Page 10 of Obsession Under the Southern Stars

She blinks. “Because of me?”

I lift my gaze back to meet her, but don’t reply.

“You’re kidding me,” she says.

“Zoe, I’ve asked you out more times than any other girl I know.”

“You’re only interested in the chase. If you had me, you’d forget about me the next day.”

Not smiling, I keep my gaze on hers, turning the packet around in my fingers. Slowly, her face turns pink.

The flight attendant comes back with a tray containing our coffee and croissants, and she places them between us. We thank her and she goes away, and we busy ourselves with opening the packets of butter and the preserves.

Zoe breaks off a piece of croissant, smears some raspberry jam over it, and eats it. I do the same with strawberry jam, and we eat, watching each other.

She swallows and licks a crumb off her lip. “Joel… I wasn’t kidding yesterday. It’s not going to happen.”

I have a mouthful of coffee to wash the croissant down. “Can you explain why?”

“I’m not looking for a meaningful relationship.”

“So let’s just have sex.”

She tries not to laugh. “Joel…”

“Tell me why you won’t have a meaningful relationship with me. You were with Charlemagne for a couple of years.”

She looks down and breaks off another piece of croissant. “I don’t want another relationship. Not for a long time. Maybe even ever.”

“Why?”

“Jesus. Do you like whelks?”

“Sorry, what?”

“I imagine you like wheedling them out of their shells, because you seem to enjoy doing the same to me.”

I grin. “I’m interested.”

“I don’t know why. I’m really not that interesting.”

Christ, I think she actually believes that.

I lean forward and fix my gaze on hers. “That’s where you’re wrong. You fascinate me. You have done since the moment I met you. I want to go on a date with you. Take you to dinner. Talk with you. Figure you out. And then I want to do it again. And again. And eventually, when you’re ready, I want to take you to bed. And I want to keep taking you to bed for therest of my days. I’m a determined man, Zoe. I don’t mind a bit of a chase. But don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re going to put me off, because it won’t work. I always get what I want in the end. Just so you know.”

Chapter Three

Zoe

We land at the Bay of Islands airport in Kerikeri just after eleven a.m. Joel has booked a rental car, and we pick up the keys for an SUV—a rather nice Toyota Prado. We put our cases in the back, then climb in, and Joel heads out of the airport.

We haven’t talked much since he made his announcement on the plane. It gives me goosebumps now just thinking about it. He completely shocked me. I thought his interest in me was purely physical. I genuinely assumed that if we had sex, he’d forget about me the next day. His declaration thatI want to take you to bed… and I want to keep taking you to bed for the rest of my days…flummoxed me. He can’t mean it. And yet he looked perfectly serious when he said it.

I can’t make him out. He seems so young at times—I think of him as my age or even younger, but he’s not; at twenty-eight he’s four years older than me. His scruffy appearance doesn’t help, or the fact that he’s so insouciant and irreverent. He doesn’t seem to care about anything other than his work. He doesn’t give a fuck what people think of him, which is both sexy and irritating. He only seems to live for today. He does exactly what he wants, when he wants to do it. And I believe him when he says he always gets his own way.

I shiver. So what does that mean for me?

Well, obviously, he’s not going to force me to do anything against my will—he’s not that sort of guy. But it does mean that if he’s fixed his sights on me, he’s going to be—just like his ship—relentless.

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