Desire slammed into his stomach as soon as he tasted her on his lips and he immediately kissed her back. God she tasted so good, the scent of her was too much, overpowering his senses. He cupped the back of her head as she slid her hands down his arms. He pulled her against him; feeling her body next to his was incredible, and when she slid her tongue inside his mouth every rational thought went clean out of his mind.

He rolled her backwards onto the sofa so she was under him and she let out a little giggle against his lips before she continued kissing him. It was a wonderful sound. He realised her robe had come slightly undone and he slid it open the rest of the way. He ran his hand over her body and she moaned against his lips. She felt so divine, so soft and smooth and warm.

Isaac ran his hand over her breast and a breathy gasp escaped her lips. He pulled back slightly to make sure she was OK and realised that under the robe she was completely naked. Her skin was pale and her hair looked like fire as it escaped the plait on her head and tumbled over her shoulders. She looked so beautiful and he could see from the desire in her eyes that she wanted this as much as he did.

He kissed her again and she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him with an urgency that he was feeling too. He ran his hand up her inner thigh, moving his mouth to her neck.

‘Oh god, Zach,’ she moaned and he froze.

Zach. That’s who she was kissing. The homeless guy she had been kind enough to help, to offer a bed and food to. She certainly hadn’t offered this and now with half a bottle of wine inside her he was clearly taking advantage. There was no way he could sleep with her or kiss her when she had no idea who he was – and there was no way he should be kissing her and groping her when in less than twenty-four hours he could be her boss.

He leapt off her so fast that he tumbled over the coffee table and hit the floor.

‘I can’t do this, I’m sorry.’

Rejection washed across her face and she quickly pulled her robe together. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you.’

He got up quickly. ‘This isn’t about you, please don’t think it is. This is about me being a complete and utter arsehole. This is wrong for so many reasons I couldn’t even begin to list them, but not one of them has anything to do with you. And it definitely isn’t about me not wanting you, I can assure you that isn’t the case.’

She stood up too. ‘Then what’s wrong?’

‘You’ve been drinking,’ he said, grasping at straws.

‘So? I’m not drunk or half unconscious. I’m pretty sure I could still walk in a straight line.’

‘You have no idea who I am,’ Isaac said. He ran his hands through his hair. Christ, what a mess.

‘I know enough.’

‘I need to go, I’m sorry, I really am.’

He walked out into the hall and he heard her bare feet follow him. ‘Zach, wait. Talk to me, please. Tell me what’s wrong.’

He turned back so he could see her looking at him with affection one more time, rather than the anger and hate he’d no doubt see the next day, and then he grabbed his bag and walked out, closing the door behind him.

He walked out of her gate and then sank to the floor against her wall. What the hell was he doing? And what was he going to do now?

* * *

Bella stared at the front door feeling utterly confused. They had eaten and talked and laughed, and though he had got a bit uncomfortable talking about Isaac Scott, once they had moved on from that subject things had been good and wonderful and easy between them. And his kiss. It was like nothing she had ever felt before. It was quite obvious that he wanted to kiss her too. So why had he run off?

She peered out the window by the door and saw him sitting outside her garden wall with his head in his hands.

She needed to talk to him because if she let him walk away now she was scared she’d never see him again.

She ran upstairs to get changed, pulled some jeans on and, just as she was pulling a t-shirt over her head, she heard voices outside. She peered outside her bedroom window and saw there was a gang of boys hassling Zach.

She rolled her eyes. There was a little alleyway between two of the houses a few doors down that led to the fields and a lot of the kids from the island would hang out there after dark and some of them would use the alley as a cut through. Most of the time the kids never caused any trouble but sometimes they were a bit loud and if she bumped into them when they had been drinking they were sometimes a little lewd or lairy but they never touched her and she felt more annoyed by them than intimidated. They were only kids after all.

She pulled on her Converse and marched downstairs to tell them to clear off.

She opened the door and saw they were all huddled around Zach laughing and jeering at him. Zach could more than take care of himself but she wouldn’t stand around while they hassled him like that. As one nudged Zach with his foot, she stormed out the gate.

