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She cliht of steps to the next deck and there saw a table aith fruit and yogurt and baskets of bread Hunger battled nausea and won She was starving, but she wasn’t going to accept anything until they’d had a proper conversation

‘Where are we?’

‘Boats have a habit ofwhen you untie theoing to hang around the Riviera to find ossip This—’ he held out his hands ‘—is private There’s too ’

So she was right He was keeping this under wraps Alar

‘I’ to hide away, Matteo You can’t keep me on a boat for the next seven months’

‘I don’t plan to hide you anywhere But staying back there wasn’t an option You saw the press there last night—I don’t want anyone crawling around in my private life and I’m sure you don’t either’

‘My private life is an open book,’ she said, as spiky hackles rose on her skin ‘I’ve got nothing to hide’

‘This isn’t about hiding, Ruby,’ he said cal else This is big Huge We need to get our heads around it’

‘It’s quite si the shrill note in her voice and hating how desperate she sounded But she was desperate If he didn’t play his part she was as lost at sea as if she’d fallen overboard

He sighed He smiled He put his hands on her arms and pulled her towards the chair

‘Yes, we are And fro to be adult about this What’s the rush? We’ve got plenty of tih And as soon as we’re both ready we’ll tell the world Not before I don’t want this to overshadow anything I’ve got other stuff on the go and I want some time That’s all That’s not unreasonable, is it?’

‘I suppose not,’ she said reluctantly, calentle slosh of the boat on the water

There really was no rush, she told herself He see it He hadn’t denied it or accused her of sleeping around He hadn’t howled or beat his chest or siht and he hadn’t made a move on her

She felt her shoulders slump and a slow breath ease out of her chest The steady slap of water on the boat and the endless hazy day seemed to smooth her hackles, quiet her mind