Millionaire Dad's SOS by Ally Blake

reticence meant true romance was in the air. They were leaving her alone so that it might flourish.
    Being stuck with Zach looking all scruffy and gorgeous, with no buffer to keep her out of harm’s way, was all she deserved.
    She tied off her second plait then glanced at him causally from the corner of her eye, catching sight of yet more cargo pants, yet another sexily faded T-shirt, a tattered old backpack snugly attached to his back and the same well-worn cap she’d seen him wear before.
    Her perusal ground to a halt when it reached his mouth. Her own turned as dry as dust as their kiss came rushing back to her in Technicolor. She licked her lips, then croaked, ‘Please don’t tell me I’ve accidentally done something else that would necessitate you tailing me?’
    ‘Now what could possibly make you think my presence here has anything to do with you?’
    Before she could come up with a succinct retort, the wellness facilitator called out, ‘Today the crew heading up our new St Barts resort are joining us to see how we Aussies do it. So let’s lift our feet, keep up a super pace, and ooh and ahh at the local flora and fauna like we’ve never seen anything so fabulous!’
    ‘You’re here to train your next crew?’ she said, mostly to herself.
    ‘Beautiful and brainy. Who knew?’
    Zach tugged on one of her plaits, shot her a grin that was complete with the glint that made her common sense unceasingly fall to pieces, pulled his cap lower over his face then jogged ahead.
    With the words beautiful and brainy ringing inher ears, she stared at his back until he was swallowed by the forest.
    Amazing. He was well over six feet tall, with skin like bronze and the build of a world-class athlete, yet he clearly had no clue that was why half the people in the group would be wondering who he was. It wouldn’t matter if she was sitting in his lap or a million miles away.
    Meg hitched her shiny new Juniper Falls backpack into a more comfy position on her shoulders, took one last glance back at the empty path, then followed on as the group turned off the running track.
    They soon found a network of wide wooden walkways with the kind of gentle slope built to accommodate every level of trail rambler and Meg was truly surprised to soon find herself contentedly lost in the rhythmic pace of her feet.
    Before long they were ushered through a gap in the railing as they headed off the main tourist trail. The path became instantly less clear-cut, less regularly tramped, and the gentle path gave way to one in which they had to walk single file, at times grasping at vines to pull themselves up the face of a steep rise.
    Sweat dripped down the sides of Meg’s face, down her spine and behind her knees. She could feel spirals of her hair plastered against her cheeks and the back of her neck. When she licked her lips she could taste salt. She gave up trying to hear the guide over her laboured breathing and just climbed.
    Meg wasn’t sure if she’d picked up her pace or Zach had slowed, but somehow right when she needed leverage to step over a particularly slipperylooking rock as she picked a path across a slowmoving stream, his hand was there to help her leap across to the opposite bank.
    ‘Thanks,’ she said, her voice rough from lack of use. ‘Are we there yet?’
    From her view of his profile she caught his smile, this one complete with eye crinkles. Her heart skipped a beat, which, considering her fitness level and the uneven ground, was not smart.
    ‘Not far now,’ he said, his voice as clear as if he’d been standing still the past half-hour.
    ‘If I have a complaint do I really have to write to management?’
    ‘Hit me. I can take it.’
    ‘Are the super-early starts entirely necessary?’
    The smile spread to laughter as though it was the most natural thing for him to do. ‘The days get hot very quickly around here.’
    ‘I’m not sure I believe that makes a lick of difference to your sadistic timetable