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‘Your work is very important to you. I understand.’
The surprising thing was she could tell he did understand. There was no censure in his tone, no judgement, and she wished for the hundredth time that day that things could be different.
‘Would you like to walk back to the hotel now?’
She could add ‘intuitive’ to his list of already growing, impressive attributes.
Fiddling with a patch of peeling paint-work on the balustrade, she furiously marshalled her thoughts, knowing she should end this now and walk away alone.
She hated goodbyes, hated the awkwardness that accompanied them, and she knew without a doubt that saying goodbye to Sam would be harder than she could’ve thought possible when they’d first met at the airport yesterday.
‘Bria? Is something wrong?’
Sighing, she turned to face him, torn between wanting to make a run for it and prolonging their parting for as long as possible.
‘Honestly? I’ve enjoyed your company more than I expected, and I’ve always found saying goodbye difficult.’
He raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth curving up into a smile.
‘I think you just paid me a compliment.’
‘You bet,’ she muttered under her breath, wishing her pulse wouldn’t accelerate at the slightest glimpse of his smile, all too aware she’d never had this instant attraction to any other man before, and totally thrown by it.
‘If saying goodbye is so difficult, maybe we should agree to meet again?’
Her heart turned over in hope before plummeting. She may be in the throes of forgetting every sane reason why she usually held guys like Sam at bay, but that didn’t mean she’d lost it completely.
Keeping in contact would be futile, considering this was a flying visit to Australia for him and she had no plans to return to London any time soon.
Not to mention the unshakeable fear that her interest in him, and the incredible speed at which it had developed, could breach the finely honed defence mechanisms she’d taken a lifetime to establish.
Shaking her head, she said, ‘I don’t think that’s going to happen, so maybe it’s best we say goodbye now?’
Rather than his smile slipping, it widened into a confident grin of a guy used to getting everything he wanted.
‘I asked you yesterday if you believed in fate.’
‘And I’m pretty sure I told you what I think of it,’ Bria said, finding his philosophising strange in a man who obviously dealt in concrete deals on a daily basis.
The businessmen she liaised with were firmly rooted in facts and figures, relegating fate to the hands of those unlucky enough to lose out to their mega deals. Yet here Sam was, implying there was something more to their meeting than a chance encounter—weird.
‘Do you want to know what I think?’
Her breath hitched as he took a step closer, filling her personal space with his potent presence, drawing her towards him like metal to a magnet.
‘Uh-huh.’
‘I think we’re going to meet again. Soon.’
She chuckled at his prediction, her forced laughter a cover for the riotous nerves pulsating through her body at his proximity.
She wanted to flee.
She wanted to stay.
She didn’t know what the heck she wanted!
Sam took the decision out of her hands when he reached out and captured her face between his palms.
‘This has been a special time for me, Bria Green. And I think you feel the same way.’
She couldn’t nod, couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, and when he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers in the barest of kisses her eyelids fluttered shut as sensation exploded like a fireball.
‘That is fate’s way of sealing our future meeting,’ he murmured, his deep voice washing over her in a sensuous wave, low, warm, intimate, and she all but melted against him.
His lips grazing hers had sent her lingering doubts of a proper goodbye up in flames and she opened her eyes, determined to imprint this man, this moment, in her mind.
However, the instant her eyes opened her resolution to make their farewell short and sweet vanished and she covered his mouth with hers, pouring her incredible, uncharacteristic desire for him into the swift, heartfelt kiss.
She didn’t think.
She didn’t rationalise.
She didn’t excuse.
Instead, the minute he responded by parting his lips a fraction she deepened the kiss, eager to taste him, to tease him, to drive him wild with wanting.
As much as she wanted this kiss, as much as she wanted him.
Fire streaked through her body as their tongues touched, tentatively at first, before growing more eager, more demanding.
He tasted of the sweet strawberries dipped in chocolate they’d shared for their picnic dessert, an intoxicating combination she’d never forget.
Sam infused her with sensations she’d never dreamed possible. She wanted to taste him, to feel him, to hear him moan her name…
He groaned and slid his fingers into her hair, pushing her hard up against the balustrade as he showed her exactly how much their attraction was mutual.
Bria had no idea how long they stood there, mouths frantic, bodies entwined, but the moment he broke the kiss reality came crashing down with a finality that left her more breathless, if that were possible.
She’d thrown herself at him.
She’d practically devoured him.
What had she been thinking?
Racking her brain for the right words, for any words, she gnawed at her bottom lip.
‘You do not need to say anything,’ Sam said, placing a finger against her lips for an all-too-brief moment, before dropping his hand.
