Holiday with a Stranger. Christy McKellen

she felt dizzy with it. But no way was she going to waste her time trying to explain her work ethic to someone who was plainly more than happy to let others do the hard graft while he swanned off round the world having ‘experiences.’

      She’d tell him that if he brought up the subject again. No more Miss Nice Girl. The guy had it coming.

      She went to pick up her notepad again, then realised she was about to prove his point about not being able to stay away from working. She could do it. Of course she could. Her hands were only shaking because she was so irritated with him.

      Right?

      She wasn’t planning on sunbathing out here for long, anyway. She would stay long enough to show him he couldn’t intimidate her and then she’d go for a walk or something. Anything to be away from him for a while.

      * * *

      Connor was aware of Josie fidgeting beside him. He smiled to himself. She was obviously finding it impossible to lie still. Not that he could blame her; he’d gone at her pretty hard—but it was so much fun winding her up.

      He’d been comfortably winning the conversation until she’d shifted in her chair, giving him a generous view of the magnificent curves hiding under that dress.

      The sight of her long slim legs and the sweeping curve of her breasts had thrown him off balance. A vision of himself running his hands slowly along her shapely calves, up over her knees and between her soft thighs, had hit him like a belt in the face and he’d found himself losing his legendary cool. His hands were still shaking from the effort of keeping them by his sides.

      She was clearly trouble—which he should back the hell away from. He had no patience with career women who valued their jobs above everything and everyone else. His mother had been one, and even though he’d resented her in so many ways somehow he’d found himself in relationships with women who turned out to be just like her. But he’d learnt his lesson. Enough was enough. Despite finding himself dangerously attracted to Josie, he wouldn’t allow anything to happen between them.

      He watched as she stood up and stretched her arms above her head.

      ‘Right, I’m off for a walk. See you later.’

      She slipped on her flip-flops, pulled on a sunhat and stalked away from the terrace, her sundress swishing around her endless legs. The woman was a bundle of nervous energy.

      She could definitely do with having some fun.

      THREE

      After dozing fitfully in the sun for an hour Connor went back into the kitchen to find it had been turned into a laundry. There was a piece of clothing on every chair, and the pièce de résistance was the array of underwear hung in a neat row over the oven door.

      Nice.

      He laughed to himself. The woman had balls.

      If this was her attempt to make him uncomfortable about staying here she was in for a big disappointment. It was going to take a lot more than parading her knickers in the kitchen to get rid of him.

      Lifting a bra from the rail, he rubbed the silky material between finger and thumb. It had been a long while since he’d got his hands on a woman’s underwear; that had to be the reason why he was as hard as concrete again.

      Dropping it back onto the rail, he hurriedly left the kitchen and went for a cooling shower—only to find her girly crap spread all over the room up there as well. The fruity smell of her shampoo still hung in the air. He shook his head in wonder; she was a feisty one. Well, two could play that game.

      * * *

      After a day of lying low and desperately trying to find things to entertain her that weren’t work-related Josie found she was actually looking forward to having some company for supper.

      She’d decided to take a short break from writing the tender document just while Connor was here—hopefully that wouldn’t be for too much longer. Abi had wanted her to have a proper break, and she’d promised she wouldn’t work while she was here to placate her. If Connor somehow let slip to Abi that she’d ignored her promise there would be trouble. She couldn’t afford to piss her business partner off any more than she already had. Everything would fall apart if they couldn’t work together any more.

      As soon as eight o’clock came around she went down to the kitchen to find Connor stirring something at the stove. Her underwear was still hanging limply on the rail in front of him. As she watched he reached down and grabbed a pair of her knickers, rubbing his hands on them as if they were a tea towel. He turned when she let out an involuntary gasp and nodded to her, as if it was perfectly normal to be cleaning his hands on ladies’ underwear.

      Marching over, she snatched her knickers out of his hand and gathered the rest from the rail, bumping her arm into the hard muscle of his abdomen in her hurry.

      ‘Careful, there, I might start thinking you’re trying to get into my pants, what with all the groping and the exhibiting of your undercrackers,’ he said.

      Turning to make eye contact, she found they were so close she could smell the spicy heat of him. There was a strange throbbing in her throat, as if her pulse was trying to break free and become its own entity. Concentrating on the laughter lines at the side of his eyes, she attempted to centre herself. The sun had deepened his tan, which only made the vivid blue of his eyes stand out more.

      She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out.

      ‘Not lost for words, Josie, surely?’

      Before she had chance to pull herself together and form a suitably cutting reply he gave her another blast of that awesome smile and she melted again.

      He knew exactly what she was up to; she could see the amusement in the depths of his eyes and in the jaunty angle of his eyebrow. Why the hell had she thought a pair of her knickers would scare off a man like him? What had compelled her to sink so low?

      Desperation.

      She was a mess. And now so were her knickers.

      As all the connotations of that thought hit her she was totally unable to stop a full-blown grin spreading across her face. Then a giggle broke free, and then a great heaving laugh. Once she started she couldn’t stop. Turning away and taking a step back, she steadied herself against the kitchen chair until she managed to get the convulsions under control.

      ‘My God, you’re a handful.’ She shook her head in bewildered despair, but it felt good to laugh out loud.

      He raised an eyebrow. ‘I rather think I am.’ He leant back against the stove. ‘Maybe two handfuls.’

      At this, she started giggling again, like a nervous teenager, and he joined in with a deep chuckle.

      Why had it been so long since she’d laughed with someone like this?

      He moved towards her and her giggle fit subsided. She was acutely aware of how his shorts and T-shirt fitted his body perfectly. How soft the golden skin of his throat looked. How much she wanted to feel the strength of him under her hands.

      ‘I know you’re trying to get rid of me, Josie, but I’m not budging. You can put up with me for a couple of days, right?’

      It was more of an order than a question.

      She ran through her options.

      There were none.

      It wasn’t as if she’d be able to physically chuck him out, and he seemed totally uninterested in her perfectly reasonable points of argument.

      Ah, what the hell? She could put up with him for a short while. At least it would help to break the boredom. It was kind of fun, sparring with him. He was stimulating company, and she was rather enjoying just looking at him.

      ‘Okay. Fine. But the bed’s mine.’

      He held his hands up. ‘You women and your passion for beds.’

      ‘Clinophilia.’