Chapter 13
13
They spent the next day in and out of bed, both hungry for more as they continued to explore each other’s bodies.
They’d come to a wordless agreement to keep things only about the sex, taking care to skirt around anything personal or vaguely emotionally inflammatory. After the intensity of the last few days Josie found it a welcome relief. This kind of arrangement should have felt sordid, but Connor’s easy nonchalance made it easy to bat away any niggles of apprehension. They both wanted the same thing and that made for the perfect balance in their non-relationship.
That night Connor tried to teach her how to make the dish he’d served the first time they’d eaten together, but they didn’t get very far before things escalated into a food fight and they ended up having messy sex on the kitchen floor.
She hadn’t laughed so much in her entire life.
This free love thing was a welcome antidote to the stress and rapidity of real life. She was a different person with Connor – someone who laughed and played around and woke up with a smile on her face instead of a frown. There was no urge to constantly compete and improve, and the surges of panic and anger that she’d lived with for as long as she could remember barely touched her consciousness.
She finally got why sex was so damn popular, having spent years feeling ho-hum about it. It was especially diverting when you had someone as moreish as Connor on tap.
Josie was in the kitchen washing up the breakfast things when Connor strode in and pressed himself close into her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the side of her neck.
‘I just heard from one of the other project leaders. There’s been a delay in getting materials out there so they don’t need me for at least another week,’ he murmured against her skin, his breath tickling the fine hairs there and sending sparks of longing straight to the erogenous zones he always made come alive when he touched her.
‘Oh, okay.’ She feigned nonchalance, but all the while her heart sang with joy in her chest, beating out a happy rhythm.
He gave her one last sucking kiss on her neck before releasing her and leaving the room, his heavy footsteps sounding a joyful pattern on the wooden floor.
She was glad he hadn’t asked whether she minded, because there was no way she’d have been able to lie well enough to convince him that she didn’t care whether he left or not.
* * *
A couple of days later they drove into Aix and wandered around the street markets, passing brightly canopied stalls groaning under the weight of gargantuan-sized fruit and vegetables. Josie’s mouth watered as the sweetly aromatic smell of produce ripening in the sun hit her nostrils.
Stopping to point out his selection to a stallholder, Connor chatted away in rapid French, making the guy chuckle so much he slipped them a free handful of strawberries. Josie marvelled at Connor’s ability to find common ground with everyone he met, tossing a compliment here and an interested question there, drawing everyone in to the warmth of his company. She envied his people skills – they were something she knew she’d do well to study and replicate.
The alien sense of belonging left her dumbstruck as he included her in the conversation, turning his body to encompass her in his personal space and directing every other comment in her direction. They could have been a couple out for a leisurely afternoon amble around the city for all anyone else knew. A twinge of gloom came out of nowhere, pinching her chest and leaving her breathless as it hit home how false this all was. How fleeting.
She must have made some sort of gasping sound, because Connor shot her a look of concern.
‘You all right, Josie?’
She nodded, flapping away his concern while scrambling to re-establish the sanguine mood she’d been so captivated by only a minute ago. It was like tipping over from being fun drunk to having had one drink too many.
‘Fine, I just need to sit down and have a break. It’s pretty hot out here.’
* * *
Connor took in Josie’s flushed face and the deep pinch of a frown on her forehead and realised it was time to move on. The last thing he wanted was for her to collapse in the heat again. Nodding a goodbye to the stallholder, he took her arm and guided her to the side of the busy street, searching around for somewhere to sit down.
‘Do you want to get a cold drink?’ he asked as she lifted the hair away from the back of her neck and flapped her hand up and down to create a wave of cool air.
‘Actually, I’m gasping for a coffee and something to eat,’ she said, her eyes wide and troubled. ‘I think my blood sugar’s a bit low.’
He nodded and pointed to a small side street. ‘Let’s cut through here and find somewhere a bit quieter.’
He still had hold of her arm, but he didn’t feel like letting it go, so he looped his wrist through the curve of her elbow, keeping her close, but still free to move easily. It comforted him to hold her near him.
The end of the street opened out onto a small square with a long strip of sandy-coloured gravel running to one side, where a group of men were playing pétanque. They paused for a minute to watch the game and the men shouting and joshing each other as their balls landed miles from where they’d intended.
The convivial atmosphere heartened Connor. He was exactly where he wanted to be right now, which was a new experience. Usually, he was eager to move on quickly to the next place and begin something new, always thinking ahead, often not giving himself time to fully experience the moment he was in. The weight of duty he normally carried around had lifted for the time being; it was doing him good to slow down for a while.
His train of thought ground to a halt as a small hand landed on Josie’s shoulder, making her jump and tug sharply on his arm.
‘Excuse me, do I know you?’ an English voice asked.
