Page 35 of Bound By Her Shocking Secret

When she saw where Gabriela had set the table she cursed silently. It was out on the terrace. The sky was dusky and gently flickering candles illuminated the space and the table. The scent of exotic blooms filled the air. It was all too seductive.

Daniel was standing at the rail that curved around the terrace. He had his back to her and he was wearing a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, and dark trousers.

He turned around and the first thing Mia spotted was that his hair was damp and his jaw was clean-shaven. Need pierced her so acutely that she had to suck in a gasp.

Her hand tightened around the baby monitor.

He was holding a drink. ‘What can I get you?’

Mia knew alcohol was the last thing she needed, but she needed the edges of her desire for Daniel blurred a little. ‘A white wine, please.’

Daniel came back and handed her a cold glass.

Mia took a sip and relished the dry aromatic wine.

He lifted his glass, ‘Santé, Mia.’

She touched hers to his, avoiding his eyes like a coward. ‘Cheers.’

She moved over to where he’d been standing. The lights of fishermen’s boats were already visible, bobbing up and down in the sea. Presumably they were out because it was a calm evening.

She sensed Daniel coming to stand beside her. The little hairs stood up on her arms. ‘It’s so beautiful here,’ she said.

‘Yes, it is.’

‘You must use it a lot. I would. I don’t think I’d ever leave.’

‘Actually... I don’t use it as much as I’d like. I haven’t been here now for a couple of years.’

Mia glanced at him. He’d put his back to the view and was leaning against the rail. Her mouth was open as she absorbed that nugget of information but she rapidly closed it.

Daniel’s mouth quirked. ‘I can practically hear your brain whirring. What are you thinking?’

A very timely discreet cough sounded from behind them, and Mia was relieved not to have to try and hide how much she wanted to know if he’d ever brought lovers here.

Gabriela had served up their starter—a deliciously light crab salad. Mia sat down and eyed the food with appreciation. But any hope that Daniel might not pursue the line of conversation turned to dust when he said, after a few minutes, ‘You were going to say something, about me not coming here?’

Mia cursed him. She wiped at her mouth with a napkin and took a sip of wine. Then she forced herself to look him in the eye. ‘It’s so beautiful here—and private. I just thought that if you and your wife weren’t...weren’t sleeping together, it would be the perfect place to bring lovers.’

‘Are you asking me if I took lovers during my marriage, Mia?’

Damn him, he was enjoying this.

She smiled sweetly. ‘Never mind. It’s none of my business.’

CHAPTER SEVEN

DANIELWASENJOYINGTHIS. Watching Mia squirm.

‘You’re right, it’s not your business. But, to sate your curiosity, no, I didn’t. Nor did she. Sophie was conscious of the serious repercussions if she was found to be having an affair with a woman, and I... I respected her too much to risk it.’

Not to mention the fact that his libido at that time had flatlined.

He shifted in his chair as his now fully refunctioning libido made itself felt. Mia’s hair was tumbling over her shoulders in wild abandon. She’d already acquired a golden glow to her skin, and freckles across her nose from the sun. The kaftan effectively covered her from neck to toe, but it was diaphanous enough to show tantalising glimpses of her perfect body.

Acting on an impulse, he found himself divulging, ‘For what it’s worth, I haven’t ever brought a lover here.’

‘Oh...’

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