It just might take a while for her to talk herself into it, knowing Sadie.
He watched her lean legs disappearing into the water and shifted to keep a better eye on her as she dived under the waves. She looked so at home out there, like a sea nymph returning to her natural environment after being cooped up on land for too long. She looked free in a way she hadn’t since he’d arrived in Turkey.
Dylan wanted to make her look that way on land. Preferably in a bed.
Eventually, Sadie emerged again from the waves, slicking her dark hair back from her face with her hands. With water droplets shining off her skin in the sun, she began walking back towards him, and Dylan found himself putting a lot of effort into keeping his body calm and relaxed in the face of such a sight. God, she was beautiful.
The sound of his ringing phone was an almost welcome distraction. Fumbling in the pocket of his rucksack, he pulled it out and answered, only half listening to what his assistant had to say as Sadie arrived, rolled her eyes at him, and began towelling off with a spare towel.
By the time he ended the call Dylan wasn’t entirely sure what he’d agreed to, but he trusted his assistant to email him all the pertinent details. He’d deal with them later, when there were fewer distractions around.
‘Honestly. Who brings work to the beach?’ Wrapping a flimsy scarf thing around her waist, Sadie dropped to sit on the towel beside him.
‘You brought me,’ Dylan pointed out. ‘This week, that’s practically the same thing.’
Sadie laughed, high and bright, a sound he’d almost thought lost. She was so much more relaxed out here; he could tell it from the lines of her shoulders, the absence of the crease between her eyebrows that he’d thought was permanent. This was the Sadie he remembered.
‘Seriously, though,’ she said, ‘what’s so important that it can’t wait a few hours? Why not just let it ring—or, better yet, turn it off?’
Dylan shrugged—and realised she was watching his shoulders rise and fall. Interesting. ‘Guess I don’t want to risk missing an opportunity. I’ve missed too many in my life already.’
He’d been talking about the years spent taking responsibility for his family, saying no to chances and opportunities because they’d needed him. But as the words hung in the air between them he realised she thought he meant something else entirely. And maybe, he admitted to himself, maybe he did. Did you ever wonder what might have happened if you’d met me first, instead of Adem?
I wondered.
Sadie looked down at her hands, damp hair hanging forward across her cheek. ‘I’m not the same girl you asked that question all those years ago,’ she said, her voice soft.
‘You think I don’t know that?’ he asked. ‘Look at me, Sadie.’ She did as he asked, and Dylan took a long moment just absorbing everything she was now. Slowly, obviously, he looked over every inch of her, from her hair—shorter now than when they’d met by a good foot—down over her body, past every added curve or line, every soft patch and every muscle, all the way to her feet.
Did she really not know? Not realise how much she’d grown up since then—and how every year had only made her a better person? Who would want the twenty-year-old Sadie compared to the one who sat before him now?
‘You are so much more now than you were then,’ he murmured, knowing she’d hear him anyway. ‘You’re stronger, more beautiful, more alive...more than I ever dreamt any woman could be.’
* * *
Sadie stared down at him, captivated by his gaze as confusion, guilt and hope fought for space in her head. Did he really think that?
Yes. The answer came fast and true as she looked into his eyes. This wasn’t Dylan making a move, the way he did with all those other women. This wasn’t a seduction attempt. It was him stating a fact—something that was true and obvious to him, even if she found it hard to believe.
The knowledge that he believed it warmed her damp skin far more than the sun overhead. And his gaze on her body...well, that felt even hotter.
She broke, forcing her gaze away from his, and reached for a dry towel to lay out on the sand. Whatever this was between them, she wasn’t ready to deal with it just yet. She needed time to process his words—to examine them, pick them apart and find some sense in them, somewhere. And that was all but impossible when he was lying there next to her in nothing but a pair of swim shorts.
‘You should go for a swim,’ she said, not looking at him. ‘The water’s glorious.’
‘You looked very happy, splashing about out there.’ He didn’t make any move towards the water, though.
‘I love it,’ Sadie admitted. A truth for a truth perhaps. ‘The sea always makes me feel...free somehow.’ Like all her promises and commitments, all her obligations and the weight of her worries might just float away on the tide.
