The water was wonderfully warm and Mia seemed to be the only person in it. She had lied to Tom and told him she was meeting Gill further along the beach towards Rainbow's End. He had offered to walk with her but she had said that, if he didn't mind, she would rather like to walk alone. With Ella and Gill in the cottage, she didn't get much me-time, she had fibbed but luckily Tom had believed it. She jogged to Rainbow's End and having checked that Tom had left the beach, she stripped off to her bikini. The tide was in and as she waded out to the rocky outcrop, she smiled at the memory of Tom saving her. To think, that was only three months ago. She wouldn't have believed that three months later, she would be swimming again and loving it.

Neither would she have believed that she would be swimming in the sea in October. Okay, it was only the 4th, but in Little Pondale, this was nearly the middle of Autumn.

She dived beneath the gently rippling waves and swam a few yards under water. It was so clear, she could see the sand, dotted with tiny shells, and small chunks of multi-coloured rock from Rainbow's End. She came up for air, felt the sun beaming on her face, took a deep breath and dived again, heading back towards the shore. When she resurfaced, she closed her eyes, tipped back her head and lay on her back, floating serenely as the salty water lapped against her body and her hair fanned out around her face.

She heard muffled sounds and splashes nearby and twisted round towards the shore.

'Jet!'

'Mia.'

His jeans were rolled up and he was ankle deep in the water. His dog, Mattie was beside him, racing in and out of the waves. Mia stayed low beneath the surface. If she stood, the sea would only come up to her waist and she felt embarrassed. Almost naked, somehow, even though the bikini covered everything it should. Just about.

'What are you doing here? It must be ten at least. Shouldn't you be working?'

'That's one of the many benefits of owning my own farm. I can do as I please.' He held her gaze and his voice grew cold. 'I can even try to kill off my employees if I choose. I suppose you've heard that I tried to do that. That I tampered with my own brakes and sent Franklin to his Fate.'

'Don't be so ridiculous. You did no such thing. You know it and so do I. And so does everyone else, so stop being so maudlin. Self-pity doesn't suit you and nor does playing the martyr.'

'You don't think I did it then?' He brightened visibly.

'I know you didn't.'

'Really?' Even from a few feet away she could see that his eyes seemed to dance in the sunlight. 'What makes you so sure?'

'I know you, Jet.'

'You may think you do. Perhaps you don't. Perhaps you only know the side of me I want you to.'

She studied his face. 'Has something happened? You seem … in an odd sort of mood.'

'Do I? I hear you have a new guest. A very handsome, very wealthy, very educated Frenchman, so I'm told.'

'I'm not sure if he's wealthy or not.'

'But you are sure he's handsome and well educated?'

'Yes. That's obvious the minute you meet him.'

'I haven't had that pleasure.'

'Come round for coffee one day and I'll introduce you.'

'Thanks. That's the first time you've invited me to your home, do you know that?' He frowned. 'Have you shrunk? Or are you kneeling down so that I can't see you in your bikini? You never did send me the photo you promised me.'

'The one you wanted to stick on the wall beside your bed?'

'The very one.'

She splashed her arms to and fro in the water. 'I didn't really think you wanted it.'

'I told you I did.'

'But I don't believe you. I mean, why would you want a photo of me beside your bed when you could've had the real-life me in it?'

He closed his eyes for a second and when he reopened them he shook his head. 'Let's not go there.'

'Go where? To your bed? There's not much chance of that, is there? You made it very clear you don't want me in it.'

'I didn't say I didn't want you in it. I said I didn't want to spend the night with you. I said it would be a mistake for both of us. I still think that. It doesn't mean I wish I didn't. It doesn't mean that I haven't been able to stop thinking about what it would be like. It doesn't mean that I haven't been going over and over that night in my head and wondering how I had the strength to say no and walk away.'

'Really? It looked pretty easy to me. You didn't seem to have any problem from where I was standing.'

'Then you definitely don't know me, Mia. Take it from me, walking away from you that night was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.'

'You didn't have to do it. No one forced you to walk away.'

'You were heartbroken. You were vulnerable. You were feeling lonely. I couldn't take advantage of that.'

'Of course not. Because telling me you didn't want to sleep with me made me feel so much less heartbroken. Less vulnerable. Less lonely, didn't it? All I wanted was to be in your arms. To be held. To feel special. To feel wanted and desired. For a man with your reputation, I wouldn't have thought that was too much to ask.'

'That was half the problem. You didn't really want me. You just wanted a man to spend the night with. Or you thought you did. Anyone would've fit the bill. I didn't want to be your rebound guy and I definitely didn't want to spend one night with you and have you hate me the next day. And you would've, Mia. I told you then, you're not the kind of girl who can do casual relationships. And as much as I wish I could, I can't offer you anything more.'

God, he was making her mad. Really mad.

'That's crap and you know it.'

She stood up and for one moment was taken aback by the look on his face as he watched the water cascade down her body. His eyes opened wide and his mouth parted. She could hear the breath he sucked in and see his Adam's Apple rise and fall. It was as if he was watching Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, arise out of the foam of the sea, not Mia Ward, the girl from London, with her okay body but a few lumps and bumps where they definitely shouldn't be.

And in that moment, she knew she was right about him.

She sauntered towards him, which wasn't as easy as she'd hoped, given that she was walking through water. Daniel Craig had made it look simple and ultra-sexy in the James Bond film. But then he didn't have Mattie darting around his legs, as she did. She did her best and from the way Jet coughed and bit his lower lip, she must've been doing something right. She stopped just inches from him and stared up into his eyes.

'I didn't want "just any man" and you wouldn't have been my rebound guy. Nor would I have hated you in the morning. And that's what really frightened you. I wanted you, Jet. You. And I'll admit, I may not be the kind of girl who can do casual relationships, but we never really know what we can do until we try. I didn't think I could ever get back in the sea. But look at me now. And Fiona didn't think she could ever want a child. But she wants her child more than she has ever wanted anything in her life. And Mum would've laughed if you'd told her just a few months ago that she would be head over heels in love again, let alone with a man almost half her age. And yet here she is, about to embark on a whole new life with him.' She grinned. 'Providing you don't kill him off, of course.' She saw that adorable twitch at the corner of his mouth but he didn't take his eyes off hers. 'And you, Jet. You keep telling me what you can't offer me. Perhaps it's about time you started thinking about what you can. And what you really want. Because until just now, even I wasn't sure what that was. But now I think I am.'

He swallowed and took a deep breath. 'You think you know what I really want?'

'Yes, Jet. I think I do.' She turned and walked back into the sea.

'Well perhaps you'd be kind enough to tell me, because I haven't got a clue,' he called after her.

She glanced back over her shoulder. 'You want me, Jet. And not just for one night. And that terrifies you to death.'

Without another word, she dived into the water and swam as far as she could before coming up for breath. He was still standing on the shore, scanning the water but a moment after he saw her emerge, he turned and marched back up the beach with Mattie, soaking wet and barking, running at his heels.