time.
Trouble was, she had a feeling her stand-offishness was all that separated her from pretty much every other woman he came into contact with and she’d be a fool to squander the advantage of his remarkable interest in her by making herself too available.
All she had to do was keep things in perspective.
Yeah, good luck with that, Jess.
Oh, goodness, this assignment was hard work.
She sighed and rolled over in bed, trying to quell the deep, vigorous throbbing between her legs at the thought of him sleeping just along the corridor.
Impossible.
Perhaps she should go and make herself a milky drink or something, in the hope it would relax her enough to let her sleep.
Rubbing a hand over her tired eyes, she sat up, shuffling to the side of her bed, only managing to increase the ache between her thighs with the friction of the movement.
Never in all her life had she felt so wildly out of control and it scared the hell out of her.
Leaving her room quietly, so as not to disturb Xander, she tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen, leaving off the light in case anyone should be alerted to her presence. She felt furtive and naughty for being there, as if she were trespassing on someone else’s property, even though she was a guest in the house.
As she pulled open the fridge door to find the milk her eye was drawn to a bowl of what looked like tiramisu, sitting there innocently in the fridge.
A horrible greedy urge to take it and eat the entire bowlful gripped her around the throat.
The stress of hanging out with Xander Heaton was severely testing her rather shaky self-control.
Her hands shook and her mouth filled with saliva as she stared at the delicious-looking pudding. A tremendously powerful urge to reach forward and take it gripped her, but she knew from experience if she so much as let herself take a mouthful she’d end up stuffing the whole thing into her mouth like some crazed maniac and she really couldn’t let that happen. She’d fought so valiantly over the years against the horrible overwhelming feelings of shame and self-loathing her eating disorder prompted, she couldn’t let herself get pulled into that vicious cycle of binge and purge again. She’d made a promise to herself not to allow extreme comfort eating to ruin her life any more than it already had.
It would not beat her.
With a determination that she had to pull up from the very depths of her psyche, she swung the fridge door shut and walked away on shaky legs, back to her bedroom and safety.
* * *
The next morning Jess got up early and took herself off for a drive around the lake.
She needed a breather from being around Xander in order to mentally get herself in a place where she could handle the developing situation without freaking out again.
A bit of peace and calm and normality was just the ticket.
Stopping off in a few of the charming towns along the way, she took photos and made notes for the travel piece she needed to write. Each place was very different from the last—with its own unique atmosphere and character—all bordering the amazingly clear water of Lake Garda. She could totally see why the place lured so many visitors to its shores each year.
A tantalising window display in one of the women’s clothes shops drew her in and she found herself trying on and buying a couple of reasonably priced tops—one white and one in a vibrant pillar-box red—a stylish, black fishtail skirt that fell to just above her knee and a couple of midlength-sleeved summer dresses. All the clothes were more fitted and flamboyant than the things she’d usually wear, but some strange compulsion made her hand over her credit card and buy them anyway. She justified the expense by telling herself she needed some more clothes since it looked as if she was staying longer and it wouldn’t be professional to keep turning up in the same sad outfit every day.
After gathering as much information as she needed, she finally made her way back to the villa,
Trouble was, she had a feeling her stand-offishness was all that separated her from pretty much every other woman he came into contact with and she’d be a fool to squander the advantage of his remarkable interest in her by making herself too available.
All she had to do was keep things in perspective.
Yeah, good luck with that, Jess.
Oh, goodness, this assignment was hard work.
She sighed and rolled over in bed, trying to quell the deep, vigorous throbbing between her legs at the thought of him sleeping just along the corridor.
Impossible.
Perhaps she should go and make herself a milky drink or something, in the hope it would relax her enough to let her sleep.
Rubbing a hand over her tired eyes, she sat up, shuffling to the side of her bed, only managing to increase the ache between her thighs with the friction of the movement.
Never in all her life had she felt so wildly out of control and it scared the hell out of her.
Leaving her room quietly, so as not to disturb Xander, she tiptoed downstairs to the kitchen, leaving off the light in case anyone should be alerted to her presence. She felt furtive and naughty for being there, as if she were trespassing on someone else’s property, even though she was a guest in the house.
As she pulled open the fridge door to find the milk her eye was drawn to a bowl of what looked like tiramisu, sitting there innocently in the fridge.
A horrible greedy urge to take it and eat the entire bowlful gripped her around the throat.
The stress of hanging out with Xander Heaton was severely testing her rather shaky self-control.
Her hands shook and her mouth filled with saliva as she stared at the delicious-looking pudding. A tremendously powerful urge to reach forward and take it gripped her, but she knew from experience if she so much as let herself take a mouthful she’d end up stuffing the whole thing into her mouth like some crazed maniac and she really couldn’t let that happen. She’d fought so valiantly over the years against the horrible overwhelming feelings of shame and self-loathing her eating disorder prompted, she couldn’t let herself get pulled into that vicious cycle of binge and purge again. She’d made a promise to herself not to allow extreme comfort eating to ruin her life any more than it already had.
It would not beat her.
With a determination that she had to pull up from the very depths of her psyche, she swung the fridge door shut and walked away on shaky legs, back to her bedroom and safety.
* * *
The next morning Jess got up early and took herself off for a drive around the lake.
She needed a breather from being around Xander in order to mentally get herself in a place where she could handle the developing situation without freaking out again.
A bit of peace and calm and normality was just the ticket.
Stopping off in a few of the charming towns along the way, she took photos and made notes for the travel piece she needed to write. Each place was very different from the last—with its own unique atmosphere and character—all bordering the amazingly clear water of Lake Garda. She could totally see why the place lured so many visitors to its shores each year.
A tantalising window display in one of the women’s clothes shops drew her in and she found herself trying on and buying a couple of reasonably priced tops—one white and one in a vibrant pillar-box red—a stylish, black fishtail skirt that fell to just above her knee and a couple of midlength-sleeved summer dresses. All the clothes were more fitted and flamboyant than the things she’d usually wear, but some strange compulsion made her hand over her credit card and buy them anyway. She justified the expense by telling herself she needed some more clothes since it looked as if she was staying longer and it wouldn’t be professional to keep turning up in the same sad outfit every day.
After gathering as much information as she needed, she finally made her way back to the villa,
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