‘I can see the appeal.’ With a groan, Dylan hauled himself to his feet, brushing off the stray grains of sand that clung to his legs. ‘Okay. I’ll go for a swim.’ He flashed her a smile. ‘Just for you.’
‘Great. Enjoy.’ Sadie sat down on her fresh towel with a bump, staring after him as he walked towards the water’s edge, the sun turning his skin golden across his broad back and trim waist.
She needed to think, she reminded herself, not ogle. With an act of willpower much harder than it should have been, she lay down and closed her eyes. There was no way she could think sensibly about that strange moment with Dylan while she could still see him. His very presence was distracting.
Unfortunately, she’d failed to account for her late night and exercise in her plan. The next thing she knew, cool droplets of water were dripping onto her and a sun-warm towel was being laid across her body. Her eyes flew open to find out why.
‘Sorry.’ Dylan tossed his head back, sending more water droplets flying. ‘But it’s pretty warm out here. I was afraid you’d burn.’
Personally, Sadie thought his presence might be more of a threat of that than the sun, but she wasn’t telling him that.
‘Thanks.’ She sat up. ‘Good swim? How long was I asleep?’
Dylan shrugged, fished in his bag for his phone and checked the time. ‘Half an hour or so, I guess? It’s nearly two.’
‘Wow. We missed lunch. Are you hungry?’ It wasn’t like they hadn’t had a substantial breakfast to keep them going, but all of a sudden her stomach was grumbling.
‘You know, amazingly, I am.’
‘Come on, then. There’s a great seafood place just off the beach. And it’s in the shade.’
Together, they packed up their small camp. Sadie pulled on her skirt and top over her tankini, and breathed a sigh of relief as Dylan put his shirt back on too. Half-naked Dylan on the beach was one thing—sitting at lunch was another entirely.
They headed up towards the boardwalk that ran along the edge of the beach. Brushing dry sand from their feet, they put their shoes back on and Sadie led him past the first few restaurants and cafés to the one she had in mind.
‘Finn loves the seafood platters here,’ she said, as they waited to be shown to a table. ‘You’d think a four-year-old would balk at calamari and battered prawns and such, but he loves them.’
‘It’s sounding pretty good to me too,’ Dylan said. ‘Perfect for a light lunch after a morning on the beach.’
Sadie smiled up at him. ‘Then that’s what we’ll have.’
Their table was at the front of the restaurant, and the glass doors that spanned the length of the space had been thrown open. Sadie sat back and listened to the waves, enjoying the cool shade on her hot body as they waited for their food. Her skin felt almost too sensitive now, like it was still being touched all over. She glanced across the table at Dylan and found his eyes already on her.
Maybe that was why.
It wasn’t until they were tucking into their seafood platter that Sadie
spotted the small flaw in her plan. ‘I was going to take you out for seafood tonight,’ she said, remembering suddenly her booking at the restaurant on the marina that had such good reviews. It was fancier than this place, and probably had less sand on the floor, but she’d be willing to bet their seafood platter wouldn’t have been as good as the one they were enjoying anyway. ‘Guess I’d better come up with something else after this. What do you fancy?’
Dylan paused with a prawn halfway to his mouth, looking at her just a moment too long to be entirely comfortable.
‘Actually, I’ve got plans for tonight.’
Oh. How stupid to assume that he’d want to spend the whole day with her and have dinner too. Just because he had the previous day.
‘Plans for us,’ Dylan clarified, and relief warred with anxiety within her.
‘Oh?’ she said, as lightly as she could. ‘I thought I was supposed to be showing you the town.’
‘And you’ve been doing a great job,’ he said. ‘But now it’s my turn.’
‘Where are we going?’ Sadie asked, because she couldn’t really ask ‘Is this a date?’ without sounding incredibly idiotic if it wasn’t—and terrified if it was.
‘It’s a surprise.’ Dylan’s smile was almost wolfish, and it sent a shiver across the surface of her skin. ‘Just dress fancy, be in the lobby at eight, and leave everything else to me.’
Leave everything to him? If Dylan was in charge she shouldn’t be worried about it being a date.