Page 27 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

Then he calmly went back to his tablet.

‘Can I get you anything else, sir?’ Ripley asked.

Jario carefully set down his fork. He had a mile-long list he could recite to his hovering assistant of the many things he desired in life.

Three days had passed since that incident in his salon, yet his insides continued to churn. He’d been forced to relive memories buried just beneath the surface, where he wouldn’t normally have to confront it every day. Only when he had to deal with destroying his enemy.

But a few hours with her and his hell had tripled. Even the scant sleep he’d resigned himself to was now a figment of his imagination.

Consciously relaxing his jaw, he shook his head. ‘No, that will be all.’

He wanted to ask where she was, what she was doing, but he already knew. Another unwanted thing she’d cursed him with, besides that kiss he couldn’t stop reliving, was a rabid need to know her whereabouts at all times. So he knew she’d retreated to her cabin half an hour ago after a solitary dinner in the crew kitchen.

He launched himself away from the table, his barely touched meal forgotten as he strode over to the liquor cabinet.

How long can you keep this up? Pretend you haven’t...missed her presence these last three days?

The mocking voice in his head riled him further until he felt as if his skin was turning inside out.

Enough.

Setting down his untouched drink, he headed for the pool. The temptation to go for a swim in the deep, dark ocean, let the obsidian waves wash his bitterness away, was strong, but the depths of the Pacific wasn’t the place to test the elements while exhaustion and insomnia sapped his reserves.

So his pool it was.

Shoving off his jogging bottoms, he activated the artificial wave that powered the pool’s current.

Turning up the setting for a more challenging workout, he walked to the edge of the fifty-foot pool, and dived in. Perhaps it was in the third minute or the thirtieth, but the image he’d been trying for three days to shut off rose in his mind again.

That dreaded flash of pity he’d seen on her face.

Shock and disbelief had followed but the pity was what tightened his chest. He didn’t need it. So why couldn’t he get it out of his damn mind? Why, additionally, did the softening in her features affect him sointensely?

Jario swam harder. Faster. Determined to drive the unnerving sensations away once and for all. And when he rose out of the pool much later, his muscles soaked in weariness, he was at least glad that he was on the point of exhaustion.

On feet that didn’t feel quite steady, he entered his steam room.

Only for his every effort to shatter when the steam parted momentarily and he saw her perched in one corner, her knees drawn up to her chest.

Por el amor de Dios.

She didn’t respond to his muttered curse, but he felt her eyes on him, watching. He prowled closer, every sense daring her to give him that look one more time. But the one she sent him was devoid of pity, instead brimming with awareness and defiance.

‘Are you this insubordinate in your everyday job?’

Unbridled pride mingled with concern and regret flashed across her face, reluctantly reminding him of how distressed she’d been over losing Chatterton’s employees.

‘Actually, I excel at my job, and I plan to maintain my zero-complaints level for however long I have it,’ she stated with a curiously solemn tone that spiked unease through him. ‘Besides, I think one perk of this job allows me use of the gym and relaxation area, doesn’t it?’

He’d wasted enough unnerving emotions on this woman. ‘So this isn’t just a fun exercise in pushing my buttons?’

For a stretch, she didn’t answer. When she raked her fingers through her hair, he saw subdued weariness on her face. Did it make him feel better?

Infinitesimally.

‘No.’ Resignation tinged her tone. ‘Believe me, that’s the last thing I want.’

‘And yet, here you are, disturbing my peace again.’