She could hear the smile in his words when he answered. “You have a beautiful body.”

“Do you often give massages?” She envied his girlfriends, and a knot formed in her stomach at the thought of him lavishing another woman with this kind of attention.

“This is my first.”

She was startled. “Your first? That’s impossible. You’re amazing.” She didn’t believe him. Nobody was this talented.

“It’s easy with a pliable body like yours.”

Daniel pulled the towel back over her legs, covering her completely.

“How are you feeling?”

Disappointed that it was over, she wanted to say, but didn’t. “Weak.”

He chuckled. “I think it’s called relaxed, not weak.”

Sabrina turned her head to look at his face. His lips wore a soft smile, but his eyes couldn’t hide his desire for her. For several seconds, she didn’t say anything and only looked at him.

“Thank you. It was wonderful.”

“You’re welcome.” He looked almost tortured before he turned away from her gaze. “Just keep resting here as long as you want to.”

And with those words he went back inside. A minute later, she heard the shower. She knotted her eyebrows. He’d taken a shower only an hour earlier. Even though it had been pretty warm out, it wasn’t exactly scorching hot in the late afternoon sun, and besides, the terrace was shady.

Sabrina turned her head out toward the valley and the vineyards. It was a beautiful sight, and life could be perfect if only circumstances were different. She sighed.

***

His second cold shower of the day didn’t do any more good than the first. He was an idiot. He should have never let the real Holly talk him into continuing this charade. He should have gone with his gut instinct and told Sabrina the truth as soon as he’d walked out of the Escort Service’s offices.

Now he was stuck between a rock and an even rockier place. On the one hand, he wanted nothing more than to make love to her, but on the other, he’d promised her she’d be the one to initiate sex. If he came up with any more brilliant ideas like this one, he’d be the next addition to the Darwin Awards for eliminating himself from the gene pool.

What made him think Sabrina would come to him if only he wouldn’t hit on her for a day? The massage had left him completely and utterly hot and bothered, and he was the one who’d given it, for God’s sake. Sure, she’d enjoyed it, but other than that, he’d seen no reaction from her that would have told him she wanted to be touched in a more sexual way.

When he’d caressed her delectable ass, she’d tensed under his hands, and he’d had to pull away in order not to destroy the moment altogether. She’d kept her wall up the entire time. Her comment that she was an escort had basically insinuated that she didn’t want any other relationship with him. She’d put him in his place.

That thought was what finally brought his erection down, not the cold water of the shower. She didn’t want him. As Holly had said to him, Sabrina hadn’t had sex in three years, and she hadn’t been in a relationship. What if she’d enjoyed sex with him only because she hadn’t had any in such a long time, but in the end she really didn’t want anything else?

Daniel felt depressed when he stepped out of the shower and dried off. Putting a towel around his lower body, he went into the bedroom. Still consumed with his thoughts about her, he dropped the towel, reached for a new set of clothes and slowly got dressed.

When he turned, he saw Sabrina standing in the door, which connected to the living room. Her cheeks were rosy. How long had she been standing there? It didn’t matter. He wasn’t shy, and she’d seen him naked before. But her pink cheeks suggested that he’d embarrassed her.

“I should take a shower too,” she announced and brushed past him on her way to the bathroom, averting her eyes.

“I’ve made dinner reservations for seven o’clock. Take your time.”

Daniel looked at his watch. He could do with a drink, but he knew he’d be driving them to the restaurant, and he wanted some wine with his dinner. No drink, then, for now.

He plopped down on the couch in the living room and switched on the TV. Anything to distract himself from the thought that she stood in the shower, naked, the water pearling off her perfect skin. Did this cottage have air conditioning? His eyes scanned the room. No air conditioning.

Why was he so hot? Had he gotten too much sun earlier in the day? He shook his head. No, it was more a case of having gotten too much of Sabrina under his skin. It appeared it was pretty much an incurable condition by now.