Cracking the Dating Code Read Online Free PDF Page B

everything,
including
being a big brother. Pulled Seb out of the pit when his first girlfriend had dumped him for a blue-blooded golden boy. Talked Seb off an oil platform and into an engineering degree. Encouraged Seb’s idiot idea of putting together some sort of crack rigging crew. Troubleshoot anything that gushed or burned and cap it, bring it back under control—those were the jobs Seb and his crew took on. Proving his worth, over and over, until finally he’d believed in himself and the things he could deliver. Not as clever as Tomas. Not as polished or urbane, but worth something nonetheless.
    Until one crucial split-second decision had cost one man his life and another his hearing.
    Seb’s crew. Seb’s responsibility.
    He wanted a drink.
    He wanted his friend back.
    And in true self-destructive, must-compete style, he wanted his brother’s girl.
    Seb rinsed off, cut the water and walked naked through to his bedroom. He found a towel, then a pair of loose cotton pyjama bottoms.
    He headed for the office and did his best to ignore the faint floral scent that hung in the air there. And then he picked up the phone and called Tom.
    ‘I got your parcel,’ he said when Tom answered. ‘What the
hell
is she doing here?’ Besides torturing him with her nearness.
    ‘Working,’ said Tom. ‘At least, that’s the assumption. Why? What
is
she doing there?’
    ‘Working,’ said Seb grudgingly. ‘That is not the issue. What
I
want to know is why you sent her here in the first place. You into her? You setting something up? Like a lightning visit?’
    ‘What?’ said Tomas.
    ‘God, you even sound like her,’ muttered Seb. ‘Are. You. Into. Her? It’s not a difficult question. A simple yes or no will do.’
    ‘What if I am?’ asked Tom warily.
    ‘Then you’d better come and get her before I forget you exist.
Now
do you understand?’
    His brother swore, loud and long. Smart man, only, ‘I’m not involved with Poppy,’ he said at some point during the tirade. ‘I have no intention of ever
getting
involved with Poppy,’ he said a short time later, and the stranglehold on Seb’s chest relaxed. ‘But if you think I sent her there for
you
to get into, you couldn’t be more wrong,’ his brother continued. ‘You want to party, get off the island.’
    ‘And leave Her Citified Slenderness here by herself? How do you think
that’s
going to work out? She’s already nervous about staying in the guest house by herself.’
    Silence from Tom.
    ‘Can’t she go and work somewhere else?’ It wasn’t quite a plea for mercy but it was the closest Seb had ever come to one. ‘Because if you want me to stay away from her, she’s going to have to go.’
    ‘She can’t go,’ said Tom. ‘Trust me on this one. She needs the privacy, the bat cave, and she needs a bit of time. Give her two weeks, Seb. Please. Hell, give her two days. Surely you can manage two days without trying to get her on her back?’
    ‘Crème caramel,’ murmured Seb. ‘I haven’t had a crème caramel in ages.’
    ‘Resist.’ Panic in Tom’s voice now, but it was too late. Tom didn’t want her. Seb most certainly did. ‘I mean it, Seb. You treat her like a sister.’
    ‘We don’t have a sister.’
    ‘Point taken,’ said Tom. ‘Then, for God’s sake, treat her like my boss.’
    Dawn came too early for Poppy, but once the sky began to brighten on the horizon there was nothing else to do but pull the mosquito net aside, turn on her side in the glorious, king-sized bed, find a few pillows to prop beneath her head and give the dawn show the attention it deserved.
    Sleep had taken its time coming to her last night. Sunrise took its time too as it stole across the rippling water and then crept across the edge of her bed.
    Poppy stretched her hand out to caress it; no bite in the sun’s rays yet, but the dust motes in the air glowed silver and they kept her entertained as vivid dreams of making love with Sebastian had kept her entertained