out of my head.

At least we’ll be getting out of here today, and now the swelling on my ankle has started to go down and it feels marginally less painful – to the point where I’m not needing to use the crutches any more – I’ll be able to get back to my flat soon and we won’t need to be in the same vicinity as each other.

That’ll be a relief for both of us, I’m sure.

I hear the sounds of Jem starting to move about on the other side of the room and I peep out over my duvet, to where he’s been sleeping on the sofa with the blanket covering his legs.

He’s not wearing a t-shirt and I see his muscles flex under his skin as he goes to sit up.

My heart skips.

Dammit! He’s not helping matters by hanging out in front of me half naked.

Crossly, I sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed, then get up unsteadily and make for the bathroom, keeping my gaze front and centre.

‘Morning,’ Jem says as I limp past him.

‘Morning,’ I mutter back, my eyes trained hard on the bathroom door.

As soon as I’m in there, I huff out a low, grumpy sigh. This is ridiculous. I can’t let him get to me like this. It’s Jem, the nerdy virgin we’re talking about here… Oh, God. That doesn’t help at all. In fact, it makes him seem even sexier. Off limits all the way.

Ack!

I take my time in the shower, trying to ignore how tingly and sensitive my skin feels, but finally give in to the urge and use the pulse of the water between my legs to get some relief.

After getting out, I brush my teeth and wrap one of the big fluffy bath sheets around me and exit the bathroom, steeling myself against what else I might see out here.

Jem doing push-ups, perhaps, his naked torso gleaming with sweat.

But thankfully – and a little disappointingly if I’m honest – he doesn’t appear to be in the room.

Pulling on my clothes quickly, I run a brush through my wet hair, leaving it to dry naturally for the time being, and go to find a strong cup of coffee and some fortifying toast.

I’m ravenous this morning, to the point where my stomach is audibly rumbling.

All that wanking has depleted my reserves.

There’s an amazing smell of coffee and bacon and eggs coming from the direction of the dining room.

Following my nose, I limp into the room to find Jem already sitting at the table, eating some poached eggs on toast and chatting with a female member of Jeff’s staff, who is also stunning-looking.

Does Jeff only surround himself with good-looking people?

I guess if I was a billionaire, I might do the same thing, just for kicks.

Ha. As if.

The chances of becoming halfway wealthy as an artist are miniscule, as my dear dad likes to remind me on a regular basis.

Intellectually, I know he’s got a point. But I have to at least try to make it as an artist, especially now, while I don’t have any dependents. I figure I’ve got to give it a shot, or I’ll always regret it.

‘Good morning, Ms Donovan. Would you like some breakfast?’ the woman asks me as I approach the table.

I glance at Jem, who looks back at me with one of his trademark eyebrow-raises, and my stomach flips over.

What the hell? Since when did I find that sexy?

Good grief. This is not good.

‘Er, yes please,’ I say to the woman. ‘I’ll have a latte and some bacon and scrambled eggs, please.’

She nods. ‘Of course. Coming right up. Please take a seat.’

I watch her saunter off and turn to see Jem is doing the same. When he realises I’m looking at him, his gaze snaps to mine.

‘How are you this morning?’ he asks stiffly.

‘Fine. You?’

‘Yeah. Okay. Except…’ I see him swallow, and colour appears on his cheeks. ‘It sounds as if the weather front’s moving this way now. They’re concerned there might be really strong winds soon so they can’t send the helicopter for us this morning.’

‘What!’ I’m suddenly hot, and dread pools in my stomach. ‘So when can they send it?’

‘They don’t know yet. It depends on what the weather does. I checked the forecasting app and it doesn’t look good.’

‘What do you mean by not good ?’

‘Dangerously high winds and torrential rain.’

I stare at him. ‘You mean a hurricane?’

‘Actually, I think they’re called medicanes over here.’

I frown at him and raise my own eyebrow. It’s typical of Jem to know the technical term – and to let me know it. ‘All right, Pedantic Man. Medicane then.’

Jem just snorts and shakes his head. ‘Look, we’ll just have to wait it out. Hopefully, it’ll pass by quickly. Then they can send the helicopter for us later and we’ll fly back to England tonight instead.’

How can he be so calm?

He’s probably just fronting it out so he doesn’t have to spend the next twenty-four hours with someone who’s freaking out.

‘What if it doesn’t pass quickly?’

‘Then we stay here till it’s safe to travel.’

I put my head in my hands.

‘At least there are worst places to be stuck,’ Jem says in a falsely bright voice.

I look up to see him gazing around the grand dining room.

‘You think a tiny island in the middle of the Aegean Sea isn’t the worst place to be trapped during a hurricane – sorry, medicane ?’ I say, intensely aware of the shake in my voice now.

I have to be honest, I’m a bit scared about the idea of being here when it fully hits.

‘Alina tells me we’ll be perfectly safe here in the house. It’s been built to withstand that kind of weather. So don’t worry.’

‘But I have to get back for my job! What’s Bea going to say? She’s going to be so pissed off with me.’ Adrenaline is ricocheting through my body now, making me twitch. Suddenly, everything seems overwhelming and I feel a primal kind of panic begin to rise from deep inside me.

‘Dee? Are you okay?’ Jem asks, leaning in towards me and putting his hand on my arm.

I’m only able to suck in stuttering breaths now and I’m worried I’m starting to hyperventilate.

‘Hey, it’s okay. Just try and slow your breathing,’ Jem says in a soothing voice, gently rubbing my arm in comforting strokes.

But it’s not helping.

I stare at him in panic. The world seems to have shrunk into a small space around us and it feels as if the air has become too thick and hot to breathe. I’m struggling to drag it into my lungs.

Somewhere in my consciousness, I’m aware of Jem getting up from his seat and the next thing I know, he’s lifting me up from my chair and pulling me against him.

He wraps his arms around me, then slides one hand into my hair, angling my head against his chest, whilst drawing big, gentle circles onto my back with the other.

‘Just breathe, it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’ll be okay,’ he says in a soothing, calm voice.

I can hear his heart thumping against my ear and I force myself to concentrate on the steady beat of it, trying to match the rhythm of my breathing to his.

The warmth of his body bleeds into mine and the now-familiar scent of him acts as a balm to my fear, quieting my whirling thoughts.

God, it feels so good to be held like this.

So peaceful.

My body gives an involuntary shiver.

It’s both wonderful and terrible being this close to him again.

And I know I have to woman the hell up because I really don’t want him to see me being this pathetic.

Come on, breathe! Pull yourself together!

With a monumental effort, I draw in a long, steadying breath and gently, but decisively, untangle myself from his embrace.

‘I’m okay now,’ I say, forcing myself to look at him and move my mouth into a smile.

He frowns at me, clearly not entirely convinced by my shaky statement.

‘You sure?’

‘Yep.’

‘Hmm,’ he says.

I hold up both hands in a show of surrender.

‘Okay. Yes. I admit it. I, err, freaked out a little bit there,’ I say with an embarrassed smile.

‘No shit.’

But then he grins at me and the warmth in his eyes hits me right in the chest.

It’s this flash of friendly indulgence that finally helps me relax all the way back to where I want to be.

Because of this, I feel like it’s going to be okay. We’ll be fine if we hunker down together. I trust him on that.

I think.

Though, it’s not like I have a choice. We’re going to have to ride this thing out and deal with whatever comes at us.

But at least I’m not on my own.

And we have the whole of this amazing house to explore to distract ourselves.

If we manage to find a way to be around each other, we could maybe, possibly , have some fun here.