Page 67 of Hook, Line and Single

I can see her mentally shifting gear into serious mode. ‘OK. I’m listening,’ she says.

‘So, like I said, we got burned.’

‘Yes, I can see that.’

‘When we got back to the hotel, we doused ourselves with aftersun lotion.’

‘Sensible. I’d have done the same.’

‘I offered to do Cameron’s back, so he lay face down on the bed and I started rubbing the ointment into him. I, umm…’

‘Yes?’

‘I liked it. Rubbing the ointment.’

She narrows her eyes. ‘Did you like it, or did youlikeit?’

‘Ilikedit. And then, when he started rubbing the ointment into me… Dear God.’

‘Youlikedthat too.’

‘It was all I could do not to raise my hips off the bed and offer myself to him.’

‘So why didn’t you?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘You were obviously feeling it, and I’m going to hazard a guess and say he was too. Why not go with the flow?’

‘You have no idea how tempting that idea was in the moment, but I had just enough presence of mind to realise that it would have complicated everything massively.’

‘Not necessarily. As long as you were both clear that it was a one-night stand, no harm would have been done.’

‘I can see that, but I’m not a one-night stand person, Sam, and I’m pretty sure Cameron isn’t either.’

‘He’s a man, and there’s one thing all men have in common. When they get an erection, all the blood from their brain is redirected to their penis. They completely lose the power of rational thought.’

‘All the more reason not to get carried away. Thinking of which, how’s Robin?’

‘He’s OK. Stop trying to change the subject. What are you going to do about this thing between you and Cameron?’

‘I’m not sure I’d call it a thing, and I’m certainly not going to do anything about it. He’s a friend, no more.’

‘Do you fancy him?’

‘He’s good looking.’

‘That’s not what I asked. I’ve fancied men who looked like the inside of a bin in my time. The two things don’t necessarily correlate.’

‘Fine. I fancy him, but I’m still not going to do anything about it.’

She studies me for what feels like an age, and I can feel the heat spreading across my chest and up my neck as she gazes at me.

‘OK,’ she says eventually. ‘I don’t get it, but it’s your choice.’

‘That’s it? No shining a light in my face and acting like the Spanish Inquisition?’

‘I know you, remember? I’ve pushed as far as I can and I can see you’re shutting down.’

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