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Chapter Three

     BLAKE carried the rest of her decorating gear up to the house, then returned to see what he could do about the mess. He swapped the small

container beneath the now free-􀀢owing drip for a bucket and snatched up a newspaper from beside the couch to absorb the water on the

floor.

As he spread it out he noticed an ad for a retail assistant’s job in a beachwear shop circled in a red felt-tipped pen then crossed out with

‘TOO LATE’ scrawled beneath it and a sad face. Hadn’t Lissa said she was an interior designer?

Was that why she wasn’t working tomorrow? Because she didn’t have a job? He glanced over to the 􀀬nal notice on the fridge door.

Obviously she was in financial difficulty and just as obviously she hadn’t told Jared because if he knew his old mate, no way would he have let

this situation arise. No job and inadequate accommodation. Dangerously inadequate accommodation.

Bloody hell.

Blake had inherited a duty of care here. Not only because it came naturally to him but because Jared had been his closest mate, the brother

he’d never had. As a young teenager, when neither of his parents cared whether he even came home at night, Jared had been there. Until his

friend had taken on the heavy responsibility of parenting. It was no wonder he’d done such a good job with his sisters.

The rain continued to pelt down while he surveyed the deck once more. Nope. Useless to try doing anything more until the storm blew out

to sea. He went inside to ensure all the windows were closed, located the fuse box and turned the power off.

Then he stood on deck a moment, glaring at the house while water sluiced down his face and soaked down to his skin. He needed the chill

factor. The 􀀬re in his groin, which had been smouldering since he’d 􀀬rst laid eyes on Lissa, had morphed into a raging inferno the instant he’d

seen her nose buried in his pillow.

Hell, he needed more than wind and water to douse the flames. He needed a woman.

And now he was going to have to try and sleep up there after all, knowing one very attractive, very sexy woman was a few quick steps away

down the hall.

The strip of golden sand was strewn with shells, driftwood and dead palm leaves where the rainforest met the sea. An azure sky, the air laden

with the pungent smells of lush vegetation and decaying marine life. It should have been a tourist paradise.

Even in sleep, Blake knew it wasn’t. Because the heavy pounding at the back of his skull was gunfire.

He’d been one of 􀀬ve clearance divers on the beach that day. It had been a routine training exercise. Until the jungle had exploded. Exposed

and caught unprepared, they’d returned fire and made a run for it. But the newest member of the unit, Torque, had frozen.

No time to think. Blake dodging bullets as he retraced his steps. Grabbing and dragging the quivering kid back across the beach with him.

Then more shots, searing the air and zinging past his head. Torque’s last agonised cry as he fell against Blake, knocking him o􀀶 balance. Rocks

coming up to meet Blake as he fell. Then blackness…

Blake woke dry-mouthed, shaking, his heart hammering against his ribs. He was chilled to the bone, lathered in sweat, his skull reverberating