Free A Touch of Summer by Evie Hunter Page B

question. He scanned the croft, checking for any last minute items he might require. 'If you need the toilet, you better go now. We have a bit of a drive ahead of us.'
    Muttering under her breath, Summer hurried up the garden path. In the tiny bathroom mirror she checked her reflection. Gone was the sleek London socialite. Her hair was curly and – oh sweet god— were they freckles across her nose? This was all Flynn’s fault.
    Back at the jeep, Flynn was waiting. The car radio was playing Melody Gardot. It was the first music she had heard since she’d arrived in this godforsaken place. Flynn started the engine as soon as she had climbed in and she relaxed. 'So, where are we going?'
    He put the jeep in gear and they began the slow climb out of the glen. 'Brona,' he said, keeping his eyes focused on the narrow road. 'It’s an island off the Caithness coast.'
    An island? That sounded promising. She cast a sideways glance at him. Summer stretched out her legs. The oil had left a nice sheen on her skin. Pity he hadn’t done her back. Still, he might come round once they reached the hotel.
    'Sounds romantic. What’s on it? A spa?' Summer looked ruefully at her hands. The pink nail polish was chipped beyond repair and she had nothing to remove it. They had left London in such a hurry. That was the last time she’d ever let a man do her packing. He’d brought practically no make-up and all the clothes he’d packed were old.
    A snort of laughter was his only response. 'Brona is about as romantic as a badger’s set. The island is deserted. The military use it for war games.'
    'War games,' she repeated his words like an idiot. The Scot was seriously planning to drag her to some G.I. Joe outing for the weekend.
    'Aye,' he continued. 'One weekend a year the lads get together for a bit of fun.'
    'What lads?'
    'The SAS, the SEALs, a few of the boys from the Wing, the 2e REP and the Aussie SAS.'
    “I’ve heard of most of them but who are the 2e REP and the Wing?”
    Flynn gave her a sideways glance, as if he was talking to a particularly silly child. “The 2e REP are the French elite Special Forces and the Wing are the Irish Rangers. We’re the smallest and the best.”
    Oh Yum. A lot of hot soldiers with spectacular bodies could be a very interesting weekend. Maybe if she had a standard of comparison, Flynn would look ordinary and she wouldn’t obsess about him so much. And at the least, she could have fun pissing him off.
    Flynn cast a speculative look at her bare legs. 'A word of warning. I expect you to be on your best behaviour when we get there. No whinging about the accommodation and no flirting. Otherwise there will be consequences.'
    'Yes, sir.' She gave him a mock salute.
    Consequences. She liked the sound of those. The ones following her escapade in London had been spectacular, to say the least. This could so work. She pressed her thighs together and was conscious of another narrow-eyed glance. 'What?' She shrugged. 'I’ll behave.'
    Badly .
    She was willing to bet that Flynn’s boss would be there. If Niall Moore thought for one moment that they were sleeping together, Flynn would be off the case and she would be back in London where she belonged. Her father was three thousand miles away and wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. Either way it was a win-win situation. Operation Defeat the bodyguard was back on.
     

TWO
     
    The music soothed her and as the Scottish countryside sped by, Summer’s eyes drifted closed. She roused when Flynn tapped her shoulder. She blinked and looked around her. They were parked on the end of a stone jetty, facing a blue-grey expanse of sea. On the horizon, she caught a glimpse of green. 'Where are we?'
    'Almost there,' Flynn said as he opened the door, letting a blast of cool salty air into the jeep.
    A flash of movement on the water caught her eye. A dark dinghy raced towards them and pulled up at the jetty. Two men with tightly cropped hair and dressed in camouflage gear