Rome stared down at Freya’s hand in his. Her fingers had been entwined with his all night. The waitress had taken their order and left and the need to touch Freya had been too much, which was ridiculous since he’d spent the day in bed with her. As he had slipped his hand into hers, it had thrown her, she had been mid-conversation and she had stumbled over her words as he stroked his thumb over her hand. But she hadn’t taken her hand away. Thankfully, where Dougie was sitting meant he couldn’t see that they were holding hands and, if Eden and Bella noticed that both he and Freya had spent the whole night eating and drinking with just one hand, they hadn’t said anything.

God, he needed to be with her now.

‘Shall we get dessert?’ Bella asked when the plates had been cleared away.

‘It’s been a long day for Freya and me,’ Rome said. ‘We were up early to get the plane back from Penzance, so I might call it a night actually.’

‘Me too,’ Freya said, a bit too quickly, feigning a yawn.

‘I’ll walk you back home,’ Rome said, standing up.

Freya stood up too and he helped her to put her jacket on, innocently brushing his fingers against her neck as he adjusted the collar.

Dougie had seen the gesture, Rome could tell by the subtle way he arched an eyebrow at him, though for once he didn’t say anything.

Bella and Eden shot up to hug them both goodbye, delaying them leaving by precious seconds. As Freya fumbled in her purse to pay for her food, Rome threw enough money down on the table to cover them both before ushering her out onto the street.

‘You don’t have to always pay for me,’ Freya said.

‘You can pay me back later,’ Rome said, taking her hand again and hurrying along the streets towards his house. He ignored the curious glances of a few of the locals who were interested to see that he was holding Freya’s hand.

‘You know my house is the other way. If you’re walking me home, you’re doing a terrible job.’

‘I want you in my bed.’

‘That’s very caveman of you. Is that what you say to all the women you date? “I want you in my bed” and then throw them over your shoulder and carry them back to your cave?’

‘No, I believe in equal opportunities, I always go to the woman’s cave,’ Rome said, cursing how far away he lived from the main high street. He had chosen the house because of the incredible view of Buttercup Beach, but now it was something he could do without.

‘You never take anyone back to your house?’ Freya said, breaking into a jog to keep up with his long-legged stride.

‘No, never.’

‘But I’ve been to your house a hundred times.’

‘You’re different.’ He ran down the steps onto Buttercup Beach where the streetlights didn’t reach and the only light was the glow of the moon over the sea. It was a hot night and the warm sea breeze enveloped them. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. God, the taste of her against his lips was heaven. She wrapped her arms round his neck and kissed him back, her body melting against his. He pulled back slightly so he could stare into her eyes. ‘You’re different in every single way.’

‘So I’m the first woman you’ve had in your bed?’ Freya giggled and then the smile fell off her face. ‘I mean since Paige.’

‘First woman in this bed. I got rid of the last bed as I couldn’t even contemplate sharing it with another woman after Paige had died. Though it didn’t make any difference, I still couldn’t bring any woman home.’

Freya was quiet and he cursed himself. He was just about to make love to his best friend, he didn’t need to bring up his ex.

‘Why now? Why me?’

‘Because you’re important,’ Rome said, stroking her face. ‘Because for the first time in forever, I’m going to make love to someone I really want to be with, rather than just having sex with someone to dull the pain or pass the time. What we have is special, you know that.’

She smiled, sadly. ‘It’s special for me because I love you.’

He needed her to know how important she was to him. He couldn’t tell her he loved her – he was so confused by his feelings for her but he knew it was something rare and incredible.

He pulled her closer. ‘I have never in my life felt what I feel for you.’

She smiled. ‘And what is it that you feel for me?’

Was it love? His feelings for Freya ran so deep and he knew he had never felt like this before, not even with Paige, and that confused the hell out of him. Because if this was what love really felt like, what had he felt for Paige? He thought he had loved her, they’d been planning to get married. To admit that he had never loved her felt like a huge betrayal. But if this wasn’t love he felt for Freya, what was it? And labelling it as love scared him, because last time he had been in love, or at least thought he was, he had lost her. The universe had seen that he was happy and came along and ripped that away from him. It seemed safer, somehow, to keep his feelings locked away because he couldn’t lose Freya too. There would be no getting over that.

His silence caused her to frown slightly. ‘I love you. I’ve been in love with you for years. I’m hoping that one day you can fall in love with me too.’

He kissed her, not sure what he could say. He pulled away slightly. ‘Let me make love to you.’

She hesitated for a moment and that worried him.

‘Make love to me here,’ Freya said and he felt his eyebrows shoot up into his hair.

