Burning Bright

Chapter 10

Eventually we moved apart, although he kept his arm tucked through mine as we headed further along the coast until we overlooked the next bay. People weren’t allowed down to the sand as it was the major turtle-hatching beach along that stretch of coast.

‘Have you been here when they’ve been hatching?’ Eoin asked.

‘Yes, but that’s not due for another three months.’

‘Shame, I would have liked to see that.’

‘I’ve got some photos back at the flat. It was pretty incredible. But yet again, the eggs are prone to poachers and they even take the mother turtles when they’re laying.’

‘I feel another project coming one.’

‘Eoin Macken saves the world one species at a time?’

‘Got my work cut out then. You signing up to help?’

‘Do I get a choice?’

‘No.’

‘Thought not.’

We walked back to our beach and I gave the boy the rest of his money and some extra to get us some ice cold drinks. I cleaned the top of Eoin’s bottle with an antiseptic wipe and handed it to him before wiping my own, and then unpacked the picnic I’d thrown together, some rolls, meat, cheese and fruit.

After lunch, Eoin propped himself up against a palm tree, hands behind his head, and began to snooze I studied him more closely. He wasn’t classically handsome in a Hollywood way but there was a vitality about him that, even relaxed in sleep, made him . . . interesting. His lips were slightly apart, a few strands of hair falling over his face, his mouth so incredibly sensuous that it was almost impossible to resist leaning into him and waking him with a kiss. It would be too, too easy to fall for that charm, but in three weeks time his fate would be decided in court and he’d be out of my life, one way or another. I wandered over to some rock pools with my camera and took some photos of the brightly coloured anemones as they swayed slowly in the water.

The shadow that fell over me this time was far more attractive. ‘Sorry, I fell asleep.’

‘That’s OK. Just taking some photos. But I’m getting glare. What would you do?’

‘I’d use a polarising filter, but . . . OK, I’ll shade it, try getting down very low but not too close, and then zoom in on them.’ That worked much better, despite me sprawled on the ground in a most undignified position. Our faces were close, throwing little smiles at each other as we worked together, Eoin encouraging me to keep trying new angles rather than taking over and doing a much better job than I could, I was sure. We sat close together afterwards, looking through the photos on the small camera screen. I could feel the warmth of him as he indicated where the technique had worked really well, explaining why some of them hadn’t. I didn’t want the tutorial to end, sitting so near to him, watching the movements of his fingers, the delicately sculpted wrist bones, the fine dark hairs over the tanned skin of his arms. I kept catching his gaze, the laughter lines crinkling the corners of his eyes in tune with his ready smile, enjoying this intimacy over the small screen of the camera.

‘Thanks for the tips. I don’t think I’ll be giving up the day job,’ although that thought brought back the realisation that I might not have one once the Colonel found out about my actions, and then this friendship would be over, and that thought hurt. A lot. I glanced up at the position of the sun. ‘I’m afraid we really need to be going soon. A shame because we’ll miss the fabulous sunset, but driving in the dark is just a bit too mad for my liking.’

‘Another time.’

‘Yes. I’ll book a driver and we can sit under the palms and watch the sun go down with a glass of something alcoholic.’

‘Sounds perfect.’

‘Next weekend?’

‘I’ve not got many weekends left, have I?’

‘And then you can go home.’

‘Yeah,’ he said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

We arrived at the compound at dusk. Veronique was just walking through the security gates. Eoin opened the window and she stopped.

‘Coming out for a drink tonight, Eoin?’ she asked.

I noted she didn’t mention me.’

‘Yeah sure. Just need to shower first. Been to the beach.’

‘Topping up the tan? You could have done that here.’

‘Needed a bit of space. And Kate was kind enough to take me.’

Veronique lowered her head slightly to peer through the window at me. ‘Hi Kate.’

‘Hello Veronique.’

A car pulling up behind me forced me to move on. ‘See you later,’ Eoin called cheerily.

‘Yes, see you later, Eoin,’ she replied.

After Eoin had showered, he asked me if I was going to get ready.

‘Actually, I think I’ll give the bar a miss tonight.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah you go. You were invited.’

‘Oh don’t be like that.’

‘I’m not being like anything. I’m just not really in the mood if I’m honest. You go.’

‘Sure?’

‘Yes, of course! Go on. Have a good time, and don’t forget your key.’

I took a shower, pulled on a T-shirt and some jogging shorts and settled on the sofa, banking on him being gone for at least three hours, but with the expectation that it would be the rest of the night. I phoned my parents. Out. Two of my friends. Out. Although it was early Saturday afternoon in the UK, so not really surprising, but it made me feel suddenly very lonely. While I was perfectly happy with my own company, having Eoin around for the last three weeks had made me realise how nice it was to have someone to share things with and, feeling unusually sorry for myself, I made myself a cup of tea, sat back on the sofa, and sobbed.

  I didn’t hear the door open so the first I was aware of Eoin’s presence was him saying, ‘Hey, Kate, what’s the matter?’

He’d only been gone an hour or so, so he must have forgotten something.

‘I’m OK,’ I sniffled, putting down my cup of tea.

‘Hey, come here,’ and he pulled me up off the sofa and into his arms.

I hugged him, tight. He was so warm and strong and reassuring. He touched the side of my face and I looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed the tears from my cheeks and then drew back slightly from me. There was that look again, the parted lips showing the sensuous curve of his mouth, the intensity of his gaze with the odd strand of hair falling forward which just seemed to emphasise it, the feel of his hands as they rested on my arms, the fingers strong. I had to resist him. I had to.