Page 45 of Bound By Her Baby Revelation (Hot Winter Escapes)

Leo was taking charge. When he held out his hand to help her into the gently bobbing boat, steadying her as she tottered on, she felt stupidly feminine.

‘Okay?’

She nodded as he leant into her, and then they were off, buzzing away from the jetty where the boat had been docked, moving at a snail’s pace. Oh, how blissful it was.

There were just so many things she’d never done! Lying back on a small boat putt-putting across turquoise seas, with the wind in her hair and her thoughts too lazy to do much, was one of those.

And she loved it.

From her vantage point she could appreciate the strong, muscular lines of Leo’s body. He had shoved on some ultra-dark sunglasses and he looked every inch the guy people had probably once thought would never amount to much. Trapped in care but too smart, too aggressive and too tenacious ever to be kept down.

Was it any wonder she’d fallen for him?

Leo, glancing back over his shoulder, steering with one hand on the tiller, caught an expression on Kaya’s face that struck up in him, a lazy, assessing watchfulness that spoke volumes.

Lounging back on the wooden plank seat of the very basic boat, she was as elegant as an old-fashioned Hollywood movie star, but without the artifice. He wondered whether she thought that the straw hat was blocking her expression, and he hoped she did, because he was enjoying that lazy, lingering look on her face.

He tipped up the sunglasses, noted the way she tried to revert back to the stern, no-nonsense expression she had been cultivating ever since she had arrived and felt a wave of quiet satisfaction She was no more immune to him than he was to her.

‘Look over there.’ He nodded to a point slightly behind her and she duly turned. ‘That’s the cove.’

‘Wow.’

Leo watched with darkly appreciative eyes as she hoisted herself into an upright position, twisting and holding on to the hat with both hands, drinking in what could only be called absolute tropical perfection.

They had left the crowds behind and had reached the cove, which was utterly private, a huddled bank of pale-pink sand nestled amidst a backdrop of dense foliage, bush and coconut trees. The water rippling up to the shore was so clear that the dart of little silver fish swimming in small schools could be seen, swerving hither and thither.

He anchored the boat, killed the engine and for a moment took in the magnificent scenery, just as Kaya did.

He joined her on the bench and she felt the unsteady dip of the boat under the weight transfer.

‘I’ve only been to this cove a handful of times,’ he admitted.

‘You’re mad.’ Kaya turned to find him closer to her than she’d expected, his thighs lightly brushing hers. ‘If I had a house on this island, I’d be here every day.’

‘That would prove tricky on the work front.’ Leo smiled drily, his expression once again hidden behind his sunglasses. ‘The Internet connection is non-existent.’

‘Still...’

‘Have you decided what you’ll do when you get back to Canada?’

Kaya licked her lips. She didn’t want to think about that but wasn’t that why they were here—to discuss the future quietly in a private spot, like two adults about to part ways and head down different roads?

‘Youhaveremembered that that’s why we’re here, haven’t you?’ Leo stood up, balanced and began shoving the stuff they’d brought with them to the side, leaving her to fulminate over his question, to confront her choices.

Staring, Kaya remained open-mouthed for a few seconds then she scrambled behind him, nearly losing her balance. Her heart was racing, and racing even more when he helped her out of the boat into shallow, clear water that was beautifully warm. She had bought a swimsuit and was wearing it under the shorts, an unadventurous black affair that anyone’s granny would have been proud to wear.

Had all this frivolous clothes-buying, picnic-gathering and tourist-gawping somehow made her forget the point of her being here in the first place? What had happened to her determination to stay just long enough to break the news face-to-face, before returning to Canada to sort herself out and move on with her new life?

‘Of course I’ve thought about it,’ she informed him just as soon as they were both on land and he had heaved their belongings out of the boat, which was now rocking gently to one side while they set up camp further along under the semi-shade of overhanging trees.

‘Good!’

Kaya smiled tightly. She watched in silence as he spread the rug, handed her a towel and then stripped down to his swimming trunks, at which point her mouth went dry.

‘You should get out of the shorts, Kaya. It’s too hot to have anything on but a swimsuit, and I take it youaregoing to go into the sea, aren’t you? There’s nothing like it, trust me.’

‘I will in a minute,’ she muttered. She didn’t want those dark eyes in her direction, looking at her from behind dark sunglasses, making her feel hot and bothered and reminding her of what she wanted from him but couldn’t have. She didn’t want her body misbehaving...again.

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