They both turned to face a short, middle-aged woman with a badly sunburned face and a voluminous chest spilling over the top of her ill-fitting vest. Connor could tell by Josie’s expression that she was building herself up for the usual polite conversation about her sister and his hands twitched uncomfortably in sympathy. He should find a way to get them out of there quickly; he didn’t want some ignorant tourist ruining what was turning out to be a pleasant outing.
The woman wrinkled her nose as she scrutinised Josie, her beady eyes raking her face.
‘No, sorry, we’ve never met,’ Josie said patiently, clearly hoping the woman would fail to make the connection and walk away.
‘You look so familiar…’ the woman said slowly, her brow creased in confusion.
Josie flashed her a polite smile and went to turn away just as the woman’s eyes sparked with life and her brain caught up with her mouth.
‘I’ve got it! You look just like Maddie Marchpane from Sensational Science – except not quite as…’ She wrinkled her nose again disdainfully and wiggled her fingers in Josie’s face, eager to bestow her insensitive pearls of wisdom.
Connor took an instinctive step forward, anger flaring in his chest at her witlessness, aware that the look he was giving her was less than friendly. The woman’s gaze flicked to him and she stopped short, flapping a hand in front of her own face now, clearly backtracking on whichever tactless adjective she’d almost let slip.
Her face flushed red with embarrassment. ‘Um… not quite as blonde.’ She gave them a quavering smile. ‘I’m a huge fan of Maddie – her show is wonderful,’ she rushed on.
‘I’ll let her know you said so,’ Josie said kindly. ‘My sister’s always delighted to hear it when people enjoy the programme.’
The woman gave her a beaming smile in return, relief that she hadn’t offended Josie clear on her face. ‘How nice to have a famous sister. And one as popular as Maddie, too.’
‘Have a great holiday,’ Josie said firmly, moving away and pulling on Connor’s arm to suggest he came with her.
They’d walked to the end of the square before he trusted himself to speak, the irritation still bubbling like acid in his veins. ‘You’re one classy lady, Josie Marchpane.’
She looked at him and laughed out loud. ‘I thought she was going to pee her pants when you shot her that intimidating glare of yours.’
‘Well, maybe that’ll teach her to keep her pedestrian opinions to herself in the future,’ he said, scowling at the woman’s retreating back.
‘Have you ever thought of hiring yourself out as a bodyguard? You’d make a fortune just by glowering at people.’
He snorted in response. Usually, he didn’t get involved in other people’s conflicts, but he didn’t seem to be able to stop himself when it came to Josie. She brought out the warrior in him.
They passed by a small café with tables lined up on a raised terrace, the red checked tablecloths and vases of vivacious sunflowers cheerfully gaudy against the subtle sandy gold of the stone buildings surrounding them.
‘That looks like a good place. Fancy it?’ he asked, nodding behind them to an empty table.
‘Sure,’ she said, turning and heading back to where he’d pointed.
They made themselves comfortable and a waiter brought them menus and a basket of bread.
‘Hmm, there’s some peculiar-sounding meals here,’ Josie said, scanning the specials list she’d been handed.
‘You should try something new. You never know – you might find you like it,’ he said, throwing her a challenging smile.
‘You’re not going to try talking me into eating snails for a laugh, are you?’ she asked with a shiver, her eyes alive with mirth and her lips quirking into a bewitching grin.
He leaned forward in his chair, locking his gaze with hers and tipping his head conspiratorially. ‘I don’t think we need to be feeding you an aphrodisiac right now, Josie. Delicate parts of us might fall off if you get any hornier.’
She raised a defiant eyebrow. ‘I seem to remember you jumping on me in the shower this morning. And forcing me to abandon our game of chess last night for a quickie on the floor of the snug.’
His pulse raced at the memory. He shrugged, his grin widening at her playful expression. ‘I was running interference. I knew I was going to lose so I thought I’d make the game a bit more interesting.’
‘You big fat cheat,’ she said, kicking him gently under the table. ‘Although, to give you your due, what we ended up doing after abandoning the chess game was much more fun.’
Gazing at her, with the hazy afternoon sunlight on her face, he thought she’d never looked so beautiful. If he’d found her impressive before, it was nothing to the way he reacted to her now. She was definitely a grower; the more he was around her the more she drew him into her web of temptation.
The low pulse of arousal he experienced whenever she was near intensified exponentially. At this rate they wouldn’t make it back to the farmhouse before he felt compelled to jump on her. Alfresco sex wasn’t normally his bag, but he felt sure he could overlook that fact just this once.
Why couldn’t life always be like this?
The question came out of nowhere, slamming him in the chest with the force of a bullet.
He needed to pull himself together. The stupefying heat and relaxed atmosphere were tricking his senses into believing this was all real, but he knew the truth. It was temporary, just like all holidays away from the humdrum of normal life. She was temporary, and he needed to keep a handle on that or he was going to find himself in big trouble.