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‘Do you have anything with you? Anything you need back at your hotel?’

She shook her head ‘I wasn’t planning on staying any longer than necessary This is all I have’

‘Doesn’tDavid will sort it OK—you ready for this? Because you’d better get used to it’

He put his arm around her shoulders and steered them both out She didn’t raise her head above the trail of steps and gravel paths, the perfect lawns and flowerbeds, all the way down to the tiny beach and jetty where a sleek white

He juht

‘Take your shoes off,’ he said as he held out his arm to help her aboard

She stared at the slippery jetty, at its ridged surface, and then at the inky water and the huge gap between solid land and the boat

‘Come on,’ he said, ‘before we attract a crowd’

He stretched his hand out a little further but she faltered

‘I’m a bit nervous of water I can’t swim properly’ It was a fact she hated to say out loud, but a fact nonetheless

‘That’s totally OK,’ he said, and she noticed with relief the lack of censure in his voice ‘You’ll be completely safe—just do what I tell you Take your shoes off first Heels are dangerous on boats Throw them to me and then put your arms out That’s it,’ he said as she followed his instructions

His strong hands gripped her arms, then her waist, and then, as she stared up into his face, she gingerly stepped into the boat It htly, but his body was like a rock and she found herself holding on to it with both arh to feel an echo of that hunger

He lifted a life jacket and helped her into it, his fingers swift and deft, face focused Then he unfastened the rope and sat down, pulling her by the hand to sit beside hih the bay between the other boats, berthed like huge chess pieces on a watery board