Cursing her ineptitude with men, she said, ‘Sam, I—’
‘We will meet again. Trust me.’
Shaking her head, she said, ‘You’re a very confident guy, but I have to disagree with you on this one.’
He shrugged and she fisted her hands to prevent herself from reaching out and feeling those broad shoulders one last time.
‘Then let us agree to disagree. Shall we return to the hotel now?’
Hating that the inevitable moment had finally come, Bria squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye in the same way she’d faced any unpleasant situation for as long as she could remember.
‘I’d rather head back alone, if that’s okay with you?’
He inclined his head in a strangely formal gesture. ‘As you wish.’
Taking a steadying breath, and battling an annoying burning at the back of her eyes, she said, ‘Take care. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Melbourne.’
His eyes glittered with pleasure, and she took a small step back to stop launching into his arms again.
‘I most certainly did. Thank you for spending time with me.’
‘It was fun.’
Fun? Fun? Could she be any more understated if she tried?
‘Farewell, Bria Green.’
He took her hand and bent over it, placing a soft, lingering kiss on the back of it, and she sighed, wishing she could prolong this moment for ever.
‘Bye, Sam.’
Smiling into his handsome face for the last time, she couldn’t fathom his triumphant expression or the mysterious gleam in his chocolate eyes and, forcing her legs to move, she walked away.
Her kitten heels tapping against the polished veranda-boards echoed in the eerie silence, and she willed herself not to look back despite the overwhelming urge to do just that.
‘This is not goodbye,’ Sam said, his tone sure and commanding, and her steps faltered as a shiver ran up her spine.
She might not believe in fate or premonition, or any of that stuff, but in that second, with the taste of Sam lingering on her lips and the precious memories of their brief time together in her heart, she almost wished she did.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘BREE, over here.’
Bria’s head swivelled to the tall, elegant brunette stepping out of a gleaming silver limousine, excitement making her forget her luggage as she flew across the scorching concrete.
‘Lou! You look amazing!’
Lou laughed and cried and squeezed the life out of her as they hugged, and stepped apart for a second before hugging again.
‘It’s so good to see you, Bree.’
Lou held her at arm’s length, her mischievous blue stare travelling over Bria’s mint-green shift dress and matching shoes in record time.
‘And wearing Prada, no less.’
Bria laughed and slapped her hands away. ‘You haven’t changed a bit. Still the label queen, huh?’
Lou pouted and stuck out a hip.
‘Does this look designer to you?’
‘Actually, no, but it looks divine all the same.’
‘It’s a salwaar kameez. They’re super-comfortable.’
Bria had never seen her friend wearing Middle Eastern clothing, and the long, loose trousers with matching tunic in ice blue brocaded with silver accentuated her elegance.
‘I can’t believe you’re actually here.’
Lou’s eyes welled for a moment, and a shaft of guilt pierced Bria’s happiness.
The two of them had been through a lot, from surviving the strict rules at the stuffy Swiss boarding school her dad had insisted she attend to tearing up London on a yearlong fun fest.
Lou had been there for her through the Ellis break-up, she knew how bad things were with her dad, yet Bria had held off visiting her best friend because of her constant quest to be the best in her career.
Pretty selfish.
‘About time, huh?’
‘Way past time.’ Lou rolled her eyes and enveloped her in another bear-hug. ‘Now that you’re here, what do you want to do? We can spend the night at Burl Al Arab, the most amazing hotel in the world right here in Dubai, or we can head straight to Adhara. Your call.’
‘I’d rather make tracks to Adhara. After all the research material I’ve seen, I’m curious.’
‘Great.’ Lou clapped her hands in a classic excited gesture Bria remembered from all their school exploits—and there’d been many. ‘Bet you’re glad I’m still living at the royal residence.’
‘Too right. I’d much rather stay there than the hotel Ned organised. It’s not every day a girl gets to live in a palace.’
Images of tall, white spires, soft rounded domes and curved mosaic-framed windows set against the backdrop of endless desert sprang to mind. Despite her initial anger at being forced to visit Adhara by a pushy client, she had to admit that seeing the palace pictures Lou had emailed her after she’d told her of her visit had whetted her architectural appetite.
‘Will the prince mind me staying?’
Lou shrugged. ‘I have no idea. We barely see him. Yusif handles some of his business interests here in the Middle East, but the Prince spends most of his time abroad. He’s a real go-getter.’
‘What’s he like?’
Not that Bria was particularly interested, but if she happened to run into royalty while she was here she’d like to be well prepared, and not make any faux pas or cause any international incidents.
To her surprise, a blush accompanied her friend’s smirk.