‘Someone might see,’ Rome said.

‘And we wouldn’t want that, would we,’ Freya said, pointedly.

She pulled away from him completely and let her jacket slide off her shoulders onto the sand. To his surprise and his delight she pulled her dress over her head and let it drop to the ground too. She was wearing nothing but a pair of black lacy knickers and her sandals, which she immediately toed off.

She stepped out into the shallows of the sea, looking over her shoulder at him. He had never seen anything as magnificent as her, watching her body lit only by the glow of the moon. Then she turned and dived into the waves, disappearing into the inky blackness. She surfaced a few metres away, sweeping her hair back from her face and laughing.

‘Come and join me,’ she called.

He looked around, hesitant to get naked in case anyone saw them.

Suddenly Freya threw something soft and black at him. When he caught it, he realised it was her knickers.

Forgetting any of his inhibitions, he quickly stripped off his clothes and waded out to join her.

The water was cool, heated by the sunshine of the day as he swam out towards her. Freya was lying on her back, staring up at the stars. He scooped her up into his arms and she wrapped her hands round his neck, caressing his damp curls as she kissed him on the forehead. She wrapped her legs round his hips and kissed him. She pulled away slightly, leaning her forehead against his; her soft breath against his lips was an incredible feeling.

‘I really do care about you Freya, I—’

‘Stop talking.’ She pressed a finger against his lips. ‘No one wants to hear that someone cares about them. You care about your sisters, or your parents, or an elderly neighbour. You shouldn’t care about the woman you’re about to make love to. Next you’ll be telling me you see me like a sister again. There’s nothing guaranteed to put a dampener on a romantic moment than being told you see me like your sister, so if you’re even thinking of uttering those words, don’t, not if you want to get laid tonight.’

‘OK,’ he said, quietly. God, he was so rubbish with women. He never knew what to say to them. ‘I definitely don’t think of you as my sister.’ He ran his hands up her sides, stroking her breasts and running his thumbs over her nipples to illustrate his point. She gasped softly against his mouth.

‘Look, I know this is just sex for you, and I’m not complaining, it’s been incredible. And I’m guessing it’s pretty good for you too judging by how you can’t keep your hands off me. But don’t give me platitudes and pretend that it means something more to you. If you want to say nice things to me, tell me you find me attractive, tell me you think I’m beautiful, don’t give me false hopes that this is anything other than sex.’

He swallowed down the ache in his chest. The very last thing he wanted was to hurt her and this was why he’d never wanted to get involved with her – hurting her would mean losing her. But he was already involved now and walking away would hurt her anyway. Not that he could do that. She was right, he couldn’t keep his hands off her.

He kissed her and he was gratified when she kissed him back, pulling herself tighter against him as the cool inky water lapped around them. He slipped his hand between them, stroking her, and she moaned against his lips.

‘Freya, I find you very attractive.’ He moved against her so she could feel just how attractive he found her. He kissed her again, lifting her slightly and then sliding inside her. He let out a noise that was guttural at the feel of her surrounding him. She arched against him, taking him in deeper, and as she tipped her head back, he moved his mouth to her breasts. ‘I think you’re the most beautiful woman in the world,’ he whispered against her skin. ‘But I have never lied to you. I have never pretended to be anything other than who I am with you.’

She brought her head back down to look at him.

‘When I tell you that this is something special and incredible between us, when I tell you that I have never felt like this with anyone before, then you should know that it’s absolutely the truth.’

She moved slowly against him and he held her tighter.

‘This is a hell of a lot more than just sex. I told you before that I didn’t just want sex any more, I wanted something more and I would never risk our friendship just for a quick shag. You’re way too important to me for that.’

Her eyes were soft now and she kissed him briefly. He felt her tighten around him, her breath starting to quicken, and he shifted her slightly to slow her down.

‘I know how hard it must have been to tell me you love me and how much it must hurt that I never said it back to you. I just need some time to figure all this out in my head. You asked me not to lie to you and I won’t, so you know that, when I say it for the first time, it will be the truth. And while I can’t say it yet, you should know that I do cherish you, I adore you, I need you, I’m crazy about you, I idolise you and I fancy the arse off you.’

Freya giggled. ‘OK.’

He ducked his head to look properly into her eyes. ‘OK?’

She nodded, a big smile on her face. ‘Now stop talking and make love to me.’

He grinned and guided her back towards the shore, laying her down where the waves were lapping gently onto the sand. She stared up at him as he moved against her and a feeling of utter contentment washed over him. He wanted this feeling to last forever and as she found her release and clung to him, moaning out his name, it was the need to be with her always that gave him that wonderful release.