Page 168 of Modern Romance Collection March 2025 (1-4)

‘I’ll come to the main house for dinner and we can discuss…’ He released a careful breath. ‘Where we go from here.’

She nodded again, but the smile which brightened her whole face made guilt press against his throat. Because the hopeful, happy smile made her look like the girl who had always intoxicated him but he had refused to see. The smart, savvy, brave kid who had once stood up to him, and the artless teenager who had seduced him so effortlessly, and the woman who would always challenge and excite him, but whose tough exterior hid someone far too sweet and idealistic.

‘That would be… I really want that,’ she said, the enthusiasm in her voice making his throat tighten even more. ‘I think we need to be honest with each other. That’s all.’

‘Sure,’ he said, but as she rushed from the room in her sheet and he heard her gathering up her clothing to head back to the main house, he knew honesty wasn’t something he could ever give her. Because the whole truth would leave him far too exposed.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

MEL STEPPED OUTonto the pool terrace. The sea breeze flattened her simple summer dress against her body, tantalising all the places still buzzing from the morning’s lovemaking.

She shivered even though the temperature was warm. The outdoor dining table had been set with fine china and crystal stemwear for two, the surrounding trees and scrub lit by sparkling fairy lights. The scent of salt and tropical blooms and the soft lapping of the sea below completed the scene, making it magical and impossibly romantic.

But it wasn’t until she spotted Rene standing in the shadows with his back to her, staring at the beach below, that she could release the breath which felt as if it had been clogged in her lungs all day.

He was here. Just as he’d promised.

He looked typically gorgeous, his tall, broad-shouldered physique imposing in the loose linen shirt and faded jeans.

‘Rene, you came,’ she said, then felt foolish when he swung round.

‘Of course. I said I would,’ he murmured.

But then he swept his hair back from his forehead—and she wondered if he could be as nervous as she was.

He hadn’t shaved since that morning, but somehow the rugged look suited him as he crossed the terrace towards her. The lights draped in the Ginger Thomas tree sparkled in his dark eyes as his gaze swept over her figure.

The butterflies in her belly dive-bombed into her abdomen.

Why hadn’t she brought a more suitable dress with her? Something stylish and sophisticated. She’d packed so quickly—and she and Rene had never done romance in their relationship—so it hadn’t even occurred to her to include a dress in her luggage appropriate for what suddenly felt like their first ever date.

But then she didn’t really have anything appropriate in Androvia either. She dug her teeth into her bottom lip, aware that the pant suits and fitted blouses and skirts she wore in her role as Isabelle’s assistant were no more seductive than the summer frock she had on.

The truth was she didn’t have anything in her wardrobe which would put her on equal terms with a prince.

Inferiority complex much?

‘Melody,’ he said softly, then brushed his knuckle across her cheek. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’ She blinked, touched by the concern in his gaze.

How come she had never noticed how perceptive he was, how easily he had always been able to read her—while she had felt shut out from his moods, his emotions.

Don’t panic, that’s what this evening is supposed to solve, Mel.

She forced herself to smile, trying to recapture the bolshy woman who had always been able to hold her own, instead of the fascinated—and far too easily swayed—girl.

‘I guess it feels odd for us to be together and not arguing,’ she said.

His brows lifted, but then he laughed. The husky sound and the approval in his expression made the butterflies in her belly dance.

‘Or tearing each other’s clothes off…’ he added.

It was her turn to laugh, even as her cheeks heated, the memory of that morning still so vivid. ‘That too.’

‘Come on, let’s sit, so the staff can serve the food and head back to the mainland,’ he said, nodding past her to indicate the young waiter who had arrived.

She steeled herself against the familiar shudder of reaction when he placed his palm on the small of her back to direct her to her chair.

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