another kiss. ‘I don’t believe you.’ Grabbing an apple from the bowl, he took a bite. ‘Finish breakfast because we have to get going.’
‘Going where?’ she asked, intrigued in spite of herself.
‘You’ll see,’ he teased and disappeared inside the cabin, from where she heard the shower start. But out on the veranda the smile loosened its hold and a cloud passed over the sun, chilling the air, and Sia shivered.
Sebastian loved the speedboat. The feel of the engine roaring behind him, the feel of the wheel beneath his palm, the stinging heat from the sun soothed by the cool air buffeting them as they cut through the waves. And he wasn’t the only one. The look of excitement in Sia’s eyes, the exhilarated yell each time they crossed and crested a wave unexpectedly, the juddering bump both startling and delighting.
Everything he’d set out to achieve in the Caribbean was done. The party celebrating and thanking the hotel staff and contributors had been a roaring success. The feedback from the visiting staff had been not only good but useful and he had a team working out whether it should be an annual event for all staff and hotels.
And now he could put the business with the painting behind him. He was surprised to find a sense of relief. Perhaps that was what had been missing when he’d toasted Aliah in Victoriana. The line in the sand. Everyone now had their due and their own piece of revenge.
Not everyone, his inner voice chided.
Sia might not have a job or a career to return to when their time together concluded. Not that she should return to a company as rotten as Bonnaire’s, but still.
‘Fancy taking her for a spin?’ he asked Sia, while wondering if perhaps there was something he could do about that.
‘Really?’
‘Sure. It’s not as if there’s a lot of traffic out here for you to hit,’ he said, gesturing to the acres of crystal-blue sea around them. She practically jumped off the seat in her eagerness and Sebastian couldn’t help but smile. When he’d returned to find her at breakfast, for a moment he’d wondered... There had been a look in her eyes, but it had disappeared since then.
Shutting that thought down, he brought her in between his body and the wheel, encasing her within his arms, and smiled when she looked up at him.
‘What do I do?’
‘Aim for that small island over there,’ he said, placing her hands on the wheel. ‘Have a bit of a go—gently,’ he said as she squeaked and the boat veered off to the left. He guided the wheel back on course. ‘You got it?’ She nodded, her expression fierce with concentration, allowing him to stand back a little and enjoy.
It’s just for now, he told himself. Just for the next two weeks. Because after that, whether she returned to Bonnaire’s or not, whether she miraculously found either the proof or the painting, she’d be gone from his life. And he was happy with that, he told himself fiercely. He was good at indulging momentary pleasures and that was what Sia was. An incredible, impressive woman but she was only in his life for the next eleven days. He’d done serious, he’d buckled down when he’d needed to, he’d played the parent, even. And no matter what kind of promise he saw in Sia’s eyes, he would not willingly return to that.
The wind whipped at the white linen top Sia wore over her orange bikini. He couldn’t help but smile. That morning, when he’d presented her with it, rather than questioning it or hesitating, she ran her eyes over it in wonder, the smile pulling at her lips one of excited expectation. A look he wanted to see much more of from her.
‘Sebastian?’ Sia called over the roaring wind, pulling him from his thoughts.
They were approaching the island and he took the wheel, keeping her encircled in his arms. ‘Perfect. Thank you, Chief Mate,’ he said.
‘If you expect me to say aye-aye, or call you Captain then—’
Sia broke off at the sudden, shocking heat in Sebastian’s gaze that threatened to consume them both in its ferocity even as he powered down the boat.
‘Really?’ she teased. ‘You want me to—’
And then all she could do was scream as he scooped her up in his arms and jumped them both overboard, the warm water soothing on wind and sun-kissed skin, his arms around her as he trod water to keep them above the surface.
‘You look like