„That‟s not the point, Dominic.‟ Mattie wasn‟t too sure what the point was but she knew that there was one. He was fond of getting his own way and had a variety of methods for doing just that. He could be as persuasive and as tempting as the devil, could argue her into silent acquiescence if she let him.

„Well? When?‟

That, she had learnt to recognise, was another of his tactics. To simply ignore objections and pursue his own line of questioning until he got what he wanted.

„I can‟t remember,‟ Mattie sighed. „Go and sit back down. I can‟t think straight when you‟re looming over me like this.‟

„Good. I don‟t want you thinking straight when you‟re with me.‟

„You‟re acting like a spoiled child.‟

„What…?‟ Dominic gaped at her in real incredulity. A spoiled child? Never before had that accusation been thrown at him. Ever. He clicked his fingers and people snapped to attention.

It had always been that way, or for as long as he could remember anyway. For heaven‟s sake, he hardly ever raised his voice, never mind behaving like a spoiled child!

„Because you want something, doesn‟t mean it‟s automatically going to work that way. I thought you would have realised that by now.‟ Convincing words, but Mattie had to keep her eyes very firmly glued to his. If they so much as wandered a little lower, to his beautiful mouth, there was a very good chance she would be lost, and she had to stand up for herself or end up drowning in this so-called no-strings-attached affair that was not destined to last beyond a few months at the most.

He had made that perfectly clear from the beginning and it didn‟t take a rocket scientist to work out that he would stick to his guns, his conscience clear when things finally and inevitably ended because hadn‟t he warned her from the outset that he wasn‟t interested in commitment on any level?

Never did they project plans that spanned into the future. They saw one another, enjoyed one another, planned something maybe a couple of days down the line, but anything further was out of bounds.

Mattie regularly told herself that his concentration on the present was just what she needed. She had spent years living in some never-never future. First with Frankie and all his dreams about being rich and famous, then with the course, always working hard towards something hovering on the distant horizon.

She knew that it was a breath of fresh air just doing what all other girls her age would be doing. Taking life one day at a time.

„We need to talk about this,‟ Dominic growled, pushing himself away and striding purposefully into the open-plan sitting area, where he took up fulminating residence on the long, low sofa.

Mattie reluctantly followed.

„I have too much to do to go away for a weekend,‟ she opened, sitting towards the end of the sofa, one leg lazily tucked under her, the other hanging over the side.

„What?‟

„I want to go and have a look for a television. Just a portable thing.‟

„You don‟t need to buy a television,‟ Dominic asserted arrogantly. „There are two in this apartment. If you want to watch TV, you can always come here.‟

„Now you‟re being ridiculous.‟

„Or you could just take one of mine. OK, borrow one of mine. Whatever. That can wait for the duration of one weekend.‟ He found the thought of visiting his country house without her by his side strangely unappealing. Far from holding the promise of two days of pleasurable solitude, as it normally did, it offered the prospect of unwelcome isolation.

And he really had to go up and check it out. Sylvia, his old retainer, who shared the upkeep of the place with her husband and lived on the premises, had called him two days previously and, having spent five minutes apologising for interrupting him, informed him that there had been a serious leak in one of the downstairs rooms. The plumber had been but there was the question of insurance to sort out, part of the wooden floor had been ruined and the offending radiator would have to be replaced.

„I thought you liked going up there on your own.‟

„Did I say that?‟

„Yes. You told me that it was the one place in the world where you could escape the mad pace and just relax with a book. In fact, you said that you never even went there with your laptop because it was a complete getaway.‟

Dominic flushed darkly and scowled. „I just wanted to give you a break,‟ he said. He looked down, closing her out for a second, then back at her. „You can‟t accuse me of not thinking of you.‟

Mattie‟s heart seemed to halt in mid-beat, then race forward at frantic speed. This was the closest he had ever got to suggesting that what she thought and said and did affected him in any way, and stupidly she found herself clinging to his passing comment until she told herself to just get control of her badly behaved mind.

„OK. I won‟t.‟

For some reason, Dominic felt unreasonably riled at that quick, placating response and his expression darkened.

„Remind me never to suggest something as complicated as a holiday with you,‟ he intoned tautly. „You might just go into a coma at the thought of it.‟

„A holiday?‟ she couldn‟t help saying a little numbly.

„Something that people occasionally go on, usually when they want to spend some time together.‟ He knew he should retreat while he was ahead but for some reason he wanted to plough on. Yes, so he could turn her on like a light bulb. It was no more than she could achieve with him! Their bodies were made for one another!

But what else? he wondered.

„I know what a holiday is.‟ Mattie laughed, making light of their conversation.

„Had a lot of them, have you?‟

„You know I haven‟t.‟

„Oh, yes. I‟d forgotten you worked while studying to make sure the bills got paid while lover boy lazed around, criticised you and drank whatever money was left.‟

Mattie chose to disregard his remarks about Frankie. She sometimes wondered how someone could be so thoroughly a part of her past and yet still rear his head at the most unlikely moments.

„I used to go to Cornwall when I was a child,‟ she confided a little wistfully. She drew her knees up and looked at him with faraway eyes. „Two weeks over summer to a caravan site.

One of those places where the caravans stay in the same place from year to year. You know?‟

„Not really.‟

„No, I don‟t suppose you do. I can‟t picture you in one anyway.‟ She tried to and failed.

„And I can‟t much picture you in one either,‟ Dominic said wryly. „No, I picture you more on a beach somewhere. White sand, clear warm water, just a whisper of a breeze…an island made for two. And a house with all the trappings. Old wooden floors, mosquito nets over the bed, big windows sprawling open to let the night air waft through…‟