'Don't deny it,' he murmured against her hps, 'because if I didn't believe it you wouldn't be dressed now and ready to escape. I don't exactly enjoy being twisted up inside.'
'I—I'm sorry...'
He glanced down at her ruefully and then stood and moved to the door, leaving her to pull herself together.
'I'll collect your photographs. They should be ready by now. After that I think you'd better make your way to bed—your own this time.'
She was still trembling when she finally reached the hotel and went to bed, her body still aching with a longing she had never felt before. In the night her own voice woke her from some erotic dream and the name she was murmuring was not Neil; it was Kip, Kip, over and over again.
She was just finishing lunch the next day when Kip walked into the dining-room and sat at her table. For a minute she didn't know what to say. Feelings from last night had not left her and she was almost frantic for the others to come so that they could finish here and go home. She had just a few seconds to compose herself. Obviously he was well known here and the waiter was with them at once, bringing coffee for Kip with no other expression on his face than deference. Oddly enough that annoyed her and when he turned to her she looked at him with a carefully blank face.
As usual he defeated her, the dark, smiling eyes looking into hers.
'How are you this morning?'
'Devastated,' she wanted to say, but when the words came out they were nothing if not predictable. 'Fine! Perfectly normal.'
'I'm sorry.'
'Sorry that I'm normal?' She looked at him with as much haughtiness as she could manage but he reached across and took her hand, holding it fast when she tried to draw away.
'Sorry about last night. I took you too far, too fast. I knew damned well that you were a little innocent but I suppose I over-react to you.'
'Don't talk about me as if I'm some tender rosebud!'
She couldn't cope with this, with his gentle apology. An argument was easier to deal with and she hated the way her heart had raced when he came in. There was no future with someone like Kip and she knew it perfectly well, no future for someone like her.
'You are a tender rosebud, or near enough to it. I'm just finding out about you.' He sat back, letting her go. 'However, this is getting us nowhere. When does this team of yours get here?'
'Now.' As if he had conjured them up, they arrived, an airport minibus drawing up in front of the hotel.
'For three people they need a large amount of transport,' Kip murmured, standing with her and going to the foyer.
'They don't travel as light as I do,' Natalie pointed out breathlessly, so grateful for this excuse to put him at a distance. 'They have more than a tiny camera with them. This is a television unit, ready to work.'
'I'm impressed,' Kip drawled sardonically. He walked with her to the steps and then just stood there, watching, making her feel shy and nervous as she faced her own people at last after what seemed like a lifetime of parting.
It stunned her to realise that they didn't seem quite real. Suddenly only Kip was real and she was definitely over-enthusiastic as Ray greeted her with fierce hugs and his usual extravagant words.
'Natalie! The love of my life!'
He lifted her off her feet and swung her round and she laughed into his face but all the time she was aware of Kip's mocking expression and she dreaded facing Neil.
For a minute, Neil didn't look at her. He was turning to help Paula out and then giving instructions about the equipment.
'Natalie! What a fabulous place!' Paula was quite normal; soft, bubbly and completely open. 'Gosh! What are those birds?' Natalie was explaining about the crested cranes when Neil finally turned. None of them seemed to realise that the tall, fair man watching was anything to do with them at all, but to Natalie his stillness and slightly ironic interest was overpowering. He was summing them up, and it never took Kip long to do that.
She was in a state of agitation, wondering what he would think, unable to sort her own mind out because the touch of his hand on hers was still with her, more real than the extravagant hugs that Ray had bestowed on her.
Paula and Ray walked to the edge of the huge lawns, looking out over the dam, obviously a little overawed in spite of their experience, and it was then that Neil turned and looked at her.
'Natalie?'
She smiled at him, wanting to keep her distance, but he walked over, his glance sweeping over her almost greedily, his hand tilting her chin when he got close.
'Been a good girl?' He was standing too close, his eyes on her lips, and she stepped back quickly, uncomfortably aware of Kip's gaze and of Paula so close by.
'What an odd thing to ask me. I've been working like mad.'
'You've been ill.'
'Only a little virus, I assure you,' she informed him lightly, desperate to move off. What was the matter with him? He was behaving almost possessively.
'So far away from home. I should have been here with you.'
'I can't think of one good reason why.' Her eyes turned warningly to Paula, who was just coming back, and Neil stepped away, pivoting to meet the blue-eyed blonde who wore his ring.
'Well, what do you think of it?' There was the same possession, indulgence in his voice that he had used to Natalie, although this time there was not the intent expression. His arm went round Paula's shoulders as he drew her close and Natalie felt a wave of unaccustomed fury at him. What was he playing at? Paula might be a cuddly little blonde but she certainly wasn't blind, nor was she stupid.