‘Hey, sod off, all of you.’

‘Oooh, need your girlfriend to fight your battles, do you?’ one tall, lanky boy said.

‘Bella’s so desperate for a shag that she’d pick a guy up off the streets.’

‘Hey,’ Bella said indignantly. That was too close to home.

‘I told you she needed a good seeing to,’ sniggered one of the boys that Bella recognised.

Zach stood up and he looked so angry that Bella suddenly feared for the boys’ safety. Time to nip this in the bud now.

‘And you’d be the one to give it to me, would you Frankie? I don’t think so. Your mum would ground you for a year if she heard you speaking like that. Now clear off before I give her a call.’

Frankie flushed and the other boys jeered at him.

Another boy suddenly grabbed Zach’s bag. ‘What’s in here?’ the boy asked, clearly a little bit drunk.

Bella grabbed the strap and tried to snatch it back but the other boy tugged it towards him.

‘Let it go now,’ Zach said, towering over the boy, and as Bella gave it an almighty tug, the boy let it go and she tumbled sideways, her forehead slamming into the brick wall. She bounced off it and hit the floor and a sudden wooziness engulfed her.

The boys ran, disappearing up the alley within seconds as Zach knelt down by her side, putting his arm around her.

‘Bella, are you OK? Christ you’re bleeding.’

She felt sick and dizzy and she didn’t know if she was going to pass out or throw up or both.

Zach scooped her up into his arms as if she weighed nothing and carried her back into the house. He laid her gently on the sofa and ran off to the kitchen and after that she wasn’t really aware of anything else.

* * *

Bella opened her eyes and realised she was in a hospital bed with Zach sitting next to her holding her hand.

He immediately sat forward when he saw she was awake. ‘Are you OK?’

She blinked as she stared at him. She had vague recollections of what had happened since she banged her head, as she’d drifted in and out of consciousness. She remembered Zach carrying her into a taxi which whizzed them down to the harbour and she remembered Zach carrying her onto a boat. But not the ferry, a small power boat which Zach drove himself while she lay on a plush white leather seat at the back. She recalled that Zach had then carried her to a car which he had driven to the hospital and then it all got a bit grey again after that.

She tried to sit up but Zach pushed her back down. ‘Don’t try to get up, just rest.’

‘My head hurts,’ Bella muttered feebly.

‘I’m not surprised, you face-planted a wall. What were you thinking? I didn’t need you to run out and defend me. They were kids and have you seen the size of me?’

Bella closed her eyes, trying to make sense of everything that happened. She looked over at Zach again. ‘You stole a boat? And a car?’

She watched his cheeks colour and she groaned. ‘Oh no, Zach, you’re going to get in so much trouble.’

‘I didn’t steal the boat or the car, they’re mine.’

Bella stared at him. She still felt really woozy. ‘I don’t understand. You own a boat and car? But you’re homeless? Are you the richest homeless person in the world?’

She let out a little giggle at the ridiculousness of the situation but that made her brain wobble inside her head.

‘I’m not homeless.’

She tried to focus on him but she felt like she was drunk. ‘You’re not making any sense.’

‘I know I’m not, I’m sorry,’ Zach said. ‘I’ve not been truthful with you.’

Bella closed her eyes again.

‘Hey Bella, stay with me OK, just open your eyes.’

She forced her eyes open for a second or two to look at him. ‘You lied?’

‘Yes, about everything.’

She didn’t understand but a wave of disappointment washed over her. ‘The kiss was a lie?’

‘God no, that was definitely not a lie.’

‘When you said that you enjoyed spending time with me and came back to my house tonight just so you could see me. You lied about that?’

‘No, that wasn’t a lie either. I really did want to see you.’

‘So what did you lie about?’

‘Pretty much everything else. My name isn’t even Zach.’

She felt her eyes widen in horror. When he’d said that she didn’t know him, he’d been speaking the truth. She had no idea who he really was and yet she’d kissed him, let him undress her and touch her. She felt suddenly really ashamed.

She closed her eyes again and this time when unconsciousness crept up on her, she didn’t even fight it.