The Surprise De Angelis Baby. Cathy Williams

last word?

      Yes, Sarah had told her that she had to learn from her experience and make sensible choices when it came to men, and Delilah knew that her sister was right. But the sensible choice held as much attraction as a bout of flu, and wicked rebellion flared inside her.

      She licked her lips in a gesture that Daniel thought was unconsciously erotic.

      ‘No one likes taking orders from other people,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I guess we’d all like to be able to do our own thing, but unfortunately that’s not how life is.’

      Daniel looked around him before settling his gaze back on her flushed face. ‘This strikes me as a pretty loose situation for you,’ he pointed out. ‘Didn’t you tell me that you’re all allowed to do your own thing on the liner, without constraints?’

      ‘Yes, but I’m only here for a few weeks,’ she reminded him.

      ‘And then what? Going to hitch a ride on another cruise ship?’

      ‘If only...’

      Daniel leaned forward, intrigued. ‘So tell me...?’

      ‘There’s nothing to tell.’

      From a young age she had learnt that there were just too many kids who were happy to snigger behind her back. She and Sarah had been the sisters with the weird parents. They’d learned that the less they’d said about their home life, the better, so they had kept themselves to themselves. The habit was so deeply engrained that even now, as a young adult, Delilah automatically shied away from confiding.

      So what was it about this guy that made her want to open up?

      And why did the thought of acting against her better judgement in accepting his invitation feel so appealing?

      ‘I should be heading back to my cabin...’ She barely recognised her voice and took a few steadying breaths. ‘I... I’m going to do some preparation for my class tomorrow and...and...grab a bit of this beautiful weather... We should be at another port the day after tomorrow... It will be nice to just sit and soak up the sun with my book... You know... It’s all go, go, go when we dock...and my students expect me to have clever things to say about all the places of culture that we visit...so...’

      Daniel smiled slowly. ‘So...’ He sat back and thought that he needed to use the afternoon productively himself. Various deals going on required his attention. Time, as they said, was money. ‘Seven sharp,’ he murmured. ‘Out on the deck. Far from the crowds...’

      ‘You haven’t got permission yet...’ Delilah pointed out.

      ‘Oh, I’ll get permission,’ he drawled.

      ‘Because everyone listens and obeys when you talk?’

      She’d said that jokingly, but there had been a thread of seriousness behind the jest and she wasn’t all that surprised when he looked at her, eyebrows raised.

      ‘Without exception...’ he replied, deadly serious.